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superkix

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  1. superkix
    This was Karaev’s first pro-wrestling match and…well, it didn’t necessarily show. I feel like he understood his working environment. His strikes weren’t bad and Shibata sold like hell for them. I liked Shibata trying to take out the leg with kicks and ultimately getting the sudden leglock submission. But yeah, this was really too short.
  2. superkix
    I guess this is where the “heat” between Shibata and Shiozaki took root. Shibata kicks the crap out of Shiozaki to open this match and calls out Misawa like a badass. Hell of a way to start the match. This was pandering at times but felt more consistent from bell-to-bell than their previous tag. Misawa took some major bumps (Jesus, that springboard Doomsday Device) and the interactions between he and Shibata felt unique but it’s a lot of Shiozaki getting dominated. Shiozaki doesn’t look bad in there and he’s always been a good seller. Love Misawa snapping on KENTA when he comes at him with those disrespectful shit kicks in the corner. The story here is Shibata REALLY wants to put Misawa to sleep and defeat him. He dangerously backdrops Misawa on his head after a sleeper hold and slaps it right back on, tiring him out for the PK. Shiozaki breaks it up and immediately pays for it. That KENTA save from across the ring after the moonsault was awesome. In the end, Shiozaki survives the PK but not a few brutal kicks to the head. Another good to great tag match with plenty of fun moments.
  3. superkix
    This was like a greatest hits match, with a lot of cool spots and moments, but no real cohesion. Yone was the lame duck and the match lost a bit of its steam when he was controlling on offense. KENTA and Shibata were a fun pairing, and pissed off Baby Huey Morishima was awesome, especially in his interactions with KENTA. After KENTA hits the tag-in springboard dropkick, his shitty little face kicks only aggravate Morishima, which leads to a beat down and Morishima tossing him out of the ring. Shibata/KENTA looked pretty great on offense but Morishima’s volatility was the best thing about this match, in my opinion. When KENTA goes to fuck with him on the apron, Morishima yanks him out of the ring and throws him over the barricade! Things slow down when Morishima/Yone are on offense, though I loved the smaller KENTA throwing himself at both guys in attempt to fight them off. Shibata worked in some good strikes and arm control on Morishima, and I loved him coming in and booting Morishima over the ropes to the outside to set up the big springboard Doomsday Device. The final stretch was a mess but the finish between KENTA and Morishima was brutal. Not a great match by any means but plenty of great moments.
  4. superkix
    In his last match with New Japan, Shibata faces Tenryu, who promptly exits the ring to meet Shibata on the entrance ramp and throws him down into some chairs before returning to the ring. Awesome. This was all kinds of ridiculous in maybe the best way possible? I don’t know. They trade finishers maybe half a dozen times before Tenryu tries to kill him with a rope-hung DDT from the apron to the floor. Holy shit. Shibata comes back pissed and stiff with strikes. He connects with the second PK of the match but Tenryu’s not going out like that. He DDTs Shibata through the slaps and nearly KOs him with a front necklock. Loved the look on Tenryu’s face after Shibata kicks out, followed by a barely coherent Shibata stumbling into a pair of guh! punches for the finish.
  5. superkix
    This isn’t much but what we get is Shibata trying to get in as much offense against Kawada as he can, riffing some of Kawada’s own signatures, before Kawada snaps and goes apeshit on him, chopping him in the throat and backdropping him on his head. Surprisingly, Shibata is able to wear Kawada down with the sleeper for the PK but that’s as close to victory as Shibata is able to taste. The finish is something else as he and Kawada go at it until Kawada rocks him silly with shots, including a KO punch, which Shibata mistakenly sits up from so Kawada kicks him in the head and drops the knee for the three count. Kawada's selling made this thing all the more enjoyable. A sub-10 minute match with a great back half.
  6. superkix
    YO! We worked with artist James Frazier to come up with a neat Fist of the North Star/Fighting Network RINGS mash up t-shirt. Pre-orders are open now, check it out: http://fightingnetworkfriends.bigcartel.com/
  7. superkix
    Stiff as hell right from the bat, with Kawada coming at Hansen with machine gun slaps and Hansen kneeing him and tossing him out of the ring to cool off. Hansen always sells so great for Kawada's kicks, and his selling of the legwork was top notch here. Kawada chops out Hansen's legs with kicks and uses a single leg crab to wear him down. I love that even when Hansen is falling from the bum leg, he still manages to strike Kawada. Awesome leglock spot with Hansen kicking at Kawada's face to get out of the submission hold. Of course, the big desperation powerbomb on the outside was big turning point in the match but the scoop slam onto the guardrail looked even more painful. Loved Hansen's back bodydrop into the elbow drop spot. Kawada's kicks are pretty hellacious as he catches Hansen with a shot to the chin, staggering the bull and turning the tide in his favor. During the finishing stretch, Hansen calls for the lariat but Kawada counters with a jumping high kick. This only pisses Hansen off so he powerbombs him and puts him the Brazos Valley Backbreaker. In frustration, Hansen refuses to break the hold, and you can tell he's ready to end this. Great elbow by Kawada and collapse into the pin but Hansen ultimately hits the lariat for the win. Another fun, stiff brawl, with a little more substance and structure.
  8. superkix
    A great match. Kawada's selling and facials are great throughout and when Hansen smells blood, he immediately begins targeting the leg -- it's cool to see Hansen relax into the legwork, either on the mat or shinbreaking Kawada on the guardrail. Hansen sells strong for Kawada after a big kick folds him over the guardrail. The crowd energy builds around the potential for Hansen's lariat. Several times during the match, you can hear the crowd getting excited for Hansen to signal for the lariat but instead, he kicks or elbows Kawada, and the crowd dies down. Really loved the dragon sleeper struggle, with Kawada switching arms to prevent Hansen from escaping, until they collapse into the ropes. When Hansen finally calls for the lariat, the crowd heats up and he connects with the enzui lariat but he purposely breaks the hold. Throws a little water onto the fire and I get why he doesn't want to end it that way. Hansen's a man. He wants you to see the lariat coming. Great jackknife powerbomb before he just murders Kawada with the lariat. Lots of ups and tons as far as crowd energy goes, but it's a smartly worked match for Hansen and one of his best solo performances.
  9. superkix
    Fun to see Jumbo in a bully role and the fans firmly behind Fuchi in their only singles match. There's a nice little build to the backdrop but as Fuchi continues to counter the attempts with submissions, working him on the mat. I like when Fuchi keeps grabbing Jumbo's arm to prevent him from using a rope break. For awhile, Jumbo wears down Fuchi with abdominal stretches and sleeper holds. When Jumbo finally hits the backdrop, he can't immediately capitalize and Fuchi kicks out at two. But Jumbo hits a second one and that's all she wrote. Great selling from both men, a fun build, but a simple and safe tournament match.
  10. superkix
    So much to love about this match -- stuff like Kawada selling Hansen’s haymakers like death, or the way Hansen kicks Kawada like he’s kicking at a clod of cow shit. I love how Hansen throws his weight into offense, like that big back elbow out of the corner or the awesome diving shoulderblock through the ropes. They take turns controlling portions of the match and at one point, Hansen looks a little lost and then really looks lost (as in loss of consciousness) when Kawada's got him trapped in the Stretch Plum. Kawada destroys him in the corner with kicks and chops at him before Hansen just grabs him by the head and slams him down with zero shits given. After Hansen’s big ole release powerbomb, he signals for the lariat and the crowd is eating it up. Kawada cuts him off but Hansen hits one of the greatest lariats of all time, the momentum of it carrying him clear out of the ring! They're both sluggish and glazed over, and Hansen almost collapses into that final enzui-lariat with enough power to defeat Kawada. Great psychology, brutal shitkicking strikes, and a super hot crowd during the final minutes of the match. One of the best brawls of all time.
  11. superkix
    Short, violent match, with Fuchi brutalizing Kikuchi with at least 10 backdrop suplexes. Fuchi tries to bully Kikuchi early on but Kikuchi ain’t having it and I really loved Kikuchi's early run. Believable early nearfall off the German suplex hold, Fuchi busted open and reeling. Then Fuchi starts torturing Kikuchi with the backdrops and it's...tragic. I mean, Kikuchi is trying to survive, hooking the leg to block another attempt or grabbing the ropes, but Fuchi keeps backdropping him and there's this sad final visual of Kikuchi crawling around the mat, looking for a way out, before Fuchi continues to backdrop into oblivion. These two have such great in-ring chemistry but watching Fuchi's hyper-aggressive onslaught is really something to behold.
  12. superkix
    This was fun -- quick, crisp, innovative. This was the first time I'd seen these either of these two wrestle and there was some neat offense like Kamaitachi's wrist-clutch dragon screws or Dragon Lee's roll-through Regal Plex. The legwork was whatever but it still played a decent role in the match and wasn't completely ignored, although Lee's selling could've added something. But as a high spot lucha match, this delivered.
  13. superkix
    As a spirited junior heavyweight-style match, this was fun stuff. Shingo is the king of bombz, and at the time, current Open the Dream Gate champion. I've always liked the fire and intensity he brings to the ring, whereas Mochizuki is the aging ring warrior here, and dang, he takes a thrashing from Shingo. Mochizuki wrestled smart, aware of the danger Shingo poses. The arm work was whatever -- limbwork goes nowhere in a DG match. Mochizuki's kicks on point and that tree-of-woe headlook looked real nasty. Shingo looked strong and his power movez looked legit, but this was the Mochizuki show, and his performace made Shingo look that much stronger. The finishing stretch where a frenzied Mochizuki is just trying to survive Shingo's relentless big offense was a definite highlight. He didn't let his age slow him down and brought everything. High energy, high emotion, one of the better DG matches I've seen.
  14. superkix
    This was one of the very first NOAH matches I remember seeing during my initial exposure to Japanese pro-wrestling and, at the time, my high school brain was like "whoooa, dude, what the hell did I just watch?". So having rewatched this, it's still a fun story with the young brash Jun Akiyama trying to dethrone King Kobashi with everything he's got and Kobashi...well, dropping Jun on his head a lot and Akiyama with the will to survive. It's long though, and you know, I struggle with overly long, thick matches. I really liked the opening with Kobashi trying to set the stage with chops and Akiyama doing a little swanky maneuvering where he can to turn the tide on Kobashi. Loved Akiyama’s driving elbows in the corner. Then we get Kobashi focusing on the neck, where he hits a cool front necklock deadlifted into a suplex, and Akiyama again turning the tide with a nasty dropkick to the knee before working over Kobashi's arm. But it's filler...well-executed, sure, but filler nonetheless. Soon, Kobashi is dumping him with a sleeper suplex or a half nelson suplex on the rampway. Then Akiyama comes back and hits an Exploder to Kobashi on the floor (sold like death by Kobashi) and tries to set-up for his front necklock finish. When Kobashi grabs the ropes immediately, Akiyama hits the wrist-clutch Exploder for a terrific nearfall. They're both obviously exhausted by this point in the match and I like how it played somewhat into the finish, with Kobashi collapsing into his pin attempts. Akiyama still trying to fight back even in the face of death was great, before Kobashi stuns him with the spinning backchop and destroys him with the Burning Hammer. A really good match, awesome in parts, with a good build and tons of bombs...but too long for my tastes.
  15. superkix
    This was a pretty fun match with a dominant Taue performance and kind of a shitty out-of-nowhere finish. He chokeslams Takayama early when Takayama tries the bullying tactics and Taue steps on the back of his head like the BIG DAWG. Then he DDTs him on the floor to try and set up an apron chokeslam, which sadly, doesn't happen. Takayama gets a little reprieve with an armbar and a PK but really, it's all about Taue's big boots and chokeslams and an impressive arm-trap suplex. But then Takyahama connects with a high kick to the head having no sold all of that big time Taue offense, and it's game over.
  16. superkix
    Hashimoto has such a presence and his "no fucks given" offense was perfect, as he hacks at Omori with chops and blasts him with stiff kicks. Big dumb surfer Omori sold the potential KO and has just enough to prevent the first brainbuster attempt, landing a lariat in the corner, a second for a two, following up with the dragon suplex hold for his only real nearfall of the match before Hash kicks him in the face and spikes him with brainbuster for the win. Short and pretty sweet.
  17. superkix
    Easily, one of the best tag matches of 2000, if not the best tag. It hits a lot of highs, never any lows, although there's a decent little plateau (mesa) in there at parts. Everyone had a role to play: Iizuka the tough underdog with a thing for sleepers, your asshole Uncle Fuchi, proud dad Nagata, and the man, Toshiaki Kawada. I really loved his messy mat scramble with Nagata to open their exchange before they start throwing each other at themselves with boots and elbows. Iizuka's on the rocks for much of the match, as Fuchi starts breaking him down at the knees and Kawada picks up where he left off with the stomping single leg crab. When he's got Iizuka in the bow-and-arrow, Fuchi pops in to stand on Iizuka's throat like a shithead. Iizuka gets bullied inside the ring, Nagata's bullied outside -- and some of his facials are incredible. At one point, it looks like he takes a little cat nap on the ring apron. On a whole, I think the exchanges between Nagata and Kawada could've used a little need a extra dab of Cholula, but whatever, it was fun. Really good selling from both Fuchi and Iizuka there at the end. There's stereo submissions from both teams, a dope dropkick to the knee by a stumbling Fuchi, and, and a final kick and face slap exchange between Nagata and Kawada to heat it up just before it cools down on the time limit draw. Draws are hard to pull off, especially tag draws, and I think this had it right for the most part.
  18. superkix
    A solid but middling first half builds to a hot backend as the gaijins start decimating Jumbo's lariat arm. Tenryu is great here as the spunky enziguiri-delivering punching bag, and the way he sells that lariat from Hansen is terrific. As they work over Jumbo, DiBiase sets up Jumbo for a "sliding lariat" from Hansen and while I liked the idea of it, the lariat misses as Jumbo's able to pull his arm away just in time. Not sure if it was intentional or just bad timing. Hansen clobbers Jumbo with a lariat and applies a crude but effective arm wrench of sorts. Tenryu's trying in vain to help his partner but DiBiase plays good enough defensive to bat him down long enough for the referee to call for the bell, awarding them the victory.
  19. superkix
    By now, Super Tiger is familiar with Fujiawa and knows he can’t take him on the ground so he doesn’t hold back with the kicks early on. Really terrific footwork from Tiger complimented by Fujiwara’s selling. Similar to their September match, Fujiwara is looking for that German suplex but Tiger’s able to take him down with a beautiful armbar takedown into the kimura. As brutal as Tiger’s kicks and knees are, Fujiwara’s striking is just as awesome, especially when he’s unloading on Tiger in the corner with relentless body blows. He locks in a grounded choke sleeper and Tiger’s hacking and gagging adds an organic component to the match. When Fujiwara tries for his signature armbar, Tiger freaks out and hustles to the ropes. Fujiwara continues focusing on the arm, forcing Tiger to exert his own energy to find a rope break and each break pisses Fujiwara off more and more, as he stomps and kicks at Tiger. Suplexes are thrown but the final minutes are the real meat-and-potatoes of the match, as Tiger is unremitting with his kicks. He stuns Fujiwara with the solebutt and when he lands that high kick to Fujiwara’s head, the crowd explodes. His kneedrops to the back of Fujiwara’s head are incredible and while Fujiwara is still fighting, trying to keep Tiger at bay, he’s beaten and exhausted and he seemingly sacrifices himself to hit that big headbutt. Tiger sinks his teeth in with those kicks and won’t let up, kicking and kicking until Fujiwara can’t fight back any longer. Terrific match, and very likely my favorite of the series.
  20. superkix
    This was fun. The opening exchange between Minoru and Murahama was what you'd expect and want, and they keep it up throughout the match. Minoru was good, Murahama was especially fiery, Liger was pumped up and got some good spots in. Even big dumb junior Makabe got some nice rolling German suplexes in but that was about it. Tsubasa got to fly around a bit and do his thing, mixing it up with Liger. Nothing blow away but a solid and perfectly fun interpromotional six-man.
  21. superkix
    This was fine. Minoru sold the leg well enough but AKIRA mostly blew off Minoru's counter legwork for his spots. As mentioned, the dueling dropkicks, etc. were bad and although the crowd was into it, it was hard for me to get into it without the context of the first 6 minutes.
  22. superkix
    The boys from the Sportiva Dojo spar it out in HARD HIT, the last vestige of shoot-style in Japan. This was like 6:00 minutes long and it ruled. Fuminori Abe's slick as cat shit on linoleum against Koji Iwamoto, in his ground defense, his counters, his speed and transitions. Iwamoto's able to snag him with an armbar and when Abe tries to fancy his way out of it, Iwamoto shows good control, keeping him check. Love Abe's arm drag takedown and when Iwamoto takes him down with an STO, Abe turns it into a hammerlock, trapping the arm with his leg in order to flip him over into a guillotine check. It's awesome. The striking doesn't get to heavy and Iwamoto uses a little uranage slam but this is mostly a struggle for submissions, and after Iwamoto hits the judo throw from out of nowhere, he cinches in the scarf hold for the tap out.
  23. superkix
    We're back! Here's the direct LINK! https://fightingnetworkfriends.podiant.co/e/362256f3b2450a/ to stream, or subscribe to the RSS feed. You can also search us on Apple Podcasts. FNF 014: RINGS in '93 Pt. 1 (and Matt Riddle's BLOODSPORT) Episode 14. FIGHTING NETWORK RINGS IN 1993 Pt. 1 After ALMOST a month, Andy likes wrestling again! And of course that means we have watched and are covering the 3rd year of RINGS here. Andy & Brennan discuss January-July of 1993 for the FIGHTING NETWORK in which we see Volk Han become one mean dude. In the third segment we drop the "4 match" thing we usually do briefly go over Matt Riddle's BLOODSPORT that took place over Wrestlemania Weekend 2018, a show both dudes really liked. Topics discussed: FOOD Traveling Quintet Oh shit, FNF has a SHIRT coming out (follow us on social media) RINGS RINGS RINGS No Maeda, Volk Han, Dick Vrij, Andrei Kopilov, a million dope ass Europeans and Mitsuya Nagai and Masayuki Naruse as the babyface team we need. BLOODSPORT includes Hot Sauce &Kingston, Gage & Thatcher, Walter & Lawlor and Riddle taking on our king, Minoru Suzuki. KUMITE KUMITE Youtube Playlist: http://tinyurl.com/fnf014 Follow us on Twitter: @fightfriends @trillyrobinson @bren_patrick Email at: [email protected] Instagram: @fightnetworkfriends Youtube at: http://tinyurl.com/FightFriends
  24. superkix
    The first match in their series. They're obviously still developing the "UWF shoot-style" as this felt mostly pro-wrestling but it's still a great match. Fujiwara sticks like a magnet to Tiger’s arm through the first half of the match, countering Tiger’s offense or executing his own piece of offense before promptly going back to the arm. Tiger realizes he’s not going to be able to take Fujiwara on the mat so he switches to shoot kicks but Fujiwara catches a foot and takes him down with the dragon screw legwhip, immediately going back to the arm. There’s some dirty slaps, nasty high kicks to the heads, and some great piledrivers from Fujiwara, including a counter to the triangle and a Gotch-style variation. Tiger gets a chain of offense, which includes kicks and a jumping tombstone but he can’t follow-up with the dive, allowing Fujiwara to take over again on offense. Fujiwara abandons the armwork in favor of attacking Tiger’s legs to weaken the kicks. Throughout the match, he keeps trying for the German suplex as a finish but Tiger is able to evade it up through the end of the match, ultimately submitting Fujiwara with the crossface chickenwing.
  25. superkix
    Kerry’s a Texas boy and wrestles that American-style to a capital T but it works well against jumbo babyface Tsuruta. It takes a minute for them to find their footing but the first fall had its moments. The double arm suplex struggle, with Kerry backing toward the ropes but Jumbo delivering it anyway or Kerry trying for the Iron Claw with Jumbo writhing on the mat, pushing back. Once Kerry sets Jumbo up on the top turnbuckle, things get a little more heated with Kerry shoving Jumbo and Jumbo responding in kind. After a beautiful enziguri, Jumbo pins Kerry following the backdrop suplex. He comes out at the start of the second fall clubbing and punching, busting Kerry open with a right-hand. He blocks Kerry’s punch and smacks him, then he starts unloading on him in the corner and the ref’s trying to pull him away but fuck it, Jumbo’s fired up and the crowd’s firmly behind him. Kerry makes his comeback after a piledriver, delivering the Tornado Punch + Iron Claw combo, and while Jumbo struggles against it, Kerry ultimately pins him to even the score...but he doesn’t let go. Fantastic selling from Jumbo as the young boys pour water on his head and he’s headbutting the canvas. This third fall starts out great, with Jumbo targeting Terry’s claw hand, stomping it, slamming it against every part of the ring, eventually working in a cross armbreaker. The finishing stretch kind of falls off the rails as they trade offense and Jumbo applies a random crab hold. Kerry locks in the Iron Claw on the outside but Jumbo can’t make it into the ring before the count. He thinks he’s won but Joe Higuchi is like “no way, sir, put your arm down.” I’m not a big Kerry fan but this was fun and cool environment to see him work in.
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