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Akira Maeda Intai Jiai ~The
Final~: Akira Maeda vs. Alexander Karelin |
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This match accomplished its goal. It made the company a ton of money, got them a ton of publicity, and made Maeda seem like the real deal even though he lost. The match was not a shoot, but it was believable enough that most people thought it was. In a situation like this where you have a hero retiring, all that really matters is if it's credible enough. The match was really basic, but it had to be since Karelin had never done a shoot before, much less worked a shoot. Maeda actually trained hard for this match, so he was in average condition for the first time in years. This made a big difference when it came to his kicks, which were his best offense, because he was a little more flexible and had some added zip on them. Karelin had no experience in kickboxing, so Maeda won the standup easily. The thing is Karelin could have taken Maeda down at will, so Maeda couldn't get more than a few kicks in at a time without stretching things. Karelin was like early Dan Severn on the mat. He could control his opponent due to his superior amateur wrestling skills, but he didn't have much in the way of submissions so he couldn't put them away. The fakest spot was Maeda picking Karelin's leg, with Karelin rolling to his stomach so Maeda could put on a gyakukataebigatame (1/2 crab). The fans popped huge, but Karelin was too close to the ropes for Maeda to get the win. Karelin did a nice headlock takedown then injured Maeda with his Karelin lift. This started out like a powerbomb. However, Maeda was fighting it off and Karelin's leg buckled when he was spinning Maeda, so he just dropped Maeda on his neck. Maeda tried to come back with knee lifts, but he was blown up by this point, so they did no damage and luckily Karelin quickly took him down. Karelin tried to tie Maeda up to stop his strikes. He was looking for a judo throw, but Maeda got his weight on top of Karelin, and Karelin went down. Maeda locked in a sleeper, but Karelin threw him off kind of like a snapmare then applied a kesagatame (a head and shoulderlock on the mat where one of the opponents arms is inside the lock), but Maeda got the ropes. Karelin was too strong and too good of a wrestler for Maeda, but he didn't have any finishers to use so he'd just throw Maeda down and go for some rudimentary lock. Maeda did next to nothing in the second round, but he lasted the whole match against the most dominant amateur wrestler in the world. If Karelin had time to train in shooting there's no doubt that he'd be a major force. He could come in today and beat most guys because he's got so much strength that he'd just throw you down and his wrestling ability would prevent you from getting off your back. Here he entered "Maeda's world" and beat him due to lost points, but really didn't make a great statement for himself because the story played up his weaknesses and Maeda wasn't going to go out looking like a chump. Still, by being Maeda's opponent in this match, he became a big name in Japan. There will be big money opportunities in Japan for him when he decides to end his amateur career, so there was no reason for him to look any better than he did. While it wasn't a great match by any means, you can't complain because the fans enjoyed it and the match worked out for everyone involved. 10:00
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