Aleksandr Karelin was already a legend in the international wrestling community way before he took the offer from RINGS but in the eyes of Japanese fight fans, only after he dueled with Akira Maeda, this three-time Olympic gold medallist finally became a true legend.

When it comes to the Games of the Olympiad, like in the U.S. (or perhaps in any other country), television stations predominantly air events with their own hopes competing and since there weren't any Super-Heavyweight Greco-Roman Japanese medal contenders in a while, not many people noticed an athlete named Aleksandr Karelin from Russia. Even in Atlanta, when he became the first wrestler to win the same weight division three times, Japanese television stations butchered down this Karelin's amazing feat to a few minutes of highlights. That's right, Aleksandr Karelin was virtually unknown in Japan till RINGS started to mentioning his name. No one in Japan knew the details of his incredible accomplishments; in the 1992 Games, only one of his opponents lasted till the time limit, and in the 1996 Games, Karelin outscored five opponents by 25-0. The Gentle Giant was, at the time, undefeated for eleven years. (He ended up extending this unbeaten record for the next two years till the 2000 Games) If he was the big man in Judo, the situation would've been different but the reality was, except those passionate amateur wrestling followers, no one in Japan really knew what Aleksandr Karelin looked like.

RINGS however knew exactly how to market this Russian powerhouse.
There were three key elements; his accomplishments in the Olympics, reverse body lift, and pro-wrestling fans.
Even though Maeda repeatedly expressed his sense of malaise towards pro-wrestling from the beginning of the second phase of UWF, the majority of Maeda followers were also pro-wrestling fans (or ex-pro-wrestling fans now only watching MMA), and Karelin had something very valuable. Not only did he have undeniably awesome credentials but he also had footage of him nailing clean reverse body lifts in the Olympic Game. For Japanese pro-wrestling fans, this move is called a side-suplex. Clearly, it is a tremendously difficult move to perform in real competition. See, there is something quite absorbing about Japanese pro-wrestling fans. Most of them know that pro-wrestling is a show performed by athletes and they also know that in real combat situations, many pro-wrestling moves and holds are almost impossible to apply, some obviously ineffective. Fans are fully aware of that, and that's why they also enjoy seeing these moves attempted in real fights. It's that taste of delighted glorious fun similar to the world of Superman, Spider-man, or Batman. Look at fighters like Kazushi Sakuraba who sets the house on fire by attempting a series of pro-wrestling moves in PRIDE fights. When he does the Mongolian chops, that's like Clark Kent turning into Superman. Japanese pro-wrestling fans are, in a way, dreamers who love to see the world of comic books happening in the real world.

In that sense, that reverse body lift Karelin nailed on Rangel Gerovski of Bulgaria in the 1988 Games was nothing less than perfect. Gerovski's head was drilled dead straight into the mat. It was indeed Karelin's own enhanced version of a side suplex. Japanese pro-wrestling fans were immediately sold on this unbelievable picture. They even named the move "Karelin Lift." Actually what is really amazing about that reverse body lift was that Karelin came up with it at 30 seconds left in the match when he was down 3-0. Talk about a clutch performance at its best, right? But Japanese fans didn't know about this and were more impressed with his lethal-looking reverse body lift than anything else. RINGS used this footage and played it over and over and over every time Karelin's name was mentioned in the public air. Everyone identified him with three gold and the "Karelin Lift."
"That's the powerful looking dude from Russia who did the side suplex in an Olympic wrestling match, right?"
Until this date, some Japanese pro-wrestling fans identify Karelin in that manner.

Akira Maeda's retirement bout took place on February 21st of 1999 at Yokohama Arena. Just a couple blocks away from the famous Shin Yokohama Rahmen Museum but the attention Maeda received from the mainstream media was not as hot as Sumire's miso-based soup. (My favorite bowl of Rahmen in the museum) Without the coverage by terrestrial broadcasting, this was indeed, expected. Of course Karelin is not in the same class as Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson in terms of visibility of the general public but when you look at the recognition Rickson Gracie achieved overnight by beating Takada on Fuji television, the power of a national station in Japan is unassailable. This day however did become monumental for both the professional fighting world and the pro-wrestling world though. After all, Akira Maeda was a big name and Aleksandr Karelin was reining Olympic champion.

In this type of retirement event, there is usually this sense of solidarity in the air but this day was completely different. Japanese fans or even the most dedicated Maeda followers didn't get too sentimental and I believe there were two reasons for this. First, even from the fan's point of view, Maeda, as a fighter, was already done back in 1997 when he lost to Kiyoshi Tamura. That's when Maeda couldn't do anything except hang out convalescing. In Yoshihisa Yamamoto in July of 1998, at the same place, in Yokohama Arena, fans confirmed that this "Maeda illusion" had completely disappeared.

Another reason is that fans were excited about the beginning of new era which meant world class Vale Tudo fighters. In this event, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu monster Ricardo Morais was in the cards and Sean Alvarez was making his second RINGS appearance. Fans also knew RINGS just began its affiliation with team RAW, and Tom Erickson and Randy Couture's RINGS debut, in the upcoming Tokyo Bay NK Hall event, were already confirmed. This was the time when this Jiu-jitsu dominance in the UFC calmed down a bit because of the stellar performances by wrestlers like Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, Don Frye, and Couture. Therefore, everyone wanted to see American top wrestlers. Further out, the existence of Aleksandr Karelin raised fans' expectations even more. Evidently, RINGS proved their strong tie with the Russian wrestling community. Top talents from Brazil and known names from America where now stepping and on top of that, we got to see Russian wrestlers too! The fans were absolutely stimulated with this new direction RINGS was taking.
"The most important thing is to recruit top class talent"
This was Maeda's trademark phrase since the beginning of RINGS and on the day of his retirement, by bringing top talents from the North and South, Maeda's ideal world finally began its final transition. Yes, fans had no time to be schmaltzy.

Put simply, 1988 itself was the new era for RINGS.
Tsuyoshi "TK" Kosaka achieved success in the UFC. Hiromitsu Kanehara and Kenichi Yamamoto came to RINGS instead of following Takada to PRIDE. In terms of RINGS official rules, fight time was shortened and closed fist striking on the ground became legal. (Except to the head) Finally, RINGS seem to be fully conscious about Vale Tudo. That is, probably because they could no longer ignore the success of the UFC and Shooto. Plus, Pancrase announced its decision to go Vale Tudo the year before. RINGS knew Vale Tudo was no longer a heresy. It in fact was, the cadre of MMA, already, at the time, the leading edge of fighting sports. Vale Tudo was the homework RINGS should've been tackling from 1993 but now at last, or at least it seems like, they opened a book carefully began reading. But Maeda didn't just follow what everybody else was doing. He was a little more creative than that, and everything began with this Karelin fight.

The Maeda – Karelin fight was held under the special RINGS rules; two 5 minutes round, no striking on the ground, two rope escapes would be considered as one knock down and three knock downs is an automatic TKO, 1 minute interval between rounds, 3 judges will score the bout at the end of the second round.
The bout began with low-kicks by Maeda.
One, two, three, to Karelin's thick left thigh, then Maeda immediately shoots in for a take down but Karelin sprawls and catches Maeda in a frontal headlock. And in the next moment, 12,000-plus fans at Yokohama arena saw something incogitable. Karelin, with this frontal headlock, started to swing around the 260 pound Maeda left and right. This was like an immediate compressed fracture on the cervical spine type of move. It was just an incredible display of monstrous power. This Siberian-born wrestler was like a tempestuous wind in the ring. Every time Maeda tried something, Karelin just shook him off with pure strength.
Maeda however had his moment also.
He caught Karelin in an ankle hold and forced him to take the first rope escape. But other than that, it was just Karelin all the way. Even in the standing bout, Karelin closed the distance and did not allow Maeda to throw second and third kicks and once the fight was on the ground, Karelin just mashed him up. He even showed the "Karelin Lift" and drilled Maeda's head straight into the canvass. And at the end, it was victory for Karelin in a unanimous decision.
This was not a close fight. It was, in fact, a crushing defeat. Maeda, hands-down took a loss in his final professional bout.
Fans accepted it. Everyone knew Maeda was completely covered with wounds.
Besides, Maeda followers had a keen instinct that this was the beginning new era, and RINGS' answer to this subject called Vale Tudo was K.O.K. (King of Kings) tournament.

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