Kiyoshi Tamura vs Billy Scott (04/19) - Lots of tumbling here 😁 I think they agreed on no strikes to the head or body. Billy is a great explosive wrestler like Tamura but his striking is really good too. I think this rule or facet to the match took something away from what makes him entertaining. Tamura is his usual speedy slippery self. One one hand it's fast and realistic in its urgency. On the other hand, a good shot to the face usually slows a guy down so why not do that? I LIKED IT nonetheless.

Naoki Sano vs Kenichi Yamamoto (05/27) - This a weird match as it's fought under some hybrid rules like BattlARTS or something 😀 There's pins but they're not actually working towards them. There's pro moves at times but they are extremely stiff. Yeah this is neat and something mentioned on DVDVR back in the day. It's short, violent and weird. I LIKED IT!
Tatsuo Nakano vs Koki Kitahara (05/27) - Yes! yes! Take your pretty Katsuyori Shibata, I'll take fatty Nakano & Kitahara any god damn day! Two pudgy prize fighters punishing each others fat faces with straight knees and headbutts. News flash a real headbutt hits the guy in the fucking nose & mouth with the thick cranium and breaks his face with your skull..not to knock heads together and give yourself brain damage. Anyhow, Nakano does a real "shoot" head butt to Kitahara and busts the bridge of his nose open. Does he go easy on him? Nah..he knees him in the face some more. LOVED IT!!!
Yoji Anjo vs Naoki Sano (06/26) - BattlARTS match again... maybe those guys were ahead of the curve - Technically oriented, hard hitting "pro wrestling" but no points system. You know its probably what UWF v.1 was doing. Anyhow, this was all of those things. Anjo jumped Sano before the bell. However, Sano rallied and was beating the crap outta Anjo. Anjo was bleeding. They played up the drama here in a more traditional manner. This was a bigger version of Sano's match with Yamamoto. Your mileage may vary on the outcome but I LOVED THIS.
Toshiaki Kawada vs Yoshihiro Takayama (09/11) - A really good novelty match with big implications for AJPW booking. These two would go on to have better encounters but this laid the groundwork. Again more UWF v.1 than UWFi shoot style. And that is the vibe of UWFi here in 1996. It's not necessarily the same wrestling it has been from '91-'95. It seems everyone wrestles like Tamura (I started to watch Scott vs Kakihara and it lacked both guys' personality and felt like Tamura vs Tamura) OR they wrestle a UWF/BattlARTS/NJ 86-87 style. That's difficult to adjust to once I've gotten to like what I have been watching. I suppose they were trying to do whatever would draw them business. I don't dislike the more pro oriented style. I like it but it doesn't work for me right next to the more authentic shoot style wrestling. Which is real & which isn't? I don't want to ask that question while watching the same promotion. These hybrid matches need to actually be watched separately from the rest of the promotion's output. This seems like a good place to end with UWFi.
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UWFi closes up shop in 1996 but RINGS is getting better as it goes. This might be the largest batch of RINGS matches reviewed.
Mitsuya Nagai vs. Mikhail Ilioukhine (RINGS, 3/25/96) - I liked the slams Mikhail was doing and Nagai's stand up was fine. There's just too little of it. This is felt like the same confrontation every time. Throw a kick, grab it, slam, exhibition submission wrestling, half hearted rope break. This felt like a throw back and a step back to what RINGS was doing. IT'S OK 
Dick Vrij vs Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS 6-29-96) - This was good but over too soon. Vrij was really laying into Tamura. His strikes were pretty on point. Those knees to the face were wicked. Dick doesn't really wrestle and so it was cut and dry on the mat. Unfortunately, they didn't milk the drama with multiple knockdowns. It really actually kinda ended with a moment that was kind of realistic. Like "yeah you should end things asap." IT'S OK. Hopefully I didn't speak too soon about the promotion.
Masayuki Naruse vs. Todor Todorov (RINGS, 6/29/96) - Exciting stuff! Really spirited stand up fighting. The mat stuff was good but not overly complex. In honesty, it was a good addition to the striking. It broke that portion up. And I really dug the suplexes/slams also. A very well rounded bout. It could have gone on a few more minutes as these guys had great chemistry. I LOVED THIS ONE
Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 6/29/96) - OK now I'm getting to see what others have said about Han. It's probably because Nagai is higher in rank/experience now. Additionally, RINGS is a bit quicker and closer to a shoot. We get the speed and we get better strikes as time moves on in RINGS. There was a specific wrestling exchange where it really looked like Volk was progressing through holds organically. He went for one joint lock which opened up a stretch which opened up another hold. Prior to '95, it sometimes looked like he kind of just would pick around for a free limb as if not bothered by the opposition or if he were in a leg lock. Maybe that's what he wanted to convey but that style didn't work for me. THIS worked for me. This version of Nagai worked for me too. He drilled Han a few times and was no slouch on the canvas. LOVED IT
Masayuki Naruse vs Egan Inoue (RINGS 8-24-96) - Oh shoot! Was this a shoot? Off the chart intensity and realism. Even the grounded stalemate and different guards led me to think if this wasn't a shoot, it certainly wasn't as sportsman-like as many other matches. The stalemate on the ground as led me to believe this. Seeing as you're not allowed grounded strikes, they both were evenly matched and I'm sure someone would find an opening, the ref wisely stood them back up. The "story" of the match is that Inoue kept getting hit in the eye. They seemed to show respect to one another during the match but after the second hit in the eye, that's out the window. Finish may be a work, may be a shoot but LOVED THIS ONE
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 9/25/96) - What an absolute battle! Nagai's throwing strikes like he should every match. TK has got to struggle for everything. He is a wizard on the ground. But he's not a push over fighting from his feet as well. But what makes this special is the speed & intensity. This felt like a shoot. RINGS finally is doing what UWFi was doing in this regard. Now they also seem to have a deeper roster as well. They are offering fresh matches and as history shows, they have their best years ahead of them while UWFi was closing its doors. LOVED THIS
Volk Han vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 10/25/96) - Really good stuff! I'm really digging Naruse and his evolution. He can hang with Han. This starts out excellently but does get into the Han slowing things down to "grab an extra limb to make a human pretzel" which everyone else seems to enjoy. What I do like here is that Naruse is able to escape from many holds or at least get to the ropes. Han is a great pro wrestler though, I have no doubt. Seeing as he's been doing it for 5 years and once a month, he's a quick study. Case in point, him making the concerted effort to drag Naruse into the middle of the ring...much like an animal bringing its prey back to its den. Another great moment is when Volk Han loses his cool. Naruse excels at being the spunky under dog and selling that to the fans. This is definitely where he exceeds Mitsuya Nagai. Anyhow, great, smart finish on top of a great match. LOVED IT
Masayuki Naruse vs Dick Vrij (11/22/96) - Equally quick match as the Tamura one at the start of this section BUT I think they built the tension much better. I think they showed Dick was vulnerable on the mat but very dangerous in stand-up. Naruse was more well rounded and could end it anywhere. This did feel like a wrestling match in terms of drama and the strike exchanges and whatnot. I LIKED IT
RINGS is still carrying the shoot style banner. They have definitely picked it up where UWFi left it. I think it's a safe generalization that UWFI 1991-94 & RINGS 1996 and afterwards are the best periods. You can look to where Tamura was wrestling as a general guide, I guess. I'm going to end my sampling here for now. I really enjoyed the project. I definitely feel better informed. This is entertaining stuff but nothing can replace more traditional pro wrestling for me. It's a nice diversion. I think that's how I will look at it in terms of my blog going forward. I know I missed a lot of the classic stuff...even when using my own parameters. But that was the point, in a way. I wanted to see if the style itself could appeal to me. Thankfully it does but it comes and goes. There were days where I watched almost a half dozen matches. Other times, it felt like a chore to get through one match. It all depends AND my views don't necessarily mesh with others' views. There were more than a few recommended matches that I thought were OK or above average at best. Then there were other bouts that I loved but I didn't hear much of anything on from other folks. If you're interested in UWFi & RINGS then use my posts as a guide. Use others reviews as guides too. Ultimately, you're going to have to see what you like & what you don't. You'll have to do your own shoot style sampling 🙂