May 8, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWF Backlash review, Sakuraba defeats Gracie, tons more
Mark Coleman was the big winner but Kazushi Sakuraba came out as the big hero in the highest profile MMA show in history on 5/1 at the Tokyo Dome.
Coleman defeated Akira Shoji, got what amounted to a forfeit win over New Japan’s Kazuyuki Fujita and became the first man in nearly five years to tap out Igor Vovchanchin, who went into the tournament as the top rated heavyweight in the world, before 38,000 fans (ticket prices ranged from $950 for ringside down to $57 for the upper deck so the gate was several million dollars). In doing so, Coleman became the only man who can truly have a legitimate claim to being the toughest all-around fighter on the planet and the first Pride world heavyweight champion, scoring a rare double since he was also a former UFC champion.
Sakuraba, a Japanese pro wrestler who started with the old UWFI promotion, went into the martial arts history books, gaining an untainted victory over Royce Gracie, who had never lost in MMA fighting and captured three of the first four UFC tournaments in 1993 and 1994 establishing himself as the pioneer and first legend of the sport.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.