Union Of Professional Wrestling Force International (UWF-I)

[8.0] "[7.9] Previously when describing what I respect most about UWFi, I said that 'One of the things a promotion can do that I respect the most is have a strong, unwavering vision for what it wants to be and what it wants wrestling to be, and I think UWFi did that harder than anyone.' After spending some more time poking around UWFi and some other shoot promotions (particularly RINGS and some of the stuff that branches off of PWFG, ) past me didn't know what the hell she was talking about. UWFi, for how strong its earlier years are stylistically, is a company that in its latter years lost most of the things that made it unique and undercut itself with gimmicky stuff like the WAR and NJPW invasions, setting aside the loss of credibility from Yoji Anjo doing A Funny. I still really like the very stripped-down presentation it had relative to stuff like RINGS even if I think something like Fu-Ten does similar concepts better. Undeniably very influential in both the MMA and wrestling worlds, you don't get something like ROH's pure rules without this, and without this, PRIDE definitely either doesn't happen or looks radically different. Either way I think as far as shoot style goes, UWFi is a good entry, but there was and have since been better places for enjoyers of the style. [Previously 8.4 - March 2 2025]"

[8.0] "This promotion was the more pro style version of RINGS. This promotion was the biggest influence on how ROH pure rules worked to a large extent with on hthe one changes you win my pin in pure rules the high end of this promotion was so of the best stuff of the 1990s but the lowend weakened the card but i pdu thank this promotion for Sakuraba"

[7.0] "Not a big fan of shoot style but I think UWF-I do it best. I really enjoy Vader over there and don't mind a bit of Dan Severn. It's good but not my thing overall."

[10.0] "What wrestling is supposed to look like! Before the big federation changed everyone's minds of what wrestling is. This is what real wrestling is, not sports entertainment. We need to protect the tapes of these matches, because wrestling is all about simulated combat, and that's exactly what this is! The matches are fantastic, it looks real because it is real! Where Sakuraba cut his teeth to prove that pro wrestling is the number one martial art!"

[9.0] "UWFi, like RINGS, and UWF Reborn before it, presented professional wrestling as it should be. They fell into some gimmicky traps at times, including their "feuds" with NJPW and WAR, but remained strong overall in terms of presentation. Their use of tag-team wrestling in shoot-style was innovative as well. The likes of Takada, Sakuraba, Tamura, Albright, Vader, and even "rare" names like James Stone (Little Guido) and Yoshihiro Takayama gave UWFi a very strong roster at their peak."

[8.0] "UWF-I had some classic bouts and produced some great wrestlers, giving Tamura, the best wrestler to Shoot-Style wrestler, a solid foundation that'll be capitalized on in RINGS, showcasing Takada as a mega star and would help create one of the best MMA promotions of all time (or the funnest, at least) and had some of the best hybrid shoot v pro matches out of the shoot style system. If you want to get into shoot style, UWF-I is a great promotion to watch. I don't think it holds up overall as much as RINGS or UWF does but it's was still a super solid promotion that drew big crowds, had good matches and created quite a few lasting legacies along the way."

[9.0] "Particular and unique. For the little that lasted it was a great alternative in the panorama not only Japanese but worldwide in pro wrestling. Perhaps the desire at all costs to push on the shoot by peddling it for real has been pulled too much and runs out soon. Too bad."

[7.0] "If you wanted to introduce a fan of traditional pro wrestling to the worked shoot style, then plugging them in to the UWF-I would be the way to go. Because they tried to make it look realistic while also being exciting, as compared to RINGS whose main focus was on making their matches look as real as possible, UWF-I was also the promotion that non-fans would most likely be attracted to."

[10.0] "The predecessor of PRIDE FC ! Brought shoot style into new heights while providing us with awesome matches and big names, the likes of Takada, Yamazaki, Sakuraba, Tamura, Vader, Albright. Also the amazing rivalry against NJPW. UWFi was one of a kind !"

[7.0] "Proper shootstyle pro wrestling which I will always enjoy to watch again and again."