May 2nd, 2003 -
This was the date on which NJPW (New Japan Pro-Wrestling), the biggest and most successful pro-wrestling organization in the history of Japan, first tasted this forbidden fruit. It may seem very odd to most people in the states, including Vince McMahon of WWE; to see a pro-wrestling organization getting mixed up with real fighting, but it was only a matter of time for NJPW because of the way it's founder built the organization.

His philosophy was simple. The biggest selling point of pro-wrestling has got to be showing a "fight", not only "staged entertainment." He wanted all his wrestlers to actually be equipped with real fighting skills. This way, the fights they perform in the pro-wrestling ring will look very convincing. That is the reason why he also recruited very top athletes - such as world Judo champions and national wrestling champions - for his organization instead of bodybuilders and injured football players. Then he brought in the concept of MMA into the pro-wrestling ring. Although most of his own MMA fights, are considered to have been staged, it was this man who first planted the seed called MMA in the mind of the Japanese public.

The result was magnificent.
In the late 70's to early 90's, NJPW was televised on prime time - 8 o'clock on Friday nights - by TV Asahi, one of five big guns in Japanese television. The show consistently scored higher ratings than most dramas and even variety shows. In the 80's, the founder was making more money than the biggest stars in Japanese professional baseball.

But his disciples have split up into opposite poles and philosophies. Fighters such as Satoru Sayama, Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, and Masakatsu Funaki inherited the founder's MMA DNA. Each of them pursued real fighting and then founded, or played major roles in creating the world's premiere MMA organizations and events, such as Shooto, Rings, Pride, and Pancrase.

His other disciples such as Riki Choshu, The Great Muta, Masahiro Chono, and Shinya Hashimoto enjoyed huge success in the pro-wrestling industry and each of them are now top stars in Japan's premiere pro-wrestling organizations such as WJP, All Japan Pro-Wrestling, NJPW, and Zero-One.

But this word "Vale Tudo" suddenly emerged in 1993 and was definitely the turning point of everything. K-1, UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), and Pancrase were now founded and soon turned the Japanese public's perceptions. A real KO. The mount position. No rope escapes. Now, the game had completely changed.

NJPW should have responded promptly to this "new trend" in fight sports but instead fell very quickly behind. The founder at that time was way too busy playing Congressman, and paying off enormous debts created by his business in Brazil. NJPW was making so much money, and it's management, which was dominated by wrestlers preferred doing pro-wrestling instead of real fight. They weren't ballsy enough, or did not feel the necessity to flirt with Vale Tudo.

Suddenly K-1 and Pride, founded in 1995, quickly took over the market, and NJPW was no longer the "major leagues" of fight sports in Japan. But the management of NJPW did not seem too threatened by this because the organization was still generating hefty paychecks to everyone involved.
However, the founder was frustrated.
In fact, he was pissed off.
He thought it then and still believes it now, pro-wrestling without the smell of real fighting is boring. He was also mad because MMA was supposed to be HIS thing. It was supposed to be HIS trademark, and the biggest selling point of NJPW, but his current disciples who are in charge of everyday operations, disagreed.

So the founder stepped in and stole one of the best fighters, Kazuyuki Fujita, and entered him in the Pride Grand Prix tournament. Fujita defeated Rings veteran Hans Nijman and former UFC tournament winner Mark Kerr, and enhanced his status from one of the "good young wrestlers" of NJPW to one of the best in the world. It was truly a so-called "overnight success."

However, other wrestlers also had fans on their side. Many fans of NJPW had always enjoyed the pure entertainment aspect of pro-wrestling, without having had Fujita or any other fighter with experience or participation in MMA in the line up. NJPW can easily pack Tokyo Dome at least four times a year. Fujita is a great fighter but not a devastating enough weapon for the founder to create a coup d'etat.

So the founder decided to have an affair with the competition. He became the executive producer of Pride, and started booking fighters from NJPW such as Don Frye, Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Naoya Ogawa, and Tadao Yasuda in Pride events. Then finally, some top wrestlers of NJPW such as Riki Choshu and The Great Muta, who have been expressing dissatisfaction with the way the founder conducts business, left the organization.

Now, Pride is televised in more than 12 countries worldwide and from this year on, it has finally made its way to U.S. cable television. The management of NJPW can no longer deny or ignore the popularity and possibility of "real fight" in the world market. Finally, no one had a reason to veto the founder's demand of hosting Vale Tudo fights. Instead, some wrestlers such as former national free-style wrestling champion Manabu Nakanishi quickly made the decision to compete in Vale Tudo fights. The other top fighters such as Chono and Noah's Kenta Kobashi decided to compete against "Vale Tudo" by providing the best possible pro-wrestling fight on the same day, at the same event, in the same ring.

Which side will the fan's support? Vale Tudo or pro-wrestling? The founder himself was probably also curious. This event has become a good testing ground to determine the value of these spectator sports. That maybe was the reason why the "Ultimate Crush" rules set by NJPW were the toughest rules so far in today's MMA standards. In the UFC, fighters are not allowed to kick opponents on the ground, and no elbow strikes are allowed in Pride, but in the "Ultimate Crush" rules, both elbow striking and kicking to the opponent's head are allowed on the ground.

Now, fighters such as Fujita, "T.K." Tsuyoshi Kosaka, former UFC champion Josh Barnett, former KOTC champion Jimmy Ambritz, and Mongolian Sumo legend Dolgorsuren Sumiyabazar were in a situation of competing under the toughest rules so far, and at the same time compete against this staged entertainment called pro-wrestling, in the same arena.

Then "Ultimate Crush" became an event where two polar opposites of the so-called "fight business" finally collided!

And this was the way the founder wanted it.

Part 2 >>