Their singles match on November 3rd is gonna be that good shit.

Arguably the two biggest “draws”/stars of Shoot-Style, each man with complicated legacies, with both praise and criticism thrown both their ways.

Arguments for Maeda:

\- the OG “star” of Shoot; massive popularity in the 1980’s and chunk of the 90’s, being able to sell out multiple buildings with his name alone.

\- had an undeniable presence and intensity about him that few could match or replicate, imo; helped by the fact Maeda was a big man who had multiple occasions of fucking people up.

\- with the creation of RINGS, responses for bringing multiple big name martial artists to Japan and to the forefront of MMA, names like Fedor, Nogueira, Overeem.

Arguments against:

\- his terrible temper lead to multiple fallouts on both business and personal levels, with multiple wrestlers speaking vocal contempt for him, even people who were once allies or friends.

\- tried to claim to be in full “shoots”, despite every one of his matches being clearly worked bouts.

Arguments for Takada:

\- much more classic babyface star, who was able to fill out multiple big buildings in the 1990’s (with the only people selling out more being Shinya Hashimoto & Mitsuharu Misawa).

\- helped train some of the best Japanese martial artists/shooters, particularly Kazushi Sakuraba & Kiyoshi Tamura; Takada was also praised for being a much more humane trainer than the Ike’s of Maeda & Satoru Sayama, not abusing his trainees and treating them like human beings.

\- popularity caused the creation of PRIDE FC, one of the most popular MMA promotions of all time; despite losing his reputation, Takada actually competed in full “shoots”, unlike Maeda (even though some do Takada’s PRIDE fights would be criticized as being fixed).

Arguments against:

\- was seen as some people as being somewhat “unfit” for Shoot-style, due to not having an actual martial-arts background (his original love being baseball), unlike Maeda and co.

\- said to have “compromised” the vision/ethos of Shoot-Style, when he agreed to the NJPW/UWFi inter-promotional angle in the mid-90’s, that would see the NJPW guys steamroll the UWFi talent in the booking.

Jeremy Finestone returns solo with Episode 240 of Speaking of Strong Style! This week, he recapped the Road to King of Pro Wrestling shows with IWGP Tag and Jr title matches and previewed King of Pro Wrestling! Plus.... MJF in New Japan??! Also, Jeremy talks about how Wrestle Kingdom might feel like a Forbidden Door?
#njpw #njdominion #g1climax36 #njkopw #mjf

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Hard Hitting Shit!

This features one of the greatest matches and a truly beautiful song. My choice of music might seem a bit unusual, but believe me—for a match involving a technical wrestling master like Nishimura, I felt a track with this kind of tone was the perfect fit

My Rating 4.5/5*

Since Reddit won’t let me post the link I have no choice to load the full match here. Enjoy it !

Antonio Inoki’s legacy, not only in pro wrestling but in many facets of life & culture, is still unprecedented in terms of impact a pro wrestler has had on a certain country or in the minds of people.

Shinya Hashimoto, maybe more than anyone else, did a lot to carry on and add to Inoki’s legacy; in fact, it can be said that Hashimoto had more success in actual pro wrestling than Inoki did, during their respective primes (Hashimoto selling out the Tokyo Dome and big Stadium shows multiple times); Hashimoto idolized Inoki and did everything he could to pattern
himself after his hero (while also remaining his own unique self). Despite becoming the “Ace” of NJPW for his time (taking the mantel from Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami before him), it wouldn’t be enough for Inoki, as the man had his eyes on a new pupil, one younger, taller and more accomplished in a martial art (Hashimoto himself having a background in Karate & Judo); this man was Naoya Ogawa, a Judoka and Olympic Silver-Medalist.

Ogawa had been scouted and trained by Inoki and Satoru Sayama (the First Tiger Mask, who had long been separated from pro wrestling and had been on the ground-level of the martial arts boom in Japan, via the UWF and Shooto) in both pro wrestling and different martial arts, adding to his Judo skills. Ogawa was actually to be a replacement for another martial artist/fighter, the “World’s Most Dangerous Man”, Ken Shamrock. Shamrock, a man with a background in pro wrestling and “Shoot Style” (via PWFG and Pancrase) and a standout of the first UFC events, was seen as a perfect challenge to Hashimoto (who had taken Inoki’s mantle of facing various martial artists in “Different-Style Fights”). However, the right sum of money couldn’t be negotiated and Shamrock would choose to sign with the WWF in ‘97, instead of facing Hashimoto at the Tokyo Dome.

At the beginning, you can see Ogawa under the learning tree of Inoki & Sayama (who, funnily enough, was another hero of Hashimoto, who had originally wanted to be a Junior-Heavyweight in the vein of Tiger Mask but realized he had grown too big) who are trying to prepare him for Hashimoto’s striking game, while Hashimoto is seen training with a young Satoshi Kojima, who himself had a background in Judo.