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SMW keeps the good stuff coming with this episode. The new tag team champions make an interesting impression (good promo, by the way!) while The Moondogs and RnR Express try to make a statement of their own in the main event. Chris Candido is showing a ton of promise.

Great episode! Taz getting the upset win over Steve Williams is huge, and Brian Pilman making waves in the main event after his match Lance Storm is an interesting twist. Terry Gordy vs Barry Windham also sounded like a very good match too. I really like the direction you are taking the NWA at the moment.

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?