Control21

Wow, Night 1 certainly delivered! Every match really felt like a big deal here, with the top half of the card standing out especially. Zbyszko vs Jeff Jarret was a war of attrition, and the main event was the epic finale I expected it to be. Very well done with the writing. I really enjoyed reading this, can't wait for Night 2!

Good job with this show, it was very enjoyable tor read. The 40-man battle royal sounds like it will be a lot of fun with some surprises in store. Dr. Death vs Billy Kidman is a fun matchup! A Taz vs Dr. Death feud could be a blockbuster. Surprising win for Benoit, Douglas, and Pillman over Team Flair. That pinfall Douglas scored over the Nature Boy is sure to pay some dividends in the future.

Fighting Network RINGS - "Korakuen League II" October 5th, 1996 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 1,348 Kazuyuki Fujita vs Akihiro Gono Fujita has the clear size advantage on Gono, but that doesn’t deter the former SHOOTO prospect from going to work and trying to beat his opponent with speed and conditioning. Fujita weathers the storm as Gono tries to get him to the canvas, and instead does the honors on his own as he locks in Gono for a modified belly-to-back suplex. Gono does his best to get something going, but Fujita is too strong and keeps him from doing anything too dangerous. Fujita establishes a 3-0 lead by the 6:00 mark through basic submission attempts, although ones that have plenty of strength and intent behind them. Gono manages to get a point when he catches Fujita by surprise when he wraps his legs around one of Fujita’s for a spinning leg takedown, which is then transitioned into a heel hook. Fujita goes for the rope break but soon finishes the match when he gets Gono on the canvas and works in a kata-gatame (shoulder hold) for the submission victory. Fujita defeats Gono via submission (kata-gatame), 8:07 Caol Uno vs Carlos Newton Uno, the SHOOTO prodigy, gives Newton a run for his money but it is the Canadian grappler who comes out on top in a very exciting match for grappling aficionados. While Uno was very quick on the draw and surprised Newton a few times with well-timed palm strikes leading to a knockdown, Newton was very patient and waited for key openings to get Uno down to the mat and wear him out with his experience and knowledge in various grappling techniques. Uno had most of the crowd behind him as a promising talent for RINGS, but this didn’t prevent Newton from carrying on and finishing the job with a 5-3 lead on points as he got Uno to the mat one more time around the 9:00 mark and snags a rear-naked choke for the victory. Newton defeats Uno via submission (rear-naked choke), 9:14 Hayato Sakurai vs Naoyuki Taira In an interesting matchup between two very talented wrestlers in their own ways, Hayato Sakurai continued his fine form and found a way against Naoyuki Taira, who posed a tough challenge for the young, promising talent. Taira established an early advantage in the match, knocking down Sakurai twice with a fine display of striking. Sakurai eventually found his flow, and caught Taira with a nice combo of strikes in return, and started to establish himself on the canvas, where the rest of the match, mostly, took place. Taira and Sakurai engaged in a grappling battle where both were able to demonstrate good counterwork and technique to counter each other’s strengths. Sakurai is quick to find openings, especially while going for Taira’s legs, but Taira knows how to keep his opponent at bay. Not a lot of rope breaks were needed here, and the decisive moment comes when Sakurai finally catches Taira by surprise with a Huzinga roll, before transitioning into a position for a cross-armbreaker and the submission victory. Sakurai defeats Taira via submission (cross-armbreaker), 11:19 Wanderlei Silva vs Christopher Haseman Haseman, the lone RINGS Australia representative, was able to hold his ground against Silva to some degree. Silva’s strikes were too much to handle though, and the Brazilian wore down his opponent eventually by landing big shots when needed. Haseman’s grappling skills gave Silva some trouble early on, and Haseman was able to score two points early by making his opponent grab the ropes to prevent nicely timed submission attempts. As Silva grew into the match though, he found his rhythm and started to land several powerful knees to Haseman’s abdomen as the Australian continued to clinch with Silva. Silva scored back-to-back knockdowns as he softened Haseman up with these knees, using a combination of palm strikes and lower leg kicks to keep Haseman off-balance. Haseman gets Silva down to the canvas again, but can’t get too much going as fatigue from Silva’s strikes begins to set in. Silva is able to break Haseman’s hold and eventually finds an opening to land a high kick to end the match via KO. Another strong win for Wanderlei Silva as he continues to establish himself in the RINGS format. Silva defeats Haseman via KO, 7:51 Rumina Sato vs Sanae Kikuta Two very talented grapplers delivered as expected as the two pushed each other to the limit in the fine arts of grappling. Sanae Kikuta had somewhat of a size advantage on Sato and was able to keep Sato from using his speed to gain the advantage on the mat. It doesn’t take long for Sato to get going though, and begins to test Kikuta by using sly counterwork to find openings, and the two find themselves using two rope breaks apiece before the 5:00 mark. Sato and Kikuta prefer to keep things on the canvas, but they do test each other with strikes here and there as Sato shows he is more willing to throw palm strikes to get the advantage. Kikuta continues to apply pressure by using his talent and Judo skills to frustrate Sato. Sato does his best to keep things interesting, and the match continues with both exchanging rope breaks in a fairly even contest. Sato attempts to show off his inner Volk Han by using his natural athleticism to attempt a flying omoplata, but Kikuta calmy finds a way out of this sudden predicament and gets the crowd behind him with a confident display of counterwork against Sato. Sato also attempts a kani-basami (flying leg takedown), but Kikuta blocks this attempt and reverses it into a quick Judo takedown. After a very engaging contest that kept the Korakuen crowd on the edge of their seats for 15:00 minutes, Kikuta finds Sato’s legs for a double-leg lift that transitions into a belly-to-belly suplex. Kikuta immediately goes for a keylock as Sato struggles to break free and eventually taps. Kikuta gets some more momentum as he heads into the 1996 Mega Battle Tournament. Kikuta defeats Sato via submission (keylock), 15:24

Dutch Mantell bests Jim Duggan...but will that be the last he sees of the Hacksaw? The Thugs win the tag team tournament finals in a bit of a surprise to me, but perhaps they'll prove why they are deserved winners in due course. A talented team nonetheless. Brian Lee vs Chris Candido might have been a potential gem in the undercard.

Dan Spivey gets an impressive win but Roddy has to open his mouth and take the spotlight.... Great main event with the tag team four-way. Latin Connection gets a victory thanks to Mando's creative thinking to say the least. Going up against the RnR Express will be a big challenge for them though. Lord Humongous fits right in with the rest of the big boys in WCW, but he might be too much even for them....I love the way you are doing the Humperdink promos.

Can't wait for the St. Paul cards! Setting up to be a very explosive event and maybe one of the best shows of the year.

Billy Jack gets a big win over Bob Backlund! Nice to see a PCW mainstay get a well-deserved victory, in the main event to boot. Interesting contrast between the Eugene and Portland cards, with a different flavor of sorts in each. The Hashimoto/Footlose vs Albright/Chono/Tenryu match might have been the eye-catcher for the week.

Didn't see that upset coming! I'm sure that will make things a bit more interesting in the A block as Rob Fuller is now only a point behind. Can Kamala keep his momentum going after that? B block has some key matches coming up too. I agree with the others on the Perez/Sawyer feud, definitely interesting to follow.

Great stuff as always. I didn't see the first part with Cody Michaels beating Bill Ash coming! Miss Kentucky continues to make things interesting as Jamie Dundee isn't for turning. You are really finding your groove with this format. Music City keeps me entertained.

Another fun-filled episode of WWF! The British Bulldogs vs The Steiner Brothers sounded great. The Savage/Hogan promos were well done too. Definitely looking forward to seeing what the rest of the month has in-store!

UWF Newborn adds Masashi Aoyagi, Gerard Gordeau, and Naoki Sano. Bringing my roster to 35 for the month.

(A bit of a long "newsletter" style post this week, as I try to cover all bases in UWF and related happenings. Hope you enjoy reading!)

Good to see the RnR Express back in SMW. I enjoyed reading this episode. It will be interesting to see how the tag team tournament shakes out with all the veteran teams. Dutch Mantell has a lot on his wands with Jim Duggan.

Comebacks: Mitsuharu Misawa Charisma: Yoshiaki Fujiwara Being a face: Antonio Inoki Being a heel: El Satanico Brawling: Terry Funk Athleticism: Kiyoshi Tamura On the mic: Nick Bockwinkel Ring IQ: Bret Hart Highest floor: Volk Han Highest ceiling: Kenta Kobashi Big matches: Akira Maeda Bumping: Mick Foley Best punches: El Satanico Best knees: Dick Vrij Best kicks: Kiyoshi Tamura

Honestly, I prefer NJPW shows without AEW guys because the relationship is really one sided

This match really flies under the radar if you ask me. It holds up well with every viewing. Karelin looks pretty solid here I think and the crowd eats it up the whole way. Maeda plays his part of course. It's Aleksandr freakin' Karelin. I'm surprised this match isn't more well known.

The NWA hasn't lost a step at all. The next card looks very interesting.

Can anyone stop Barry Windham? He seems to have an Anaconda grip on the belt. As always, another good series of shows that certainly keep up with the expectations west coast wrestling fans are probably developing by this point.

Reno Riggins is quickly making a name for himself. Another very good show for Music City Wrestling. I'm enjoying seeing how this all organically develops.

I'm loving the Atlas-Nikita buildup. Kerry von Erich in AWA has been very interesting, and War Games should be a blast. Going to be interesting to see how far The Sheik goes in AWA and how many people he defeats before he gets bored.

The Rockers are taking WWF by storm. Really fun events this week. A little bit of something for everyone.

Bill Kazmaier and Yamada/Hiroshi Hase continue to make a good impression. Can anyone stop Kamala or Bob Orton?

UWF Newborn – “Fighting Network Nagoya” September 26th, 1988 Tsuyuhashi Sports Center Nagoya, Japan Attendance: 5,000 (sold out) Before the show starts, the UWF theme plays in the arena and each competitor is introduced individually with loud receptions for the returning Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, who gets his first main event tonight. Akira Maeda takes the microphone and welcomes the fans, thanking them for their continued support. He says he looks forward to facing Yoji Anjo and being in the ring again. Maeda also talks about his trip to the Soviet Union and promises good things in the future for UWF, noting that Billy Robinson is also in Seoul to help scout talent that will be coming in the near future. Fujiwara speaks afterward and says that he is eager to face Dick Vrij in the main event, putting over the Dutch kickboxer as a dangerous opponent. Erik Paulson vs Yasuto Sekishima In a battle between two of Sayama’s Shooto students, Sekishima got the better of Erik Paulson. A good display of grappling and striking from both, as both were able to demonstrate the modern techniques both learned in Shooto. Erik Paulson’s catch wrestling skills proved dangerous at times, and Sekishima had to have good counterwork to survive. Paulson got an early 1-0 lead through rope breaks, but Sekishima didn’t panic and remained in the match by slowly working for openings and wearing down his opponent through his striking abilities, where he had the advantage. By the 10:00 mark, both wrestlers were tied at 2-2, and Sekishima was able to snag one of Paulson’s legs for a kneebar in the center of the ring for the submission victory. Sekishima defeats Paulson via submission (kneebar), 10:28 Mark Fleming vs Wayne Shamrock The young and up-and-coming Wayne Shamrock meets a formidable opponent in Mark Fleming, who makes his debut in UWF Newborn and already comes in with a reputation with the audience as a prized student of Lou Thesz. Fleming immediately illustrates why this is the case as he clinches with Shamrock right after the opening bell and locks him in for a powerful belly-to-belly suplex. Shamrock has to quickly recover as Fleming immediately drags Shamrock back up to his feet and hits him with another suplex variation, this time a German suplex. The crowd is in awe as Fleming grabs Shamrock’s legs and tries to lock in a full Boston crab. Shamrock scrambles to the ropes before Fleming does any lasting damage, but the message has been sent. Shamrock tries to stake his territory in striking as the two resume the match, but Fleming shows that he is just as dangerous here as well with well-timed palm strikes. Shamrock isn’t able to get anything going in this match as he is outclassed by very well-conditioned Fleming, who takes the lead in the match with a 2-0 advantage after sending Shamrock to the ropes again and hitting another devastating German suplex which forces a ten count on Shamrock. Shamrock gets back up but is eventually submitted by Fleming around the 7:00 mark as the former student of Thesz locks in an armdrag into a shoot STF variant in the center of the ring. Shamrock taps and Yuji Shimada raises Fleming’s arm in victory. A solid applause comes from the crowd as they welcome a well-respected wrestler back to Japan. Despite the hot 2-0 start, Shamrock still has a lot to learn. Fleming defeats Shamrock via submission (STF), 7:34 Chris Dolman vs Shigeo Miyato Dolman, the Dutch judoka and SAMBO champion is a tough outing for Miyato as the UWF native talent seeks to build on his win against Yoji Anjo. Dolman isn’t afraid to grapple with Miyato, as he manages to get his opponent to the canvas early. Dolman uses smart positioning to control Miyato on the mat, and while he may not have the speed some other wrestlers may have, he lures Miyato in and snags limbs when it counts. Miyato struggles with his defense as Dolman continues to apply the pressure, and looks for an opportune ude-garami (arm entanglement lock) when he gets side control. Miyato is near the ropes and escapes without much fuss, but he doesn’t find any relief over the next few minutes as Dolman stays on top of Miyato and gets him back to the canvas. Over the next several minutes, Dolman gets a 2-0 lead through rope breaks. Miyato, determined not to have another one-sided match, comes alive and begins to detect opportunities to apply counterwork on the canvas as Dolman’s submission skills begin to become more dangerous. Miyato manages to get into a leg lock battle with Dolman, where he somehow gets the better of Dolman and gets a heel hook on his opponent. Dolman is quick to grab the ropes and Miyato enjoys his first point as the match is 2-1 through Dolman’s second rope break. Miyato evens the match at 2-2 after he gets a knockdown on Dolman, using a combination of strikes and kicks to get the curly blonde Dutchman down to the canvas. Dolman is quick to get up by the count of five and launches his own comeback as he manages to catch Miyato with a nice judo throw. Dolman immediately applies a kneeling rear-naked choke on Miyato and gets it in tight as Miyato decides to pass out rather than tap. Dolman celebrates his victory as Miyato’s fellow UWF young lions work to wake him back up. Dolman defeats Miyato via submission (rear-naked choke), 11:07 Yorinaga Nakamura vs Kazuo Yamazaki There is a warm reception for both competitors by the fans as they are clearly intrigued by this clash between two of Sayama’s earliest students. Yamazaki and Nakamura test each other out early with measured strikes, using quick low kicks to keep each other moving. In the early part of the match, it looks like Yamazaki is on the front foot as his strikes land a bit more than Nakamura’s, and Nakamura seems to be hesitant to close in on his opponent for now. But as Yamazaki grows into the match, Nakamura starts to find his openings and lands several hard counters with palm strikes, as he changes the momentum of the contest. Nakamura clinches with Yamazaki, and he appears to have the advantage on the canvas as Yamazaki, while a good grappler in his own right, has trouble shaking off his opponent who is very competent when it comes to looking for limbs and locking them in when it counts. Yamazaki is forced to the ropes twice in the following few minutes and Nakamura grabs an early 1-0 lead on points. Yamazaki evens the match back to 1-1 when he lands several hard low kicks to Nakamura’s legs, followed by a pointed kick to Nakamura’s abdomen. Nakamura faces a ten count but gets back up without any drama. The match continues on the canvas, and Yamazaki appears to grow more comfortable as he is able to contend with Nakamura’s quick grappling abilities, something we’ve seen with other Shooto wrestlers so far. Perhaps drawing on the lessons Sayama taught him, Yamazaki goes up 2-1 after sending Nakamura to the ropes after a Kimura lock attempt. The key moment in the match comes around the 15:00 mark when Yamazaki lands a series of high kicks, followed by a Sayama-style roundhouse to the same spot in Nakamura’s abdomen that he hit earlier. The precision of the roundhouse sends Nakamura to the canvas and he is unable to beat the 10 count this time. Nakamura and Yamazaki bow to each other and shake hands as the crowd applauds both. Yamazaki defeats Nakamura via KO, 15:31 (Yamazaki celebrates his victory) Akira Maeda vs Yoji Anjo Yoji Anjo proves to be a feisty opponent for Akira Maeda. Anjo is undeterred by the size of the challenge Maeda presents and comes out swinging against his opponent. To the delight and shock of the crowd, Anjo lands an early knockdown in the opening few minutes. A hard palm strike catches Maeda by surprise and he falls to a knee as Motoyuki Kitazawa, the referee, begins a 10 count. Maeda takes a moment to compose himself, perhaps thinking in his head of how he will punish the young Anjo, and gets back up. Of course, Maeda does punish Anjo as he comes back with some very stiff high kicks. Anjo is immediately on the backfoot as Maeda’s storm of strikes comes fast and furious. It doesn’t take long for Maeda to get a 2-1 lead in the match and regain control by the 5:00 mark. Anjo tries to keep up the pace, but Maeda has very little problem dealing with his opponent as he shakes the ring rust off. Anjo tries to clinch with Maeda, but Maeda illustrates this was a mistake on Anjo’s part by setting him up for a Capture Suplex. The suplex hits cleanly and Anjo deals with the pain as Maeda immediately turns him over for a single-leg Boston crab. Anjo scrambles to the ropes quickly, but within the next five minutes, Maeda establishes a larger lead as he bosses Anjo around the ring. Grappling or striking, Anjo can’t seem to land any points but he keeps trying anyway. With a 4-1 lead, Maeda presses further as Anjo attempts to launch a comeback. Anjo does manage to score another knockdown on Maeda as he hits his superior with a nice palm strike combo. Perhaps we are seeing early flashes of “Mr. 200%” here? In any case, Maeda gets up quickly again and decides to erase any hope Anjo has of doing any more damage by landing several more high kicks, which staggers Anjo. Maeda follows up with a devastating German suplex. Maeda ends the match by locking Anjo in a Kesa-gatame (scarf hold). Anjo tries to break free, but has no choice but to tap as Maeda secures another victory. Maeda defeats Anjo via submission (Kesa-gatame), 13:45 Nobuhiko Takada vs Bart Vale (Bart Vale preparing before the show) Despite his loss in the previous event, Bart Vale had a good showing and presents a formidable challenge to Takada. Vale opens the match with some flashy kicks which catch Takada off-guard a bit, but Vale’s opponent manages to keep his footing. With his superior reach, Vale keeps Takada at length and lands some hits when it counts. Takada decides to keep pressing, slowly closing the distance while showing off his own kicking ability. With Vale appearing to have the upper hand at first, Takada demonstrates his technique as he begins to land more strikes, and they get harder and harder each time. The arena shows their appreciation for the audibly hard kicks being exchanged, and Takada looks quite confident. Over the next few minutes, Takada scores an early knockdown after a low kick connects, which also causes Vale to lose his balance and fall to the canvas. Motoyuki Kitazawa begins a ten count, but Vale responds promptly. Vale scores his own knockdown soon after as he catches Takada with a sharp high kick. Takada has no trouble responding to the ten count as well, and the match continues to prove quite even until Takada gets the match to the canvas. Vale knows this isn’t where he wants to be and tries to break Takada’s grappling, but Takada keeps his opponent to the canvas, along with the advantage. Vale’s weakness on the canvas eventually gives Takada a 3-1 lead on points as Vale spends a bit more time there throughout the next half of the match, and struggles to escape most of Takada’s submission attempts. Around the 14:00 mark, Vale attempts to score a knockdown by launching several high kicks, but Takada catches one of them and holds onto Vale’s leg as he reverses the kick attempt into a single-leg Boston crab. Vale proves resilient at first, but Takada grabs Vale’s other leg and the full Boston crab proves to be too much for Vale, and the position in the center of the ring doesn’t help either. Takada defeats Vale via submission (Boston crab), 14:41 Dick Vrij vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara As the two make their way to the ring, the crowd makes it known that they are firmly behind Fujiwara as the experienced veteran faces off against the Dutch kickboxer. The match starts with Vrij testing his reach against Fujiwara as he delivers a series of low kicks, but Fujiwara isn’t afraid to close the distance as he finds the range needed to land several palm strikes to keep Vrij honest. Fujiwara moves around on the canvas like he relishes the challenge, looking to cause damage to his opponent early. The Dutchman fires back with more kicks and palm strikes, but Fujiwara presses on, looking to grapple with his opponent. The two clinch up for the first time and Fujiwara gets the advantage as he locks in Vrij with a side headlock while bringing him down to the mat. Fujiwara maintains the hold as Vrij scrambles to the nearest rope, using his leg to break the hold. In the early part of the match, this becomes the theme as Fujiwara gets Vrij down to the canvas a few more times and easily outgrapples his opponent. Vrij is forced to the ropes again after Fujiwara tries to lock in a standing Kimura lock. Now behind 1-0, Vrij looks to assert his advantage with his striking and applies a bit more pressure on Fujiwara as the two face off again. Vrij manages to score a knockdown soon after, which Fujiwara gets up from by the count of five. Vrij, feeling the momentum, keeps the kicks coming and Fujiwara goes on the defense where he is very comfortable. Fujiwara blocks several kick attempts and catches one, attempting to bring Vrij down to the canvas again. Vrij blocks the attempt and manages to clinch up with his opponent to get in the position to land several sharp knee strikes to Fujiwara’s abdomen. Fujiwara falls to the canvas again and Vrij now has a 2-1 advantage as Motoyuki Kitazawa calls for another count. Fujiwara has a hint of frustration on his face as he gets back up. As the match enters into the next phase, much of the same theme continues as Fujiwara shows off excellent defense and counterwork, but just seems to be unable to get Vrij where he wants him on the canvas and Vrij escapes his clutches a couple of times without using the ropes. Vrij eventually builds a 4-2 advantage after knocking down Fujiwara two more times with some sharp kicks. At the 17:00 mark, both look gassed, and Fujiwara catches another high kick from Vrij, but Vrij finds the energy to clinch with Fujiwara again and hits him with a combo of knee and palm strikes to score the fifth knockdown. Dick Vrij scores the upset over Fujiwara! Despite the crowd being somewhat disappointed that their favorite lost, they show appreciation for the kickboxer from Holland as he raises his fists in the air. Fujiwara comes over and they both shake hands as Dolman enters the ring to hug his fellow countryman. Vrij defeats Fujiwara via TKO, 17:24 After the match, Vrij celebrates a bit more before Fujiwara acknowledges the fans and returns the appreciation they give him by bowing. Fujiwara returns backstage as the UWF theme plays once again in the arena, sending the fans home happy.

I don't think he would crack my top 200 as of now. A lot of his matches fall flat with me. I think Ospreay sums up some of the issues with the "Fight Forever" style of wrestling that is so dominant in today's industry. A lot of his matches are about getting moves in and letting his opponent get their moves in as well, but there is a serious lack of urgency and struggle.