UWF ATLANTIS

October 25, 1990

Wellington Wilkins Jr. . . . makes Tatsuo Nakano look like the second coming of Yamazaki!

Nobuhiko Takada . . . and The Fuj~! say ‘to hell with submissions and suplexes’ and proceed to beat each other cross-eyed.

Masakatzu Funaki . . . shows that his recent string of wins was no fluke by stepping up to the Ace as well as anyone in the company has ever done.

YUSUKE FUKE vs. MASAHITO KAKIHARA

There’s clearly a point to the booking here, with these two opening their third consecutive event and amassing a record of 1-1-1 against each other. But, outside of the surprise finish of Kakihara tapping Fuke, there isn’t really anything new to see from either of them. Fuke is still presented as the more well-rounded, and overall better fighter (the finish of this notwithstanding). Kakihara has a couple of nice moments where he shows that he can be dangerous. Fuke goes to scoop up his leg and gets pasted with a ganmengiri that causes the first point of the match to be lost, and a minute later Kakihara hits a second head kick for another down. Fuke is woozy from the two kicks, the ref even checks on him after the second to make sure he can still go. But, aside from those two big shots, Kakihara throws a lot of kicks and slaps and doesn’t give Fuke any trouble. Fuke takes him to the mat, seemingly at will, and is able to trim Kakihara’s points that way, including making him burn a rope break in the first ten seconds of the match. The disparity between them is fully on display when Kakihara gets the sleeper, complete with body scissors, and seems like he’s finally going to get one over on Fuke from the ground, and Fuke is easily able to fend off the hold and turn his ankle to escape. In that sense, it’s hard to know exactly what to make of the finish; whether Kakihara simply got a lucky break with an opening or if he was just able to lull Fuke into a false sense of security. Fuke takes Kakihara over with a headlock and Kakihara rolls out of it and locks in a kata-gatame and after struggling to escape and get the ropes, Fuke winds up tapping. But, outside of the slick finish, this isn’t demonstrably different than their other matches. Their dead-even record suggests that they’d have had a rubber match at some point, if the Newborn UWF hadn’t closed up shop. Ideally, it’d have been held off for at least a few shows so that they could work with some other opponents (such as Kakihara working Tamura at the December event), so that Fuke/Kakihara part four isn’t simply a rehash of the first three installments.

SHIGEO MIYATO vs. MINORU SUZUKI

One thing that I’ve developed as I’ve made my way through the UWF shows is a sort of appreciation for Miyato. No, he’s never been a top tier worker (or even a second tier one), but he’s shown himself to be perfectly adequate on occasion. For pretty much the first half of this, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be one of those occasions. Miyato and Suzuki seemingly go out there with the intention of doing as little as possible for as long as possible. The only real highlight is Suzuki showing some craftiness by seemingly trying to get Miyato in a half crab and then switching gears to a juji-gatame, and when Miyato gets his arms clasped to block it, Suzuki switches again to a triangle and forces a rope break. After he gets the break, Miyato connects a kick to the midsection that gets Suzuki called down, and the intensity picks up quite a bit. Their actual work doesn’t change all that much, but the added intensity makes things like Miyato’s kick attempts and their stalemates when they clinch up seem more meaningful. Miyato may be considered adequate, but he’s absolutely no match for Suzuki by this point. Aside from the one big kick, Suzuki fends off everything else Miyato tries to throw at him. Miyato’s one successful mat exchange doesn’t even result in getting a hold locked in, and when Miyato is looking for a KO win with his kicks, Suzuki takes him down and submits him with a heel hold.

TATSUO NAKANO vs. WELLINGTON WILKINS Jr.

Wow. So… this was something. Wilkins does next to nothing other than a couple of pro-style suplexes. It looks like they’re trying to have a typical sort of UWF match at first, with the feeling out process like Suzuki and Miyato used. But Wilkins’ inability, or unwillingness, to go along with anything causes Nakano to throw up his hands, and it turns into a Steiner Brothers squash match. Nakano starts teeing off and suplexing Wilkins at will, until Wilkins figures out that he needs to just stay down. Man alive, it takes a special kind of awful for Nakano of all people to lose his cool and turn into Yamazaki.

YOJI ANJO vs. WAYNE SHAMROCK

This is a fun match on its own, but when looking at the bigger picture of the entire UWF landscape, it’s also a telling one. Of all the foreigners that they’d brought in over the course of two years, none of them had been made to look like an especially big deal. Anjo’s growth and elevation has been more evident than pretty much everyone else on the roster, seeing as Takada and Yamazaki were positioned from the beginning as the guys trying to knock off Maeda. Anjo started out at the bottom alongside the likes of Miyato and Nakano and worked his way up. And now, a brand new foreigner comes in and shows that he’s not only good enough to hang with Anjo, but even beat him. It makes one assume that they saw something big in Shamrock to give him a win like this right out the gate.

Anjo had emerged as one of the better mat workers in the company, and Shamrock is a good foil for him in that regard. With only a couple of exceptions, Shamrock doesn’t let him get something on too cleanly, and when he does, Shamrock is ready with a surprise counter or escape that gets the crowd excited. Anjo does his trademark suplex and before Anjo can do something to take advantage, Shamrock grabs him and scoots out of position and winds up doing an STF that causes Anjo to bail for the ropes. Of course, Anjo’s primary weapon is his knee strikes and when he gets the chance to unload on Shamrock, it looks like he’s going to be able to end the match, Shamrock gets called down and barely beats the count. But all is not what it seems. Anjo goes in for what he thinks is the kill with more knees, and it shows that Shamrock has his arms positioned to cushion the blows from the knee strikes. While Anjo is plugging away, Shamrock darts behind him and does a full nelson suplex, and in the only oddball moment of the match the ref starts counting a pinfall. Anjo rolls into a reverse armbar and Shamrock just rolls over and uses his free arm to lock in a sleeper and forces Anjo to tap. Just winning the match makes the statement that Shamrock is someone to contend with. But the way that he goes about doing it speaks even more volumes about what Shamrock might be able to do. He was able to take everything that Anjo threw at him (one could say kicks, submissions, and suplexes), and go on to outsmart and outwrestle Anjo for the win. If he got the same sort of win over, say Suzuki, then it could just be chalked up to Suzuki’s inexperience catching up to him. But beating someone as skilled and highly ranked as Anjo sends an entirely different message. Not too shabby for a guy whose first impression was that his mullet and pink tights looked like he ought to be doing trios matches with the Dynamic Dudes.

NOBUHIKO TAKADA vs. YOSHIAKI FUJIWARA

This match is pretty much every reason to love and be a fan of both of these guys. Fujiwara’s grin as Takada was throwing some of the most vicious low kicks you’ll ever see speaks volumes about his toughness and/or insanity. The match starts with something of a sprint, with Fujiwara going right at Takada with his trademark body punches and his headbutts. Takada takes him to the mat and wraps him up in a chickenwing, just as much to simply stop the onslaught as to try to wear him down, but Fujiwara manages to work his way free of the hold and back to his feet. Takada then tries to roll into a legbar, and after a bit of an extended sequence of them trading counters and trying to wear down each other with the hold, Fujiwara works his way to his feet and starts pelting Takada with more headbutts. Takada’s best efforts to avoid the lethal strikes ultimately wind up with him being left wide open for it.

That pretty much sets the story for the match. Takada has the idea of being able to outsmart or outwrestle Fujiwara, but The Fuj isn’t some undercard scrub that can be outdone that way, and they wind up pretty much brawling, with both men laying in some utterly nasty looking strikes. Fujiwara’s performance is simply masterful, he does his best effort to lead Takada away from his strengths, and seemingly give him openings to tee off, but in reality, it’s Fujiwara setting himself up to outsmart the younger man. At the same time, The Fuj absolutely understands, and respects, Takada’s skills and toughness and he knows full well that he’s not coming out of the match unscathed. But, his goal is to win the match, not to come out of it looking pretty. Fujiwara baits Takada into letting loose with his low kicks and takes the opportunity to snag his leg and take him down into a cross kneelock. The craftiness of Fujiwara seems to know no bounds, when it seems like Takada’s finally got him in real trouble, such as the juji-gatame or the legbar after he makes the point of dragging them away from the ropes, Fujiwara is already working on a counter or escape, and Takada lets loose with several kicks to the side of the head to prevent Fujiwara from turning his ankle to completely get free of the legbar. The various KO teases are as dramatic (especially on a first time watch) as anything that either of them has done in this company. Especially when Fujiwara knocks Takada down to his final point and Takada falls back down when trying to get to his feet. When Takada gets his chance to back Fujiwara into the corner and unload with his kicks, Fujiwara’s selling and facials are pretty much perfect for getting across the punishment that he’s enduring. Ironically, Fujiwara’s undoing is due to him falling into his own trap. With Takada down to his last point The Fuj goes to his trademark body punches, but by going that route, he opens himself up for Takada to fire away with knee strikes, and a few well-placed shots send The Fuj sprawling to the mat. The referee calls him down and takes away his last point. The official result says that Takada wins by KO, but Fujiwara was on his feet almost instantly.

These two weren’t exactly common opponents for each other, they had three matches in the Original UWF and three matches in this version. They’ve seemingly always had good chemistry together, but this is far and away their best match opposite one another. It’s also, quite possibly, the best match in the history of the Newborn UWF.

AKIRA MAEDA vs. MASAKATZU FUNAKI

I suppose it’s fitting that, on the same night as the best UWF performances of both Takada and Fujiwara, Maeda also puts in one of his better efforts. Even more than his match with Takada from June, he has to defend his top spot. This time against the young punk who comes into the match boasting victories over Yamazaki, Takada, and Fujiwara. This is pretty much the polar opposite of their first encounter in May; their mat exchanges were dull and listless in the first match, and this is anything but. What really makes it work, and what makes Funaki look so dangerous, is that it’s never quite certain if Maeda actually has his hold fully locked in. A good example is the sleeper, it appears that Maeda has it locked in tight, and he even throws in some headbutt shots to the back of his head just for good measure, but Funaki is able to work his way free of Maeda’s grip and get himself into position for a cross kneelock. A bit later Maeda manages to snag Funaki’s leg while he’s throwing a kick and attempts to take him down, but Funaki rolls right through and winds up having Maeda in position for a juji-gatame. The other thing that stands out about Funaki is how he seems to use his brain as much as his body. Each of his rope breaks is followed by him getting back up and going right back to swinging at Maeda. Instead of treating the ropes as a last resort and use up his strength, he’s willing to concede that Maeda had him trapped, and he understands that it’s better to lose a single point when a couple of good shots could either give him a KO win, or at least stun Maeda enough to let him get his own dangerous submission on. In fact, the only area that Funaki isn’t shown to be at least Maeda’s equal is throws and suplexes. Funaki’s one attempt at a throw is blocked and that’s what more or less sets the stage for Maeda’s win. But it’s not like Maeda’s German or Capture suplexes did a lot of damage. Hell, Maeda’s Capture suplex wound up with Maeda trying to follow up with an armbar, which was blocked and the sequence finished with Funaki on his feet kicking away at Maeda.

Looking at this with more than thirty years of hindsight could make one somewhat respect the hustle of Maeda here. In his final UWF appearance, he goes over the young upstart who’d been on the receiving end of a nice main event level push, including going over the only two wrestlers who’d ever turned back Maeda. But Maeda’s performance here is anything but selfish. Despite ultimately losing the match, Funaki comes out of this looking enormous. He takes the fight to Maeda in ways that neither Fujiwara nor Takada were able to. Sure, Maeda outfoxes Funaki at the end to submit him with a sleeper, but that’s hardly what most people will remember coming out of it. It’s a formula that’s been done to perfection by others, but it’s no less effective here. Funaki may not have gotten his arm raised tonight, but there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that with a few more months of experience that he wouldn’t eventually get that result in a rematch. And, even if Maeda hadn’t left the company after this show, Funaki and Shamrock still looks like the obvious main event for the following show, with how much of an impression both of them made in their matches.

Conclusion: I didn’t really have any sort of expectations for a show this late in the company’s life, but this was a really fun card that’s definitely worth checking out.