One of the greatest things about the second UWF is that, on top of the idea of a more realistic kind of professional wrestling that’s carried over from the original incarnation, they’re also better than most other promotions ever at presenting scenarios that feel like something you would get if this was all real after all. Not just the violence, but the ideas of flukes, questionable interpretations of the rules, referees siding with the faces of the league over others, lower ranked competitors taking out on each other what they can’t on anyone else, and things like that.
This match presents another stellar example of this.
Following a loss in an important match three weeks prior, Kazuo Yamazaki is mad and against a lower ranked opponent in young Anjoh, perhaps a little sloppy in the first half. Anjoh gets lucky one time, connects with a big middle kick to the stomach to drop Yamazaki at a time when both swing upon each other, and begins acting like not only does he have a shot at this, but like Yamazaki is someone that he now gets to be aggressive with, as though they are equals.
If you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a million times.
Some fighter or team or simply individual player gets lucky, maybe a little hot, and begins acting like they’re so much more than they are. If you’re on their side, there’s absolutely nothing like it, the 2020-21 Piston taking out the defending champion Lakers on a Thursday in January. If you aren’t, there is nothing more infuriating, and I think everyone reading this likely just had five to ten things pop up in their minds. It’s one of the great stories possible, resulting in not only another win for the UWF in that department, but one of the more overachieving matches of the entire second run.
Kazuo Yamazaki gets up more annoyed every time, the dictionary definition picture of righteous indignation, and eventually just fucking trucks his ass.
He lands not only all the awesome kicks in the world like usual, but incorporates more of these ultra mean spirited punches to the stomach that he picked up from Yoshiaki Fujiwara three weeks earlier (in a not dissimilar spot) before also having his way with the boy on the mat. Anjoh has his lucky shot, and a few more moments of success where recklessness and moderate skill come together perfectly, but it doesn’t ever last.
When he tries the big leglock, Yamazaki reverses to a perfect ankle hold of his own, and the boy surrenders.
Another perfect midcard outing not only from a company that excels at that sort of a thing, but also from one of the more versatile and adaptable wrestlers to ever apply their talents to this style. A real sleeper.
HANDWERK 