Worst in the World: Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8

(Special thanks to Frost for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.)

When it comes to Inoki-ism, just when I think I'm out, they pull me right back in. "They" being New Japan, of course. For those who aren't aware, "Inoki-ism" refers to Antonio Inoki's insistence on incorporating mixed martial arts into the world of professional wrestling. This would include having New Japan wrestlers participate in MMA fights, such as Yuji Nagata getting his head kicked off by Mirko Cro Cop.

I know I mention that fight pretty much every time I bring up Inoki-ism, but I can't stress enough how batshit insane it is to have someone take on one of the greatest heavyweights in the sport's history. Just a wild idea. However, Inoki-ism also gave us MMA fighters entering the ring and competing in New Japan and being pushed to the moon.

The early 2000s saw Bob Sapp pick up a win over Kensuke Sasaki in just his fourth singles match to become IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Sapp would even defeat a young Shinsuke Nakamura before dropping the title to Kazuyuki Fujita, a former New Japan wrestler who put his in-ring career on hold in 2000 to train in MMA and, after a stint fighting in Pride F.C., had returned to become a main eventer. However, Fujita and Sapp never had a match for the title. They did face off...in K-1, an MMA company. After Fujita beat Sapp, New Japan striped Sapp of the belt and booked Fujita to win the vacant title. Just to clarify, Bob Sapp lost the championship not by being beat in the ring, but by losing an unrelated MMA fight. Based on the fact that Wrestle Kingdom 15 wasn't main evented by someone like Daniel Cormier, Inoki-ism did nothing but hurt New Japan, and by 2005, the concept's namesake was gone from the company, and New Japan never tried it again..until they did.

Fast forward to 2014, and New Japan now resembles what it does now; the premier wrestling company in the world in regards to in-ring action. Guys like Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, and Shinsuke Nakamura are in the main event, Kota Ibushi & Tetsuya Naito are on the rise, and the Bullet Club isn't even a year old at this point, with Prince Devitt leading the group. It was a truly great time to be a wrestling fan. And yet, shoved into the middle of Wrestle Kingdom 8, Inoki-ism lives with this match; Kazushi Sakuraba & Yugi Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie. While you might not know Daniel or Rolles, the name "Gracie" is one any MMA fan would know. The Gracie family is easily the most famous in the history of mixed martial arts. The best known would be Royce Gracie, who won the first two UFC tournaments (back when UFC operated under the tournament format) and the family also features the undefeated Rickson Gracie, and the 14-7-1 Renzo Gracie. Rolles, the son of Rolls Gracie, and Daniel, the cousin of Renzo, might not have had as much success in MMA as some of their family members, but they did enough to get the attention of New Japan. And based on Rolles' abysmal 1.29 rating on Cagematch.net, they should've just stayed in the cage.

The Gracies would debut in New Japan in October 2013, immediately making a challenge for Wrestle Kingdom 8 that was answered by Kazushi Sakuraba & Yugi Nagata. While these Gracies were brand new to pro-wrestling, their family is no stranger to Sakuraba, a wrestler-turned-MMA fighter who holds victories four victories over a Gracie in the sport, including handing Royce his first career loss and Renzo his second, and earned the nickname "The Gracie Hunter/Killer." And to round out the Wrestling-MMA mix, we've got Yugi Nagata...

Let's see why the Gracies' pro-wrestling careers lasted just six matches.

The Gracies are out in full Brazillian jiu-jitsu gear, complete with gis, black belts, and no boots. Rolles and Sakuraba start off with the feeling out process. This immediately showcases why wrestling in a gi is not a great choice, as it constantly comes undone and Rolles has to fix it.

Sakuraba takes control with a waistlock, but Rolles quickly counters it with a standing arm triangle choke, which Sakuraba escapes with a rope break. More feeling out before Rolles takes down Sakuraba and locks in a triangle choke. Sakuraba is able to escape, prompting Rolles to take Antonio Inoki's approach in his fight with Muhammed Ali; lay on his back. Sakuraba kicks away at a prone Rolles before Rolles locks in a heel hook, which is quickly broken up by Nagata. I may be off on this but...I don't Rolles understood pro-wrestling. The common consensus on Cagematch seems to be that Rolles had zero psychology and that's dead on. He's constantly going for the finish, which works in BJJ and MMA because you're actively trying to win, but not in something like wrestling, which is a scripted environment used to tell a story. Granted, that legitimacy is a cool addition for wrestling, but storytelling is super important as well. There's no build to these submissions like wrestling needs to be exciting, they just happen.

Nagata & Daniel tag in with, with Daniel taking control with a takedown followed by a key lock. Nagata manages to reverse it into a arm triangle choke, but Daniel gets a rope break to break the hold. Back on their feet, Nagata takes control with a judo throw into an armbar. The two battle for position on the mat, with Nagata keeping control with a choke until Daniel gets a rope break. Nagata lays into Daniel with stiff kicks and a slap to the face that lights up the crowd. The two trade shoves (of which Daniel's are significantly softer than Nagata's) before Daniel locks in a sleeper, which Nagata quickly breaks with a rope break.

Rolles tags back in and lays into Nagata with clubs before kneeing him in the corner. Daniel tags in for knees of his own, but Nagata is able to regain control. Nagata fights for an armbar, but Daniel blocks it and successfully locks in one of his own, only for Sakuraba to quickly break it up with a head stomp. Rolles tags back in, where Nagata hits a forearm and a stiff kick that floors him before tagging in Sakuraba. Sakuraba runs wild on Rolles, striking him into the corner before taking him down with a fireman's carry takeover and going for an armbar. Rolles blocks the attempt and gets a rope break. Sakuraba goes for the arm again, but Rolles deadlifts him and carries him back to his corner for Daniel to tag in. Rolles keeps Sakuraba in a full nelson as Daniel lays into him with knees. I'll admit, I liked that spot.

Daniel suplexes Sakuraba and keeps a headlock hold, but Sakuraba takes control and starts overhead chopping him from the mount. Nagata tags back in and the two kick away at Daniel. Daniel manages to block the final kick from Nagata and puts him in a headlock, but Nagata turns it into a big side suplex for the first near fall of the match. Nagata locks in the armbar as Sakuraba holds off Rolles, but Daniel gets his foot on the ropes to break the hold. As Sakuraba & Rolles brawl on the outside, Nagata goes for another side suplex, but Daniel counters it with a judo throw and begins choking Nagata with his gi. The referee calls for the bell as the Gracie's celebrate, but the referee actually disqualified them, giving the win to Sakuraba & Nagata. After the match, the two sides cut promos. Considering how Sakuraba & Nagata speak Japanese and the Gracies speak Portuguese (or Spanish, I'm not sure), I don't know exactly what their saying, but based on the fact that these teams rematched at The New Beginning in Osaka the next month, I'm guessing it was a challenge.

The Verdict

It's far from the worst thing I've ever seen. Yes, Rolles definitely doesn't understand psychology, and while he's not as bad as his teammate, Daniel isn't anything to write home about. That being said, it's really not that bad. Unlike with Sting vs Tony Palmore, there are actual things happening. However, when the match is on the same card as Tanahashi vs Nakamura, Ibushi vs Devitt, and Okada vs Naito, then "not that good" looks a lot worse by comparison. I guess the negative one-star Dave Meltzer gave this match (which he referred to as "kind of an atrocity") is more by New Japan standards, but in terms of just wrestling in general, I'm wouldn't rate it that poorly.

Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
2. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
3. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
4. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
5. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
6. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
7. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
8. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
9. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
10. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
11. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
12. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
13. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
14. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
15. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
16. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
17. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
18. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
19. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
20. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
21. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
22. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
23. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
24. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
25. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
26. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
27. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
28. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
29. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
30. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
31. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
32. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
33. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
34. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
35. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
36. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
37. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
38. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
39. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
40. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
41. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
42. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
43. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
44. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
45. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
46. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
47. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
48. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
49. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
50. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
51. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
52. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
53. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
54. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
55. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
56. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
57. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
58. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
59. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
60. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
61. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
62. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
63. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
64. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
65. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
66. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
67. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
68. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
69. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
70. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
71. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
72. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
73. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
74. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
75. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
76. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
77. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
78. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
79. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
80. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
81. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
82. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
83. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
84. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
85. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
86. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
87. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
88. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
89. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
90. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
91. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
92.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
93. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
94. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
95. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
96. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
97. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
98. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
99. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
100. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
101. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
102. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
103. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
104. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
105. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
106. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
107. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
108. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
109. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
110. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
111. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
112. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37
113. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
114. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
115. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
116. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
117. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
118. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-RAW (7/8/2002)
119. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
120. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
121. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
122. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
123. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
124. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
125. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
126. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
127. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
128. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
129. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
130. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
131. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
132. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
133. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
134. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
135. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
136. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
137. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
138. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
139. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
140. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
141. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
142. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
143. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
144. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
145. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
146. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
147. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
148. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
149. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
150. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
151. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
152. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
153. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
154. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Next time, I take a look at a match from WrestleMania Backlash. Like with WrestleMania 37, you know exactly which one. Until then...