[1998-09-21-RINGS] Wataru Sakata vs Christopher Haseman

[Control21]

This is a RINGS match that has flown under the radar a bit. I thought this was really good. It was more reflective of the realistic approach RINGS was taking by 1998, in the spirit of Pancrase but there's plenty of excitement here if you enjoy some stiff striking and several spirited grappling exchanges. I never thought of Haseman as a fluid wrestler but he was surprisingly able to do some cool stuff with Sakata. Sakata had some great counterwork that made these grappling exchanges believable and compelling. Both eventually go down their last point thanks to several rope breaks and knockdowns. The last minute had a nice closing stretch with both throwing some pretty stiff bombs. Probably the best match these two had in RINGS. ****1/2