superkix

Five years later, 1994 is in the books. Here are the highlights: Kazuo Yamazaki vs Yoji Anjo (2/25/94) What a joy to watch these two dick each other around. Yamazaki sets the stage by attacking Anjo in the corner, and Anjo immediately being the king shit he is by taunting Yamazaki. Whatever negative stigma Anjo has, he's one slick cat on the mat when it comes to turning a strike into a takedown and transitioning into holds. At one point, he takes Yamazaki down into a dope armtrap face crank, which Yamazaki is able to escape out into a single leg crab hold. Of course, Yamazaki is no slouch - I loved his standing facewash to set up the leglock early in the match. But in the end, Anjo takes it by destroying the ankle with a short legwhip and then tapping him with the knee bar. Very good back-and-forth contest. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Masahito Kakihara (2/25/94) This is what you paid for - two of the feistiest going at it on the mat, supplemented with Slappy Kaki's signature slapfests and Tamura landing a few hard kicks to stun Kaki. They really worked and fought for every hold and counter. It really would've been an interesting sight had Kakihara followed Tamura to RINGS, as he's got the agility, strikes and colorful trunks to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Yamamoto, Naruse, TK, etc. After playing a little chess on the ground, Kaki's able to snag a toe hold to send Tamura scrambling. He tries to follow up with a dropkick and misses, which allows Tamura the opportunity to kick him in the head. Tamura's able to avoid the armbar and the spinning heel kick, popping Kaki with face and head kicks in response, but a heel hook takes Tamura to the ropes and the knee bar does the trick as Kaki comes away with the big win. Great stuff! Victor Zangiev vs Yoji Anjo (4/3/94) Essentially a five-minute Zangiev showcase, which is a good thing. From the takedowns to the suplexes, to the counters and reversals, the fans are loving every minute of it. I mean, he blocks Anjo's takedown attempt and then just shoves him down - so good. I liked the finish, too, which plays to Anjo's wiliness and how he's able to catch Zangiev in a mistake, trap the arm, and submit him. This was fun! Dan Severn vs Masahito Kakihara (4/3/94) Now we're talking. Probably the best match of the show, made only better by Kakihara's underdog performance. Loved the initial suplex spot, with Severn fighting for it and Kakihara's facials as he's trying to avoid it. Severn's got the weight advantage and he uses that to his...advantage...whereas Kaki's got the speed and he's able to slip out when he finds an opening. Severn has some cool throws, including a gutwrench, and Kaki's kicks are on point. Dan keeps trying to kill Kaki with a modified STF but Kaki's able to escape each attempt, trying to cut out Dan's legs to set up the kneebar. His roll through ankle pick was very dope, and leads to the kneebar finish and the big win for Kakihara. Good stuff! Nobuhiko Takada vs Kazuo Yamazaki (4/3/94) Classic match-up and a motivated Takada...yeah, this was good stuff. Takada comes at him with some knees but Yamazaki snaps him over with a German suplex...and then, of course, Takada pops right back up and they go to town on the legs, countering, re-countering, reversing, undoing, until finally, Yamazaki has to grab the ropes in order to stop the senior UWF prom. Takada does a good job of blocking the roll through armbar but yeah, on a whole, super solid counterwork from both guys – definitely one of Takada’s stronger performances as Yamazaki puts Takada through the wringer. Yamazaki doesn't hold back with the kicks toward the end but Takada takes it with the armbar, as expected. Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Yuko Miyato (4/3/94) This was fun. Miyato's feisty, Takayama is brutish. I loved Miyato’s armwhip counter to Takayama’s opening flurry and he throws some mean slaps late in the match, while Takayama’s high knees and high bridging German are awesome. Takayama tries to choke Miyato out with the rear sleeper but Miyato uses the judo throw counter into the neck crank for the submission. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Naoki Sano (5/6/94) I liked this a lot. I dig the jockeying for position, considering the speed with which both guys work. Everything is just so fluid. I thought Tamura did a really good job of establishing Sano as a threat on the ground. But Tamura's slippery. Loved Tamura ducking the kick and kipping back up to his feet. Sano's able to hit the German suplex but it spells his demise, as Tamura grabs onto the double wristlock and never lets go, which leads to a dramatic finish. Great stuff. Kazushi Sakuraba & Masahito Kakihara vs. Gene Lydick & Steve Nelson (6/10/94) Relatively unknown American grapplers Lydick and Nelson come into this match with a cool dynamic of Lydick being the suplex machine and while Nelson still busts out the occasional suplex, he works more of a ground game, forcing both Sakuraba and Kakihara to the ropes multiple times. Kakihara and Sakuraba are the aggressive stand-up strikers here but can be equally as dangerous on the mat. Early on, Kakihara gets control of Lydick’s arm, stuns him with a smack, then transitions to a leglock and Lydick freaks out, pounding away at Kakihara in an attempt to break out. Sakuraba’s kicks appear to be Steve Nelson’s kryptonite – he comes in, his legs get peppered with kicks, and he tags out. Enough is enough. After Lydick overhead suplexes Sakuraba, he cranks on a heel hold and Sakuraba equally freaks, which leads to an awesomely heated scramble around the canvas. The finish ruled, as Sakuraba gets dumped straight on his noggin by Nelson’s overhead suplex before Lydick comes in with a belly-to-belly, scooping him up with an awesome deadlift German suplex for the KO win. Very good stuff. Salman Hashimikov & Victor Zangiev vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Yoji Anjo (6/10/94) UWFi tags are clunky but this had some pretty great moments, especially the stuff between Anjo and Zagiev, with Anjo trying to be sly and Zangiev realizing that, and responding accordingly. He demonstrates this a little later on when Anjo's trying to roll out of holds and Zagiev rolls right with him to keep him pinned down. Hashimikov doesn't have the finesse of Zangiev but he's good kick fodder for Yamazaki and Anjo. At one point, he does use a shoot-style Sharpshooter...of sorts. But Zangiev is the major attraction here and his kip up escape is a real crowd pleaser. I like that Yamazaki countered his rolling takedowns with a rear choke sleeper, and then later, Yamazaki trying to sneak in the German on the ropes was great. Anjo being a dick to Hashimikov in the ropes and then Zangiev in the corner is why Anjo is so good in these matches. Zangiev using the rolling cattle mutilation into the wakigatame was a dope finish. Fun stuff. Vader vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (6/10/94) Tamura, confident in his ways, slaps Vader before the bell because...well, that's just what you do to the monsters in your life, right? Tamura's strategy is an obvious one: take Vader down at the kneecaps. Kick kick kick until he crumbles. Vader's able to catch him with a few shots but then Tamura lets loose a series of slaps and high kicks. For a big dude, Vader's selling is terrific here, as Tamura hacks him down and puts him in a kneebar. Vader struggles to find his mark as Tamura continues kicking, again using that kneebar to take Vader to the ropes. In the end, however, Vader's able to club him down, slam him, and hit the big powerbomb for the TKO victory. As I said before, it's the classic shoot-style David vs. Goliath and it rules. Gene Lydick & Billy Scott vs. Masahito Kakihara & Kazushi Sakuraba (8/18/94) Similar dynamic to the Lydick/Nelson tag but with more of a mad scramble of takedowns and reversals, looking for an opening to the upper hand. As I mentioned on the podcast, I’m a sucker for the suplex>submission combo, like Scott with the overhead suplex>kimura and Sakuraba with the German suplex>neck crank. This time around, Lydick is a little more prepared for Kakihara’s usual whirlwind of slaps and catches him with an overhead suplex, trying to follow that up with a heel hook, which sends Kaki scrambling for the ropes. I love the way Lydick just grabs his opponent and figures out a way to suplex them while they're trying to squirm out. Kakihara, however, finishes strong, overwhelming Scott with his flurried attack and tapping him with the single leg crab. Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Tatsuo Nakano (8/18/94) This had that old-school UWF feel to it, as both guys were methodical and prideful, and extra snappy with their strikes. Nakano catching the high kick early on was a cool moment, which led to some nasty knees from Yamazaki and some dirty open hands by Nakano. The slower moments of the match were there but it paid off with the finish. Loved the fact that Kazuo escapes the rolling German attempt by throwing himself through the ropes. Great finish, too, with Yamazaki blocking the snap suplex with authority, enziguri'ing the kick counter, and grabbing onto the calf hold for the submission. Good stuff! Gary Albright vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (8/18/94) This has to be one of Gary's best singles performances in UWFi but it helps when your dance partner is Kiyoshi Tamura. Despite Tamura's presence, this still had some slower moments but Gary was definitely trying more on the mat than he has before. And the drama really bubbled to the finish. All of the suplex teases were well done, and Tamura's close calls with the armbars added tons to this. I mean, it's over 10 minutes before Gary hits his first suplex. Loved Tamura's enziguri counter, and him consistently slipping through Albright's fingers as he tries to set him up for the dragon suplex. One of my favorite parts of the match is when Gary nonchalantly slaps Tamura while he's got him on the ground, and Tamura responds with fire and sends Gary to the ropes. But that only pisses off Gary, who hits the belly-to-belly to set up another dragon suplex attempt, which Tamura is able to block...but not before Gary hits the back-to-back Germans to finish him off. Vader vs. Nobuhiko Takada (8/18/94) Easily, the best match of the trilogy and clearly Vader returns a little more well-versed in the shoot stylings. Much more aggressive with his strikes, with the big forearms and knees, and a better use of his power to keep Takada off his feet, not snapping off kicks. Takada's strategy is the same as before: chop the beast down and submit with the jujigatame. Sometimes he'll even throw Vader with a suplex but the end goal is the same. Vader doesn't stay down though and keeps popping him with shots. Loved when Takada finally levels him with kicks and goes for the armbar and Vader counters with a brutal palm thrust to the face. Also Vader grabbing him mid-strike to ragdoll him with the German suplex. Awesome. The fans are behind Takada but his comebacks aren't enough, and finally, Vader drops him with the deadlift powerbomb and continues the assault until Takada can't make the 10 count. Great match. Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (10/8/94) Considering the amount of punishment both guys dulled out for 15 of the 20 minutes, I thought they kept up the intensity for the duration. Sure, Takayama slowed down and was obviously struggling to do anything on the mat but the matwork was secondary. The stand-up portions were the obvious highlights -- some very brutal strikes thrown by both guys but Kanehara's high kicks looked really terrific here, especially given Takayama's height. And some of his reflex shots - yowzers. Takayama gets busted open but dishes it back out with the big knees and catcher's mitt slaps. Kanehara struggling for the armbar added a little drama on the ground but it never had the space to develop into anything substantial. This was literally an extended "who can hit harder?" contest, and yeah, it ruled. Tons of fire. Kiyoshi Tamura & Dan Severn vs. Yoji Anjo & Steve Nelson (10/8/94) Probably the third best match of an otherwise disappointing night, with a hot opening exchange between Tamura and Anjo. Tamura's armbar counter out of nowhere was slick as hell but Anjo is quick to re-counter. The stuff between Anjo and Severn was also entertaining, as it seemed like Anjo wanted nothing to do with him. But that led to some stiff work from Anjo, both on the ground and standing up, where he popped Severn's nose like a tick with an open palm strike. Loved the moment where they both nearly tumble out of the ring, getting tied up in the ropes. Nelson didn't do much at all except get suplexed by Severn and struggle on the mat. Severn basically chokeslamming him to set up the single leg crab was a big highlight. Tamura taps out Nelson with the choke, despite Nelson's best efforts to counter out. Good stuff from three of the four involved. Vader & John Tenta vs. Gary Albright & Kazuo Yamazaki (10/8/94) Albright saying "FUCK YEAH" before the bell is always a good way to start the match. The fans are stoked for Albright/Vader but are disappointed when Tenta stays in there and boy does he stink. Completely clueless to the style and mostly just lays there and no sells Yamazaki's kicks. But when Vader gets the tag, at least we get Vader launching Yamazaki with a German suplex and they have a pretty great strike exchange with Vader clubbing and Yamazaki firing off headkicks. The Vader/Albright exchanges is what everybody wanted and for the most part, they deliver. Albright isn't even that great of a wrestler but he throws dope suplexes and that's enough. Him dumping Vader with a big ass German was great before he finally submits him with the armbar. I think I preferred the rematch slightly more than this. Victor Zangiev & Tatsuo Nakano vs. Yoji Anjo & Yuko Miyato (10/14/94) Boy, I forgot just how much I missed Nakano and his mullet and little mustard and pudginess - in fact, Miyato hurts his own leg trying to kick Nakano's pudge. Anjo, with that shitty face of his, is spry and Zangiev is his usual dope hairy self, with some great throws, escapes, and exchanges with Anjo in particular. Nakano pops Anjo with some nasty knees but, of course, it wouldn't be a Tatsuo Nakano match without him busting his nose open. There are a couple of sick suplexes in this, like Miyato's backdrop suplex and Zangiev's German that totally annihilates Anjo. Zangiev does his swanky rolling double arm hold to set up the reverse armbar for the submission but I'm pretty sure that suplex knocked Anjo loopy. Pretty fun tag! Nobuhiko Takada vs. Naoki Sano (10/14/94) Sano, ever the bridesmaid, had a lot of really good moments in this match, getting his flurries in but also making Takada work on the ground. At some point on the mat, Takada gets busted open and that sparks his anger, as he gets back on the offensive and rockets Sano with a head kick. I thought the groundwork felt really personal in a way - not subdued, like a lot of Takada's opponents, as Sano wasn't holding back. The crowd seems to think Takada is in danger, bloodied and struggling to break out of holds. He does a good job of selling the struggle and of course, we know the outcome but Sano fights the entire way there. By the end, they're both zapped and Sano is just trying to squeeze out an upset, at one point snagging the armbar and making Takada scramble. But in the end, Takada takes it with the submission in kind of a fizzle of a finish. Good stuff for the most part! Vader & John Tenta vs. Gary Albright & Kazuo Yamazaki (10/14/94) This time Vader & Tenta jump them to start and a microsecond of crowd brawling before it settles into Yamazaki and Vader, which is a much better start than Albright/Tenta because Yamazaki immediately starts cracking legs with kicks. Vader sells big for him here but he finally clobbers his way back and drops him with a German, which Yamazaki subsequently sells really well. Again, Tenta stinks in there, just no selling everything and almost falling down trying to throw sumo slaps. He does use a crab hold, so there's that. The Vader/Albright interactions are, of course, the main attraction and Albright dumps Vader with Germans until he gets woozy. Yamazaki and Vader close it out and Yamazaki goes back to attacking the leg to set up the kneebar. That doesn't work and Vader ends up KO'ing him with a powerbomb. On par with the first match, though I slightly prefer this more based on the Yamazaki/Vader exchanges and Tenta not being in there as much. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Dan Severn (11/30/94) Severn foregoes the handshake (foreshadowing things to come) and he really just tries to his his size to his advantage to grab Tamura, throw him, and smother him on the mat, looking for a loose limb to snag for a submission. Unfortunately for Dan, Tamura never really seems in danger as he's always able to grab a rope before things escalate. Then Tamura starts in with the leg kicks, to which Dan does an incredible job of selling. Tamura catches him in the lip with a lightning-quick palm strike that leaves Dan bloodied, and from there on, he's fully in the driver's seat, taking the lumberjack approach to finally chop Severn down for the TKO finish. A bit one sided but Dan really sold it here, and I liked it quite a bit. Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Masahito Kakihara (11/30/94) Re-watched this match and it was a lot better the second time around, once you get past the largely middling groundwork. Kakihara being extra slappy here was great as always, and while the stuff on the mat wasn't the most exciting, the crowd was invested throughout. While Yamazaki tries to slow Kaki down, there is a great spot where he gives Kaki a taste of his own medicine with a burst of slaps and kicks in the corner. At one point, he cracks Kakihara in the armpit with a kick. He coolly ducks a spinning wheelkick in the corner and Kaki's German counter into one of his own was so seamless. In the end, however, Yamazaki hits back-to-back Germans before casually falling back with the cross armbreaker for the win. Nothing top tier but a solid match regardless.

Severn foregoes the handshake (foreshadowing things to come) and he really just tries to his his size to his advantage to grab Tamura, throw him, and smother him on the mat, looking for a loose limb to snag for a submission. Unfortunately for Dan, Tamura never really seems in danger as he's always able to grab a rope before things escalate. Then Tamura starts in with the leg kicks, to which Dan does an incredible job of selling. Tamura catches him in the lip with a lightning-quick palm strike that leaves Dan bloodied, and from there on, he's fully in the driver's seat, taking the lumberjack approach to finally chop Severn down for the TKO finish. A bit one sided but Dan really sold it here, and I liked it quite a bit.

Again, another perfectly solid match-up but not much more than that. This really benefited from the strike exchanges peppered throughout, as they really lit into each other. There were lulls as well but they didn't take away too much from the match and they always managed to turn the volume back up. Big German from Takayama and a strong submission finish from Sato. Pretty good stuff.

Nothing memorable but not a bad match per se. Scott doesn't bring much to the table but he's competent enough to string together a match. Nakano, of course, was the highlight, especially as he channels his shittiness with the grinding forearms and micro punches to the head while he's got Billy in a headlock. Later, he no sells a German suplex to blast Billy in the face with a kick. He also hits a dragon suplex hold, which he can't utilize for the pin but I'm still a sucker for a good dragon suplex hold. Nakano should've won this so the finish fell a bit flat for me, as he unsuccessfully fights out of a hold and taps to Billy.

Another perfectly solid match. There's a sloppiness to it that is in no way a detraction from the match quality but rather adds to it, as they scramble all over the place for position until Kanehara starts pulling out the submission holds. He's more proficient on the mat than Anjo but overall, it's still a good competitive back-and-forth match with a good finish, as Kanehara struggles to break free only to succumb to Anjo's submission.

Pretty solid match-up with some good, competitive tradeoffs, compelling matwork with some slick counters, and some hard strikes, including Miyato annihilating Sakuraba with that rolling solebutt to the midsection. The crowd was really into it and I like the build to the sharpshooter, which they ate up. At one point, Sakuraba tries for a German suplex and when that doesn't work, he drops Miyato with a rear naked choke. The match loses some steam heading into the finishing stretch and Miyato ultimately wins via submission but the pros outweight the cons, and this was perfectly solid.

Yamamoto's second match but nowhere near as fun as his debut against Sakuraba. Burton sucks, and while the opening and finish were kind of fun, Burton is clueless on the mat and sloppy. I did like the powerbomb into the single leg crab finish but aside from that, forgettable match. Skip.

I liked Takada trying to stay near the ropes to avoid getting suplexed, which only aggravates Albright, who demands him to get into the middle of the ring. The crowd really wants to see Takada get suplexed and they do a good job of milking it but the pay off is never there, and instead, we get a lot of boring stuff on the mat and Albright winning out of nowhere with an armbar. Not very good.

Sano, ever the bridesmaid, had a lot of really good moments in this match, getting his flurries in but also making Takada work on the ground. At some point on the mat, Takada gets busted open and that sparks his anger, as he gets back on the offensive and rockets Sano with a head kick. I thought the groundwork felt really personal in a way - not subdued, like a lot of Takada's opponents, as Sano wasn't holding back. The crowd seems to think Takada is in danger, bloodied and struggling to break out of holds. He does a good job of selling the struggle and of course, we know the outcome but Sano fights the entire way there. By the end, they're both zapped and Sano is just trying to squeeze out an upset, at one point snagging the armbar and making Takada scramble. But in the end, Takada takes it with the submission in kind of a fizzle of a finish. Good stuff for the most part!

Lydick with the dope tracksuit and Nelson looking as American as an apple pie from McDonalds - primetime 1994, baby! I wish Lydick would've done more with his pro-wrestling career because he has the look and the skill but alas, we can always watch him try to break Nelson's neck because he's here to throw suplexes. Of course, Tamura is the man and I love his nonplussed demeanor here. Kakihara is all over the place and Tamura couldn't care less because he knows exactly when to strike. At one point, Kakihara tries for a big kick and Tamura casually sweeps the opposite leg out from under him. Their exchanges are the real highlight in an otherwise whatever match, as things never really get to the next level. After Lydick dumps Nelson with a German, he brings Tamura in to seal the submission deal. Nothing special but some cool moments.

Boy, I forgot just how much I missed Nakano and his mullet and little mustard and pudginess - in fact, Miyato hurts his own leg trying to kick Nakano's pudge. Anjo, with that shitty face of his, is spry and Zangiev is his usual dope hairy self, with some great throws, escapes, and exchanges with Anjo in particular. Nakano pops Anjo with some nasty knees but, of course, it wouldn't be a Tatsuo Nakano match without him busting his nose open. There are a couple of sick suplexes in this, like Miyato's backdrop suplex and Zangiev's German that totally annihilates Anjo. Zangiev does his swanky rolling double arm hold to set up the reverse armbar for the submission but I'm pretty sure that suplex knocked Anjo loopy. Pretty fun tag!

What looked like it might have been a heated little match-up with Takayama getting up in Dan's mustachioed face pre-match turned into just an okay match with some throws by Severn and Takayama laying in the kicks and knee combos. Dan hits a weird swinging neckbreaker-type takedown and after a couple of cool suplexes, he tapes Takayama with a pretty sick looking modified STF. Needed some more spunk to take it to the next level but a decent enough five minute match.

This is Berkovich's final UWFi appearance (probably pro-wrestling in general) and he's mostly a kicking bag for Kanehara through much of the match. Kanehara's kicks look great but ultimately, the every awkward Berkovich gets a couple of cool throws and taps Kanehara with the arm before riding off into the sunset like a wet fart. Meh.

Welp, I'm back at it after a 5+ year hiatus because I realized I still had to finish out 1994. And what better way to jump back in then with Kenichi Yamamoto's pro-wrestling debut against Sakuraba a little over a year after his own debut. He definitely looks the veteran here, no longer throwing himself wildly at his opponent but instead, keeping his cool...until young pup Yamamoto tries to slap his way out of a leg lock, to which Sakuraba promptly lets him know whose ring he's in, giving him plenty of shots to the head. The takedowns to the mat are clumsy at times but then Sakuraba will fire off a beautiful belly-to-back suplex and force Yamamoto crawling to the ropes to escape a heel hold. The rookie gets a few counters and takedowns himself, including a belly-to-belly, and tries to submit with the crab hold but he's lit up and running on empty and ultimately taps out. A good enough debut against Sakuraba, who is starting to get comfortable in his groove.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to go on hiatus for a bit. Things are a little too hectic for me to devote time to this right now, I apologize.