superkix

Not much else to add here. Backlund's little rush in the corner with forearms and backdrop was cool.

At this point in the tournament, matches begin to bleed together and I still think I preferred Goto/Ishii to this but this was lot of dumb fun. There were lots of cool suplexes and Ibushi punching Ishii in the throat a bunch.

This was probably too long but it had some cool moments and it seems like Scott is improving in the shoot-style environment. He delivers a neat uranage early on and then later, he and Nakano trade German suplexes. Yamazaki and Takada had some decent strike exchanges and at one point, Yamazaki drops Scott with a very cool leg-trap Saito suplex. The groundwork was mostly filler and no one tries to break up the holds, which is why the BattlArts tags were so much fun. No one could keep a hold locked on long enough before someone ran in and punted them in the face.

Matches are one of the following: - bad - okay - good - great - flawless

A fun enough debut for Albright, who established the suplexes as weapons early on. Anjoh pisses off Albright with low kicks and Albright takes him over with a belly-to-belly. When he tries for the full nelson, Anjoh counters with the reverse armbar takedown. There's plenty of Anjoh being a real shithead here, between him kicking the arm on the mat, hanging onto the ropes to avoid Albright and wavering on the apron. Loved Anjoh’s flipover entry to the rear naked choke. Albirght fires off another suplex and finally snaps him over with the dragon suplex for the KO victory.

Solid opener. Miyato is spunky, which I can appreciate, and Tamura is Tamura, which I do appreciate. Good control by Tamura on the ground as always, with plenty of rolling around the mat. Tamura has one of the best go behinds in pro-wrestling. Miyato tries for the double wristlock but Tamura quickly takes control of the situation and gets an armbar to send Miyato to the ropes. Nice uranage throw by Miyato and he lands some pretty good kicks, downing Tamura with a knee to the midsection at one point. Tamura gets that Fujiwara-style armscissors and there's a real slick counter to Miyato's reverse armbar. Tamura finally slams him down and gets the neckcrank for the win.

This had some cool moments. The exchanges between Tamura/Anjoh and later on, Takada/Anjoh, were really great. Boss is this generic 1980's-looking jobber who doesn't really do much in there. Really liked the opening scramble between Tamura and Anjoh, and their interactions only get more heated and aggressive as the match progresses, with chokes and head kicks to escape potential holds and at one point, Anjoh kneeing him in the face. When Takada gets in there against Anjoh, he comes at him with kicks and knees and a nice belly-to-belly slam, and Anjoh's had enough and tags in Boss, who again, doesn't do much else but get kicked in the head and smacked in the face. Anjoh gets a little revenge against Takada, taking him down after a stiff flurry, and in the end, he submits Tamura with the Fujiwara armbar.

This was actually a lot of fun. Things get really heated in there at times with their strike exchanges and, like pretty much every match, Nakano's nose gets busted. There is a lot of good counterwork and takedowns, and when Nakano's pissed, he dumps Miyato with the German suplex. There's also a point where he almost capture suplexes Miyato out of the ring as things escalate in violence. A good little Nakano showcase and a strong finish with the choke to win. Good stuff.

Fun match. Takada was able to avoid the German suplex throughout, but there were some fun teases and transitions, with Nakano grabbing the rear naked choke and rallying the fans behind him. Match really picks up when Nakano rushes him against the ropes with strikes and snap suplexes him. Takada's kicks looked good, Nakano's underdog defense worked well -- I especially liked the catch into the calf hold and then turning that into a pretty nasty side headlock on Takada.

Here is the first half of RINGS 1994. Volk Han vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 1/24/94) Loved the opening with Yamamoto recklessly going in after Han with the spinning backhand, the takedown, and then Han coolly standing on one leg and yanking the other into his standing single leg crab, He stays in control with his submission work and keeps taking Yamamoto to the ropes until Yamamoto staggers him with a shot to the gut. That gives Yamamoto an opening to try a bunch of cool stuff out on the mat, like the crossface, the guillotine, the inverted STF. Yamamoto's trying to hang on but Han will get him in that split-legged hold or a legtrap heel hook. There are times when Yamamoto seems kind of lost in there but he’ll get some takedowns and try something. But Volk Han is Volk Han. There's a great part where he’s got Yamamoto in a leglock and he uses his opposite foot to push Yamamoto’s arm away to keep him from breaking it. Cool stuff. Grom Zaza vs. Todor Todorov (RINGS, 4/23/94) Grom Zaza, looking real grizzled and lean, takes it to Todorov in a super aggressive showing. Grom's fluidity in this match (and in general) is one of his hallmarks. He's able to go straight into a hold off a missed strike attempt, or grab any exposed limb and just bend it into a submission. His striking is also really good here, between the kicks, knees, and slaps. After a nasty slam, Grom works his way into a scissored triangle hold.. He tries to break Todor in half with an STF and then he grabs a reverse armbar and tries to grab a choke with the opposite arm. The finish was great as Todorov is able to snag a kneelock and just when it seems like Grom is going to tap out, he sees an opening, grabs the arm and submits Todorov. One of Zaza's best performances. Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Sotir Gotchev (RINGS, 4/23/94) Pretty good match that fizzles the longer it went. First couple of minutes were hot though, with Yamamoto busting out the dragon sleeper>elbow combo and Gotchev bearhug suplexing Yamamoto (despite Yamamoto palm thrusting him in the face). Gotchev looks dopey and his groundwork doesn't have much finesse but it seems effective enough. There is a lot of maneuvering around the mat before Gotchev hits a cool deadlift suplex, and in the end, Yamamoto rolls him up for the leglock submission. Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Sergei Sousserov (RINGS, 5/17/94) An excellent showcase for Yamamoto with a lot of opportunities to shine on the mat. He gets the initial takedown into a kneebar but Sergei fights out and plants him with a perfect uranage. Yamamoto goes back to the mat with some cool submissions like a backpack sleeper and a side STF. He's also adopted Volk Han's dragon sleeper>elbow strike combo. Whenever Sergei's got him in a submission, Yamamoto does a really good job of milking the ropebreaks for a little added drama. In a very cool counter, Yamamoto floats out of Sergei's armbar into a rear naked choke and then finally counters Sergei's leg submission with one of his own for the win. A very cool match. Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 5/17/94) Not as good as their 1993 match but still pretty good. Nagai will snap off some kicks and try for something fancy on the mat but end up getting caught in a Volk submission. The match itself is much slower paced, with more struggle on the mat. At one point, Han catches a foot and just barely blocks a nasty-looking spinning heel kick counter before he puts on his signature standing single leg. I love when Han gets fed up against strikers and just takes them out with slaps and knees of his own. The finish was great – Nagai goes in with kicks and slaps and Han grabs a choke and drags him down for the quick tapout. Akira Maeda vs. Volk Han (RINGS, 6/18/94) Kind of a tale of two matches because the half of this match before the stoppage was really good. You have Han kicking Maeda in the face to start, dominating with submission holds and Maeda's great in-the-moment selling to rally the fans. Maeda's able to down him with a high kick but Han slides in for his signature standing single leg. Maeda pisses off Han with repeat leg kicks and when Han lays into him with strikes, he ends up poking Maeda's eye and they stop the match. When they restart, there is a lot more stalling, Maeda's more hesitant, his takedowns look really weak like he's scared of getting hit again. Some of the groundwork is cool like Maeda's controlling of the choke sleeper and Han's cool arm-and-leg trap submission. They trade some shots toward the end, Maeda grabs the leglock for the submission, and wins. But he really shouldn't have. Masayuki Naruse vs. Yuri Bekichev (RINGS, 7/14/94) This match was a total blast. Bekichev has a ton of fire and gets the crowd hyped about his big kicks. He lands this wild backspin kick to the back of Naruse’s head to open up. Sure, there are a couple of awkward moments that maybe stem from Bekichev having not worked a “worked match” but for the most part, he gets it. Loved Naruse's counter into the kneebar and of course the wheel kick catch into another kneebar toward the end of the match. Bekichev's nasty rolling solebutt to the face and Naruse bumping to perfection in the corner. There’s a part where Yuri challenges him and Naruse pops him in the face. In the end, Naruse takes him out with a big flurry of palm strikes and a knee to the face. Loved this. Andrei Kopylov vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 7/14/94) Really good match and the best Kopylov looks in the first half of '94. Lots of intense counterwork, with Kopylov being the dominant one on the mat, working leglocks and armbar -- really liked his nasty reverse armbar. They pepper the submission work with some stiff strikes, especially from Yamamoto with his palms, but Kopylov answers right back with big slaps. Kopylov's final submission is cool but I have no idea what is. Good stuff. Akira Maeda vs. Dick Vrij (RINGS, 07/14/94) Wild and violent. Vrij keeps kicking out Maeda’s legs, which in turn, starts pissing off Maeda. Then Vrij really starts laying into him which causes Maeda to go after him in the corner and knock him down with a big barrage of strikes. There’s a little submission work here and there but it’s really just Vrij letting Maeda have it with nasty palm strikes to the face and knees to the head, busting his nose in the process. The finish was shit. Maeda grabs a leglock and Vrij taps before Maeda can even lock it in...but then he kicks Vrij afterward and that causes the Dutch mafia to get involved and it’s chaos. Terrific.

This sucked. JT Southern sucks. Yamazaki cracking him in the legs with kicks and generally not looking happy about being in there were the obvious highlights.

Not much to this one. Burton still doesn't do a whole lot and the best part of the match was him throwing Miyato with the double arm suplex and powerbomb to set up the finish.

Lot of slams from Burton but Tamura was able to block a lot of his attempts and by the end, you can tell Tamura just wants to finish him. Tamura works with what he's got, which isn't a ton, but he gets some cool takedowns and snug kicks. At one point, Burton catches a kick and takes him down with an ugly clothesline. Probably the best part of the match is when Tamura comes at him with a rush of strikes and Burton grabs him and sideslams him down. But not a very good match.

The kicking was really good in this match, between Yamazaki's high kicks and leg kicks, and Miyato's solebutts. They throw a couple of nice suplexes and Miyato's head kick counter to the leglock was nice. Yamazaki continually cuts out his legs to finish. Pretty good.

Takada was ready for this to be over. Southern wasn't awful in there but he wasn't good. Takada wakes him up with that hard leg kick and then the finishing armbar with his boot on his face was great.

Super fun "house show" tag. I thought the chemistry between Naruse and Liger was terrific, form their opening exchange to Liger's finishing run. Samurai is kind of toasted at this point but he gets his time to shine in there, pulling off some signature spots against Minoru. Lots of submission work from the shooters. Naruse uses a cool legscissors takedown to get Samurai in the cross kneelock. Toward the end, they stay on Liger's arm until he makes his comeback. Kind of a clunky finishing stretch but the fans were into it and Liger sent them home happy with the brainbuster to win.

Dumb fun. Takada’s like "okay whatever" through most of the match and Tom looks like the bouncer at an east Texas strip club. Loved Burton’s reaction to that first leg kick and I thought he did a goob job of selling Takada's submissions. Doesn’t really do much in there for awhile -- Takada lets him have it with a rush of strikes and Tom slams him down and sits there. But it does pick up toward the end. Tom dumps Takada with a German and sits down with the single leg crab. Nice finish from Takada with a great waterwheel slam to set up the crab hold.

Pretty fun match that definitely picks up during the finishing stretch. The early shooty exchanges between Naruse and Kakihara were really good with some slick matwork and strikes. Naniwa is here for the laughs, Minoru is here for the swoons, but that's okay. The final showdown between Minoru and Kakihara was good. Naniwa makes the big save on the kneebar and then Kakihara finishes off Minoru with a pretty awesome cobra clutch Kaki Cutter.

This was a lot of fun and probably the best match on the show. Fujiwara isn't afraid to go up against Dick and Dick seemed to be having fun in there as this was the most "pro-wrestling" I've seen him. He's in there trying for throws, trying for armbars, knowing when to escalate his strikes. At one point, they're both on the mat blatantly choking each other. Fujiwara so was good though, from popping him in the face with his cheeky slaps to taking him down with a belly-to-belly suplex, all the while wearing a big grin. Really liked Vrij's well-targeted knee strikes but in the end, the veteran wins out and snags the armbar for the submission. Afterwards, he gives Vrij the tropy he just won. Classic Fujiwara.

Pretty disappointing main event considering the build. 80% of the match is wrestled on the mat and there's some decent struggle with Funaki trying to snag a hold but the match doesn't really pick up until after Takada's nose gets busted. The striking really heats up at that point with some palm thrusts from Funaki and Takada blasting him with knees. They trade big open hands and Funaki lands some nasty knees of his own, one of which splits Takada's eyebrow. They bring in a doctor and the ref calls the match. Womp womp.

Match of the tournament so far and the kind of hard-hitting, meat and potatoes match-up I love. Ishii's selling in this match was terrific, from the way he took Goto's kicks to the lariat battle later in the match, with Ishii falling into the ropes and then both collapsing in one of the most convincing ways. Loved Ishii punching out of the sleeper hold and then the way he responds to Goto's slap to the face, just beating him down in the corner. The big lariat toward the end looked really brutal and then, of course, the final headbutts building to the finish. Really good stuff.

This was fun. Yano rules and Sabre was a little more...uh, believable here? Maybe? I don't know -- at least he stuck to one body part.

This was a fun "house show"-style main event. The chemistry between these two is undeniable but it's nothing we haven't already seen. Love stuff like Naito spitting at Ishii while he's getting chopped to hell, or the shitting boots to Ishii's head in the corner and Ishii giving it right back. The Destino needs to go though.

Nikolai Zouev vs. Todor Todorov (RINGS, 7/13/93) A good exhibition for the debuting Zouev, who showed off what he can do with his swanky takedowns and reversals, stretching Todorov all over the mat, working in holds like the double chickenwing and full nelson hold. His kicks were decent and he had some neat throws. He keeps slipping out of Todorov’s submission attempts to turn the hold against him ala Volk Han. Todorov got in a throw here and there, and at one point, catches Zouev’s kick and hits a big knee to the ribs. But eventually Zouev rolls him up into a wacky split-legged hold for the submission win. Volk Han vs. Dick Vrij (RINGS, 7/13/93) My other favorite match of the first six months of 1993 RINGS, and hey, it's my favorite match-up of 1992 RINGS! Volk is much more strike-focused and aggressive in 1993 then he has been, and here, he immediately punches Vrij in the face, kicks him down, and goes after the arm, trying to pin him down with the submission attempt. Vrij is vulnerable on the mat but he doesn't struggle often and Han made him squirm. Han is willing to absorb Vrij's big kicks and knees in order to get close enough for a takedown, knowing full well that he's not going to outstrike Vrij...although he'll try with his spinning backhands. There were times in the match where Vrij looked legitimately frightened of Volk. Han also busts out a shoot Russian legsweeip into the submission, which ruled. But the dynamic between these two -- the cyborg striker vs. the cool submission specialist -- is awesome, and like their first match, it comes down to the final point after Vrij keeps knocking down Han with kicks and knees, and Han keeps sending Vrij to the ropes. In the end, Vrij unloads on him with some really nasty knees in the ropes and then delivers a combo of strikes that ends in a palm thrust for the TKO victory over Han. Terrific match. Grom Zaza vs. Nikolai Zouev (RINGS, 8/21/93) Both guys have a similar style, although Zouev is less about the throws and more in the same vein as Volk Han, using Sambo takedowns, headscissors, arm submissions, and often turning an opponent's hold against them. Zaza comes out more aggressive than usual, landing some big kicks and a sick spinning backhand to the face. But once they get on the mat, Zoeuv takes control of the situation. He uses a grounded full nelson and a sweet arm-and-shoulder takedown into the submission. Zaza mostly sticks to neat strikes and throws, and his over-exaggerated selling of the leglock was something else. Things get sluggish toward the end as they struggle to get something going on the mat but in the end, Zoeuv catches him a cool neck-crank for the submission. Masayuki Naruse vs. Dieseul Berto (RINGS, 9/10/93) Pretty fun match, with Berto working as the big strong dude who smothers Naruse on the mat with his weight and Naruse trying to find the submission. He isn't intimated by Berto's size and immediately pops him with a spinning backhand to start. Berto has some decent takedowns and big jumping kicks but can't do a whole lot on the mat. The match picks up toward the end as they're both trading open hands and Naruse gets busted open with a spinning backhand. Berto keeps trying for a calf hold of some sort but Naruse's able to grab him with a leglock for the tap out. Volk Han vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 10/23/93) What a great squash by the master Volk Han, who has to side slam the fire out of underdog Naruse, who comes out of the gate hot, trying to stun Han with open hands and knee strikes. Of course, Han uses some awesome takedowns and submission holds thoughout, including a split-legged kneebar and a standing armbar. Naruse's just trying to hang on at points, either onto Han with a sleeper attempt or onto the ropes. His selling of Han's holds is terrific for a shoot-style match and his hope spot punch to the ribs was a cool moment that lit the crowd up. Naruse ultimately falls victim to Han's stepover armbar but he gave a spirited effort and Han continues to showcase why he's one of the best wrestlers in the world. Andrei Kopylev vs. Nikolai Zouev (RINGS, 10/23/93) Two Russian submission specialists = lots of struggle and defense. This was a back-and-forth game of chess on the canvas, where Kopylov would manage a rolling armbar takedown but Zouev would block the submission, and vice versa, with Zouev utilizing some cool takedowns but Kopylov playing heavy D on the mat. When Kopylov finally gets him in a double leglock, Zouev tries to struggle out and Andrei smartly hooks the leg to prevent the escape. I thought Kopylov looked more aggressive here with his strikes, landing knees and open hand slaps, but Zouev fires back, knocking Kopylov down with a big high kick. As the match progresses, they obviously get more sluggish and desperate to get something cinched in. Zoeuv finally grabs a toe hold with Kopylov trapped in a full nelson using his legs -- a very cool submission and another nice win for Zouev. Dimitri Petkov vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 11/18/93) Petkov looks like a big dumb baby in his neon green singlet but he's a lot of fun and unlike pretty much everyone else in RINGS. Paired with a fiery underdog in Nagai, you get Petkov at his best: suplex throws, an Anaconda vice attempt, sitting on leglocks and smothering Nagai with his weight. Nagai is trying to kick and grab a hold and when he finally gets a kneebar, forcing Petkov to the ropes, Petkov has to take a time out to cold spray his knee. This plays directly into the finish, as Nagai goes back to the kneebar and taps Petkov right in front of the ropes. Volk Han vs. Nikolai Zouev (RINGS, 11/18/93) This is, quite possibly, the best match in RINGS 1993. Zouev has been the man throughout the last half of the year and now he's up against THE man in Volk Han. I loved the opening – you have Zouev shooting in for a takedown, Han whipping him down by the arm and trying to lock in the submission, but Zouev is able to turn Volk’s attempt into the cross armbar and sends him to the ropes. For the first time, Han is truly put to the test on the mat. They start taking each other down with submissions, throwing strikes in between. Han uses a cool hammerlocked double wristlock, and Zouev comes back with a rolling cross kneebar, making Han lunge for the ropes . At one point, Zouev has him in a scarf hold and Han tries to whip him over in an escape but Zouev keeps the hold locked in, forcing Han to go the ropes yet again. As one might expect, the struggle was excellent as they fight over holds – tons of great takedowns and unique submissions. A couple slaps and kicks from Zouev but this was mostly submission warfare. The finish was awesome, as Han tries for something fancy and Zouev snags the Fujiwara armbar, trapping the legs to prevent Han’s escape and tapping him. Fantastic submission wrestling. Todor Todorov vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 12/8/93) This was a fun, evenly matched contest, with Naruse hanging with Todorov on the mat as they roll around, trying to counter counters and reverse holds. Todorov uses some cool takeovers and suplexes whereas Naruse is more focused on the striking, primarily knees and kicks. He also brings his submission game. working through a crossface hold, a triangle, and a kneerbar. Naruse continues to improve throughout 1993 and this was probably one of his better singles performances, although Todorov gets the better of him in the end and submits him with a nasty rear necklock. Volk Han vs. Pavel Orlov (RINGS, 12/8/93) Essentially a Volk Han squash match but it's still Volk doing his thing, which rules. Other than a judo throw into a cool arm-trap submission, Orlov doesn't do much else here but get dominated by Han on the mat. Han wrangles him in a cool side STF, lands a few slaps and knees, and of course, he's aware of his positioning at all times, scooting Orlov away from the ropes as he takes control of a leglock. Orlov can’t get much going and when he does manage a hold, he’s usually positioned too close to the ropes to be much of a threat. Volk tries to submit him with the single leg crab hold but finishes him off with the classic jujigatame. Andrei Kopylov vs. Pavlev Orlov (RINGS, 12/25/93) This was a Kopylov showcase match with Orlov but it wasn't quite as one-sided as the Han/Orlov match. Kopylov is explosive early on with some cool takedowns and throws, and then it settles into a prolonged struggle on the mat, where they work through holds, countering when they can, grabbing ropes when they need to. Orlov completely whiffing on whatever he was going for and then eating an enziguri kick from Kopylov was awesome. Also, Kopylov's crucifix rolling submission was super cool. Orlov is a good jobber for the Russian submission guys.