ALL-OUT CONTEND BATTLE UWF INTERNATIONAL VS. NEW JAPAN

October 11, 1995

Kazushi Sakuraba . . . continues his rivalry with Tokimitzu Ishizawa and avenges his earlier loss.

Kenichi Yamamoto . . . has a tough couple of days, between the Ohtani match from the Dome and Takayama’s kicks.

Masahito Kakihara . . . gets to slap around the New Japan booker to retaliate for that tripe he was involved with two days previously.

KAZUSHI SAKURABA/HIROMITSU KANEHARA vs. TADAO YASUDA/TOKIMITZU ISHIZAWA

This just might be the least offensive Yasuda match I’ve ever seen. It probably helps that he’s Sumo Yasuda here, rather than Shooter Yasuda or (even worse) Alleged Pro Wrestler Yasuda. But his exchanges with the U-Inter guys have a nice little size vs speed/technique theme, where they can use their skills to stay ahead, but when he does catch them, he can’t do much more than neutralize them. With Ishizawa, they look to pick up where they left off in the Dome, especially when he’s in there with Sakuraba. It doesn’t feel like a technical chess match the way Fujiwara/Kido or something like Tamura/Kosaka did; it’s far closer to something like a college football game between two rivals. They’re equally skilled and occasionally let the rivalry bubble to the surface with things like Ishizawa throwing palm strikes into Sakuraba’s face. There’s a crafty little moment from the New Japan guys when Ishizawa catches a kick and tags in Yasuda, and he takes over holding the leg to keep Kanehara on one foot. But it’s technical precision that wins the day when Kanehara gets the cross kneelock. Ishizawa starts moving for the ropes, so Kanehara quickly repositions and angles himself to keep him from reaching them, forcing the tap out.

YOSHIHIRO TAKAYAMA vs. KENICHI YAMAMOTO

Although it’s easy to tell them apart by their looks, especially with Takayama’s ponytail and considerable height advantage, there isn’t much that separates these two as far as their work goes. Until the last minute or so, when Takayama starts blasting Yamamoto in the corner with kicks, scores a down, and softens him up enough for the winning armlock, they look essentially equal. Yamamoto easily hangs with Takayama on the mat, and the size difference doesn’t stop him from taking Takayama over with a hip throw or even a vertical suplex, and he surprises Takayama by snagging an ankle lock that forces a rope break.

There was clearly a point in putting Yamamoto in a match like this. After the thrashing he took from Ohtani, it was important to show that he wasn’t going to curl up and die against tough competition. He didn’t have to go over here, which he didn’t. He just needed to reestablish himself as a talented fighter who needed a bit more experience before he’d be ready to contend with the heavier hitters in the company. And that’s exactly what this match accomplishes: Yamamoto pushes Takayama as far as he can until Takayama figures him out enough to put him away.

NAOKI SANO vs. BILLY SCOTT

For being so short, this is surprisingly effective. And it’s honestly a nice way to help ease New Japan fans into the UWFI style. It’s far closer to that proverbial chess match; Sano clearly has the advantage, but it’s fun to see how Billy responds to him. His best moment comes after Sano starts weakening his leg with a couple of nasty low kicks, and Billy slams him to the mat and cranks an armlock that makes Sano grab the ropes. That’s the only time Sano really seems to be in trouble, but it’s fun to see Billy do things like the sleeper escape that would usually result in a near fall in a pro-style setting. But once Sano starts piling on the suplexes and draining Billy’s points, everyone knows he’s on borrowed time.

KENSUKE SASAKI vs. TATSUO NAKANO

Until the last minute or so, when Sasaki decides that he’s ready to finish the match, this is actually decent. For the second time in two days, Nakano is matched up with a NJPW guy that he should have no chance against, and puts on a better-than-expected performance. The early mat portion isn’t anything amazing, but it works in the sense that Nakano isn’t very good but he’s still better than Sasaki on the mat. Nakano wins the one real exchange they have. It’s certainly not smooth. Nakano tries to take him down but Sasaki blocks it and they wind up in the dual legbar situation. Sasaki tries to leverage the position into the scorpion and Nakano turns his ankle enough to stop him. Sasaki gives up the legbar and tries to escape, and Nakano just works his way to a mount, which Sasaki escapes to get them both on their feet again.

It’s also nice to see Sasaki being willing to sell here; Nakano gets a series of kicks that floor Sasaki and nearly keep him down for the count. Sasaki fires back with some knees that hurt Nakano, but he stays on his feet. Sasaki runs into a head kick and then another one sends him down again for a near KO. At that point, Sasaki decides he’s done enough: he hits a few slaps and a running lariat before a powerbomb that nearly drops Nakano on his head. Sasaki locks in the Stranglehold and it’s nice to see Nakano hang on for a little bit and only give up when it’s clear that he has no means of escaping or getting the ropes. Overall, it’s reminiscent of the matches Nakano had with Anjo. They weren’t technical or artistic masterpieces, but they had enough stiffness and grumpiness to make for a fun experience.

YOJI ANJO/MASAHITO KAKIHARA vs. RIKI CHOSYU/YUJI NAGATA

The main event pits the two UWFI wrestlers who were the most wronged on the New Japan Dome show against the New Japan Booker who wronged them and one of the New Japan young guns. One would expect, especially in a UWFI ring, that Nagata would be the sacrificial lamb to answer for Chosyu’s sins, but that’s not how this plays out. Sure, Nagata takes the loss when he submits to a sleeper from Kakihara, but for the most part he has no problems holding his own. It’s not the most satisfying outcome for the U-Inter fans, but it makes for a better overall match.

The Chosyu/Anjo bits are probably the centerpiece of the match. Anjo gets to vent his frustrations in the form of knees to the midsection, and there are a few fun moments to suggest that this could wind up as an ongoing program between them. Anjo gets Nagata on the mat and signals that he wants to ground and pound him and Chosyu runs in and kicks Anjo off. A bit later, Chosyu holds Anjo for a Nagata dropkick and Nagata follows up with a German suplex (to a huge reaction) and then a juji-gatame. Anjo is close enough to reach the ropes, but Chosyu kicks his foot off them. The ref still forces the break, and Anjo goes after Chosyu and opens himself up to a sleeper from Nagata.

Compared to how Chosyu works with Anjo (especially at the end when he no-sells another set of knees in the corner and then picks up Anjo and slams him down), he’s actually pretty giving to Kakihara. Kakihara peppers him with slaps and palm strikes and forces Chosyu to cover up, which draws a huge reaction. Then Chosyu locks Kakihara in a crucifix. The hold isn’t any sort of danger to him and it’s not like Chosyu has the mat skills to believably push Anjo and Kakihara like that, especially in a UWFI ring. But it keeps Kakihara stationary and the way he kicks and flails to escape shows that it’s doing its intended job. When it’s Kakihara and Nagata, the match resembles the opening tags of both this card and the Dome show, with the intensity and feeling of the young upstarts trying to prove themselves.

In fact, Anjo and Kakihara’s win comes from simply outwrestling Nagata and exploiting his inexperience rather than using some underhanded means or doing anything to make him look like a weak fighter. It starts with Anjo taking him down and getting an armbar and then trying for a chickenwing that Nagata was able to stave off. Then Kakihara tagged in and hit a series of strikes and seemed to look for a takedown or front headlock only to sneak behind Nagata and lock in the sleeper. In a way, the match feels like a moral victory for UWFI. As cathartic as it would probably have been for everyone to have the match be fifteen minutes of Nagata getting kicked and kneed in the face and having Anjo pull out every dirty trick in his book, by helping bring Nagata up to their level, their win feels more earned. Team UWFI didn’t win by making the opposition look worthless. They won by showing that New Japan is good, but UWFI is better.

Conclusion: Even without Takada, Yamazaki or Tamura on the card, this is a huge improvement over the Dome show. It retains the things that made that show enjoyable while (mostly) leaving behind the pettiness. If the Dome show showed that the concept *could* work, this is proof positive that it *does* work.