UWFi (1992)

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yuko Miyato (UWFi, 1/9/92)

Probably the best match of the show, along with the tag main event, but damn, is this fiery from the opening with Miyato letting Tamura have it. Tamura grabs a great choke into the takedown and the whole escape sequence with Tamura flipping back into control and regaining the choke was phenomenal. Tamura's slick as catgshit with his takedowns an transitions, grabbing kneebars and armbars. Miyato was really good here, too. He hits a nice fireman's carry and works his way into a snug double wristlock. He kills Tamura with a backdrop hold and then pops him in the head with a follow-up kick. Tamura's able to grab the single leg crab but Miyato makes it to the ropes. The finish was the weakest part of the match but otherwise, a very cool sub-ten minute match.

Kazuo Yamazaki & Yoji Anjoh vs. Gary Albright & Jim Boss (UWFi, 1/9/92)

Anjoh is definitely one of the more underrated mat workers -- he's pretty slick and at one point, does a skull crusher. Boss is another clueless white dude and doesn't do much here but that's okay because Gary Albright rules in this match. He absolutely wrecks Anjoh with German suplexes throughout; that second to last German is especially brutal and awesome. When Yamazaki gets the initial tag in, he also takes Albright over with a killer German suplex of his own. Albright isn't much of a ground guy but he doesn't get paid the big bucks to work a side headlock. That finishing stretch with him and Anjoh is the definite highlight, with him clubbing the shit out of Anjoh before finishing him off with the Germans. Big Albright showcase.

Kiyoshi Tamura & Yuko Miyato vs. Mark Silver & Tatsuo Nakano (UWFi, 2/15/92)

Probably the best match on probably the worst top-to-bottom UWFI show chronologically. And it's good, in parts. Silver has about the most white trash haircut behind Tom Burton but he does manage a couple of neat throws. But like most of the gaijins, he's clueless on the mat and his strikes are feather light. And he also gets kicked in the face AND the nuts. Tamura is Tamura, which means he's uber slick on the mat, leaving Silver in the dust. He has some good interactions with Nakano (of course). Love Nakano's side headlock with the fingers clasped -- textbook. They keep sending each other to the ropes with submission holds, and Nakano throws back-to-back Germans. Miyato continues to be a little shitfire and lets SIlver have it, barraging him and throwing him with a belly-to-belly. The finish was awkward but otherwise, a fun tag.

Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Masakazu Maeda (UWFi, 2/29/92)

A fun, competitive match with two scrappy young dudes going out there and showing off what they've learned over the past few months. Nothing fancy -- Maeda's a little smoother on the ground and had some nice counters/reversals. He also throws a few nice suplexes. Kanehara is the better striker with his quick open hands and knees. I liked the sequence where he had Maeda in the single leg crab and turned it into a facelock as Maeda inched his way to the ropes. By the end of it, they're both very exhausted -- Maeda a little more so -- and after Kanehara hits a German, he taps him with the armbar.

Gary Albright vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWFi, 3/17/92)

The best match of the show. Yamazaki flies at him with a kick and Albright quickly takes him down and starts pounding away with a few great body shots. Yamazaki is trying to play defense, trying to go after the arm, but Albright’s just too darn big. After a little temper flareup, Albright snaps him over with a belly-to-belly. When Yamazaki  finally gets the armbar, Albright right on the ropes. Yamazaki then stuns him with a knee to the midsection and German suplexes Albright to set up the crab hold but again, too damn big. Loved Albright running over and clobbering Yamazaki in the back of the head before German suplexing him and when Yamazaki is barely back up and on his feet, Albright hits a second German for the immediate KO.

Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Masakazu Maeda (UWFi, 5/8/92)

Another fun spirited young boy match with Maeda being feisty with his strikes and Kanehara looking to suplex>submit. What they may lack in finesse they make up for with their hearts and determination. But there's some cool shit like Maeda blocking Kanehara's defensive kicks when he's got him in the single leg grab. It heats up heading into the finish with some big strikes and submission attempts. I really liked the desperation of Kanehara's single leg crab/side facelock when Maeda won't tap. They're both exhausted and swatting by the end of it and Kanehara wins after a German suplex into the armbar. One of the better matches of the show.

Kazuo  Yamazaki vs. Koji Kitao (UWFi, 5/8/92)

Not a very good match but totally a GREAT match. I loved it. Kitao's this big dumb judo guy eating leg kick after kick, waiting patiently for the right moment. Oh, and t's coming. I love that his counter to the double leg takedown is just standing there. At some point, Yamazaki's nose gets busted but he still wants to German suplex Kitao but settles for a sleeper hold, to which Kitao counters by trying to dump him over the top rope. Kitao's selling after he slowly crawls to the ropes to break a heel hold is off the charts. Kitao's monent comes when he swats Yamazaki's spinning heel kick out of the air. Then he proceeds to destroy Yamazak - a nasty running knee, a big uranage, and endless leg and butt kicks until Yamazaki can no longer stand on his own two feet. Altered Beast Kitao is the best Kitao, and Yamazaki is one of the best shithead underdogs.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Gary Albright (UWFi, 5/8/92)

Takada's first big UWFi "epic" and a very fun match up top, with Albright grabbing suplexes and Takada being the charismatic striker trying to kick Gary's head off. He also delivers a pretty sweet Saito suplex to Albright so lots of suplex love in this match -- loved Gary's back-to-back belly-to-bellies. The groundwork slows it down and isn't very interesting until Takada starts blasting Albright with leg kicks and counters the German with the toe hold. I liked that Gary's first shitty German suplex seemed like a result of his bad knee buckling but then he hits the second shitty German and it's definitely Takada sandbagging him -- who then just lays there like a goof to give Gary the KO victory. Cool moments but not a great match.

Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara (UWFi, 6/28/92)

Yoshihiro Takayama's pro-wrestling debut and it's exactly the big aggressive debut you'd expect from Takayama. He immediately open hands the hell out of Kanehara and gets in plenty of giant knees and slaps. Kanehara is obviously trying to get him down to the mat for a submission but he's having a hard time doing it. He gets in a few good shots at Takayama and finally lets him have it, backdropping Takayama to set up the submission. Really fun debut from Takayama.

Kiyoshi Tamura & Yuko Miyato vs. Tatsuo Nakano & Mark Fleming (UWFi, 6/28/92)

This was the best Fleming has looked since he first popped up in UWFi. He really gets to show off his power vs. Miyato with big suplex throws and a little more refined technique against Tamura, like his hammerlocked takedown into the headscissors. But Tamura is the slickest and wipes the mat clean with Fleming. Nakano isn't very slick either but he's scrappy and a little shit, which is why we adore him, and he knees Tamura in the face a couple of times. The exchanges between Nakano and MIyato are always very feisty and they didn't disappoint here. Nakano dumps him with a German suplex and Miyato answers by spiking him with a crazy uranage. Fleming still can't apply his shitty STF and while it doesn't work on Tamura, it works on Miyato. A really fun undercard tag.

Yoji Anjoh vs. Masahito Kakihara (UWFi, 6/28/92)

The best match of the show and an easy recommendation. It's 10:00 minutes. It's Dickhead Anjoh, it's Slappy Kaki, and there's plenty of heat between the striking, and the aggressive takedowns and submission attempts.When Kakihara misses his big spinning heel kick attempt, which he misses about 78% of the time, Anjoh adds some salt by kicking him in the face. Some real nasty shots from Anjoh toward the end but Kakihara pulls off the upset by submitting Anjoh with the leglock. Good stuff.

Kiyoshi Tamura & Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Gary Albright & Mark Silver (UWFi, 7/12/92)

Really awesome shoot-style tag because it definitely blurs the lines between shoot and pro-wrestling very well. Mark Silver, really representing 1992 in all its glory, won me over and became quite the fighting underdog when the fans turned on Tamura who basically bullies SIlver on the mat throughout the match. Really rides that back mount and at one point, SIlver lifts his hands and asks "why?". Things get really heated when SIlver tries to retaliate but Tamura goes back to dominating him and sending him to the ropes. Yamazaki's "I don't want to be here" energy is so good. He definitely gives Silver something more to work with and their exchanges felt gritty and seamless. Love Yamazaki's go behind German suplex. Yamazaki gives him some big kicks and Silver sells them great but it looks he was supposed to take Yamazaki's spinning heel kick counter, doesn't, stands there awkwardly trying to figure out what to do, and then Yamazaki, clearly pissed, shoot stomps him in the face and tags in Tamura. So now Tamura and Yamazaki are both shooting on Silver, Silver just wants some retribution against these assholes, the fans want Silver to tag in Albright, and Albright is ready to fucking kill somebody. We get the finish everyone was waiting for. Tamura tries to do his thing against Silver but Silver immediately goes to the ropes, drops Tamura with a uranage, and finally tags in Albright, whose like "f this a-hole" and annihilates Tamura with suplexes for the KO. Not a happy man at the way Tamura humiliated Silver and boy, did Tamura pay. Yikes.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Mark Silver (UWFi, 8/28/92)

Hey, this was pretty good. Plenty of struggle on the mat with Silver trying hard to do something and Kaki staying in control for much of the match. Silver's rough and tumble and would've made for a good generic AJPW gaijin or something. No finesse but all heart and mullet, which is what we need most sometimes. At one point in the match, Silver snags a kick and clobbers him with a sickle lariat and when Kaki tries for his big spinning heel kick, Mark catches a foot and drops down into a kneebar, which leads to a heated little spat. Silver plants him with a uranage but ends up trapped in a kneebar, with Kaki pulling him away from the ropes and re-applying for the submission.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoji Anjoh (UWFi, 8/28/92)

For a 30 minute draw, I thought this was pretty great and they did a good job of keeping the matwork exciting. Anjoh is easily the second best guy in UWFi at this point behind Tamura, and they always manage to have competitive tag exchanges up to this point. Tons of neat transitions and defense -- like Anjoh, for example, blocking the single or his transition into the double wristlock attempt, to which Tamura powers out and takes Anjoh over with a big fireman's carry. Lots of cool moments peppered throughout; Anjoh's reflex knee to Tamura's head, the shoot figure-four into the STF, Anjoh hitting the fisherman buster and Tamura immediately snagging the double wristlock. Loved Anjoh getting heat for dropping those knees to Tamura on the ropes. I thought Tamura's rubber-legged selling towards the end of the draw was really good, with Anjoh running in with these shitty low kicks, trying to take him out. By the final couple of minutes, they're both exhausted and Tamura tries for one last choke off the big waterwheel drop but the time expires. Good stuff!

Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Mark Silver (UWFi, 9/21/92)

This was really pretty good. Mark Silver is such a lughead but unlike a guy like Burton, he's got more heart and a bit of a vicious streak. Nasty chokes and big kicks and slams. At one point, he repeatedly boots Kanehara in the head. Kanehara hasn't quite clicked yet but he was able to try out some new submission holds against SIlver. But yeah, this was kind of the Mark Silver show - he hits a belly to belly into the neck crank, clobbers him with a lariat, throws him with a big ass German suplex. I mean, the way he dumps him and stumbles around looking like a total klutz is a big plus for Mark Silver. He gets Kanehara in a pretty gnarly single leg crab but Kanehara's in the ropes and the match ends in a draw.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWFi, 9/21/92)

One of the best sub-five minute matches out there and within the first 10 seconds, Kakihara splatters Nakano's nose with a flurry of open hands. Nakano's able to slow Kaki down on the ground with a leglock and I like the combo of the knee > front neck chancery takeover, throwing some salt in the wound with a cheap shot kick. The blood really adds something to the match, with Kaki's grip slipping during a takedown attempt. As usual, Kakihara sets himself up for the big spinning heel kick but misses, which leads to the brutal finish from Nakano: smack, stomp, submit via single leg crab.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWFi, 10/23/92)

Great match and definitely the most reminiscent of UWF 2.0 out of any of the UWFi stuff so far. That opening was fantastic and I loved all the crowd reactions to the constant counters and reversals on the mat through the first couple of minutes.  Tamura plays the brash young underdog, Yamazaki the stubborn veteran, and together, the competitive nature, the frustrations, the teases -- everything worked, for the most part. There were a couple of times when it felt a little long in the tooth but then they're turn it up again, and Yamazaki would fly at him with a spinning heel kick. There's a great moment toward the end when Tamura is smacking the hell out of Yamazaki when he's stuck in a leglock but Yamazaki ain't letting go. Then Yamazaki's like fuck it, let's finish this, and he's able to hit the German suplex but Tamura finally taps him with the armbar. Really good stuff here.

Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara (UWFi, 12/20/92)

The best match in their series so far, continuing the tradition of sloppy charm. They scrap around, both on their feet and on the mat. Takayama's strategy is largely the same: knee knee knee. But when Kanehara catches one, he dumps him with a big waterwheel slam and tries to choke Takayama out. Takayama looked more comfortable here and he definitely got to shine, hitting a big capture suplex, popping Kanehara in the face with a flying knee, and an awesome German. Kanehara looked good here, too, with his kicks and counters - loved him catching Takayama's kick and high kicking him in the head with the opposite leg. Or the leg catch slap. Really good desperation there at the end between the holds and counters and wild strikes -- at one point, Kanehara kicks Takayama in the nuts to set up a leglock.  Kanehara hits his own German and finishes Takayama off with a choke. Fun stuff!

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Naoki Sano (UWFi, 12/20/92)

This is easily Takada's best singles match in UWFi through 1992, and it comes after a warm up match against Dennis Koslowski. Takada, who is usually not very interesting on the mat, worked a stronger ground game against Sano. Sano, on the otherhand, had Takada on the ropes with chokes and single legs throughout. But it's DOUBLE TAKADA so he's going to shine here, which he did. He hits a nice Saito suplex>rear mount>face lock combo and he blasts Sano with a nasty high kick. Sano is able to grab the leg and German suplex Takada but when Takada tries to sneak in for a leglock attempt, Sano's able to roll him up with one of his own. They lay into each other with slaps and kicks and there are some good moments of struggle heading into the finish. They fight over armbars but Takada obviously wins out and picks up the submission. Good stuff! 

UWFi (1991)

Continuing the thread of promotion guidebooks, here's UWFi in its 1991 debut year.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masahito Kakihara (UWFi, 5/10/91)

A cool little match-up. I loved how Kakihara faked like he was going to just grapple with Tamura before he unleashes his traditional flurry of strikes. Tamura shows off some skill on the mat but again, Kakihara’s hands are all over him like fly swatters. When he does get some breathing room, Tamura’s in-ring awareness is shines through, as he’s constantly grabbing limbs, settling into holds and avoiding the bigger blows from Kakihara to get a takedown. When Kakihara misses the big spinning heel kick, Tamura stays on him with knees to the ribs and a nasty shot to the face. When he starts swinging for the fences, missing wildly, Tamura coolly takes him down with a belly-to-belly slam. Kakihara finally grazes him with another spinning heel kick and follows up with another that squarely hits the mark. He then applies a front necklock, deadlifting Tamura with almost a brainbuster. The exhaustion faction plays into the finish of the match, as Kakihara is sluggish, trying to trade kicks with Tamura, and Tamura catches a leg for a takedown. Kakihara’s able to counter with a leglock of his own, but Tamura re-counters and Kakihara taps out.

Kazuo Yamazaki & Tatsuo Nakano vs. Yoji Anjoh & Yuko Miyato (UWFi, 5/10/91)

This was a lot of fun. Nakano spent the early minutes shielding himself from Miyato's quick hands and Anjoh's elbows. He does get off a nice throw>elbow to the back of Anjoh's head before he tags in Yamazaki. Yamazaki and Anjoh mostly fight for holds on the ground, which is fine, but when Miyamoto destroys Nakano's nose during a spat of palm thrusts, the match really settles in for a great bumpy ride. Nakano's pissed and retaliates with a German suplex. When Yamazaki tags in, he immediately high kicks Miyato in the head. Whenever Nakano and Anjoh are in there, they're sneaking in dirty elbow shots to the head -- Anjoh really gives it to Nakano at one point. Yamazaki's selling during the finish stretch where he's just taking punishment from both Miyato and Anjoh was really good.

Tatsuo Nakano vs. Yoji Anjoh (UWFi, 6/6/91)

This turned into quite the dirty scrap, as Anjoh stayed aggressive throughout this match, smashing Nakano's nose during a barrage of stiff shots. A bloodied Nakano manages a full nelson suplex on Anjoh, but then Anjoh locks in the choke sleeper, Nakano's blood smeared across his arm, and Nakano tries to fight out but ultimately taps out. And Anjoh doesn't let go. What a dick.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoji Anjoh (UWFi, 7/3/91)

This match is great. Tamura is already so good early into his career, having only wrestling eight or so matches prior to facing Anjoh. He's slick as catshit, utilizing his speed to his advantage -- I mean, it's hard to even keep track of him at times. Anjoh can't do too much on the mat without Tamura managing to slip out and away. He'll grab an arm and Tamura will maneuver his legs around to get back to a vertical base, controlling Anjoh with a front facelock. While Tamura keeps going back to the rear naked choke, Anjoh targets the leg throughout to set up the finish. But there's just so many cool little moments in this match. At one point, Tamura rolls through with an armbar attempt and Anjoh catches the leg but Tamura simply stands up out of it. When Anjoh isn't going after the leg, he's throwing knees. He repeatedly knees Tamura in the back of the head but Tamura doesn't let go of the arm, slipping out to his feet and smacking Anjoh. Tamura's front necklock counter with the go-behind into the rear naked choke was a thing of beauty. Then he just starts stomping the back of Anjoh's head, putting the fear of God in him. By the end, things aren't quite as silky as they're both fighting over holds and avoiding takedowns. The referee doesn't do shit when Anjoh grabs Tamura's hair as he's trying to turn him over into the crab hold. In the end, all that legwork pays off for Anjoh as he's able to crank on a sick single leg crab hold for the submission victory.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWFi, 7/3/91)

Fun match. Takada was able to avoid the German suplex throughout, but there were some fun teases and transitions, with Nakano grabbing the rear naked choke and rallying the fans behind him. Match really picks up when Nakano rushes him against the ropes with strikes and snap suplexes him. Takada's kicks looked good, Nakano's underdog defense worked well -- I especially liked the catch into the calf hold and then turning that into a pretty nasty side headlock on Takada.

Tatsuo Nakano vs. Yuko Miyato (UWFi, 7/30/91)

This was actually a lot of fun. Things get really heated in there at times with their strike exchanges and, like pretty much every match, Nakano's nose gets busted. There is a lot of good counterwork and takedowns, and when Nakano's pissed, he dumps Miyato with the German suplex. There's also a point where he almost capture suplexes Miyato out of the ring as things escalate in violence. A good little Nakano showcase and a strong finish with the choke to win. Really good stuff.

Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Billy Scott (UWFi, 7/30/91)

This was short and semi-sweet. Scott looks like such a dope with his mullet and singlet but when he comes out hot and heavy with the palm thrusts and knees, he becomes more of an asskicker dope. I thought there was good struggle on the mat, even though Yamazaki looked like he was going through the motions at times, and I liked Scott's out-of-nowhere backdrop into the elevated single leg crab. Yamazaki adds a little spicy mustard to his kicks toward the end, and Scott trying to build momentum to the German was cool, only to get German suplexed in turn and choked out with the front guillotine.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWFi, 9/26/91)

A fun contrast of styles, with Tamura utilizing his smooth takedowns to stay on top of Nakano and look for an opening on the mat. The match takes a bit to get going but when Tamura goes for a double leg takedown, he runs smack into Nakano's classic reflex knee to the face. That gives Nakano a bit of confidence, as he starts trying to bulldoze Tamura down but of course, Tamura being Tamura manages to find a way to coolly reverse a hold or counter the attack. At one point, Tamura tries for a headlock takedown and Nakano grabs a rear choke – almost a crossface chickenwing – and drags him down to the canvas. Tamura continues trying to get holds on Nakano but the little meatball doesn't really budge...so he starts smacking him around instead, or dumping him straight on top of his head with a waterwheel throw. Nakano keeps fighting 'til the very end as he tries elbowing out of the hold before submitting.

Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Yoji Anjoh (UWFi, 9/26/91)

I liked Anjoh's early defense, avoiding the German and keeping Yamazaki on the ground. His leg trip into the Fujiwara armbar was neat. They spend most of the match on the mat before Anjoh starts laying into Yamazaki with knees and kicks for a couple of knockdowns. There's a weird spot where Yamazaki finally hits the German suplex hold and Anjoh looks to counter that with a double wristlock but then rolls off with some delayed selling. The finish was cool too, with Anjoh trying for the rolling kneebar and Yamazaki countering with the neck crank.

Yoji Anjoh vs. Billy Scott (UWFi, 10/6/91)

Billy Scott continues to find comfort in shoot-style and this was probably his best solo outing to date. But still has an awful haircut.They open with a mad scramble and Scott lets Anjoh know early on that he ain't taking any of his shit. He kicks Anjoh in the face when they're tied up on the ground and when they're back on their feet, they're flinging hands and going kind of nuts, which is great. The groundwork throughout is a mess but that doesn't stop Billy from trying. I really like his German suplex lift into the Rock Bottom and his arm-trap judo throw but he can't really follow up on the mat. He does throw some mean palm strikes though. In the end, Anjoh catches him with a nasty knee strike in the corner, throws him with a dope belly-to-belly, but on the mat, Scott rolls him up, fucks the finish and Anjoh ends up tapping to a weak-looking neck crank. Good match nevertheless.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Jim Boss (UWFi, 12/22/91)

A stiff little sub-five undercard treat with Slappy Kaki coming right out of the gate and swatting the hell out of Boss repeatedly. Boss doesn't really know what to do but gets some retribution by dumping Kakihara with a release German suplex and then running over and punt kicking him in the head. He shoves the ref aside and keeps pounding on him in the corner as the fans let him have it. Kaki slaps his way back in control and his final head kick KO to Boss looked scary.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Gary Albright (UWFi, 12/22/91)

A good match-up with Albright using his size and weight on the mat and Tamura, of course, using his finesse to get Albright on the ground for a submission. Albright at one point has Tamura's leg and Tamura is able to take him down with a slick kneebar transition. Albright keeps trying for this inverted necklock and he ends up snapping Tamura over with a necklock suplex>inverted necklock. Of course, he throws a few more suplexes and ends up KO'ing Tamura with a German.

U-STYLE (2004)

Kyosuke Sasaki vs. Crafter M (U-STYLE, 2/4/04)

A fun exhibition-y shoot maestro match (if that makes sense) between the masked trashbag pants-wearing Crafter M and Kyosuke Sasaki, who of course, knows how to do-si-do on the mat. Lots of counters and reversals before Sasaki starts taking the kicks to him, downing him with a great solebutt. Crafter can only try and legwhip him down to find a submission on the mat because, as we've all learned, his strikes stink. Eventually he gets a deep Fujiwara armbar takedown and stays in control of it, trapping Sasaki with the headscissors when he tries to escape. Cool moment. Sometimes it seems like Crafter will somehow roll himself into a hold, or accidentally trap Sasaki with something but in the end, after more kicks, Sasaki grabs the armbar for the win.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (U-STYLE, 2/4/04)

I love a slow burn when it's done right and these two know how to do just that. The tension builds to the initial takedown before Tamura starts maneuvering his way around the mat. TK isn't as spry as Tamura but he's still scrappy and able to grab a hold whenever while still doing a little fancy maneuvering himself. Cool stuff from Tamura as usual, including a great front necklock counter, and TK busting out a bunch of great kneebars trying to submit the hometown hero. Loved the part where he's got Tamura in a kneebar, Tamura tries punching his way out and then TK creeps up and pops him in the face with slaps. The scrambling intensifies, the striking picks up, especially from Tamura, who lays into TK with big body knees and killer head kicks. And in the end, they're dancing around the mat, trying for a few different things in a final attempt at victory. Tamura's single leg crab doesn't do the trick but he's ultimately able to snap off the jujigatame for the submission. An easy recommendation.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Kyosuke Sasaki (U-STYLE, 3/13/04)

A match-up I was eagerly anticipating and one that sadly underwhelmed. But it's still Tamura so you're at least getting something very good. Sasaki shows no respect at the outset and he is all over Tamura, trying to hook him with something, as they scramble and trade strikes. Sasaki tries for plenty of things but Tamura's defensive is too good and when Sasaki catches him, Tamura slickly maneuvers out. There's a cool spot where Sasaki has the arm and Tamura flips out in an attempt to counter, but Sasaki holds onto the arm and takes Tamura to the ropes. A lot of slower moments in between but still calculated work by both dudes. The strikes pick up toward the end but nothing too crazy. Tamura rocks him with a few kicks, Sasaki's able to catch a kick and take him down with a single leg but Tamura is fast to the ropes. By the end of it, Tamura's playing with Sasaki like a cat with a half dead mouse, finally putting him out of his misery with a few hard kicks to the midsection. I'll throw it on the recommendation list but it's a low one.

Alexander Otsuka vs. Ryuki Ueyama (U-STYLE, 8/7/04)

The finish to this was a little bit of a mess but otherwise, this match was great. The contrast between these two helped flesh this out. Otsuka just wants to slam but Ueyama isn't making it easy for him, keeping him at bay with kicks and trying to tangle on the mat. Ueyama's strikes, especially his knees, looked brutal and Otsuka sold them especially well. He's still able to throw Ueyama around his suplexes and I like how Otsuka flows with Ueyama's escape attempts, grabbing limbs and turning each evasion into a submission of sorts. Them slinging palm strikes at one point was really great and the way the shoot STF plays out was a nice touch. Otsuka takes a beating in there but finds a way to pull off the win - although it was confusing exactly how he won.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Yuki Ishikawa (U-STYLE, 8/7/04)

This was great and another easy recommendation from the show. Of course, Kaki is quick and very slappy/kicky, but Ishikawa has that veteran patience and also some pretty dirty body shots. Ishikawa utilizing more pro-wrestling offense was a cool touch. He tries for the cobra twist, Kaki slings him off, but Ishikawa slickly gets the heel hook and forces Kakihara to the ropes. Kaki blasts Ishikawa with an absolutely nasty face kick and picks up a yellow card because poor Ishikawa was on his knee. Ishikawa's dazed but still gives Kaki an enziguri (and picks up a yellow card himself because enziguris are ILLEGAL). Ishikawa slaps on the sleeper hold but Kakihara is able to maneuver his way to the ropes so Ishikawa gives him a nasty elbow. Kakihara, however, wins via submission with a side headlock.

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Crafter M (U-STYLE, 8/18/04)

Oh hey, it's my favorite dirty barefoot, trashbag pants, Rey Mysterio-knock off mask wearin' shooter gimmick, Crafter M...against one of my other favorite wrestlers in Yuki Ishikawa. The juxtaposition of Crafter floating all over Yuki grabbing holds and Yuki getting more and more frustrated with it and finally trying to snap Crafter in half was an excellent story. Truth be told, Crafter is very good and he just slips out of Ishikawa's fingers and quickly snags a number of holds -- his roll-up choke was very swanky. He's just making Ishikawa work extra hard to find leverage. Of course, Ishikawa's grittier approach was a nice counterbalance and him working the STF was great. Ishikawa slapping Crafter M into a heel hook was a cool spot. Ishikawa finally dumps him with a German suplex and grabs the Fujiwara armbar, and when that doesn't work, he tries to bed M in two and M taps. Great match-up.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito (U-STYLE, 8/18/04)

This is the other semi-final pairing and Ito doesn't hold back against Tamura. He absolutely rocks him with big nasty kicks and knee strikes. Not only that but Ito also sends him to the ropes a few times as he goes after the arm. Tamura's strategy seems to be catch a kick>grab the submission and it works a couple of times but Ito continues to knock him down with big strikes and Tamura's ultimately down to his final point. He tries but can't quite finish off Ito with strikes and by the end, they're both staggering and Tamura even gets caught in the ropes with a missed kick attempt. He's finally able to catch a kick and tap Ito with the single leg crab to advance. Very bueno.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Alexander Otsuka (U-STYLE, 8/18/04)

A very good match in which an injured Otsuka is really trying to suplex Tamura but Tamura won't let him, which forces Otsuka to work extra hard on the mat. Immediately Tamura goes after that right elbow with kicks for a knockdown but on the mat, Otsuka more than holds his own in their exchanges, even with the bad elbow. His counter into the STF was very cool, and I loved watching them fight for control. Tamura realizes that kicking the elbow is a good thing so he goes back to it, with Otsuka trying to protect himself, finally tossing Tamura with a waterwheel drop. But Tamura keeps attacking with kicks and in desperation, Otsuka dropkicks him off...but Tamura's like a shark and kicks him once again in the elbow and then the face for the KO. New champ. Good stuff.

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Hiroyuki Ito (U-STYLE, 10/9/04)

Good stuff here as you've got that veteran grappler (Ishikawa) vs. feisty striker (Ito) dynamic, which is always a joy. Ito lands some nasty knees and head kicks early on, but then Ishikawa does what Ishikawa does best, which is bend and twist on the mat, and spoon up those nasty strikes like a true big boss. He catches one of Ito's kicks, turns it into an Indian deathlock and then grabs a choke. When ito grabs a headlock, Ishikawa dumps him with a backdrop suplex. But Ito is relentless with the strikes, catching Ishikawa with a dirty kick to the face. Ishikawa also lets Ito have it with some open hands, hit the deadlift German and finishes him off in style with a dope submission. I liked this a lot!

Ryuki Ueyama vs. Seichi Ikemoto (U-STYLE, 10/9/04)

Good stuff, part two. You know you're off to a good start when you've got a pre-bell slap to the face, which leads to a quick, back-and-forth stand up before the action on the mat takes center stage. Very good, competitive groundwork from both guys, with some cool submissions pulled out. Ikemoto is so spry on the mat, flipping every which way for position, as Ueyama is basically trying to snare him in a hold, which he tries with armbars and chokes. But Ikemoto will crank on an ankle when given the opportunity, or roll back into a choke of his own. Ueyama lays out Ikemoto with a quick flurry of slaps, and at the end, he lays into him with kicks and a big KO head kick. I liked this a lot, part two!

Dokonjonosuke Mishima vs. Crafter M (U-STYLE, 12/7/04)

Two weirdo grapplers doing their shtick. Crafter makes it hard for Mishima to get a hold of anything - he's like an elegant fish out of water, flopping all over the mat. Mishima pops him with a handstand high kick to the side of the head and his rolling armbar attempt was cute. Some funky holds throughout, which, yeah, makes sense considering the competitors. Crafter's  shoot double arm suplex into the legscissors choke was very cool. Likewise, Mishima uses a belly-to-belly to set up a scarf hold. Plenty of close calls with the submissions that builds to a chaotic finish, which sees Mishima using a crossface hold to tap Crafter. This was all over the place in the best way possible. Good stuff.

Yasuhito Namekawa vs. Kyosuke Sasaki (U-STYLE, 12/7/04)

Very competitive, athletic match-up with some real slick takedowns and transitions from both guys. Plus, some crazy suplex throws from Namekawa but with each throw, Sasaki maintains control over a limb.  The strike exchanges are a lot of fun - Namekawa in particular lands a couple of nasty ones, including a kick and knee to the eye socket. Namekawa’s takedown into the double wristlock was also very dope, and ends up winning him the match. More good stuff!

Ryuki Ueyama & Seichi Ikemoto vs. Kiyoshi Tamura & Takaku Fuke (U-STYLE, 12/7/04)

Super fun main event which gave the younger guys plenty of time to shine against the vets, and they're presented like legitimate threats throughout. Ueyama and Ikemoto are just so quick and spry, making Tamura seem slow at times...well, not really but KIND OF. There’s a fun part where Ikemoto is in the front mount and he and Fuke are just paintbrushing each other with slaps before Ikemoto gets crazy and puts him in a dope indian deathlock choke. The struggle to slow either Ueyama or Ikemoto down with holds is well done, especially the armbar attempt from Fuke. Lots of highlights, although these shoot-style tags never really feel like tag matches. Tamura getting spicy with the kicks vs. Ikemoto was great, Ikemoto's floatover armbar attempt, Fuke's capture suplex into the triangle choke, and the very strong finish for Ueyama as he peppers Fuke with the mounted slaps before transitioning into the calf crusher for the submission.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masahito Kakihara (UWFi, 5/10/91)

Going back to one of my favorite scrappy shitkickers in Masahito Kakihara – who faked like he was going to just grapple with Tamura before he unleashes his traditional little flurry of strikes. Tamura shows off some skill on the mat but again, Kakihara’s hands are all over him like fly swatters. When he does get some breathing room, Tamura’s in-ring awareness shines through, as he’s constantly grabbing limbs, settling into holds and avoiding the bigger blows from Kakihara to get a takedown. When Kakihara misses the big spinning heel kick, Tamura stays on him with knees to the ribs and a nasty shot to the face. When he starts swinging for the fences, missing wildly, Tamura coolly takes him down with a belly-to-belly slam. Kakihara finally grazes him with another spinning heel kick and follows up with another that squarely hits the mark. He then applies a front necklock, deadlifting Tamura with almost a brainbuster. The exhaustion faction plays into the finish of the match, as Kakihara is sluggish, trying to trade kicks with Tamura, and Tamura catches a leg for a takedown. Kakihara’s able to counter with a leglock of his own, but Tamura re-counters and Kakihara taps out. A cool little match-up.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWFi, 12/5/93)

Well, for starters, this isn't quite as gory as their previous match-up, which is an automatic downgrade...but hey, it's almost October, I need my slasher wrestling matches. They take their time feeling each other out until Nakano's had enough and starts cracking Kaki's hamstring with his stubby kicks. When Kaki grabs a leg, Nakano tries to keel his way out of it but Kaki fires off some kicks and slaps and Nakano's such a little shit that he's actually taunting Kaki while getting kicked on the mat. Nakano gets back to his feet, slaps and knees Kaki in the face, clearly pissed off by what's taken place, and perhaps the move of the match is his dragon suplex into the grounded full nelson hold. But Kaki's able to escape out and lock in the sleeper, submitting Nakano but Nakano's like "what the fuck, ref?" and again, he's clearly pissed off by what's taken place. I heart Nakano.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW, 1/15/99)

Masahito Kakihara has shown that he’s one of the best wildly unpredictable predictable underdogs in pro-wrestling and deserving of more hearts but Yoshinari Ogawa is one of my favorite sneaks ever and this is a terrific performance from him. Kaki really wants to high kick Ogawa in the head but he gets caught up in the ropes and Ogawa tries to take advantage…but it backfires, and we get an awesome dive tease from Kaki. In general, Ogawa’s able to avoid a lot of Kaki’s big swings, relying on his wiliness to save his skin, but as Kakikara begins to build some momentum, the tide shifts in a cool moment when he throws Ogawa into the ring post and Ogawa slumps to the floor just as Kakihara tries to kick him. Ogawa then goes to work on Kaki’s leg, pulling out the rolling legbars, the legwhips, and the ring post figure-four. When Kakihara’s able to reverse with a hold of his own, Ogawa taps out…err, no, he just repeatedly smacks the canvas. Shrugs. Kakihara stuns him with a big running slap but Ogawa answers with back-to-backdrops. He holds on to a third backdrop but can’t finish him off so Ogawa goes up top and Kaki cuts him off with an armbar takedown. Ogawa being Ogawa yanks the ref in to break up the hold and when Kaki tries again for the armbar, Ogawa’s able to pin his shoulders down to retain. Lovely.

Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Masahito Kakihara (AJPW, 07/19/98)

Kakihara pissing off Toshiaki Kawada is something that needs to be witnessed, please, go. He immediately pops Kawada with a slap and Kawada’s selling is fantastic here as he quickly tags out to Taue, who gets popped a few good times himself! Oh boy, when Kawada gets back in there, he takes it to Kaki with slaps, knocks him down, picks him back up, and then smacks the shit out of him. Kawada and Taue work Kaki over for a while, Taue piledriving Kaki at one point, and each time Kaki tries to fight back, Kawada usually shuts him down with a boot to the face or kicks. But he keeps fighting until he gets the jujigatame on Kawada and the tag to Takayama. He eats some Kawada kicks, Kawada eats some knees, but Takayama’s mostly a ghost in this match. The final stretch with Kaki and Taue was alright – I liked Taue just shoving Kaki down when he keeps coming at him, but it lacked the fire of his exchanges with Kawada.

Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Masahito Kakihara (AJPW, 2/28/98)

A total blast, with Masahito Kakihara once again being the consummate thorn in the side and this time, he’s got heavy back-up in the hulking form of Yoshihiro Takayama. I love how confident Kaki is when takes down Akiyama with a dropkick but when he tries to lure him into a “shoot”, Akiyama brushes off some of his judo skills with a takedown and more than hangs with Kaki on the mat.  So Kaki has to rely on his kicks and he quickly chops out Akiyama’s leg and re-asserts himself back on the mat with a leglock. He’s such a prick in this match. Takayama’s the loveable brute, German suplexing Kobashi and knocking Jun off the apron, which leads to Jun rolling back into the ring to confront Takayama and getting nearly KO’d with a big knee. Kobashi’s the best good guy, checking on the welfare of his partner, taking sympathetic beatdowns, working the crowd while trying to combat Kaki’s pesky kicks. After the first Kaki kickdown, I love how Kobashi mad-dogs him and lays into him with chops.

While on the ground, Kaki has Kobashi on the rocks and Jun has to break up the Fujiwara armbar, resulting in Kaki and Jun mean-muggin’ one another. Boy, Kaki’s pissing off everyone. The chemistry between Jun and Kaki was awesome, between the in-ring interactions, the constant taunting and one-upmanship -- I’d love to see a singles match between these two if it exists out there. But the final showdown between Kaki and Kobashi was also terrific. Kakiwara tries for his roll-up kneebar off a German suplex attempt but it doesn’t do the trick here and when he goes back to the kicks, Kobashi’s able catch one and capture suplex him. Loved Kaki’s last spat at Kobashi before Kobashi destroys his world with the short-range lariat for the win. The good stuff.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (UWFI, 8/17/96)

It’s a beautiful day for a shoot-inspired pro-wrestling bout between two equally matched friends/rivals. There was a lot of back-and-forth on the mat, until Sakuraba decides to German suplex Kaki but when he gets greedy, Kaki takes him down with the Fujiwara armbar. Here, Kakihara’s FINALLY able to connect with his big spinning heel kick, following it up with a high kick and a slough of shoteis. He delivers an awesome suplex throw but Sakuraba grabs an arm upon impact, trying to work his way down into an ankle hold. But Kaki doesn’t let up, coming at him with a combination of kicks and knees, taking him over with the half hatch suplex to set up the sleeper but in a terrific counter, Sakuraba flips him over and quickly taps him with the jujigatame.

Tatsumi Fujinami & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara (UWFi, 6/26/96)

I love the Fujis wholeheartedly and I loved this match-up, especially the surly, zero fucks given Fujiwara. I mean, Kakihara’s equally great as the snappy striker riling up the old guys but when he pisses off Fujiwara, Fujiwara wants nothing more than to choke Kakihara out and he tries, again and again, with that classic grinning taunt. When he’s reprimanded by the referee (“No choke! No choke!”), Fujiwara just starts punching Kakihara on the mat. Takada is here to kick and kick hard but Fujinami’s ready for him, countering the first attack with a dragon screw legwhip to set-up the figure four leglock. I thought Fujinami’s selling was fantastic while he’s getting hammered with knees and kicks. Takada uses those strong kicks against Fujiwara to cut out his legs, laying in the punishment before Kaki gets the revenge tag. Oh boy oh boy, here he comes, adrenaline-fueled, smacking the shit out of Fujiwara before he attempts (and misses) not one but TWO spinning heel kicks. With the wind out of his sail, Fujiwara promptly taps him out with the leglock.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Shiro Koshinaka (UWFi, 5/27/96)

Started hot, finished hot, meandered somewhere in the middle, but seeing Koshinaka in the UWFi setting is…entertaining, to say the least. His shoot kicks aren’t quite up to snuff but he’s good at sneaking those knees in. Kaki smacks him silly on the ropes, begging Koshinaka on, and Shiro’s like “you serious?”. Kicks aside, Koshinaka’s pro-wrestling offense looks pretty brutal, from his odd but gnarly brainbuster, his backdrop suplex, and the jackknife powerbomb finish. Kaki’s kicks are once again his main source of offense and he’s able to take down Koshinaka a number of times with them, but he supplements his quick feet with lariats and armbars. Nothing does the trick, however, as Shiro shimmies out of the last armbar and goes on to hit his classic hip attack to set up the finish.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Yuji Nagata (UWFi, 4/19/96)

Sloppy and erratic, full of awkward takedowns, hiccups in momentum, and yawn-inducing matwork. Sounds like a shitshow, right? Well, not really…the scrappiness is somewhat endearing and the match really sizzles when they’re wildly missing strikes and Nagata is throwing suplexes. The beginning and end are pretty great. Nagata clubs the hell out of the back of Kakihara’s neck to get him off the ropes and folds him in two with a German suplex. When Yuji gets him in the jujigatame, Kaki freaks…love a good submission freak out. Kakihara looks to submit Nagata with a heel hold but Nagata’s positioned too close to the ropes so when he stands up, Kaki clobbers him with what looks like a short-arm lariat. He comes at Nagata with knees but Nagata is able to dump him with a dragon suplex. Nagata tries to finish him off but Kaki’s able to pull off that familiar roll-up kneebar for the submission win.

Masahito Kakihara, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Kennichi Yammamoto & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yuji Nagata, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Shinjiro Otani & Tokimitsu Ishikawa (NJPW, 2/3/96)

They lit the furnace under the ring and boy, oh boy, did they let loose on each other here, with Takaiwa slangin’ elbows and a maskless Kendo Kashin being an especially dirty ditty, swelling up Kanehara’s eye real good with a headbutt. Being a 2/3 Falls match, the falls felt unpredictable, the first occurring early on after Takaiwa plants Sakuraba with a Death Valley Bomb and submits him with the crab hold. I thought Nagata was the standout here, as he brought awesome intensity to his interactions, dumping Yammamoto and Kakihara with suplexes and blasting Sakuraba with a sweet rolling heel kick in the corner. But as much momentum as Yuji builds, Kaki’s able to snag him with the kneebar out of nowhere to submit him and even the score…but they continue heating it up well into the third fall. Yammamoto, who looked a little rough around the edges throughout, finishes the match in beautiful fashion, delivering a perdy German suplex hold before using a kneebar takedown to submit Takaiwa. Not a very cohesive match on a whole but plenty of fiery exchanges

Masahito Kakihara vs. Shinjiro Ohtani (NJPW, 1/3/96)

This was a lovely shoot-inspired pro-wrestling match, with Kaki looking uncharacteristically strong and focused, coming off his frenzied gambit of open hands and a big boy solebutt that downs Ohtani. Ohtani answers with some knees and a German suplex throw, taking Kakihara to the ropes with the cross armbreaker. They fight over a leglock, slapping each other silly, until Kakihara’s able to turn it into a kneebar and continues targeting it throughout. He misses the big spinning heel kick (surprise, surprise) so Ohtani sneaks in with a grounded sleeper but Kaki is able put the pressure back on Ohtani’s leg. Good stuff. Ohtani fires off an awesome backdrop suplex and goes back to the armbar but he can’t close the deal and after a crazy back suplex slam, Kaki hits the Kaki Cutter(!) and submits Ohtani with the choke. Bravo.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Nobuhiko Takada (UWFi, 6/18/95)

Lots of purple and perhaps Kaki is rocking the sleek purple for a reason because he really outshines Takada here. This had that pesky youngster vs. pissy veteran dynamic, which I love, and it created some rather memorable moments. Almost immediately, Sano bitch slaps Takada and Takada seemingly lays down on the mat out of fear for Kaki’s unpredictability. Loved Kaki’s arm-trap necklock to force Takada to the ropes. When Kaki grabs an ankle and twists, Takada loses his cool and doubles down on the kicks, hacking Kaki’s leg to spaghetti and taking him down again and again. Kaki’s last gasp is great, as he catches Takada’s kick, barrages him with slaps, suplexes him to the mat, and then squeezes out an unfortunately positioned armbar.  His big “oooh ahhh” moment before Takada promptly chokes him out. Pretty sweet sub-10:00 match.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Gary Albright (UWFi, 5/17/95)

Remember the Sano match? Well, this borrows that same template of Kakihara getting dominated for about 80% of the match and Kaki sneaking a submission win out, via the same roll up kneebar nonetheless. Gary is being Gary here, taking Kaki down with a belly-to-belly suplex and then just trying to wear him out with the grounded full nelson. Albright uses his girth to essentially smother Kakihara on the mat, and Kaki doesn’t have much to answer with. When he tries striking, Albright snatches a leg and takes him back down or at one point, counters with an awesome leg-catch throw. He folds Kaki up with a big boy German suplex but when he catches another kick, Kaki levels up, blasting Gary with an enziguri. Copy-and-paste finish from the Sano match and Kaki with perhaps one of the biggest upset victories of his career.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Naoki Sano (UWFi, 4/20/95)

What I love about Masahito Kakihara is how spastic and scrappy he is, completing whiffing on his spinning heel kicks, landing about 68% of his strikes, falling all over himself trying to grab a leg or an arm. Sano’s similar to that effect, especially in this match, as he aimlessly rolls around the mat, not quite sure which way he wants to go. I loved the struggle Kakihara conveys when he tries locking on the armbar, with Sano looking the most “in danger” he looks the entire match. Typically, a Kakihara match starts and ends the same way. Here, he trades strikes with Sano, until Sano dominates him down the home stretch, hitting suplexes, knees, and kicks, overwhelming Kaki until he tries for another German and Kaki rolls him up with a kneebar and quickly taps him. Lucky.

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.