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Characters / Universal Wrestling Federation Kingdom

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    Debuted in Kingdom 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2017_09_18_13_47_34.jpg
Before Pride Came The Kingdom

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2017_09_05_18_55_11.jpg
Let's Get Down Do It Note 

"A new Japanese promotion which will basically be a reformation of the old UWFI, but apparently with a style change to being worked UFC-style matches, called "Kingdom" will be debuting with a show on 5/4. Takeshi "Ken" Suzuki, the long-time business manager of Nobuhiko Takada, announced the new promotion, which had been rumored for several weeks and reported on in the past both in Japanese newspapers and here, in a press conference on 3/30 in Tokyo. They announced that unlike UWFI, which Suzuki basically ran from a business standpoint, although it was Takada's name as President, and went out of business at the end of 1996, that Takada would not have an executive or behind-the-scenes role in the new group, although he would remain the group's top star. The first show will be 5/4 in Tokyo at the Yoyogi Gym. The matches will differ from the traditional UWF style, that was popularized in a big way in Japan in 1988-90 and largely continues in RINGS. This group will allow punches to the face and allow fighters to wear gloves, and also allow both punching and using elbows down from the mount position on the ground. The only difference between the rules of this and UFC rules are banning of blows to the base of the spine. In initial reports regarding the formation of this promotion, the belief was that it was largely being done to set up for a Tokyo Dome match later this year with Takada vs. Rickson Gracie, although nothing of the sort was even hinted about in the press conference. Besides Takada, other former UWFI wrestlers signed with the group are Yoji Anjyo, Yoshihiro Takayama, Yuhi Sano, Masahito Kakihara, Kazushi Sakuraba, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Kenichi Yamamoto, Ryuki Kamiyamato and Shunsuke Matsui. With the exception of Takayama, who worked for All Japan at Budokan on 3/1, and Sano, who worked the All Japan show in Nagoya on 3/30, all the aforementioned wrestlers have been inactive this year after UWFI closed up shop in December. Anjyo, Takayama and Yamamoto worked numerous indie shows in 1996 for a number of promotions as the Golden Cups. Apparently the group was put together by Anjyo's older brother who got the money together, largely through major financing from Nishin Kensetsu, a real estate development company."
— Dave Meltzer

"Kingdom style is supposed to be a combination of Ultimate and UWF-style wrestling, although judging from the results and who is involved, it is almost surely worked. To give it a different twist, they fight with six ounce gloves and face punching is legal, which differs from traditional UWF, Rings and Pancrase rules."
— Dave Meltzer, again

"Saw clips from the first Kingdom show and it's obviously a worked UFC-style. It's different from traditional UWF style in that they wear gloves and thus do lots of punching spots, both standing and on the ground from the mount. Based on the clips I saw, the style was totally cool. It was a totally new version of worked style but got heat and looked believable except the punches are pulled, but they sell the punches like pro wrestling."
— Dave Meltzer, yet again

"Kingdom's ring style can almost be described as worked UFC type matches. The style itself makes for more exciting matches (at least when the Japanese are involved, as some of the matches with Americans who don't understand the style and have never worked before look pretty bad) then RINGS or Pancrase, but the lack of interesting match-making and big marquee name fighters seems to have this promotion doomed to be a non-factor in the big picture."
— Dave Meltzer, once again

As a whole:

  • Advertised Extra: Nobuhiko Takada was only there for one exhibition match and later appeared at shows to just do commentary.
  • Badass Crew: The native wrestlers were most of UWFI's former wrestlers and other trainees.
  • Darker and Edgier: The promotion's wrestling style was meant to resemble the Vale Tudo and No-Holds-Barred fights of Brazil and the UFC with closed fists to the face and ground-and-pound being allowed instead of the regular shoot wrestling rules where only open palm strikes to the face and no ground-and-pound was allowed.
  • The Remnant: Like UWFI before it, it was made up of most of the native wrestlers of the former promotion.
  • Spin-Off: Of UWF International, and arguably has one in Pride Fighting Championships. Has a more or less official one in Kingdom Ehrgeiz, and also a one time event in U-DREAM '98.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Kingdom's logo seems to be very similar to Ring of Honor's.
  • Versus Title: Their 14th December 1997 show, Kingdom: Ambition - Kingdom vs Kenkaya Abbott Gundan.
  • Vestigial Empire: Was not as successful as UWFI before it.

Natives

Hiroyuki Doi

Tomoharu Fuse

Hidetada Irie

  • The Ace: Of Kingdom Ehrgeiz in the beginning.
  • The Apprentice: To Kazuhiro Kusayanagi, Noriaki Kiguchi, and Nobuhiko Takada.
  • Challenge Seeker: Was one of the guys that tried to challenge Rickson Gracie. When he couldn’t do that after Rickson retired (and ignored him), he instead targeted his fellow countrymen who had fought Rickson. Yuki Nakai, Masakatsu Funaki, and Nobuhiko Takada were out since they were retired, Yoshihisa Yamamoto was focused on his career in PRIDE, Koichiro Kimura wasn’t interested and he almost got to fight Yoshinori Nishi, but he got injured a few days before their scheduled bout so they had to cancel it.
  • Cool Teacher: Founded the Kingdom Ehrgeiz Gyms and is the head trainer.
  • Determinator: You have to give him credit, he took an essentially dead promotion with a style of wrestling that was no longer considered relevant, with almost no star power or major media coverage. His promotion and dojo has managed to survive for 20 years thanks to his efforts.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: He actually started out his MMA career in amateur Shooto, but left as there were not many heavyweights and felt he would not be able to develop his skills facing the same people over and over again.
  • Fan Boy: Of Yutaka Ozaki and even uses his songs as entrance music.
  • Hero Killer: Faced Dan Severn at Gladiator FC, which to this day is considered a win for Severn by decision. However after reviewing the video of the fight and seeing that Severn had actually tapped out to an armbar, Hidekazu Morooka of CMA Korea walked out and declared Irie the victor.
  • Hidden Depths: Has a rock band called "B.C. KING". They even performed live on "DEEP 50 IMPACT ~ 10th Year Anniversary ~".
  • I Know Sumo Wrestling: Was a former sumotori under the name Kotoirie and even started at the same time as Akebono, before training in Shooto at K'z Factory Shooto Gym, then at Kiguchi Dojo and was a 1995 All Japan Amateur Shooto Heavyweight champion and the 1997 All-Japan Combat Wrestling Open Tournament +85kg champion. He then trained at the Kingdom Dojo and also later trained in Judo.
  • Red Baron: "Kakutōgi-kai no Fūunji" ("Soldier of Fortune of the Martial Arts World"), "Indī Kakutō-ka" ("The Indie Fighter"), "20 Seiki Saigo no Namida no Karisuma" ("20th Century Last Tear of Charisma), "U no Misokkasu" ("The Good for Nothing of the U-System"), "Kurējī Kurebā" ("Crazy Clever"), "Hitori Sōgō Shōsha" ("The One Man General Trading Company").
  • Start My Own: Kingdom Ehrgeiz.

Moritaka Oshiro

Minoru Toyonaga

"Minoru Toyonaga is one of those figures in fighting history that was just sort of present. He didn't have any particular standout skills, he was just a tough, tenacious fighter in the mid-period of Pancrase who lost more than he won, and he made it onto the big stage exactly once at Pride 5, where Egan Inoue handled him pretty easily. His greatest achievement in the sport, and indeed his only victories, came from the 1999 Pancrase Neo-Blood Tournament where he made it to the finals (becoming the first man to beat Genki Sudo en route) but got choked out by Minowa. There's nothing wrong with him: He was a solid, conservative grappler. He was there for awhile, he etched his name in history, and then he retired to be a referee. The most famous moment of his career didn't come from fighting but from refereeing the match where Rampage powerbombed Arona to death."
— A profile of Toyonaga from a Fire Pro Wrestling user CarlCX from https://steamcommunity.com

  • A Day in the Limelight: The runner-up of the 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament. Two decision wins over Daisuke Ishii and Genki Sudo in the opening and second rounds before succumbing to Ikuhisa Minowa in the finals.
  • The Apprentice: Trained with Nobuhiko Takada at the Takada Dojo.
  • Combat Referee: Currently for Pancrase and formerly PRIDE FC. Years after the discovery of a brain tumor which retired him as an active fighter.
  • Cool Teacher: Opened a martial arts school named "Try". He also was a trainer at Takada Dojo.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Was a pro wrestler for UWF-I offshoot Kingdom before his time in Pancrase.
  • Game-Breaking Injury: Announced his retirement on June 4th, 2000 after a brain tumor was discovered in his head, which effectively led to ending his fighting career.
  • Ur-Example: Was the first graduate of the Kingdom dojo.

Gaijins

David Abbott

"Tank Abbott is the kind of guy you'd expect police to find alone in the center of a wrecked biker bar before they called for immediate backup. He looks like the shitty character from every fighting video game who'd somehow reverse-TRON'ed into our world. His face makes it clear that he hates everything that isn't ZZ Top or alcohol poisoning. He bench presses 600 pounds and wore gloves into the Octagon back when you didn't have to. This implied that he knew things about punching skulls that the rest of us didn't. People put on a diaper before they make eye contact with him."
— Seanbaby, "The 6 Least Sportsmanlike Moments in MMA"

"Mr. Abbott, you are a maniac. I'm surprised you haven't killed somebody."
— What a judge apparently said after sentencing Tank to six months in jail.

"When I go in there, I'm not going in there to win. I'm going in there to fight!"
— David "Tank" Abbott

  • Hidden Depths: Has his own podcast series.
  • I Know Amateur Wrestling: Was a National Junior All American at the University of California in Long Beach, he also trained in boxing under Noe Cruz who also trained world champion boxer Carlos Palomino at the Westminster Boxing Gym.
  • I'm Your Biggest Fan: To 3 Count in World Championship Wrestling, until they told him he wasn't allowed to join them.
  • Insistent Terminology: His fighting style is called "pit fighting" as it was a last minute tag because UFC promoters felt uncomfortable introducing him as a street fighter.
  • Non-Action Guy: In Kingdom, he was just there to support his buddies and help promote the UFC Japan event.
  • One-Hit Kill: What he likes to go for in his fights. In World Championship Wrestling, it became his finishing move called 'The Phantom Right'.
  • Power Trio: With Eddie Ruíz and Paul Herrera as part of the "Kenkaya Abbott Gundan" ("Abbott Fighting Army").
  • Red Baron: "Tank" which is more popular than his given name.
  • Shout-Out: He claims that he got the nickname "Tank" from the UFC producers, based on the character Tank Murdock from Every Which Way But Loose. Though it could also be a Punny Name based on the FV433 Abbot SPG (not actually a tank, but close enough to the uninformed).
  • Stout Strength: A hefty dude.
  • Trash Talk: A master of it and perhaps the first one use it in interviews for the UFC.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: A very strong puncher, with very limited skills in other areas.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Apparently issued a challenge to Ronda Rousey and any other woman on the planet to fight him, insisting he would pay $100,000 to anyone who could beat him.

Greg Douglas

"People would be outraged if a guy's eye was laid out on his cheek. Our fighting has been watered-down, but jiujitsu combines the best of boxing, kickboxing and wrestling and applies it toward street fighting. It's a true combat-style of fighting."

  • The Apprentice: To Dale "Apollo" Cook, Carlos Machado, Rorion, Relson, Rickson, Royce, and Royler Gracie.
  • Collegiate American Football: Played at Northeastern A&M and then Pittsburg State.
  • Cool Teacher: Was a lead instructor at Dale Cook’s school in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Fought Yoshinori Nishi at a Seidokaikan event in 1992 and Yoshihisa Yamamoto for the Universal Kickboxing Federation promotion in a "Light Heavyweight Jiu-Jitsu World Championship Match" in 1994.
  • Guest Fighter: Had only one match in Kingdom against Kazushi Sakuraba.
  • I Know Karate: As well as freestyle wrestling, boxing, Kickboxing, Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the Gracie’s at their original gym in Torrance, California.
  • He Also Did: Had a few bit parts in B-movies like Eternal Fist (also known as Fist of Steel), Fighting Spirit (also known as American Shaolin: King Of The Kickboxers 2), and Raw Target.

Anthony Wayne Haas

  • The Apprentice: To Egan Inoue, who was in Haas' corner for his matches, he also trained with Yoshihiko Watanabe.
  • I Know Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Trained at Grappling Unlimited. He also trained in shoot wrestling at Shooting Gym (STG) Hakkei.
  • Spell My Name With An S: A weird example, he was introduced as Wayne Haas in Kingdom, but for some reason wrestling sites have named him as William Haas and Walter Hess.

Mark Hall

"I just go there and BANG man, what happens happen!"

  • A Day in the Limelight: His victory against Koji Kitao.
  • Always Someone Better: Don Frye beat him three times.
  • Arch-Enemy: The only person he never made up with was Ken Shamrock. He also had another one in Don Frye.
  • Authority Equals Ass Kicking: Was the head fighter of his own fight team, Team Cobra.
  • Bodybuilding: Was involved in body building, 5 and 10K runs, triathalons, and marathons before his fighting career.
  • Bouncer: Worked as a bouncer and bodyguard before his fighting career.
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Was considered small for a heavyweight.
  • Bullying a Dragon: In 2000, Hall supposedly accused Ken Shamrock of trying to snatch sponsors from small shows, and even telephoned his wife and made her cry with foul language. Then, when the two met in a crowd at the King of the Cage 4 event, Hall tried to intimidate Shamrock and even attacked him. The thing was followed with Ken painting the arena red with Hall and the police arresting the latter because the 100 people of the event had saw him starting the brawl.
  • Combat Referee: Was a referee for his self promoted MMA events.
  • Cool Teacher: Had a martial arts school before his fighting career, he has owned a total of eleven martial arts schools. He also founded the first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA school in Temecula Valley. Mark called it the "Ultimate Fighting Training Center", it is now closed to settle a debt.
  • Drugs Are Bad: Not him actually, but his wife and sons were once arrested on narcotics charges and were suspected associates of a Murrieta psychiatrist who was arrested on suspicion of selling prescriptions for addictive drugs.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Made his MMA debut at UFC 7.
  • Game-Breaking Injury: During his second year of boxing training, Mark set out to be a Golden Gloves Champion. On his way home from training one night, he ran a stop sign on his motorcycle and smashed into a new Cadillac at approximately 40 miles an hour, breaking his neck and ribs, crushing his dream of becoming a boxing champion.
  • Hammy Herald / Large-Ham Announcer: Was a ring announcer for his self promoted MMA events.
  • Hidden Depths: Became a MMA Fight Promoter after he retired from fighting. He also took his entire life savings to lease a warehouse in Temecula, California and build his own MMA Promotion Venue.
  • I Know Karate: A black belt, he also has black belt in Taekwondo, and also a 4th degree black belt in Moo Yea Do, a Kung-fu, Aikido, and Tae Kwon Do hybrid martial art founded by the 10th degree world Grand Master "Tiger Yang". He also trained in boxing and is a purple belt in Brazil jiu-jitsu under his former opponent, whom he beat, BJJ black belt Luiz Fraga.
  • I Let You Win: Hall claimed that he threw the second fight with Frye after Frye offered to pay $50,000 to lose so that Frye would have an easier path to the finals of the UFC Ultimate Ultimate 1996 tournament, but never paid Hall the money. Don Frye denied this claim, and it was never proven.
  • Large Ham: In Kingdom at least.
  • Odd Friendship: With Antonio Inoki as he once bank rolled Hall a fighting school in the United States to train American fighters for his Universal Fighting-Arts Organization.
  • Real Men Love Jesus: Is a Christian and said that God and his father became his only refuge as he navigated his way through his youth.
  • Red Baron: "The Cobra", "Giant Killer".
  • Speech Impediment: Had a stuttering problem when he was younger. In Mark’s own words "I couldn’t say one word without turning red, and often my tongue would come out of my mouth".
  • Start My Own: Founded West World Sports, Cobra Fighting Federation and The Octagon Experience (he dubs the whole collection as the Cobra Series of MMA Fighting Events). He also developed his own martial art S.C.A.T. or Street Combat Applications Training.

Paul Herrera

  • Badass Teacher: He trained Tito Ortiz in high school amateur wrestling. He is also the head instructor at the Empire Training Center and a MMA and wrestling coach at the Huntington Beach Ultimate Training Center.
  • David Versus Goliath: Got destroyed by Gary Goodridge in UFC 8 who was about 75ibs heavier.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Made his MMA debut at UFC 8.
  • Guest Fighter: Had only one match in Kingdom against Kazushi Sakuraba.
  • I Know Amateur Wrestling: An All-American wrestler from the University of Nebraska, a two-time national Judo champion and also trained in boxing.
  • Major Injury Underreaction: After his fight with Gary Goodridge, he said in his own words, "I’m fine, I’ve had my ass stomped worse than that before. I spent the next day drinking Stoli martinis and getting loaded."
  • Power Trio: With Tank Abbott and Eddie Ruíz as part of the "Kenkaya Abbott Gundan" ("Abbott Fighting Army").
  • Red Baron: "Hitman", "The Bone Crusher".
  • Start My Own: Founded the MMA promotion Hitman Fighting Promotion and an amateur MMA organization called Hitman Athletics MMA.
  • Wrestling Family: His father Joe "Headlock" Herrera is a former amateur wrestler.

Moti Horenstein

"I was never in the fight to hurt or kill someone. Guys like Coleman and Kerr, they had the killer instinct in their eyes. That was never me. I went to see how good I was, how good I could do and how I could get better. That was my intention."

  • Red Baron: "The Hebrew Hammer".
  • Screwed by the Network: Is nicknamed "The Most Dicked Over Fighter in UFC History" as his match-ups against Mark Coleman and Mark Kerr allegedly disadvantaged him unfairly and were very controversial.
  • Start My Own: Developed his own martial art, which he calls World Survival Hisardut.
  • Ur-Example: The first Jewish fighter in the UFC.

Mark Johnson

Jesse Kellis

Rick Lucero

Caribou Mandingo

Felix Lee Mitchell

Larry Parker

"And then, in one of those nicknames that you could only really do in the mid-90s, there was Larry "The Violator" Parker. Parker was an early grappling standout and one of the stars of the old-school Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation in Texas along with folks like Evan Tanner and Heath Herring, and managed to notch a qualifier win at the 1998 ADCC, but he never rose too high in either MMA or grappling. It's also hard to accurately judge him based on the simple fact of regional heavyweight MMA being a barely-there thing at the time—in his 13 wins only 3 opponents had winning records, and one of them was 1-0. Most of his fame came not from his fighting itself, but from appearing in a few (worked) grappling exhibitions in Japan, most notably against Sakuraba. Unfortunately, all his Pride career got him was one appearance and a loss against Shoji. Shoji bounced an awful lot of middling dudes out of Pride, in hindsight."
— A profile of Parker from a Fire Pro Wrestling user CarlCX from https://steamcommunity.com

Daniel Rodríguez

Eddie Ruíz

  • Power Trio: With Tank Abbott and Paul Herrera as part of the "Kenkaya Abbott Gundan" ("Abbott Fighting Army").
  • Spell My Name With An S: Was introduced as Eddie Lowis in Kingdom.

The Saint

Adrian Serrano

"I had been to Japan quite a few times for Judo and I knew there was such a thing as Shootfighting or Shootwrestling. I knew you had to kind of pay attention to what was going on. There were organizations in Japan at that time that it was always real, all the time and there were organizations that it was always fake, all the time. And there were some that were questionable and no one really knew for sure."

Brian Smith

"I was a very hard-working athlete. In basketball and in football, I was limited by my size. So I was good but didn’t have the God-given talent of size and speed because I was smaller. In wrestling, whatever you put in, you get out. I didn’t have to worry about having good teammates, being 6-foot-10 or being a monster running back. I was the same size as the guy across the way. And if I worked harder, I could achieve things."

  • Cool Teacher: His coaching career began at Western High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. From 1991-92, Smith led Western High to its first top-10 finish at the state tournament, claiming a second place finish in 1991 and a fourth place showing in 1992. Smith coached two state champions and led five wrestlers to top finishes at the Florida state tournament. Smith's collegiate coaching career began at Cornell University in 1992. In 1997, Smith took over the head coaching position at Syracuse University, helping to stabilize a program that was nearly eliminated. Before leaving for Missouri in May of 1998, Smith coached Jason Gleasman (HWT) to All-America honors. During the summer of 2003, Smith took 12 wrestlers, including graduates Austin DeVoe and Jeremy Spates, on the NWCA Collegiate All-Star International Tour. Smith served as head coach as the men competed in three cities in Greece; Athens, Thessaloniki and Larisa as well as Sophia, Bulgaria. Both DeVoe and Spates went 7-2 in their individual competitions. He is currently the seventh Head Wrestling Coach of University of Missouri since 1998.
  • Guest Fighter: Had only one match against Shunsuke Matsui.
  • I Know Amateur Wrestling: Was a two-time wrestling state champion in 1984 with Oviedo High School and 1985 while competing at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Was also a three-time All-Big Ten wrestler and a four-time letterman at Michigan State from 1986-1990. As a senior, he was selected as the Spartan's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Competing at 126-pounds, Smith finished fifth at the Big Ten Championships in 1988, third in 1989 and second in 1990. Smith stands among the top-25 on Michigan State's all-time wins list with 84 career victories as a Spartan. He also stands tied for 19th on MSU's single-season wins list with 32 victories in 1990.
  • Start My Own: His unique "Tiger Style" wrestling training program has molded Missouri's wrestling teams into a national powerhouse of the American collegiate wrestling scene.

Patrick Smith

"A local “champion” would help to not only sell tickets, but also energize the crowd. Karyn gave me a number of names, but at the top of her list was Pat Smith, a guy who was really making his mark on the Denver fight scene. Karyn said that he’d just won the Sabaki Challenge, which I knew was a huge bare- knuckle, full-contact karate tournament held annually in the city. He was also a pro boxer, and Karyn told me that he absolutely looked the part. I went to watch Smith work out at Tiger Kim’s Academy, and he instantly reminded me of the boxing knock-out artist Cleveland Williams, who fought Muhammad Ali for the world title in 1966. Smith was impressive: quick, athletic, and powerfully built at 6- foot-2 and about 220 lb. But he also struck me as a bit weird, kind of volatile, and paranoid. He told me about his win at the Sabaki Challenge, and that he’d been working with the noted boxing trainer Bobby Lewis, who had served as the U.S. Olympic coach in 1972. Smith then said to me that he had a record of 250-0, which I found amusing, and wholly predictable. I’d heard talk around the Gracie Academy that Rickson was 400-0. What Smith didn’t know was that after Karyn Turner recommended him, I quickly did a little research and discovered that he had at least two losses as a pro boxer. His personal record keeping didn’t deter me though, as I hit it off pretty well with him, despite his edgy vibe. As for his style, Smith said that he was a black belt in tae kwon do, and had also trained in robotae, which was taught to him as a kid by a school janitor. I’d never heard of robotae in my life, but like his 250-fight winning streak, it would do for now."
— Art Davie

  • A Day in the Limelight: Caused one of the biggest upsets in K-1 history by knocking out legendary karateka and future K-1 star Andy Hug with an uppercut after just 19 seconds of the first round in their quarterfinal match. Smith was unable to build on this success as he was soundly defeated by eventual champion Peter Aerts in the semi finals and lost to Andy Hug in a rematch at the K-1 Revenge event.
  • Cool Old Guy: Came out of retirement at age 51 to fight Dave Huckaba at Gladiator Challenge - Collision Course.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Appeared at the first UFC event as Ken Shamrock's first opponent. He also fought at the U-Japan event.
  • I Know Karate: While his claim to be an Enshin Karate black belt is disputed, he was the 1993 Enshin Karate Sabaki Challenge Heavyweight champion, an annual full contact karate tournament held in Denver which allows grabs, sweeps and throws, and competed in the 1993 Seidokaikan full contact Karate World Cup tournament in Japan. He also holds black belts in American Kenpo Karate, hapkido, tang soo do, a 3rd degree black belt in Taekwondo and is a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He also competed in boxing and Kickboxing. He also claims to have a 3rd degree black belt in Robotae, an apparently African martial art that he allegedly learned from a janitor at his elementary school.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: One of the most infamous examples is MMA history against ninjutsu practitioner Scott "The American Ninja" Morris, the fight lasted 30 seconds as Scott Morris was thrown into the ground and brutally pounded with punches and 12-6 elbows as he was unable to escape. To make matters even worse, he was instructed to not tap out by his trainer/cornerman Robert Bussey, who's style Morris was representing, and he also refused to throw the towel in initially (The other way to stop a match since ref stoppages didn't existed) and when Bussey finally threw the towel he threw backwards towards the audience, the match only ended because Pat Smith saw no reason to continue beating Morris down.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In his fight with Fabio Gurgel, a fan interrupted the bout by trying to get Pat to let go of the ropes (which was illegal). After the fan was sent away, instead of continuing the bout, Pat tapped out from frustration over situation.

Orlando Wiet

    Debuted in U-DREAM ' 98 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/u_dream_98.PNG
Also The Last Impact

As a whole:

  • All-Star Cast: Sort of, it brought in veterans of the U-System like Yoji Anjo, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Tatsuo Nakano, and of all people Enson Inoue. They also brought in veteran U-System ganjins in Billy Scott, Tom Burton, Nicholas Starks and MMA guy "Big" John Calvo. Their also brought in Takehiro Murahama for a shootboxing exhibition match.
  • Short-Runners: Had only one show.
  • Spin-Off: Of Kingdom.

John Calvo

"Back in the SuperBrawl days it was actually pretty raw. They didn’t have a boxing commission or a fighting commission. They didn’t even know how to judge it."

Hideto Kitaoka

Keijirō Yasuda

    Debuted in Kingdom Ehrgeiz 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kingdom_ehrgeiz_2.PNG
Whatever Happens, We Will Not Give Up. If So, The Dream Will Certainly Be Achieved Someday.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kingdom_ehrgeiz_4.PNG
God Bless The Ring

"Whatever happens, we will not give up. This are the old words of UWF, our roots. When I inherited this organization from the representative of the previous generation, I engaged in operations while believing those words. At the start, it was a very small group from a single small prefab, but I was able to welcome the 18th year of this fed with those words in mind. I am happy now that I met many students, including professional athletes. In 2016, we celebrated the 17th year of our founding, and we decided to open a second dojo in the city within the major commercial facility in Tachikawa City "La Laport Tachikawa Tachihi". Our philosophy is not the idea of pursuing only strength, that just doing fighting sports only is good. Through daily exercises and games, I believe that you can convey the strength of your heart, the heart that you never give up on anything in daily life. In fact, the words at the beginning of the sentence have a continuation... If so, the dream will certainly be achieved someday. I am still developing the group, but I promise to make efforts and push forward in the future, I will succeed."
— Hidetada Irie, founder of Kingdom Ehrgeiz.

As a whole:

  • Amateur Cast: In the beginning at least.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: At its start, it featured both amateur MMA and shoot style wrestling bouts. It stopped featuring shoot wrestling sometime later.
  • Faction Motto: "We shall overcome! We have a dream!"
  • Meaningful Name: Ehrgeiz means "Ambition" in German.
  • The Remnant: Presents itself as the direct successor of the UWF legacy and its ideals despite its obscurity.
  • Spin-Off: Of Kingdom, though Hidetada Irie thinks it is actually an Immediate Sequel. It has recently began promoting shoot style pro wrestling promotions Tachikawa Wrestling Force and Fuchu Wrestling Union.
  • Vestigial Empire: An even more obscure promotion than its predecessor, though it has lasted a lot longer.
  • Wrestler in All of Us: At the beginning, aside from amateur MMA fights, it also showcased shoot style wrestling.

Masazaku Imanari

"I do not set out to injure anyone but if I have to hurt my opponent badly to win I will not hesitate to do that. They have the option to tap and if they do not take that option then they will have to deal with the consequences. It is not my problem."

  • Determinator: He was born with a spinal condition that severely limited his mobility and would ultimately require three separate surgeries to regain it. It didn’t stop him from pursuing a fighting career.
  • The Dreaded: There's an apocryphal story that Bellator and Strikeforce had tried to book Masakazu Imanari for fights in America only to be told by customs that Imanari was permanently banned from entering the United States, and when his agent was asked if he knew why, he basically replied "No, but I'm not surprised."
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Was a trainee at Antonio Inoki's Universal Fighting-Arts Organization dojo but never debuted there. He later got his start in Kingdom Ehrgeiz.
  • Elite Four: Was part of the "ZST Shi Kyōdai" ("ZST Four Brothers").
  • Expy: He and his friend Shinya Aoki are arguably the successors to Rumina Sato. They are lightweight fighters with crazy submission skills and a penchant for flying techniques and openings from unpredictable angles (in that sense, they are even more overspecialized in grappling than Sato ever was) but with laughably weak chins.
  • Fandom Rivalry: With Takefumi Hanai's on who had the best leglock game and who deserves the title of Ashikan Judan.
  • Glass Cannon: Like his friend Shinya Aoki, he was great in offensive submissions, but no so much in taking hits. Unlike Aoki however he knows how to strike thanks to his Kickboxing background.
  • Guest Fighter: Had only one match in Pancrase.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Shinya Aoki as the Anime Those Two Guys of MMA: they are best friends and former classmates, often train together, and corner each's other in fights. In fact, Aoki stated in an interview that he does not see Imanari as a friend, but as a brother. Aww.
  • I Know Kickboxing: Trained in the Fujiwara Dojo by Satoru Sayama's mediation and shoot wrestling under Sayama himself. He later moved to Antonio Inoki's Universal Fighting-Arts Organization, and then Kingdom Ehrgeiz, where he trained MMA with Hidetada Irie before doing his amateur debut. He also is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Marco Barbosa of Barbosa jiu-jitsu and trained in combat wrestling and is also said to have trained in Koppo. Subverted with Sambo despite popular belief because of his leg lock style, he has said it is "purely self-taught".
  • Power Trio: Founded Nippon Top Team with Shinya Aoki and Satoru Kitaoka.
  • Red Baron: "Imanā", "Ashikan Judan" ("10th Dan of Leg Locks"), "Yōkai Ashi Kiwame" ("The Leglock Yokai").
  • The Rival: To Takefumi Hanai in their Combat Wrestling days, they both traded victories with each other at the 2001 and 2002 championships.
  • Sadist: When asked why he likes leg locks his reply was because it hurts the opponent.
  • Signature Move: Leg Locks. He really loves leg locks. The "Imanari Roll" (a backward roll from a stand up position into a leglock) and the "Imanari Choke" (a combination of an omoplata and a rear naked choke) are grappling moves named after him due to his usage of them.
  • When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Could get leglocks from almost any position by way of rolls and counters.

Keitaro Nakamura

  • 10-Minute Retirement: Nakamura announced his retirement from MMA after his third loss in the UFC. Despite his claim that he would become a police officer, Nakamura's retirement lasted a mere few months.
  • The Ace: With a 15 win streak in 3 years and a Shooto middleweight championship.
  • The Apprentice: To Yoshinori Nishi.
  • Cool Teacher: Has his own gym, Wajyutsu Keisyukai K-Taro Dojo.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Started his MMA career in Kingdom Ehrgeiz before he gained fame in Shooto.
  • Guest Fighter: From Wajutsu Keishukai.
  • I Know Karate: Trained at the Daidōjuku-based Wajutsu Keishukai and is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo.
  • Red Baron: "K-Taro" "Hadakajime Jūdan" ("10th Dan of Rear Naked Chokes").
  • Signature Move: The rear naked choke is his favourite submission.
  • Spell My Name With An S: He real first name is Keita, he just added -ro to it as his ring name.

Kōzō Urita/Tiger Shark

  • The Apprentice: To Hidetada Irie and Satoru Sayama.
  • Arch-Enemy: To Yūji Sakuragi/Super Tiger II.
  • Cool Mask: Wrestled under a blue Tiger Mask with a shark design as Tiger Shark.
  • Cool Teacher: Has his own Seikendo branch school in Akishima, Tokyo.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Started his MMA career in Kingdom Ehrgeiz before he joined Seikendo.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Yūji Sakuragi/Super Tiger II.
  • Expy: Basically takes the role of Black Tiger to Super Tiger II's role as Tiger Mask.
  • Foil: To Yūji Sakuragi/Super Tiger II in terms of their appearances and martial arts backgrounds. Sakuragi is a bald karateka and kickboxer, who prefers to stand up and knockout in his opponents in MMA, while Urita is a judoka and grappler with a head full of hair, who prefers to ground and submit his opponents (though his later fights show a tendency to beat opponents by TKO).
  • I Know Judo: He also competed in Combat Wrestling and is a 3rd dan black belt in Seikendo.
  • Masked Luchador: Subverted, his style as Tiger Shark was more based on shoot style wrestling like his counterpart Super Tiger II.
  • Red Baron: "Sayama Satoru Saigo no Deshi" ("Satoru Sayama's Last Disciple").

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