UWF International
Shoot style | |
Headquarters | Japan |
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Founder(s) | Nobuhiko Takada, Kazuo Yamazaki, Yukoh Miyato, Yoji Anjo and others |
Predecessor | Newborn UWF |
Successor | Kingdom |
Union of Wrestling Forces International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a
Although the matches were predetermined, the UWF-i was very convincing for its time, promoting a
History
The promotion was founded on May 10, 1991, as a continuation of the UWF. The UWF-i featured most of UWF's roster, and was led by Nobuhiko Takada, who was the top star and the face of the promotion. Other natives for the promotion included Kazuo Yamazaki, Yoji Anjo, Kiyoshi Tamura, Tatsuo Nakano, Yuko Miyato, Masahito Kakihara and kickboxer Makoto Oe. Vintage shooter Billy Robinson was used as head trainer for their gym (the UWFi Snakepit), and wrestling legends Lou Thesz and Danny Hodge occasionally served as trainers in their pursuit of old-school credibility. Former pro wrestler Shinji Sasazaki would lend a hand by helping some of the foreign talent, mostly from the Tennessee area, get booked on their cards.
In 1992, the UWFi introduced its first championship, the "Real Pro-Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship", which was won by Takada after a victory over top foreign antagonist
In 1993, Super Vader, the World Heavyweight Champion from the United States-based World Championship Wrestling, accepted Thesz and Takada's grandstand challenge, whereas the aforementioned champions were "too afraid" of Takada to face him. After Gary Albright quit UWFi to join All Japan and Vader left over money disputes, the promotion was left with a lack of credible challengers to Takada's title, and interest in the promotion began to wane. After being overlooked several times over the years, Kazuo Yamazaki left to return to New Japan in July 1995.
Interpromotional feuds and downfall
In 1995, Anjo and other UWFi bookers proposed co-promoting with
In 1996, as the New Japan feud died down, UWFi formed an alliance with
On August 17, 1996, Takada defeated
Rules
The combatants would start with 15 points each. Points would be lost for knockout attempts, being at a disadvantage during a hold, and/or for breaking a hold by grabbing onto the ring ropes with hand(s) and/or feet. The only way to win was by submission, knockout (count of 10) or a wrestler's points being reduced to 0.
Tag team matches were allowed as well, with 21 points (instead of 15) given to a team at start time. However, the points system was rarely referred to, as a wrestler or team losing points could still win by forcing his opponent to submit or by knocking him out. No pinfall counts were allowed, and no countouts were allowed (in practice, wrestlers never set foot outside the ring during the match). Similarly, six-man tag team matches occurred, but were rare, with 30 points given to a team at start time.
In 1995, rules were somewhat relaxed to allow pinfalls in order to allow for New Japan, WAR, and other non-submission-oriented wrestlers (such as Abdullah the Butcher) to compete.
In 2017 an American independent promotion, Paradigm Pro Wrestling, based in Jeffersonville, Indiana, revived the rules for its matches.
Roster
Natives:
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Foreigners:
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Championships
Pro-Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship
The championship used the belt used by
No. | Wrestlers: | Times: | Date: | Days held: | Defences: | Location: | Notes: |
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1 | Nobuhiko Takada | 1 | September 21, 1992 | 696 | 3 | Kyoto, Japan | Defeated Gary Albright to become the first champion; Takada and Albright had been chosen as contenders based on their UWFI records (Albright 11 wins and 0 losses, Takada 10–1). |
2 | Super Vader | 1 | August 18, 1994 | 245 | 1 | Tokyo, Japan | |
3 | Nobuhiko Takada | 2 | April 20, 1995 | 165 | 0 | Nagoya, Japan
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— | Title retired | — | October 2, 1995 | — | — | Lou Thesz withdraws his support for the promotion and takes the belt with him in protest against a proposed unification match against Keiji Mutoh . Takada beats Mutoh on January 4, 1996, and wins the IWGP title.
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Combined reigns
Rank[A] | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Nobuhiko Takada | 2 | 861 |
2 | Super Vader | 1 | 245 |
Video game
In 1995,