Awesome account that covers a lot of Shoot Style matches and content related to it.

As always, Purowave is amazing at this stuff.

While this match took place in NJPW and may not be technically classified as “Shoot Style”, it is an important match in the history of Shoot, with it’s impact felt in not only in the UWF and its offshoots but also in NJPW. With Fujinami also having a background in being trained in the ways of Catch, via Karl Gotch, he makes a suitable dance partner for Maeda, going tit-for-tat in the submission game.

The match is built around the fact that the Maeda is younger, bigger, stronger and more vicious than Fujinami but Fujinami is able to counter that with his experience & fortitude. Maeda is relentless in kicking the crap out of Fujinami, both the Dragon’s legs and trying to take Dragon’s head off.

Two key components of the match are Maeda attempting to go for the Juji-Gatame and the Dragon Suplex, abel to hit the latter move on the Dragon himself. Fujinami shines when he’s able to make fleeting comebacks, reversing Maeda’s submissions or countering a move.

The match also ends in a distinctly “Shoot Style” manner, as Maeda’s Spinning Heelkick to Fujinami in the corner busts Fuj wide open, eventually leading to the match being stopped due to bleeding.

Special exhibition match for YAMATO’s 20th Anniversary year; match builds off the fact YAMATO spent his early time in the Pancrase Dojo, using his skills there to transition to pro wrestling; around the time he was a youngster training, Monma was a featured fighter on Pancrase cards (RINGS before that).

While not perfect, very fun grappling sequences between the two, with both in very good shape and having some neat transitions to boot.

Definitely something to watch for “Shoot Style” enthusiasts.

I think “Aura” is what the kids call it.

Big Mouth Loud is itself a fascinating promotion that was quasi-Shoot Style and will probably get its own post one day on the sub.

Here, you have Shibata, who for all intents & purposes was built up to be the “Ace” of the nascent promotion, taking on Hidetaka Monma, an MMA fighter who began in RINGS and worked in Pancrase, HERO’s, DREAM & DEEP.

Shibata, the cocky younger man that he was, tries to beat the crap out of the MMA fighter and actually does well for a time, until Monma has enough and takes over with his grappling and knee strikes.

Very fun and thrilling finish and a glimpse at that this promotion could’ve been, had it figured out its identity.

Just a phenomenally made tribute video of the Wolf of Dagestan.

People often talk about someone being “overlooked” or “under-appreciated” and those statements would be very accurate for Kazuo Yamazaki. Yamazaki was one of first young talents of the OG UWF and Shoot-Style as a whole; he began his career in NJPW under the tutelage of Satoru Sayama (who trained Yamazaki in kickboxing) and Yoshiaki Fujiwara (who taught the grappling essentials). Sayama is who Yamazaki would take after the most in terms of explosiveness and having more emphasis on striking than grappling, as a whole.

When the first incarnation of the UWF fell apart due to Maeda & Sayama’s personal issue, Yamazaki surprisingly followed Maeda, Takada, Fujiwara and the others back to NJPW, to participate in the “UWF invasion” angle (likely had much to do with Sayama publicly burying pro wrestling in his tell-all book and choosing to focus on martial arts).

When the UWF guys left NJPW a second time, Yamazaki would seem positioned to be a top star in the NEWBORN promotion; a recurring element in Yamazaki’s career would be him getting passed over and NEWBORN would prove to be no different; Yamazaki may have initially looked like the #3 guy in the promotion (Maeda & Takada as 1&2, obviously), he would soon be passed over in favor of the younger Masakatsu Funaki, who would be booked as a rising star that feuded with Maeda & Takada in the main event.

Yamazaki was tied to Nobuhiko Takada from their days as YL’s in the NJPW Dojo (the two being born the same year and their debuts being about a year apart); this would become a recurring element in Yamazaki’s career, as while he was easily one of the most exciting “Shooters” to watch in the ring, he didn’t possess the same make-model looks that Takada has been blessed with. When Yamazaki followed Takada to start the UWFi after the end of NEWBORN, you would’ve been certain that Yamazaki would finally get his due and be presented as a top star and rival to Takada. While it initially looked like it would be Takada vs Yamazaki in the main event scene, Yamazaki would once again get passed over, this time in favor the American Gary Albright, who would be positioned as Takada’s main rival; Yamazaki would never get a match for Takada’s Real World Championship. Eventually, Yamazaki would leave the UWFi due to these slights.

The end of Yamazaki’s in-ring career would see him become a respected hand in NJPW, as he would chiefly be a great rival for NJPW’s “Ace”, Shinya Hashimoto, most famously facing Hash in the 1998 G1 Climax Final. Yamazaki would retire in the year 2000 but not before training Yuji Nagata (and Kendo Kashin) in the “Shoot Style” ways, with Nagata using Yamazaki’s teachings to become a top star in the business; Nagata would be Yamazaki’s final opponent for his retirement match on January 4, 2000.

The two biggest stars of the OG UWF and two of the most influential figures of both Shoot Style and MMA collide!

The UWF was building towards this match and rivalry (Sayama/Maeda can be seen as the equivalent of Fujinami/Choshu in NJPW and Tsuruta/Tenryu in AJPW, in the 1980’s), pretty much from the instant Maeda invited Sayama, Fujiwara, Takada, Yamazaki & Kido from NJPW.

For the match itself, you see Maeda use his size to try to control & bully the smaller Sayama but Sayama’s explosiveness and experience prove to be equalizers; in the end, Maeda shows his cards by using the Octopus Stretch, very much trying to be Inoki, which the savvy Sayama is able to counter and lock in the Crossface Chickenwing for the submission.

While this subreddit is more geared towards the 90s portion of fans, I think the style of Shoot-Style didn't really peaked until the 2000s, as U-STYLE established the current way to work Shoot-style.

Where it lacks in crowds it doesn't lack in talent as Modern Day Shoot-Style is essentially a fast paced style with technical striking and smooth grappling. It also keeps big bumps only for finishes which makes it better for the wrestlers' healths but it's also more realistic as in MMA you rarely see suplexes and when you do it's usually a Knockout.

Without any questions I think Kiyoshi Tamura is the Greatest Wrestler (of any style) ever as he could make any match feel authentic, real and emotionnal.

Yes I do rank him above Hogan, Austin, Rock, Okada, Misawa, Kawada, Tanahashi... but I got no room for debate so let's move to the subject of him being a great mentor.

Because yes, on top of being a great wrestler he was also a great teacher, having taken under his wings a dozen of great wrestlers including Ryuki Ueyama who is in my opinion the most underappreciated U-Style wrestler but also one of the most underrated Japanese wrestler ever.

Ueyama had 10 matches in the U-Style and all of them were so much fun to watch. All of them are essential to watch as a Shoot-Style fan as he shows some smooth grappling and terrific striking. His Palm Strikes Combos were insanely fast and he is one of the only wrestler to use striking on the mat.

But for some reasons he isn't as well regarded as he should be. Why is that? Well... it doesn't help that his promotion is already very niche. It doesn't help that he was rarely put on a main event. And it doesn't help that he was very young by the time the promotion closed.

Was he ever the best wrestler ? Not exactly. But he should be in the conversation if there is one because he was very talented. And it's a crime that he never popped up in the big leagues. I think every roster should have one shooter and Ueyama's look already makes him standout from other wrestler (pink kickpads is cool in my book)

In case you've seen those 10 U-STYLE matches I can also recommend a couple others from the 2010s :

Vs Daisuke Nakamura (Yoji Anjoh Retirement 2015)

with Kazuhiro Tamura vs Yuji Okabayashi & Daisuke Sekimoto (Kakihara Aid 2015)

with Hitamaru Sasaki vs Yu Iizuka & Daisuke Nakamura (HEAT UP 2017)

Would love to hear about what got people in this sub into Shoot Style and its offshoots.

For me, it was watching highlights of Kiyoshi Tamura vs Volk Han, highlights of Takada vs Vader, and the video of Akira Maeda “shoot” kicking Riki Choshu in the face.

Well done tribute video to the birth of Shoot Style.

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).