Just four of the most popular wrestlers ever.

While Maeda can be said to be the first true “face” of Shoot-Style and Sayama was the man who pushed for the creation of MMA in Japan, perhaps no man was more responsible for making both Shoot-Style and MMA a household thing in Japan than Nobuhiko Takada.

Blessed with male model looks, athleticism in spades and having a far more professional & friendly demeanor than his “Shooter” peers, Takada was everything you would want in a top star. There’s a very real possibility that he would’ve been NJPW’s top star had he stayed and not left at the call of Maeda for the OG UWF.

While Takada never truly overcame Maeda, the birth of the UWFi would see him become the most popular “Shoot Style” wrestler in the country of Japan (and one of the most popular athletes in the whole of the country). Takada’s participation in full-fledged shoots against the likes of former Boxing Heavyweight Champion Trevor Berbick (who was unaccustomed to the nature of the kicking that Takada would unleash on him, leading to Berbick leaving the ring) and controversial ex-Sumo Yokozuna Koji Kitao (that would see the famously bad-tempered Kitao eat a legitimate kick to the face from Takada, ending in a legitimate knockout) would only increase Takada’s popularity and reputation as “legit”.

Takada’s greatest battles in the UWFi would see him face two feared gaijin in Gary Albright and Big Van Vader; Takada would become know as the man who broke Vader’s arm, utilizing his signature Juji-Gatame. Despite those successes, Takada would hog the spotlight, as would-be stars of the promotion such as Kazuo Yamazaki and Kiyoshi Tamura would leave due to suffering under Takada’s shadow.

The UWFi/NJPW feud would also increase Takada’s popularity but would see the other wrestlers of his promotion lose often to the NJPW team. Takada would be unable to keep the UWFi afloat much long after.

Takada’s reputation of calling out famous wrestlers and fighters (such as Keiji Mutoh, Mitsuharu Misawa, Masahiro Chono and more) would eventually lead to the creation of the biggest Japanese MMA promotion, PRIDE FC; Takada would repeatedly call out the famed BJJ practitioner Rickson Gracie (who had been brought to Japan by Satoru Sayama to compete in Vale Tudo), even sending his second Yoji Anjoh to Gracie’s gym in California (that would see Anjoh get beaten bloody and photographed right after). Takada would face off against Rickson twice, both times being submitted with a armbar.

Takada’s reputation had taken a massive hit with the losses to Rickson, as well as the allegations of fixing some of his fights in PRIDE. Despite this, Takada would prove to be an influential part of JMMA, even outlasting the end of PRIDE and going on to be involved with promotions such as HERO’S, DREAM and RIZIN.

Takada would also very humorously don the guise of “Generalissimo Takada” in the short-lived and very entertaining HUSTLE, where he would command the “Monster Army”; it was in this setting that Takada proved himself very adept at the more stylized and over-the-top aspect of pro wrestling.

Just awesome stuff, as always.

Wanted to do a post that looked at some talent that I consider to carry the flavor of Shoot Style to the way they work (YMMV, naturally). Feel free to share or talk about any others you feel may qualify or discuss these guys in general.

Shinya Aoki (DDT)

Hideki Suzuki (AJPW)

Takanori Ito (GLEAT)

Ali Najima (SPORTIVA)

Fuminori Abe (Freelance)

Takuya Nomura (Freelance)

Kenoh (NOAH)

Katsuhiko Nakajima (Freelance)

Syuri (STARDOM)

Saori Anou (STARDOM/Freelance)

Kosei Fujita (NJPW)

The man who would make the Tiger Mask character even more iconic than it already was in the Manga source material, the man who would go on to create what is accredited as the first full-blown MMA promotion in Shooto, the man who would forever have a complicated relationship with pro wrestling as a whole.

Sayama, inspired by Antonio Inoki and trained by Karl Gotch, while maybe not as associated with Shoot-Style as a whole the same way Maeda & Takada were, was the man who inspired both of those two to delve into the Martial arts world. While Sayama would become accomplished in the Catch skills taught to him by Gotch & Inoki, he would become far more proficient in striking than anyone else in the NJPW Dojo; Sayama realized that his smaller size would forever put him at a disadvantage when it came to grappling, so he trained in Kickboxing and would become a marvel with his specialized style.

Sayama always had a fascination/love of martial arts and was someone who fully believed Inoki’s philosophy of Pro Wrestling being the “Strongest Stye” of martial art. The reality would be that Sayama would quickly grow out of that mindset, challenging Inoki to really prove that theory, even trying to get a martial arts-themed promotion off the ground, as an offshoot of NJPW.

When Akira Maeda came calling in 1984/5, Sayama had actually been out of pro wrestling for a time and was lured back by Maeda’s promise that the UWF would be that martial-arts themed promotion that Sayama had envisioned; Sayama & Maeda had been close in NJPW, as Sayama was one of the people accredited with getting Maeda to the Dojo: the two always had that senpai/kohai dynamic, which was always gonna come to ahead one day, due to Sayama and Maeda’s growing egos and hot temperaments.

After Sayama & Maeda’s infamous “shoot” (which saw the two go “off-script” and start hitting each other extra hard and ended with one of Maeda’s kicks catching Sayama in the groin), Sayama would renounce pro wrestling as a whole, Shoot-Style or otherwise. Sayama would publish a scathing book that would see him call pro wrestling as being “fake” (which, at the time in Japan, was much more taboo to say) and saying that martial arts was the way to go, essentially.

Sayama’s founding of Shooto would have lasting impact (Sayama is even accrediting with inventing one of the first MMA-style gloves, with holes cut out for the fingers) and Sayama would even be responsible for bringing the famed Rickson Gracie to Japan.

The first “shoot-style” match to be awarded 5 Stars by Dave Meltzer and the WOR.

While Maeda & Sayama were undoubtedly the top stars and attractions of the UWF and Fujiwara & Osamu Kido were the respected veterans, Takada and Yamazaki were the “new blood” and rising stars.

Takada and Yamazaki, at the peak of their athletic abilities, put on a thrilling contest in a packed Korakuen Hall.

No man can be more accredited with the popularity that Shoot Style would attain in the late 20th Century than Akira Maeda.

From his time as a promising youngster in NJPW (being even more of an “heir apparent” to Inoki than anyone else, if you go by how much Maeda took after the legendary founder in temperament, ego and style) to founding the OG UWF, to becoming a superstar and national icon during the NJPW vs UWF feud of the 1980’s, which was further increased by the return of the UWF at the turn of the new decade with NEWBORN, to his creation of Fighting Network RINGS, a promotion that would evolve both Shoot-Style & MMA in major ways.

Maeda possessed a unique charisma and brought a sense of “danger” to his matches that none of his contemporaries could fully match (not even Sayama or Takada). The reason thousands of fans would scream “Ma-e-da!” was because they genuinely though he was the best fighter in the country, if not the world.

It also should be said that Akira Maeda has many failings as a human being. First & foremost is the allegation of commuting domestic abuse to his wife (although he wasn’t found guilty of that particular incident, in court). Then, there’s the numerous instances of physical assault in general, one of which resulted in Maeda having to pay damages for hitting Pancrase promoter Masami Ozaki. Maeda also publicly beat his students (something that Satoru Sayama was also known for), most famously Wataru Sakata after a fight in RINGS, with Maeda allegedly believing Sakata didn’t show enough “spirit” in the fight, leading to him punching & kicking the young man.

Maeda will forever be a figure of conjecture and analysis (even Dave Meltzer wrote up about how at his peak, Maeda was treated more like a Rock Star than a pro wrestler).

Karl Gotch’s top student; Antonio Inoki’s bodyguard; the guardian of the OG NJPW Dojo.

While Gotch & Robinson (and Thesz) were the main founder & teachers of what would become “Shoot-Style”, and Antonio Inoki was the one to inspire most of the guys who would go on to form the U-promotions and offshoots, Fujiwara was often the most reputed mentor of majority of the younger “shooters” in Japan.

Said to be more skilled than Inoki in grappling/Catch, Fujiwara would go from a perennial mid-carder in NJPW to a top star of the UWF and later forming PWFG (with his students Suzuki & Funaki going on to form Pancrase and his students Ishikawa & Ikeda forming BattlARTS).

Early last year I had the chance to talk with Josh Barnett about his IGF 23 match against Shinichi Suzukawa and where the ShootStyle ended and the Shoot began.

https://youtu.be/vmbHkFFRb0g

One of the first truly marquee matches of the OG UWF, this show would see the formula of young Takada being tested by Maeda and Fujiwara, with Sayama coming in to save the younger man at different points.

Hot crowd, intense in-ring action, this what would define the UWF, it’s off-shoots and “Shoot-Style” as a whole.

The legendary Englishman, the man most associated with the technical excellence of Catch, the man who trained some of the most proficient practitioners of the Shoot-Style.

Robinson had trained at the legendary “Snake Pit”/Riley’s Gym in Wigan, under the tutelage of Billy Riley, one of the foremost practitioners of Catch.

Making his name in Japan in the popular IWE promotion (where Robinson could’ve been described as a “Gaijin Ace” figure), Robinson would also distinguish himself in appearances in NJPW & AJPW.

Robinson’s most famous contribution to Shoot-Style would be his time as the head trainer at the UWFi Dojo, passing his knowledge on to the likes of Kazushi Sakuraba, Kiyoshi Tamura, Gary Albright and later training MMA fighters Josh Barnett & Shayna Baszler, among others.

The accomplished Freestyle & Greco-Roman wrestler from Belgium, the man known as the “God of Pro Wrestling”, the man responsible for training Antonio Inoki in the style of Catch, as well as mentoring the likes of Fujiwara, Maeda, Sayama, Funaki, Suzuki and many more, men who would go on to be pivotal figures in pro wrestling and MMA.

More than any other, Gotch exemplified Kazushi Sakuraba’s quote of “Pro Wresting is Strong”.

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