UWFi
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| Acronym | UWFi |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 10, 1991 |
| Defunct | December 27, 1996 |
| Style | Shoot style |
| Headquarters | Japan |
| Founder(s) | Nobuhiko Takada, Kazuo Yamazaki, Yukoh Miyato, Yoji Anjoh & other |
Union of Wrestling Forces International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1991 to 1996. Although the matches were worked (i.e. predetermined), the UWF-i was very convincing for its time, promoting a more hard-hitting, realistic style. In retrospect, UWFi, along with other shoot-style promotions, served as precursors to popular MMA promotions, particularly PRIDE.
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 a trainer for their gym (the UWFi Snakepit), and wrestling legend Danny Hodge occasionally served as a judge 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 Gary Albright. Lou Thesz acted as commissioner and lent his 1950s NWA World title belt to be used as the distinction for it. The theme of UWFi being "real pro-wrestling" was central to the promotion's image, and both Thesz and Takada would deride other Japanese promotions (particularly Takada's old promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling) for being "fake", while claiming themselves to be legit. UWF-i, however, was no more legit than any other group at the time. Takada went so far as to challenge the champions of other major Japanese promotions (Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW Triple Crown Champion at the time), Masahiro Chono (NWA World Heavyweight Champion at the time), and The Great Muta (IWGP Heavyweight Champion at the time)), in an effort to determine who was the true world champion.
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