Fighting Network RINGS (1994)

Volk Han vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 1/24/94)

Loved the opening with Yamamoto recklessly going in after Han with the spinning backhand, the takedown, and then Han coolly standing on one leg and yanking the other into his standing single leg crab, He stays in control with his submission work and keeps taking Yamamoto to the ropes until Yamamoto staggers him with a shot to the gut. That gives Yamamoto an opening to try a bunch of cool stuff out on the mat, like the crossface, the guillotine, the inverted STF. Yamamoto's trying to hang on but Han will get him in that split-legged hold or a leg trap heel hook. There are times when Yamamoto seems kind of lost in there but he’ll get some takedowns and try something. But Volk Han is Volk Han. There's a great part where he’s got Yamamoto in a leglock and he uses his opposite foot to push Yamamoto’s arm away to keep him from breaking it. Cool stuff.

Grom Zaza vs. Todor Todorov (RINGS, 4/23/94)

Grom Zaza, looking real grizzled and lean, takes it to Todorov in a super aggressive showing. Grom's fluidity in this match (and in general) is one of his hallmarks. He's able to go straight into a hold off a missed strike attempt, or grab any exposed limb and just bend it into a submission. His striking is also really good here, between the kicks, knees, and slaps. After a nasty slam, Grom works his way into a scissored triangle hold. He tries to break Todor in half with an STF and then he grabs a reverse armbar and tries to grab a choke with the opposite arm. The finish was great as Todorov is able to snag a kneelock and just when it seems like Grom is going to tap out, he sees an opening, grabs the arm, and submits Todorov. One of Zaza's best performances.

Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Sotir Gotchev (RINGS, 4/23/94)

Pretty good match that fizzles the longer it went. The first couple of minutes were hot though, with Yamamoto busting out the dragon sleeper>elbow combo and Gotchev bearhug suplexing Yamamoto (despite Yamamoto palm thrusting him in the face). Gotchev looks dopey and his groundwork doesn't have much finesse but it seems effective enough. There is a lot of maneuvering around the mat before Gotchev hits a cool deadlift suplex, and in the end, Yamamoto rolls him up for the leglock submission.

Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Sergei Sousserov (RINGS, 5/17/94)

An excellent showcase for Yamamoto with a lot of opportunities to shine on the mat. He gets the initial takedown into a kneebar but Sergei fights out and plants him with a perfect uranage. Yamamoto goes back to the mat with some cool submissions like a backpack sleeper and a side STF. He's also adopted Volk Han's dragon sleeper>elbow strike combo. Whenever Sergei's got him in a submission, Yamamoto does a really good job of milking the rope breaks for a little added drama. In a very cool counter, Yamamoto floats out of Sergei's armbar into a rear-naked choke and then finally counters Sergei's leg submission with one of his own for the win. A very cool match.

Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 5/17/94)

Not as good as their 1993 match but still pretty good. Nagai will snap off some kicks and try for something fancy on the mat but end up getting caught in a Volk submission. The match itself is much slower-paced, with more struggle on the mat.  At one point, Han catches a foot and just barely blocks a nasty-looking spinning heel kick counter before he puts on his signature standing single leg. I love it when Han gets fed up against strikers and just takes them out with slaps and knees of his own. The finish was great – Nagai goes in with kicks and slaps and Han grabs a choke and drags him down for the quick tap out.

Akira Maeda vs. Volk Han (RINGS, 6/18/94)

Kind of a tale of two matches because the half of this match before the stoppage was really good. You have Han kicking Maeda in the face to start, dominating with submission holds and Maeda's great in-the-moment selling to rally the fans. Maeda's able to down him with a high kick but Han slides in for his signature standing single leg. Maeda pisses off Han with repeat leg kicks and when Han lays into him with strikes, he ends up poking Maeda's eye and they stop the match. When they restart, there is a lot more stalling, Maeda's more hesitant, his takedowns look really weak like he's scared of getting hit again. Some of the groundwork is cool like Maeda's controlling of the choke sleeper and Han's cool arm-and-leg trap submission. They trade some shots toward the end, Maeda grabs the leglock for the submission and wins. But he really shouldn't have.

Masayuki Naruse vs. Yuri Bekichev (RINGS, 7/14/94)

This match was a total blast. Bekichev has a ton of fire and gets the crowd hyped about his big kicks. He lands this wild backspin kick to the back of Naruse’s head to open up. Sure, there are a couple of awkward moments that maybe stem from Bekichev having not worked a “worked match” but for the most part, he gets it. Loved Naruse's counter into the kneebar and of course, the wheel kick catch into another kneebar toward the end of the match. Bekichev's nasty rolling solebutt to the face and Naruse bumping to perfection in the corner. There’s a part where Yuri challenges him and Naruse pops him in the face. In the end, Naruse takes him out with a big flurry of palm strikes and a knee to the face. Loved this.

Andrei Kopylov vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 7/14/94)

Really good match and the best Kopylov looks in the first half of '94. Lots of intense counterwork, with Kopylov being the dominant one on the mat, working leglocks and armbar -- really liked his nasty reverse armbar. They pepper the submission work with some stiff strikes, especially from Yamamoto with his palms, but Kopylov answers right back with big slaps. Kopylov's final submission is cool but I have no idea what is. Good stuff.

Akira Maeda vs. Dick Vrij (RINGS, 07/14/94)

Wild and violent. Vrij keeps kicking out Maeda’s legs, which in turn, starts pissing off Maeda. Then Vrij really starts laying into him which causes Maeda to go after him in the corner and knock him down with a big barrage of strikes. There’s a little submission work here and there but it’s really just Vrij letting Maeda have it with nasty palm strikes to the face and knees to the head, busting his nose in the process. The finish was shit. Maeda grabs a leglock and Vrij taps before Maeda can even lock it in...but then he kicks Vrij afterward and that causes the Dutch mafia to get involved and it’s chaos. Terrific.

Nikolai Zouev vs Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 8/28/94)

This was the Nikolai Zouev that I was missing during the first half of 1994 and easily his best match of the year. There is plenty of great struggle on the mat with Nagau playing the scrappy little shit trying to spoil all of Zouev's submission attempts. When Zouev tries to grab a double wristlock, Nagai immediately floats out of it and to the ropes. When Zouev fights for the cross armbar, using his foot to break it open, Nagai's foot is on the rope like a reflex. he blocks a lot of Zouev’s takedowns but Zouev will still manage to grab a hold. Things get heated with the smacks and knees, and in the end, Zouev gets the submission win in his home country.

Grom Zaza vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 10/22/94)

Hot start with the strikes and Grom having to fight a feisty Yamamoto off before he's able to start building some momentum. Yamamoto brought the kicks but Grom also lets loose with the open hand slaps. I thought Yamamoto did a terrific job of selling in this match, which doesn't happen all that often in RINGS -- between milking the ten counts and submission breaks, to dragging the leg there at the end. Cool finish with Grom using a sweet leg-whip takedown but getting snagged in Yamamoto's rear-naked choke. Grom's second-best performance of the year behind the Todorov match, and another feather in Yamamoto's 1994 cap.

Volk Han vs. Andrei Kopylov (RINGS, 10/22/94)

Really good brutal match-up and definitely the best Kopylov has looked in 1994 behind the Yamamoto match. It's nice to see Han returning to aggressive form and he just lays into Kopylov throughout the match. Kopylov's strategy throughout is to get Han off of him as quickly as possible, whether that's a slam or a throw or countering Han's own elaborate attempt. Kopylov's selling of the arm is subtle but nice as they go after each other's arms with holds. Loved Han's standing armbar>armbreaker. At some point, Han gets bloodied with a shot and gets pissed off. Neat finish with Han using a cool wristlock takedown into the armbar and Kopylov's resiliency awarding him the upset victory.

Mitsuya Nagai vs. Dimitri Petkov (RINGS, 11/19/94)

Petkov would have been great in UWFi against guys like Vader and Albright. Just a big fat baby who throws people around and sits on them with single leg crabs and gets his knee sprayed down when Nagai kicks it too hard. This is the same narrative as their first match but they have really good chemistry together and it's unlike most things in RINGS. I love how vocal Petkov's body punches are and how he absorbs Nagai's strikes to get close enough to suplex him. Nagai once again targets the leg throughout and ends up submitting Petkov after a very well-executed rolling kneebar. Good match. 

Mitsuya Nagai vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 12/16/94)

A really good match-up between two similar dudes. Nagai is the better striker while Naruse has a little more finesse on the mat. Loved the opening with Nagai striking hard and then hanging onto the front neck lock when Naruse tries to roll him off before it settles into an evenly contested match. Nagai will get the knockdown and Naruse will send him to the ropes. Things escalate from the ground with Nagai being particularly stiff with his shots. Naruse's struggling to find anything and finally lands a big spinning heel kick in the corner but when he tries to take him down with a judo toss, Nagai catches him with a sleeper for the win. Awesome finish.

Akira Maeda vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 12/16/94)

Terrific match. The best "big boss" Maeda match since he returned from injury, and Yamamoto at his fieriest. Right out of the gate, he's rocking Maeda with big nasty open hands while Maeda struggles to find a takedown. That's one of his only defenses against Yamamoto (he's kind of like the wise tortoise in this match) but even when he's able to grab a submission, Yamamoto finds ways out or reverses the holds. The crowd is loving Yamamoto taking it to Maeda but when Maeda's able to fire back with some big shots of his own, he lays into Yamamoto, and quite often, chaos ensues -- which rules. Loved Maeda's surprise palm thrust to Yamamoto's face and Yamamoto losing it and taking Maeda down with a stiff combo. Once Maeda has established that he's going to submit him, Yamamoto sticks to striking and doesn't let up, even at his final down. The crowd doesn't like turtle-mode Maeda but in the end, he's able to snag the leglock for the submission. Probably the best RINGS match of '94, although Han/Nagai later in the month might take that honor.

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Daisuke Ikeda (RINGS, 12/24/94)

A solid squash as Kohsaka dominates Ikeda, battering him around with strikes and smothering him on the ground. Ikeda's able to withstand a lot of TK's hard shots and the way they throw palm thrusts like punches are awesome. It seems to be me that Ikeda wasn’t quite used to working this style – granted, he was in PWFG but that wasn’t quite worked the same way so he gets really exhausted here. There’s this great struggle on the mat with TK trying to grab the armbar and Ikeda fighting around it but the finish was pretty lame with Ikeda sort of falling into TK's submission.

Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 12/14/94)

The best of their series and no doubt one of my all-time favorite RINGS matches thus far. There's so much to love about this match. Both guys play their respective roles so well, with Nagai being the pesky shithead underdog and Han the leggy takedown submission artist. Tons of cool shit from Han on the ground and that hammerlock suplex. I loved him using the triangle as a means to stop Nagai's barrage of knees and kicks. The fans love it when Han's getting rocked with kicks or Nagai's mocking him, and when Nagai briefly gets him in the STF, they collectively lose their shit. But Han keeps throwing him off and taking him to the ropes with submissions. One of my favorite moments in the match comes when Han has him in an armbar and he uses his own legs to block Nagai from being to flip out of it, and then he traps the leg to prevent any escape. Just smart wrestling. At one point, Han drags him into the middle of the ring just to apply a hold. He's always using his feet to break up Nagai's holds. Nagai does get to show off on the mat as well and has some good attempts of his own, like the rolling kneebar. I loved Nagai's struggle to pry open the armbar and when it finally gets it, Han touches the ropes to break it. Tons of excellent struggle on the ground, an incredible pace, and a great finish, with Nagai's frustration at its peak when he's just pummeling Han with body shots before Han finishes him off via submission. Chef's kiss.

Akira Maeda vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 12/24/94)

Not nearly as good as their 12/16 match but still one of Maeda's best performances of 1994. Maeda doesn't let Yamamoto get away with nearly as much offense here, and shows off his more aggressive side, immediately backing him into a corner, striking him down, and then slapping on a nasty side headlock. Yamamoto's still able to force Maeda to dance in submission holds and drops him with slaps and knees. When Maeda comes at him hard with kicks, Yamamoto's able to catch one and drop down into a leglock. Once more, the match builds to Yamamoto's final down and again, he tries downing Maeda with knees, and once again, Maeda uses his turtle defense and snags him with the leglock for the win.

Vader vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (UWFi, 6/10/94)

In the wake of Vader's passing, I've decided to revisit his run in UWFi from 1993-1995. That SUPER run is, of course, best known for his classic series against Nobuhiko Takada but I've been watching all the little matches (aka squashes) and one of the best is against Kiyoshi Tamura. Tamura, confident in his ways, slaps Vader before the bell because...well, that's just what you do to the monsters in your life, right? Tamura's strategy is an obvious one: take Vader down at the kneecaps. Kick kick kick until he crumbles. Vader's able to catch him with a few shots but then Tamura lets loose a series of slaps and high kicks. For a big dude, Vader's selling is terrific here, as Tamura hacks him down and puts him in a kneebar. Vader struggles to find his mark as Tamura continues kicking, again using that kneebar to take Vader to the ropes. In the end, however, Vader's able to club him down, slam him, and hit the big powerbomb for the TKO victory.  It's the old shoot-style David vs. Goliath and it rules.

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (NJPW, 6/1/94)

What a terrific little title challenge, with Yoshiaki Fujiwara trying to play defense against the increasingly aggressive Shinya Hashimoto. Hashimoto comes into this match with an injured left shoulder, a target for Fujiwara, and it isn't long before he has him on the ground in his patented armbar, making him work for the ropes. Love that Hashimoto gets pissier and pissier as the match progresses, starting with that nasty stomp to the head after forcing Fujiwara to the ropes with an armbar of his own. You get the feeling that Hash really wants to let loose on Fujiwara. Of course, Fujiwara is a dirty old man with the blatant chokes, the ref counting him off before he goes right back to choking Hash. He slaps him in the face, headbutts him, and keeps on choking. When Hashimoto ties him up in the corner, Fujiwara's sells it so well. Hashimoto keeps trying to kick him off but Fujiwara keeps catching or ducking the attempts, until Hashimoto kicks hard enough that he can't block it. He has to beg Fujiwara out of the corners and when he gets him in the front facelock, the knee strikes he uses to set up the DDT looked awesome. In the end, Hashimoto finishes him off with a nasty single-arm DDT, with Fujiwara nearly kicking out of it.

Jinsei Shinzaki, Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa vs. Great Sasuke, Sato & Shiryu (Michinoku Pro, 2/4/94)

I adore Super Delfin in the 1990's with his awesome 90's get-up and he was a definite highlight of this six-man tag. As for the match itself, it was a total blast, with good comedy, creativity, pacing, and placement of spots. You had Delfin and baby Dick Togo snapping off arm drags and hitting all the highs of that crisp mid-1990's junior chain rasslin'. The veteran no-nonsense Shinzaki beating the crap out of Sasuke, walking the ropes, and of course, Sasuke being an ass, jaw-jacking with the referee. And while Naniwa isn't the best wrestler, he provides probably the biggest laugh of the match when Delfin inadvertently gives him an arm wringer on the ropes, and Naniwa storms off...only to be brought back after a convincing kiss on the lips from an apologetic Delfin. Incredible. With six-mans, there's always a bit of slop and disorder but I really liked the continuous build to the dives, which culminates in everyone taking to the skies. F_U_N_FUN!

Masahito Kakihara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWFi, 11/30/94)

This wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either, due largely to the uninspired matwork. Yamazaki’s on the defensive early on against Kakihara’s signature rush before taking things to the ground for what feels like a long time. At one point, he cracks Kakihara in the armpit with a kick. They trade strikes and German suplexes but Yamazaki’s able to hit a second German, following up with the jujigatame for the win. Meh.

Gene Lydick & Billy Scott vs. Masahito Kakihara & Kazushi Sakuraba (UWFi, 8/18/94)

Similar dynamic to the Lydick/Nelson tag but with more of a mad scramble of takedowns and reversals, looking for an opening to the upper hand. As I mentioned on the podcast, I’m a sucker for the suplex>submission combo, like Scott with the overhead suplex>kimura and Sakuraba with the German suplex>neck crank. This time around, Lydick is a little more prepared for Kakihara’s usual whirlwind of slaps and catches him with an overhead suplex, trying to follow that up with a heel hook, which sends Kaki scrambling for the ropes. I love the way Lydick just grabs his opponent and figures out a way to suplex them while they're trying to squirm out. Kakihara, however, finishes strong, overwhelming Scott with his flurried attack and tapping him with the single leg crab. All day long, baby.

Gene Lydick & Steve Nelson vs. Masahito Kakihara & Kazushi Sakuraba (UWFi, 6/10/94)

Relatively unknown American grapplers Lydick and Nelson come into this match with a cool dynamic of Lydick being the suplex machine and while Nelson still busts out the occasional suplex, he works more of a ground game, forcing both Sakuraba and Kakihara to the ropes multiple times. Kakihara and Sakuraba are the aggressive stand-up strikers here but can be equally as dangerous on the mat. Early on, Kakihara gets control of Lydick’s arm, stuns him with a smack, then transitions to a leglock and Lydick freaks out, pounding away at Kakihara in an attempt to break out. Sakuraba’s kicks appear to be Steve Nelson’s kryptonite – he comes in, his legs get peppered with kicks, and he tags out. Enough is enough. After Lydick overhead suplexes Sakuraba, he cranks on a heel hold and Sakuraba equally freaks, which leads to an awesomely heated scramble around the canvas. The finish ruled, as Sakuraba gets dumped straight on his noggin by Nelson’s overhead suplex before Lydick comes in with a belly-to-belly, scooping him up with an awesome deadlift German suplex for the KO win.