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Context Characters / UniversalWrestlingFederationPancrase

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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pancrase2.PNG]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers!]]
3
4->''"Pancrase is not a kill struggle like the Ultimate Fight where the participant is willing to destroy his opponent to win. Pancrase is a sport, like wrestling."''
5-->-- '''Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki''', comparing UFC to Pancrase.
6
7%%One quote is enough. Others can go on the "Quotes" page.
8
9!!As a whole
10* AmateurCast: There are 2 kinds of amateur events for Pancrase, the amateur Pancrase tournaments and the Pancrase Gate events.
11* AntiHeroTeam: Like the way UWF Newborn was formed, the founders of Pancrase basically said screw you to Wrestling/YoshiakiFujiwara and the other PWFG staff and left to create Pancrase.
12* ArtifactTitle: Currently, Pancrase still has "Hybrid Wrestling" on its logo as an artifact from its shootwrestling days even though they adopted the unified MMA rules in 2014 and even stopped using the wrestling ring in favor of a octagonal cage.
13* AttackAttackAttack: Because Pancrase founders believed in the entertaining aspect of the fight, they had the ruleset itself oriented to have dynamic grappling battles with lots of joint locks and little rest.
14* BadassCrew: The founders of Pancrase were certainly this. Wrestling/KenShamrock's Lion's Den fighters that came later as this as well.
15* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: The promotion was mostly filled with handsome young men since its beginning. The early standard wear of speedo-like UnderwearOfPower also enhanced this appeal.
16* CripplingOverspecialization: Pancrase natives were often great offensive grapplers and decorated wrestlers, but aside from some relevant good kickers, they had usually little to no UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} skill. The best Japanese striker among them, Manabu Yamada, precisely came from Shooto. Ironically, their modest striking was enough to introduce in United States the very first well rounded fighters in a time in which UFC fights were still of the martial art vs. martial art kind.
17* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Heelhooks were once banned because of the frequency of injuries. The old rules also banned toe kicks of all things.
18* DistaffCounterpart: Pancrase Athena, the women's division with slightly modified rules.
19* FollowTheLeader: In order to bring in more fighters in the late 1990s, a special ruleset was created called [[InsistentTerminology "Pankration rules"]], which was basically the UFC's rules in the mid-1990s.
20** They adopted the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts in 2014.
21* GondorCallsForAid: After leaving PWFG, the founders first gathered to practice at the Wrestling/AllJapanWomensProWrestling Dojo due to connections Pancrase president Masami Ozaki had with their staff.
22* InsistentTerminology: Not shoot wrestling or MMA, but "Hybrid Wrestling". It actually faded off a bit with the turn of the millennium, though fighters themselves are still referred to as pancrasists. They also refer to their champions as "King of Pancrase (or Pancrasists)" ("Queen of Pancrase (or Pancrasists)" when they introduced a women's division).
23* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Pancrase is mostly remembered for begin one of the earliest MMA promotion, having a rule-set resembling professional wrestling, fighting bareknuckle but allowing only palm-strikes, with fighters wearing boots with shin guards and speedos, fighting in a three-rope ring and an insitence to call itself "Hydrid Wrestling" and its fighters "wrestlers". However, by the 2000s they started to change the rules to approach closer to other MMA promotions, by the 2010s they adopted the Unified Rules and in 2014 they exchanged their iconic ring for a 10-sided cage.
24* LetsFightLikeGentlemen / LoopholeAbuse: In its early days, Pancrase rules followed a slightly modified system of the rules established in Newborn, where ground-and-pound was not mentioned at all. Their fighters established a gentleman’s agreement to not strike a grounded opponent, though it was not officially part of the rules unlike in RINGS. It took outsiders like Allan Goes to fully exploit this detail, much to the chagrin of the hybrid wrestlers.
25* MightyWhitey: Regardless of the native talent, Pancrase was more relevant for the foreign names it built, namely Rutten, Schilt and the Shamrocks, who went to dominate the promotion.
26* OneHitKill: Until Funaki and Suzuki created Pancrase, worked shoot matches used to be long and slow in order to maintain the crowd entertained. However, when the two implanted their real matches concept, proved when the first Pancrase event lasted only 28 minutes, the Japanese crowds loved it and coined the word "byosatsu" (秒殺, "instantly finished") to refer this kind of exciting battle (though according to Pancrase president Masami Ozaki, it was mainly Creator/BasRutten who inspired the phrase). Even so, the two used to carry weaker opponents to avoid a too short fight.
27* PowerTrio: In the beginning Funaki, Suzuki and Wrestling/KenShamrock as they were the best in the promotion at the time and did most of the recruiting for new talent.
28* ProWrestlingIsReal: While the UWF's members vowed for it, Pancrase eventually implemented what they called "kekka no sutairu" ("results-oriented style") in its very beginnings.
29* ShoutOut / SpellMyNameWithAnS: The promotion’s name comes from the Ancient Greek martial art of Pankration, particularly the French spelling and pronunciation of the name ("Pancrace").
30* SpecialGuest: Rickson Gracie was in the audience at the 1998 Anniversary Show.
31* SpinOff: Pancrase Australia, Pancrase UK, Pancrase Korea, Pancrase USA, The Creator/BasRutten Invitational, Strike & Grapple (also known as Light Pancrase), Colosseum 2000.
32* TournamentArc: The King of Pancrase Tournament to crown the first champion of the promotion. The annual Neo Blood Tournaments for the young bloods in the promotion.
33* UseYourHead: According to Creator/BasRutten, headbutts to the chest were legal. Which he did in his second fight with Frank Shamrock.
34* XMakesAnythingCool: Their logo is an X to symbolize the cross-training of styles that make up hybrid wrestling.
35* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Suzuki and Fuke created Pancrase MISSION in order to prepare for their pro wrestling comebacks. The Pancrase MISSION dojo trains both pro wrestlers and MMA fighters.
36
37[[foldercontrol]]
38
39[[folder:Debuted in the World Pancrase Create Era]]
40See Characters/UniversalWrestlingFederationWorldPancraseCreateEra
41[[/folder]]
42
43[[folder:Debuted in the Pancrase Inc Era]]
44See Characters/UniversalWrestlingFederationPancraseIncEra

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