Karelin vs Japanese Pro-Wrestler!

[User9992]

Aleksandr Karelin vs Japanese Pro-Wrestler Aki Maeda. Karelin didn't throw single punch or kick & won.

 

[Patrick Jane]

Lmao. He won a Fighting Network RINGS match against retired Maeda who actually tried to get Rickson Gracie for the match instead.

 

[yetanother]

Isnt this fake?

 

[Patrick Jane]

Isnt this fake?

It's pro-wrestling, yes. This is why Rickson Gracie refused to fight Akira Maeda. After Gracie defeated Takada, Maeda was seen as the person to reclaim the glory of pro wrestling by defeating Rickson, but Gracie refused to do the match so Karelin was the alternative.

 

[mattemate]

Isnt this fake?

It's clearly a work. If Karelin were really going for it, he would probably have just suplexed Maeda until his spine turned to dust. He's not moving with any sort of urgency, and letting Maeda out of situations he clearly could not have gotten free from if Karelin didn't let him.

EDIT: Just look at Maeda's single leg at 4:00. LMAO.

 

[JacJeanFinger]

Rickson was about to sign 3 fight contract with RINGS in the early spring of 1998. The fights were meant to be MMA, not pro -wrestling. One fight was against maeda obviously and another was with tamura who was the champion of the organization. 3rd opponent was not disclosed but it was rumored to be TK. Would've been a lot of fun if maeda had chose Andrei kopylov or volk han.

Rickson aborted the negotiation and faced takada for obvious reasons. More money for the single opponent who he'd already defeated convincingly.

Karelin accepted this fight for 20000 USD. It was more like an exhibition match because karelin didn't want to do MMA.

During the glasnost, Kremlin stopped sending monthly paychecks to martial art champions and sport elites who were enjoying good life with state-supported benefits. Gorbachev banned it and all of a sudden wrestlers and Sambists had to go out to earn living like normal people do.

RINGS saved those athletes from poverty and bankruptcy. Former USSR sport council chairman had talks with karelin to arrange this exhibition fight to return the favor to the generous japanese promoter.

 

[Bluesbreaker]

I think what we learned most from that video, is that Karelin was not a very good pro wrestler - which is understandable.

 

[Emanuele]

MMA should be like this; style vs style.

 

[shunyata]

Rickson was about to sign 3 fight contract with RINGS in the early spring of 1998. The fights were meant to be MMA, not pro -wrestling. One fight was against maeda obviously and another was with tamura who was the champion of the organization. 3rd opponent was not disclosed but it was rumored to be TK. Would've been a lot of fun if maeda had chose Andrei kopylov or volk han.

Rickson aborted the negotiation and faced takada for obvious reasons. More money for the single opponent who he'd already defeated convincingly.

Karelin accepted this fight for 20000 USD. It was more like an exhibition match because karelin didn't want to do MMA.

During the glasnost, Kremlin stopped sending monthly paychecks to martial art champions and sport elites who were enjoying good life with state-supported benefits. Gorbachev banned it and all of a sudden wrestlers and Sambists had to go out to earn living like normal people do.

RINGS saved those athletes from poverty and bankruptcy. Former USSR sport council chairman had talks with karelin to arrange this exhibition fight to return the favor to the generous japanese promoter.

I'm generally a fan of struggling athletes getting paid.

This was substantially less embarassing than boxing a Paul.

 

[noc]

It's pro-wrestling, yes. This is why Rickson Gracie refused to fight Akira Maeda. After Gracie defeated Takada, Maeda was seen as the person to reclaim the glory of pro wrestling by defeating Rickson, but Gracie refused to do the match so Karelin was the alternative.

More like the glory of Catch?

 

[Patrick Jane]

More like the glory of Catch?

Nah, it was bad PR for the entire pro wrestling industry that Takada lost. But pro-wrestling post the Rikidozan low was mostly Gotch-ism anyway, so it's splitting hairs.

 

[Pierced7681]

Rickson was about to sign 3 fight contract with RINGS in the early spring of 1998. The fights were meant to be MMA, not pro -wrestling. One fight was against maeda obviously and another was with tamura who was the champion of the organization. 3rd opponent was not disclosed but it was rumored to be TK. Would've been a lot of fun if maeda had chose Andrei kopylov or volk han.

Rickson aborted the negotiation and faced takada for obvious reasons. More money for the single opponent who he'd already defeated convincingly.

Karelin accepted this fight for 20000 USD. It was more like an exhibition match because karelin didn't want to do MMA.

During the glasnost, Kremlin stopped sending monthly paychecks to martial art champions and sport elites who were enjoying good life with state-supported benefits. Gorbachev banned it and all of a sudden wrestlers and Sambists had to go out to earn living like normal people do.

RINGS saved those athletes from poverty and bankruptcy. Former USSR sport council chairman had talks with karelin to arrange this exhibition fight to return the favor to the generous japanese promoter.

damn id have loved to see rickson vs Tamura

 

[JacJeanFinger]

damn id have loved to see rickson vs Tamura

Tamura may not have been the most popular fighter due to the lack of showmanship and extreme shyness. In interviews, he would talk like a kid in an early teenage. But in 1996-1999 before sakuraba and kikuta took off & after takada asked him to take over his reigning status, he was considered the best Japanese MMA fighter with k-1 level Muey Thai and world class grappling.

Maeda has just made a comment on this. 3rd fight was going to be given to takada, he said. I don't take that based on the fact PRIDE would never allow takada to fight at a RINGS event but I understand he wants us to know how much he cared about takada back then as well as now.

Tamura coincidentally just spoke about fighting Rickson. He said he could've won if the fight remained on feet entirely.

 

[Patrick Jane]

I don't take that based on the fact PRIDE would never allow takada to fight at a RINGS event

Why not? What say did PRIDE have in where Takada could and could not fight? Was there some exclusivity agreement i don't know of?

 

[JacJeanFinger]

Why not? What say did PRIDE have in where Takada could and could not fight? Was there some exclusivity agreement i don't know of?

Takada had not fought for over a year prior to PRIDE. He was not even allowed to fight in Kingdom, succeeding organization of UWFi. Considering the financial situation, takada's participation as a fighter was a must for Kingdom to survive but he just stood by and watched the ship sinking into the ocean. He got in their ring just once to do an exhibition spar.

Obviously, there was a de facto exclusive contract that restricted takada's activities so PRIDE was guaranteed to be a success.

After the first Rickson fight, Takada told the press before putting on his clothes "this is just the beginning" implying further commitment he had with the promoter.

PRIDE wanted maeda to step up to fight Rickson and they even released a mini magazine that featured maeda's photo in the front cover with a line "it's your turn". Maeda got offended and made a very hostile comment. He might have thought about having takada to fight in RINGS instead but should have known it wasn't going to happen.

 

[Patrick Jane]

Takada had not fought for over a year prior to PRIDE.

Takada had matches in the UWFi up until the last show of the promotion, which was UWFi Road Final in late December of 1996. Less than a year before PRIDE 1 in October 1997.

He was not even allowed to fight in Kingdom, succeeding organization of UWFi. Considering the financial situation, takada's participation as a fighter was a must for Kingdom to survive but he just stood by and watched the ship sinking into the ocean. He got in their ring just once to do an exhibition spar.

Where do you have the information from that he was not allowed to compete in Kingdom? Just because he didn't do it doesn't necessarily mean he couldn't do it. Kingdom being significantly smaller than the UWFi could just mean he didn't want to do it from a financial perspective.

Obviously, there was a de facto exclusive contract that restricted takada's activities so PRIDE was guaranteed to be a success.

I don't find it obvious at all that there was an exclusive contract, which is why i'm asking where you know that from. Did you just conclude it from the mentioned information or has this ever been mentioned somewhere? During his time in PRIDE, Takada also had multiple matches on Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye shows, so at least from 2000 onwards there was apparently no exclusivity.

After the first Rickson fight, Takada told the press before putting on his clothes "this is just the beginning" implying further commitment he had with the promoter.

This makes sense, but that doesn't say anything about exclusivity.

PRIDE wanted maeda to step up to fight Rickson and they even released a mini magazine that featured maeda's photo in the front cover with a line "it's your turn". Maeda got offended and made a very hostile comment. He might have thought about having takada to fight in RINGS instead but should have known it wasn't going to happen.

The thing is that i'm used to shoot wrestlers being able to always pop up anywhere during this time. Even promotion aces like Antonio Inoki or Minoru Suzuki could have matches elsewhere (though they usually didn't).

 

[JacJeanFinger]

Sakuraba left for k-1 in 2006 and here's what sakakibara said then "there's no paper contract between us. I believed in our mutual trust".

They don't make you sign the exclusive contract like zuffa does, but still expect you to act like you are under it. It's a family or brotherhood obligation that may not be practiced in modern western countries.

Takada told the media he won't go out to eat or drink with sakuraba again because joining Maeda's promotion makes him a big traitor.

Imagine what would have happened if takada had accepted to have a rematch with rickson in RINGS. It's not a matter of signing written agreements but abiding by the ethical code in this particular business involving people from different worlds.

 

[mattemate]

Sakuraba left for k-1 in 2006 and here's what sakakibara said then "there's no paper contract between us. I believed in our mutual trust".

They don't make you sign the exclusive contract like zuffa does, but still expect you to act like you are under it. It's a family or brotherhood obligation that may not be practiced in modern western countries.

Takada told the media he won't go out to eat or drink with sakuraba again because joining Maeda's promotion makes him a big traitor.

Imagine what would have happened if takada had accepted to have a rematch with rickson in RINGS. It's not a matter of signing written agreements but abiding by the ethical code in this particular business involving people from different worlds.

Knowing the Japanese like I do, this is FUCKING HILARIOUS. They're no paragons of ethical behavior, they're just really, really good at theater. They call goofy politics kabuki for a reason.

All the bullshit about loyalty and duty really just comes down to fear of reprisal-- make no mistake, the main driver is money. Sakuraba was probably never getting paid near his value, he finally told them to fuck off and went his own way, and the chimpira Sakakibara wants to talk about mutual trust? Let Wanderlei send him to the shadow realm and Arona deform his face with knees, let him go 90 minutes with Royce then take on another round or two with Igor. THEN he can come back and say something about loyalty.

It's all hogwash.

 

[Kforcer]

Knowing the Japanese like I do, this is FUCKING HILARIOUS. They're no paragons of ethical behavior, they're just really, really good at theater. They call goofy politics kabuki for a reason.

All the bullshit about loyalty and duty really just comes down to fear of reprisal-- make no mistake, the main driver is money. Sakuraba was probably never getting paid near his value, he finally told them to fuck off and went his own way, and the chimpira Sakakibara wants to talk about mutual trust? Let Wanderlei send him to the shadow realm and Arona deform his face with knees, let him go 90 minutes with Royce then take on another round or two with Igor. THEN he can come back and say something about loyalty.

It's all hogwash.

One of the things that really ticked Sakuraba off was how they left him out of the 183-pound GP twice in a row. He has said that on both occasions, he was promised to be included in it and the second time he got left out was sort of like the final straw. He also said that he did indeed find out that he was getting severely underpaid and, if I recall correctly, that Takada was seemingly taking a huge share of his pay. The money Yoshida and Ogata made was also a big factor for him.

 

[mattemate]

One of the things that really ticked Sakuraba off was how they left him out of the 183-pound GP twice in a row. He has said that on both occasions, he was promised to be included in it and the second time he got left out was sort of like the final straw. He also said that he did indeed find out that he was getting severely underpaid and, if I recall correctly, that Takada was seemingly taking a huge share of his pay. The money Yoshida and Ogata made was also a big factor for him.

Paying Yoshida more than Sak is exactly the type of shit they would do LMAO. I remember when I was living there and quit a job, the woman on the other end of the phone crying and begging me to "have courage." LMAO. Showing up to do some shit to enrich people who don't care about you isn't courage.

I would LOVE to hear a really in depth interview with Sak. I'm facebook friends with the old codger and have interacted with him a few times, and I speak Japanese, but not well enough to pull that off. Damn, this conversation has me thinking lol.