Anthony Henry discusses bringing back the spirit of Japanese shoot wrestling to the United States

Before there was the UFC and modern state of mixed martial arts, there was Japanese shoot wrestling. Promotions like the original UWF, Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi, and RINGS helped set the stage for MMA and provided the beginnings of some of the sport’s early stars like Masakatsu Funaki, Minoru Suzuki, Kazushi Sakuraba and Ken Shamrock.

Looking to build off the recent mass of MMA and pro wrestling crossover, Paradigm Pro Wrestling is reaching back into the pasts of both sports when it holds its upcoming Fighting Spirit Heavyweight Grand Prix event on Friday, which will feature a tournament contested under the rules of Nobuhiko Takada’s Japanese shoot promotion UWFi.

Among those participating in the Grand Prix, alongside former UFC fighter Stephan Bonnar, is Anthony Henry. A former mixed martial artist himself, and current EVOLVE pro wrestling standout, Henry spoke to MMAWeekly about his involvement in Paradigm’s UWFi rules event and bringing back the spirit of Japanese shoot wrestling to the United States.

MMAWeekly.com: Firstly, Anthony, tell us how you got involved with Paradigm Pro Wrestling’s upcoming Fighting Spirit Heavyweight Grand Prix show and what made you want to participate.

Anthony Henry: When I first learned about the event, I re-tweeted it and gave my “raise my hand” emoji at them, and from there they hit me up and I said I was good to go and wanted to be part of it.

As far as that style goes, I’m a fan of a lot of wrestling, I watch a whole lot of wrestling, probably too much for the average person, so the UWFi or even in general the shoot style is kind of a style that I like a lot and have watched a lot of, so I thought it was really cool idea.

It’s a little bit different than the stuff that raised in popularity recently like Bloodsport which is pretty much knockout/submission rules, with the UWFi having it a little bit different with points, takedowns, suplexes and the rope breaks and that stuff. I thought it was cool and different, and something cool to be a part of.

MMAWeekly.com: Do you think it will be difficult adapting a modern pro wrestling style to the Japanese shoot style from the 90’s?

Anthony Henry: For me it’s easy because I come from a background where I was a legitimate fighter. For me it’s less stressful and is easier because I don’t have to worry about talking to anybody that much, really. It’s more just kind of going with the flow and feel out there, so for me it’s easier.

I’m sure for some who are not maybe accustomed to that style, who are more traditional professional wrestler, it might be a little bit of a change of pace for them.

MMAWeekly.com: Tell us a bit about your fighting background and how that interplays with your pro wrestling career.

This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com

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