Akira Maeda vs Masakatsu Funaki (UWF - 10/25/1990)

Akira Maeda vs Masakatsu Funaki (UWF - 10/25/1990)

If the date sounds familiar is because it happened in the same show as the legendary Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada, this match was actually the main event of that show, in hindsight it wasn’t the right choice but who could blame them having the ace of the company facing off against a young up and coming Masakatsu Funaki, both matches were very good, in fact, I feel like this match is overlooked even by the most hardcore shootstyle fans, Akira Maeda has the ability to look like a jerk in every match he’s in mainly because he is in real life so it’s easier for him, Funaki in the other hand is the outmatched underdog the crowd is rallying behind and he performed pretty well in that circumstance, he’s a striker so Maeda targeted his left leg to limit his movement and efectiveness, that gameplan worked well for him during almost the entirety of the bout there were times where Funaki threatened an armbar but Maeda escaped unscaved every time, Maeda had the counter for everyone of Funaki’s moves, Maeda looked like the most intimidating figure in the UWF roster after such a win, his opponent was helpless, it gave me the impression that the match lasted 18 minutes because Maeda wanted it to last that long, you leave the match thinking that it could have lasted way less time if Maeda just wanted to win but he had higher aspirations he wanted to give everyone in the company a lesson and he did exactly that in a way very few wrestlers can or could ever replicate, Funaki was like one of those Lou Thesz opponents that had no chance of winning but won a fall, Funaki here is basically what Cyclone Anaya was in 1950, a victim of an unstoppable force nobody knows how to stop.