[1993-04-24-RINGS] Volk Han vs Mitsuya Nagai

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Graham Crackers]

This is like a really cool showcase of everything Volk Han. It's a decent length but Han dominates most of the way (with enough of Nagai to prevent this from being a complete squash). I love that hold where Han is stepping on Nagai's foot and bars his arm with Nagai's own leg.

[Loss]

Nice match with some good exchanges. Really fun to watch all of Han's matwork, but it works better as an exhibition than a match.

[Zenjo]

Nagai gave a good youngster performance, fighting with spirit. It started off red hot although they couldn't maintain that level. The main theme was Hans mat genius. Forget Deano Machino, Han was the man of a thousand holds.

[Kevin Ridge]

I did really like Han's movie like top wrist take down. However this as a whole went way too long. Han randomly turning his back on his opponent trying to run away as he is getting kicked in the ass looks pretty bad.

[PeteF3]

Basically a Han showcase with a few token Nagai hope spots. Always fun to watch Han improvise like a jazz musician but I don't think this would be one of his high-end performances.

[WingedEagle]

Han is ridiculous. Everything is so smooth, fluid and just looks so natural. But I'm not breaking any ground here. Between his varied strikes and seemingly endless ability to go for submissions that don't look at all ridiculous you get a nice look at what Han can do. Fun and original match that probably plays better on a yearbook than on a show of similar action.

 

***1/2

[soup23]

Not really a great match because Nagai was essentially a warm body, but my lord is Volk Han ridiculous. Everything he did here was smooth as silk and it was some of the prettiest shoot style work you will ever see. This was a great change of pace and really made me notice Han more than anything else in the 90's so far including his classic matches. ***3/4

[garretta]

Nagai got in one lucky kick for a knockdown and that was about it. The rest of the time, he was trying to keep Han from twisting him into a pretzel. Ultimately, he failed.

 

If Han had cared to learn the traditional pro style, the right promotion could really have made some money with him, given his rep as a mat wrestler. What promotion that would have been I don't know, but it's a safe bet that it wouldn't have been an American one.

[Microstatistics]

Greatest squash of all time? Definitely a contender for me. Incredible sequences and great character work. I can understand the exhibition criticisms but that was part of narrative for me. Han was so dominant that he literally started showboating and busting out ridiculous holds just because he could. This match sets a great foundation for the rest of the feud as we see how Han deals with Nagai's growth and improvement in their future matches. **** 1/4

[Edwin]

This is beautiful. I don't get the sense of this being such a squash match as it's being made out to be. Nagai was still a rookie at this point going up against a much more experienced grappler, so it was smartly work and Han gave Nagai enough for him to draw underdog sympathy. Nagai's comebacks were excellently timed and they really made the crowd buy into a potential upset. Despite Han's great performance, I think some of his sub attempts were somewhat lazy/slow near the end, but they looked awesome when he completed executing them. I also dug how Han just pulled out a sub out of whatever position he was in. Really strong match.

[superkix]

One of my favorites from RINGS '93 because I love an underdog fired up and within the palms of the Japanese crowd, swinging for the fences with wild abandon. Nagai puts Han on the rocks, here and there, but he definitely puts him on the rocks. Han does his thing, taking him down to the mat to stretch him in ways only Volk Han can do -- at one point, choking him with his own arm. But Nagai keeps coming at him with kicks, catching him with a shot to the face before Han snags a foot and takes him back down. He's also upped his submission game against Han, using a rolling leglock, a cross armbar, a kneebar...but Han will find ways to slip out and turn the hold against him. I thought the finish was awesome, with Nagai knocking him into the ropes with the big wheel kick, briefly turning him over into the single leg (the crowd losing their shit) before Han forces the submission out of him.

[Makai Club #1]

Nagai fights for his life in his biggest match upto this point. Volk Han outclassed him in almost every turn except that one moment where Nagai floored Han with an axe kick. Something as small as that, something that proved insignificant compared to the rest of the bout, sent Nagai into a frenzy and had him celebrating like Japan won the World Cup. Nagai, spurred on by the hot crowd, kept alive, kept getting to the ropes despite Han tangling him up in knots. The result was inevitable but each rope break gave Nagai antagonising hope in his endeavour. Fantastic match. ****1/4