Control21

It continues to frustrate me that Fujiwara and Taue are not in the HOF. They should be slam dunk candidates but what do I know...Taue was an integral part of AJPW in the 1990s and the Four Pillar tag matches speak for themselves I think. Fujiwara was an integral part of the shoot-style revolution and influenced/trained an entire generation of wrestlers. Both were proven draws to some degree as well (it's harder to make that cause for Taue, but Fujiwara was one of the top guys in UWF and UWF 2.0 and fans were obviously paying to see him.) Okada, Ibushi, and Naito have very good cases, I would say TenCozy do as well but with HDA not even in, it's harder to make the argument for them.

This is the best summary of AEW's house style I've seen. I've always found it incredibly annoying.

Resurrecting this thread to continue highlighting some of RINGS' best matches, picking things up in the first half of 1998. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Mikhail Ilyukhin (1/21/98) A certified RINGS classic. There is speculation that this could have been Tamura vs Han IV, but the match we got was probably just as good as that could have been. Ilyukhin really stepped it up here (he was already good), and worked a beautiful match with Tamura that wasn't as flashy as the Han/Tamura matches but was more on the realistic side. The match was not lacking in drama or psychology though, and Volk Han acting as Ilyukhin's cornerman was a nice touch. Ilyukhin controlled the early part of the match until Tamura's conditioning and athleticism factored in, where the tides started to turn and Tamura came back down on points. The crowd was very hot for this match too. Everything came together nicely here. ***** Masayuki Naruse vs Troy Ittensohn (3/3/1998) This was pretty good. These Korakuen Hall shows during RINGS' later period featured a mix of shoots and worked matches that were reflective of the realistic RINGS house style. Ittensohn looked good in a debut match here, and he gave Naruse a good amount to work with. Not an explosive match by any means, but rewarding if you like paying attention to the final details. ***3/4 Kiyoshi Tamura vs Sergei Sousserov (3/3/1998) Sousserov is still around, and while he has aged a bit, he still gives Tamura a nice match for the main event of this Korakuen Hall show. Again, this was reflective of the realistic RINGS house style and the primary item of interest here is Tamura's ability to work within a realistic style while making it exciting. **** Mikhail Ilyukhin vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (3/28/1998) One of RINGS' more underrated matches. This was really good. Hiromitsu Kanehara is an unheralded shoot-style genius and Ilyukhin is probably in the same category. The result is a "minor masterpiece" as the TK Scissors blog put it. This was worked realistically, and we got some very proficient grappling and counterwork here. I loved how Kanehara came across as a legitimate threat and Ilyukhin had to earn his victory here. Excellent match. ****3/4 Nikolai Zouev vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (3/28/1998) Like Ilyukhin, Zouev is very underrated when it comes to good shoot-stylists. He's sort of similar to Han in terms of the very unique offense he has on the mat, but is probably more intricate and has more of a focus on finesse than flash. He has very good chemistry with Kohsaka here, and the result is a low-key very good match. A handful of flying armbars here, and they trade some very slick submission attempts. The crowd loved this, although the finish was a bit weird with Nikolai Zouev tapping near the ropes. ****1/4 Kiyoshi Tamura vs Dick Vrij (3/28/1998) A fun sprint that saw Tamura fight through Dick Vrij's well-known ability to launch stiff strikes. Dick Vrij put in some effort here, and when he does, it is usually worth it. I enjoy these types of RINGS matches where smaller guys like Tamura, or grapplers in general, fight back against larger striking opponents like Vrij or Tariel. Nothing spectacular in terms of quality but a nice popcorn match. **** Gogitidze Bakouri vs Wataru Sakata (4/16/1998) Bakouri comes out in a singlet this time and throws a bunch of suplexes as a result. I appreciate Maeda for bringing in wrestlers from Georgia over the years as we got some very unique fighting styles out of it. Zaza is another great example. Sakata didn't really stand out here and I felt this was one of his weaker matches, but this was still pretty enjoyable overall. ***1/2 Akira Maeda vs Volk Han (4/16/1998) A fun little five-minute match where Maeda tries his best and Han ensures he has a good match. Mostly a grappling match on the canvas, which isn't really a bad thing. The crowd was into it, and it was pretty easy to buy in as a result. I think we got a nice finishing stretch out of this too. **** Christopher Haseman vs Kenichi Yamamoto (5/29/1998) One of Haseman's best matches in RINGS I think, with the Naruse match from 1997 being another contender. Another match worked in the realistic house style, I think we got some pretty high-quality grappling and counterwork out of this. Yamamoto was a pretty solid worker and he added a lot to the RINGS undercard during the 1998-1999 period. He had some pretty legit skills as well, and I think that all carried over here. Haseman always had some potential as a wrestler, and although he never really met that promise, he still had some pretty solid matches in latter RINGS. This is a good example of that I think. ***3/4 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Volk Han (5/29/1998) This was shaping up to be a RINGS classic until the unfortunate finish. I think the story they were trying to set up here was based around Kohsaka finally surpassing Han, and some of the moments in this match support that theory as Kohsaka shows Han some flash of his own with some slick submission attempts. Han comes back with some mean-looking submissions of his own, and they look pretty intense as the match has an urgent pace from the start. The finish is very odd, as Kohsaka catches Han in a sleeper hold on the canvas but releases the hold and seems to retain hold of his arm in some sort of a wrist lock. Han taps instinctively to this I think? Not sure what happened, but both wrestlers are evidently very disappointed in how this ended. It's a shame we never got a rematch. ****1/4 Yasuhito Namekawa vs Minoru Toyonaga (6/20/1998) This was a shoot, but it was very good and the Pancrase-esque style keeps it looking like a wrestling match and not a full-blown NHB/MMA fight. Meltzer called this a contender for the best shoot fight of 1998, and I can see why. Toyonaga gets busted open early in the match. Namekawa catches him with a palm strike and his nose appears to be broken as blood comes streaming out. He carries a crimson mask for a while until his cornermen clean it up for him. This was a very spirited fight. Toyonaga was representing the Takada dojo here, with Namekawa being a Maeda/RINGS guy, so the story we got out of this added some spice to the bout. ****1/4 Hiromitsu Kanehara vs Wataru Sakata (6/20/1998) I'm not sure if this was a work or a shoot as we had a round system, but it was very good either way and this was possibly Sakata's best match in RINGS if it was a work. Kanehara once again shows off his skills and Sakata rises to the task as they put on an excellent display of wrestling with some cool reversals and counterwork going on throughout the first round. At the end of the first round, Sakata catches Kanehara with a sick suplex and it looks like Kanehara hits his head pretty hard in the process. The crowd is very lively for this, and Kanehara comes back for the win in the second round with an armbar. I don't know if it was just me, but this was really good for a match that I don't see discussed very often. ****1/2 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Kenichi Yamamoto (6/20/1998) A nice main event for a Korakuen Hall show that was all business and no flash. Just some solid wrestling and grappling between these two. Pretty sure this was a work. Kohsaka continues to look like a complete product in 1998, and Yamamoto wasn't a bad opponent for him either in the tune-up for next month's classic with Tamura. **** Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (6/27/1998) One for the ages. I agree with all the accolades this match has been given. Best shoot-style match of all time? Yes. MOTY contender for 1998? Certainly. Possibly one of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all time? You bet. This was a pure display of athleticism, conditioning, grappling, and wrestling at its very finest. Not only that, you get a ton of psychology and drama playing into the hotshot ace vs dojo product angle where Kohsaka is trying to prove himself against the desginated leader of the promotion. Tamura is trying to prove himself too after the recent debacles with Valentijn Overeem and Bitsadze Tariel as well. The use of the RINGS point system was brilliant here too, and the result is a match that has had a ton written about its genius. I can only say so much after the tomes that have been written about this masterpiece. ****** I also want to add Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Frank Shamrock (9/26/1997) to the list of great RINGS matches. This match was a shoot, but it was a very good shoot and possibly one of the best shoot fights I have ever seen. It was similar to a Pancrase match in that it looked more like a pro wrestling match than an actual MMA/NHB fight, and the untrained eye would probably assume it wasn't any different from most other RINGS matches of the period. The technical quality on display in this match was impeccable. Truly two of the greatest grapplers of the 90s and the birth of The Alliance, which would dominate MMA over the next several years. ****3/4