Super Vader vs Kiyoshi Tamura (UWF-I 6/10/94)
Destined to be a night for the underdogs, for Tamura to start his climb, to overcome the monster—at least until Vader thought it was enough.
Few had the understanding of the art Vader had, and it shows in performances like these.
Akira Maeda x Kazuo Yamazaki. With no championship belts in UWF, every single match plays a role in deciding who the true Ace is, and after a huge victory over Takada, Yamazaki takes it to the top guy in a full on war of attrition. (5.21.1989) ☠️
Rey Misterio Jr’s various dives of 1995.
Rey, Sabu & the Great Sasuke were largely my favorites that year.
Thanks to @RobViper & his excellent “Best Dives of 1995” video that I found on an old comp.
Gran Naniwa x Gran Hamada. Naniwa makes his ECW Arena debut in a deep cut against the trailblazing legend, but this is a significantly more cantankerous crab than fans remember from tv a year earlier. (1.10.1998) 🦀
@CombatUTC@adampharrwtw What a run Hunt had beating Wanderlei and Cro Cop on back to back NYE cards while just doing K1 in between is something you'd never see again.
#OnThisDay in 1990: All Japan: A match took place that forever changed the landscape of Japanese professional wrestling. Mitsuharu Misawa, who had only weeks earlier unmasked from his Tiger Mask II persona, defeated the ace Jumbo Tsuruta in his first main event at Budokan. 🧵
Super Vader x Nobuhiko Takada. Vader captures the UWFI Title in a brutal spectacle, his 5th major world championship (IWGP, WCW, UWA Mexico, CWA Europe). He’d add the AJPW Triple Crown in ‘99. (8.18.1994) 👑 ☠️
@allan_cheapshot I wonder how many groups took a copy of Thesz's NWA title as their own top title? I know Rikidozan had a version made for himself and JWA and there's this one with WWA, I wonder if it was just groups that had Japan ties or were there any other territories that used that design?
ON THIS DAY! | June 8th 2003 🗓️
Kazuyuki Fujita created a moment for the ages when he almost did the seemingly impossible against PRIDE FC Heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko.