1980年2月27日 蔵前国技館 格闘技世界ヘビー級選手権試合 アントニオ猪木 vs ウィリー・ウイリアムス
HELLO AND WELCOME FRIENDS and at once you are no doubt struck by how this is not RINGS under discussion this time out but is instead the work of Willie Williams more broadly; I ask that we might consider it? I have searched Williams' name on New Japan Pro Wrestling World in hopes that his 1980 bout against Antonio Inoki would be available on that fine service and not only did that turn out to be extremely the case but a 1997 between the two turned up as well! The occasion that occasions all of this, I am sure I do not even need to tell you, is Williams' recent (RINGS-blog-recent) retirement (from RINGS) following his too-brief match against Volk Han. Let's see how this goes!
It is even worth noting that a chant of IN-O-KI IN-O-KI resounds as this contest begins between this younger, leaner, quicker, more taut Willie Williams than the one to which we have become accustomed and an Antonio Inoki who looks exactly the same as literally every other time anyone has ever seen Antonio Inoki? The first round consists of as close to nothing as could ever be managed, it must be said, as Williams doesn't throw too much of anything and Inoki careens into the ropes in a strange posture and scoots to his back from time to time (lol that's so Inoki). Round two sees Williams very much stake out the centre of the ring and throw huge whirling (karate) kicks whilst Inoki flees out of range. When Inoki clinches, which he does from time to time, the crowd goes nuts under the mistaken assumption that something is about to happen. A koppu kick! But Inoki misses. An ankle pick! And they are down! And have rolled out under the bottom rope to the floor! Williams is raining blows down upon Inoki, trapped beneath and bloodied! I didn't see that coming even a little. Williams is dragged off the battered Inoki and the bell has been sounded a whole bunch of times so I've got to think this match has been thrown out? This really got out of hand. Seconds and handlers and young boys abound as you might well expect.
WAIT A MINUTE they are restarting the match? This is highly unorthodox I think probably! The crowd dutifully resumes its chant and we're back at it, presumably still in the second round that fell apart some time ago? No okay the rest of the second round has, I guess, been thrown out, and so it is in round three that Inoki cowers under Williams' blows and rolls out under the bottom rope to collect himself. I don't know if I have mentioned yet that Williams is magnificent in his karategi pants and boxing gloves but it's true. No sooner is Inoki back in the ring but they are entangled and tumble together to the floor again and it is like come on guys let's try and keep this together a little. THIS IS MUCH MORE LIKE IT as Williams clinches and elbows and Inoki counters with a huge koshi-waza (hip technique)!
Perhaps unsurprisingly this nage-waza (throwing technique) is followed by the kansetsu (bone-locking) of ude-hishigi-juji-gatame and how much more at home could the RINGS enthusiast be? A rope break concludes this exceedingly sikk utterance of waza and round four is upon us before we know it and it features dueling missed dropkicks. Soon thereafter, both men topple over the top rope and fall to the floor, each now eliminated from this strong style / shoot style Royal Rumble if I understand the rules correctly. JUJI-GATAME ON THE FLOOR, ANTONIO INOKI IS WILDING OUT:
The bell again sounds riotously but as we have already seen once tonight, that does not necessarily mean we are done; it is more a light-switch flicked on and off and on once more by a substitute teacher at her/his wits' end because all of you have been assholes. No ok, that's it, this match is definitely over now, as Inoki is bloodied and angry and Williams' friends help him with his nice coat:
1997年1月4日 東京ドーム 第8試合 INOKI FINAL COUNT DOWN ６th アントニオ猪木 vs ウィリー・ウィリアムス
OKAY NOW IT IS ALMOST SEVENTEEN YEARS LATER and we are in Williams' post-RINGS era (also the post-Williams RINGS-era, though that is less relevant here) and this is definitely in the Tokyo Dome because there is just such a ramp out there (also it is a 1/4 show and we know the ways of that, don't we). Williams looks just as he did when we left him to Volk Han (we shouldn't have done it); Inoki looks, again, as he always has and always will (perhaps he is an angel). At the bell, Williams rushes across the ring and pummels Inoki to the mat before Inoki can even discard his monogrammed towel! But after some counting, he seems fine, and is soon atop Williams and working towards a hold, perhaps indeed the shoulder hold of kata-gatame (it is also a fine strangulation). Rope breaks are not scored here in New Japan as they are in RINGS but they are acknowledged, and so Williams takes refuge. He even manages a takedown of his own, a kind of rolling hikikomi gaeshi or pulling reversal, but he was mistaken to stray from his karate, we learn almost at once, as Inoki is all over him down there. Again they stand, and Williams at last throws the long sweeping kicks we desire most of him, and though they do not find their mark, they also totally do, if one considers also that their mark is our hearts. WAIT WHAT out of nowhere Inoki hooks in an Octopus Hold or if you prefer a Ground Cobra Twist also known simply as "the twister" and I don't even want to talk about 10th Planet JJ right now, I do not have the energy, but I will mention that I was at a local mixed martial arts show at the Forum once (please pray for me, a sinner; a judo guy I had trained with was fighting [he won {uchi-mata to juji-gatame}] and in one of the bouts someone attempted a twister and the lady behind me noted the guy setting it up like she was like this is gonna be a twister and I was like my god she's right):
SO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? I must confess, very little. But while this second match was sort of extremely nothing, the first was a wild scene that I wholeheartedly recommend to those of you who have availed yourself of the NJPW World service or may perhaps do so in the future! And it was nice to spend even a little more time, however fleeting, with our friend Willie Williams, I think.
I DO WONDER WHAT DAVE MELTZER HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE 1997 MATCH AT LEAST HOWEVER:
At first he does not have the tape . . .
January 13, 1997: "In a rematch of their famous inconclusive mixed martial arts match in 1980, Antonio Inoki (who turns 54 in a few weeks) beat Willie Williams (who I believe is now 48 years old) by submission with the octopus in 4:13. Told this was awful"
. . . but then he does:
January 20, 1997: "2. Antonio Inoki beat Willie Williams in 4:23. Satoru Sayama was in Inoki's corner for the match. Inoki used the octopus, then dropped to the mat with Williams, who tapped out. Awful. -*"
ALRIGHT THEN back to actual (or "shoot") RINGS next time for sure though, I assure you though, as I thank you once again for your attention and for your time.
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