K-1 vs NEW JAPAN: NEXESS AT THE DOME

Throughout the Inokiist period, New Japan and K-1 maintained a special relationship. Despite collaboration between the big fight companies souring as both competition for viewers and the Yakuza Scandal heated up, K-1 maintained its ties to NJPW by supplying fighters for pro-wrestling events while also featuring New Japan wrestlers on their own shows. Nexess 2004 was one of the last of these efforts, happening just a few weeks before the K-1 Romanex MMA show that I have referenced endlessly on this blog (as it is both the height of Inoki's MMA management career but also one of the last!). Bob Sapp, a K-1 Kickboxer (lol) and MMA fighter, had recently become the IWGP Heavyweight champion by beating Kensuke Sasaki a month prior and his first (and only) defense is here against the phenom Shinsuke Nakamura. K-1's involvement on the card didn't just stop there as Nexess 2004 featured a whole slew of K-1 vs NJPW bouts. Despite K-1 being an absolute powerhouse at the time ratings wise, this show did poorly with ticket sales. Claimed to have an audience exceeding 30,000 (it certainly was less), the event was one of the smallest that NJPW held at the Tokyo Dome in this era and just compounded the issues New Japan was experiencing which lead to Inoki's ousting in the next few years.

SHAMROCK VS BARNETT: A SUPPOSED GRUDGE MATCH

This thing is billed as a grudge match between two MMA fighters, but it doesn't really hit that mark. A cool match though as Shamrock is repping the Makai Club in this fight while Barnett comes out in a nice UWF style tee with JLB (his initials). Despite this being both Barnett and Shamrock's last NJPW matches, this one goes to a DQ win for Barnett. Maybe they were supposed to have a rematch?

~~~We will never know~~~
(so let us savor this one encounter)



EGG MAN TAKES ON THE CONVICT

Jan "The Convict" Nortje is a South African Super Heavyweight kickboxer you might remember from the post about Shinsuke Nakamura's run in MMA as he was viciously beaten in front of the large crowd at the much better attended Ultimate Crush event just a year prior. Before the fight we hear some words from a tuxedo wearing Antonio Inoki and the crowd seems to thoroughly enjoy it (as do I). The Convict Nortje comes to the ring with the same manager as when he fought at Ultimate Crush. Nortje is also donning kickboxing gloves for a pro-wrestling match showing that this is a bonified different style bout (or mixed match if you will) truly in the spirit of Inokiism.

Nortje begins this by trouncing Yoshie ( a truly egg shaped man) in the corner, similar to the way he (in real life) beat the fuck out of Yasuda at Inoki BomBaYe 2002. Yoshie manages a comeback after a catching a kick and tripping Nortje then following it up with seating senton (Nortje can not handle the pro-wrestling!) and a single crab. This is a very silly affair, but it is also fun and incredibly short. Yoshie wins with a a lazy steiner recliner lmao.



REMEMBER SEAN O'HAIRE? WELL HE IS HERE TOO

Sean O'Haire, mostly remembered by his tenure in both WCW and WWF, decided to become a kickboxer (0-4) and MMA (4-2) fighter after that all fell apart. The thing is most people have no clue that occured, but I do because on my other blog about K-1 HEROS I discussed his lose by standing guillotine to the very good at judo but bad at MMA Kim Min-Soo. Hiroshi Tanahashi, as peppy and muscular as ever, is his opponent here!

Sadly, this match is much more pro-wrestling straight through than a shoot fighter meets pro-wrestler deal. There is just simply too many resting holds, and the crowd just isn't really feeling it (a theme throughout this event). Tanahashi pulls out the win after like 7 minutes that feel wayyyyyy longer. This sure isn't Tanahashi vs Rutten which you should definitely watch instead of this lol(it is on this very same blog!)



MMA VS BOXING GLOVES: SHIBATA FACES MUSASHI

NOW THIS IS WHAT WE ARE HERE FOR. At least this is what I am here for which is to see Shibata lose in a grand way! Musashi, the four time K-1 Japan GP champ and two time World GP runner up, is here with a deep posse and big blue kickboxing gloves. Shibata is here rocking MMA gloves (in 12 days he would be competing in his first MMA fight at Jungle Fight 2!!!) and repping the Makai Club as usual. Goddamn I know this one is gonna be hot!

Musashi opens this one up with some sick kicks before Shibata brings this one to the ground. This is a round based fight with ten counts and ground fighting which defintiely gives it that old RINGS round match feel (especially with kickboxing gloves involved). Oh, Akebono is here on guest commentary as he by this point was fighting in MMA and kickboxing (a sad reality). Shibata keeps bringing this down and manages to get a leg lock on Musashi who is able to use kicks to stall. The ref brings them up and Shibata gets a sneaky shot of his own is as he is admonished by the referee. Musashi's shots to Shibata are so so stiff, but its ok because I enjoy that greatly. After Shibata is dropped in the corner by vicious, he manages to get to his feet right as the round ends.

Shibata ties up Musashi in the ropes to begin here as he is obviously super worried about getting whooped. Musashi complains about an eye poke and the corners look ready to brawl. This one starts up again and Shibata is like instantly floored, barely making it back up. Musashi's kicks to the lower body, torso, and head are just too much for the young Makai phenom and he cannot get up. Akebono is delighted as he continually claps into his microphone lol. It's ok Akebono, I enjoyed it as well!



THE BEAST REIGNS

The Beast Bob Sapp is an imposing figure but can he handle the sheer will and strength of the young Shinsuke Nakamura? Maybe! The crowd is super into this which is good because other than this and the Shibata match, the crowd has been very uninterested! Both of their entrances feel important, and despite the low attendance, grand.

Nakamura instantly brings Sapp down with a single leg before going to a sleeper, but Sapp is able to easily just stand out of it. Sapp decides to just start slinging Nakamura around with imposing arm drags. There is an interesting dynamic here as while both are legitimate shoot fighters, this is a fairly pro-wrestling oriented match. Nakamura is the most "shoot" of the two however as he is attempting submissions and wrestling takedowns to counteract Sapp's wild power moves. Technique vs strength is the name of the game here as Nakamura uses nice knees to set up the jumping triangle before being powerbombed to oblivion. Sapp is making incredible sounds as he follows this up with an insane drop kick that sends Nakamura out of the ring for an almost 20 count lol.

They fight out onto the ramp and Nakamura sinks in a triangle choke on Sapp before the ref breaks them up. As they get back into the ring, they engage in exhange of headbutts and strikes before Sapp lariats Nakamura into oblivion and sets on a sleeper. Nakamura resorts to biting but Sapp responds with a fucking piledriver (do that in a K-1 fight please). This match has such a great back and forth as Nakamura locks in a standing guillotine, and as Sapp picks him up, turns it into a DDT. As they go to the ground they engage in mounted punches and a sick submission exchange. OH NO BEAST BOMB but Nakamura is able to kick out at one but oh LOL another BEAST BOMB. Sapp wins!

As this was the build to K-1 Romanex, K-1 would have wanted Sapp to remain strong and this performance definitely added to that mystique. Too bad he lost summarily to Kazuyuki Fujita (an Inoki Office fighrer) by getting soccer kicked in the damn head, forcing him to vacate the IWGP title. This just goes to show, Inoki always wins in the end :)



A NICE LITTLE TREAT: SOME COOL SAMURAI TV COMMERCIALS THAT WERE ON THE END OF THIS RECORDING


Thanks again to all my readers! If you enjoy what you have read, give a thought to supporting me on my patreon located here. BIG THANKS to everyone who has signed up so far and to everyone else who has loved this dive into the world of Inokiism!

THE (UN)USUAL SUSPECTS: UFO ASSAULTS NEW JAPAN

INOKI ISM BEGINS HERE

AT THE DOME
AS OGAWA ENDS ONE ERA

AND ANOTHER STARTS

There is a singular moment where one can definitively say "ah yes, this is where it began." Inokiism was always there in New Japan and within the works of Antonio Inoki himself, but on January 4th at Wrestling World 1999, a new era was inaugurated. Naoya Ogawa, a beloved Olympic Silver medalist representing the Universal Fighting-Arts Organization (UFO) and Inokiism (as seen by the shirts the crew had on), was there to face multi-time IWGP Heavyweight champion Shinya Hashimoto in a rubber match after two other encounters. Backed by his UFO crew of Gerard Gordeau, Tiger Mask IV, and Kazunari Murakami, Ogawa beat down Hashimoto in what many saw as a shoot assault (it was a work but ya know these rumors persist!). This fight, coupled with the ensuing brawl between the New Japan and UFO camps, ushered in a long feud (and in reality friendship) between Ogawa and Hashimoto while also ringing in a new vision of pro-wrestling and fight sports broadly that Inoki had been constructing independently of New Japan. However this post is not really about this particular fight (a deep dive into the Hash-Ogawa feud of 1999/2000 is planned), but about the UFO mercenaries of Inoki invading the wrestling promotion that he had founded years before. Who were these men, and what did their presence mean for New Japan's direction?

(Gordeau's first pro-wrestling match)

Known As: Gerard Gordeau

Height: 6 Feet 5 Inches

Weight: 216lbs

Time in New Japan/UFO: 1995 (NJPW), 1998-1999 (UFO)

Discipline(s): Savate, Kickboxing, Kyokushin Karate, Oyama Karate

Signature Moves: Kicks, Eye Gouge, Being a Fucking Dick

MMA Record: 2-2

Both a Savate and Karate world champion, UFC 1 finalist, and famous eye gouger, Gerard Gordeau's reputation precedes him (seriously this dude is nasty). Whether its the after-fight brawls or his blinding of Yuki Nakai at Vale Tudo Japan 1995, the man is dastardly to say the least both within real and fake fighting (a terrible feat!).

Gordeau's career in pro-wrestling was sparse yet important. Fighting in UWF Newborn and RINGS, he eventually worked the 1995 BVD Final Countdown tournament at the New Japan January 4th show losing in the first round to Antonio Inoki. Apparently, Inoki liked the cut of this dudes jib because he brought him on as a trainer and wrestler for his experimental UFO promotion, along with Tom Howard (famous for getting horribly beaten in MMA) and Mark Hall (a UFC veteran who is incredibly weird and not that good!). Inoki sure knew how to pick 'em!

UFO TAKES OFF:
A true master of the NO CONTEST. Like many of his real and fake fights, Gordeau loses it and the ref calls this one off because its just madness. We get the corner brawl that would come to be a defining part of the Inokiist era of New Japan, no doubt inherited from Gordeau's tutelage. Oh, Gordeau ends this by saying "NO RULES. IF I POKE HIS EYE OUT, NO RULES!" Bold claims from the crazed karate man.

BUT GUESS WHAT? Despite Gordeau's whining and the lackadaisical referee at times, there were rules (sometimes) in Inoki's UFO (which I have directly copied from the old English language UFO webpage):

U.F.O. Basic Rules

---

Ring Size Rectangular 6m (20ft), 3 to 4 ropes, UFO official hard mat (no springs).
Decisions KO: Fighter unable to stand or get into fighting stance.
Referee Stop: Referee can stop a fight when he feels the fighter cannot continue.
Doctor Stop: The ringside physician can stop a fight when he decides that a fighter cannot continue.
Give Up: Fighter decides he cannot continue. He can tap or tell referee.
Padding UFO Official "Open Finger" Gloves
UFO Official Shin Guards
Attacks We do not allow attacks to the groin, spinal cord, eyes, or elbow to
the head/face. Every other type of attack is allowed.
Submissions Everything other than finger submission is allowed.
Throws All types of throwing allowed.
Break Breaks only occur if more than half the fighter=81fs body is outside of ropes
or the referee feels the fighters cannot break the clinch themselves. Once a
breaks occurs the referee will direct the fighter=81es to the fighting stance.
Foul The referee will warn the fighter whether the foul was on purpose or not. If
the fighter ignores these warnings, they will be disqalified. Fighters may not
attack when their opponent is down and the referee is checking their condition.
Special Kick Rules The UFO may use the basic kickboxing rules where time-limited rounds are used.
This will apply only to special matches.

GORDEAU FACES OGAWA:
Just a few days before the infamous 1/4/99 incident, Gordeau faced off against Naoya Ogawa in the main event of UFO 2. Ogawa was on a rocket ship up in popularity at this time, the first of the fighters engineered by Inoki in his own image (there is a short blurb on this very subject in a preview to Ogawa's fight with Stefan Leko at Pride Total Elimination 2004). This match is thrilling and extremely entertaining as Ogawa is just enough of a silly bastard himself to deal with the all-too-serious shenanigans of Gerard Gordeau. Ogawa wins with a great rear naked choke, and then mocks Gordeau some more (we all go home happy)!

Known As: Tiger Mask IV

Height: 5 Feet 8 Inches

Weight: 192lbs

Time in New Japan/UFO: 1998-1999 (UFO), 2002-Current (NJPW)

Discipline(s): Pro-Wrestling (trained by Satoru Sayama), Lucha Libre, Shooto

Signature Moves: Tiger Suplex, Crossface Chickenwing, Millennuem Suplex, Destroy Suplex

MMA Record: N/A

Tiger Mask IV, still fighting to this current day in New Japan, began his career in Michinoku Pro and Battlarts while being trained by the original Tiger Mask Satoru Sayama. Sayama, the founder of Shooto, imparted this martial art on TM4 while he also received teachings from The Great Sasuke of Michinoku Pro. As explained in this excerpt below from an archived version of old Inoki Dojo site, TM4's diverse training created a unique athletic style:

Prior to his professional career, was trained as a shoot fighter first, then went to Mexico to learn his high flying aerial moves. An awesome athlete, could be a very successful fighter in the world of mixed martial arts. During the infamous U.F.O versus NJPW incident at the Tokyo Dome in 1999, showed his heart by instigating an all out brawl, despite being outnumbered by about twenty-five. Will not back down from anyone.

This shoot oriented yet still decidedly Junior Heavy style of TM4 would have a major impact on the Jr division in NJPW, and would only grow as refugees from Battlarts, RINGS, and various other promotions entered this division in the era of Inokiism.

THE NEW TIGER MASK:
Since TM4 was the only Tiger to be endorsed and trained by Sayama, when he decided to leave retirement in the late 90s and went to Inoki's UFO promotion, TM4 came with him! At the first UFO show, TM4 faced off with a fellow BattlArts fighter in an oh so young Ikuto Hidaka who is being cornered by Alexander Otsuka. TM4 has some great striking offense in the clinch, showing off the kickboxing skills inherited from Sayama. His ground game ain't half bad either as he defends against Hidaka's submission attempts. Hidaka is not a slouch however and mounts a comeback after some bone shattering suplexes (got to love that battlarts!). The finishing sequence in this is so balls out and the fans get so loud as it continues on. A great first match for Tiger Mask IV in UFO and certainly one the best bouts we have covered here on The Forgotten Inokiists.



TO CHOKE YOU OUT OR TO BREAK YOUR ARM? THAT IS THE QUESTION:
This bout opens with a killer hype package showing TM4's Sayama lineage and training regiment. OH SHIT a favorite of mine from the shoot style world: random shoot fighters coming in to get smashed by someone in a fake fighting endeavor. This time our man is name Jason Bress, and according to the (hell) site sherdog, amassed a 1-3 record in MMA in the years following this bout. Bress is able to open this with two successful slams but eventually gets roughed up, and he deserves it because he's wearing some US flag adorned singlet; something I wholly and totally disavow (national flags, not singlets those are ok)! TM4 kicks him right in the face and punches the back of his head and it seems to really fire up Bress. This getting fired up is in vain however as TM4 just keeps punting him in the head! TM4 finishes the fight by spinning out of a standing guillotine (sikk), throwing a knee into Bress head (sikkkk), hitting a spinning mid kick (even sikker), and finally winning by some kind of back choke while also having Bress' arm cranked behind his back (ultimately sikk). That seemed painful, but our friend Tiger Mask IV is all smiles anyways.

Known As: Kazunari Murakami

Height: 6 Feet 1 Inches

Weight: 220lbs

Time in New Japan/UFO: 1998-1999 (UFO), 2000-2004/2006 (NJPW)

Discipline(s): Judo, Pro-Wrestling

Signature Moves: STO, Mounted Punches, Scissored Sleeper, Northern Light Bomb

MMA Record: 5-5

I mean what can be said about Kazunari Murakami that hasn't already. Judoka, pro-wrestling madman, really good at making mean faces; the dude has it all! I would cover his background more here but as I have talked about him numerous times throughout these blog postings, you shall be sparred! The Murakami of this time is not AS ravenous as he would be even in the next year during his Battlarts run and later his time in the Makai Club, but you can still see that intensity that is just ready to burst into a display of wanton violence.

NOT YET THE TERRORIST:
LOL ok so in the set up to this fight with Lee Young Gun, they have some sort of dojo challenge match that Gun wins (again there was more head kicking) so this one is fucking ON!

UH This is a quick and violent one. Lee comes out kicking wildly with his Hapkido ways and almost overwhelms Murakami, but he is able to outlast the assaults, ultimately grabbing Lee around his hips and lifting him into one of the highest, nastiest suplexes I have ever seen. He adds in a hip toss before securing the cross armbar for the win. Big Murakami has arrived and people should be scared for their general well-being!

IS HE A PROFESSIONAL?:
DON FRYE VS KAZUNARI MURAKAMI. That should say it all right there. The pre-fight video package shows Murakami hitting the weights in a BIG (funny) way before being dressed down with questions from Don Frye asking if Murakami is truly a professional; someone who"fights for money."

Hey, remember what I said earlier about there being rules in UFO in response to Gordeau's assertion, well maybe I am the one in the wrong because this one is a WILD fight. A shooty match that turns into a brawl on the outside, further degenerating as Frye begins using the gloves to choke Murakami. Yuji Shimada is the referee here and despite his endless calls of NO NO NO, the fighters just keep on going. Don Frye is able to score the win here over the young Murakami, and this one is a pure thriller. Come for the wild brawling, stay for the incredibly sikk judo (Frye really shows off his Judoka background in this one!).



If you enjoy what you have read, give a thought to supporting me on my patreon located here. BIG THANKS to everyone who has signed up so far!