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We were discussing this in the wrestling thread.
This is basically what caused Japanese wrestling to nearly die last decade, when all of the star wrestlers got exposed in real MMA fights.
Minoru Suzuki vs Jushin Liger - A 38-year old Liger gets mauled by a slightly past his peak but still very dangerous Minoru Suzuki of Pancrase. Liger tries his pro wrestling ROLLING KOPPO KICK, and then Suzuki laughs while beating the shit out of him. Suzuki get bored and chokes him out. Suzuki of course was an early era Pancrase star who battled Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Bas Rutten, Masakatsu Funaki, etc. all of whom did worked matches with the exception of Frank (unless you count the Pancrase works that he thought were real, with Ken & Funaki putting over the others to create new stars). Funaki is still a big wrestling star as is Suzuki.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs Kimo - I remember at the time smart people who should have known better thought Bigelow could win. Look how lost he looks against Kimo, who was a tough early era UFC star but hardly a well rounded fighter.
Fedor vs Yuji Nagata - Antonio Inoki had a bad habit of putting his star pro wrestlers against top MMA fighters, particularly on big New Year's Eve shows. Look, Nagata is a tough dude and a locker room enforcer, but this is PRIME FEDOR. Nagata took years to recover his drawing power after this and another loss to MIrko Cro Cop, and fights like this ultimately hurt Fedor's legacy as well as he gained a rep as a scrub hunter. Josh Barnett, a great fighter & pro wrestler himself, cornered Nagata.
Yoshihiro Takayama vs Don Frye - Takayama held his own here, in what many call "The Greatest Fight of All Time". If you recognize the opening exchange, thats because wrestlers have been copying it in worked matches ever since, most recently a few nights ago in New Japan (Ishii vs another former fighter turned wrestler, Katsuyori Shibata). Takayama had a bad W/L record in MMA, but always fought hard and never got his ass kicked. They had a pro wrestling rematch a few years ago that bombed at the gate.
Dos Caras Jr (Alberto Del Rio) vs Mirko Cro Cop - Cro Cop kills Alberto Del Rio, with VOW guest Sicodelico Jr in his corner.
These are some famous ones. I'll post more later.
This is basically what caused Japanese wrestling to nearly die last decade, when all of the star wrestlers got exposed in real MMA fights.
Minoru Suzuki vs Jushin Liger - A 38-year old Liger gets mauled by a slightly past his peak but still very dangerous Minoru Suzuki of Pancrase. Liger tries his pro wrestling ROLLING KOPPO KICK, and then Suzuki laughs while beating the shit out of him. Suzuki get bored and chokes him out. Suzuki of course was an early era Pancrase star who battled Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Bas Rutten, Masakatsu Funaki, etc. all of whom did worked matches with the exception of Frank (unless you count the Pancrase works that he thought were real, with Ken & Funaki putting over the others to create new stars). Funaki is still a big wrestling star as is Suzuki.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs Kimo - I remember at the time smart people who should have known better thought Bigelow could win. Look how lost he looks against Kimo, who was a tough early era UFC star but hardly a well rounded fighter.
Fedor vs Yuji Nagata - Antonio Inoki had a bad habit of putting his star pro wrestlers against top MMA fighters, particularly on big New Year's Eve shows. Look, Nagata is a tough dude and a locker room enforcer, but this is PRIME FEDOR. Nagata took years to recover his drawing power after this and another loss to MIrko Cro Cop, and fights like this ultimately hurt Fedor's legacy as well as he gained a rep as a scrub hunter. Josh Barnett, a great fighter & pro wrestler himself, cornered Nagata.
Yoshihiro Takayama vs Don Frye - Takayama held his own here, in what many call "The Greatest Fight of All Time". If you recognize the opening exchange, thats because wrestlers have been copying it in worked matches ever since, most recently a few nights ago in New Japan (Ishii vs another former fighter turned wrestler, Katsuyori Shibata). Takayama had a bad W/L record in MMA, but always fought hard and never got his ass kicked. They had a pro wrestling rematch a few years ago that bombed at the gate.
Dos Caras Jr (Alberto Del Rio) vs Mirko Cro Cop - Cro Cop kills Alberto Del Rio, with VOW guest Sicodelico Jr in his corner.
These are some famous ones. I'll post more later.
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