[1997-12-08-Kingdom] Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The rematch. That first sequence was mindblowingly good. This was another really strong match between these two. It wasn't quite as explosive as the first one, but I think I liked it almost as much. Finish was a bit abrupt. Shoot style may be the only thing that gets me through 1998-1999.

[Jetlag]

Ohtani's Jacket wrote that this was pretty awful. I can kind of see where he's coming from, but I still enjoyed this match. I guess it's easier for me to accept two workers meandering and being clumsy when they are working shootstyle. I really dig this light heavyweight style with the gloves that they make good use of, and the finish despite being abrupt was a total killer. Enjoyable match.

[Kevin Ridge]

The early back and forth going for takedowns/submission was good. The finish was quick but I was about to complain how guys seemed to always get up and beat the count on these early type KO’s but Sakuraba doesn’t! With the referee counting the 10 so fast it’s hard to have the drama like traditional pro wrestling where you can milk it good on someone trying to get up in time. I still prefer early Sakuraba in Pride to these.

[soup23]

First minute was good a ferocious. In fact the whole match had a "go for broke" feel I can appreciate. I do see the criticisms of it being sloppy and it was shorter than the first match but still highly enjoyable overall. Kanehara is able to even it up.

[PeteF3]

This was pretty awesome in its speed and ferocity and I really didn't notice any sloppiness--certainly there are many "smoother" UWF matches that are about 1/100th as exciting. Finish is sudden but had a definite "holy shit, he's dead" vibe to it.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara - KINGDOM 12/8/97

 

I thought this was damn near the most realistic shoot style match I've ever seen. I think most casual fans of pro wrestling & MMA would be worked by this. I really couldn't think of one moment they exposed themselves. Great submission work and loved the urgency to get the ropes. Some real slick ways to get holds. Like the transition to stand up with good knees and Kanehara kicking Sakuraba's head off was a great finish. Unexpected since Sakuraba was the bigger star but he didn't really sell it afterwards. Great work all around. ***1/2

[Edwin]

This wasn't on par with their previous match, but it's still good. Love how they actually make every grappling exchange into a scramble struggle and they aren't just leaving limbs out there for their opponent to grab onto and don't just lay there waiting for their opponent to lock them in submissions so they can then run for a rope break. Kanehara again outclasses Sakuraba on the feet and KOs him with a brutal combo, but it felt kind of flat as it came out of nowhere and the match was shorter than I had hoped for.