On Monday, February 15th, the National Wrestling Alliance [NWA] and the Japan based Universal Fighting-arts Organization [UFO] announced that they have reached an agreement which calls for the two organizations to work together in both the U.S. and Japan.
One of the purposes of the relationship according to Inoki is to honor the late Shohei "Giant" Baba by restoring the value and prestige of the NWA World Title which Baba held on three separate occasions. With that Inoki is not only dedicating the March 14th show to his former friend and long time promotional
rival, but he is promising to deliver the NWA tile back to the Japanese fans with the same prominence "as when Baba held the title." "Dan Severn is a great martial artist and an extremely strong wrestler who deserves to be called world champion," Inoki said following the announcement of the partnership Monday afternoon, " yet, he is severely underrated by the U.S. media. By matching Severn against top UFO fighters such as Naoya Ogawa and Don Frye, we can restore the value of the NWA title in honor of my friend, Giant Baba."
Whoever wins the match between Dan Severn and Naoya Ogawa, is inconseqeuntial, because the NWA is the real winner here. This is a huge step in the rebuilding process. By aligning the NWA with a legend like Inoki, and also the UFO group, which believes in a traditional or "strong" wrestling style like the NWA does, is a giant leap forward toward once again becomming a global power. Another positive aspect of this NWA-UFO relationship is the possible participation of UFO fighters on future NWA events in the U.S. and Canada. A deciding factor was that, although the exact fighting styles are somewhat different, both UFO and NWA pride itself on tradition, thus fans can expect to ee some exciting matches in the upcoming months between UFO and NWA
wrestlers.
This partnership will definitely ensure the livlihood and the potential for the NWA to once again become a competitor with the big two, while still holding ties to the independent circuit. Because without the support of the independent circuit and it's wrestlers, the NWA would cease to be.
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