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Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi
Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Group (''Purofesshonaru-resuringu Fujiwara-Gumi'', プロフェッショナルレスリング藤原組) was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan, operating from 1991 to 1996. It was formed by Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki after the collapse of the second incarnation of the Universal Wrestling Federation (Japan), UWF. The company had the financial backing of eyeglass brand Meganesuper Co., Ltd executive Hachiro Tanaka who was also funding Super World Sports (SWS). Its motto was "All for one, and one for all, ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE". Although the company was considered the smallest of the three UWF offshoots, it had a strong roster which included former UWF wrestlers Yusuke Fuke, Bart Vale and future MMA star Ken Shamrock. One of its most successful shows took place at the Tokyo Dome on October 4, 1992, headlined by Funaki versus Maurice Smith (kickboxer), Maurice Smith, which was attended by a rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoot Style
Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their excitement. The name "shoot wrestling" comes from the professional wrestling term "shoot", which refers to any unscripted occurrence within a scripted wrestling event.http://dansmuaythaimma.com/?p=346 Prior to the emergence of the current sport of shoot wrestling, the term was commonly used in the professional wrestling business, particularly in the United Kingdom, as a synonym for the sport of catch wrestling. Shoot wrestling can be used to describe a range of hybrid fighting systems such as shootfighting, shoot boxing and the styles of mixed martial arts done in the Shooto, Pancrase and RINGS promotions. Organizations, promotions and gyms with origins in shoot wrestling are referred as the " U-Kei". History Historically, shoot wrestling has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Weekly'' website in 2008, becoming ''Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online''. Issues are offered in print and digital. The newsletter is often considered the first "dirt sheet", which is a wrestling publication which covers the art from a real-life perspective. History The beginnings of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' date back to 1980, when Meltzer began an annual poll amongst those with whom he corresponded regarding professional wrestling. According to Meltzer, he was just a fan at first. A short time later, he began maintaining a tape-trading list, and would occasionally send match results and news updates along with tape updates. Meltzer stated that he wanted to keep his friends in college "in the loop" for his tape trading as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katsumi Usuda
is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. Debuting for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG) in 1993, he is best known for his work in Battlarts, where he was a 2 time Independent World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Usuda is also known for his appearances in Pro Wrestling Zero-One, Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling, Big Mouth Loud, and Fu-Ten. Career Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (1993–1995) A student of Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Usuda debuted in Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi at the age of 23, going to a 30 minute time limit draw with Carl Greco. He took part in the 1994 Challenge Cup, where he was beaten by Shoichi Funaki in the final. After 2 years and limited success in PWFG, Usuda and the rest of the roster all followed Yuki Ishikawa in an exodus on November 19, 1995, after Ishikawa discovered that the sponsors of Fujiwara Gumi planned to massively restructure the roster and change the landscape of the entire promotion. Battlarts The entirety of the PWFG roster (bar Fujiwara him ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daisuke Ikeda
is a Japanese professional wrestler who is currently wrestling in the Independent circuit in Japan. Since debuting in 1993, Ikeda has worked for a number of promotions in Japan, including Battlarts, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah and Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW). Professional wrestling career Ikeda was trained by Yoshiaki Fujiwara and joined Fujiwara's promotion Fujiwara Gumi in 1993. In 1995 he moved to BattlARTS. As one of the few heavyweights competing in a promotion made up mostly of junior heavyweights (compare Jinsei Shinzaki in Michinoku Pro Wrestling), he often had to look out of the promotion for challenges, including Shinzaki and FMW talent such as Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, and Hiromichi Fuyuki. In 1998 he started making appearances in All Japan Pro Wrestling, and finally in early 2000 he joined the promotion as a full-time worker. He did not stay long as later that year he left for Mitsuharu Misawa's new promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. He briefly j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuki Ishikawa (wrestler)
is a Japanese professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and promoter. Ishikawa is known for his violent shoot-style matches, that often include him and his opponents legitimately hitting each other and ending the match with numerous injuries and/or blood on their faces. He is perhaps best known for his work in Battlarts, a promotion he founded in 1996. Ishikawa has also competed extensively on the Japanese independent circuit as a freelancer, competing for companies such as Pro Wrestling Zero1, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) as a freelancer. Professional wrestling career Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (1992–1995) Ishikawa idolised Antonio Inoki as a child and dreamed of being a professional wrestler his entire life. After graduating from Nihon University, he travelled to the United States and enrolled in Boris Malenko's school of professional wrestling, where he trained under Malenko and Karl Gotch. After returning to Japan in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kazuo Takahashi
, ring name , is a Japanese retired mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1993 until 2013 (and then once again in 2018), he competed for the UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, Pancrase, RINGS, K-1 HERO'S, and World Victory Road. He is the former King of Pancrase Heavyweight Champion. Background Takahashi excelled in Wrestling, becoming a high school state champion in Japan, and also trained in Karate. he graduated from Yachiyo Shoin High School and Nihon University. he started in Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi in 1992 but joined Pancrase the following year. Pancrase Takahashi debuted in mixed martial arts in Pancrase against legally blind yet decorated Wrestler George Weingeroff. The Japanese capitalized on his opponent's inability to see his strikes, and knocked him out with a roundhouse kick. However, it was in his second professional fight in which he gained popularity, becoming known for his incredible toughness and desire to win. Fighting Ken Shamrock, Takah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pride FC
PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts events, broadcast to about 40 countries worldwide.What is Pride? , Official Pride site. Last retrieved December 5, 2006 PRIDE was owned by the (DSE). For the ten years of its existence, PRIDE was one of the most popular MMA organizations in the world. Pride broadcast its event ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. The first documented use of the term ''mixed martial arts'' was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993. The question of who actually coined the term is subject to debate. During the early 20th century, various interstylistic contests took place throughout Japan and in the countries of the Four Asian Tigers. In Brazil, there was the sport of Vale Tudo, in which The Gracie family was known to promote Vale Tudo matches as a way to promote their own Brazilian jiu-jitsu style. A precursor to modern MMA was the 1976 Ali vs. Inoki exhibition bout (which ended in a draw after 15 rounds), fought between boxer Muhammad Ali and wrestler Antonio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BattlARTS
, more commonly referred to as simply Battlarts was a professional wrestling promotion based in Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan. The promotion was formed in 1996 by Japanese wrestler Yuki Ishikawa and featured all of the wrestlers from the Fujiwara Gumi promotion, who had abandoned the promotion in favor of Battlarts. They ran shows in the Tokyo area regularly from 1998 to 2002. Even though Battlarts' style was based on shoot wrestling, the promotion often cooperated with other federations and styles, including RINGS, Kingdom, Michinoku Pro and Big Japan Pro Wrestling. The biggest co-promotion occurred on October 17, 1999 when Battlarts and The Great Sasuke's Michinoku Pro Wrestling presented "Michinoku Pro vs. Battlarts", which was headlined by a tag match pitting the owners of both promotions (Great Sasuke and Ishikawa) against Jinsei Shinzaki and Alexander Otsuka. The promotion ceased running regular shows and events in 2001 due to "management aggravation". Battlarts eventually beg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pancrase
Pancrase Inc. is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki practiced catch wrestling. They based the promotion and its rules on professional wrestling. The promotion's champions were called "King of Pancrase". The rules allowed closed-fisted punches, except to the head, and palm strikes to the head. A wrestler must break a submission hold when the opponent reaches the ropes, but a wrestler who claims a rope break loses a point. A wrestler who claims a specified number of rope breaks (between 3 and 5) was disqualified. From 1998 to 2000, the promotion changed its rules to resemble other mixed martial arts promotions. Pancrase participant Guy Mezger said that "there was icnot very many works redetermined outcomes Maybe 4 or 5 total and most of them were before I was fighting for them. I hate when p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
W*ING
Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING) was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion specialized in deathmatches. History After leaving Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in the summer of 1991, Kazuyoshi Osako and Kiyoshi "Mickey" Ibaragi founded Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING), with Osako as President and Ibaragi as Vice President. They would also lure away Mr. Pogo and Víctor Quiñones from FMW, taking away their number one heel and booker/talent exchanger. Their first show took place on August 7, 1991, at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. W*ING would also have a talent exchange relationship with Puerto Rico-based World Wrestling Council, as well as sharing WWC's Caribbean Heavyweight and World Junior Heavyweight Championships between the two promotions. On March 21, 1994, W*ING closed due to the massive loss of money. Quinones would later form International Wrestling Association of Japan later that year. After W*ING In 1994, former W*ING wrestlers Mr. Pogo, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Lucha Libre
Universal Lucha Libre (Universal Pro-Wrestling until 1991; Federación Universal de Lucha Libre afterward; UWF and FULL used as acronyms) was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1990 to 1995. The name Universal Lucha Libre is used to differentiate the promotion from the Japanese UWF, which presented a very different style of professional wrestling. Overview The promotion was the first in Japan to be based around the Mexican style of professional wrestling, known as ''Lucha Libre'' (free fighting). Although since 1956 some Mexican wrestlers had appeared in Japanese promotions, their style was mixed with the American-originated standard, and not many of them could rise above mid-card level because of their size, which on average was less than Japanese wrestlers. The first Mexican ''luchador'' (wrestler) to become a star in Japan was Mil Máscaras, who competed for the Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA) and one of its successor groups, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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