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Bart Vale is considered to be one of the few Americans to be on the ground floor of the Japan MMA explosion.
Bart Vale takes us through his time with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) which include a famous confrontation with Ken Shamrock.
BIG thank you to William Colosimo who helped us with understanding a time period that is largely undocumented.
A true hybrid fighter, Vale built his reputation in the brutal rings of Japan during the early '90s, competing under the legendary Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi promotion. Known for blending professional wrestling theatrics with legitimate catch wrestling and submission grappling, Vale was one of the first Americans to train and fight under this intense hybrid style.
Bart later fought in Japan’s shootfighting scene and became one of the earliest U.S. athletes to publicly promote the “mixed martial arts” term even before the UFC exploded onto the scene.
With a career that saw him share space with icons like Ken Shamrock and Masakatsu Funaki, Vale’s story is an important part of the foundation for the MMA world we know today.
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HEY NOW
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when they mentioned barts ko of shamrock during his WCC intro, i thought it was a real fight
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Defintley checking this it, thanks!
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People always seem to gloss over the fact that Kenny was an established carny/worker completely immersed in pro wrestling business/culture before he ever did anything shoot-related.
Here’s “Vince Torelli” taking on future wwf superstar Tatanka in 1989
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In.
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It’s kind of a blurry mix IMO. He started getting in a lot of street fights, and also did some amateur wrestling. He then started doing what he called “squatting”–fighting for $ in unorganized events. He started doing American pro-wrestling, and right around that time he did some toughman type events. Then he went to All-Japan for a month. Then he kept doing American pro-wrestling. Then started the Gotch style grappling when joining the newborn UWF. Then did a couple UWF matches, they folded, then he went right to PWFG to continue the Gotch style wrestling. Soon after this he seems to have stopped the American pro-wrestling. Then by the end of 1991 he had his first proto-MMA match vs Kazuo “Yoshiki” Takahashi (in PWFG).
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The character Rex from Napoleon Dynamite was based upon Bart Vale.
Not a lot of people know that.
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Kayfabe
The undertaker is actually a dead guy too lol
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I’ve been excited for this one ever since it was announced!
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Bart is going to claim that the PWFG was 100% shoot.
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Good fun fact
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Bart Vale was a local TMA toughguy with questionable technical ability…and an even more questionable record.
Some of his magazine instructional were hilariously ridiculous.
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Okay, you dont know what youre talking about. thats cool lol.
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Frank dux won the kumite too
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I think he unfairly gets thrown in the same bracket as guys like Dux and Ashida Kim. Unlike them he actually was pretty tough and could scrap a bit. Not an elite fighter by any means but not a total fraud and fantasist either.
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Youz Guys Are Awesome
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