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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

This sets the stages for two of the biggest feuds in early UWF between Tiger/Fujiwara and Takada/Maeda. Fujiwara is the man here and he makes everyone look money, between his grappling and bridging dance off with Takada or his headbutt barrage to Tiger. Super Tiger is motivated and angsty with kicks. There’s a great spot where he’s laying into Maeda with kicks and goes for the kneedrop, shifting gears midair when Maeda rolls through to his feet to land a solebutt. Maeda is not the standout here for obvious reasons but he does hit a powerbomb! The second half picks up on the offensive front with piledrivers, headbutts (diving and otherwise), and suplexes galore. Takada brings the fire out of Fujiwara after paintbrushing him with slaps and Fujiwara carries that flame through to the finish, pinning Takada with the low bridging German suplex hold.

Holy shit, this match…if you can even call it that. It was the Texas Chainsaw Massacre without the chainsaws. Hansen is a relentless killer, beating the pulp out of Terry with his nasty knees, hard chops, and clobbering punches. The way he repeatedly bashes Terry’s face into the corner turnbuckle or those kneedrops where he just sits on Funk’s head. Terry put on the performance of a lifetime putting Hansen over as a monster. Even when he gets in little bits of offense, like that bodyslam, he sells the immensity of Hansen. He works in this almost despairing way, chopping at Hansen’s knee, trying to get him on the ground so he can work the leg and set up the spinning toehold. But with each attempt, Hansen boots his way out of it, at one point busting Terry open with clubbing shot. Once Terry’s bleeding like a stuck pig, the match transitions into a gritty horror film, with Hansen looming blood-spattered over Terry. There’s a final glimmer of hope as Funk tries once more for the spinning toehold but Hansen proves to be too much to contain and atomic drops Funk onto the ropes. The finish…or lack thereof is scary. Hansen follows Terry out of the ring with the turnbuckle cord in hand and drags Terry back to the ring with the cord round his throat, only to continue beating the shit out of him. The Japanese fans are freaking out as their beloved Amarillo son appears near death the way he’s strung up by the turnbuckle cord. Hansen doesn’t let up, despite the referee throwing out the match, until Dory Funk Jr. makes the save looking like an Enterprise Rental Car manager. A fantastically brutal beat down and one of Terry’s career-high performances.

This was fun, although I think I preferred Nakanoue's performance in the title match more...but Daichi definitely looked more like a champion here. Still don't really care for him though. Nakanoue is super over right now and I can't wait to see the semi-final against Hideki Suzuki, considering their heated feud from summer 2016.

I think I enjoyed their match from the 2016 CC more but this one was probably the best match in the tournament so far. Kind of losing interest in Miyahara though, and I'm enjoying the Strong Climb way more.

This was fine. I liked the opening mat exchanges between Katsumi/Hijikata and Ishikawa/Malenko before it settles into a house show tag. Usuda and Malenko threw some hard kicks, Ishikawa got his usuals in, and the finish was pretty cool, with Malenko using a double arm facebreaker to set up the facelock submission on Ishikawa.

An all-time memorable performance from the “retiring” Terry Funk, with a molten hot Japanese crowd firmly behind him and his brother. The teams start brawling before the young boys can even clear the ring of streamers and there’s a great lariat tease from Hansen with Terry hanging onto the ropes like a squirrel or something. Dory goes a good job playing the FIP early on, trying in vain to punch his way to freedom only to get beaten down by Hansen and Gordy. Quick tags in and out as they wear down the elder Funk brother and at one point, Terry chooses to attack Gordy in the ring, costing him the opportunity to tag in. But when Terry’s in there, that's when the magic happens, with his drunken staggering about and shuffling jabs. Hansen chomps down on his forehead, busting him open, and then he starts destroying Terry’s knee with assistance from Gordy. Terry’s despondent selling is incredible, whether it’s hopping around on one leg, jabbing at Gordy or grabbing Gordy’s hair to avoid the spinning toehold, crawling away toward his corner. Loved the finish, with Terry trying to stand up to get away from Gordy’s top rope splash, managing to just barely roll out of the way before connecting with the sunset flip from the top for the victory. Post-match, a pissed off Hansen continues attacking Terry and lariating young boys before they’re able to finally subdue him.

A pretty good back-and-forth contest and the most dominant Murahama has looked against, not only Delphin, but in general. The opening mat exchange was neat before Murahama takes over on offense and works the arm for a spell. It's a wash as they flip-flop on offense, Murahama fucks up a dive attempt and has to rewind and repeat, and then they bust out the big signatures for some nearfalls. Murahama tries attacking the arm again late in the match but Delphin blows it off, hits a few DDTs and the Delphin Special for the pinfall. Definitely preferred their "shoot" match to this. This was fine but just a exhibition-y match with Murahama getting more control.

Miyahara/Nomura always have good chemistry together. James Rydeen still sucks though.

In many ways, the final title match between Fujinami and Choshu mirrored their very first contest. Fujinami is once again the proud company champion and Choshu the unpredictable outsider. However, at this chapter in their rivalry, the bigger story arc has already been told and the in-ring work now feels run down and uninspired, and unfortunately, the chapter ends with a shit double countout. Choshu and his Ishingun boys take care of Inoki before the bell and at times, the camera seems more interested in what’s happening to Inoki then what Choshu and Fujinami are doing in the ring. It’s the same well-tread structure, with the two working the mat for dominance, the old heat ups and cool downs, the frenzied interactions during offensive runs. I liked Fujinami’s armwork in execution but it was merely filler as the sasori-gatame once again becomes the hold of holds. When Choshu’s finally able to put it on in the end, it’s poorly applied and unconvincing as a possible means to Fujinami’s end. Instead, the match and the feud over the WWF International Heavyweight title ends on account of a weak double count out finish.

This, in my opinion, is the most complete match of the series. While the line of tension threading these matches has been strained throughout, it finally snaps in what was perhaps the most heated and evenly-contested encounter. Fujinami’s sense of purpose was a constant source of strength as he tries to overwhelm the slower, more prone to frustration champion. The sooner Choshu can end this, the better, but when he tries to open with a lariat, Fujinami hangs on the ropes in avoidance. He’s finally got Choshu’s number. Fujinami’s able to counter and reverse a lot of the champ’s early offense, once again trying to find a way to beat Choshu with the same sasori-gatame that cost him the previous match. When that doesn’t work, Fujinami tries to end it with the figure-four leglock but Choshu is able to once again fight through the submission attempt, the action spilling it to the outside and chaos ensuing. One of the recurring themes of this series has been the chaotic nature of their exchanges, and that’s once again prevalent here as they rebound off one another like pinballs. Fujinami emerges crimson-masked only for Choshu to suplex him back into the ring. Here, overcome with exhaustion, Fujinami gives his strongest selling performance of the entire series. After Choshu inadvertently takes out the ref, Fujinami hooks him with a nasty-looking lariat but doesn’t have the gas in the tank to follow up. The finishing stretch is red-hot and full of great dramatic moments -- stuff like Choshu pointing at his foot on the rope after a suplex and the aggravation that follows as Fujinami peppers him with slaps. Or Fujinami dumping Choshu to the outside on a lariat attempt only to get himself tangled in the ropes, unable to capitalize. But from the start, Fujinami has wanted it more and in the end, he’s able to thwart Choshu’s finishing blow, sending him into the ring post and hitting that crowd-popping enziguri. I loved the countout victory for the frustrated Fujinami, backdropping Choshu on the floor after having been unable to pin him or submit him in the ring.

Having grown accustomed to one another’s style and offense, the fourth match in their series feels more like a game of strategy. There are little things that occur to add depth to the bigger story, like Fujinami now hooking his leg to prevent Choshu’s habitual backdrop counter, or the way Choshu is able to slip out of the bow-and-arrow attempt. While Choshu wrestles seemingly off the cuff, Fujinami primarily targets Choshu’s leg with the figure-four leglock and rolling legbars. Fujinami goes all out here to regain his title, suplexing Choshu from the top rope and even utilizing Riki’s own signature offense. When he hits that lariat and puts on the sasori-gatame, the crowd goes bananas but Fujinami’s ego won’t let up, even after Choshu has made it to the ropes. Fujinami’s attitude costs him the match as the referee disqualifies him but he’s still not releasing Choshu’s hold. Meanwhile, all hell breaks loose in the ring around them as shirts come off and lion cubs get mauled.

Choshu now parades that champion’s confidence and immediately tries to hammer home the nail in the coffin but Fujinami avoids the lariat and cools Riki off with a figure-four leglock. At one point, Fujinami gets cheeky and tries to apply Choshu’s sasori-gatame but Riki smacks him in the face as if to bring him back down to earth. The selling here by Choshu is great as he hangs close to the ropes, limping about and forcing the referee’s hand. The pace of the match downshifts as they jockey for position on the mat but business picks up again when the hot-tempered Choshu starts putting the boots to Fujinami’s leg. Fujinami’s able to catch a foot and take him down with the dragon screw legwhip, transitioning into a front mount and slapping away. There’s an unintentionally laughable spot where Fujinami misses the dropkick and Choshu calmly walks over and suplexes him. He alternates between attempting the sasori-gatame and suplexing Fujinami, the two rivals more or less throwing themselves at each other in a blue collar ballet. Choshu counters the sleeper with a backdrop suplex and he’s able to lock in the sasori-gatame, hitting a couple of lariats before re-applying it. Again, that frustration over Fujinami not submitting rears its ugly head and Choshu slams Tatsumi on the guardrail, tying him up and retaining the title via countout. Fujinami tries going after Choshu after the match but the champ is able to skid by. Really good stuff.

Energetically, Choshu is at his peak in the series, knowing full well if he wants to beat Fujinami, he has to keep a little fire burning through the match. He explodes at the sound of the bell and collides with Fujinami on a lariat attempt. The two take a bit to gather themselves but even after that initial contact, Fujinami is still working with that champion’s air, goading Riki on with slaps as if discrediting him as a threat, a mistake that comes back to haunt him. Choshu has some good takedowns early on as he tries to keep Fujinami under control, working to set up the sasori-gatame. Fujinami plays defense to avoid the hold but once Riki hits the backdrop suplex, he’s got the champion in a tough spot, pulling him back to the middle of the ring after a rope break and re-applying the deathlock hold. Choshu’s aggravation is obvious here over Fujinami refusing to submit and the action becomes a little more desperate, the crowd fully invested at this point. Riki’s able to hit the lariat on the outside but Fujinami delivers the German suplex hold back in the ring for a nearfall. They seem to have each other scouted heading toward the finish but Choshu nails Fujinami with another lariat out of nowhere to score the victory and the title! Fujinami’s in disbelief at the result and having underestimated Choshu.

In their first match-up, Fujinami is the assertive champion, rushing Choshu out of the gate with strikes and tossing him out of the ring, as if dismissing the challenge and Choshu’s credibility. He still maintains that spitfire energy that made him such an exciting junior heavyweight and Choshu is a bit more hesitant and methodical. What this match represents is a long feeling out process, as the two fight over holds, at times almost bumbling along with little to no selling and that lack of familiarity seen in subsequent contests. The end result is a double count out but Choshu continues attacking Fujinami’s leg after the match, setting the stage for their rematch the following year.