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superkix

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  1. superkix
    The story of big daddy Jumbo having to deal with all these fucking younguns runnin' around his house in 1990-1991 is one of my favorite things. Probably the most insolent prick of the bunch of Kawada. Jumbo shows his dominance early on, with Kawada bumping like a maniac for Jumbo's kitchen sink knees, and while Kawada hacks out Jumbo's leg with kicks and overexerts himself with a single leg crab, Jumbo's soon tossing him around and busting his knee on the timekeeper's table. He keeps working Kawada over with the single leg crab, at one point, transitioning into a side STF. Desperation mode Kawada has to sacrifice that injured leg to connect with a gamengiri and the selling by both men in that moment is amazing. After an lariat to the back of the head, Kawada continues being a shithead on the outside by repeatedly stomping Jumbo's head. The powerbomb tease is great but when he starts in with the shitty face kicks, Jumbo's had it and smacks him absolutely silly. Kawada survives the powerbomb but falls after two consecutive backdrops. A solid effort from Kawada, showing off the tenacity that makes him so lovable.
  2. superkix
    Minoru Suzuki’s rocking the pure white, a clear indication that he’s gone good, and I loved the teased confrontations, knowing that Suzuki is going to turn heel within the match at some point but initially, he’s wrestling clean with some reluctance. Then he locks on the jujigatame and refuses to let go, the bastard, and the referee nearly throws himself atop Suzuki to break it up. Having shown his true colors, Suzuki uses a hanging sleeper on the ropes and it’s sold like straight death by Akiyama – in fact, Suzuki grabs him, yells “wake up!” and slaps him in the face. He’s nasty with his boots and chokes, shoving the intervening referee out of the way, but Akiyama equally as nasty with his knees and likewise tosses the ref out of the ring! Akiyama’s weakness in the taped ribs is exploited in the dirtiest of fashions by Suzuki, and throughout, you get the impression that Akiyama is legitimately hurting here. I can’t recall ever seeing a top rope octopus hold but Suzuki pulls it off, cackling like a Batman villain before double stomping Akiyama. He tenderizes him with snug kicks before really working that octopus hold, digging the elbow in, stretching him on the mat, then toe punching the ribs. Really good selling from Akiyama as always and when Suzuki tries to sneak in with a sleeper hold, Akiyama quickly backdrops to set up a little run of offense. But again, Suzuki is able to exploit those ribs, ducking a running knee and blasting Jun with a knee to the midsection before spiking him with a delayed Gotch-style piledriver. Then the match shifts gears…and perhaps, that shift is a little too discordant for some, I hear you. But come on, they basically work in their version of the infamous Kobashi/Sasaki chop exchange…but with face slaps. They slap and slap and slap themselves silly, slapping to the point of exhaustion. Akiyama finally abandons the slaps for the knees, taking Suzuki down. Suzuki’s selling is terrific here as he crumbles to the canvas, screaming defiantly in Akiyama’s face when he Jun picks him up, only to get smacked and finished off with the wrist-clutch Exploder. This is probably a polarizing match for some as the first half of the match is hunked out the window in exchange for endless slap action but I loved Suzuki’s character work.
  3. superkix
    This definitely had its moments but the slower matwork was a little dry. But when they’re unloading on one another, swinging for the fences, it’s great! After a meandering start of love taps and trying to get something going on the mat, Funaki adds a lick of spicy mustard and smacks Sano in the face, knocking him down with a face kick. He stays on him, trying to finish him off with the same maneuver that won him their previous match – a German suplex into an armbar. Sano survives and they go back to the mat but Funaki’s quick hands land a few hard slaps in between. The finish was cool, as Sano hits the German suplex but the way Funaki lands on him, he’s able to snag an arm and submit him with the armbar.
  4. superkix
    I love a good suplex and the Steiners know how to toss a few. This was about 80% Steiner domination over poor Hase with shitty matwork but you ain’t paying the Steiners to paint the canvas – no way, baby, you get tiger drivers, suplexes, superplexes, and superduperplexes. When Hase hits the uranages on both Steiners, the crowd loses their collective shit for the Kensuke hot tag! They work a little magic, with Sasaki superplexing Hase onto Rick and Hase delivering the Northern Lights suplex hold. But alas, our heroes fall to the best meatheads after a double team bulldog and the Scott Frankensteiner.
  5. superkix
    He had killer title matches last year against guys like Okabayashi but most of his matches are five minute squashes. He does, however, squash with the best of them.
  6. superkix
    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
  7. superkix
    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.
  8. superkix
    A half hour of mat warfare. If that's your shit, welcome. There weren’t many knockdowns – this was mostly them scrambling around, trying to grab chokes, leglocks, armbars. Anything. Ishikawa keeps taking Naruse off his feet with double leg takedowns but at one point, he grabs Naruse's leg and Naruse pops him in the face with a nasty knee strike for a knockdown. Nothing blow away but a lot of fun to see Ishikawa in this environment.
  9. superkix
    Vrij was uber-dominant and aggressive against Kopylov, not giving him an inch. He’s laying into him with big kicks, kicks him in the nuts at one point, and whenever Andrei gets him on the mat, Vrij is quick to grab the rope so Kopylov never really has an opportunity to keep him on the ground long enough for a submission. Kopylov finally catches him with some body blows and knees but that’s about it -- Vrij just keeps knocking him down with his mean flurries and finally pops him with a palm thrust for the KO.
  10. superkix
    Baby Huey is such a loveable hangry mess here and old man Misawa bumps like crazy for him, making the clobberin’ slop look like absolute barbarism. When Misawa pops him in the schnozz with an elbow, Morishima snaps, lobbing elbows and rocking him with back-to-back-to-back lariats. Look, finesse isn’t a part of Morishima’s repertoire but that’s part of the charm, as he’s vicious with his clubbing forearms in the corner and flattens Misawa with a nasty lariat on the outside, just dominating the legend. Misawa gets a little reprieve with some snug elbows and a big tope suicida through the ropes but the big baby takes over again on offense, powerbombing Misawa. Knowing Misawa’s fate, this is a cringeworthy match for sure, considering the amount of physical abuse both guys endure, and at times, it’s hard to watch Morishima continually fold him up with backdrops and a gnarly uranage. And of course, Misawa tiger driving Morishima’s big ass off the fucking ring apron. Morishima’s nose is a bloody mess but that doesn’t deter Misawa from elbowing the shit out of him in the corner and on the ground, the ref hopelessly trying to intervene only to get shoved back. At one point, Morishima challenges Misawa to fire off more elbows, which isn’t the smartest idea, and after running and rolling and more grounded elbows, Misawa puts him away with one final lunging elbow shot. Brutal warfare.
  11. superkix
    Funaki working in a shoot-style environment is just about as awkward as you’d expect it to be. While he’s not quite the striker, he does manage some decent takedowns and works the mat well enough. But he’s mostly a punching bag for Ikeda and Usuda here, which is fine, too. Usuda snaps off kicks and throws out some nasty open hands, while Ikeda’s a little more gritty with his stomps and kidney punches. Poor Funaki gets dumped with a German suplex and that’s the last we see of him before Ikeda and Ishikawa shut it down like you’d expect. Plenty of snug shots and grunty matwork, with Ikeda wrenching at his face and choking him out for the win. Fun tag.
  12. superkix
    This little doozy of a match-up truly embodies what a gratuitous bomb-fest should be. You've got Takwai, one of the best no selling shitkickers out there, and Kanemaru, who proves he can scramble brains with the best of them. Within the first five seconds of the match, Takaiwa turns Kanemaru's world upside down with a big boy lariat. They're both being really shitty, with Takaiwa throwing the ref out of the way and Kanemaru using that to his advantage and low blowing Takaiwa. They choke each other with tape before opening up the arsenal and dropping just about every bomb they have in reserve. Brainbusters, Death Valley Bombs, including the best spot where Takaiwa catches Kanemaru off the apron and plants him on the floor, lariats, Takaiwa Drivers -- even one of my favorite video game finishers, the double powerbomb INTO the Death Valley Bomb. They steal each others moves, executing them to brutal perfection, and of course, Takaiwa being Takaiwa pops up after taking three consecutive brainbusters like it's nothing and spikes Kanemaru with the Takaiwa Driver. What a prick. But sometimes you just have to sit back, shut off your thinking capabilities, and enjoy a brainless (maybe literally) but awesome bombs away match.
  13. superkix
    The heat between Kawada and Taue is sizzlin'. The match cuts in with Taue delivering one hell of a shoulderblock to Kikuchi before we get to the bloodshed. Once again, Taue with his fresh haircut, is being nastier than usually, busting open Kawada or tossing Kikuchi out of the ring onto Kawada. The fans are way into Kawada's general pissy-ness as he and Taue just slap each other silly heading into the finishing run, and they bite onto most of the nearfalls before Kawada finally puts Ogawa away with the powerbomb.
  14. superkix
    Although these early All Japan six-mans can become a little hard to distinguish from one another, the formula works so well and the characters play their roles engagingly. Once again, the seasoned dad wrestler Jumbo showed terrific resilience against that fiery shitkicker Kawada, who pesters him throughout. I mean, the opening exchange sees Kawada bump like hell off a kitchen sink knee -- Jumbo hits him so hard he hurts himself. At one point, Kawada keeps peppering Jumbo with his shitty face kicks and Jumbo snaps, unloading a barrage of big daddy elbows on him and continuing the punishment on the floor with chairshots. Fuchi's the prematurely old dick head, Misawa the young hero, Kikuchi the underdog, and Taue does what Taue can to ensure his team comes away victorious, getting shit from the fans for breaking up puns but ultimately scoring the pinfall with the powerbomb.
  15. superkix
    This was really fun. The anticipation of Hashimoto and Misawa interacting was built really well but the standout here was Ogawa, who did such a good job of selling the beating from Hashimoto while also defending Misawa and never backing down. I loved him choking Hashimoto off Misawa toward the end and pinning him against the corner while Misawa pinned Otsuka with the Tiger Driver. Otsuka looked good but was definitely just a warm body for this match. Hashimoto really played up his badassery here, calling out Misawa and hacking through Ogawa to get to him. And of course, Misawa was Misawa.
  16. superkix
    One of my favorites from RINGS '93 because I love an underdog fired up and within the palms of the Japanese crowd, swinging for the fences with wild abandon. Nagai puts Han on the rocks, here and there, but he definitely puts him on the rocks. Han does his thing, taking him down to the mat to stretch him in ways only Volk Han can do -- at one point, choking him with his own arm. But Nagai keeps coming at him with kicks, catching him with a shot to the face before Han snags a foot and takes him back down. He's also upped his submission game against Han, using a rolling leglock, a cross armbar, a kneebar...but Han will find ways to slip out and turn the hold against him. I thought the finish was awesome, with Nagai knocking him into the ropes with the big wheel kick, briefly turning him over into the single leg (the crowd losing their shit) before Han forces the submission out of him.
  17. superkix
    Perhaps Taue’s last great epic encounter and what a lovely match to bow out on against Akiyama. He isn’t too proud to rake the eyes in order to gain control and he slowly wears Jun down the only way Taue can, coconut crushing and big booting. And it wouldn’t be an Akiyama match without knees everywhere – off the apron, onto the guardrail, front, back, top rope, you name it. He keeps putting the knees and elbows to the back of Taue’s head to set up the front necklock, but when Taue’s able to get to his feet, he destroys Akiyama with a backdrop counter. Taue’s offense isn’t always the most hard hitting but I loved that he really seemed to let loose here, chokeslamming Akiyama on the ramp, hacking away at him with his meat cleaver hands, and planting him with a sheer-drop powerbomb. He hits the Ore ga Taue for two but when he tries for a top rope version, Akiyama’s able to shove him off into a jumping knee > running knee > Exploder, going right back into the front necklock off the two count. In the final minutes, they’re both running on fumes, fighting over the chokeslams and the Exploders, before Akiyama starts again with the knees. It isn’t the epic finishing stretch of endless head drops but it’s the relentlessness of Jun and his knees that get the better of Taue, and in the end, the pillar crumbles. A simple but beautifully told story.
  18. superkix
    SUWA putting in the bad dude performance of a lifetime managed to bring perhaps the very best out of KENTA. The lost art of being heel. He wants in and out of this match pronto, so he attacks KENTA with the timekeeper’s bell and an equipment case, cheering himself on as he thinks he’s somehow done it but the match is ruled a no contest and restarted as he’s heading up the rampway. Pissed with this decision, SUWA gets in Joe Higuchi’s old man face but Higuchi ain’t no stooge and he’s ready to fight, stripping off the sports coat. Back in the ring, he chokes KENTA with tape, smacks the referee with the turnbuckle pad before hucking it at Higuchi – love Higuchi point at him like “watch it, punk!”. As KENTA starts building momentum, SUWA deliberately shoves the ref into the ropes as KENTA attempts to springboard off the ropes, causing him to crash and burn. Awesome. They fire on all cylinders heading into the back half of the match, flip-flopping on offense, with KENTA taking out some that brimming aggression in the corner with his stomps. They dive, throw bombs, KENTA counters the FFF with the Go 2 Sleep, and then he just annihilates SUWA with back-to-back-to-back head kicks and high kicks and the running knee to finish him off. Great stuff.
  19. superkix
    Not structured like a traditional Kobashi “epic special fantastical” so I can see why some people would be turned off. That being said, I love this match, not only because of Suzuki’s performance but Kobashi’s selling of the arm, which is more than we usually get. The systematic destruction of a body part is one of my favorite stories in pro-wrestling and Suzuki’s fantastic at it. Obviously, Kenta’s going to be chopping and lariating a bunch so it makes perfect sense to take that arm out of the equation. I love Suzuki’s initial hesitation to lock up with Kobashi, utilizing his speed and agility to bob and weave around Kobashi’s chops, bitching slapping Kenta when he as a chance and then promptly attacking the arm. Of course, when Suzuki does get caught with chops, it’s wonderful. But I could watch Suzuki dismantling somebody’s arm all day long, just trapping and stretching limbs, and Kobashi’s selling is perfect here, especially the missed chop and Suzuki’s finger wagging. Suzuki’s such a badass that he hits the Gotch-style piledriver and decides to stand on Kobashi’s head rather than pin him. Even when he’s getting rocked with brutal suplexes and powerbombs, Suzuki finds a way to snag the arm and further inflict damage, not giving Kobashi an inch. His only real effective offense are his suplexes and when he unloads on Suzuki with backdrop after backdrop suplex, it’s brutally awesome – not to mention Suzuki’s last stand, as pathetically slaps away at Kobashi before crumbling in defeat.
  20. superkix
    Unexpectedly tumultuous, with an uncharacteristically brutal and bloody-faced Akira Taue. Even before the streamers are let loose, Kawada is throwing chairs and repeatedly ramming Taue’s forehead into the guardrail, busting him open after a few jabs of the chair. The blood only seems to invigorate Taue, who counters Kawada’s kick by just shoving his leg into the guardrail, and then goes to work on it. I love how Kawada uses his boots in submission situations but when he tries booting the back of Taue’s head, Taue says “fuck this” and starts peppering Kawada with slaps. Taue’s legwork is real grunty but effective, as he uses the timekeeper’s table or a chair to fuck up Kawada’s leg. Kawada’s selling is almost non-existent throughout but it doesn’t really matter because Taue keeps cutting off his rebuttals, headbutting him or spiking him into the canvas. Kawada finally snaps in the end, shitkicking Taue on the mat and then clobbering him with the enzui-lariat to pick up the win. Loved this!
  21. superkix
    Hot tag team action featuring power babies Iizuka and Sasaki, Koshinaka’s hip-based offense, and Hase swanking the place up -- loved his early mat exchange with Koshinaka. He’s such a dick here, it’s great. After a fairly pedestrian start, with Iizuka established as the underdog, he and Koshinaka try working over Hase’s leg but Hase escapes Iizuka’s shitty leglock with some well-placed boots and flattens him with an awesome rolling heel kick. The fans aren’t happy about Iizuka getting bullied but Hase doesn’t care and sits back all cool-like with a killer crab hold. When Koshinaka gets the big tag, he hip attacks his way to a brutal powerbomb on Hase. Izuka’s able to hit the BLIZZARD SUPLEX HOLD, his greatest contribution to the game, but Hase comes in and nonchalantly kicks out his leg on the bridge. Fuck yes. The finishing stretch becomes quite the suplex party, with Koshinaka scoring a nearfall off a dragon suplex hold and Hase countering Iizuka’s lariat with the uranage. In the end, baby Kensuke that comes away with the win after a judo throw on Iizuka.
  22. superkix
    Misawa wants Jumbo real bad. When Misawa gets his hands on him, he uses his youthful speed to his advantage, overwhelming the veteran before tagging in Kawada. The pissed off Jumbo takes it out on Kawada with some nasty kitchen sink knees but Misawa’s able to temporarily extract Jumbo from the tag equation after blasting him with a big running elbow from the apron. With Jumbo out, Taue ain’t got nobody as Misawa and Kawada take turns bullying. Jumbo emerges to break up a hold but Kawada starts attacking him to boos from the All Japan fans. Kawada’s the biggest shithead in this match and it’s awesome. Loved his climbing corner kick to Taue’s face – such a jerk. When Jumbo finally gets the tag, he gives it to both punks and damn near decapitates Misawa with a jumbo-sized lariat. Again, Kawada keeps spoiling Jumbo’s offense but Taue gets his revenge, hitting a dive to the outside and bodyslamming Kawada on the floor. His offense never looks that great but he’s such a loveable underdog. In fact, Jumbo comes in and tries to help him out by elbowing Misawa and backdropping Kawada but it’s still not enough to get Taue the pinfall. The final minute or so of the match is built around Kawada’s powerbomb and it’s fantastic, as both sides are scrambling, the crowd is losing it, I’m losing it, and finally, Taue loses it via Kawada’s powerbomb.
  23. superkix
    One of my favorite NOAH matches ever. When you look at Honda, the gross pawn shop ponytail and facial hair, the loose singlet, the scraggy arms...he doesn’t look like much. The way he moves around is awkward at best but when he’s on the mat or transitioning into a hold, Honda’s a bona fide killer elite. He’s the ultimate best-est underdog against Kobashi, and almost immediately gets dominated by the alpha…you know, until he delivers a third rope German suplex onto the rampway. This time, Kobashi’s bandaged limb is the arm and Honda zeroes in on it, locking in a jujigatame off a legdrop and refusing to let go on the rope break, the desperation to beat Kobashi stinking off. Loved Honda’s rolling counter to the half nelson suplex attempt, re-establishing in the armlock. Honda doesn’t let up until Kobashi pops off spinning backchops and dumps Honda with gnarly half nelson suplexes. Honda drops some bombs of his own too, including a top rope German suplex. When he applies the STF, he uses his heads to trap Kobashi’s arm and then transitions into the anaconda vise. Kobashi looks dead in that hold and it’s such a terrific visual. His facials in general are pretty great, including when he’s getting yanked off the ropes by Honda’s German suplex. Incredible finishing stretch as Honda counters the short-range lariat with a cradle for an awesome nearfall and then proceeds take Kobashi’s brutal sleeper suplex like a champ-e-on, finally succumbing to the Burning Lariat. Love this match.
  24. superkix
    Based on the two best dudes involved in this match-up, I went into this fully expecting something really solid but I was left more than disappointed. Between shitty pacing, meaningless matwork, which, unfortunately, the low energy of it permeated into the crowd, and an awkward vibe that I can’t quite put my finger on, this match had a lot working against it. That being said, this match wasn’t bad. I liked the subtle one-up manship throughout, the smacks traded, and the crowd-poppin’ suplex exchange. This was, more or less, the Hase Show, as he works in his giant swing after Akiyama unsuccessfully tries to slap his way out of it. I love watching Hase deliver suplexes and he gets in quite a few toward the end, including a big dragon suplex for a nearfall. But Akiyama’s comeback is ridiculously fast after taking about five suplexes in a row and he hits a sheer-drop Exploder for the win. This was okay.
  25. superkix
    Once again, Ogawa proves to be one of the sliest weasels out there, this time pissing up the wrong tree with babyface supreme Kobashi. He spews water in Kobashi’s eyes, blindsiding him, assaulting him and grinding the heel of his boot in his face while playing to the crowd. Of course, he promptly pays for this when Kobashi chops him all the way down to the ground and then some. After some fancy maneuvering on the mat, he comes away with Kobashi’s arm and continues clinging onto Kobashi like some kind of parasite, only to get chopped off. He goes after Kobashi’s taped left knee and targets it whenever the situation gets a little sticky icky. After the referee gets taken out, Ogawa attacks the knee with the timekeeper’s bell. Kobashi’s selling is terrific here as he hobbles to a comeback on the outside, blasting Ogawa with a spinning back chop into the ringpost that turns Ogawa’s face into a bloody nightmare. The punishment only continues for Ogawa and likewise, his selling is fantastic as he gets chopped and punched and powerbombed. He’s finally able to sneak in a low blow to catch a breather but It’s not enough to keep Kobashi down for long. I loved how Ogawa was able to avoid the half nelson suplex, using cradles and school boys to try and come away with a victory, but after Kobashi hits a…I don’t even know, a half nelson Exploder?...he finishes him off the Burning Lariat.
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