[1999-03-22-RINGS] Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiromitsu Kanehara

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Kanehara just isn’t as technically proficient as Tamura, Kohsaka or the Russians. This was a very good match because of the great technique we see from Tamura, but the match would have been put over the top if he was facing a more game opponent. Kanehara is good, but he is good in more of a UWFI way than a RINGS way.

[tim]

This match didn't do much for me at all. Mat work was nothing special, stand up was nothing special. A couple cool moves from Tamura but nothing mind blowing.

[Tim Evans]

I'm with tim here. I found this to be pretty boring and the non extent crowd heat hurt it. Just a match.

[soup23]

Agree that this was basic Rings action and it felt like Tamura playing with Kanehara until he did the cross arm breaker and took this home. That being said, Tamura by the numbers still makes for a good match when given time and they did stay true to the storyline they crafted out here. Disappointing for RINGS matches but still good overall. ***

[Zenjo]

Yes, well that was... minimalist? Very little actually happens here. Kanehara isn't about to take the lead and Tamura fancied an easy night. Nothing was actively bad, just a little on the dull side.

[PeteF3]

Good finish to a total snoozefest of a match. Kanehara offered nothing and Tamura didn't seem to want to drag anything out of him.

[Control21]

I thought this was really good and a reflection of the modern approach RINGS was taking due to the influence of Pancrase and the techniques modern MMA was developing at the time. I don't think they were doing "Fake MMA" though, this is "wrestling" distilled in its purest form from two very good "modern" grapplers both highly trained in the art of catch wrestling. It's not as exciting or epic as Kohsaka vs Tamura from 6/27/1998, but I still very much enjoyed this match. ****1/2