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| Nobuhiko Takada vs. Mark Coleman | |
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For once, I was very impressed by Coleman here. He's done some training for pro wrestling, but there's a huge difference between that and doing a worked match with a guy you aren't familiar with in the main event of a major show. One reason he did so well is that aside from pulling his punches to the face, he did everything with pretty much the same impact as he would in a real match. The reason this match wasn't that good is Takada is just hopeless at this point. From 1986-4/96, there was almost no one that was a better performer than Takada. However, the guy totally lost his drive when UWF-I crumbled, and there's really nothing positive you can say about him since that point. I realize shooting isn't his thing, and in a way he's paying for the "sins" of U.W.F. & UWF-I purporting to be the real deal for all those years. That said, the guy wasn't great in worked pro and shoot style matches just because he had great natural ability, he had to work hard to get to that level and stay there all those years. While no one ever thought he'd be a great shooter, he could at least try to be decent. I mean, is that too much to ask? He's just in it for the money at this point, and apparently PRIDE money isn't enough to even buy him taking a little pride in himself and getting his lazy ass into shape. At this point, the only emotion Takada allows any of his fans to have is sadness at what a disinterested money hungry bumb he's become. In the past, Takada has carried guys that were a lot worse than Coleman to good matches. Here, Takada offered no real assistance. He just laid on his back after Coleman slammed him to the mat with a powerful takedown. The whole first round was pretty much Coleman using the infamous "ground and pound." In the second round, Takada threw a few kicks with no zip on them, as it looked like he was too afraid Coleman was going to slam him to the mat again to open up. Coleman quickly took Takada down, but eventually Takada caught him in a heel hold. Coleman rolled toward the ropes, selling the move like you would in wrestling including the dramatic struggle before he was forced to tap out when he couldn't quite get to the ropes. Takada won the match, but I don't think it helped him much. It's true that attendance was way up for the next show, but I attribute that more to Naoya Ogawa making his PRIDE debut than to this win bringing Takada's drawing power back up all that much. Takada fans want to see the Takada of old, a guy who shows heart, determination, resilience, charisma, and fire. This Takada doesn't exemplify any of those traits, and this match only allowed him to get a "lucky win." Takada won the match, but was totally unimpressive throughout. Aside from the finish, his remaining fans were never given anything to cheer about. I guess $60,000 isn't enough to buy Takada getting any offense, like his famous kicks or knee lifts, in? Miko: This match didn't do as much for me. In a shoot (which this obviously was not) Takada would be lucky to last 5 minutes. Takada only landed a few decent kicks, which is a little disappointing. Coleman easily took Takada down, but was clearly pulling his punches. Then, in the second round, Takada managed a heel hook from the bottom for the win. Really, I don't think it's as bad of a work as I make it sound. Coleman and Takada worked pretty well together and made it look ok. If you are not familiar with shoots and shoot style wrestling, it would look fairly real. I think I too made it sound worse than it was. The match was alright, it's just that given Coleman's performances, alright wasn't acceptable to me. Special Thanks to: Miko Kubota - Michiku Pro 1:44 of Round 2 |
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