Wrestling Observer Newsletter from Aug.9th 2004

[Guest JJW]

I found this while cleaning up my inbox,it's the full newsletter and it's pretty big so i'll post it in a few sections.

 

 

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

August 9, 2004

 

Bruno Sammartino was at the WWE Raw show in Pittsburgh on 7/26 for more

than just to work on a documentary about his life, but also because he's

been offered a role as an announcer for the new 24/7 channel.

It would have been an incredible shock a few months ago for things to

have gotten this far due to hard feelings. It is not clear where things

stand right now, other than Sammartino had a cordial meeting with Vince

McMahon at the show, which would have been the first time the two would

have spoken since a public confrontation on the stage of the Phil Donahue

show in 1992.

 

Sammartino, 69, and the company had been at odds since 1987, when

Sammartino's contract as a TV announcer expired and he left the company,

unhappy with how wrestling had changed. In particular, Sammartino noted

the drug culture, both steroids and recreational drugs, that had changed

the business since his heyday as the company's biggest star for most of

the period from 1963 until his initial retirement in 1981. At the time,

he was also upset that at the same time his contract expired, the company

fired his son David, after an altercation where he punched a fan. David

and Bruno were later estranged over many issues, including David's

admitted steroid use as a wrestler. Sammartino had always had bitterness

with the McMahon family, even though each side made the other wealthy. He

blamed Vince McMahon Sr. for getting him blacklisted from wrestling early

in his career. However, once Sammartino established himself as a big

drawing card for Frank Tunney in Toronto, McMahon Sr. wanted him back and

made him champion. Sammartino was probably the biggest drawing card of

the 60s, and put the WWWF title on the map. His drawing power was such

that in 1965, meetings were held between McMahon Sr. and Sam Muchnick

over unifying the WWWF and NWA titles into one world champion, and the

plan was for Sammartino to beat Lou Thesz with the idea of having a big

score on a closed-circuit show. That match never happened, since Thesz

wanted more money than they were offering, and Sammartino turned down the

schedule, which would have been insane.

 

In 1970, Sammartino, who suffered a major back injury a few years

earlier, asked out of being WWWF champion due to the schedule, dropping

the title to Ivan Koloff on January 18, 1971, in Madison Square Garden.

His successor, Pedro Morales, was actually a better draw in New York, but

not in the rest of the Northeast, and in 1973, McMahon Sr. asked

Sammartino to return. Sammartino managed to negotiate for himself a

fantastic deal for the time, where he'd usually work three times per

week, and only work the major arenas (he'd work smaller towns in the

Pittsburgh area), signing a contract, unheard of at the time, or six

percent of the gross at all the shows he worked except Madison Square

Garden, where he'd get five percent. After breaking his neck in 1976 when

he was dropped on his head from a bodyslam in a Madison Square Garden

match with Stan Hansen, he asked out of the schedule again. McMahon put

him off for a while, but finally, on April 30, 1977, in Baltimore, he

dropped the title to Superstar Billy Graham. Sammartino had a huge

program chasing Graham for the title, and his feuds in the latter stages

of his career with Hansen, Graham and Larry Zbyszko in 1980 (including a

Shea Stadium match which drew $541,730, at the time more than doubling

the all-time North American gate record) were some of his biggest. He

retired in October of 1981. After retirement, he received information

that claimed the promotion was cheating him on his percentage, and filed

a suit.

 

McMahon Jr. settled out-of-court, for what was believed to have been

$200,000 in back pay as well as a several year contract paying six

figures for working 17 dates per year, as a color commentator on the "A"

television show at the time, the syndicated Superstars of Wrestling show.

McMahon Jr., with help from son David, who was wrestling under the name

David Bruno Sammartino, in 1985, came up with the idea of helping David's

career doing a father-and-son tag team. Sammartino's first matches back

in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, facing Paul Orndorff & Bobby Heenan, were

both sellouts. Soon, David Sammartino was back in prelims, and Bruno was

working main events in his former strongholds like New York, Boston,

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. He appeared as a participant in the

Wrestlemania II Battle Royal, although he was really just a face in the

crowd on that show. He also went on tour as a replacement when Jake

Roberts failed a cocaine test in the middle of a program with Honky Tonk

Man, and worked with him in many cities, before his final match, the

unique and only Hulk Hogan & Bruno Sammartino as a tag team bout, over

King Kong Bundy & One Man Gang on August 29, 1987, at the Baltimore

Arena. It was ironic that Sammartino's career as an active wrestler ended

as part of a dual Hogan posedown, next to a man he'd later despise.

The sides had one negotiating session involving Jim Ross and Jerry

McDevitt and Sammartino and his reps on 6/22. According to those close to

Sammartino, he made a lot of requests, some of which the company couldn't

possibly meet, but ultimately the word was that money would end up being

the deciding factor. Sammartino doesn't want to talk publicly about the

negotiations for fear of it getting in the way of a deal, but as of right

now, he's waiting for a contract offer from McMahon to decide on, and

right now there is no written contact offer nor an agreed upon deal. If

Sammartino had his way, he'd also be used by the company in a public

relations standpoint to give anti-steroid speeches, which opens up a can

of worms since steroid use is still so prevalent within the company.

Those inside the company were expecting the deal to happen. It has been

clear in recent years that McMahon Jr., now 58, has tried to make amends

with his most vocal and high-profile critics, signing Billy Graham

(although Graham at the time was destitute with heavily medical bills and

his wife Valerie and Jesse Ventura both tried to get McMahon and him

together as he was McMahon's favorite wrestler in the 70s and used as the

prototype for the Hogan character), bringing back Hulk Hogan twice, and

attempting on numerous occasions to bring back Bret Hart. There was also

a recent attempt to bring Ricky Steamboat. Steamboat, 52, had left WWE on

bitter terms twice, particularly the second time, when Steamboat told

McMahon he wanted to retire, then refused to do a 3:00 TV squash job for

Undertaker on the way out, only to resurface for his last run in WCW for

another series of matches with Flair and his career ending feud with

Steve Austin. Steamboat turned down the offer.

 

If Sammartino signs, it is likely the company would at least attempt to

publish his new autobiography as well as market a DVD on his career,

since both were brought up in the 6/22 session, as well as potentially

involve him in a video game and other marketing ventures. The company has

also talked about having Sammartino appear on occasion on the main

television shows. Nostalgia, such as retro jerseys and 70s television, is

in vogue. While Sammartino had a hold of audiences in the Northeast,

partially because of him being a real life superhero that they believed

in, who always won at the end, like no other wrestler, and older fans who

grew up on him will never forget him, marketing history is something

wrestling has never done. While Ric Flair, who never left the public eye

and whose stardom was a decade later has had more success than expected

in DVD and book form, as huge percentage of the wrestling audience has no

knowledge before 1984. Flair also was on national television from 1979

on, whereas Sammartino, and Billy Graham to a far lesser extent, were

part of a history only remembered by the very small number of people

interested in history, and in one part of the country.

 

It is believed many of the top stars of the past, including Chief Jay

Strongbow, Pat Patterson and Sgt. Slaughter, would be pushed in some

marketing form, when the new 24/7 channel is rolled out in a public

manner, taking advantage of the company's huge tape library. Whether a

wrestling business past its peak of mainstream popularity can make a

significant splash by selling its history is uncharted water. Using the

Flair DVD as a barometer may be misleading since, again, he's never left

the public eye. Hulk Hogan has been successful short-term, largely

capitalizing on 80s nostalgia, but the annual appearance on Raw of

Slaughter hasn't seemed to have meant much in the ratings. Dusty Rhodes

may always get a good pop at TNA events, but his being there has hardly

put them on a map the general public, even in the Southeast, has found.

We already know that with the Hogan book, and with at least one other

book, the company has attempted to change negative portrayals of Vince

(in the Hogan book, it wasn't so much Vince being written about

negatively, but Linda McMahon felt Hogan's original book before it was

changed into the new form didn't give Vince enough credit for Hogan's

success). While he may publicly not appear to care, at this stage of the

game, McMahon, like Flair and Hogan, and for that matter Sammartino, all

appear to be looking out for their legacy in a business, where until

recently, no such thing existed. It was said that in their conversation

in Pittsburgh, Sammartino did bring up some of his past gripes, including

his belief McMahon kept him out of the A&E Unreal History of Professional

Wrestling documentary. In regards to the Hall of Fame, it is said

Sammartino himself doesn't care much about whether he's inducted or not,

but is sensitive because a lot of his older fans continually bring it up

and that they do care about it.

 

Vince asked Sammartino to stay for the show and watch the HHH vs. Chris

Benoit main event, but he left the building at about 4:30 p.m. The doors

between the sides were opened by Jerry McDevitt when Bruno gave favorable

testimony to them in the Larry Zbyszko lawsuit over the "Living Legend"

nickname (which WWE had used on TV for Chris Jericho, and of late, once

or twice for Randy Orton). Sammartino had given key testimony against the

company in a lawsuit by wrestler Chuck Austin, in which the jury awarded

Austin $25.7 million (it was later settled out of court, to avoid an

appeal, for a figure far less, believed to have been around $10 million).

Austin was left a quadriplegic after taking a Rocker dropper (a move now

called the famouser by Billy Gunn) from Marty Jannetty during a 1990 tag

team match in Tampa, when he took the bump wrong and landed on his head.

Ironically, as the comments in Ric Flair's book on Bret Hart seem to have

hurt the chances of a similar reconciliation that Shane McMahon was

attempting to negotiate, these talks come on the heels of Flair's

comments on Sammartino, where he was critical of Sammartino for his

public knocking of the business that had made him famous.

 

Friends of Sammartino said Bruno was furious at Flair, McMahon and Mark

Madden for the comments in the book when it first came out before he left

on a recent trip to Italy. Regarding the Bruno Sammartino/Ric Flair deal

backstage, two other sources there have given a different version. They

said that Sammartino refused to shake Flair's hand. Sammartino's version

is he saw Flair from 20 feet away, walked toward him but Flair ducked

out, and he never saw Flair again.

******************************************************************

 

According to the marketing of the show, out of the six billion or so

people in the world, it has come down to four, to find out the toughest.

Of course, much of that is hyperbole, but the winner of the 8/15 Pride

Grand Prix tournament at the Saitama Super Arena will be regarded as the

best MMA heavyweight in the world.

 

The bracketing for the final four was announced, and it was something of

a major surprise, with pro wrestler Naoya Ogawa facing Pride world

heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, and Russian Sergei Kharitonov

facing Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Most had figured Ogawa vs. Nogueira,

because the Japanese fans had wanted in previous polls to see that battle

of judo vs. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. However, the company poll saw fans vote

Ogawa vs. Emelianenko (20,321 votes) the main event, barely, over Ogawa

vs. Nogueira (19,667).

 

Other matches announced on the card are a battle of pro and former

All-American college wrestlers, with Kevin Randleman vs. Ron Waterman; a

non-title match with 205-pound weight division champ Wanderlei Silva

taking on the final legitimate Japanese hope to beat him in the weight

class, Yuki Kondo of Pancrase, in a non-title match; and Mirko Cro Cop

vs. Alexander Emelianenko, the 275-pound younger brother of the world

champion. A Cro Cop win would set up a great grudge match with older

brother Fedor for the title. In the event of an injury to a winner in the

semifinals, the loser of the fight would replace the winner in the

finals. If both men in a fight are unable to continue, the next in line

would be the winner of Randleman vs. Waterman. If the winner of that

match can't continue, the next in line would be the winner of Cro Cop vs.

Alexander Emelianenko.

 

If Kondo (42-13-5) beats Silva in a match that has been Silva's most

talked about match in Japan since his win a year ago over Kazushi

Sakuraba, it would set up a title match between the two. Kondo is the top

star of the Pancrase promotion, and is notable as the only man in history

ever to knock Frank Shamrock out, in a September 7, 1996, match, and for

hanging with the much larger Josh Barnett last year. He lost in his bid

on December 16, 2000, in challenging Tito Ortiz for the UFC light

heavyweight title, although he decked Ortiz with a high knee before

losing quickly via submission. The question on Kondo, is have much 60 pro

fights have taken out of him at the age of 29? He's 11-2-2 over the past

few years, and one of those losses and one of those draws was avenged in

rematches. If Silva wins, his next title defense would be against Quinton

Jackson in October.

 

The event is already sold out, with a gate expected to be approximately

$5 million live. They have announced 40,000 tickets sold, but the Saitama

Super Arena only holds 35,000. It will also air on both PPV in Japan live

and in the U.S. on a one week delay (to avoid the conflict with WWE's

SummerSlam), as well as on closed-circuit in a few major Japanese cities.

There is belief it would break the country's all-time PPV record set for

the August 28, 2002, Mirko Cro Cop vs. Kazushi Sakuraba match of 125,000

buys. It will also be the first Pride show in history to be

closed-circuited, with live venues booked in Osaka, Sapporo and Fukuoka.

The tournament features two undefeated and largely untested fighters in

Ogawa and Kharitonov, and the two men considered the best heavyweights in

the world in the two different heavyweight champs of the organization.

Interestingly, Nogueira and Emelianenko both won major tournaments in the

RINGS organization, before jumping to the more lucrative Pride group.

Nogueira and Emelianenko have a lot of similarities. Both have brothers

who are fighters in Pride. Both are as well rounded as they come, with

good stand-up, submissions, stamina and unreal guts. And both come across

as fearless, but that is just a fan fantasy. In 2002, after the famous

Nogueira vs. Bob Sapp match, Pride wanted badly to book a rematch for the

title, but Nogueira wouldn't do it unless they offered a ridiculous

amount of money. When Emelianenko won the title, Pride officials were

happy, because they saw Sapp as the natural first opponent, and at the

time, because of the size difference, a lot of people thought Sapp could

have won, since Nogueira caught Sapp with a submission in a fight Sapp

was dominating, and Emelianenko was thought not to be as good in

submissions (although he's plenty good). Emelianenko also turned down the

fight, even though, hindsight being 20/20, he probably would have won.

Nogueira fought Emelianenko once before, on March 16, 2003, at the

Yokohama Arena, in what is considered a classic match. Emelianenko won a

unanimous decision to win the heavyweight title. Styles make fights, and

Emelianenko had stronger takedowns, wound up on top, and even when caught

in the guard, has freakish power in his punches, and his submission

awareness was such that he was never in danger, even against perhaps the

best submission heavyweight who ever lived. They also both have had their

business issues with Pride, with Nogueira using a contract loophole of

being able to fight for a pro wrestling organization (UFO, which then

promoted a shoot show), and did a match in opposition. He was nearly

stripped of his title over it. Emelianenko did something similar,

fighting on Antonio Inoki's New Year's Eve show that went head-up with

Pride. This came, even though under exclusive contract to Pride, after he

had claimed a thumb injury to avoid a title defense against Mirko Cro

Cop. That injury resulted in Pride booking Nogueira vs. Mirko Cro Cop on

November 9, 2003, at the Saitama Super Arena to create an interim

champion, which Nogueira won via submission after taking a major beating,

including likely being ten seconds from being knocked out at the end of

the first round. The two are supposed to meet later this year to rectify

who is the real champion, and are favored to meet in the finals on 8/15.

While the previous meeting favors Emelianenko, who has won 15 fights in a

row dating back nearly four years, and has never lost under full MMA

rules, a tournament changes the equation. If both win, whomever has the

tougher first round match goes into the finals with a sizeable

disadvantage.

 

Fantasy and intrigue describe the other two. Ogawa is the Japanese hero,

a pro wrestling superstar who is now the biggest ratings draw in the MMA

or pro wrestling world in Japan. Unlike the others, he didn't earn his

way into the semifinals, but was handed his spot. Whether his first round

win over kickboxer Stefan Leko was a work or not, Leko's back was in such

bad shape he had already planned surgery, so Leko knew he wasn't winning.

His second round win was against Giant Silva, a monstrous man, but one

who was both old and almost totally unskilled. But Ogawa is almost surely

the best real athlete of the four, as well as the biggest, but also the

oldest. He also has the least real world experience in this sport, as

well as the most real world experience in sports. He was a world

superheavyweight champion in judo at the age of 19, placed 2nd in the

1992 Olympics and 5th in 1996. He has trained in kickboxing for years. He

has never lost a fight, although who knows the veracity of many of his

wins, and he's never faced anyone of top level.

 

Kharitonov is the other mystery. He made the final four by beating a

plumped up natural 200-pounder in Murilo Ninja, who wasn't himself with

the added weight, and by taking down and pummeling bloody the 7-1 Semmy

Schilt. Both Emelianenko and Nogueira had also been able to take down

Schilt, and neutralize his striking, in fairly one-sided wins. His other

wins were all against total unknowns. He's looked like a killer, but

anyone who knows fighting knows it's a whole different deal looking like

a killer against jibronis, then facing the top two guys in the world.

In looking at fights with common opponents, Emelianenko and Nogueira both

beat Mark Coleman by submission, with both looking impressive, and

Emelianenko doing it faster. Emelianenko, Nogueira and Ogawa all beat

Gary Goodridge. Emelianenko and Nogueira destroyed him with no problem.

Ogawa had a more competitive match, and there are still doubts about the

authenticity of it. Heath Herring was bloodied up, and lost due to a ref

stoppage, in a one-sided match with Emelianenko. Nogueira beat him twice,

once via decision and a second time via submission, but didn't hurt him

as badly as Emelianenko either time. Emelianenko, Nogueira and Kharitonov

all beat Schilt. Emelianenko won a boring decision when he took him down

and was never in trouble, but didn't damage him badly. Nogueira struggled

standing, but once he got it on the ground, used his famed triangle to

end it. Kharitonov got Schilt down and pounded his eye badly, causing a

horrible cut and a ref stoppage.

 

More on the big four:

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - 6-3, 230 pounds, 28 years old, 23-2-1 record.

The top star of the famed Brazilian Top Team, which includes his twin

brother. Nogueira is a good skilled boxer, but doesn't have the best

knockout punch, as he only has one knockout to his credit, and that was a

brutal one against Sanae Kikuta, who was giving up 35 pounds and was far

too small for him. His submission skill is unmatched among heavyweights.

His guts are unquestioned, as he come back from serious beatings at the

hands of both Cro Cop and Sapp to win. But he does have weaknesses. His

stand-up is good against most MMA fighters, but is far from world class,

as Cro Cop was destroying him standing. He also can be neutralized by a

wrestler who can avoid his submissions, as shown in his August 10, 2003,

win over Ricco Rodriguez, which would have been a loss had it been under

UFC judging, as well as his match with Fedor. His new signature move is

the side choke, called the anaconda choke, since it is similar to pro

wrestler Hiroyoshi Tenzan's anaconda vice. 17 of his 23 wins have come

via submission, which both means he always has a chance no matter how

much he's dominated, but also means his winning this tournament could be

tough because all three opponents have tons of experience in dealing with

submissions. Aside from the Fedor loss, his only blemishes were a

February 26, 2000, loss in the RINGS King of Kings championship

tournament match to Dan Henderson, and if you saw that match, that split

decision loss was a joke, as Nogueira was dominant. Henderson got the win

largely because he was giving up weight and bad judging, so Nogueira

realistically should have won that 32-man tournament. Nogueira avenged

that loss, beating Henderson via submission with an armbar on December

23, 2002. He came back the following year to win the 2000-01 RINGS 32-man

tournament. After winning, he jumped from RINGS to Pride, and scored

consecutive wins over Gary Goodridge and Mark Coleman (their unofficial

world champion after Coleman had won the 2000 tournament and hadn't lost

since) using his famed triangle choke. He then dominated Heath Herring

both standing and on the ground on November 3, 2001, to win an easy

decision and become the official first Pride world heavyweight champion.

He lost the title on March 16, 2003, to Emelianenko. He regained a

version of it with his November, 9, 2003, win over Cro Cop, which he

still holds. His other blemish was a August 23, 2000, draw with Tsuyoshi

Kosaka, the pro wrestler, who is also the only blemish on Emelianenko's

record. His other victims have included a slew of pro wrestlers,

including Valentin Overeem twice, Kiyoshi Tamura, Volk Han, Enson Inoue

(before he started pro wrestling), Hiromitsu Kanehara, Hirotaka Yokoi,

Sapp, Coleman and Andrei Kopylov. He's still the only man to defeat Sapp

with a submission hold. He may be the world's toughest human, but only

because...

 

Fedor Emelianenko - 6-0, 237 pounds, 27 years old, 17-1. The reason

Nogueira may be the toughest human is because Emelianenko, after his last

match with Kevin Randleman on 6/20, is believed not to be human.

Emelianenko was dropped on his head in the most devastating looking

suplex in MMA history, didn't sell it, and within seconds, had Randleman

tapping from an armbar. He's not a skilled boxer, but has ridiculous

natural power in his punches, even when he's in a position, like caught

in the guard, where he should have no leverage. His style is perfect for

beating Nogueira. His background is both judo and sambo and his

submissions are great. He's never been submitted, or even close to it, so

his awareness is top notch. His wrestling is good. It was thought he

could be in trouble with a good wrestler, but he was able to quickly make

Randleman and Mark Coleman tap out. Against a good striker, like Schilt,

he was able to take him down. The only opponent at the top level who is a

question against him looks to be Cro Cop, provided Cro Cop is able to

keep the fight standing. His only loss was on December 22, 2000, a blood

stoppage in a fight he was winning, against Kosaka. As it turned out,

that freak loss could have changed significant history. His next foe in

the tournament would have been Randy Couture. Had he gotten past Couture,

he likely would have beaten everyone until facing Nogueira, which would

have been the finals. He won the RINGS tournament the next year, although

the company was dying by then and the field was far weaker. Like

Nogueira, after winning the tournament he jumped to Pride for a bigger

money offer. His victims have included Ricardo Arona, Renato Babalu

Sobral, Schilt, Herring, Nogueira and eight pro wrestlers: Coleman,

Randleman, Gary Goodridge, Kazuyuki Fujita, Yuji Nagata, Lee Hasdell,

Christopher Haseman and Ryushi Yanagisawa.

 

Sergei Kharitonov - 6-4, 235, 24 years old, 9-0. A total question mark.

Aside from Schilt, he has no wins against anyone of note, but has also

never shown any weakness. He's won two Russian eight-man tournaments, one

in 2000 and another in 2003, all with quick finishes. He's a hard

puncher, but his standing skill hasn't appeared to have been at the level

of Nogueira or Fedor. His skill level on the ground is unknown against

top level talent, and his stamina has never been tested. He has five wins

via submission (including one over a totally inexperienced pro wrestler,

Cory "L.A. Giant" Peterson) and four via knockout, so his finishing

offense is multi-dimensional.

 

Naoya Ogawa - 6-4, 255, 36 years old, 7-0 billed record, but some wins

are suspicious. What isn't suspicious is that he was a legend in judo,

and a huge television attraction in pro wrestling and MMA. Ogawa was the

youngest world champion in the history of judo as a Danny Hodge like

athletic freak when he won the 1987 world superheavyweight championship

at the age of 19. He won world titles again in 1989 and 1991. In his

competition days in judo, the knock on him was that he picked it up so

easy, and dominated so quickly, that he never put 100% into training and

thus never achieved his potential. He was favored for the gold in 1992,

and dominated everyone, winning four matches in less than 8:00 of

combined time, before being shocked in the final when David

Khakhaleishvili (who later became a pro wrestler himself in Japan for

RINGS) threw him twice in 1:04. He continued to compete, but never won

another world title, placing a few times. After winning his 7th national

championship, he decided to end his career after the 1996 Olympics, and

picked up his training to a degree, even though he probably still went in

30 pounds overweight. This time, the dominant star was France's David

Douillet, who breezed through the competition, winning a close semifinal

match over Ogawa. When it was over, even though Ogawa placed 5th,

Douillet was quick to say Ogawa was the toughest guy in the tournament.

After retirement from judo, he began negotiating with Giant Baba, but his

asking price was too high for Baba's taste. He wound up signing with

Seiji Sakaguchi (a national judo champion in the 60s) and New Japan Pro

Wrestling. His pro wrestling debut on April 12, 1997, was in the main

event at the Tokyo Dome, with a world champion vs. world champion theme,

as he faced IWGP champ Shinya Hashimoto in a non-title match, billed as a

remake of the famous Antonio Inoki vs. Willem Ruska feud in the 70s.

Ogawa, whose signature move in judo was the choke, wore his gi into the

Tokyo Dome, before a near sellout of more than 50,000 fans paying $5

million, and drew the highest rating any pro wrestling TV show in Japan

(13.0 at the time) had done in years. More than 250 photographers alone

were credentialed and it was covered by 50 magazines and nearly every

newspaper in the country. He beat Hashimoto to start one of the great

feuds in Japanese history, winning via choke in 9:25. Hashimoto agreed to

put up his title in a rematch just three weeks later at the Osaka Dome,

and it was sold out with more than 40,000, for Hashimoto and pro

wrestling getting its revenge. Ogawa then had a famous feud with Don

Frye, before headlining three more Dome shows for the second round of the

Hashimoto feud, matches that were all very different from traditional pro

wrestling in that the first was a virtual shoot, and the rematches were

the stiffest and most realistic works in New Japan history. The final

match, on April 7, 2000, drew a 24.0 rating, the largest for a worked pro

wrestling match in almost 14 years, and more than 40,000 fans, although

it was bittersweet. Hashimoto, who never beat Ogawa in the second feud,

had put up his career, and was scheduled to get the climactic win.

Antonio Inoki, who had also gotten Ogawa a run with the remnant of the

NWA pro wrestling title, showed up the day of the show and changed the

finish, deciding Ogawa's realism was more important than destroying

Hashimoto's credibility. Ogawa's shooter rep was carefully crafted with a

series of wins, most notably over K-1 star Masaaki Satake (in what was

billed as a judo vs. karate showdown) and 1996 Olympic silver medalist

wrestler Matt Ghaffari, who came in about 115 pounds heavier than he was

in Atlanta, both of which were huge TV ratings hits. Ogawa is considered

the least likely of the four to win, but the upside if he does would be

unbelievable, as he'd likely become the biggest pro wrestling and MMA

star in Japan since Inoki. Most recently, Ogawa's 6/20 win over Giant

Silva set Pride's all-time ratings record with a 25.4.

 

Emelianenko vs. Ogawa: Emelianenko's background is judo, and growing up,

Ogawa was his hero. Ogawa was far more successful at the sport, and judo

is the base of Emelianenko's skill. But Ogawa is eight years removed from

top competition, much older, and Emelianenko has never left top

competition. They also aren't in a judo match, but competing under rules

Emelianenko is the king in. Emelianenko has never been tested by someone

who can control the top position, thus negating his great striking from

the top. He's been in with great wrestlers who have taken him down, but

he's managed to reverse and submit all of them. Ogawa may be able to

avoid the submissions better than the wrestlers. I'd expect them to

clinch fast, so Emelianenko's better stand-up may not be the factor many

are saying it would be. Emelianenko is untested on the bottom position,

but Ogawa hasn't shown the brutality necessary from the top to put a guy

this tough away. Emelianenko would likely quickly escape, and eventually

be in position to do damage on the ground, and Ogawa has never taken that

kind of a beating. One has to greatly favor Emelianenko.

Kharitonov vs. Nogueira: We just don't know enough about Kharitonov. I

expect this to wind up on the ground with Kharitonov on top. The question

is his ability to avoid Nogueira's triangle and other weapons, and his

ability to damage Nogueira with punches. You have to go with the guy who

is proven it above the question mark, but based on what I've seen of

Kharitonov's skill, he does possess a style that may be effective.

Emelianenko vs. Nogueira: Emelianenko has the perfect style to beat

Nogueira as he showed before. Also, looking at the matchups, if someone

is going to take a first match beating, or have had a cut opened to be

taken advantage of, it is more likely Nogueira from Kharitonov.

Prediction is a repeat of their first match, a bloody unanimous decision.

*****************************************************************

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Awesome. I loved reading that PRIDE write up.

[Guest JJW]

I haven't finished reading it yet but in tommorrow's observer there's a decent sized Pride article.