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Fighting Network RINGS - "Maelstrom VII" September 25th, 1996 Nakajima Sports Center Sapporo, Japan Attendance: 4,117 The RINGS theme plays in the Nakajima Sports Center as the wrestlers are introduced one by one as they make their way to the ring. The WOWOW broadcast team of Takayanagi, Kumakubo, and Akira Maeda go over the matches scheduled for tonight's event and they hype up Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Frank Shamrock, Volk Han vs Kiyoshi Tamura, and Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Andrei Kopylov in the main event. Scenes of Sakuraba getting ready in the dressing room are shown as they also promote Sakuraba's debut tonight. They also mention Semmy Schilt and Hiromitsu Kanehara, who making their debuts as well. Semmy Schilt vs Wataru Sakata A good debut for Semmy Schilt as the 6’11 Dutchman from Pancrase makes quick work of Wataru Sakata. Sakata does try to put up a fight, but Schilt has too much of a reach and too much power for the young RINGS homegrown talent to overcome. As you would expect, Schilt uses his striking ability somewhat methodically to dispatch Sakata and wins the match via TKO within 8 minutes. Every time Sakata tried getting back up to launch a comeback, Schilt had an answer. Even when Sakata was able to grapple with Schilt, Schilt did not have much issue fending his opponent off. Schilt defeats Sakata via TKO, 7:21 Christopher Haseman vs Masayuki Naruse Haseman, the lone RINGS Australia representative, has become quite a solid wrestler since his debut in 1995. Naruse has become one of his main rivals in the promotion and the two have had solid matches before. This would be no different as they put on a spirited match for the next 9 minutes. Haseman and Naruse spend the first few minutes of the match grappling on the canvas, with Haseman proving very adept at preventing Naruse from using his quickness to gain an advantage. Haseman appears to have the strength to keep Naruse where he wants him at times, and this leads to an early 2-0 advantage for Haseman as Naruse grabs the ropes to prevent an early submission. The match heats up as it continues, with Naruse getting several opportunities to hit Haseman with slick striking combos. Haseman’s defense is good enough at first, but Naruse keeps finding openings. Haseman tries to get Naruse down to the canvas again and even manages to find a cross-armbreaker near the ropes, which Naruse escapes. Naruse and Haseman measure each other up afterward, and Naruse lands a wicked spinning backfist after Haseman appears to relax a bit too much. Haseman tries to beat the count but is unable to, and Yuji Shimada waves for the bell. Naruse defeats Haseman via KO, 9:38 Mitsuya Nagai vs Hiromitsu Kanehara Tonight’s show will be notable for the debut of Kazushi Sakuraba later on, but another talented wrestler from UWFi makes his debut here as Kanehara squares off against a RINGS mainstay in Mitsuya Nagai. The pace is quite strong from the start, with Kanehara eager to show off his skills against Nagai on the canvas. Kanehara gets the early advantage as he gets Nagai to scramble to the ropes early after working in an early cross-armbreaker attempt. Nagai answers back with a knockdown by landing a kicking combo on Kanehara, catching his opponent off-guard. Kanehara doesn’t have much trouble beating the count, and the match continues the pace as it evolves into a sort of grappler vs striker match with Nagai embracing his inner kickboxer more and more. Kanehara does demonstrate why he is considered to be the best grappler in UWFi behind Sakuraba by getting Nagai down to the canvas when needed. Kanehara gets a kani-basami on Nagai and tries to work in a leg lock but Nagai is quick to find the ropes again. Tied at 2-2, the two fight for the advantage again after Yuji Shimada stands both back up. By the 10:00 mark, Kanehara is working with a 4-2 advantage after he gets the better of Nagai again on the mat. Nagai, sensing he needs to win the match with his striking, begins to apply pressure on Kanehara. As Kanehara clinches with Nagai, Nagai gets the advantage and lands several knee strikes to Kanehara’s abdomen. Kanehara tries to stay on his feet but this proves to be a fool’s errand as Nagai eventually knocks him down again. This time, Kanehara doesn’t beat the 10 count. Nagai defeats Kanehara via KO, 11:06 Yoshihiro Takayama vs Dick Vrij Takayama, coming off his win last month against Bitsadze Tariel, is facing a determined Dick Vrij after facing somewhat of an upset at the hands of Mitsuya Nagai. Vrij comes out swinging, keeping the RINGS newcomer busy as he demonstrates why he is the most feared striker in RINGS at the moment. Takayama is caught off guard several times, giving Vrij an early score as Takayama falls to the canvas by the second minute. Takayama quickly brushes himself off though, and the two begin to engage in a very good striking battle. Lots of strong kicking as Takayama shows off his strength against Vrij, and lands a few combos against the Dutchman. Vrij is undeterred though, and as the two exchange knockdown attempts, he grows more dangerous as he works to find the openings Takayama leaves due to his inexperience against the Dutch Terminator. By the 7:00 mark, Vrij leads 6-4 after scoring another knockdown, this time catching Takayama by surprise as he shoots for one high kick, which Takayama blocks and then immediately lands another on the opposite side. Takayama attempts to get the match to the canvas, and the two have their only grappling battle of the match, which Takayama gets the better of after finding Vrij’s back for a rear-naked choke. Vrij quickly goes for the ropes, however. Vrij decides to dispatch Takayama soon after they stand back up, landing his own palm strike combo on the newcomer, before landing a mid-roundhouse kick to Takayama’s abdomen. Takayama goes down again and struggles to stand back up as the referee finishes up the 10 count. Takayama attempts to raise his fists in time, but the referee, Ryogoku Wada, decides he has seen enough anyway. Takayama looks a bit frustrated and disappointed as Vrij has his hands raised in victory. Some in the crowd, firmly behind Takayama, make their displeasure known to Wada. Vrij defeats Takayama via KO, 9:25 Kazushi Sakuraba vs Nikolai Zouev One of the hottest free agents in Japan has finally arrived in RINGS after weeks of speculation. Sakuraba’s talent is already well known, but now he has to prove himself in RINGS. His first opponent is a very talented grappler, Nikolai Zouev, a SAMBO specialist and champion, and a RINGS fan favorite. Sakuraba comes into the arena to a warm reception and is ready to go as they lock up after the bell sounds. Sakuraba immediately shows off his quickness and speed, finding openings left and right as Zouev scrambles to defend himself. Zouev’s experience pays off as he holds off Sakuraba despite his hyper-speed transitions on the canvas. Zouev smartly uses his legs to reverse a cross-armbreaker attempt from Sakuraba, pinning Sakuraba to the canvas as he uses his intelligent counterwork to find Sakuraba’s legs for a double cross heel hook. Sakuraba goes to the ropes early, and the crowd applauds the two as they stand back up. The match continues and mostly remains on the canvas as this proves to be an excellent grappling affair. Zouev and Sakuraba exchange several ropebreaks over the next five minutes before they engage in one of the few striking exchanges of the match, with Sakuraba getting the better of Zouev. Zouev manages to stay on his feet and manages to Sakuraba back to the canvas with an arm drag takedown. They resume their battle on the canvas, and it is a bit of a stalemate as Sakuraba is unable to seriously endanger Zouev with a submission despite his athleticism and quickness. In a way, Zouev’s calmness is key as he continues to react to the moment and uses his great defense to keep himself in the match. The match is tied 5-5 with rope breaks aplenty as it heads into the 13:00 mark. Finally, as Zouev attempts a huzinga roll on Sakuraba, Sakuraba’s persistence in the transition game pays off as he reverses the hold in time and catches Zouev’s legs for a surprise toe hold. The simple yet effective submission is enough to catch Zouev off guard, and the blonde Russian has no choice but to tap as Ryogoku Wada calls for the bell. Sakuraba celebrates his victory in front of an approving crowd and a few chants of “Saku-ra-ba!” break out. Sakuraba defeats Zouev via submission (toe hold), 13:25 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Frank Shamrock Tsuyoshi Kohsaka comes out to the arena to The Stone Roses’ “Driving South” and prepares to face one of his toughest opponents yet as the debuting Frank Shamrock follows. Shamrock has earned a great reputation in Pancrase and has become one of the best shootfighters and grapplers in the world in 1996. Kohsaka, despite all of his natural talent, may be unprepared for someone of Shamrock’s caliber. This doesn’t deter Kohsaka though. As the bell rings and Kohsaka and Shamrock measure each other up and trade tentative strikes, Kohsaka looks for an early opportunity and clinches with Shamrock while looking for a double leg takedown. The attempt nearly forces Shamrock through the ropes and out of the ring, and the referee breaks the two up. The two quickly resume the match and Kohsaka holds his own, proving to be a very capable opponent for Shamrock. Shamrock, of course, has a great sense of timing and appears to be in control of the match at times, but Kohsaka is very comfortable despite the opponent he is facing and the two engage in some excellent grappling counterwork on the canvas over the next several minutes without exhausting any rope breaks. A key moment comes at the 11:00 mark when Shamrock blocks a double-leg takedown attempt from Kohsaka and manages to transition into a guillotine choke, giving Kohsaka something to think about while near the ropes. Shamrock appears to lock this one in deep, and Kohsaka quickly goes for a rope break to avoid any further complications. Despite the setback, Kohsaka doesn’t appear to be too bothered and goes back to work with Shamrock as the match resumes. They engage in a bit of a striking battle, exchanging palm strikes before Shamrock backs Kohsaka into a corner and clinches with him as he lands several knee strikes to the abdomen and Kohsaka’s face. Kohsaka holds his own and is granted a reprieve when the referee notices a cut above Kohsaka’s eyebrow. Kohsaka’s cornermen work on the cut briefly before the referee, Ryogoku Wada, has the two resume the match again. Kohsaka keeps up the energy, and even manages to get Shamrock in a dangerous spot as he applies a Tate-shiho-gatame (full mount) on Shamrock, and slowly works in a kata-gatame (shoulder hold). Shamrock appears to be in a bad spot, but as expected, Shamrock works his way out of it with an intelligent sweep. Kohsaka continues to look to get even with Shamrock and grows even more energetic as the ring announcer calls out the 20 and 25-minute mark. As the match nears its conclusion, Kohsaka manages to get Shamrock on the canvas again and works for a last-minute “catch” with an ude-garami (entangled arm-lock). Shamrock remains calm and works from defense for the time limit expiration and the 1-0 advantage. The referee calls for the bell and Shamrock soon celebrates his victory as the expected decision is confirmed by the judges. Shamrock shakes Kohsaka’s hands and shows his appreciation for the challenge Kohsaka posed. The crowd applauds both in what can be described as a bit of a grappling masterclass. Shamrock defeats Kohsaka via decision, 30:00 Volk Han vs Kiyoshi Tamura Tamura has already made his mark in RINGS since his debut in July, beating the likes of Dick Vrij and Maurice Smith. This will be his first encounter with the Russian “Command SAMBO” master from Dagestan. Kiyoshi Tamura and Volk Han both enter to warm receptions from the crowd, with “Flame of Mind” and “Second Rendez-Vous” both blaring from the PA system respectively. As one would expect, the two get off to a quick start. Volk Han almost immediately snags Tamura with a gyaku-ude-garami (entangled armlock) and turns it into a double-wrist-lock suplex. If the move had any effect on Tamura, he doesn’t let it be known as he recovers very quickly to engage with Volk Han on the canvas. Han tries to find a cross-armbreaker, but Tamura is quick to get out of the confines of Volk Han’s limbs and instead goes for his opponent’s legs for a kneebar. Han counters as well, and finally locates the opening needed for the cross-armbreaker. Kiyoshi Tamura scrambles for the ropes with his legs quickly, and Volk Han gets his first point in the first minute. Both competitors continue to deliver in a high-paced match, with both dedicating the majority of the time to the grappling arts on the canvas. After getting an early 2-0 lead, Han finally has to use the ropes to escape a clever knee-bar attempt from Tamura. As the two stand back up, Tamura shows off his patented sharp kicks and palm strikes, which throw Han off-balance. Han maintains his balance though, and clinches with Tamura before finding the positioning needed for a naked strangle choke, but Tamura shows off his great awareness by applying pressure on Han’s lower legs with a hiza-tori-garami (knee-entanglement), using his arms. The crowd is loving this as Tamura is forced to go for another rope escape as Han finds Tamura’s back for another rear-naked choke attempt. By the 7:00 mark, Tamura is facing a 4-1 deficit and reacts by slamming his foot into Han’s abdomen for a thrust kick, which knocks down the Russian and gives Tamura his first knockdown. Han gets up quickly, and the two resume as Tamura continues to throw several calculated strikes to get the advantage. The two resume the grappling battle on the canvas, allowing Tamura to snag Han in a Fujiwara armbar. Han is near the ropes, and senses this, going for another quick escape from Tamura’s clutches. The crowd applauds both competitors and Han comes firing back with some unique-looking strikes that he is known for. He slams his knee into Tamura’s face and Tamura gets knocked down. Tamura beats the 10 count at 8 but Han maintains a 6-4 advantage at the 10:00 mark. The match reaches its climax when Tamura clinches with Han and attempts to lock in a rear-naked choke, but Han shows off his ability to pull submissions out of nowhere by finding one of Tamura’s arms for a double-wrist-lock while locking in Tamura’s legs with his own. Tamura has no choice but to tap! “Second Rendez-Vous” plays in the arena again as Motoyuki Kitazawa raises Volk Han’s arm in victory. Volk Han and Tamura shake hands, and surely this won’t be their last encounter. Han defeats Tamura via submission (double-wrist-lock), 10:41 Andrei Kopylov vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto Despite Yoshihisa Yamamoto’s decisive loss to Ricardo Morais last month, Yamamoto has a chance to redeem himself in a second consecutive main event. Andrei Kopylov, another Russian icon in RINGS, poses another huge test as well. Yamamoto comes out to a supportive crowd, but will it be enough? As Kopylov finds out, Yamamoto is determined to get back on track. The two get started on the canvas, with Yamamoto being quick to look for openings that Kopylov has, hoping to snag a limb for an early submission victory. Kopylov has great defense though, and keeps Yamamoto at bay. Yamamoto keeps the pressure on though, and as the two expand the match to the stand-up, Yamamoto’s striking abilities give the RINGS dojo product a 4-0 advantage heading into the 5:00 mark as he scores two early knockdowns. Kopylov is forced to readjust and gets more determined to keep the match on the canvas, and closes the gap to 4-3 soon enough as Yamamoto finds himself on the back foot in the grappling game. Kopylov is experienced enough to outsmart Yamamoto, especially as Yamamoto is a bit too eager to prove himself again. After exhausting several rope breaks, Yamamoto slows down and prevents any unnecessary mistakes by being smart and more calculated. As Kopylov goes for a double-leg takedown around the 13:00 mark, Yamamoto works to position himself to take control of Kopylov’s back. Kopylov struggles to break free, but Yamamoto’s persistence finally pays off as he locks in a Katahajime and forces the Russian to tap. Yamamoto immediately jumps and celebrates with the crowd as he appears to have erased the nightmare from last month. Motoyuki Kitazawa raises Yamamoto’s arm in victory as Yamamoto looks a lot happier than he was four weeks ago. Yamamoto defeats Kopylov via submission (katahajime), 13:21 Yoshihisa Yamamoto celebrates in the ring a bit more as Andrei Kopylov gives him a hug. After Yamamoto delivers comments backstage, in which he recognizes that he has more work to do to regain his top spot in the promotion, the WOWOW broadcast team recaps tonight's events and they promote the first round of the annual Mega Battle Tournament next month. Akira Maeda says that he will not be in the tournament to allow for new talent to shine, but says he will return to the ring next month to face an unnamed opponent. The bracket is revealed before the WOWWOW broadcast signs off to the ending theme from Apollo 13.

Card Announcement: Fighting Network RINGS - "Maelstrom VII" September 25th, 1996 Nakajima Sports Center Sapporo, Japan Semmy Schilt vs Wataru Sakata Christopher Haseman vs Masayuki Naruse Mitsuya Nagai vs Hiromitsu Kanehara Yoshihiro Takayama vs Dick Vrij Kazushi Sakuraba vs Nikolai Zouev Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Frank Shamrock Volk Han vs Kiyoshi Tamura Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Andrei Kopylov

LOS ANGELES TIMES - THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 4 : TWIN TROUBLE : Koslowski Brothers Are Best Bets for a U.S. Medal in Greco-Roman Wrestling (September 20th, 1988) (A pretty interesting article I found from 1988 that has some relevance for this timeline.)

Yeah, I didn't think this match was a MOTY contender. It was a good match if you like watching two guys crisply get their moves in, but I didn't get any sense of struggle or urgency in this match. A lot of this match felt like both guys were going from spot to spot, and the closing stretch is what you would expect out of an Ospreay match.

A night full of unexpected twists and turns, and the Dibiase/Williams feud with Gary Hart is heating up. Once again, Piper had some moments of gold on this show.

I thoroughly enjoyed both of these shows. You are very good at capturing the uniqueness of these studio-based promotions and all the colorful characters that pass through their doors. The Nashville audience certainly got their money's worth at the Fairgrounds.

Kamala continues his dominant run. I'm backing him to go all the way. Meanwhile, Wahoo McDaniel teaches Ron Garvin a lesson in the value of experience. Brett Sawyer continues to rock the boat. Interesting matchups next week with Bob Orton vs Jimmy Garvin and Tom Prichard vs Manny Fernandez.

That was very enjoyable to read. Jim Duggan has a point to prove and Mantell may have bitten off more than he could chew. Good way to debut the Moondogs as well.

Fujinami and Canek get some unpleasant surprises! It's cool to see The Sheikh in AWA. Lanny Poffo vs Paul Orndorff should be interesting. The main event was a great way to close out the show.

UWF Dynamism - Budokan Super Bout (1/10/1989) Shigeo Miyato vs Yoji Anjo Your typical shoot-style match that opens the show with two young lions figuring things out and working out the kinks of the style. Nothing too exciting, but decent enough. Miyato is looking a bit better than he did in the summer of 1988, and Anjo is slowly growing into his own as well. *** Norman Smiley vs Bart Vale Solid match in terms of the style at the time, Smiley carried most of the match and got the better offense in as Bart Vale is still figuring out how to work shoot-style at this point. This was a bit of a grappler vs striker clash, which made it more compelling than a match between Anjo and Miyato. The match went on a little longer than it should have. ***1/4 Tatsuo Nakano vs Mark Rush I did not enjoy this match at all. This was very boring even by the standards of the time. Both appeared to be uncomfortable working with each other, and the grappling was like watching paint dry. I'm not sure what went wrong here. I can tolerate slower-paced grappling but this was just bad. Mark Rush's previous match wasn't that bad either. Maybe the chemistry just wasn't there? Either way, this was a bit of a dud. **1/2 Kazuo Yamazaki vs Trevor Clarke A classic wrestler vs kickboxer match. Trevor Clarke was a kickboxer from the UK and worked pretty well here all things considered. Maybe matches like this help Yamazaki in presenting his GWE case because he is able to put together good matches with folks like Trevor Clarke who don't have any experience in professional wrestling. The striking could have been better and Clarke was obviously pulling them, but it didn't take me out of the match. The match also had a round system, but things flowed pretty well. ***1/2 Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada Another excellent clash between Takada and Maeda. The crowd was firmly behind this match and both guys got plenty of offense in and made you believe either could win at any moment. This was very physical at times, with both landing their strikes pretty hard, including closed fists, and Takada getting one or two nasty backdrop suplexes in. The grappling might have felt slow at times, but I don't think they did things just for the sake of it. Maeda was pushed to his limit by Takada but was determined to get his win back from November and prove he was the top guy in UWF as Takada's popularity was quickly growing. It didn't have the great closing stretch their previous match in November did, but it was probably better end-to-end. This certainly represented what UWF was all about in the late 1980s. ****3/4

Piper rubs people the wrong way but he is entertaining. That was a good way to debut Bull Nakano. I'm not entirely sure but I don't think intergender matches were all that common in the 1980s, so it was cool to see that used here.

Bad News Brown is already looking strong and primed for a run in the WWF. Love to see that. Speaking of potential tag team contenders, the British Bulldogs could make things interesting. Loved the Macho Man promo and the Brother Love show. Another very faithful show to the era and flavor of the WWF in the 1980s. Keep them coming!

RINGS signs Lenne Hardt as a ring announcer

If no one has any serious objections, I would like to use one of my October roster slots a little early and add Mark Fleming.

Eddie vs Owen sounded like a match of the week contender.

Bob Orton and Jimmy Garvin get important wins in the Starrcade Series. I'm sure fans are already dreaming of the potential Bob Orton vs Kamala blockbuster. The Road Warriors and Beasts of Burden continue their rivalry. Who's going to emerge from two of the best tag teams in North America clashing? Looking forward to seeing how the Starrcade Series shakes out with Kamala vs Robert Fuller on the horizon. The leaderboard definitely helps as a reference point!

Aldo gets a huge win! Didn't see that one coming. The Mankind promo was very true to the era. Great job recapping that moment. Steve Austin vs Mero was a good match and Austin advances to face either Razor Ramon or Davey Boy Smith. Both will be formidable opponents. The bracket is shaping up to be very interesting.

I'm cooking...

He did wrestle in December 1988 for Ryuma Go's promotion so I don't think a few months is a big deal.

FMW in 1988 would be pretty fun, maybe you can bring some of that magic here.

You just gave me a cool idea...

UWF Newborn drops Ryuma Go and adds Atsushi Onita

Sure but he wasn't a rookie at this point and he would be eligible to be picked up by someone now if they wanted him

Also worth noting Atsushi Onita didn't work any North American dates in 1989. At that point, he was getting ready to launch FMW (late 1989) and wouldn't make any North American appearances until much later.