Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

superkix

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1552

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by superkix

  1. superkix
    I watched this match a few weeks ago, really liked it, re-watched this match last night, loved it. I mean, it's bati-bati in Big Japan, with Abe putting on one of his best singles performances to date and, at times, overshadowing Nomura. Abe's awareness shines through early on, as he rolls through the snapmare to prevent the typical "I kick your back" spot that he did to Nomura. Loved that. His strategy is simple: keep Nomura on the ground. That's arguably Nomura's weak spot, his matwork, and Abe's able to stay on his leg, taking him to the ropes a couple of times. Nomura will get in a slap or a kick here, and he's able to catch an Abe kick and plant him with the capture suplex before going into the armbar. But just as Nomura starts heating up his strikes, Abe counters with a beautiful legscrew. In the last few minutes, they start laying in the hard strikes -- the punches, kicks, slaps, elbows -- both showing exhaustion as they stumble around the ring, lunging into their strikes. Very cool match worked in a style that is rarely worked these days.
  2. superkix
    Solid tag match, made better with a hot crowd who really got behind Makabe in the backhalf. I liked the legwork on Liger that set up Makabe's big shine, as he comes in and German suplexes Kanemoto off the ankle hold and starts to build momentum from there. I mean, the finishing stretch was the real highlight of the match, with Makabe a medium-sized house of fire with all his suplexes and nearfalls, and Minoru going to town with his stiff kicks and getting the flash armbar submission. Fun stuff.
  3. superkix
    Murahama had a pretty damn good debut year in 2000 Osaka Pro and by the following year, he's challenging the dreamy new Japan junior ace for the the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. This was a really good match and a culmination of everything Murahama had picked up on during his rookie year, with some solid groundwork. For the most part, the early goings are evenly-matched and Minoru's got his working boots laced tight for this, with a little extra salsa thrown into his kicks. At one point, they're both struggling over a leglock, slapping each other in the face, until Murahama smartens up, ducks, and tries to take control of the leg but Minoru ends up taking him to the ropes. And then he proceeds to throw him with an awesomely scary Saito suplex. Loved Murahama's surprise high kick to the head when he re-enters the ring. The crowd was super into the nearfalls in the backhalf of the match and Minoru surprisingly busts himself open off a headbutt. A great showing from Murahama and an impressive performance from Minoru.
  4. superkix
    The disdain between Ishikawa and Murakami permeates throughout the whole match, whereas Malenko and Taira are, more or less, left to their own devices, even into the finish, where Malenko has Taira in the crossface hold and Murakami's more concerned with staring down Ishikawa then breaking up the submission. Murakami promptly jumping Ishikawa at the start of the match and Ishikawa catches him with the deadlift German was great. The work on the mat between them is aggressive, with Ishikawa clawing Murakami's face when he tries to block the headbutts. The stuff between Taira and Malenko was a lot of fun, with Malenko showing off with takedowns and transitions, and Taira blasting him with knees and kicks for knockdowns. One thing I really like about Malenko is the way he sinks into submission holds. The outside stuff between Ishikawa and Murakami ruled -- I mean, Murakami hunking his mouthguard at Ishikawa, come on. And in the end, they're too busy mean mugging each other to care about Malenko's sweet submission finish. Lots to love on here.
  5. superkix
    Yone sucks on the mat but he does manage a nasty high kick and I like his pumphandle bomb>single leg crab combo. But man, Otsuka is on another level entirely, suplexing Yone whenever he gets a chance, hitting his own variation on the Steiner Screwdriver at one point into a rear naked choke. He takes Yone's Muscle Buster but it isn't enough to keep him down before he KOs Yone with the dragon suplex. What a stud.
  6. superkix
    This was pretty fun. I mean, Nagai's a good little shitkicker and his strength is obviously in his kicks and knee strikes. Otsuka's able to get in a couple of deadlift suplexes but really, this was him trying to find a way to submit Nagai. Loved the big spinning heel kick from Nagai and his stiff flurry of kicks that ends in a shot to Otsuka's head. Otsuka takes the punishment but finds the submission in the end.
  7. superkix
    Pretty much in line with Tim's thoughts. I thought it was funny that Matsunaga basically no sold most of Otsuka's offense until Otsuka German suplexes him. Loved Otsuka's dive to the outside and Matsunaga working over the hand with the fork or whatever it was. And I agree that Otsuka is definitely one of the most versatile wrestlers I've seen. He's kind of a freak worker in that sense and his matches rarely feel like retread territory.
  8. superkix
    Loved this. Loved Fuchi saying "you can't cheapshot me, asshole" and backdropping Chono before Chono has to cool off outside the ring and commiserate with his Team 2000 homies. Chono is limited, sure, but he makes the most of his dickheaded-ness here and manages to piss off Wada in the process. But really, this is Fuchi's performance. Him putting Chono into the corner and riding him like a surfboard was great -- I mean, Chono pretty much no sells most of Fuchi's offense but Fuchi's final rally was good stuff. Firing off the two backdrops for his biggest nearfall of the match, only to get lowblowed on the third attempt but refusing to go down. He makes the ropes on the STF and survives two back-to-back Yakuza kicks but the third one puts him away and it looked pretty nasty.
  9. superkix
    This kind of match...this is my bread-and-butter. A 12-minute ditty with Mashimo working like he's too good to be in the same ring as little Nohashi, who puts on a fun underdog performance. The strikes are stiff, the matwork engaging, and the camera is...uh, adequate. Mashimo starts with these condescending bald head slaps before they scramble around the mat, with Nohashi trying to hold his own. After a good hard kick to the ribs, Mashimo muscles Nohashi up with a deadlift gutwrench suplex and keeps peppering him with the knees and kicks (including an ASS KICK) until Nohashi stops his momentum with a big headbutt. Mashimo is quick to recover, utilizing a crisp takedown into the double wristlock, but Nohashi is able to cut him down with a leg trip, stomping at his face and head before turning him over into the single leg crab. He transitions from the single leg>STF>rear naked choke but Mashimo's able to exert more pressure, turning the hold against him. Finally, Nohashi unloads with some absolutely nasty headbutts (including a running headbutt), bloodying himself in the process. He hits a backdrop suplex, an awesome top rope basement dropkick, and goes right back to the choke. But in the end, he can't hang on and after powering out, Mashimo hits the brainbuster and high kick to the head to KO Nohashi.
  10. superkix
    This was little more than a Volk Han exhibition but it was a fun one, and while Gotchev isn't near Han's level on the ground, he does throw in a few surprises here and there, including a few cool suplex slams. But he's mostly trying to avoid getting snagged. When Han takes over on the mat, he gets to show off why he’s Volk Han. He snags him with a beautiful leg-trap armbar, an inverted facelock, and then wrings the arm and blasts him with that rear facelock>elbow combo. At one point, Gotchev is able to catch him in a choke sleeper off a missed attempt but Han works his way out of the hold and transitions into like a stump puller hold. The back end of the match isn't as compelling but Han is still able to pull out the flying legscissors and his final submission was neat -- almost like a cravat with the arm trapped alongside Gotchev's head and neck.
  11. superkix
    The best worked rounds match in RINGS thus far, with Yamamoto showing off future Yamamoto on the mat, dominating the first three rounds by grabbing the shit out of limbs with armbars, kneebars, face...bars...locks. Kakuta can't do much to counter it either. He has zero chance on the ground so in the fourth round, he starts whipping out the hard kicks to take Yamamoto out at the knees. Into the fifth, he really starts rocking him with shots to the head while still targeting the knees. After some confusion, they give them a final round and it's mostly Yamamoto on the run from Kakuta's leg kicks.
  12. superkix
    Oh boy, Sousserov could fill the void left behind by Willie Peeters in 1992. He's the Soviet version of Guile from Street Fighter. He's all about 80's jumping roundhouse kicks and suplex slams. Nagai, in true scrappy underdog fashion, comes flying in with these big wheel kicks, completely missing the mark. He mainly hangs on Sergei's leg throughout the match, taking him to the ropes a few times. Loved his shoot STF. This definitely could've been a 10 minute "classic" but it drags out sluggishly to 17:29. Sergei's takedowns aren't as effective and Nagai continues going after the leg before going to town with the knee strikes, kneeing Sergei in the face for the KO.
  13. superkix
    This was a lot of fun. Petkov, the giant toddler, absorbs Maeda’s early kicks to throw him around with suplexes but Maeda keeps coming with the knees and kicks until Petkov takes him down with an ipponzeoi and locks in the Anaconda Vice on the ground. Awesome. At one point during the match, Petkov picks Maeda up, carries him around the ring, and then slams him down before going into a single leg crab hold. He's such a big baby. Then he goads Maeda to kick him, only to catch a kick and fling him down hard. Maeda's always good at overcoming the size disadvantage and makes it compelling enough here. The finishing submission was neat, with Maeda trapping the leg and arm, preventing Petkov from reaching the ropes.
  14. superkix
    Here's the direct link. https://fightingnetworkfriends.podiant.co/e/35f56c0a1ffc4a/ to stream, or subscribe to the RSS feed. You can also search us on Apple Podcasts. FNF 011: A Couple Of Loud Mouths Talkin' Big Mouth Loud Andy and Brennan enter their second decade here by taking a slight departure and bidding the RH Archive goodbye while taking a look at the first Big Mouth Loud show from 9/11/2005 We also have some real bangers in the 3rd segment. Topics discussed: Oklahoma, Chicken-Fried Steak and Arkansas Andy's fancy dope as hell Valentine's Dinner RH Archive, Tetsujin episode next week, GWWE Big Mouth Loud Illusion The Super J Cup, Big Bubba Rogers, BARBED WIRE KICKPADS, Takehiro Murahama & More Matches: The whole BML show is on Youtube and in our playlist. 4/16/94 - NJPW Super J Cup - Great Sasuke Vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 4/20/01 - NJPW - Minoru Tanaka Vs. Takehiro Murahama 9/29/93 - AJPW - Big Bubba, Steve Williams & Richard Slinger Vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama 8/29/98 - BattlArts - Katsumi Usuda Vs. Ryuji Yamakawa Youtube Playlist: http://tinyurl.com/fnf009 Follow us on Twitter: @fightfriends @trillyrobinson @bren_patrick Email at: [email protected] Instagram: @fightnetworkfriends Youtube at: http://tinyurl.com/FightFriends
  15. superkix
    This match is a lesson in why you don’t piss off Han. He opens with the spinning backhand and you know he’s about to get to work on the mat. Maeda continues to show off his own improved mat skills. When he’s not defending against the relentless Han with his flying legscissors, he’ll get fancy with an arm drag into a head scissors or grab a single leg crab, in which the crowd collectively lose their shit. When Maeda starts in with the kicks, Han mostly weathers the storm trying to play catch…but Maeda keeps kick kick kicking at Han’s leg. All those kicks to the leg finally piss off Han, who says “cut it out” by smacking the shit out of Maeda. With Han spent and pissy, the match becomes a sluggish war of attrition but the finish was something else. Maeda shakes Volk’s hand just before he high kicks him in the head for the TKO. What a dick. Not quite at the level of their second match but a strong way to cap off their series.
  16. superkix
    A slow burn with Nagata mostly controlling with the legwork, which I thought worked well here, with Sasaki just trying to power through the pain but still acknowledging the targeted leg. I like when Nagata is trying to hack out the leg with kicks and Sasaki is just clubbing him with lariats. Whenever he deviates from the normal clobbering approach, it usually backfires. He tries for the Sharpshooter and Nagata counters with the leglock and again, when he starts using kicks, Nagata is able to catch him in the reverse figure four. Sasaki didn't oversell but he also didn't undersell, which I can appreciate. In the end, he has to rely on the power to beat Nagata, hitting the lariat and the Northern Lights Bomb to finish him off. Pretty good stuff.
  17. superkix
    Hell yeah, this was a lot of fun. I loved the sleeper hold teases throughout, with the crowd really buzzing anytime Iizuka tried for it. Nagata breaking out of the first attempt and wagging his finger at Iizuka was so good. After a backdrop, Nagata puts Iizuka in the sleeper and Iizuka answers with the crossface hold, before he starts tossing Nagata with Exploders. The final little tango of Iizuka going after the sleeper and Nagata being able to evade it was perfect, ending with Nagata finally catching him in the crossface hold for the win. Real good stuff.
  18. superkix
    I liked this more than the Yakushuji match but it doesn't quite hit the highs of the first two Hoshikawa match-ups or the Delphin match. For the most part, I enjoyed them scrambling around the mat, trying to find some leverage. I really liked Murahama's counter to the capture suplex and him maintaining control of the arm after Hoshikawa tries to powerbomb out of the triangle. They throw some great suplexes and land a few dirty head kicks, all of which are sold rather sparingly. Love babyfaced Matsui's concern while Hoshikawa struggles in the sleeper hold. The finishing stretch is kind of a mess but the desperation by Murahama to pick up the win was a fun thread to follow.
  19. superkix
    This was alright. There was definitely some awkwardness to this and some weird delayed selling from Yakushuji but he also managed to keep it entertaining with some of his out-of-nowhere dives or spin kicks. And at one point, he kills Murahama with a release German suplex that seemed unexpected, trying to follow that up with the Anaconda Vice. Not Murahama's best performance but still a decent enough showing.
  20. superkix
    This was similar to Kopilov’s match against Han in that it was more or less a stalemate on the mat. But it was fun seeing Maeda go to the mat early on, and I thought the struggle and defense on the ground was well-executed. Where this match excels over the match with Han is Maeda's character work. He's such a good babyface-in-peril when he needs to be and I loved the drama from him as he's trying to get to the ropes when Kopilov snags him with the kimura. Kopilov’s terrific on the mat, trying to tie Maeda into knots, until eventually Maeda says “fuck the matwork” and starts picking up knockdowns with his strikes -- big open-hand slaps to the face, kicks, and knees. But Kopilov wants to finish this where it started, and after another tussle on the mat, Maeda’s able to pry open the armbar for the submission victory.
  21. superkix
    Loved this match. Such an awesome dynamic between the heavy cyborg striker in Vrij and the submission specialist in Han, with the perfect build and set-up to the finish. It plays on the strengths of both dudes, and is sort of a personal dream match of mine from when I first started watching RINGS. Han knows what Vrij’s all about and immediately tries to submit him with the kneebar and keeps dragging him back to the middle of the ring. But once he’s back on his feet, Vrij goes hard with the strikes, cracking Han with kicks to the hamstring and brutal knees whenever Han tries for the double leg takedowns. On the ground, however, Han rules and he once again utilizies his legs in unique ways to try and pry open an armbar on Vrij. Vrij can't really hang with him on the mat.. He’ll hack out one of Han’s legs with kicks but he's unable to follow up with a submission. Even when he works in a head scissors, Han is able to turn it against him and force him to the ropes. By the end of the match, they’re both exhausted, they’ve used up all their outs and it’s down to the last submission or knockdown. Vrij swings for the fences with a high kick but Han’s able to catch it, spoiling Vrij’s homerun with a calf hold to submit him.
  22. superkix
    A swanky Zaza exhibition, with plenty of headscissor usage, cool takedowns and transitions, and...well, shitty striking but that's okay, because everything else works. Koba doesn't quite have Zaza's finesse but his rawness works well against Zaza. I mean, at one point, he press slams him into the turnbuckle. The action heats up heading into the finishing stretch, with Koba using a neat armwhip takedown before Grom dumps him with a throw and cinches in a terrific full nelson hold for the submission. Fun stuff.
  23. superkix
    Andrei's the rick to Volk's roll. He throws heavier kicks than Han but Han is able to weather the storm, slam him down, and work his way into a leglock, smartly maneuvering toward the middle of the ring to keep Andrei from the ropes. More often than not, however, they end up tangled together in these dueling submission predicaments. Han will trap Andrei’s head and neck with his feet, trying to pry him open in order to cinch in a hold, but then they’ll be fighting over a leglock and end up rolling into the ropes, which the crowd really laps up. While it’s mostly a stalemate on the mat, Han is able to apply an awesome hammerlock front choke, then he starts wringing the arm around and takes him down into a crossface hold. It picks up toward the end with Han landing a couple of spinning backhands but after Kopilov catches him with a boot to the gut, he’s able to snag him by the ankle to pick up the upset submission. I enjoyed this but I can see why others may have been a little let down.
  24. superkix
    This was short and semi-sweet. Scott looks like such a dope with his mullet and singlet but when he comes out hot and heavy with the palm thrusts and knees, he becomes more of an asskicker dope. I thought there was good struggle on the mat, even though Yamazaki looked like he was going through the motions at times, and I liked Scott's out-of-nowhere backdrop into the elevated single leg crab. Yamazaki adds a little spicy mustard to his kicks toward the end, and Scott trying to build momentum to the German was cool, only to get German suplexed in turn and choked out with the front guillotine.
  25. superkix
    Pretty good stuff here, with a lot of back-and-forth early on, Vader clobbering and Mutoh handspringing around like Vader's clubbing blows aren't all that powerful. I liked when Mutoh was fighting back with these great lunging elbows before he heats up with a chain of offense, including the moonsault. Vader catching the handspring with a German uranage was a definite highlight and later, using the closed fists to get some heat from the fans. The finishing stuff was kind of sloppy -- they had to re-do the backslide spot and Mutoh was Mutoh, so you get no selling for the sake of signatures. But whatever, this was fun.
×
×
  • Create New...