DVDVR_OJ_men_80s_Results

DeathValleyDriver's BEST MATCHES OF THE 1980s JAPAN MEN'S RESULTS:

Analysis by Chris Harrington of Indeed Wrestling Weekly. (Feel free to contact with questions, corrections, comments or further data discussion.)

DVDVR OJ 80s Men Table of Contents
I. The Results
...a) Table of Results
...b) Top Ten Results Breakdown
...c) Graph of Total Points vs Rank
II. Further Statistics
...a) Extended Table of Stats
...b) Discussion
.......1) Role of Bonus Points
.......2) Divergent Opinions
...c) List of top 25 matches by Date
III. Ranking the Wrestlers
...a) Rankings by Tier
...b) Best of RANKING Chart
...c) Best Performers each Year
IV. Ranking the Feuds
...a) List of Feuds
...b) Ranking by FEUD
V. Ranking the Shows
VI. Ranking the Promotions
...a) Promotional Averages
...b) Best of Promotions
...c) Promotion Rankings
...d) Rankings by Year
VI. Credits & Acknowledgements

The Results!

In total, 66 ballots were received. Voters were asked to rank matches from 1 to 75. Match #1 receives 75 points; match #2 would receive 74 points, etc. Matches in the top 30 were awarded bonus points as follows: #1 (+7 pts), #2 (+5 pts), #3 (+4 pts), #4 through #7 (+3 pts), #8-#20 (+2 pts), #21-#30 (+1 pts).

rank	match	points	fed	date
1	Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda	4,296	UWF	11/10/88
2	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger	4,268	UWF	12/05/84
3	Nobuhiko Takada vs Bob Backlund	4,255	UWF	12/22/88
4	Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu	4,253	JPW	02/21/85
5	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger	4,217	UWF	07/17/85
6	Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano	4,076	UWF	07/24/89
7	Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara	3,982	UWF	09/07/84
8	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki	3,928	UWF	01/07/85
9	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger	3,815	UWF	09/11/85
10	Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada	3,789	UWF	08/13/88
11	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki	3,756	UWF	07/24/89
12	Super Tiger/Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda/Yoshiaki Fujiwara	3,674	UWF	07/23/84
13	Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki	3,592	UWF	05/12/88
14	Atsushi Onita vs Masashi Aoyagi	3,590	FMW	10/06/89
15	Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada	3,580	UWF	09/11/85
16	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda	3,537	UWF	03/02/85
17	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada	3,416	UWF	10/22/84
18	Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara	3,386	UWF	10/25/89
19	Yoji Anjoh vs Masakatsu Funaki	3,349	UWF	06/14/89
20	Super Tiger vs Akira Maeda	3,312	UWF	09/11/84
21	Super Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada	3,308	UWF	09/06/85
22	Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki	3,248	UWF	05/21/89
23	Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada	3,223	UWF	05/04/89
24	Bob Backlund vs Masakatsu Funaki	3,179	UWF	05/21/89
25	Atsushi Onita vs Masashi Aoyagi	3,112	UKIKM	06/02/89
26	El Gran Hamada vs Perro Aguayo	3,096	UWF	04/11/84
27	Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda	3,089	UWF	01/10/89
28	Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada	3,072	UWF	12/05/84
29	Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara	3,016	UWF	07/08/85
30	Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara	2,979	UWF	06/24/85
31	Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu/Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Hiro Saito/Shunji Takano/Super Strong Machine	2,953	JPW	11/02/85
32	Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki	2,832	UWF	02/18/85
33	Akira Maeda vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara	2,788	UWF	08/13/89
34	Yoji Anjoh vs Minoru Suzuki	2,752	UWF	10/25/89
35	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda	2,732	UWF	07/13/85
36	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Masakatsu Funaki	2,711	UWF	05/04/89
37	Super Tiger vs Marty Jones	2,668	UWF	03/02/85
38	Akira Maeda vs Super Tiger	2,601	UWF	01/07/85
39	Super Tiger/Joe Malenko vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Osamu Kido	2,594	UWF	05/25/85
40	Akira Maeda vs Gerard Gourdeau	2,415	UWF	08/13/88
41	Super Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada	2,412	UWF	07/21/85
42	Yoji Anjoh vs Minoru Suzuki	2,395	UWF	04/14/89
43	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Osamu Kido	2,394	UWF	09/06/85
44	Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki	2,318	UWF	10/22/84
45	Nobuhiko Takada vs Marty Jones	2,305	UWF	02/18/85
46	Mighty Inoue/Higo Hamaguchi vs Carlos Plata & El Doberman	2,257	IWE	11/27/80
47	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Osamu Kido	2,249	UWF	02/18/85
48	Kazuo Yamazaki vs Yoji Anjoh	2,187	UWF	08/13/89
49	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki	2,095	UWF	08/29/85
50	Shozo Kobayashi/Haruka Eigen vs Mighty Inoue/Isamu Teranishi	2,085	IWE	06/29/80
51	Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda	2,058	UWF	05/25/85
52	Osamu Kido vs Akira Maeda	2,037	UWF	01/29/85
53	Tarzan Goto vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga	1,998	FMW	12/04/89
54	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Yoji Anjoh	1,939	UWF	05/21/89
55	Carlos Plata/El Doberman/Goro Tsurumi vs Higo Hamaguchi/Isamu Teranishi/Mach Hayato	1,846	IWE	11/22/80
56	Pete Roberts/Akira Maeda vs Keith Hayward/Osamu Kido	1,713	UWF	12/05/84
57	Mighty Inoue/Higo Hamaguchi vs Spike Huber/Rocky Brewer	1,692	IWE	07/25/80
58	Higo Hamaguchi/Isamu Teranishi/Mach Hayato vs El Cobarde/Herodes/Goro Tsurumi	1,686	IWE	03/26/81
59	Masami Soronaka vs Scott McGhee	1,596	UWF	12/05/84
60	Nobuhiko Takada vs Masami Soronaka	1,566	UWF	03/02/85
61	Osamu Kido vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara	1,533	UWF	07/25/85
62	Ryuma Go vs Atsushi Onita	1,501	Pioneer	04/30/89
63	Carlos Plata/El Doberman vs Mighty Inoue/Mach Hayato	1,455	IWE	11/01/80
64	Atsushi Onita/Dick Murdoch vs Masanobu Kurisu/Jos LeDuc	1,441	FMW	12/04/89
65	Minoru Suzuki vs Johnny Barrett	1,387	UWF	10/01/89
66	Osamu Kido vs Super Tiger	1,379	UWF	07/08/85
67	Osamu Kido vs Akira Maeda	1,306	UWF	07/21/85
68	Yuko Miyato vs Minoru Suzuki	1,275	UWF	05/04/89
69	Cuban Assassian/Phil Lafleur vs Super Tiger/Osamu Kido	1,270	UWF	10/22/84
70	Super Tiger vs Osamu Kido	1,118	UWF	08/29/85
71	Killer Khan vs Stan Hansen	969	JPW	??/??/86
72	Kazuo Yamazaki vs Jack Snuka	752	UWF	09/11/84
73	Rusher Kimura vs Alexis Smirnoff	627	IWE	11/22/80
74	Jimmy Backlund vs Mitsuteru Tokuda	538	FMW	10/06/89
75	Kazuo Yamazaki vs Chris Dolman	506	UWF	11/29/89

Top Ten BreakdownFIRST PLACE: Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (11/10/88 UWF) [4,296 points]
#1: 12 votes (most common vote)
#2: 4 votes
#3: 2 votes
Top 5: 45% (30 ballots)
Top 10: 62% (41 ballots)
Top 25: 82% (54 ballots)

SECOND PLACE: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (12/5/84 UWF) [4,268 points]
#1: 5 votes
#2: 8 votes (most common vote)
#3: 6 votes
Top 5: 36% (24 ballots)
Top 10: 58% (38 ballots)
Top 25: 85% (56 ballots)

THIRD PLACE: Nobuhiko Takada vs Bob Backlund (12/22/88 UWF) [4,255 points]
#1: 5 votes
#2: 1 vote
#3: 6 votes (tied with #4 as most common vote)
Top 5: 36% (24 ballots)
Top 10: 65% (43 ballots)
Top 25: 79% (52 ballots)

FOURTH PLACE: Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (2/21/85 JPW) [4,253 points]
#1: 1 vote
#2: 6 votes (most common vote)
#3: 5 votes
Top 5: 30% (20 ballots)
Top 10: 56% (37 ballots)
Top 25: 80% (53 ballots)

FIFTH PLACE: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (7/17/85 UWF) [4,217 points]
#1: 3 votes
#2: 3 votes
#3: 3 votes
#10: 6 votes (most common vote)
Top 5: 26% (17 ballots)
Top 10: 53% (35 ballots)
Top 25: 83% (55 ballots)

SIXTH PLACE: Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano (7/24/89 UWF) [4076 points]
#1: 6 votes (most common vote)
Top 5: 33% (22 ballots)
Top 10: 52% (34 ballots)
Top 25: 79% (52 ballots)

SEVENTH PLACE: Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (9/7/84 UWF) [3,982 points]
#1: 8 votes (most common vote)
Top 5: 30% (20 ballots)
Top 10: 39% (26 ballots)
Top 25: 70% (46 ballots)

EIGHTH PLACE: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (1/7/85 UWF) [3,928 points]
#13: 6 votes (most common vote)
Top 5: 14% (9 ballots)
Top 10: 35% (23 ballots)
Top 25: 77% (51 ballots)

NINTH PLACE: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (9/11/85 UWF) [3,815 points]
#17: 5 votes (most common vote)
Top 5: 12% (8 ballots)
Top 10: 27% (18 ballots)
Top 25: 73% (48 ballots)

TENTH PLACE: Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (8/13/88 UWF) [3,789 points]
#5: 4 votes (most common vote)
Top 5: 20% (13 ballots)
Top 10: 30% (20 ballots)
Top 25: 68% (45 ballots)

The dots in blue represent total points versus their final rank. You'll notice the serious tapering off at the edge of the chart where the #70 to #75 matches were especially reviled. The purple dots represent the percentage of ballots that had a given match ranked the top 25 (top third). (This percentage is represented as an integer where 5000 would equal 100%.) The black line shows how there is a linear relationship between final weighted rank and the simple top 25 ballot percentage.

Further Statistics

rank	match	fed	date	avg	arank	stdev	median	span
1	Takada/Maeda	UWF	11/10/88	13.9	2	15.9	6	68
2	Fujiwara/Tiger	UWF	12/05/84	14.1	3	15.2	8.5	63
3	Takada/Backlund	UWF	12/22/88	14.1	4	15.4	7.5	72
4	Choshu/Tenryu	JPW	02/21/85	13.9	1	12.6	8.5	50
5	Fujiwara/Tiger	UWF	07/17/85	14.4	5	13.2	10	62
6	Funaki/Nakano	UWF	07/24/89	16.8	6	18.2	10	68
7	Tiger/Fujiwara	UWF	09/07/84	18.1	7	15.3	14.5	52
8	Fujiwara/Yamazaki	UWF	01/07/85	18.3	8	14.7	13.5	61
9	Fujiwara/Tiger	UWF	09/11/85	19.9	9	13.3	17	64
10	Yamazaki/Takada	UWF	08/13/88	20.4	10	15.9	16	69
11	Fujiwara/Yamazaki	UWF	07/24/89	21.2	11	18.7	14	71
12	Tiger&Takada vs Maeda&Fujiwara	UWF	07/23/84	22.0	12	14.7	20	68
13	Maeda/Yamazaki	UWF	05/12/88	23.1	13	17.4	17.5	73
14	Onita/Aoyagi	FMW	10/06/89	23.2	14	18.3	17.5	72
15	Yamazaki/Takada	UWF	09/11/85	23.3	15	17.4	18	64
16	Fujiwara/Maeda	UWF	03/02/85	24.0	16	16.2	21	60
17	Fujiwara/Takada	UWF	10/22/84	25.6	17	18.1	20.5	66
18	Takada/Fujiwara	UWF	10/25/89	25.9	18	14	26	71
19	Anjoh/Funaki	UWF	06/14/89	26.5	19	17	21.5	70
20	Tiger/Takada	UWF	09/11/84	27.2	21	18.1	22	63
21	Tiger/Maeda	UWF	09/06/85	27.1	20	16.8	25	65
22	Maeda/Yamazaki	UWF	05/21/89	27.9	22	16.2	25	57
23	Yamazaki/Takada	UWF	05/04/89	28.4	23	18.2	28.5	68
24	Backlund/Funaki	UWF	05/21/89	29.1	24	18.5	25.5	69
25	Onita/Aoyagi	UKIKM	06/02/89	30.1	25	19.9	25	74
26	Hamada/Aguayo	UWF	04/11/84	30.2	26	18.2	29.5	66
27	Takada/Maeda	UWF	01/10/89	30.3	27	16.4	29	69
28	Yamazaki/Takada	UWF	12/05/84	30.5	28	18.3	28.5	71
29	Takada/Fujiwara	UWF	07/08/85	31.2	29	15.3	32	64
30	Tiger/Fujiwara	UWF	06/24/85	31.6	30	13.5	31.5	55
31	Choshu&Yatsu&Kobayashi vs Saito&ShunjiTakano&StrongMachine	JPW	11/02/85	32.1	31	16.5	31.5	66
32	Maeda/Yamazaki	UWF	02/18/85	33.7	32	16	32	65
33	Maeda/Fujiwara	UWF	08/13/89	34.4	33	16.8	35	64
34	Anjoh/Suzuki	UWF	10/25/89	35.1	34	18.2	34	70
35	Fujiwara/Maeda	UWF	07/13/85	35.4	35	17.5	35.5	69
36	Fujiwara/Funaki	UWF	05/04/89	35.5	36	15.3	35	65
37	Tiger/Jones	UWF	03/02/85	36.2	37	16.6	35.5	67
38	Maeda/Tiger	UWF	01/07/85	37.2	38	18.5	37.5	72
39	Tiger&Malenko vs Fujiwara&Kido	UWF	05/25/85	37.3	39	16.4	37	66
40	Maeda/Gerard Gourdeau	UWF	08/13/88	40.0	41	19	41.5	72
41	Tiger/Takada	UWF	07/21/85	39.9	40	17.7	37	70
42	Fujiwara/Kido	UWF	04/14/89	40.2	43	16.4	39.5	70
43	Anjoh/Suzuki	UWF	09/06/85	40.1	42	15.1	39.5	59
44	Maeda/Yamazaki	UWF	10/22/84	41.4	44	19.1	44	69
45	Takada/Marty Jones	UWF	02/18/85	41.4	45	15.1	39.5	63
46	Inoue&Hamaguchi vs Plata&Doberman	IWE	11/27/80	42.2	46	18.3	39.5	68
47	Fujiwara/Kido	UWF	02/18/85	42.6	47	21.7	45	74
48	Yamazaki/Anjoh	UWF	08/13/89	43.1	48	14.8	42	62
49	Fujiwara/Yamazaki	UWF	08/29/85	44.5	49	15.4	44.5	56
50	Kobayashi&Eigen vs Inoue&Teranishi	IWE	06/29/80	44.8	50	16.7	49	69
51	Takada/Maeda	UWF	05/25/85	45.1	51	15.6	47	57
52	Kido/Maeda	UWF	01/29/85	45.4	52	15	47.5	61
53	Goto/Matsunaga	FMW	12/04/89	46.1	53	18.8	47.5	67
54	Fujiwara/Anjoh	UWF	05/21/89	46.8	54	15	47	55
55	Plata&Doberman&Tsurumi vs Hamaguchi&Teranishi&Hayato	IWE	11/22/80	48.3	55	15.8	52	56
56	Roberts&Maeda vs Hayward/Kido	UWF	12/05/84	50.4	56	20	56	68
57	Inoue&Hamaguchi vs Huber&Brewer	IWE	07/25/80	50.7	58	19.3	55	71
58	Hamaguchi/&Teranishi&Hayato vs Cobarde&Herodes&Tsurumi	IWE	03/26/81	50.6	57	16.3	53	68
59	Soronaka/McGhee	UWF	12/05/84	52.0	59	15.9	56	64
60	Takada/Soronaka	UWF	03/02/85	52.4	60	14.2	56	65
61	Kido/Fujiwara	UWF	07/25/85	52.9	61	14.4	58	54
62	Go/Onita	Pioneer	04/30/89	53.3	62	14.8	56	63
63	Plata&Doberman vs Inoue/Hayato	IWE	11/01/80	54.1	63	14.9	58	66
64	Onita&Murdoch vs Kurisu&LeDuc	FMW	12/04/89	54.3	64	15.6	59	60
65	Suzuki/Johnny Barrett	UWF	10/01/89	55.1	65	14	58.5	57
66	Kido/Tiger	UWF	07/08/85	55.2	66	14.7	61	55
67	Kido/Maeda	UWF	07/21/85	56.3	67	13.9	59.5	59
68	Miyato/Suzuki	UWF	05/04/89	56.8	68	14.3	59	60
69	CubanAssassian&Lafleur vs Tiger&Kido	UWF	10/22/84	56.9	69	14.8	60	68
70	Tiger/Kido	UWF	08/29/85	59.1	70	12.2	60	64
71	Khan/Hansen	JPW	??/??/86	61.4	71	15.4	66.5	62
72	Yamazaki/JackSnuka	UWF	09/11/84	64.6	72	10.9	69	46
73	Kimura/Smirnoff	IWE	11/22/80	66.6	73	13.9	72	70
74	JimmyBacklund/Tokuda	FMW	10/06/89	67.9	74	9.6	71	50
75	Yamazaki/Dolman	UWF	11/29/89	68.3	75	9	72.5	36

Discussion
There are two key points to take away concerning these statistics:

1. Bonus Points barely affect the results.
2. Voters had very divergent opinions on almost every match.

I. THE ROLE OF BONUS POINTS
As evidenced in the “Best of 1980s WWF DVDVR Poll”, once again bonus points played a very small effect. Only eleven matches had different rankings when you order by average rank versus ranking by total points.

MOVING UP
#1: Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (11/10/88 UWF) (#2 in avg rank, #1 in point rank)
#2: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (12/5/84 UWF) (#3 in avg rank, #2 in point rank)
#3: Nobuhiko Takada vs Bob Backlund (12/22/88 UWF) (#4 in avg rank, #3 in point rank)
#20: Super Tiger vs Akira Maeda (9/11/84 UWF) (#21 in avg rank, #20 in point rank)
#40: Akira Maeda vs Gerard Gourdeau (8/13/88 UWF) (#41 in avg rank, #40 in point rank)
#42: Yoji Anjoh vs Minoru Suzuki (4/14/89 UWF) (#43 in avg rank, #42 in point rank)
#57: Mighty Inoue/Higo Hamaguchi vs Spike Huber/Rocky Brewer (7/25/80 IWE) (#58 in avg rank, #57 in point rank)

MOVING DOWN
#4: Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (2/21/85 JPW) (#1 in avg rank, #4 in point rank)
#21: Super Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada (9/6/85 UWF) (#20 in avg rank, #21 in point rank)
#41: Super Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada (7/21/85 UWF) (#40 in avg rank, #41 in point rank)
#43: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Osamu Kido (9/6/85 UWF) (#42 in avg rank, #43 in point rank)
#58: Higo Hamaguchi/Isamu Teranishi/Mach Hayato vs El Cobarde/Herodes/Goro Tsurumi (3/26/81 IWE) (#57 in avg rank, #58 in point rank)

So, bonus points have a significant effect in the top 5 ranking but that’s really it. In future projects, it might be worthwhile to abandon bonus points for anything beyond the top five or top ten places.

The match most dramatically affected by the bonus points was Choshu/Tenyru. Only one voter gave this match a #1 spot on their list, yet 56% of voters listed it in the top 10. On a pure averaging basis, the match would be #1. However, with bonus points, since more voters strongly preferred the

II. DIVERGENT OPINIONS
The statistic “Span” represents the difference between the highest and lowest rankings for each match. The average span for the list was 64 places. Spread across all ballots, 75% of the matches were ranked in the top ten by at least one voter. Between all the voters, over 60% of all matches were ranked in the top five at least once.

Normally, one might assume that the matches in the top slots would have more consensus and less deviation than lower ranked matches. However, that is not the case. The matches in the top twenty slots had an enormous amount of deviation: an average span of 65 places and an average standard deviation of 16.0. (The average standard deviation for the list was 16.1).

In fact, one of the most interesting statistics of this list is that the standard deviation of the standard deviations is very low – only 2.3. In
HIGHEST STANDARD DEVIATIONS (i.e. greatest amount of divergent rankings among voters)
#47: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Osamu Kido (2/18/85 UWF) σ =21.7
#56: Pete Roberts/Akira Maeda vs Keith Hayward/Osamu Kido (12/5/84 UWF) σ =20.0
#25: Atsushi Onita vs Masashi Aoyagi (6/2/89 Ultimate Karate Ikki Kajiwara Memorial) σ =19.9
#57: Mighty Inoue/Higo Hamaguchi vs Spike Huber/Rocky Brewer (7/25/80 IWE) σ =19.3
#44: Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (10/22/84 UWF) σ =19.1

In particular, the Atsushi Onita/Aoyagi series really seemed to split voters. Those that preferred the FMW match ranked it (on average) 16 places higher than the Ultimate Karate encounter. Conversely, those that preferred the Ultimate Karate match only ranked it ten places higher than the FMW rematch.

Again, I submit that it would be a very interesting read to hear several commentators review these matches which high standard of deviations to explain what they liked/disliked about them so much. Obviously, different people found different things to laud and abhor in these same encounters!

Top 25 Matches in Chronological Order
07/23/84: #12. Super Tiger/Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda/Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/23/84 UWF)
09/07/84: #7. Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (9/7/84 UWF)
09/11/84: #20. Super Tiger vs Akira Maeda (9/11/84 UWF)
10/22/84: #17. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada (10/22/84 UWF)
12/05/84: #2. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (12/5/84 UWF)
01/07/85: #8. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (1/7/85 UWF)
02/21/85: #4. Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (2/21/85 JPW)
03/02/85: #16. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda (3/2/85 UWF)
07/17/85: #5. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (7/17/85 UWF)
09/06/85: #21. Super Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada (9/6/85 UWF)
09/11/85: #9. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (9/11/85 UWF)
09/11/85: #15. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (9/11/85 UWF)
05/12/88: #13. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (5/12/88 UWF)
08/13/88: #10. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (8/13/88 UWF)
11/10/88: #1. Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (11/10/88 UWF)
12/22/88: #3. Nobuhiko Takada vs Bob Backlund (12/22/88 UWF)
05/04/89: #23. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (5/4/89 UWF)
05/21/89: #22. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (5/21/89 UWF)
05/21/89: #24. Bob Backlund vs Masakatsu Funaki (5/21/89 UWF)
06/14/89: #25. Atsushi Onita vs Masashi Aoyagi (6/2/89 Ultimate Karate Ikki Kajiwara Memorial)
06/14/89: #19. Yoji Anjoh vs Masakatsu Funaki (6/14/89 UWF)
07/24/89: #6. Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano (7/24/89 UWF)
07/24/89: #11. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (7/24/89 UWF)
10/06/89: #14. Atsushi Onita vs Masashi Aoyagi (10/6/89 FMW)
10/25/89: #18. Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (10/25/89 UWF)
RANKING THE WRESTLERS
There are 60 different wrestlers spread over the 75 matches. However, only 16 people had 3 or more matches. I felt to compare wrestlers, it was only fair to group them into tiers by the number of matches they had, and then compare them on an equal basis of comparing the same number of matches for each wrestler in each tier. I calculated lengthy set of BEST OF... tables. For instance, the BEST OF THREE table lists all wrestlers that have three or more matches, and takes the average ranking of each wrestler's best three matches. Each wrestler is given a rank based on how their average ranks for that BEST OF list. Here are the results of my analysis.
TIER: MANY (10+ matches)
1. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (21 matches; 26.7 average) (a)
2. Nobuhiko Takada (16 matches; 24.8 average) (a)
3. Super Tiger (15 matches; 31.1 average)
4. Akira Maeda (17 matches; 33.0 average) (b)
5. Kazuo Yamazaki (14 matches; 32.2 average) (b)
6. Osamu Kido (10 matches; 56.7 average)

FOOTNOTES:
(a) While Takada’s overall average is better, when you compare on a the basis of the same number of matches, Fujiwara crushes him (Fujiwara best 16-match average is 19.2 versus Takada's higher average of 24.8). In fact, Fujiwara dominates in every BEST OF list from BEST OF THREE all the way to BEST OF SIXTEEN. He is an easy #1 pick.

(b) In a similar situation, Akira Maeda and Kazuo Yamazaki are neck-and-neck when you look at the BEST OF lists. Still, Maeda is better ranked on the BEST OF ONE to BEST of FOUR lists and again from BEST OF ELEVEN to BEST OF FOURTEEN.
TIER: SOME (3 to 5 matches)
1. Masakatsu Funaki (4 matches; 21.3 average)
2. Yoji Anjoh (5 matches; 39.6 average) (a)
3. Atsushi Onita (4 matches; 41.8 average) (a)
4. Minoru Suzuki (4 matches; 52.8 average)
5. Mighty Inoue (4 matches; 53.5 average)
6. Higo Hamaguchi (4 matches; 53.8 average)
7. Isamu Teranishi (3 matches; 54.0 average)
8. Carlos Plata & El Doberman (3 matches; 54.7 average)
10. Mach Hayato (3 matches; 58.7 average)

FOOTNOTES:
(a) Really, the only debate is whether to rank Yoji Anjoh or Atsushi Onita in the second place slot. Onita is better based on BEST OF ONE and BEST OF TWO lists. Anjoh is ranked higher on BEST OF THREE and BEST OF FOUR. In short, the Onita/Aoyagi feud may be better than any of Anjoh’s feuds, on the overall whole, Yoji has better consistency with his matches on the set.
TIER: FEW (2 matches)
1. Bob Backlund (2 matches; 13.5 average) (a)
2. Riki Choshu (2 matches; 17.0 average) (a)
3. Masahi Aoyagi (2 matches; 20.5 average) (a)
4. Marty Jones (2 matches; 40.5 average) (b)
5. Goro Tsurumi (2 matches; 56.5 average) (c)
6. Masami Soronaka (2 matches; 59.5 average)

FOOTNOTES:
(a) The only two people who have only a single match that might deserve a place on this list would be Genchiro Tenyru (one match ranked #4) and Tatsuo Nakano (one match ranked #6). I would consider putting them after Backlund & Choshu.

(b) One match only stars El Gran Hamada & Perro Aguayo (#27) and Hiro Saito/Kobayashi/Takano/Super Strong Machine/Yatsu (#30) could be ranked in front of Marty Jones.

(c) One match only stars Joe Malenko (#38) and Gerald Gourdeau (#40) could definitely ranked ahead of Tsurumi.
Best of RANKING Chart
NAME avg rank COUNT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 TIER
Yoshiaki Fujiwara 26.71 21 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 MANY
Nobuhiko Takada 24.81 16 1 1 1 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 MANY
Super Tiger 31.06 15 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 MANY
Akira Maeda 33 17 1 3 2 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 MANY
Kazuo Yamazaki 32.21 14 6 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 MANY
Osamu Kido 56.7 10 13 11 7 8 7 6 6 6 6 6 MANY
Masakatsu Funaki 21.25 4 5 5 4 5 SOME
Yoji Anjoh 39.6 5 8 9 5 6 6 SOME
Atsushi Onita 41.75 4 7 8 6 7 SOME
Minoru Suzuki 52.75 4 11 10 8 9 SOME
Mighty Inoue 53.5 4 15 13 9 10 SOME
Higo Hamaguchi 53.75 4 15 14 10 11 SOME
Isamu Teranishi 54 3 16 15 11 SOME
Carlos Plata 54.66 3 15 14 12 SOME
El Doberman 54.66 3 15 14 12 SOME
Mach Hayato 58.66 3 18 16 13 SOME
Bob Backlund 13.5 2 3 6 FEW
Riki Choshu 17 2 4 7 FEW
Masashi Aoyagi 20.5 2 7 8 FEW
Marty Jones 40.5 2 12 12 FEW
Goro Tsurumi 56.5 2 18 16 FEW
Masami Soronaka 59.5 2 22 17 FEW
Genichiro Tenryu 4 1 4 FEW
Tatsuo Nakano 6 1 5 FEW
El Gran Hamada 27 1 9 FEW
Perro Aguayo 27 1 9 FEW
Hiro Saito 30 1 10 FEW
Kuniaki Kobayashi 30 1 10 FEW
Shunji Takano 30 1 10 FEW
Super Strong Machine 30 1 10 FEW
Yoshiaki Yatsu 30 1 10 FEW
Joe Malenko 38 1 13 FEW
Gerard Gourdeau 40 1 14 FEW
Haruka Eigen 49 1 16 FEW
Shozo Kobayashi 49 1 16 FEW
Mitsuhiro Matsunaga 53 1 17 FEW
Tarzan Goto 53 1 17 FEW
Rocky Brewer 56 1 19 FEW
Spike Huber 56 1 19 FEW
Keith Hayward 57 1 20 FEW
Pete Roberts 57 1 20 FEW
El Cobarde 58 1 21 FEW
Herodes 58 1 21 FEW
Scott McGhee 59 1 22 FEW
Ryuma Go 62 1 23 FEW
Dick Murdoch 64 1 24 FEW
Jos LeDuc 64 1 24 FEW
Masanobu Kurisu 64 1 24 FEW
Johnny Barrett 65 1 25 FEW
Cuban Assassian 68 1 26 FEW
Phil Lafleur 68 1 26 FEW
Yuko Miyato 69 1 27 FEW
Killer Khan 71 1 28 FEW
Stan Hansen 71 1 28 FEW
Jack Snuka 72 1 29 FEW
Alexis Smirnoff 73 1 30 FEW
Rusher Kimura 73 1 30 FEW
Jimmy Backlund 74 1 31 FEW
Mitsuteru Tokuda 74 1 31 FEW
Chris Dolman 75 1 32 FEW
How to read this chart:
The top row indicates the number of matches you're comparing.
For instance, on BEST OF TEN MATCHES, Akira Maeda is ranked #5. However, on BEST OF TWO MATCHES, Maeda is ranked #3.

Best Performers by Year

1980: #1: Mighty Inoue – 4 matches (avg: 54.0, best two: 48.0)
#2: Higo Hamaguchi – 3 matches (avg: 52.7, best two: 50.5)
#3: Carlos Plata & El Doberman – 3 matches (avg: 54.7, best two: 50.5)
#4: Isamu Teranishi – 2 matches (avg: 52.5, best two: 52.5)
#5: Mach Hayato – 2 matches (avg: 59.0, best two: 59.0)

1981:
Only one match in 1981 – ranked #58. Higo Hamaguchi/Isamu Teranishi/Mach Hayato vs El Cobarde/Herodes/Goro Tsurumi (3/26/81 IWE)

1984:
#1: Yoshiaki Fujiwara – 4 matches (avg: 9.5, best three: 7.0)
#2: Super Tiger – 5 matches (avg: 22.0, best three: 7.0)
#3: Nohubiko Takada – 3 matches (avg: 19.0, best three: 19.0)
#4: Akira Maeda – 4 matches (avg: 33.0, best three: 25.3)
#5: Kazuo Yamazaki – 3 matches (avg: 48.0, best three: 48.0)

1985:
#1: Yoshiaki Fujiwara – 12 matches (avg: 30.9, best four: 9.5)
#2: Super Tiger – 10 matches (avg: 35.6, best four: 16.3)
#3: Kazuo Yamazaki – 4 matches (avg: 26.0, best four: 26.0)
#4: Nobuhiko Takada – 7 matches (avg: 37.4, best four: 26.5)
#5: Akira Maeda – 7 matches (avg: 41.6, best four: 30.3)

1986:
Only one match in 1986 – ranked #71 Killer Khan vs Stan Hansen (??/??/86 JPW)

1988:
#1: Nohuhiko Takada - 3 matches (avg: 14.0, best two: 2.0)
#2: Akira Maeda – 3 matches (avg: 18.0, best two: 7.0)
#3: Kazuo Yamazaki – 2 matches (avg: 11.5, best two: 11.5)

1989:
#1: Masakatsu Funaki – 4 matches (avg: 21.3, best three: 16.3)
#2: Yoshiaki Fujiwara – 5 matches (avg: 30.4, best three: 20.7)
#3: Kazuo Yamazaki – 3 matches (avg: 35.8, best three: 18.7)
#4: Nobuhiko Takada – 3 matches (avg: 22.7, best three: 22.7)
#5: Akira Maeda – 3 matches (avg: 27.3, best three: 27.3)
#6: Atsushi Onita – 4 matches (avg: 41.3, best three: 33.7)
#7 Yoji Anjoh – 5 matches (avg: 39.4, best three: 31.7)

I only included wrestlers that had multiple matches in each period. This punishes people such as Riki Choshu and Bob Backlund who had only a few matches on the set, but they were high ranking encounters. I looked at Best of rankings in each time period of several sizes. For instance, in 1989 Atsushi Onita has a poor best three, but a great best of two ranking. So I split the difference as to where to place him.
Ranking the Feuds
Throughout this set, there were many rematches (such as Fujiwara vs Super Tiger, Takada vs Yamazaki, Onita vs Aoyagi, IWE's Plata & Doberman tags...)
In this section, we'll examine which feuds seemed to produce the best series of matches. The Major UWF Players (six men)
* Yoshiaki Fujiwara (5 feuds; 20 matches & 1 tag)
* Akira Maeda (5 feuds; 17 matches)
* Super Tiger (5 feuds; 15 matches & 1 tag)
* Kazuo Yamazaki (3 feuds; 11 matches)
* Nobuhiko Takada (3 feuds; 10 matches)
* Osamu Kido (3 feuds; 9 matches & 2 tags)

The FEUDS:
Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki
Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada
Akira Maeda vs Osamu Kido
Akira Maeda vs Super Tiger
Akira Maeda vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Atsushi Onita vs Masahi Aoyagi
Carlos Plata & El Doberman vs THE WORLD
Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada
Kazuo Yamazaki vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Minoru Suzuki vs Yoji Anjoh
Nobuhiko Takada vs Super Tiger
Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Osamu Kido vs Super Tiger
Osamu Kido vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara

The Feuds by DetailAkira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki 4 matches, avg rank: 27.8
13. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (5/12/88 UWF)
22. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (5/21/89 UWF)
32. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (2/18/85 UWF)
44. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (10/22/84 UWF)

Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada 4 matches, avg rank: 22.8
1. Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (11/10/88 UWF)
12. Super Tiger/Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda/Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/23/84 UWF)
27. Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (1/10/89 UWF)
51. Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (5/25/85 UWF)

Akira Maeda vs Osamu Kido 3 matches, avg rank: 58.3
52. Osamu Kido vs Akira Maeda (1/29/85 UWF)
56. Pete Roberts/Akira Maeda vs Keith Hayward/Osamu Kido (12/5/84 UWF)
67. Osamu Kido vs Akira Maeda (7/21/85 UWF)

Akira Maeda vs Super Tiger 3 matches, avg rank: 23.3
12. Super Tiger/Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda/Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/23/84 UWF)
20. Super Tiger vs Akira Maeda (9/11/84 UWF)
38. Akira Maeda vs Super Tiger (1/7/85 UWF)

Akira Maeda vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara 3 matches, avg rank: 28.0
16. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda (3/2/85 UWF)
33. Akira Maeda vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (8/13/89 UWF)
35. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda (7/13/85 UWF)

Atsushi Onita vs Masahi Aoyagi 2 matches, avg rank: 19.5
14. Atsushi Onita vs Masashi Aoyagi (10/6/89 FMW)
25. Atsushi Onita vs Masashi Aoyagi (6/2/89 Ultimate Karate)

Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada 4 matches, avg rank: 19.0
10. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (8/13/88 UWF)
15. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (9/11/85 UWF)
23. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (5/4/89 UWF)
28. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (12/5/84 UWF)

Kazuo Yamazaki vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara 3 matches, avg rank: 22.7
8. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (1/7/85 UWF)
11. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (7/24/89 UWF)
49. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (8/29/85 UWF)

Minoru Suzuki vs Yoji Anjoh 2 matches, avg rank: 38.0
34. Yoji Anjoh vs Minoru Suzuki (10/25/89 UWF)
42. Yoji Anjoh vs Minoru Suzuki (4/14/89 UWF)

Nobuhiko Takada vs Super Tiger
21. Super Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada (9/6/85 UWF)
41. Super Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada (7/21/85 UWF)

Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara 4 matches, avg rank: 19.0
12. Super Tiger/Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda/Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/23/84 UWF)
17. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada (10/22/84 UWF)
18. Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (10/25/89 UWF)
29. Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/8/85 UWF)

Osamu Kido vs Super Tiger 3 matches (one tag together), avg rank: 58.3 (61.0 w/ tag)
39. Super Tiger/Joe Malenko vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Osamu Kido (5/25/85 UWF)
66. Osamu Kido vs Super Tiger (7/8/85 UWF)
69. Cuban Assassian/Phil Lafleur vs Super Tiger/Osamu Kido (10/22/84 UWF)
70. Super Tiger vs Osamu Kido (8/29/85 UWF)

Osamu Kido vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara 3 matches (one tag together), avg rank: 50.3 (47.5 w/ tag)
39. Super Tiger/Joe Malenko vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Osamu Kido (5/25/85 UWF)
43. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Osamu Kido (9/6/85 UWF)
47. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Osamu Kido (2/18/85 UWF)
61. Osamu Kido vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/25/85 UWF)

Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara 7 matches, avg rank: 14.9
2. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (12/5/84 UWF)
5. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (7/17/85 UWF)
7. Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (9/7/84 UWF)
9. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (9/11/85 UWF)
12. Super Tiger/Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda/Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/23/84 UWF)
30. Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (6/24/85 UWF)
39. Super Tiger/Joe Malenko vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Osamu Kido (5/25/85 UWF)

Carlos Plata & El Doberman vs THE WORLD 3 matches, avg rank: 54.7
46. Mighty Inoue/Higo Hamaguchi vs Carlos Plata/El Doberman (11/27/80 IWE)
55. Carlos Plata/El Doberman/Goro Tsurumi vs Higo Hamaguchi/Isamu Teranishi/Mach Hayato (11/22/80 IWE)
63. Carlos Plata/El Doberman vs Mighty Inoue/Mach Hayato (11/1/80 IWE)
Ranking the Feuds!
FEUD NAME Notes Stats
1. TIGER VS FUJIWARA 2 matches in top 5; 5 matches in top 15 14.9 (7 matches)
2. YAMAZAKI VS TAKADA 4 matches in top 30 19.0 (4 matches)
3. ONITA VS AOYGAI 2 matches in top 30 19.5 (2 matches)
4. YAMAZAKI VS FUJIWARA 2 matches in top 15 22.7 (4 matches)
5. MAEDA VS TAKADA 3 matches in top 25 22.8 (4 matches)
6. MAEDA VS SUPER TIGER 2 matches in top 25 23.3 (3 matches)
7. TAKADA VS FUJIWARA 4 matches in top 30 25.3 (4 matches)
8. MAEDA VS FUJIWARA 3 matches in top 35 28.0 (3 matches)
9. MAEDA VS YAMAZAKI 3 matches in top 35 27.8 (4 matches)
10. TAKADA VS SUPER TIGER 1 match in top20 31.0 (2 matches)
11. SUZUKI VS ANJOH 2 matches in top 45 38.0 (2 matches)
12. FUJIWARA VS KIDO 3 matches in top 50 50.3 (3 matches)
13. PLATA/DOBERMAN VS WORLD IWE; One match in top 50 54.7 (3 matches)
14. TIGER VS KIDO One match in top 40 58.3 (3 matches)
15. MAEDA VS KIDO #52 is highest in feud 58.3 (3 matches)
FIVE NOTEWORTHY SHOWS
1. 7/24/89 UWF
2. 9/11/85 UWF
3. 12/5/84 UWF
4. 5/21/89 UWF
5. 1/7/85 UWF

HONORABLE MENTION
8/13/88 UWF, 10/25/89 UWF, 3/2/85 UWF, 5/4/89 UWF, 10/22/84 UWF, 9/6/85 UWF

NUMBER ONE: 7/24/89 UWF
#6 Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano (7/24/89 UWF)
#11 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (7/24/89 UWF)

NUMBER TWO: 9/11/85 UWF
#9 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (9/11/85 UWF)
#15 Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (9/11/85 UWF)

NUMBER THREE: 12/5/84 UWF
#2 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (12/5/84 UWF)
#28 Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (12/5/84 UWF)
#56 Pete Roberts/Akira Maeda vs Keith Hayward/Osamu Kido (12/5/84 UWF)
#59 Masami Soronaka vs Scott McGhee (12/5/84 UWF)

NUMBER FOUR: 5/21/89 UWF
#22 Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (5/21/89 UWF)
#24 Bob Backlund vs Masakatsu Funaki (5/21/89 UWF)
#54 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Yoji Anjoh (5/21/89 UWF)

NUMBER FIVE: 1/7/85 UWF
#8 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (1/7/85 UWF)
#38 Akira Maeda vs Super Tiger (1/7/85 UWF)

HONORABLE MENTION

8/13/88 UWF
#10 Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (8/13/88 UWF)
#40 Akira Maeda vs Gerard Gourdeau (8/13/88 UWF)

10/25/89 UWF
#18 Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (10/25/89 UWF)
#34 Yoji Anjoh vs Minoru Suzuki (10/25/89 UWF)

3/2/85 UWF
#16 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda (3/2/85 UWF)
#37 Super Tiger vs Marty Jones (3/2/85 UWF)
#60 Nobuhiko Takada vs Masami Soronaka (3/2/85 UWF)

5/4/89 UWF
#23 Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (5/4/89 UWF)
#36 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Masakatsu Funaki (5/4/89 UWF)
#68 Yuko Miyato vs Minoru Suzuki (5/4/89 UWF)

10/22/84 UWF
#17 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada (10/22/84 UWF)
#44 Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (10/22/84 UWF)
#69 Cuban Assassian/Phil Lafleur vs Super Tiger/Osamu Kido (10/22/84 UWF)

9/6/85 UWF
#21 Super Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada (9/6/85 UWF)
#43 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Osamu Kido (9/6/85 UWF)

4 MATCHES
12/5/84 UWF (avg: 36.3; high #2 Fujiwara/Super Tiger)

3 MATCHES
10/22/84 UWF (avg 43.3; high: #17 Fujiwara/Takada)
2/18/85 UWF (avg 41.3; high: #32 Maeda/Yamazaki)
3/2/85 UWF (avg 37.7; high: #16 Fujiwara/Maeda)
5/4/89 UWF (avg 42.3; high: #23 Yamazaki/Takada)
5/21/89 UWF (avg 33.3; high #22 Maeda/Yamazaki)

2 MATCHES
11/22/80 IWE (avg 64.0; high #55 Plata/Doberman/Tsurumi vs Hamaguchi/Teranishi/Hayato)
9/11/84 UWF (avg 46.0; high #20 Super Tiger/Maeda)
1/7/85 UWF (avg 23.0; high #8 Fujiwara/Yamazaki)
5/25/85 UWF (avg 45.0; high #39 Super Tiger/Malenkov s Fujiwara/Kido)
7/8/85 UWF (avg 47.5; high #29 Takada/Fujiwara)
7/21/85 UWF (avg 54.0; high #41 Super Tiger/Takada)
8/29/85 UWF (avg 59.5; high #49 Fujiwara/Yamazaki)
9/6/85 UWF (avg 32.0; high #21 Super Tiger/Takada)
9/11/85 UWF (avg 12.0; high #9 Fujiwara/Super Tiger, #15 Yamazaki/Takada)
8/13/88 UWF (avg 25.0; high #10 Yamazaki/Takada)
7/24/89 UWF (avg 8.5; high #6 Funaki/Nakano, #11 Fujiwara/Yamazaki)
8/13/89 UWF (avg 40.5; high #33 Maeda/Fujiwara)
10/6/89 FMW (avg 44.0; high #14 Onita/Aoyagi)
10/25/89 UWF (avg 26.0; high #18 Takada/Fujiwara)
12/4/89 FMW (avg 58.5; high: #53 Goto/Matsunaga)
Ranking the Promotions

The promotions that were on this set were:

UWF (1984-1985) 37 matches; average 37.24 rank
UWF (1988-1989) 22 matches; average 30.55 rank
IWE (1980-1981) 7 matches; average 57.43 rank
FMW (1989) 4 matches; average 51.25 rank
JPW (1985-1986) 3 matches; average 35.33 rank
UKIKM (1989) 1 match; rank 25
Pioneer (1989) 1 match; rank 62
(Combining non-UWF promotions = 16 matches, average 50.00 rank)

The only promotion(s) worth splitting into individual years is UWF.
1984 UWF 12 matches; average 34.33 rank
1985 UWF 25 matches; average 38.64 rank
1988 UWF 5 matches; average 13.40 rank
1989 UWF 17 matches; average 35.59 rank

BEST OF.. EACH PROMOTION

BEST THREE
The best three matches of UWF 1988 averaged 4.7 (#1, #3, #10)
The best three matches of UWF 1984 averaged 7.0 (#2, #7, #12)
The best three matches of UWF 1985 averaged 7.3 (#5, #8, #9)
The best three matches of UWF 1989 averaged 11.7 (#6, #11, #18)
The best three matches of non-UWF averaged 14.3 (#4 JPW, #14 FMW, #25 UKIKM)

BEST FIVE
The best five matches of UWF 1985 averaged 10.6 (#5, #8, #9, #15, #16)
The best five matches of UWF 1984 averaged 11.6 (#2, #7, #12, #17, #20)
The best five matches of UWF 1988 averaged 13.4 (#1, #3, #10, #13, #40)
The best five matches of UWF 1989 averaged 15.2 (#6, #11, #18, #19, #22)
The best five matches of non-UWF averaged 24.0 (#4 JPW, #14 FMW, #25 UKIKM, #31 JPW, #46 IWE)

BEST TEN
The best ten matches of UWF 1985 averaged 20.0
The best ten matches of UWF 1989 averaged 21.7
The best ten matches of UWF 1984 averaged 27.1
The best ten matches of non-UWF averaged 39.3

BEST TWELVE
The best 12 matches of UWF 1985 averaged 22.9
The best 12 matches of UWF 1989 averaged 24.6
The best 12 matches of UWF 1984 averaged 34.3
The best 12 matches of non-UWF averaged 43.2
The PROMOTION Rankings
1. UWF 1985
2. UWF 1984
3. UWF 1989
4. UWF 1988
5. non-UWF (JPW, FMW, UKIKM, IWE, Pioneer)

Ranking the UWF federations is difficult. Clearly, UWF 1985 stands out on the Best of Five through Best of 12 lists. It’s harder to judge UWF 1984 because it leads on BEST OF THREE & BEST OF FIVE but trails on BEST OF TEN and BEST OF TWELVE lists. It’s also tough to judge UWF 1988 because of it’s scant listing. However, seeing that it only is third on the BEST OF FIVE list, it’s really hard to give it a higher ranking. In the end, it’s really going to matter whether you’re looking at the years with the best five matches (1984 & 1985) or the best ten matches (1985 & 1989). I think the correct answer is whatever has the most Fujiwara on it!

MATCHES & RANKING BY EACH YEAR
1980: 6 matches; average 57.33 rank (IWE)
1981: 1 match; 58.00 rank (IWE)
1982: 0 matches
1983: 0 matches
1984: 12 matches; average 34.33 rank (UWF)
1985: 27 matches; average 37.07 rank (JPW, UWF)
1986: 1 match; 71 rank (JPW)
1987: 0 matches
1988: 5 matches; average 13.4 rank (UWF)
1989: 23 matches; average 39.00 rank (UWF, FMW, Pioneer, UKIKM)
Acknowledgements & Credits
I have done the best I can with the data and attempted to keep all the information correct, credible and consistent. However, due to at least one late ballot, some of my calculations may be based on 65 ballots instead of 66. The initial results table with points is correct. Anyone finding mistakes or inconsistencies is encouraged to email me so that I can correct this webpage.

Process: A set of DVDs was sent to voters as well as put online. After watching all the matches, each voter would send their ballots to DVDVR's Phil who would forward it to me. I would check that the ballot was valid (75 unique matches, all given a unique rank) and enter it into my spreadsheet. If there was a problem, I would contact the voter and in all cases I was able to get a clarification.

I would like to especially thank my wife Alissa, Phil and the rest of the DVDVR staff, my cohorts at Indeed Wrestling Weekly (Ray Rhodes, TC Watts, Biff Cheddarhead), all the voters and BK.
Be sure to check my write-up for DVDVR's BEST OF THE 1980s WWF Voting Results and DVDVR'S BEST OF THE 1980s MIDSOUTH Voting Results.

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