UWF International

Union of Wrestling Forces International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a shoot styleprofessional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1991 to 1996. Founded in 1991 by Nobuhiko Takada and other former UWF wrestlers, UWF International was built around Takada as its ace and top star. The UWFi was the successor to the Newborn UWF that ran from 1988 to 1990, which itself was the successor to the original Universal Wrestling Federation.

Although the matches were predetermined, the UWF-i was very convincing for its time, promoting a combat-based style featuring a mix of wrestling, submission grappling and kickboxing. The promotion also held legitimate Kickboxing contests through its "Standing Bouts" division, and, in rare instances, special shoot fight matches. In retrospect, UWFi, along with other shoot-style promotions, served as a precursor to mixed martial arts and to popular Japanese MMA promotions, particularly Pride FC. The promotion was also known for hiring dangerous shooters Lou Thesz, Billy Robinson and Danny Hodge as trainers and promoters of their product in order to establish legitimate credibility. At its peak, UWFi was one of Japan's most successful wrestling promotions, drawing large crowds at major venues such as the Tokyo Dome and Ryōgoku Kokugikan, including 67,000 spectators for the "UWFi vs. NJPW" 1995 event and 64,000 for Wrestling World 1996—making them the second- and fourth-largest-attended events in Japanese professional wrestling history—and having large ratings on Japanese television, while establishing Takada as one of the country's leading wrestling stars.

Financial difficulties and declining attendance led UWFi to enter an interpromotional feud with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 1995, generating revenue but undermining its credibility when its supposedly superior "real" fighters were repeatedly defeated by NJPW wrestlers. UWFi closed in December 1996, with most of its roster moving to successor promotion Kingdom and later to mixed martial arts, particularly Pride Fighting Championships.