superkix

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to go on hiatus for a bit. Things are a little too hectic for me to devote time to this right now, I apologize.

Thanks. I've been a bit busy with real life stuff as of late, so I haven't been able to do much at the moment. To answer kevinmcfl's question, UWF rules is basically winning via knockout or submission only. No pinfalls. As far as the major differences, I can only go off of what I know regarding Japanese wrestling since I'm largely unfamiliar with American wrestling in the 80's...but it was more focused on the athleticism and incorporating legitimate moves from karate and other forms of martial arts, as well as catch-as-catch-can wrestling and traditional Greco-Roman wrestling. While they had some characters, it was less of the "larger than life" characters of the U.S. and more inspired by the masked wrestlers of Mexico, etc. Hope that helps!

NJPW signs Virus.

The show opened with an opening ceremony featuring a parade of champions, as well as Antonio Inoki to welcome the roughly 10,000 fans in attendance. The opening contest saw two fiery young wrestlers working a short but stiff match, with Hashimoto especially aggressive with his kicks. Funaki landed a few hard open hands to Hashimoto’s face and largely kept him in check on the mat. But after a solebutt kick to the midsection, Hashimoto planted Funaki with the DDT and cinched in with the guillotine choke to submit Funaki. In fast-paced six-man tag action, the junior heavyweight trio led by Black Tiger emerged victorious over the opposition, which included Steve Wright and Gran Hamada. Tons of innovative submission work from everyone involved but especially the interactions between Wright and Taylor. The younger Nogami was the chosen prey of both Tiger and Finlay, in the end, he fell victim to Tiger’s Black Tiger Bomb. Americans Mark Fleming and Scott McGhee made relatively short work of Revolution’s Ashura Hara and Toshiaki Kawada when Fleming planted Kawada with a big powerbomb. Perhaps the bigger moment came after the match when the Revolution members were attacked by a group of individuals who came through the crowd. Hiroshi Hase, Takayuki Iizuka, Kensuke Sasaki and Naoki Sano laid waste to Hara and Kawada, seemingly declaring war on Revolution Backstage, Hase said that his group, Wild Rush, is the last line to be drawn in New Japan. Revolution suffered further defeat when Ishin Gundan came out on top in a six-man tag team match. The crowd clung to every hard-hitting Tenryu and Choshu interaction, with Tenryu getting the better of Choshu throughout. When Choshu tried for an early lariat, Tenryu ducked it and shook him with a big backdrop suplex. Choshu, however, rallied his troops and after Hamiguchi and Kobayashi cleared the ring, Riki leveled Ogawa with the lariat for the three count. Backstage, Tenryu had no comment about their loss nor the attack by Wild Rush. Super Tiger’s hunt through the Takada Army ranks led straight to the top, as he challenged Nobuhiko Takada under the UWF ruleset, meaning knockout or submission only. Super Tiger held nothing back against Takada, rushing him with several shorts kicks before backing him into a corner and blasting him with the big jumping solebutt kick. Takada kept trying to take it to the ground but Tiger kept on him with the kicks, trying to wear him out. Takada finally found an opening when Tiger tried for a crossface chickenwing, and rocked Tiger with hard knees and kicks. Tiger couldn’t quite come back from it and after one last-ditch effort at the chickenwing, Takada countered into a cross armbar for the submission victory. The Cobra made his in-ring return to NJPW after a western excursion and immediately set his sights on regaining the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. Reigning champion, Tiger Mask wasn’t going to let Cobra slow his momentum and he made Cobra work for every one of his pin attempts. But when Tiger wanted to keep the pace fast, Cobra tried to slow him down, keeping him trapped in the cobra stretch and trying to keep him from flying around the ring. He teased the piledriver throughout, much to the chagrin of the fans, but Tiger fought back and put Cobra down with the tiger suplex hold to retain the title. The underdogs in last month’s tag tournament, Akira Maeda and Osamu Kido, had the support of the fans heading into their title match against Takada Army’s Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Kazuo Yamazaki. This played out like an unofficial UWF rules-style match, with Maeda primarily battling back against Fujiwara and Yamazaki, with some support here and there from Kido. Fujiwara was especially keen to tap out Maeda on the mat but Maeda was too slick for Fujiwara at times, and his feistiness paired well against Yamazaki’s own fieriness. The final few minutes of the match saw Yamazaki hit a German suplex on Maeda but when he tried to transition into the armbar, Maeda stunned him with a double wristlock counter and Yamazaki had no choice but to tap out. Maeda and Kido celebrated with the titles, as Fujiwara looked on in disappointment. The night’s main event was one for the ages and a proverbial passing of the torch, as newly crowned IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tatsumi Fujinami, made his inaugural defense against his mentor, Antonio Inoki. This was grueling in every sense of the word, with Inoki working as hard as he ever has to make himself look superior to Fujinami. But Fujinami proved to be a little too quick for Inoki, a little too agile on both his feet and on the ground, where Inoki tried to dominate. At one point, Inoki just started peppering Fujinami with hard slaps to the face out of frustration. He was able to capture Fujinami in the manjigatame but it wasn’t enough to finish off Fujinami. The champion made it known that he was the worthy successor and when he cinched in the dragon sleeper in the end, Inoki was too proud to tap out and succumbed to the sleeper. The fans lit up with excitement as Fujinami and Inoki embraced after Inoki’s recovery, and Fujinami held the title aloft as he stood triumphant on the turnbuckles. NJPW New Year Dash 1986, 1/3/86 Ryogoku Kokugikan 10,000 Fans 1. Shinya Hashimoto beat Masakatu Funaki (7:10) with a guillotine choke. 2. Black Tiger, Dave Finlay & Dave Taylor beat Steve Wright, Gran Hamada & Akira Nogami (8:45) when Tiger used the Black Tiger Bomb on Nogami. 3. Mark Fleming & Scott McGhee beat Ashura Hara & Toshiaki Kawada (6:34) when Fleming used a powerbomb on Kawada. 4. Riki Choshu, Animal Hamiguchi & Kuniaki Kobayashi beat Genichiro Tenryu, Samson Fuyuki & Yoshinari Ogawa (12:34) when Choshu used the lariat on Ogawa. 5. UWF Rules: Nobuhiko Takada beat Super Tiger (16:29) with a cross armbar. 6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask beat The Cobra (14: 55) with a tiger suplex hold (3rd defense) 7. IWGP Tag Team Titles: Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido beat Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki (18:48) when Maeda used the double wristlock on Yamazaki to become the 3rd champions. 8. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami beat Antonio Inoki (26:12) with the dragon sleeper (1st defense)

NJPW signs Dave Finlay.

NJPW signs Kensuke Sasaki and Takayuki Iizuka.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling has confirmed all three big title matches for New Year Dash on January 3rd, set to take place from Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. In addition to the aforementioned main event, with new champion, Tatsumi Fujinami, making his first defense against Antonio Inoki, as well as the winners of the Japan Cup Tag League, Akira Maeda and Osamu Kido challenging the reigning champs, Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Kazuo Yamazaki, the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title will be on the line as Tiger Mask defends against the returning Cobra! In addition, Super Tiger's one man war against the Takada Army will culminate with Tiger taking on the leader, Nobuhiko Takada, under the UWF Rules. Finally, Revolution and Ishin Gundan will battle it out in a six man tag team match. More matches are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. NJPW New Year Dash 1986, 1/3/86 Ryogoku Kokugikan 1. Riki Choshu, Animal Hamiguchi & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Samson Fuyuki & Yoshinari Ogawa 2. UWF Rules: Nobuhiko Takada vs. Super Tiger 3. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask © vs. The Cobra 4. IWGP Tag Team Titles: Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki © vs. Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido 5. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami © vs. Antonio Inoki

The last show of 1985 for NJPW, building toward their big January show, New Year Dash, which will feature all three titles (IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight and the IWGP Tag Team) on the line. I figured this would be a good chance to set the stage, with the respective champions (Fujinami, Tiger Mask, and Fujiwara/Yamazaki) already established. NJPW Japan Cup Tag Team League 1985, 12/12/85 Ryogoku Kokugikan ca. 9500 Fans 1. Tiger Mask & Shiro Koshinaka beat Ashura Hara & Yoshinari Ogawa (7:56) by DQ. A fast paced junior heavyweight tag match, with some very good interactions between Tiger Mask and Ashura Hara. The youngster Ogawa was also impressive when given the opportunity to go up against Koshinaka. As Tiger Mask prepared Ogawa for the tiger suplex hold, a masked man entered the ring and attacked Tiger, causing the disqualification. The masked man was none other than The Cobra, making his return to NJPW. 2. Antonio Inoki & Shinya Hashimoto beat Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada (9:34) when Inoki used the manjigatame on Kawada. Antonio Inoki continued his dominance heading into New Year Dash, this time defeating Revolution leader, Genichiro Tenryu and young Toshiaki Kawada. Inoki brought his own young protege in Shinya Hashimoto, and while Hashimoto and Kawada were given plenty of time to work, the fans were buzzing for Tenryu and Inoki to go at it. Backstage, Inoki was asked about IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tatsumi Fujinami, and his chances in the Japan Cup Tag League. Inoki said Fujinami is distracted and should be more concerned with their title match at New Year Dash next month. 3. Japan Cup Tag League 1985 Semi Final: Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura beat Riki Choshu & Animal Hamiguchi (12:41) when Fujinami used the dragon sleeper on Hamiguchi. The newly crowned IWGP Heavyweight Champion and his partner, Kengo Kimura, were successful in the semi-finals, defeating Ishin Gundan's Riki Choshu and Animal Hamiguchi. While Fujinami and Kimura had the speed advantage, Choshu and Animal brought the heavy blows and big slams, with Choshu trying to set up for the lariat on the champ. After Choshu hit Kimura with a backdrop suplex, he once again looked to take out Fujinami with the lariat but Fujinami countered with a high dropkick. Fujinami then was able to finish off Hamiguchi to advance to the finals. 4. Nobuhiko Takada beat Dave Taylor (8:15) with a jujigatame. A showcase match-up for Takada, with Dave Taylor giving him everything he needed to look his best. Takada continued to utilize his strike and submission-heavy offense, but Taylor more than held his own in both regards, putting Takada on the ropes a number of times with some unique European-style submission holds. 5. Japan Cup Tag League 1985 Semi Final: Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido beat Mark Fleming & Scott McGhee (10:57) when Kido used the Kido Clutch on McGhee. At the end of the day, technique proved to be in Maeda and Kido's favor as they were able to overcome Fleming and McGhee in the semi-finals. Fleming continued to impress as the skilled powerhouse, trying to submit both Maeda and Kido with his Boston crab hold. Scott McGhee also scored a nearfall off a German suplex hold on Maeda that Kido was able to break up. When McGhee tried to do the same to Kido, Kido rolled him up with the Kido Clutch for the three count. 6. Super Tiger beat Kazuo Yamazaki (13:44) with a roundhouse kick. The former Tiger Mask, Super Tiger, continued his attack on the Takada Army, this time taking out one half of the current IWGP Tag Team Champions in Kazuo Yamazaki. Tiger was very aggressive from the get go, mostly utilizing a variety of kicks to down Yamazaki before trying to choke him out on the mat. Yamazaki fought back and at one point, rolled Super Tiger up into a cross armbar but Tiger was able to break away and in the end, caught Yamazaki in the side of the head with a roundhouse kick for the win. 7. Japan Cup Tag League 1985 Final: Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido beat Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura (17:23) when Maeda used the double wristlock on Kimura. Largely considered the underdogs of the tag league, Maeda and Kido made it to the finals against the league favorites, and pulled off the big upset when Maeda caught Kimura with the double wristlock for the submission victory. Of course, the interactions were largely centered around Fujinami and Maeda, with Maeda especially looking confident against the new heavyweight champion. He managed to evade the dragon sleeper attempts and kept pace with Fujinami's speed and agility, while Kido brought the veteran beats. After the match, Maeda and Kido celebrated in the ring with their trophies and officially issued the challenge to Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Yamazaki for the IWGP Tag Team titles at New Year Dash next month.

NJPW signs Shinya Hashimoto, Naoki Sano, Masakatsu Funaki, Akira Nogami, Dave Taylor and Steve Wright.

NJPW picks up Mark Fleming from the free agency list.

Thanks all, looking forward to having some fun with NJPW in 1986!

U-COSMOS will return to Ryogoku Kokugikan for the quarterfinals, semi-finals and final match of the U-COSMOS Crown Tournament, on 10/17 and 10/24 respectively. The final match of the tournament will be wrestled under standard pro-wrestling rules. U-COSMOS “U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Quarterfinals”, 10/17/00 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 1. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Quarterfinals - UWF Rules: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Minoru Suzuki 2. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Quarterfinals: Jun Akiyama vs. Shinya Hashimoto 3. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Quarterfinals - UWF Rules: Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Ken Shamrock 4. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Quarterfinals: Kensuke Sasaki vs. Toshiaki Kawada U-COSMOS “U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Finals”, 10/24/00 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 1. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Semifinals- UWF Rules: Winner of Sakuraba/Suzuki vs. Winner of Tamura/Shamrock 2. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Semifinals: Winner of Akiyama/Hashimoto vs. Winner of Sasaki/Kawada 3. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Final: X vs. X

A quick recap from Night 7 of the U-COSMOS Crown Tournament included an opening victory by Kazushi Sakuraba over the veteran, Masakatsu Funaki, under UWF Rules. Sakuraba won via a kneebar after catching one of Funaki's high kick attempts. The team of Masahito Kakihara and Mitsuya Nagai picked up a win over Suzuki-gun's Daisuke Ikeda and Kendo Kashin when Kakihara used an armbar on Kashin. Lots of great teamwork from Kakihara and Nagai, and the fans were heavily behind Kakihara's efforts. The rookie phenom, Brock Lesnar, suffered his second defeat at the hands of Kensuke Sasaki, after Sasaki had to resort to a Northern Lights Bomb to put Lesnar away. This came after Lesnar survived not one but three lariats from Kensuke. Lesnar was fuming backstage and Blanchard had to calm him down, telling the press that they had no comments. Kensuke Office's Alexander Otsuka and Takehiro Murahama were victorious over Yuji Nagata and Katsuyori Shibata when Otsuka used a nasty dragon suplex hold on Shibata. Much of the match was devoted to Murahama and Shibata's exchanges, giving the youngsters plenty of time to shine. In a brutal slugfest, Shinya Hashimoto defeated Hiroshi Hase after he dropped him with the brainbuster. By the end of it, however, both men were bloodied and although Hase got in several of his signature moves, Hashimoto fought his way to victory and told the fans afterward that he wouldn't let anyone stand in his way. The Golden Cups won their match against Tatsumi Fujinami, Osamu Nishimura and Carl Malenko after Takayama used his big German suplex hold on Nishimura. A solid aciton-packed match to set-up the night's final match. The legendary feud between Kiyoshi Tamura and Volk Han was renewed as they fought under UWF Rules for a chance to advance in the tournament. While Han wasn't able to keep up with Tamura's speed, his ingenuity led to some very memorable moments and close calls for Tamura. Han kept fighting for the armbar but Tamura slept out of each attempt, finally rocking Han with strikes and catching him on the mat with the double wristlock. Both men embraced after the match in a show of mutual respect. U-COSMOS “U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Night 7”, 10/10/00 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 9,000 Fans 1. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2 - UWF Rules: Kazushi Sakuraba beat Masakatsu Funaki (10:23) with a kneebar. 2. Masahito Kakihara & Mitsuya Nagai beat Daisuke Ikeda & Kendo Kashin (9:47) when Kakihara used the cross armbar on Kashin. 3. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament – Round 2: Kensuke Sasaki beat Brock Lesnar (w/ Tully Blanchard) (13:56) with the Northern Lights Bomb. 4. Alexander Otsuka & Takehiro Murahama beat Yuji Nagata & Katsuyori Shibata (9:22) when Otsuka used a dragon suplex hold on Shibata. 5. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament – Round 2: Shinya Hashimoto beat Hiroshi Hase (15:04) with a vertical-drop brainbuster. 6. Yoshihiro Takayama, Kenichi Yamamoto & Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Tatsumi Fujinami, Osamu Nishimura & Carl Malenko (11:23) when Takayama used a high-angle German suplex hold on Nishimura. 7. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2 - UWF Rules: Kiyoshi Tamura beat Volk Han (16:48) with the double wristlock.

The U-COSMOS Crown Tournament entered the second round with a stiff UWF Rules match-up between Alexander Otsuka and Ken Shamrock. Otsuka was especially aggressive throughout, keeping Shamrock on the rocks and at times, on the run from some of Otsuka’s KO-inducing suplexes. The striking was, more or less, on par, and on the mat, Shamrock kept going for that ankle hold but Otsuka was quick to escape back to his feet, looking for a suplex. Shamrock answered back with a big belly-to-belly suplex and eventually snagged hold of the ankle hold to submit Otsuka. Six-man tag action between Minoru Tanaka, Naoki Sano and Tamon Honda and the team of Shinjiro Ohtani, Koji Kanemoto, and Naohiro Hoshikawa was a bit of a highlight reel for each wrestler involved. The fans were into the faster paced action, and Minoru was able to pick up the win for his team after using the Minoru Special on Hoshikawa. Backstage, the trio were seen engaging with Jun Akiyama. Toshiaki Kawada and Yoshihiro Takayama had a slugfest of a match, with some big bombs thrown in for good measure. It was an uphill battle for Kawada, as he had endure wild barrages from Takayama, full of slaps and knees and quick throws. Takayama kept trying to set up for his German suplex hold but Kawada kept fighting out, backed by the crowd, finally staggering him with a gamengiri before using his strength to drop Takayama hard with the backdrop driver for the pinfall. In his second match with the promotion, Takashi Sugiura once more teamed with Brock Lesnar and got more time to shine against the team of Kensuke Sasaki and Takehiro Murahama. Tons of amateur-style takedowns, throws and holds by Lesnar and Sugiura, and the interactions between Kensuke and Brock were very heated at times. Lesnar planted Murahama with a big powerbomb before transitioning into a single leg crab hold, really wrenching back to force the submission. Lesnar ran his mouth toward Kensuke and backstage, Tully Blanchard continued singing the praises of his client. Jun Akiyama defeated Tatsumi Fujinami to advance to the quarter finals when he had to pull out the wrist-clutch Exploder to defeat the veteran. Lots of matwork between the two, with Fujinami ‘s experience playing to his advantage. A frustrated Akiyama had to resort to knee strikes when shown up on the ground, and forced Fujinami into more defensive positions. Fujinami was able to hook in the dragon sleeper at one point but Akiyama countered out into a Northern Lights suplex hold. When that wasn’t enough, he blasted Fujinami with a running knee before putting him away with the Exploder. Suzuki-gun battled it out with Yuki Ishikawa and Katsumi Usuda in a very hard-hitting tag match, which saw Suzuki-gun’s Kazuyuki Fujita and Kazunari Murakami emerge victorious following a brutal powerbomb by Fujita on Usuda. This victory laid the groundwork and momentum for the night’s main event. Minoru Suzuki took on Yuji Nagata under UWF Rules, and while Suzuki clearly had the advantage style-wise, Nagata had the crowd’s support which fueled his effort against Suzuki. He really went after Minoru with the strikes, especially the open hands and the kicks. Suzuki’s main strategy was to get Nagata on the ground where he could submit him but when that wasn’t working out initially, he fired back hard with the palm strikes. At one point, Nagata split Suzuki’s lip with a hard slap and Suzuki seemed to relish in the taste of his own blood as he and Nagata tore each other apart in the final minutes before Suzuki caught him with the choke and Nagata passed out. U-COSMOS “U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Night 6”, 10/3/00 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 8,500 Fans 1. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2 - UWF Rules: Ken Shamrock beat Alexander Otsuka (12:34) with an ankle hold. 2. Minoru Tanaka, Naoki Sano & Tamon Honda beat Shinjiro Ohtani, Koji Kanemoto & Naohiro Hoshikawa (9:16) when Tanaka used the Minoru Special on Hoshikawa. 3. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament – Round 2: Toshiaki Kawada beat Yoshiro Takayama (11:59) with the backdrop driver. 4. Brock Lesnar & Takashi Sugiura beat Kensuke Sasaki & Takehiro Murahama (8:34) when Lesnar used a single leg crab hold on Murahama. 5. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament – Round 2: Jun Akiyama beat Tatsumi Fujinami (14:27) with the wrist-clutch Exploder. 6. Kazuyuki Fujita & Kazunari Murakami beat Yuki Ishikawa & Katsumi Usuda (10:05) when Fujita used a powerbomb on Usuda. 7. U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2 - UWF Rules: Minoru Suzuki beat Yuji Nagata (17:46) with a rear naked choke.

U-COSMOS will return to its Tokyo home base for the second round of the U-COSMOS Crown Tournament, as match-ups were announced today for the two upcoming shows, scheduled to take place at Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan. As before, a mix of standard pro-wrestling and UWF rules will be used throughout the second round. U-COSMOS “U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Night 6”, 10/3/00 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2 - UWF Rules: Alexander Otsuka vs. Ken Shamrock U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2: Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Toshiaki Kawada U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2: Jun Akiyama vs. Tatsumi Fujinami U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2 - UWF Rules: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki U-COSMOS “U-COSMOS Crown Tournament Night 6”, 10/10/00 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2 - UWF Rules: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Masakatsu Funaki U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2: Brock Lesnar (w/ Tully Blanchard) vs. Kensuke Sasaki U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hiroshi Hase U-COSMOS Crown Tournament - Round 2 - UWF Rules: Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Volk Han