Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 1

Last updated
Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 1
Promotion Pancrase
DateSeptember 21, 1993 [1]
Venue Tokyo Bay NK Hall [1]
City Urayasu, Chiba [1]
Attendance7,000
Event chronology
Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 1 Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 2

Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 1 was the first mixed martial arts event held by Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. It took place at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan on September 21, 1993. [1] The card featured many future MMA champions.

Contents

History

Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 1 was the inaugural event of the mixed martial arts promotion Pancrase, which was founded by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki in 1993. The background of the formation of the organization took place in the pro wrestling organization Fujiwara Gumi. In 1992, a rare legitimate match was booked where Ken Shamrock (fighting as Wayne Shamrock) faced international kickboxing champion Don Nakaya Nielsen. Shamrock took Nielsen down immediately and submitted him with an arm lock in 45 seconds. [2] The success of this match made young pro wrestlers Shamrock, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki question what they had been told since breaking into predetermined wrestling: that nobody would ever pay to see real matches. [2]

Shamrock, Funaki and Suzuki then spearheaded a group of pro wrestlers and decided to abandon everything people had told them about real matches not being marketable. [2] / They formed a promotion called Pancrase, named by ’60s wrestling star Karl Gotch after the sport of Pankration in the ancient Olympics, which combined all different forms of fighting into one sport. [2] Using pro wrestling rules – no closed fist punching to the face (closed fisted punches were allowed to the body), breaks on the ropes, but fighting for real – Shamrock beat Funaki via choke in 6:15 in the main event of the first of what was billed as an all-shoot match pro wrestling show. [2] The show drew an enthusiastic sellout crowd of 7,000 fans, who did not know what they would be seeing, but when it was over, both the fans and media heavily praised this new form of fighting. [2]

The main event featured Pancrase founder and future King of Pancrase Masakatsu Funaki fighting against future UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock. The fight between Shamrock and Funaki was intriguing because Funaki was Shamrock's teacher and trainer. Shamrock ultimately submitted Funaki with an arm triangle choke. The event also saw victories by future MMA champions Minoru Suzuki, and Bas Rutten who won by a palms strike sending Ryushi Yanigsawa to the canvas in 43 seconds. [3] Kazuo Takahashi and Takaku Fuke also won, with Fuke defeating future King of the Cage Light Heavyweight champion Vernon White

Results

Main card
Weight classMethodRoundTimeNotes
Ken Shamrock def. Masakatsu Funaki Submission (arm triangle choke)16:15
Kazuo Takahashi def. George Weingeroff KO (head kick)11:23
Takaku Fuke def. Vernon White Submission (armbar)11:19
Bas Rutten def. Ryushi Yanagisawa KO (palm strike and knee)10:43
Minoru Suzuki def.Katsuomi InagakiSubmission (rear-naked choke)13:25

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Shamrock</span> American professional wrestler and mixed martial arts fighter

Kenneth Wayne Shamrock is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Ken Shamrock. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), WWE and other combat sports. An inaugural inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame, Shamrock is widely regarded as an icon and pioneer of the sport. He has headlined over 15 main events and co-main events in the UFC and Pride FC and set numerous MMA pay-per-view records. In the early part of his UFC career, Shamrock was named "The World's Most Dangerous Man" by ABC News in a special called "The World's Most Dangerous Things". The moniker has stuck as his nickname.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pancrase</span> MMA promotion based in Japan

Pancrase is a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Tokyo. It was founded in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Shamrock</span> American mixed martial artist

Frank Shamrock is an American former professional mixed martial artist. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship and retired as an undefeated champion. Shamrock was the No. 1 ranked pound for pound UFC fighter in the world during his reign as the UFC Middleweight Champion. Shamrock has won numerous titles in other martial arts organizations, including the interim King of Pancrase title, the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship and the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. Shamrock is regarded as one of the first complete mixed martial artists, having adapted his game from a ground-focused style of fighting to a more well-rounded and versatile style. He is a seventh degree black belt in submission fighting.

Shoot wrestling is a Japanese hybrid grappling style and combat sport. Shoot wrestling incorporates techniques from various wrestling, submission grappling, kickboxing and karate styles. It was particularly inspired and influenced by catch wrestling, a form of wrestling with submissions that was the predominant style of professional wrestling in the 19th and early 20th century, at the time a competitive sport and not yet predetermined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bas Rutten</span> Kickboxer, professional wrestler and mixed martial arts fighter

Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten is a Dutch-American actor, former mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler. As a kickboxer, he fought 16 times, winning the first 14 matches by knockout, 13 in the first round, and losing his final two fights, one of them against Frank Lobman for the European Muay Thai title in 1991, with Rutten losing by knockout in the first round. In MMA, he was a UFC Heavyweight Champion and a three-time King of Pancrase world champion. After his loss to Ken Shamrock in 1995, he finished his MMA career on a 22 fight unbeaten streak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoshiaki Fujiwara</span> Japanese professional wrestler

Yoshiaki Fujiwara is a Japanese professional wrestler, trainer and wrestling promoter. He is famous for his long career in wrestling, having worked in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (ZERO-ONE), and the two incarnations of shoot style promotion Universal Wrestling Federation. Fujiwara is known for his catch wrestling expertise, having been praised by fighters like Josh Barnett and Ken Shamrock. He was trained by Karl Gotch and has trained many MMA fighters and professional wrestlers. Fujiwara also has a strong background in Judo and Muay Thai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Smith (fighter)</span> American kickboxer and mixed martial arts fighter

Maurice Lavonne Smith is a retired American kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In kickboxing, he held the WKC world light heavyweight championship, the WKA world heavyweight championship, and the ISKA world heavyweight championship. In mixed martial arts, he held the Heavyweight championship in Battlecade Extreme Fighting and the UFC, and became a member of the UFC Hall of Fame in 2017. A professional competitor since 1980, Smith has formerly competed in kickboxing for the companies All Japan Enterprise and K-1, Pancrase, RINGS, PRIDE, Strikeforce, International Fight League and RFA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masakatsu Funaki</span> Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial arts fighter

Masaharu Funaki is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as Masakatsu Funaki, who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (UWF), and Wrestle-1 (W-1). He is also the co-founder of Pancrase, one of the first mixed martial arts organizations and non-rehearsed shoot wrestling promotions. Funaki was also Pancrase's biggest star; Josh Barnett described him as the "symbol of Japan", Frank Shamrock labeled Funaki "the golden boy" of Pancrase, and Guy Mezger called Funaki "hands down the smartest and most skilled fighter in Pancrase next to Ken Shamrock".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Gotch</span> Belgian professional wrestler (1924–2007)

Karel Istaz, best known by his ring name Karl Gotch, was a Belgian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, catch wrestler, and trainer.

Guy Mezger is an American martial artist, who competed in professional combat sports including full contact karate, kickboxing, and boxing, but is most recognized as a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. Mezger retired from professional competition on January 25, 2005. He is associated with Lion's Den and runs their school in Dallas. Mezger was a champion in mixed martial arts in two different promotions, the UFC and Pancrase. He holds wins over Tito Ortiz, Masakatsu Funaki, Yuki Kondo, Semmy Schilt, and Minoru Suzuki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minoru Suzuki</span> Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist

Minoru Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, former two-time NEVER Openweight Champion, former one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, former one-time NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion and a former Provisional KOPW Champion. He also makes appearances for Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a member of Contra Unit and is a former MLW World Tag Team Champion, with Ikuro Kwon.

Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Group was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan, operating from 1991 to 1996. It was formed by Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki after the collapse of the second incarnation of the UWF. The company had the financial backing of eyeglass brand Meganesuper Co., Ltd executive Hachiro Tanaka who was also funding Super World Sports (SWS). Its motto was "ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Hume</span> American martial artist

Matt Hume is an American former professional mixed martial artist, trainer, and businessman. He is the co-founder and head trainer at AMC Pankration in Kirkland, WA. Hume and his AMC team have trained several champions and world-class fighters including Josh Barnett, Demetrious Johnson, Bibiano Fernandes, Tim Boetsch, Jeff Monson, Bob Sapp, Chris Leben, Hayato Sakurai, Akira Shoji, Matt Brown, Rich Franklin, and Caros Fodor. Hume has been the Senior Vice President of Competition for Singapore-based combat sports promotion ONE Championship since 2012.

Manabu Yamada is a retired Japanese mixed martial arts fighter. He is best known for his participation in Shooto and Pancrase fighting organizations. On December 17, 1994, Yamada advanced to the finals of the King of Pancrase Tournament where he lost to Ken Shamrock via unanimous decision.

Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 2 was a mixed martial arts event held on October 14, 1993 at the Tsuyuhashi Sports Center in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.

Ryūshi Yanagisawa is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kickboxer. His real name is Atsushi Yanagisawa. As a martial artist, he competed in K-1, Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling (Pancrase) and Fighting Network RINGS. As a professional wrestler he competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Inoki Genome Federation (IGF).

Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 3 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. It took place at Kobe World Commemoration Hall in Kobe, Japan on November 8, 1993.

Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 4 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. It took place at Hakata Star Lanes in Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan on December 8, 1993. The main event featured Prancrase co-founder Masakatsu Funaki fighting against Yoshiki Takahashi. Also appearing on the card were Pancrase veterans Ken Shamrock, and co-founder Minoru Suzuki.

The King of Pancrase tournament was a mixed martial arts event held by Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. It took place at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan on December 16 and 17, 1994. The event was a 16-man tournament to crown the first ever champion of Pancrase. It featured the opening round and quarterfinals of the tournament on the first day, and the semifinals and finals on the second day.

Takaku Fuke, born Yusuke Fuke (冨宅裕介) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial arts fighter. He was most notably involved in the early days of Pancrase, at infancy of Mixed Martial Arts in Japan. Fight Matrix ranked Takaku Fuke was #2 Heavyweight and #4 Pound-for-Pound best MMA fighter in the world in 1994.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Pancrase - Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 1". Sherdog.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Meltzer, Dave (2008-09-29). "Ken Shamrock's greatest hits - Mixed Martial Arts - Yahoo Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  3. ↑ "Bas Rutten vs Ryushi Yanagisawa Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 1".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.