[1997-12-02-Kingdom] Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Kingdom is more reminiscent of UWFI than RINGS. They wear boxing gloves, so the strikes, kicks and matwork all come together to produce something pretty unique and special. Whether they're hitting harder or not, a punch thrown by a guy wearing gloves almost always looks good. The more yearbook footage I watch, the more I really become a fan of grappling and matwork, so I'm always going to appreciate a match that spotlights it so well. These guys don't let up in this one, as there isn't much time where they aren't keeping this moving. Each exchange leads into another exchange and there is almost no standing off. I'm not sure if that's necessarily better or worse than other ways shoot style matches are worked, but it's something that stood out. Kanehara catches Sakuraba in the face with the nastiest kick I've ever seen. Sakuraba is awesome at building the drama. Great match - not the very best match of its kind in 1997 (the competition is pretty steep!), but one that really stands out from the pack.

[Jetlag]

Insane match, which you'd expect to see in Futen. Both guys are wearing gloves and giving eachother total hell with punches. Sakuraba spends most of the match working for submissions and he looks to rip Kanehara apart a couple times in truely Gracie Killer fashion, while Kanehara threw a few kicks that looked like nobody would get up from them. I can't remember many shootstyle matches this gritty and nasty.

[Kevin Ridge]

Those aren’t the thickest gloves as far as protection so it’s impressive to see them really lay into each other. They gone from the primary open hand slaps of UWFI to now using gloves. Good stuff from both guys. Sakuraba isn't showing the charisma like he does in Pride.

[soup23]

I wan entranced by this. Slick work all around and some straight disgusting strike exchanges. The short punches in quick succession led to a lot of brutality. In fact I liked this better than the hyped RINGS stuff in November and thought I would be the high vote when I ranked, then I looked over my MOTY listing and saw that it was #27 and that just reaffirmed how top end this year has been.

[PeteF3]

UWFI actually banned closed-fist punches to the head, so this has a different dynamic from the start when these two dudes just start whaling on each other. Each guy also only has 5 points instead of 15, which adds to the sense of urgency throughout this. I still like Tamura better as a worker but this was a hell of a war, with some great "near-falls" and nifty hold escapes to go along with the awesome stand-up. I daresay this is the best Kingdom match I've viewed from this year!

[Zenjo]

Kingdom was very short lived and this is the best bout I've seen from the promotion. The participants wore gloves which immediately differentiated it from UWFI. There were only 5 knockdowns or rope breaks allowed, which proved to be a match shortener. A spirited encounter with fast paced action all the way and plenty of stiffness. There was one particularly brutal kick that Sakuraba walked right into. I would've liked to see this run longer. The new points system was poorly thought out.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara - KINGDOM 12/2/97

 

i see why people prefer this over the rematch. Some awesome stand up exchanges in this! Kanehara blasts Sakuraba with a punch and kick that I can't belueve he got up. Like I thought it was a shoot KO. Kanehara was up 3-1 through asskicking. LOVED Sakuraba catching the axe kick. Matwork and takedowns were great. Nice inside heel trip at one point. Sakuraba knots it up with a choke and leg hold. The 1-1 sudden death next hold wins was hot. Sakuraba wins with a cross arm breaker. I enjoy Shoot-Style a lot but it is rare that it blows me away. It just lacks that narrative and stickiness factor. Those strikes were awesome, Kanehara really teed off. ****

[Edwin]

Increible match. Sakuraba shows his resiliency here surviving a brutal elbow to the jaw from Kanehara and a brutal head kick near the end. All of the grappling exchanges were excellent as they kept it moving and all of it was nice and tight. Aside from the bombs thrown by Kanehara, my favorite bit from the grappling exchanges was the sweet ankle pick sweep he pulled off.

[Chess Knight]

This is the first Kingdom match I think I've ever watched, and I liked the format of only 5 rope breaks and/or downs each creating quick but escalating drama. They're also wearing gloves which is pretty unlike any other shoot style promotion (not even Vader wore gloves in UWFi) but thank god they were because they fucking HANDED it to each other when throwing blows. I actually said "fuck me" aloud at one of the bursts. They mostly spent the match grappling though, which I was enamoured with. Really quick chess game of steering with the skid, slapping on a submission no matter how close to the ropes to force a point loss, and gripping onto to themselves to try to stop a hold. The cross-armbreaker played a strong part, being the first rope break and being responsible for a couple more down the road. Was a really easy to create tension (physically and dramatically) because the guy in it would rush for the ropes like a cat every time, once their own vice grip was busted. The only actual down of the match comes when Sakuraba tries to duck a kick, I think not realising Kanehara is actually aiming pretty low, and catches it square in the face - and let me tell you, people - this is straight up as nasty and violent a kick I can remember in a match (outside of Akira Maeda actually trying to injure people, I guess). I wouldn't wish it on anybody but it sure as hell made for a perfect surprise down, especially because Sakuraba was looking exhausted by then and looked to let his guard down by a bit. Sakuraba tries to return to submissions after getting up from that - including a cross-armbreaker attempt - even to try to whittle away Kanehara's score (Sakuraba was down 3-1 by now) which really helped put the kick over. I won't spoil the last few minutes but it ties in the rest of the match really, really well, including the finish. I will note Kanehara trying and failing to swing near the end, as a desperate attempt to finish it because he got the only down in the match earlier. Wouldn't surprise me if the first Kingdom match I watched is the best of them all.