he fought in a pair of publicized matches. The first of them was controversial, as Takada ended the bout in 1:15 when Backlund fell to a body kick, and it almost caused a riot in the stadium; it is believed that it was an accidental KO instead of a pre-planned match. They held a rematch after two months, with Takada winning by submission after 15 minutes. Immediately after his affair with Backlund, Takada was put in a fight against boxing champion Trevor Berbick. The nature of the bout as a worked match or a shoot fight is unknown. Early in the match, after receiving some low kicks from Takada to his left leg, Berbick immediately protested, believing that kicking under the waist was illegal. Although the referee seemed to clear the situation, it happened again and Berbick protested every time Takada landed a low kick; at the end, when Takada scored a head kick, Berbick left the ring and walked out of the arena. According to UWFI trainer Pat McCarthy, "no rules were ever changed. [Berbick] just never wanted to listen." The win increased Takada's popularity. Takada also had feuds with Gary Albright and Super Vader. In 1992, Takada was awarded an old NWA World Heavyweight title belt by Lou Thesz after defeating Albright, and was proclaimed the "Pro-Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion". He defended the title until Thesz withdrew the belt in 1995, losing the title once to Super Vader. On December 5, 1993, he defeated Super Vader before 46,168 fans at Tokyo's Meiji-Jingu Stadium. As champion, Takada fought against Kōji Kitao at the October 23, 1992, UWFI event. However, discussions over the outcome of the match were difficult, which led to a draw. During the match, Takada shot on Kitao, throwing a roundhouse kick which legitimately knocked him out. Like the Berbick situation, it improved Takada's reputation with the audience. In 1995, Takada returned to NJPW as the key figure in the landmark New Japan vs. UWFI program. On October 9, 1995, Takada's match against Mutoh drew 67,000 fans to the Tokyo Dome, drawing the largest crowd and gate in Japanese wrestling history at the time. Three months later, Takada defeated Mutoh in a rematch to capture the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, becoming the only wrestler to hold all three major New Japan titles at the time. Takada dropped the title to Shinya Hashimoto on April 29, 1996, drawing a