Control21

That was an excellent edition of SummerSlam. Great Muta vs Kevin von Erich sounded like a potential showstealer. The Rockers vs The Russians, Tito Santana vs Rick Martel, and Hogan vs Rick Rude were the top-level matches one would expect from a card of this caliber. Felt like I was reading the results from an actual late 1980s Summerslam. Great work.

Interesting start to WCW. Eddie Guerrero vs Booker T was a great opener and Ric Flair vs Rocco Rock is a fun pairing. Also enjoy Lex Luger and Sting as a tag team and it will be interesting to see who else challenges them for the tag titles in the division. The Giant vs Stevie Ray is another match I never knew I needed to see until now. Good stuff!

I'm not too fussed about it but I'm sure Booker T was seen as a guy with huge potential at the time and was being treated like one IIRC so I was just thinking about Duggan's worth at the time in the line of a traditional sports trade. Would a team accept a declining asset for a potential superstar? That's up for debate but most teams wouldn't I think. Anyways, I'm just giving my opinion since I was asked for it. Not trying to be a fly in your ointment. I understand why you would want him.

I'm not arguing with anyone, but there's certainly no way a promotion would have accepted Hakushi for Bam Bam Bigelow in 1996. That's just a simple fact. If you're fine with that trade then I guess there's nothing I can do about it, but I think these types of trades just take away from our original intentions for the untouchables list and it just turns into a "well, it's fair in my view!" type of thing and the list will eventually just end up being a random assortment of names that won't be attractive to anyone. Again, this is just my two cents and not meant to be confrontational.

If everything is in the eyes of the beholder then it might be best to just abolish the untouchable list anyway because it's just kinda of pointless if anyone and everyone can trade whoever they want. Or just go back to the original idea and use a draft system if no one joins by a certain time.

No, I didn't think that was fair either

PWI rankings were kayfabe and not based on anything tangible. Volk Han was never ranked in PWI until 1996 or 1997 and that was his only appearance although he was arguably a top 50 wrestler since at least 1992. I would say that if you really wanted Bigelow, you might need to offer several wrestlers to get a fair deal for Bigelow. I would like Dan Severn but there's no one on my roster that would hold comparable value that I would be willing to let go. These types of decisions are what keep games like this interesting. At least I think so. If I was the Untouchable promotion, I would probably ask for Abdullah the Butcher and Mike Awesome to be included in any deal. But that's just me. Don't take my objection as hostility or anything. I just think we need to stick to the original intentions here otherwise the untouchables list will be pointless and we'll be better off just getting rid of it

Ehh..The Rock and Roll express' star was waning in 1996 and weren't exactly top draws. Bigelow was being used to advertise video games like the Wrestlemania arcade game and was a year removed from his big feud with Lawrence Taylor. Just my thoughts on the matter

Bam Bam was still a pretty big name at this time. I would expect a big trade for him Not to be that guy or anything but if we want to remain faithful to the intentions of the Untouchable list, we should really make sure every trade is 100% realistic and in line with the expectations of the time. Perhaps we could bring in a third party mediator to give their opinion

Some recommendations to help get you started - https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7wg6q8 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4evgna I'm also doing a review of UWF 2.0 in the Microscope section if you want to follow along there and see what other matches you want to seek out yourself. Keep in mind that UWF 2.0 was mostly worked (maybe one or two shoots? Can't remember) and outside of Shooto, MMA wouldn't take off in Japan until the 1990s with Pancrase, Vale Tudo Japan, and eventually RINGS.

A great way to start off WWF in 1996! The IC tournament promises to be quite fun and Savio Vega has already made things interesting by beating Owen Hart. Will he face Sid or Farooq? Either will be a formidable opponent. The Ultimate Warrior has made a statement by beating Goldust and becoming the new #1 contender for the WWF title! Can the Ultimate Warrior redeem himself and become the top guy for WWF once again? Overall, this was very faithful to 1996 WWF and I enjoyed re-visiting all the characters again. Can't wait to see what's next!

The interaction between Dr. Death/Ted DiBiase and Abdullah the Butcher/Tarzan Goto is just what the doctor ordered! Can't wait to see these two tag teams lock horns in a proper match down the line. Should be very fun. Ron Simmons has friends in high places, and perhaps this will help him in the new WCW. He certainly has the pedigree to rise through the ranks quickly. Dan Spivey has made a statement and his presence makes the Horsemen a more formidable faction overall. I also like the team of Mando Guerrero and Ricky Santana. They will pose a danger to anyone who faces them. Another excellent WCW show. As always, the promos are very fun to read.

A flavorful entry in Prime Time Wrestling. The Rockers continue their hot streak in WWF, and Kevin Von Erich and Great Muta come away with some impressive victories leading into Summerslam. Dynamite Kid vs Dino Bravo was an excellent main event to keep the bar raised high for WWF's big summer event. As always, you certainly make this feel like 1980s WWF with all the characters you would expect. Can't wait for Summerslam!

Two very good pieces of television back to back for NWA as the Starrcade Series rolls on. Can Kamala take control of the A block or will Wahoo McDaniel make things interesting? I love all the interesting matchups in NWA, you never know what you will get next. Keeps things interesting and I'm sure the TV audience for NWA appreciates as the diversity, especially with the singles matches.

I plan on doing two shows a month for a while, but then I'll probably do 1 show a month, which is what RINGS usually did.

Harry Smith would have been 11 in 1996. Teddy Hart was like 15 or 16 when he debuted.

I think in shoot-style, losing by submission was seen by the fans at the time as part of the "realness" of the style. It wasn't necessarily damaging compared to someone losing within a minute by KO or something along those lines. Guys like Miyato or Nakano lost quite a bit but were still seen as real threats by the fans. I guess that without the existence of MMA, losing didn't lose you favor in the eyes of the fan. That was a different story in the late 90s/early 2000s with PRIDE arriving on the scene. Losing in an MMA match or losing against an MMA guy probably knocked you down a few pegs. I should note that in the 80s and 90s, a shoot-style guy losing in a regular pro-wrestling match did hurt them, which is probably why UWFi lost a lot of steam during the UWFi-NJPW feud in 1995/1996. UWF actually had pinfalls in real life. I took those out to suit my own personal tastes for now, but I may bring them back in the future, we'll see.

Excellent show. Murakami already looks quite promising. The King Kong Bundy vs Takeshi Ono match was pretty funny. Will be interesting to see how Shinya Hashimoto handles his role as a top guy in BattlArts. He's tailor-made for the style but will the fans accept him over Ikeda and Ishikawa? Overall, I'm quite excited to see what's next as it appears this version of BattlArts will have a very interesting flavor.

Terry Funk was good at whatever he chose to do and constantly reinvented himself as the business evolved without losing the core that made him special. One of the all time greats. RIP.

Man, that was awesome. Really well done. Meltzer gave me a hearty laugh every time he said something. LOL. Great top to bottom. Damian 666 vs Super Crazy was a great opener, and Dynamite Kid vs Great Sasuke delivered as expected. The main event was fantastic with a nice twist. Beautiful chaos.

I wonder if we'll see the Steiner Brothers vs The Rockers any time soon...that is a firecracker match on paper.

Both of those shows were full of action. The Starrcade Series is off to a great start. The team of Ole Anderson and Harley Race is very formidable and they should keep the belts for a while. Tom Zenk is off to a winning start in NWA and could make a name for himself quickly. Speaking of Anderson/Race, perhaps the Road Warriors could make a statement if given the opportunity? Overall, NWA is on a roll this summer and it should be interesting to see what the next few months bring.

Fighting Network RINGS - "Maelstrom VI" August 24th, 1996 Ariake Coliseum Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 9,236 The Fighting Network RINGS theme plays (without the lyrics!) as customary, with each competitor being introduced individually. Large cheers for the usual suspects, including Volk Han, Kiyoshi Tamura, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, and Yoshihisa Yamamoto. There's a big pop for the new guy, Yoshihiro Takayama, as well. Akira Maeda welcomes everyone and thanks the fans for coming. He says tonight will be a great event and will feature the debut of Brazilian fighters in RINGS. He also introduces the audience to Yoshihiro Takayama. Takayama is handed the microphone and says that he is glad to be here and is eager to prove himself in RINGS. He promises that he will be the #1 wrestler in RINGS in the future. Before the proceedings start, the WOWOW broadcast gives the RINGS rankings for August: 1) Volk Han 2) Yoshihisa Yamamoto 3) Nikolai Zouev 4) Bitsadze Tariel 5) Andrei Kopylov 6) Mitsuya Nagai 7)Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 8) Mikhail Ilyukhin 9) Dick Vrij 10) Masayuki Naruse Willie Peeters vs Wataru Sakata A somewhat spirited affair. Sakata comes out firing against Peeters, but Peeters shows the younger Sakata how to dance as the minutes pass. Peeters constantly applies pressure on Sakata, proving to be the more proficient grappler in this match by making Sakata scramble to the ropes several times. Sakata appears to have a chance against Peeters in the striking game, knocking down the Dutchman once, but Peeters punishes Sakata with his patented stiff palms strikes. The match features more grappling as we move into the 12:00 mark and Peeters continues to give Sakata fits. The score stands at 8-2 in favor of Willie Peeters when he locks in a north-south choke for the victory. Peeters defeats Sakata via submission (north-south choke), 17:42 Masayuki Naruse vs Egan Inoue Another pretty exciting match that sees Egan Inoue giving Naruse fits from the start. Egan Inoue is the better grappler, but Naruse does find his rhythm and prevents Inoue from doing any serious damage at the start. They both end up scrambling for a few rope breaks and the score remains at 2-2 for a while until they start engaging in a pretty fierce striking battle, with both throwing a lot of stiff palm strikes. Naruse knocks down Inoue with one of these strikes, and this gets Inoue going again as he manages to find Naruse in a clinch and brings him down for a rear-naked choke that ends the match in a submission. Inoue defeats Naruse via submission (rear-naked choke), 11:21 Bitsadze Tariel vs Yoshihiro Takayama Takayama is welcomed into RINGS by a loud ovation from the fans in Ariake Coliseum, and Bitsadze Tariel looks to present a formidable challenge to the newcomer. The first several minutes of this match feature mainly striking, with Takayama showing off his power against Tariel’s strength. Tariel’s kicks give Takayama some trouble, but he fires back with his own and manages to clinch with Tariel, scoring a few knees to the abdomen for his first knockdown. Tariel quickly gets up and soon returns the favor with a powerful right kick to Takayama’s kidney. The story continues for most of the match, with it remaining even and each scoring two more knockdowns. As they begin to seriously test each other’s grappling strength around the 11:00 mark, Takayama emerges as the more competent of the two and manages to snag a guillotine choke on Tariel for the submission victory! The crowd erupts with excitement as Takayama wins on his debut over a strong RINGS heavyweight wrestler. Takayama defeats Tariel via submission (guillotine choke), 12:19 Mitsuya Nagai vs Dick Vrij Dick Vrij comes out swinging against Nagai and appears to have Nagai on the ropes several times with several hard strikes resulting in three knockdowns by the 3:40 mark. Nagai tries to get Vrij on the canvas, knowing that he is a better grappler than Vrij. Vrij plays good defense, and manages to score on another knockdown on Nagai! But in the last minute, Nagai comes roaring back and catches Vrij by surprise with a double-leg takedown. Nagai takes the initiative and locks in a kneebar as Vrij struggles to break free. He has no choice but to tap! Nagai gets the surprising victory to the delight of the fans as his old mentor Maeda, dressed in a fine red jacket at ringside, looks on approvingly. Nagai defeats Vrij via submission (kneebar), 6:42 Kiyoshi Tamura vs Maurice Smith A very evenly contested bout. Maurice Smith opts not to use any gloves as he has in some of his previous matches in RINGS, and this may allow him to challenge Tamura on the canvas. The two open the match with some tentative striking, with Smith testing Tamura with some sharp kicks aimed at Tamura’s legs. Tamura returns the favor, showing he is a dangerous kicker too. Tamura soon tries for the double-leg takedown after Maurice Smith aims too high with a knee. Smith controls Tamura at first, keeping him in a half-mount and making Tamura exert energy to try and counter Smith on the canvas. Smith attempts to work his way into a rear-naked choke on Tamura, but Tamura has excellent defense and avoids the attempt. Neither can find the advantage on the canvas, so they opt for the stand-up again and Tamura brings some more fire here, working in some combos with palm strikes to keep Maurice Smith moving. Smith uses his kickboxing experience to land a few hits on Tamura as well, but neither is in danger of being knocked down. At around the 8:00 mark, Tamura makes Smith scramble for the ropes as he nears locking in a leglock attempt. Smith opts to take the match to the canvas, but as Tamura grows into the match, so does his danger. After Tamura and Smith trade control, with Smith keeping Tamura busy with some counter sweeps, Tamura seizes the initiative and manages to exploit an opening by getting a cross-armbreaker on Smith. Smith tries to find the ropes, but is some distance away and is forced to tap. The crowd erupts in joy over Tamura’s fine victory over a very capable opponent. Tamura defeats Smith via submission (cross-armbreaker), 10:31 Adilson Lima vs Mikhail Ilyukhin Adilson Lima is the first Brazilian to debut in RINGS and has a formidable opponent in Mikhail Ilyukhin. On paper, this is an interesting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu vs SAMBO match. In reality, the match is mostly a cautious affair with Adilson not doing anything too risky while Ilyukhin doesn’t commit fully either. Adilson is happy to trade some tepid strikes with Ilyukhin and the two measure each other out for the first few minutes. When they get to the canvas, Lima is more calculated, keeping Ilyukhin from doing anything too dangerous. Lima uses a smart vertical four-quarter hold and keeps Ilyukhin pinned. Ilyukhin struggles to break the hold but eventually manages to roll over to the nearest set of ropes to force a break. With the two standing back up, Ilyukhin tries to take the initiative but Lima proves to be too adept and avoids several takedown attempts. By the 15:00 mark, the match is 4-1 in favor of Lima as he manages to get Ilyukhin to scramble to the ropes several times while he looks for a submission hold. The last few minutes see the match pick up a bit as Ilyukhin gets Lima to the mat and gets the opportunity to look for a Keylock, but Lima fights through it and sweeps Ilyukhin, getting the advantageous position and uses his side control to grab Ilyukhin’s arm for a cross-armbreaker. Lima immediately locks it in and Ilyukhin taps. Adilson celebrates the victory while Ilyukhin holds his face in frustration. Lima defeats Ilyukhin via submission (cross-armbreaker), 17:37 Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka Following up from their exciting match in July, this proves to be a grappling masterclass by both. Volk Han is up to his usual tricks at the beginning of the match when he gets wrist control on Kohsaka and spins him around with a creative wrist lock. Kohsaka finds himself on the mat but uses his wit to wrap his legs around Han’s and grabs a quick leg-lock, bringing Han down with him. Han, of course, finds his own leg to lock into and we see an early exchange in the art of leg-locking techniques. Kohsaka finds himself in trouble but rolls himself to the ropes and we get an early clean break. Both Han and Kohsaka show off their fancy striking abilities, with Kohsaka perhaps showing better palm strikes of the two. Kohsaka takes down Han with a double-leg takedown but Han reverses in due course and attempts to get a cross-armbreaker on Kohsaka, but Kohsaka slips out of it, only to find Han snatching onto his leg again. We see another calm exchange in leg-locking techniques. Kohsaka grows bolder and eventually finds a way to confuse Han while working on top, spinning around to snatch in a cross-armbreaker, which forces Han to tap the ropes with his legs. Kohsaka goes 1-0 up and grows into the match, giving Han some headaches as the two continue to show off some tremendous grappling skills. By the 10:00 mark, the two are even at 2-2 as each uses a rope break a few more times. Kohsaka and Han find themselves back up and they exchange a few strikes before Han brings Kohsaka back down to the canvas. Kohsaka works to find Han’s back for a rear-naked choke but Han escapes with a rope break. As they resume, Han gains wrist control and does a beautiful joint-lock armbar takedown, which leads to a double-wrist-lock, and Han smartly traps both of Kohsaka’s legs with his own. Kohsaka calmly finds a way out though and gets a rope break and the two are tied at 3-3 at the 12:30 mark. Han fires back with some stiff palm strikes and goes for another double-wrist-lock takedown, but Kohsaka finds his way to side control and works into a triangle armbar position, but Han rolls to the ropes and gets another rope break. 4-3 Kohsaka as we head into the final stretch where Kohsaka gets Han into a rolling single-leg takedown where he attempts a knee crusher, but Han has great awareness and somehow snags Kohsaka’s arm for the armbar! Kohsaka taps! The crowd roars in approval of the great display of grappling and counterwork. Volk Han pulls another rabbit out of his hat. Han defeats Kohsaka via submission (cross-armbreaker), 13:39 Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Ricardo Morais Ricardo Morais, standing at 6’8, poses a towering figure even against Yamamoto, who is 6’3. The muscular frame of Morais looks to be unstoppable, and Yamamoto’s hope seems to lay in the fact that this is a RINGS rules match, which will put both competitors on an even playing field. Yamamoto immediately tries to grapple with Morais, attempting a double-leg takedown, but Morais’ strength proves to be too much and he guards easily against the attempt. Morais hooks his arm around Yamamoto’s neck and drags him back up as Yamamoto tries to push away. Morais doesn’t let go, and lands a few hard knee strikes against Yamamoto’s abdomen, causing the rising RINGS star to fall to the canvas for Morais’ first knockdown. Yuji Shimada begins the count and Yamamoto manages to get back up relatively quickly, but the theme continues through the match as Morais bosses Yamamoto with his pure strength and striking ability, showing that even his palm strikes are dangerous. Yamamoto appears to struggle every time he tries to close the distance against Morais, getting knocked down three more times by the 5:00 mark. Morais even shows off his kicking ability, using his powerful legs to cut down his opponent at any opportunity. This is unfortunately a complete mismatch as Yamamoto tries to bravely fight back with some furious palm strikes, but Morais counters with a nice combo and delivers a sharp blow that knocks out Yoshihisa Yamamoto for good. Shimada calls for the bell as an audible gasp fills the Ariake Coliseum. Morais celebrates with his cornermen as several other RINGS Japan wrestlers attend to Yamamoto, who appears to be shellshocked. Morais defeats Yamamoto via KO, 5:49 The fans in Ariake Coliseum continue to take in what they just witnessed, as Ricardo Morais works his way back to the locker room. There will be no celebration or words of victory from Yamamoto tonight. The RINGS commentary team breaks down tonight's events for the WOWOW audience and promotes the annual RINGS Mega Battle Tournament, which will start in October. The WOWOW broadcast signs off with the end titles theme to "Apollo 13" as the credits roll.