Opposing Forces - Kawajiri vs. Aoki: 2007

This is the 2nd part of Opposing Forces series, which takes a look at the ups and downs of Kawajiri and Aoki's career from 2006 to 2010 and the build-up to their long awaited bout which culminates at DREAM.15. If you haven't read the 1st part, I would obviously suggest doing it right here.

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Prologue

If 2006 was equivalent to the Giving Tree, what was 2007? Was it Where the Sidewalk Ends?

2006 had proven to be a triumphant success for both Kawajiri and Aoki. Both men had gathered impressive wins and turned them into belts and were Kings of their SHOOTO weight classes. They both began to climb up the rankings and swung their way into relevance and devoured their opposition in the process. They went a combined 10W-1L in 2006 alone. They put on great performances and the fans were happy.

But scandal had broken simultaneous to their rise and some of the repercussions were still too far ahead to gauge. The, then, present was still relatively unknown. Shukan Gendai's exposure of PRIDE's Yakuza links began to slowly chip away and unveil PRIDE for what it was. FUJI TV now canceled their TV deal and Japanese sponsors did not want to have associations with a "tainted" company. No man, or Fishman for that matter, could stop the bleeding. One thing was for sure. This was not where the sidewalk ended. This was the death of PRIDE.

2 individuals fighting careers began to look uncertain.

A Friendly Disclaimer

One of the most gripping elements of Fernando Meirelles cinematic masterpiece Cidade de Deus (City of God) is the directors ability to tell simultaneous and interwoven stories and have them the eventually fit perfectly like a completed puzzle, while still flowing in complete order and not confusing any viewers. I am not Fernando Meirelles.

Like in City of God, to tell the full story, a lot of background is needed to give you the full picture. I'm saying all of this because Kawajiri and Aoki won't necessarily be playing the lead roles in this "chapter". PRIDE's death eclipsed everything in 2007 and I feel it's extremely relevant and necessary to recap it's demise since it would shape the future of the sport.

It does, after all, say marquee on the wrestling. So if it seems like I've falsely advertised their appearance, I sincerely apologize. But to quote the narrator and protagonist of the film, Buscape, "I'll come back to them later."

The State of PRIDE in Late 2006, Early 2007

The state of the UFC in late 2006, early 2007 was optimistic and positive. They had just come off a stellar UFC 66 which boasted a groundbreaking 1,000,000 PPV buys. Truly unheard of numbers in MMA at the time. 2 of PRIDE's bigger stars, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, had defected to the Zuffa side. Also, they were successfully creating new stars to help bolster their roster.

And PRIDE? Well they were on life support and fading quick. So like any dealer, they were watching for the card that is so high and wild they'll never need to deal another. (I got my 1 mandatory Cohen reference out of the way.) In late 2006 they wanted a piece of the UFC pie and brought PRIDE to the U.S.. Too little, too late?

The move did seem logical since there was not a whole lot to lose at this point. PRIDE did have an incredibly loyal fan base in U.S. of people who had always wanted to see a PRIDE event live but didn't have the means to travel to Japan. Problem was that it cost a lot of money to transport staff and equipment from Japan to the US. Equally as important was the fact that if it was an MMA PPV, and didn't have UFC followed by a number, then it would most likely be doomed to a low buy rate.

PRIDE 32, their 1st U.S. outing on October 2006, boasted a stellar 150,000 PPV Buys! An enormous success! Well... according to Mr. Sakakibara. The REAL number was about 50,000 according to Dave Meltzer. When in doubt, listen to Dave. For PRIDE fans, this was a bitter pill to swallow. 2007 looked even more bleak for PRIDE. The one conclusion people safely drew was that it would take a miracle for PRIDE to regain all that it had lost.

Enter Fishman.

Who is Ed Fishman? Fishman is this weird blip in the history of PRIDE. Personally, I don't ever remember him ever coming up until about early 2007. He wasn't there, than all of a sudden he appears to shortly disappear. Fishman was a casino executive and PRIDE USA President who was one of the people in line to scoop up PRIDE after it was clear that Sakakibara would be selling.

He looked poised to be the one who could potentially give PRIDE a lifeline. During his "candidacy" he made bold statements towards ZUFFA like trying to goad them to a 40 Million dollar challenge in which PRIDE and UFC fighters would compete against each other. 5 out of 8. 1st one to 5 wins gets the 40 Million dollar prize. Things obviously didn't end up in his favor and he ended up suing DSE (Dream Stage Entertainment) after the sold the company to some one else.

February 24, 2007

Even though Kawajiri and Aoki were 2 of the most exciting fighters in PRIDE, both were left off the PRIDE 33: The Second Coming show. Kawajiri's absence was excusable since he had just gone to war with Melendez a few weeks earlier but Aoki should've been on. Maybe they thought the American audience wasn't ready for Aoki? But if you look on the bright side they did have Tommy Lee helping promote their show. Yes, THE Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe.

I won't delve too much on this show since neither Kawajiri and Aoki were present but if you ask me, I honestly believe this was the day that PRIDE really died. It had nothing to do with TV deals, magazines or Yakuza. It was mere results.

Kazuo Misaki, the PRIDE Welterweight GP Champion, was thoroughly dominated by a then irrelevant Frank Trigg, Takanori Gomi gassed and was humiliated by Nick Diaz, and more importantly Wanderlei Silva had been brutally knocked out by Dan Henderson. 3 PRIDE Champions were defeated in 1 night by people who really had no business in the ring with them. All of this bad news is sandwiched between the fact that PRIDE 33 was one of the best shows ever. Cruel.

Sakakibara's face in the post-fight was more stoic than usual and had a hint of insecurity in it. This show was one of the 4 PRIDE shows that were going to take place in the United States in 2007. It looked like plans would change overnight. Within 1 month, PRIDE was sold to ZUFFA.

April 8, 2007

Only 1 of the 2 men would see action. Aoki was tapped to fight at PRIDE 34 on what was dubbed "The final show under Dream Stage Entertainment". They were under the impression that the newly formed PRIDE Worldwide group would just take over where they left off. Boy, were they wrong. If you watch the credits of PRIDE 34 all the way until the end there's actually a message that reads "SEE YOU. PRIDE Lightweight GP 2007 May 20 @ Saitama Super Arena."  They were so confident that things would continue, they kept their booking at SSA and began advertising a GP that would never come to fruition.

It was symbolic that Aoki, the last "star" PRIDE created, would be invited to fight in the Press Conference that night. I, mean, show. PRIDE 34 was essentially a farewell Press Conference that featured some fights. But Aoki still delivered. He drew Brian Lo-A-Njoe and quickly dispatched of him. Aoki easily got the biggest crowd reaction out of all of the fighters on the show. It really didn't matter who he fought, the people really loved to see Aoki. I'd dare to say that he had now even passed Kawajiri with the fans. He too advised fans to stay tuned for the Lightweight GP.

The show ended with Sakakibara being tossed in the air by fighters in the ring. Though it was sad to see Sakakibara leave, fighters could take solace in the fact that PRIDE had not died but was being taken over and could thrive. Or not. Dana White and co pulled the plug shortly after and Aoki and Kawajiri were out of luck.

The Long and Winding Road - May to December 30, 2007

As an admitted PRIDE uber-fanatic, it was completely unfathomable that PRIDE died so quickly and there was nothing left to fill the void. Technically HERO'S was an alternative but it wasn't even close. HERO'S was nowhere in the same ballpark as PRIDE, nowhere in the same league. It wasn't even the same sport. I didn't want HERO'S. I wanted PRIDE or anything like it.Time needed to hurry up and just get to a point to where I can enjoy high quality MMA again.

If I was desperate to watch MMA than I'm sure that the desperation for the former PRIDE fighters wasn't a fun experience. PRIDE had tons of fighters "under contract" but they were all seemingly frozen since they were waiting for things to eventually pan out. Days to weeks to months and absolutely nothing. It was their job to fight and they couldn't. I'm sure this had to be a scary time for those effected by this seemingly never ending transitional period. No fights meant no work. Aoki and Kawajiri would have to wait 8 months and 1 whole year, respectively, to return to the ring.

Even in a year of complete chaos and turmoil, how could you not have a year-end show? Yarennoka! was born. With 2008 finally getting here there was not reason to not DREAM big.