INOKI ISM BEGINS HERE
AT THE DOME
AS OGAWA ENDS ONE ERA
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):
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.
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!
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!).
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