superkix

Hashimikov is able to show off some dad power with several suplex throws, and Miyato is chippy with his strikes, but there really isn't enough there to draw me in. I love that the Russians have started using the Sharpshooter. But when that doesn't work, Salman uses the traditional armbar to win it. Nothing too exciting.

Muffintop Mark Silver is back, his knee is still injured, and he doesn't last a minute in there against Takayama when he takes a kick to said injured knee. Story of his UWFi career. Not good.

Is this Bad News' best UWFi match thus far? Maybe. It kicks off with a bang, and Kanehara flying in with the knee to knock Allen off his feet. Allen is still bad news but he manages a few strong takedowns and used both the regular crab and single-leg variant. On the other hand, Kanehara is able to land some high kicks and gets a close call with an armbar counter but Bad News finishes strong. Pretty fun match, all things considered.

UWFi tags are clunky but this had some pretty great moments, especially the stuff between Anjo and Zagiev, with Anjo trying to be sly and Zangiev realizing that, and responding accordingly. He demonstrates this a little later on when Anjo's trying to roll out of holds and Zagiev rolls right with him to keep him pinned down. Hashimikov doesn't have the finesse of Zangiev but he's good kick fodder for Yamazaki and Anjo. At one point, he does use a shoot-style Sharpshooter...of sorts. But Zangiev is the major attraction here and his kip up escape is a real crowd pleaser. I like that Yamazaki countered his rolling takedowns with a rear choke sleeper, and then later, Yamazaki trying to sneak in the German on the ropes was great. Anjo being a dick to Hashimikov in the ropes and then Zangiev in the corner is why Anjo is so good in these matches. Zangiev using the rolling cattle mutilation into the wakigatame was a dope finish. Fun stuff.

This was perfectly decent, with plenty of feisty strikes from Takayama, a couple of cool suplexes, and competitive, back-and-forth action with a little slop thrown in. I liked the finish from Billy, with the dragon screw into the single leg crab, and he got a big reaction from the fans.

A whatever match, with Kanehara on the kicks and submissions, and Burton trying to suplex. But he doesn't get much of anything in terms of offense and he's definitely not stiffing Kanehara like he was Sakuraba. Kanehara wins with an armbar. Nothing special.

I thought this was okay. Albright isn’t that exciting when he isn’t clubbing and suplexing, so the stuff on the ground early on felt very long. I liked the direction it took with Takada breaking him down at the leg - the spot where Albright tries to roll him up for a German suplex and Takada holds onto the leg was great. Takada switching to the arm gave Albright the opening he needed to German suplex Takada but it isn't his standard murder suplex. And no chance in hell Takada is taking the dragon suplex but he nearly kills Albright with a suplex of his own. Some of Takada kicks and knees looked good, but there wasn't that same sense of urgency like the Takada/Vader matches, and sure, the crowd helped, but the finishing stretch was forgettable.

This is the first 2020 match I've seen since February? I don't know. It's two guys I like and they put on a perfectly solid match in a weird atmosphere. Suzuki’s forearm shots after the maniacal laugh were the best part of that very long opening strike exchange. Suzuki's strikes in general are so much more snug than Nagata's. I liked him stomping on Nagata's head back inside the ring but the shenanigans outside. Some okay submission work followed by another prolonged strike exchange leading to that quick finish, which was fun. Nagata's the true blue.

A vanilla King Takada match but at least Lydick manages a few good takedowns. But he can't do much against the boss so he sells extra big for the final few kicks. Meh.

Your typical Albright suplex affair coupled with Anjo's shitty antics? Yeah, okay, I can get behind this. Anjo's trying to get him on mat, where his best shot of winning lies, but Gary is just too Gary to let that happen. It isn't long before we get to the belly-to-bellies, but then Anjo counters the full nelsonw the wakigatame. I thought Anjo's bulldog-style takedown into the rear choke was very cool. But you get the feeling Albright wants to murder this guy, and he does...with the dragon suplex.

This ramped toward the end but the slow start hurts it. Business picked up when Nakano dumped Yamazaki with the dragon suplex, and again, best snap suplex in the business that leads to a rear choke. Yamazaki's kicks get real snappy during the finish stretch and I loved his legsweep into the kneebar to set up the finish. Not a great match but some cool moments.

Another fun Zagiev exhibition. You watch Gary Albright for the suplex showcase, and Victor Zangiev provides all the catch-as-catch-can highlights. Everything from the airplane spin and bow and arrow hold, to the swanky escapes, slick trips, and cool transitions. He even cranks Miyato with a big German suplex because it's UWFi. Why not?

For a sub-five minute tag match, this had its moments. I liked the feisty opening exchange between Scott and Kanehara, and the rough-and-tumble stuff between Takayama and Severn. Takayama lays into Severn with just about everything he has and Severn's just trying to swoop in for a suplex, which he does...several times. At one point, he hits a capture sidewalk slam, which was pretty cool. And of course, a major highlight is Takayama kicking Severn in the butt when he's under the ropes. The tags are super quick, and Kanehara's strikes are on point. The high kick to Scott's head, the running high knee to Severn's face, and his mule kick counter, which led to the KO finish.

Fuck yeah, Burton's back in the house, how we've missed him. And what a dick he was in this match. Saku smokes him on the mat - really good stuff with him blocking the single leg crab attempts. But after Burton folds him in half with a big release German, Saku seems out of it. He faceplants on a scary back body drop, and then when he doesn't take the double arm suplex, Burton MURDERS him with a high knee for the KO. A bizarre watch for sure but worth checking out.

I liked this a lot. I dig the jockeying for position, considering the speed with which both guys work. Everything is just so fluid. I thought Tamura did a really good job of establishing Sano as a threat on the ground. But Tamura's slippery. Loved Tamura ducking the kick and kipping back up to his feet. Sano's able to hit the German suplex but it spells his demise, as Tamura grabs onto the double wristlock and never lets go, which leads to a dramatic finish. Great stuff.

A short match that could've benefited from a few more minutes but what we got was pretty fun. Further evidence that Nakano has the best snap suplex in THE BUSINESS. Sano tries for a German suplex but Nakano denies him and dumps him with one of his own, which is always a joy. Sano's kicks look as good as always but the finish came a little too quick after all that Nakano punishment.

This was fun. Miyato's feisty, Takayama is brutish. I loved Miyato’s armwhip counter to Takayama’s opening flurry and he throws some mean slaps late in the match, while Takayama’s high knees and high bridging German are awesome. Takayama tries to choke Miyato out with the rear sleeper but Miyato uses the judo throw counter into the neck crank for the submission.

Classic match-up and a motivated Takada...yeah, this was good stuff. Takada comes at him with some knees but Yamazaki snaps him over with a German suplex...and then, of course, Takada pops right back up and they go to town on the legs, countering, re-countering, reversing, undoing, until finally, Yamazaki has to grab the ropes in order to stop the senior UWF prom. Takada does a good job of blocking the roll through armbar but yeah, on a whole, super solid counterwork from both guys – definitely one of Takada’s stronger performances as Yamazaki puts Takada through the wringer. Yamazaki doesn't hold back with the kicks toward the end but Takada takes it with the armbar, as expected.

Belly-to-belly x 2 + German suplex + dragon suplex = KO. That's the equation of this match. It's 2:00 long, it's Gary Albright killing someone with suplexes. You know what to expect.

Now we're talking. Probably the best match of the show, made only better by Kakihara's underdog performance. Loved the initial suplex spot, with Severn fighting for it and Kakihara's facials as he's trying to avoid it. Severn's got the weight advantage and he uses that to his...advantage...whereas Kaki's got the speed and he's able to slip out when he finds an opening. Severn has some cool throws, including a gutwrench, and Kaki's kicks are on point. Dan keeps trying to kill Kaki with a modified STF but Kaki's able to escape each attempt, trying to cut out Dan's legs to set up the kneebar. His roll through ankle pick was very dope, and leads to the kneebar finish and the big win for Kakihara. Good stuff!

Essentially a five-minute Zangiev showcase, which is a good thing. From the takedowns to the suplexes, to the counters and reversals, the fans are loving every minute of it. I mean, he blocks Anjo's takedown attempt and then just shoves him down - so good. I liked the finish, too, which plays to Anjo's wiliness and how he's able to catch Zangiev in a mistake, trap the arm, and submit him. This was fun!

Berkovich throws some nice suplexes and while the groundwork is dumpy, the striking is solid. The way Berkovich takes Lydick's German suplex is so ridiculous and Lydick wins via the armbar. Meh.

Disappointing match. Vader dropping the F-bomb on the outside may have been the highlight. I mean, Salman gets some big arm drags and works some holds on the mat but Vader comes back with some clobberin' time and taps him with a weird STF-style leg crank. Not much to sink your teeth into.

One could say this is Allen's best match in UWFi thus far...but that's not saying much. And also, look who he's up against. He gets in plenty of judo throws but his strategy hasn't shifted too much in terms of just using his weight. Tamura, on the other hand, pisses off Brown by continually kicking his leg and on the mat, he floats all around Brown. The finish was pretty funny as Brown's had it with the leg kicks and can't get back up to his feet. Okay match.

U-STYLE (11/23/05) Katsuhisa Fujii vs. Kyosuke Sasaki Pretty fun opener with Fujii making his return. He doesn't have much in the way of finesse but he's got a good look and dope suplex throws, and sometimes, that's all you need in life. He's so much bigger than Sasaki and just manhandles him with Germans or pops him in the face with catcher's mitt slaps. There's a fun moment where Sasaki tries to German Fujii and when that doesn't work out, he turns it into a pumphandle suplex. Sasaki's able to take him to the ropes with a double wristlock but in the end, Fujii suplexes him for the KO. Wataru Sakata vs. Hiroyuki Ito Sakata has never been one to excite on the mat. Neither has Ito. And although this match-up isn't great by any means, there is still plenty to enjoy, between Ito nearly murdering Sakata with a capture suplex, Sakata grinding his taped fists into Ito's mouth to escape a hold, and the finish, which sees Sakata dump Ito on his head with a dragon suplex and tap him with the single leg crab. Sajata's slaps and body shots are especially stiff in this but Ito doesn't quite bring the same heat. Okay match. Luiz Azeredo & Yasuhito Namekawa vs. Hidehisa Matsuda & Kazuki Okubo Luiz is easily the highlight of this match, as he's full of energy and manages some awesome takedowns early on, including his triangle and a beautiful leg scissors sweep into the kneebar. Both Okubo and Matsuda seem out of their element here, and poor Matsuda's nose gets busted open by a gnarly high knee and/or follow-up kick to the face by Luiz. Some cool moments, especially from Luiz, but an otherwise forgettable tag match. James Thompson vs. Ricardo Morais Dud of the night. James Thompson looks like Mojo Rawley or something. It's obvious these two haven’t had many worked matches and by the end of it, they're both blown out. Some of Ricardo's knee strikes aren't even close to connecting but Thompson's KO knee finish was about the best thing going in this match. Frank Shamrock vs. Daisuke Nakamura This was a blast, with a high energy opening and fun chaotic scrambles on the mat. Just a good, competitive, well-worked shoot-style match. Shamrock was especially good here, between his taunting Nakamura to punch his abs to just deadlifting him with a front necklock. That looked pretty gross. All of his submissions and strikes looked snug. Nakamura, on the otherhand, kept whiffing on his takedowns, which Shamrock would capitalize on, mainly by wrecking the shit out of his ankle. He's able to get a straight armbar on Shamrock but Frank takes the match with a nice heel hook. Good stuff. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mikhail Ilyukhin Interesting to see an older Kawada in this setting, and Ilyukhin is not stranger to shoot-style. When Kawada is popping him with slaps, it’s great, and then he cracks him with an elbow and earns himself a yellow card. Mikhail whipping him around by the arm was good stuff, and Kawada's finishing stretch was fun enough. Not bad for a under five minutes. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Josh Barnett Match of the night, with Barnett in beast mode. He may not as quick as Tamura but he uses his size to his advantage and stays on top of Tamura. Him just flipping Tamura over his head by the leg was a great show of strength. After Tamura downs him with a pretty nasty knee to the face, Barnett rages with a brutal uranage followed by a deadlift German. POWERFUL~! Tamura's able to crank on the armbar but Josh is close enough to the ropes for a break. They trade kicks, Barnett plants him with the capture buster but when he tries to double dip, Tamura grabs the armbar again and finally taps him. A super fun David vs. Goliath match-up.