History Heartwarming / AkiraMaeda

* When Maeda first tried to establish RINGS, he discovered that finding people for his company was more difficult than he had thought. His only hope was his friend Chris Dolman and his trainees, but he was told that Dolman was already being contacted by Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling. Dolman was left with the choice to follow either Maeda or Inoki, so he went to his master Jon Bluming to ask his opinion. Bluming, being the kind of guy he was, told him the story of UsefulNotes/The47Ronin. Maeda had almost gave up, but then Dolman approached him and supposedly told him:

* When Maeda first tried to establish RINGS, he discovered that finding people for his company was more difficult than he had thought. His only hope was his friend Chris Dolman and his trainees, but he was told that Dolman was already being contacted by Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling. Dolman was left with the choice to follow Maeda or Inoki, so he went to his master Jon Bluming to ask his opinion. Bluming, being the kind of guy he is, only told him the story of UsefulNotes/The47Ronin. Maeda had almost gave up, but then Dolman approached him and supposedly told him:
-->"Even if we are left to only you and me, believe me, you shall not relinquish your dreams. From now, we are the creating force of RINGS."

* After Maeda saw his former understudy Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki submitting Maurice Smith in a AJKF event, he told press that, for the first time, and despite his former comments trying to put his former promotion in his past, he regretted that UWF folded, as he was so proud of Funaki.
* Maeda's retirement in 1998. After working a match against Yoshihisa Yamamoto so badly that the crowd even disagreed with his decision win, Maeda received a retire ceremony hosted by all the important people in his career: Takada, Inoki, Fujiwara, Yamazaki, random guys like Wrestling/GenichiroTenryu, Animal Hamaguchi, Junji Hirata [[labelnote:Note]]Hamaguchi and Hirata are understandable as they knew Maeda in NJPW, Tenryu is the real mystery[[/labelnote]], Maeda's beloved trainer Kotetsu Yamamoto, and even his old opponent Don Nakaya Nielsen.
* At the 2005 interview between Maeda and Wrestling/SatoruSayama, when Sayama talked about how the Shooto factions ousted him from the company after he had built it and made the impossible for it to survive, Maeda asserted it had been an unscrupulous move by them, and that he had experimented similar problems with the RINGS teams. Akira also acknowledged Sayama's work in MMA, and went to say that despite all their years long enmity, they still had beautiful memories.

* The ending of his legendary match against Wrestling/TatsumiFujinami. Yes, the one in which Maeda accidentally busted him open with a misguided heel kick. After they work the match back to its course, which would be a CrowningMomentOfAwesome on his own, Maeda and Fujinami kick each other in the head so hard that it is a DoubleKnockout. When they got up, Akira said to the mic that, after badmouthing Fujinami for years, he had finally found respect for him and the rest of the NJPW wrestlers, and that the war among the shoot-style stable and the traditionalist home army is over.

* The ending of his legendary match against Tatsumi Fujinami. Yes, the one in which Maeda accidentally busted him open with a misguided heel kick. After they work the match back to its course, which would be a CrowningMomentOfAwesome on his own, Maeda and Fujinami kick each other in the head so hard that it is a DoubleKnockout. When they got up, Akira said to the mic that, after badmouthing Fujinami for years, he had finally found respect for him and the rest of the NJPW wrestlers, and that the war among the shoot-style stable and the traditionalist home army is over.

* Maeda congratulating his old enemy Riki Choshu in the latter's retirement ceremony in 1997.

* Maeda's retirement in 1998. After working a match against Yoshihisa Yamamoto so badly that the crowd even disagreed with his decision win, Maeda received a retire ceremony hosted by all the important people in his career: Takada, Inoki, Fujiwara, Yamazaki, random guys like Wrestling/GenichiroTenryu, Animal Hamaguchi, Junji Hirata (Hamaguchi and Hirata are understandable as they knew Maeda in NJPW, Tenryu is the real mystery), Maeda's beloved trainer Kotetsu Yamamoto, and even his old opponent Don Nakaya Nielsen.

* Maeda's retirement in 1998. After working a match against Yoshihisa Yamamoto so badly that the crowd even disagreed with his decision win, Maeda received a retire ceremony hosted by all the important people in his career: Takada, Inoki, Fujiwara, Yamazaki, random guys like Wrestling/GenichiroTenryu, Animal Hamaguchi, Junji Hirata, Maeda's beloved trainer Kotetsu Yamamoto, and even his old opponent Don Nakaya Nielsen.

* The ending of his legendary match against Tatsumi Fujinami. Yes, the one in which Maeda accidentally busted him open with a misguided heel kick. After they work the match back to its course, which would be a CrowningMomentOfAwesome on his own, Maeda and Fujinami kick each other in the head so hard that it is a DoubleKnockout. When they got up, Akira says to the mic that he has finally found respect for the NJPW wrestlers, and that the war among the shoot-style stable and the traditionalist home army is over.
-->"I believed myself to be alone. I believed to live in a deserted island. But this night, it has changed. This night, I have found out that there are brothers here."

* At the 2005 interview between Maeda and Satoru Sayama, when Sayama talked about how the Shooto factions ousted him from the company after he had built it and made the impossible for it to survive, Maeda asserted it had been an unscrupulous move by them, and that he had experimented similar problems with the RINGS teams. Akira also acknowledged Sayama's work in MMA, and went to say that despite all their years long enmity, they still had beautiful memories.

* The ending of his legendary match against Tatsumi Fujinami. Yes, the one in which Maeda accidentally busted him open with a misguided heel kick. After they work the match back to its course, which would be a CrowningMomentOfAwesome on his own, Maeda and Fujinami kick each other in the head so hard that it is a double KO. When they got up, Akira says to the mic that he has finally found respect for the NJPW wrestlers, and that the war among the shoot-style stable and the traditionalist home army is over.
-->"I believed myself to be alone. I believed to live in an unpopulated island. But this night, it has changed. This night, I have found out that there are brothers here."

* After the first UWF dissolved, Giant Baba offered a hefty pay to Maeda to join Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling. However, when Akira found out that only him and Takada would be contracted while the rest of their companions would be left to their luck, he declined the offer and returned with them to New Japan, despite knowing it would bring him troubles with Inoki.