Kakutogi Road: The Chronological History of MMA
Chapter 58: UWF-I THE ROOT OF WRESTLING Nobuhiko Takada Mortal Kombat Ryogoku 2 Consecutive Battles 12/20/92 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
By Michael Betz & Mike Lorefice 5/5/22

In the late summer of 1991, the world could not get enough of Jean-Claude Van Damme's high kicking ways, so Columbia Pictures did the only sensible and proper thing to do, which was give us a film with double the Van Damme. Yes, the same man who gave us both, Bloodsport and Lionheart, had the courage to bless us with double the kicks, thrills, ponytails, and thick French accents, all while gloriously topping it off with a return of Bolo Yeung with the release of Double Impact. While that was a triumphant example of early 90s excess, I fear that Takada's take on this concept will be a bridge too far by any standard. Yes, not content in basking in the hollow victory of vanquishing both the Albright-monster and the ever girthy Koji Kitao, this latest harebrained scheme from the infamous duo of Booker Miyato and Anjo-san will attempt to pit Nobuhiko Takada against not one, but TWO world class opponents. This face palm of a publicity stunt would have helped elevate Takada to Grand Cordon status had he been able to back up his skills in the Pride FC era, but he didn't, and when the illusion of him being an unstoppable warrior was exposed, the shoot-style wrestling era was effectively over.

ML: In Double Impact, Van Damme as Alex Wagner tells his pretty boy brother Van Damme as Chad, "Take your fancy clothes and your black silk underwear and go back to Disneyland." This sentiment sums up my thoughts on Takada's laughable attempts at doing something that passes as shooting. Takada's shoot wrestling ability is surely the equivalent of Van Damme's acting, but at least the conceit of Double Impact is there are two different brothers who are martial arts geniuses running roughshod over the baddies, not one man now needing to eliminate two options for the company having any future headliners and big matches in one night rather than the usual one.

Makoto Ohe & Bovy Chowaikung vs. Rudy Lovato & Fernando Calleros

The date is 12-20-92, and this marks the final major show that we'll be covering for this year. Had you known me before I became a humble MMA scribe and told me that one day I would be writing about a tag team kickboxing match, I would have laughed. After all, not even the most incredulous of fantasies would ever conceive such a thing. But here we are, about to talk about an idea so far-fetched that even Vince Russo would have accused it of being over-the-top. Yes, it's time for the very first (and hopefully last) tag-team kickboxing match featuring Makoto Ohe/Bovy Chowaikung vs. Rudy Lovato/Fernando Calleros. If nothing else happens tonight, we can rejoice at the return of Rudy Lovato, who gave us one of the best fights in 1991 with his gonzo attacking style, and excellent use of the sidekick, when he gave Makato Ohe all he could handle. Lovato’s teammate will be Fernando Calleros, a man whom we’ve seen once before, a flashy fighter that didn’t seem to have much substance to him, so hopefully he will put on a better showing here.

I’m perplexed going into this as to what the rules are going to be exactly, but it seems that it will be similar to a professional wrestling tag match, only with kickboxers, which means we aren’t going to have rounds. First up is Calleros and Thai fighter Bovy Chowaikung. Calleros comes out with a bevy of flashy kicks, which seem to befuddle Bovy, but at the expense of his stability. Lavato gets quickly tagged in, and reminds me of why I always preferred the footwork of the shiny-pants style of the pre-K-1 era of American kickboxing over the more plodding Thai methods. Lavato again proves to be an excellent fighter from the side-stance, but he has his work cut out for him, as Bovy seems to possess plenty of patience and some powerful leg kicks. Like last time, Lavato has to rely on his boxing skills, as his kicking is completely underdeveloped compared to his opponents. Lavato/Bovy was a good matchup, and it irritated me that it got broken up with both men quickly tagging out as it was a great contrast between the Thai/American styles. Whereas Bovy only seemed interested in throwing huge kicks from a distance, Ohe is happy to keep things in the phone both range, stifling Calleros with knees from the clinch. This outing was a lot more brutal than their last encounter, with both men dealing a lot of punishment to the other. That punishment didn’t last long, however, as we then got the best portion of the match with Lavato and Bovy back in the ring, and Lavato was just looking fantastic. He had to take a few hard leg kicks, but he was blitzing Bovy with some blistering hand combinations. It also helped that Calleros started shouting some hilarious instructions, like, “His chin is wide open, uppercut! Yeah, yeah, he can’t take it. He can’t even punch for *#@# sake! Not on the forehead, the chin!” In fact, this sequence between these two may be the most exciting segment of footfighting we’ve seen all year, as Lavato had fire in his palms, but Bovy was not found lacking with his hellacious leg kicks. Ohe/Calleros find themselves back into the ring, and I have to give Calleros a lot of credit as he’s looking much better this time than in his last fight. He was putting tons of pressure on Ohe with a lot of fast boxing, eventually pushing him into the corner where his buddy Bovy was lurking, and it appeared that Ohe was on his way to getting knocked out when the Thai stuck his fist out and tapped Ohe’s shoulder, which somehow counted as a tag to the referee. Lavato then shouted, “That’s not a $#@%$(% tag,” to which I am forced to agree. After that travesty, the Thai also was on the receiving end of a nice beating from Calleros, but out of nowhere, he got popped with a nasty knee, which gave the Ohe/Bovy team the win. These are the kind of shenanigans that would normally make one suspect, but I don’t think that there was any foul play here, just an awful decision from the ref, which probably cost the Americans the match. Still, despite that sour ending, the action was fantastic, and was one of the best matches of the year, at least in terms of keeping an awesome pace the entire way through. I have no desire to see another tag-kickboxing match anytime soon, but I really liked this for what it was.

ML: Previously, I would have thought it would have taken a "creative genius" at the level of Vince Russo to concoct such an odd format where the combatants are encouraged to tag, however they lose a point every time they do so. Certainly, creating a unique format isn't always a good thing, and it was extremely annoying that they turned their legitimate format into a bizarre sparring contest. Lovato tormented his muay thai opponent Bovy by circling endlessly rather than standing in front of him where Bovy could blast him with kicks, which probably annoyed the hell out of most people, but I was so excited to see someone actually moving in a pro wrestling ring rather than just waiting to be hit, that I didn't care if it was making the match less "entertaining". Ohe & Calleros made up for it with high paced phone booth fighting, with a lot of nice body work. Most of this looked good, but the knee Bovy KO'd Lovato with was quite unconvincing. This was okay, but I hope to never see another tag team kickboxing pageant.

Junior League Match: Tom Burton vs. Mark Silver

Now for a fight that no one needed, or asked for, Silver vs. Burton. Now, both of these two have been offering up some decent moments when they have had a strong opponent to work with, but I can’t see these two meshing very well. This contest is starting better than I expected with a delicious fireman’s carry executed from Silver. I may have spoken too soon, as while it looked like this bout was starting to flow in the right direction, we get one of the slowest, and most ridiculously overacted crabs this side of Boston. It wasn’t long after that that Silver fell down after his knee buckled, seemingly for no reason, which prompted the ref to end the match. I suspect that the knee injury was a shoot, at this ended before it even began at just over 2 mins long.

ML: I assume Silver tore something in his left knee when he tried to throw the right knee. Otherwise, nothing happened in this 2 minute match, other than Burton being a jerk celebrating the injury to distract the crowdt while Silver was down writhing in agony.

Junior League Match: Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Yoshihiro Takayama

Now, to dig back into that everlasting well of Jr. League Matches, and by everlasting we mean the 5th matchup between these two, which would have probably been the 13th in a row between Kanehara and better Maeda, had Maeda not retired earlier in the year. It’s kind amazing, both in a good and bad sense of the word, that around this time last year in 1991, both Kanehara and better Maeda were making their debuts, and putting the entire country of Japan on notice that this style was not only evolving quickly, but that the ceiling of quality was nowhere near what it was capable of up to this point. However, it doesn’t seem like there is really any vison or plan for this outfit other than to continually try and get its main star, Takada over, so hopefully that changes in 1993.

As for this match itself, I have to admit that I am impressed with Takayama’s spirit at the opening. He comes right out and shows us a fantastic intensity, in fact, I would go as far as to say these first couple of mins are probably the best stuff we’ve seen from him so far. He still has an awkward gait, but he is putting a 100 percent effort into this, and unlike his last encounters, looks mostly credible in doing so. Kanehara also answered with plenty of his own intensity, even throwing some pre-Pride soccer kicks our way. Kanehara was quite impressive in how he blended his grappling and striking, never wanting to get stuck in one mode for too long, which kept the pressure on Takayama. The middle of the match shifted away from raw aggression and more towards pro wrestling high spots, with Takayama pulling off the more impressive of the slams when he seemingly sent Kanehara about 100 feet into the air with a fisherman’s suplex. Of course, as the match progressed, Takayama’s output slowed down since he doesn’t have the cardio to do this style, outside of maybe 3-5 mins. However, unlike their last encounters, this wasn’t a problem as it shifted away from the brazen non-stop striking output of the original series of Kanehara/Maeda matches once Takayama got tired, and by blending in more of a pro wrestling flavor, it not only hid some of Takayama’s weaknesses, but also served to add some entertainment value. This wound up being their best match yet, as even Takayama’s few awkward moments never got in the way of the pacing or intensity of the match. Kanehara did wonders here by constantly forcing the pace, and this is probably the best that Takayama will ever look. ****

ML: Their 5th outing is considerably more successful than even the best moments of their previous four combined. They are still utilizing the same shell that produced the great Kanehara vs. Maeda matches, but Kanehara has finally learned to expect nothing from Takayama, and thus that he must keep things as simple for him as humanly possible, and do as much as he can on his own. Maeda was keeping as high pace as he could, and providing actual quality standup action that was a great compliment to Kanehara's slick matwork, as well as inserting counters that were just as speedy as Kanehara's in all aspects of the fight. Takayama only has a couple minutes of stamina, a sloppy flying kick, clinch knees that don't really connnect, and a few submission holds without the technique or movement to get to them without Kanehara gift wrapping them (which he begrudgingly had to do). Luckily, they have wisely shifted to Takayama simply attacking like a wildman, which somewhat disguises his clumsiness, and the facts that his technique is all around terrible, with half of his shots barely touching Kanehara. Takayama is basically only using knees, which allows him to briefly overwhelm Kanehara between Kanehara providing the diversity by countering with a wide array of maneuvers. The matwork didn't look too clunky because Takayama was being threatened most of the time. The match was nonstop action, with Takayama flying at Kanehara with a jumping kick or knee, then Kanehara soon suplexing/taking him down, which gave Takayama a brief rest before he had to rush in again. Kanehara looked great here, and did as good a job as he could of distracting from Takayama's shortcomings. It's great action, even if it's often sloppy and uncoordinated, and not the least bit realistic. It's kind of surprising the match goes 13 minutes given they are just burning points. Takayama didn't have the energy to even do his big charge in the later stages, so Kanehara began to dominate him in stand up, using his movement to pick on the stationary target. He has already dominated the suplex and submission game throughout, and it becomes just a matter of time before he finishes the now compromised oaf yet again, this time with a rear naked choke to capture the 1st Junior League. I don't know how to rate this because if this were Kanehara vs. Masakazu Maeda, it would have been a great match, and probably ten other guys in the promotion would also have an excellent or better match with Kanehara here, but this is actually at least entertaining in spite of Takayama undermining things with basically everything beyond his strong effort and willingness to follow Kanehara. This is clearly not amazing beyond their desire for it to be, but it's a fun attempt at a memorable match, rather than their previous ones that were so far off the mark they just seemed pathetic. This is definitely the best Kanehara has looked since Maeda retired, he did a great job of filling in the gaps, really covering Takayama when Takayama was unsure how to proceed. Takayama's effort was genuine, and it was his least bad performance thusfar. ***

Bad News Allen vs. Yuko Miyato

It’s time for the return of everyone’s favorite judoka, Allen, “Bad News” Coage. Of course, thanks to the ever-increasing mismanagements of Booker Miyato, Allen isn’t coming into this having been a major part of the Heavyweight Title scene, but is already occupying the mid-card, presumably with no real purpose other than being a warm body. Miyato immediately charges in with the kicks and almost escapes Allen’s response of the classic Seoi Nage (One Arm Shoulder Throw), but Allen was able to make a last-second adjustment for a gain in superior position. This brief match was mostly Allen tossing Miyato around like a frisbee before armbarring him for the victory. Allen’s judo still looks nice and crisp, but otherwise moves around just a smidge faster than Dolman. This felt pointless, but at least it establishes Allen as a mid-card player. * ¾

ML: Miyato owes Bad News some wins after putting over his old Karachi Vice rival Vokhan twice, but this is not a good matchup stylistically, especially in 1992. Miyato is all about speed, but Bad News is heavy, and is not controlling his body well or doing anything with any particular quickness. He is just a grinder at this point, which doesn't make for a particularly exciting match. With Bad News' size advantage, this was largely a squash, though Miyato predictably had a couple explosive flurries in stand up before getting thrown and weighed on.

Dan Severn vs. Yoji Anjo

This contest will be the 2nd step towards Severn’s path to being both a mainstay in MMA and pro wrestling for years to come. Last month, we saw his brief debut, which didn’t reveal much outside of the knowledge that Dan was a much quicker man when he was younger, so had he started MMA in his mid-20s he would have been a scary dude indeed. Anjo does a great job of bullying Severn with some fast strikes, and he is smart enough to know that he has to stick and move to avoid the takedown. Eventually, Severn gets the clinch, but having ropes is a much better deal for the striker than a cage, and Anjo wisely keeps in mind his ring positioning. This was probably about as good as it was going to get, thanks to Anjo’s spunkiness breathing a lot of life into what would otherwise have been a total dud. Still, even with Anjo’s help, there is only so much you can do with Severn. His wrestling was fantastic, but that’s all he knew how to do, so it was up to Anjo to keep things moving. For the most part, this was fine, it was brisk, and Severn did just about every variation of a slam that he could think of. The main issue was it was short, and Severn doesn’t really know how to “work” with this opponent. It’s probably a good thing it was as abbreviated as it was since Severn isn’t ready yet for anything longer than the 6 mins that he had here. ** ¼

ML: This is what a Gary Albright match could be if they put any effort into the booking, and Albright actually had some energy. Severn came across as a beast, but this was a extremely entertaining, if still too one-sided. Certainly a lot better in actuality than the sum of its parts, as they really brought a tremendous amount of urgency to the encounter, and were consistently working extra hard, scrambling for positions. Yes, the match was Severn trying to deposit Anjo on the canvas, but this wasn't a grinding encounter by any means. It was instead nonstop action, as they kept moving once they hit the canvas, rather than just (or really ever) resting. Anjo was in full on desperation mode, trying to squirm back to his feet like a displaced kickboxer, and Severn was trying to improve his position to get the finish. Even when Severn hit a nice gutwrench suplex, Anjo popped up and charged at him with a high kick. They kept things exciting with Severn hitting a wide variety of suplexes and slams, but the problem was they never established a path to victory for Anjo, who was certainly portrayed as having the striking advantage, but if he was lucky, he would land a kick or two before just getting tossed yet again. Anjo finally hurt Severn with a sidekick, but it was simply played as a Miyato style hope spot, with Anjo trying to follow up by charging with a middle kick, only to have Severn catch it and slam him yet again. Dan applied a kneebar that could very well have been the finish the way this match was going, but Anjo had no quit in him, and kept turning, twisting, and leaping, ultimately dropping a knee on Severn before finally freeing himself. Again, Anjo is supposed to be one of the stars of this promotion (if we can pretend there are any beyond Takada & Gary), there's no real reason he can't have some so success on his feet, put together a couple knees or drop Dan with a big kick, except that Miyato can't see past establishing a temporary star (until Takada dispatches him). Severn soon powerslamed Anjo, and finished him off with a sort of side 1/2 crab plus facelock combination that they just called a leg lock in the results. Even though this match was very short and not very competitive, the action itself was almost shockingly good, with nice contributions from both performers. ***

Gary Albright vs. Masahito Kakihara

It was actually Kazuo Yamazaki’s turn to be squished by the giant Albright-monster, but he dislocated his shoulder in training, thus prompting the last min replacement by the man with the fastest palms in the East, Masahito Kaikihara. The last time these two squared off, it was an awful mauling for young Kakihara, and I fear that this will be no different. And different it was not. The leviathan of a man pummeled the insignificant Kakihara as if we were but an annoying insect via a series of suplexes, a full-nelson, and his new finisher, a devastating variation of the dragon suplex. Kaikihara was allowed a marginal amount more offense than last time, with a few slaps, a knee, and a nifty rolling kneebar attempt, but this was just a squash, which makes no sense to put on a year-end show. I suppose it served its purpose of unveiling Albright’s new suplex weaponry along with putting the world on notice that he’s enraged about no longer being “Best in the World.” *

ML: I thought I had learned early in life that it was better to sleep in then subject myself to Saturday morning squashes. With Bad News here, and a steady stream of jobber matches, all we need are his sewer rats and an episode of The Flower Shop... This was essentially the same match we just saw from Severn and Anjo, minus any of the good parts. All there was here was Albright throwing a suplex, or holding on until he overpowered Kakihara, so he could throw another suplex.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Dennis Koslowski

I had thought that I had already covered the most ridiculous topic that we were ever going to broach here at the Kakutogi Road a few months ago when we dealt with the Takada/Koji Kitao disaster. Sadly, I severely underestimated the insanity of Booker Miyato, and now we are about to embrace one of the dumber ideas this side of the Brawl For All, and that’s Takada beating not just one main event opponent but two. Why, because he’s just that badass, that’s why. The silver lining here, of course, is the debut of Duane’s older brother, Dennis Koslowski. This acquisition is a fine one by any standard, however, in some bizzarro fashion, this is probably not what the UWF-I needs, another fantastic American wrestler, since they already have a lot of that on their roster, and would probably be wiser mining the same territory as Maeda and trying to get some people that are strong in sambo/judo/etc. into the mix. It’s a good thing that the internet only barely existed when this match was taking place, as that was probably the only comfort that such a decorated athlete like Koslowski could take, knowing that hardly anyone in America was likely to witness this farce. Looking at this now, it’s easy to see that one of the biggest blessings that American MMA has given North America is an outlet for elite wrestlers to use their skills. Had the UFC existed at this stage, then Koslowski might have had an opportunity to have a solid career for a few years, but opportunities like jobbing to Takada were one of the few sources for a decent paycheck once the Olympic glories had faded. This went as you would expect, with Koslowski looking fantastic. He moves around like a swifter and more technical version of his brother. Unlike the Kakihara match, Koslowski was allowed to look great out here until it was time for Takada to kick him into oblivion. This was garbage, but I am walking away impressed with Koslowski, and I would dare say that this might be the strongest foreigner that they’ve yet picked up.

ML: This was a great signing for UWF-I, as the lesser of the Koslowski brothers in international wrestling, Duane, had already shown good promise for PWFG. Dennis was the Olympic bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1988, and was fresh off the silver medal in 1992. If they were going to do Superstars matches on this show, feeding someone to Dennis to get his feet wet would have been reasonable. Of course, realistically, even Takada would lose to a new performer of this magnitude. I mean, to put things into perspective, future UFC Heavyweight Champion & MMA Hall of Famer Mark Coleman only finished 7th in Freestyle in the '92 Olympics, while future UFC Heavyweight Champion & MMA Hall of Famer Randy Couture was merely an alternate. Having Koslowski defeat Takada with no build up wouldn't be the best path to the result obviously, but the point is UWF-I needs another title challenger, and we've seen even Maeda put over key foreigners out of the sheer necessity to actually have credible opponents. Instead, the story of the night was the other natives having been overwhelmed by mighty credentialed foreigners, judo Olympian Bad News Allen ran over Miyato, and then the two big wrestlers Severn & Albright squashed Anjo & Kakihara, leaving Superman Takada to once again save the day for the promotion by proving he's not only more powerful than a body lock, but even a locomotive. To his credit, Takada was willing to sell for Koslowski. Koslowski would get him down and go for an Achilles' tendon hold, leading to an awkward footsy battle before they eventually got back to their feet. The action was not exactly flowing smoothly, alternating between clunky and passable in a remedial sort of way, with Takada throwing a few really heavy kicks once he finally avoided the clinch. The super loose finish where Takada took Koslowski's back, then his neck, then pulled him down into the armbar without ever having any real control or exerting any actual force was quite ridiculous.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Naoki Sano

Now for the 2nd half of the Takada’s running the gauntlet, a match with another explosive acquisition, Naoki Sano. Sano is fresh off of being free from any obligations to the now-defunct SWS promotion, and with PWFG’s status being in limbo, it only made sense for him to come here. Sano is just the kind of performer they need to beef up their roster, but like every other interesting person that has come their way, this will only serve to throw more chum at the Takada shark. By pro wrestling standards, this was an entertaining match, and these two seem to have good chemistry with each other. Sano forced Takada to work, although he still looked completely clueless anytime he hit the canvas. Overall, I don’t take any issue with this match, it was probably the 2nd best match on the show (not counting the kickboxing bout), but the aggravation here again lies with the booking. By having Sano win, it could have opened up any number of new possibilities, but now another talent is wasted by being good but not good enough to compete with the mighty Takada. This inanity makes me reexamine Akira Maeda in a whole new light as he always booked himself strong, which helped his company, but would also allow himself to lose when it was necessary, which was also good for his company. This invincible shtick has already worn thin, and we’re only two years into this promotion. If I can remove my annoyance with the outcome, I would say that we have a *** ¼

ML: UWF-I tossing away one potential main eventer in a night apparently wasn't enough, they also had to kick a gift horse in the mouth. Now logically, having Takada beat Koslowski earlier really only served one purpose, it was a great way to have debuting Sano come in and defeat Takada without truly beating him, and then Sano could lose to Takada in main events ten times in a row, but he would always have that one victory when Takada was worn down by going through a near best in the world wrestler first. You might say this is ridiculous, Sano was only a junior heavyweight champion, similar to Takada a few years before him, but look at Sano's results in "shooting ". He's actually undefeated with wins over main eventers Ken Shamrock & Bart Vale, two wins over Jerry Flynn, and a 30:00 draw with main eventer Minoru Suzuki. That's more or less as good a resume as anyone else can claim, as even Takada lost to Albright and in some tag matches (all due to his partner, of course). Sano's matches in PWFG were all quite good, and very action packed, but Takada was in control here, and he was dictating a slow and only sporadically eventful match where he was in complete and total command. One of the most annoying things about Japanese wrestling is how desperately the stars cling to the hierarchy. They will put over the top foreigners because they don't perceive them as a threat, but when it comes to a native, they aren't giving an inch. And once again, we saw Takada being generous by his low standards with Koslowski, but then having Sano on the defensive the majority of the fight. The way these two Takada matches were worked, Sano should have been the apetizer, which only served to make this match and Sano's showing seem all the more underwhelming. While this was a better match than the previous one due to Sano being far more experienced and skilled in pro wrestling than Koslowski, it was a huge disappointment given this should actually have been the one good Takada match of 1992. What was most frustrating is you never got the sense that he was really trying to have a good match,. Takada had a low workrate and was mostly trying to dominate in his lame way, where he just kind of falls on/into the submissions because he doesn't understand the setup or have any ability to move credibly on the mat. Sano had to have an answer in order to do literally anything, and while he had a few moments, they never resulted in any kind of a run or threat, they just momentarily prevented him from drowning. His work honestly didn't look that good here either, but I'm not sure if it was that he was nervous, or just never allowed to gain a foothold in the match or reallty even fully participate. There were a few nice explosions, and some powerful kicks, but this neither had a big match feel nor came together in a manner that felt like anything more than the usual exhibition of Takada dominating the dude of the day. It was a foregone conclusion that Takada was going to win this from moment one, and even against an opponent who favored action over realism, he was as lazy as ever, prefering to keep things slow and methodical. I was left with zero desire to see a rematch, and nothing beyond previous knowledge to make me feel that I needed to see Sano vs. any of UWF-I's other jobbers. Even with two should be useful new hands debuting here, the only reasonable matches going forward are yet another Takada vs. Albright, and Takada vs. Severn because they got lucky that Severn actually hustled enough tonight to put himself into the conversation. Counting on Takada vs. whoever to sell out big arenas indefinitely should not exactly be the solid plan you want heading into the New Year, much less the only plan.

Conclusion: So, after two years of deep thought, soul searching, and thoughtful rumination, I am now convinced that the UWF-I is the living equivalent of lyrics to a DIO album. On one hand you get gems like,

Well, I grew up quick

And I felt the kick

Of life upon a stage

So, I bought the book

And then I took a fast look

At just the very last page

It was a single word

That I'd just heard

From the two that came before

The only way

To really stay

Is to walk right out the door

Then, on the other hand, you can spend the rest of the album watching Dio try and figure out as many ways possible to rhyme words like, “fire,” “stone,” and “steel.” So, it is what it is, this outfit has such an amazing depth of talent at this point that they should be tearing the house down every month with top-to-bottom excellent cards, but it’s hard to get too excited since we know they will find a way to mess things up. Both from an historical, and entertainment perspective, this was a huge step down from their card at the end of 1991. This had a good match with Kanehara/Takayama, some great kickboxing action that was unfortunately marred by some bad reffing, and a good match with Takada/Sano if taken in a vacuum, but they are capable of so much more.

ML: Had Dream Evil not been recorded in 1987, Ronnie James could have been thinking about UWF-I when he wrote

"We bring you fantasy
We bring you pain
It's your one great chance for a miracle
Or we will disappear never to be seen again
And all the fools sailed away
All the fools sailed away
Sailed away"

This was always going to be a rough show once it was known that Tamura & Yamazaki weren't going to be on the card, but the emphasis on native vs. foreigner matches isn't leading to good wrestling or anyone other than Takada and Albright being taken seriously. Again, at least one of us liked each of the native vs. native matches, but the rest of the card mostly fell flat. They don't need all these fighters and matches to just do the same thing endlessly, 8 matches leading to just an hour of ringtime is not exactly ideal, especially when tag kickboxing accounts for over 25% of that.

Krummel's Korner

Prefight interview with Sano: Q: “What are your thoughts on Takada?” A: “I do think he is a very strong fighter from out of the many existing promotions.  He is certainly a worthy opponent for me to challenge and the best opponent for me to test my abilities.” Q: “Are you confident you will win tonight?” A: “Well, whatever happens I will aim to win and will do my best.”

Prefight interview with Takada: Q: “What are your thoughts on the two matches tonight?” A: “Well… what I am most worried about is that I might lose my composure or perspective, after the first match, and that is quite dangerous.  So I want to control myself so that won’t happen, even though that’s very difficult… Well, in any case, the first match, I will absolutely win.  But win or lose, I will have to then transition to the match against Sano without losing my composure.  He isn’t an easy opponent.  That’s the point [I need to watch out for].” Q: “What are your thoughts on Dennis Koslowski?” A: “Well, in regard to his reputation, I’ve heard that he’s stronger [than his brother] both in ability and in his heart.  Let alone, he’s a medalist from the previous Olympics and he’s still aiming to conquer Atlanta [the next Olympics in 1996].  But nevertheless I cannot lose, and I would like to win by showing the difference between a professional and an amateur [wrestler].  So it’s not just about winning.” Q: “What are your thoughts on Sano?” A: “I used to train with Sano a lot back in the day, but this will be our first time to face each other in a match.  I have seen his matches.  But I can’t tell what he’s like unless I actually fight him.  But he’s got a lot of good qualities, so as I stated earlier, after I end the first match, if I can go straight into the match with Sano, to fight him, without losing composure, I don’t think I would lose.  But he’s not an easy opponent, so I will be careful.” Q: “Looking back this whole year, what are your thoughts?” A: “Well… at the end of last year, I felt that unless I leave results in the coming year, which is this year, four or five or six times as many results as that of the previous year, nothing better than the previous year will be born and I won’t be evaluated highly.  In that sense, compared to last year, I feel that I was able to leave good results and evaluations this year.  As a consequence I received the Pro-wrestling prize, its MVP [Most Valued Player] prize [awarded by prowrestling magazines], and both I and UWF-I, Tamura, were able to go abroad.  So in many senses, I think the year was quite good and better than before.  And next year, unless I try out different things, if not four or five times, but at least two times more than in the past, and leave results and evaluations, the image will be toned down.  So I’d like to keep flying and aim for the MVP next year as well.”

Opening ceremony: Announcer introduces each fighter taking part in the semifinals of the Junior League Tournament: Takayama, Kanehara, Burton, and Silver.  In points Takayama is leading with 4 points, followed by Kanehara with 3 points, then Silver with 1 point, and Burton with 0 points.  Due to the points, unless Takayama loses in his match with Kanehara, he will win the tournament even if he draws.

Another announcement: Kazuo Yamazaki who was scheduled to fight Albright tonight, due to injury by dislocating his shoulder when Albright threw him in a German suplex in the double bout [tag team match] in the previous event, is unable to fight tonight.  He would like to say a word of greeting.  Yamazaki’s greeting: “Thank you for coming tonight.  I cannot fight tonight.  But each and every fighter who will be fighting tonight has been training very hard, so please do not miss any moment of the fights tonight.  Thank you.”

Makoto Ohe & Bovy Chowaikung vs. Rudy Lovato & Fernando Calleros (standing double bout 20mins 1 fall) 17:03

[my thoughts: Wow, tag-team kickboxing]

Tom Burton vs. Mark Silver (Junior League tournament 1st round, 15mins 1 fall) 2:31

Junior League Match: Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (Junior League tournament 1st round, 15mins, 1 fall) 13:05

Takayama’s prefight interview: “In the past in my 4 matches [against Kanehara] since my debut, I’ve been on a complete losing streak and I haven’t fought in a while, but today I would like to achieve my first victory against Kanehara-san.” Q: “What’s your strategy today?” A: “Well Kanehara is very good at wrestling and, of course, he’s also good with his kicks, but I think it’s more advantageous for me to fight standing so I’ll either knock him down by throwing him or use my knees to aim for a KO.”

Kanehara’s prefight interview: “Yeah, we’ve fought 4 times in the past and I’ve beat him in all 4, but each match lasted longer than the previous one so he’s getting more and more dangerous.  And today’s match is a 15mins time limit, so it would be bad if he tries to drag me into a draw from the very beginning.  But if he fights aggressively to win, that will also open a chance for me.  It will just be dangerous if he tries to intentionally drag me into a draw with him.” Q: “Do you have any strategy for beating Takayama?” A: “Takayama’s techniques, each of them, are still sloppy.  So a little opening will give me the chance to put him in a submission when we’re on the ground.  But, of course, he has strength.” Q: “Any final words?” A: “I will win!”

[my thoughts: At this point, Takayama, still green and uncoordinated, awkward in his movements, is just tall and lanky but sucks in grappling & overall fighting skills… Later he bulks up (with steroids?) and then becomes better at least as a performer and perhaps even somewhat as a fighter…]

Kanehara’s postfight interview: Q: “Congratulations on your win.” A: “Thank you.” Q: “How did you feel today?” A: “At the beginning I received a knee and had a hard time as a result, but somehow I managed with grappling submissions.  But nevertheless he gave me a hard time.” Q: “In the first half of the match, Takayama was pretty aggressive..” A: “yeah, in the 1st half of the match I hurt my neck and my chin and my head was spinning so I thought to myself this is dangerous… but I managed a win somehow.” Q: “Would you now like to fight some of the upper level fighters?” A: “Yes, I’d like to first fight Kakihara.” Q: “Thank you.” A: “Thank you.”

Bad News Allen vs. Yuko Miyato (30mins 1 fall) 3:51

Dan Severn (US amateur wrestling and sambo champion)  vs. Yoji Anjo (30mins 1 fall) 6:12

[my thoughts: pre-UFC Severn vs. pre-Rickson fight Anjo; Severn’s finishing submission is interesting… almost like a power submission twisting Anjo’s whole back by squeezing his leg with a leg lock and his neck together… but I wonder if one could pull that off in a real grappling match..]

Announcement of the results of the Junior League tournament, with the completion of official matches: Winner: Kanehara with 2 wins, 0 losses, 1 draw; 2nd place Takayama with 2 wins, 1 loss; 3rd place Burton with 1 win, 2 losses; and 4th place. UWF-I director Suzuki reads the certificate of commendation for the tournament for Kanehara, basically saying UWF-I pronounces him winner of the tournament for the superior points he gained, etc., etc., and the date, and signed by UWF-I representative Nobuhiko Takada.  A trophy and ¥500,000 [would be approximately $4000 today] are given as prize.  And to the 2nd place holder Takayama, ¥300,000 [about $2,500.00] is given.  And for 3rd place holder Burton, ¥200,000 [about $1,700.00] is given.

On ring interview with Kanehara: Q: “Congratulations for winning the tournament.” A: “Thank you.” Q: “You have brought the year of 1992 to a close in a wonderful manner.  Looking back on your matches, how do you feel?” A: “Around this time of last year, here at the Ryogoku Sumo Hall, I had my debut match.  And so I’m very happy that today again here in this same hall I was able to win this title.  Thank you for cheering for me!”  Q: “What are your hopes for next year?” A: “I will continue training every day, even more than before, and continue becoming stronger.  And I’ll be chasing after the top fighters from below, so continue cheering for me!” Q: “Thank you… Let’s give Mr. Kanehara a big round of applause!”

Gary Albright vs. Masahito Kakihara (semifinal: 45mins 1 fall) 2:48

[my thoughts: Albright finished Kakihara with what, 15 or so years earlier, was Tatsumi Fujinami’s original and signature move, the Dragon suplex (suplex with full nelson)! I think I recognize Sakuraba as one of the young boys aiding Kakihara back to his dressing room.].

Double main event [my thoughts: I don’t know what the point of this is… it’s unrealistic for a real fight]

Nobuhiko Takada (prowrestling world heavy wt. champion) vs. Dennis Koslowski (Barcelona Olympics wrestling bronze medalist) (special match: non-time limit 1 fall) 5:46

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Naoki Sano (special match: non-time limit 1 fall) 12:51

Takada’s post fight interview on the ring: Q: “How did you feel about your 2 fights tonight?” A: “The fights were not easy.  I wasn’t completely satisfied.  The 2nd match ended too fast.  Sano, let’s fight again, let’s fight again.” Q: “Mr. Takada, this year you won the Best Pro-wrestler Award, and you ended the year with these 2 wins.  This year seems to have been a very good year for you.” A: “It’s worth fighting to win.  And I did manage to win even though the matches were difficult.  So it was good.” Q: “What are your hopes for next year?” A: “Next year as well, for the sake of the prowrestling world, together with UWF-I as one body, I will continue my challenges in all directions… Please continue cheering for us.” Q: “Thank you very much, Let’s give Takada a big round of applause!”

[my thoughts: This whole angle that UWF-I kept pushing throughout of Takada being invincible to the point that he can fight 2 opponents in a row in one night… when he wasn’t that invincible in the previous promotions, he fought in… just didn’t make sense to me.  Too unrealistic… I guess the point was to show how much superior Takada is to a top Olympic amateur wrestler as well as a top pro wrestler (Sano) coming in from another promotion.]

Takada’s locker-room post fight comments: “In terms of stamina, I wasn’t able to move as I wanted to, more than I had originally anticipated, and so I felt exhausted after coming back to the locker room.  But in a certain sense, what I feared the most was that I would lose my cool after the first match.  Whether Koslowski or Sano in terms of their spirit, the fact that they went that far, in a certain sense possessing aspects of an anti-heel, even though they have great techniques, skill and power in wrestling and they excel in all of that as baby face wrestlers… But to be one of the best in the prowrestling world, they could be evaluated more highly.  And in contrast to that, barring an anti-heel aspect, their spirit was not half-baked.  There will be more fights like that in the future where the opponent will really be trying to put me down.  With that kind of fighting spirit, the technique of 10 will become 30.  That’s what I learned from both fighters in these 2 matches.  But I could not afford to lose even as a joke.  So I cleared that… but when Sano got me in the arm bar towards the end, my arm was stretched out, so that scared me for a moment.” [my thoughts: I’m not sure what he meant by heel-aspect and babyface aspect… aside from them being traditional pro wrestling terms.]