Superstar Sleeze

IWGP Tag Team Champions Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka vs TenCozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) - NJPW 1/4/99 To my understanding, this is the debut match of the iconic late 90s/early 00s team of TenCozy, who have never really done much for me as a team. I think Kojima was originally a babyface in a young, power team with Nakanishi known as the Bull Powers as paired against NWO Japan. Something must have happened to have Kojima join NWO Japan. Tenryu & Koshinaka ended up defeating Chono & Tenzan in July of 1998 for the tag titles (jn a match I couldn't find, I have seen the June 98 tag). Tenryu/Koshinaka defended against a bunch of iterations of NWO Japan. If they kept it to a meaty, bomb-throwing sprint I think this could have been great. Tenzan & Kojima are at their best when there is not a whole lot of thinking and they are just throwing bombs. Two heat segments on each of TenCozy was pointless neither is very good at selling and Koshinaka is totally useless. Tenryu in 1999 carried these three to a good match, but not a great match. Once it just came to hitting each other as hard you can this became a lot better. There was some weird late 90s/00s bullshit that crops up like Tenryu hitting a Super Ace Crusher, Kojima not selling it and hitting his own Ace Crusher. I love chaos spots like Kojima Ace Crushering Tenryu to the floor, Koshinaka flying from the apron with ass and then Tenzan wiping out everyone with a moonsault. That sequence will always get over with me. Kojima puts Tenryu down with an Ace Crusher (3rd one of the match and he catches Koshinaka with a German when he goes for the Ass Shot. Kojima decks him with a lariat and Tenzan polishes him off. Good Dome tag match that could have been five minutes shorter. Very typical late 90s/early 00s puro. ***

Shinya Hashimoto vs Genichiro Tenryu - NJPW 6/8/99 Hashimoto's first match back since the 1/4 Dome show against Ogawa, which would be his primary feud until he departs New Japan, I do believe. 1999 was the year Mutoh got another crack at running on top for New Japan as the IWGP champion winning the belt at 1/4 from Norton and having five successful defense on the year. After giving Hashimoto a massive run from 96-97 and Sasaki 97-98 and with Chono injuring himself at the start of his run, Mutoh was the logical choice for the standard bearer of New Japan 1999 even though his style did not fit the shoot-style route that Inoki was directioning his company. This is actually on the undercard of the Finals of Best of Super Juniors 1999 tournament held at the Budokan, which saw Kashin defeat Kanemoto. It is Hashimoto vs Tenryu you know it is going to be WAR~! The match is basically worked around headshots and who can KO their opponent first. They are both just headhunting from the get go. Tenryu lands that first big punch, hits an enziguiri and a powerbomb. You think it is over! Tenryu just blitzed the returning Hashimoto, but he goes out to cut a mid-match promo and BAM! Hashimoto greets him with a dropkick. God I missed Hashimoto! Great kicks and that badass aura. Tenryu rocks him again with a punch to the head. It is all punches and chops. He sits him up top never give your opponent the high ground. Hashimoto smashes his head from the top with a kick. Best spot of the match! After that it is just rifling Tenryu with kicks and overhand chops. They trade DDTs as this match is all about giving your opponent a concussion. Two things telegraph Tenryu's win: this is Hashimoto's return and Hashimoto kicks the dogshit out of him the majority of the match. The high kick/Brainbuster really should have been the finish and probably a build to Hashimoto/Mutoh would have been great. Tenryu punches him in the head and then Hashimoto just straight rights him two times and the ref is freaking out and Hash gets one more in. Again another great opportunity for a finish. They did stall out. Hashimoto beat Tenryu up so much that they didn't have a place to go. They kept just going back to strike exchanges. I think a Hashimoto fuck up would have bridged to the finish better. They didn't really sell Hashimoto as punching himself out either. Tenryu hits a Kappo Kick to the head and then hitting a big chop to the head to win. Kinda outta nowhere. They stayed with the theme of headhunting throughout the match. Everybody's big shots were to the head, all of Hashimoto's flase finishes and Tenryu's win were all attacking the head. I just thought they ran out of build and kept circling back to the same place. Also the crowd was oddly dead for a hard-hitting affair between two mega-stars. Great match as always, but pales in comparison with their classics from earlier in the decade. ****

nWo Japan (Masa Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka - NJPW 6/5/98 IWGP Tag Tourney Final My hot take from this match is that Tenzan is the best possible Nasty Boy. He is a total meathead goon that just hits really hard is best suited to be a heavy second banana goon. The problem is that Inoki tried to push him as a star. He was fine as a heel upper midcarder. My other takeaway (a lukewarm take at best) is that Koshinaka is a pretty mediocre wrestler. First match I have ever seen him wrestle (New Japan is my biggest blind spot). I knew his rep for using his ass as his main offensive weapon and this didn't bother me much. It is that he has no charisma or fire. His portions of the match lacked struggle and urgency. So yeah pretty lame. Pretty straightforward tag with Tenryu/Tenzan in a battle of bulls and Tenryu/Chono in who could be a bigger prick and Koshinaka dragging the match down. This match is for the tag titles after Mutoh had to forfeit the titles due to an injury (he was Chono's tag partner). Tenryu/Chono had some amazing exchanges in this. I am surprised there is not a heralded Tenryu/Chono match because they had great chemistry and they are such huge characters. Tenryu dumps Chono hard on his ass on a suplex outside the ring that looked like it hurt. Then he comes flying off the apron with an elbow out to the crowd that wipes out Chono. This leaves Tenzan to fight for his life. Great moment as Tenryu/Koshinaka beat the shit out of him with tons of power moves and strikes. Tenzan takes a lickin' but keeps on tickin'. The Japanese crowds love these underdogs and is lapping it up cheering for Tenzan. Chono's hot tag is great. Yakuza kick for Koshinaka. Then ensuing battle with Tenryu is great. I love him ballshotting Tenryu as he falls from taking a Tenryu punch. Now it is Koshinaka that is isolated and Chono is keeping Tenryu at bay. Flying headbutt, moonsault to a crouched Koshinaka (awesome spot that should have been the finish) and then another flying headbutt gives NWO Japan the tag titles. Besides Tenryu/Chono and the two finish runs (Tenzan's resistance and then his finish run to win), this match is pretty straightforward. Isolate Tenzan, Chono/Tenryu showdown and Koshinaka isolation. Quality tag, but nothing super special, the Chono ballshot and the Tenzan moonsault are worth it as are all the Tenryu/Chono interactions. ***3/4

Genichiro Tenryu vs Nobuhiko Takada - WAR 12/13/96 Not as great as their UWFi classic, but few matches are. This one suffers from the same problem as the previous match but instead of taking 10 minutes to really kick into gear, this one took 15 minutes. It also featured "bundle of leg" lock spot, which I abhor especially after watch a ton of RINGS. Stuff like Tenryu trying to get his receipt for Takada bullying him in the corner by punching him in the head was great, but there just was not enough of this. Takada is really good at two things: kicking and selling Tenryu's potatoes. When Takada gets Tenryu backed into corner and starts throwing those knees to the head, you think Oh No, Here We Go Again, but then Tenryu powerbombs his ass. Great callback! Another great call back was Takada getting the armbar out of the powerbomb. Takada has a great headkick coming off the ropes and the cross armbreaker that are great false finishes. Takada was just overwhelming with the kicks until Tenryu's sumo charge knocks Takada loopy when his head bounces off the ropes. Takada sells well. I wish this led somewhere cooler than a sitting double chickenwing. These two are WAY BETTER at strike exchanges than anyone in modern puroresu. Their strikes are fierce and selling is epic. Ternyu's selling in this match is off the charts great, Maybe his best selling performance of his career. The desperation lariat by Tenryu is great. Tenryu just picks him up and powerbombs his ass. I felt like the finish was a little outta nowhere, but a good callback to the UWFi match Tenryu went for the powerbomb but it was Takada getting the armbar that cost Tenryu, this time he gets the powerbomb to win. Beginning was a hit and miss, but these two settled into a groove and it got really good. Both guys don't get a lot of credit for selling capabilities but they were both great at selling here. I thought the callbacks enhanced this match a lot and the strike exchange was very dramatic. Finish felt anit-climatic, but overall the finish stretch was great. ****

Genichiro Tenryu vs Great Muta - WAR 10/11/96 One of my all-time favorite matches, which I watched originally over ten years ago (I cant believe that!), and it does not disappoint in rewatch (probably the first time I have watched it in 5 years). There is something about Great Muta in his full regalia that is just so captivating. There have been many imitations but they all pale in comparison to the original. Tenryu in his stately kimono stands in stark contrast to the demonic Muta. Tenryu throwing the ceremonial bouquet of flowers is a great opening salve of hostility. The action is fast & furious. When Muta is on. the chaos & violence he generates is engrossing. He is able to combine Wildman actions with Hellish overtones into a very intoxicating concoction. It is both sad that Great Muta vs Undertaker was never seriously considered because that would have been a great WrestleMania Spectacle and that there is a real dearth of great Wildman characters in pro wrestling today. Tenryu stands in direct opposition as a stoic, Japanese badass that stands for authority with his brutal hard strikes. Muta breaks a glass bottle against the ring post and drive it deep into Tenryu's head drawing blood. Muta is such a glorious heel here jabbing the wound with his fingers and any hard metal object he can find. He piledrives him into a table. He takes every heel shortcut imaginable. I loved Tenryu trying to chop Muta down, but like the Creature from the Black Lagoon he arises again and again to chop Tenryu down. Eventually, Tenryu rallies with big chops and fists. Just by the virtue of how good the heat segment was you just pumped to see Tenryu overcome and kick some ass. TENRYU SNAPS~! Throwing chairs and a table into the ring. He goes to take Muta's head off with a chair and MIST~! Great cutoff and great use of the table with the back handspring elbow and moonsault. I love Muta throwing the table on his head then beating up a WAR dude and taking his write shirt to write something in Tenryu's blood. That's awesome. Backbreaker, which is the traditional lead in to the moonsault but Tenryu powerbombs him off the top! Kickout, he goes for number two and MIST~! I FORGOT ABOUT THAT! MARK OUT CITY! Tenryu is really covered in green and really sells it. Tenryu blocks the mist by COVERING MUTA'S MOUTH! I forgot about that too! MARK OUT CITY~! Tenryu hits a combination lariat and puts Muta down with a third powerbomb. Amazing combination of Clash of Titans and violent brawl. Everything felt HUGE~! From the entrance attire to their characters to the spots in the match, everything felt enormous. My minor complaint is the first powerbomb was a bit out of nowhere (would have liked Muta to miss that moonsault) and thought a more violent climax like a powerbomb on a chair or table would have been more fitting. Thought the heat segment by Muta is one of the all-time greatest and the work around the Mist was amazing. Just a match that built and built with two amazing characters ready to have your mind blown by this rating...****3/4 Whats crazy is that five years later they have a polar opposite match and I say that's *****. Great chemistry.

The ref spoke perfect English throughout the match. Did anyone else find that weird? Nobuhiko Takada vs Genichiro Tenryu - UWFi vs WAR 9/11/96 The two biggest, non-NJPW, non-AJPW puroresu wrestlers of the 90s do battle drawing 30,000 to Jingu Stadium. On a card that also featured Hashimoto, Sasaki, SAYAMA!?? & KAWADA?!? against UWFi wrestlers. Tenryu blazed the path for freelance wrestling Japan in the 90s, which became a popular path in the first decade of the 21st Century. While Takada started an incredibly successful shoot-style company in the 90s, which inevitably led to the founding of PRIDE forever changing the landscape of pro wrestling & mixed martial arts. After Tenryu feuded with New Japan from late 92-early 94, Takada feuded with New Japan from late 95-early 96 there was really nowhere left for either to go but into each other arms. UWFi was breathing its last gap and this match popped a huge gate, but it was not sustainable and UWFi closed its doors in December of 1996. Huge Clash of the Titans feel for this match. Starts off slow but chippy. They established pro style vs shoot style with Tenryu missing his elbow drop from the top early and Takada kicking him out of the ring to a huge pop from the pro-UWFi crowd. Things get chippy when Tenryu does not give a clean rope break and Takada starts firing off kicks, but Tenryu grabs the leg and torques it into a dragon leg screw. The match really takes off when Takada relentlessly knees Tenryu in the face cutting him really badly from the forehead. Nasty stuff and actually set up a huge Tenryu comeback, which was weird because the crowd really loved Takada, but goddamn did I love Tenryu unleashing his classic fury (punches, chops, suplex and Cloverleaf) when he saw his own blood and just ripped into Takada. Tenryu just punching Takada really hard into the side of the head and the way Takada sold it was just magnificent by both men. The ref speaking perfect English throughout the match was odd to me. He told someone to take it easy at one point, which made me laugh. The cloverleaf was a great visual with the blood pouring down Tenryu face it was like a reverse Bret-Austin. Takada makes the ropes. Tenryu misses the Kappo Kick. The one issue with Takada is that his favorite hold is a kneebar and that is by far the most boring of all shoot-style holds and that's what he goes for here. Takada's offense (kicks and knees) has been great and his selling really, really good too. The kicks to the leg and that MASSIVE LEFT TO THE HEAD had me popping huge. Takada going for a pinfall cover was so strange to me! It looked so wrong! Cross-armbreaker that's more like it, but Tenryu clasps the hands, but Takada breaks it but Tenryu is too close to the ropes. Big lariat from Tenryu for 2! Tenryu misses second lariat and Takada gets an armbar takedown into a Fujiwara armbar. Takada kicks Tenryu in the head a bunch so Tenryu punches him in the head and Takada just melts into the mat. Takada is on fire here. Mack Truck Lariat by Tenryu only gets two and Takada kicks him in the head from the ground massive punch by Tenryu. The Chop-Kick Fighting Spirit bullshit works here because of how big of superstars they are and everything that happened before. Tenryu wins with a huge overhand chop. Tenryu Powerbomb?!? Takada gets the armbar takedown and Fujiwara armbar gets him the victory. Really amazing Clash of the Titans style pro vs shoot style match. Takada remained committed to who he was as did Tenryu yet somewhere they were able to meet somewhere in the middle without comprising their integrity or match quality. Everything just felt huge. It was a little slow in the beginning, but once Takada busted Tenryu open with those knees, the last ten minutes were amazing. ****1/2

Weird, this match really did nothing for me. Genichiro Tenryu vs Naoki Sano - UWFi 8/17/96 This is during that the death throes of UWFi after the NJPW vs UWFi where Takada tries to extend his stay on life support by feuding with Tenryu & WAR. Tenryu and Anjoh had a super fun match in WAR where Anjoh was the cocky shooter bastard and Tenryu taught him his lesson by being ultra-stiff. This match even though I like both guys was pretty disappointing. It is in an outdoor venue in broad daylight with barely anyone there. Tenryu was kinda whiffing early on. They couldn't decide if they wanted to do shoot-style or pro wrestling. Sano had no chance in hell of winning this. They give him a couple of head kicks to knock Tenryu down before Tenryu wins with a barrage of punches and two powerbombs. All the money is in Tenryu vs Takada. I didn't think much of this.

Antonio Inoki & Koji Kitao vs Genichiro Tenryu & Riki Choshu - NJPW Fukuoka Dome 5/3/95 Koji Kitao has a really interesting career. He is a former disgraced yokozuna. Dude is fucking gigantic, made Choshu look like a shrimp. Anyways, he quasi-sucked, never won a tournament and had a huge attitude problem so he got banished from sumo. Only yokozuna to ever be exiled in such a way. He turns to pro wrestling, which sees logical and trains with Inoki. He gets fired because he calls Riki Choshu a slur because he is Korean. There were some heated exchanges and nobody was selling shit for the other person. Then he links up with Tenryu but had a fucking shootfight with John Tenta and screams pro wrestling is fake. So fired again. Goes to UWFi and before he can double cross Takada, Takada shoots KOs him in a match. Crazy. Eventually he settles into WAR and has a boring career, but that is some insane stuff. I watched this match because Tenryu only had nine matches from 1995. Was he injured? What was with all the time off? This match sucked. Inoki, Kitao and Choshu were having a competition who could sell the least. At the end, when Choshu was blasting Kitao with clotheslines it dawned on me maybe it was not that Kitao was not trying intentionally to not sell it is just that he totally sucks at selling. Tenryu try as he might could not carry these three loads. This is during Inoki retirement tour. Inoki chokes Choshu for like two seconds drags him down for a two count, but the bell rings. What the fuck ever. Don't bother.

Genichiro Tenryu vs Tatsumi Fujinami - NJPW 4/29/96 Fujinami's face looks like a murder scene about 3 minutes into this. Tenyru caved his face in when Fujinami was going for a suicide dive and blood was pouring like a faucet from his face. Damn sure made this match compelling as hell and pretty uncomfortable to watch. Fujinami was on a roll with dragon screw leg whip and two BADASS suicide dives that make all the modern WWE guys look like nancy boys. Then Tenryu crushed his nose and it all changed. Fujinami did get a figure-4, but then basically passed out in his own figure-4 from blood loss. tenryu was the ultimate dick looking to the crowd like why is this guy being such a chump and just waiting to chop the hell out of him. It is classic Tenryu the big punches to the side of the head of the injured Fujinami drawing boos. The powerbomb, lariats and reverse elbow. Fujinami gets a Dragon Sleeper as a hope spot before Tenryu puts him with a Mack Truck Lariat! Post-match, Tenryu is like you got something on your face and Fujinami slaps the shit out of him. Way better than I expected. Thought it be two legends doing a greatest hits package instead it was a bloody, heated affair. ****

For the record there is no 97 match to watch between these two? Disappointing.

Genichiro Tenryu vs Yoji Anjoh - WAR 7/21/96 With WAR and UWFi both on their last legs, they join forces to put on some pretty spectacular bouts. My favorite gimmick in all of purorseu maybe the cocky shooter asshole. Yoji Anjoh, while not quite to Murakami levels, is an excellent cocky prick in this match. He is taunting. He runs away from Tenryu every time Tenryu gets the advantage. He stalls. He cheats like a muthafucka. He just steps on Tenryu's throat at one point. You know he doesn't have to because his kicks are deadly and his submission holds are just as lethal. What makes this even better is the receipt. Because you know that Tenryu grumpy bastard that he is doesn't have time for this bullshit and when he gets his hands on this little muthafucka he is going to annihilate him. Annihilate him he did. The punches to the side of the head were tremendous. The Fuck You Sumo Slaps were great. The chop to the throat triggered Anjoh's fight or flight and he starts wailing on Tenryu who absorbs the blows and then punches him right in the side of the head. Every lariat was more brutal than the last. They did a great job teasing the powerbomb and then letting Anjoh have two submission nearfalls followed by a HUGE lariat, enziguiri and then powerbomb. Out of the powerbomb, he gets a nasty armbar. We get the rope break and then a MACK TRUCK LARIAT~! Followed by the powerbomb for the win. Loved the efficiency establish Anjoh as a cocky shooter prick that you want to see get his ass kick. Deliver said ass kicking. Have a couple nearfalls for both and then BLAST him to hell and have the good guy go over. That's pro wrestling! ****

Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - BattlArts 8/4/96 These two are still feuding right now, right? The match-up that would define BattleArts forever, the brutal kicks and strikes of Daisuke Ikeda against the lethal mat wizardy of Yuki Ishikawa. I always hesitate to call BattlArts shoot-style. It is more like ultra-stiff pro wrestling. You can see that hybridization in what I believe is the first match on tape we have these two in BattlArts. Ikeda is just blasting Ishikawa with those kicks and holy shit those clotheslines. Ishikawa is not afraid to throw some serious hands as well and also bests Ikeda on the mat. Ikeda shows he knows his way around the mat as he gets a heel hook. These two are the masters of their own realm, but what makes this a great feud is their very proficient in the other's strong suit. It gets pro wrestling with Ishikawa using a rana and a Fisherman Buster to set up his choke. Great portent of the amazing things to come. ***3/4

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto - RINGS 12/19/96 In my estimation, this match was to determine who the baddest Japanese muthafucka on the RINGS roster. Maeda is over the hill and I feel like Kohsaka is treated a step below these two. Before Tamura arrived in the summer of 96, it looked like it was clearly going to be Yamamoto, who does have a victory over Volk Han in late 95, but Tamura has cleared out the non-Volk Han foreigners. Match has a huge fight feel. Yamamoto comes out of the gate fucking swinging. Even though he is the incumbent, he feels like he has something to prove. He is crowding Tamura in the ropes. Tamura has to go for a takedown not because he is in control just to stop his momentum. Even back on their feet, Tamura starts throwing insane knees to Yamamoto's side. RINGS has not been the place for great, electric stand up. This is the exception. They beat the ever loving shit out of each other and they were furious throwing crazy hands. Oddly, I thought the match dragged on the mat. It seemed like both were trying so hard not get put into submission that you didn't get as many eye-popping submissions. They more than made up for it by throwing hands like there was no tomorrow. Tamura was up early 2-0 on rope breaks. When Yamamoto just started bashing his face in with palm strikes. Tamura came off the mat with a bleeding cheek and busted lip, fucking hardway. That shit was intense. Yamamoto was able to get three strong submissions to put Tamura in the ropes. Tamura looked like hell. Then all of sudden he gest a flying cross armbreaker that legitimately looks like he hyperextended Yamamoto's elbow (looked how deep it was) and how fast that tap out was. Insane amount of hate and anger. Best stand up ever in RINGS. Tamura's face and that finish are amazing. Matwork drags it down, but good God watch this. ****1/4

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Mikhail Iloukhine - RINGS 10/25/96 You can never relax in RINGS. Much of this match, it looks like the stocky Russian has the advantage and just when he is relaxing, Tamura would pop a submission and have him scrambling for the ropes. Misha was taking him down with ease early on and catching the kicks and transitioning to takedowns. The story of this match is Tamura is a slippery fuck. Iloukhine would apply submission after submission only forced his first and only escape via rope break at 13:45 mark. That means Tamura was standing up out of them or converting them into offense. Tamura is so dangerous because of his counterwrestling: heel hooks and anklecrosses when the Russian looked in control. Tamura scores a knockdown and Iloukhine cant even take him down anymore as Tamura is just quashing every attempt. Tamura chokes him the fuck out. This is twice now that Iloukhine has failed to impress. Solid match and a good one to get to know Tamura more. ***

Volk Han vs Mitsuya Nagai - RINGS 6/29/96 The Russian Wizard of the Mat is the gift that keeps on giving. That first move where he catches the foot, kicks out the plant leg and turn into a single leg crab had me going crazy and calling for the bell. It should have been the finish. The ankle crosses, double wristlocks, the chokes (watch how he does not let his ankles get crossed), the most vicious figure-4s in the game. Did you see that Nagai figure-4 that had Volk Han lunging for the ropes. No one better at shoot style selling than the Soviet Maestro. He treats serious holds as serious holds. He loves to get knockdown mid-match. See how he was knocked loopy and in a later stand up just drops to his knees to get back on the match. The finish with him reaching all the way back to choke out Nagai was amazing. Excellent Volk Han showcase. ***3/4

I am just getting into RINGS and loving it. Willie Fucking Peeters is MY MAN after watching the 96 Tamura match. I gotta see more of this dude and Dick Vrij. That match between those two sounds bitchin'.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Willie Peeters - RINGS 7/16/96 After a great Sasha/Alexa match, Finn/Bray were putting me to sleep so I threw on some Tamura. Tamura is great, but WILLIE FUCKING PEETERS stealing the show! Peeters is a Dutch kickboxer with a fuckin' attitude, kid. He looks like every kid I went to middle school with his haircut, tank top and oversized pants. Peeters is a tornado in there throwing kicks Willie-Nilly. I had to! Awesome belly-to-belly suplex by him and a great side headlock RIP! Basically Tamura looks overwhelmed at first, but then he figures Peeters out. He goes toe-to-toe with him standing up. He figures out how to quash every single takedown and turn everything on the mat to his advantage. Peeters is cocky but is a fish outta water on the mat. He is great saying Tamura's kicks aren't affect him "You cant hurt steel" routine, only to tap like a baby in a heel hook after he already got the ropes. Perfect bully psychology. Tamura is taking it to the mat at will and it is just a matter of time. Triangle choke and Peeters taps. Very entertaining. Tamura has a great asskicker vibe to him. Peeters was able to bewilder Tamura early, but once Tamura figured him out it was academic. More Willie Fuckin' Peeters, bro! ****

Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - RINGS 11/22/96 The least of their '96 trilogy, still good, but not necessary to go out of your way to see. All the Han staples are there early like arm triangle, double wristlock and ankle cross. That ankle cross was beautiful they tumbled to the ground and Han just came up with it. Amazing. The story of this match was Kohsaka breaking through with his stand up game. First it was a high straight front kick. Then it was TWO consecutive knockdowns via body shots with great selling from Volk Han. Kohsaka went up 7-2 and Han phased by the knockdowns could not unleash. Even when he applied his double wristlock in the middle of the ring, Kohsaka was able to escape without the ropes. Things did not look good for the Russian Wizard. Han is doing uncharacteristically stupid things like a spinning back hand and gets taken down. I wonder if that was just a way to bait Kohsaka to mat so that he did not take anymore stand up. Han ends up needing the ropes for refuge because he almost had a cross armbreaker applied to him. Does not look good at all for the Soviet Maestro, down 8-2. Kohsaka gets a takedown, scramble. VOLK HAN DOUBLE WRISTLOCK~! TAP OUT! Russian Wizard pulls a rabbit out of his hat. ***3/4

Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - RINGS 7/16/96 After getting shown up pretty drastically by Yamamoto, Kohsaka needed a good showing here and I think he provided it even though he ended up losing via knockout. Kohsaka acquitted himself well on the mat against the Russian Wizard and went toe to toe with him standing up. Kohsaka showed a lot of aggression and ingenuity against the always creative Volk Han. There are so many cool moments in this match. Volk Han is amazing at wrist control and you are so focused on what he will do that you don't see Kohsaka figure-4ing his leg from underneath and all of sudden Han is on defense. Han is a really selfless performer as a gaijin in Japan he had to be. He applies a great organic figure-4 (great struggle) but he does not tuck his leg in underneath and this leaves him open for a heel hook. He gives his opponent an out. I loved his selling of the cross armbreaker. Once Kohsaka had it applied his foot SHOT OUT LIKE A CANNON for the ropes. There was another great moment where he has Kohsaka all tied up and Kohsaka looks ridiculously trying to feel for the rope with his foot. Like I said Kohsaka stayed poise down the stretch and never let the overwhelming mystique of Volk Han get to him. Volk Han has done the impossible gotten me into the bundle of leg locks. Now that I am more cognizant of ankle crosses I am super into them. I will say because Volk Han treats them special I am into them. Other people doing it still kinda sucks. Volk Han goes up 3-1, but in an amazing comeback Kohsaka rattles off three straight forces of rope breaks to go up 4-3 including a very tight choke. I think this big come from behind with three big time submissions helps his standing a lot. I loved the front chancery/hammerlock combo from Han only for Kohsaka to get the back heel trip and roll through to break it. SHORT ARM SCISSORS~! Triangle choke! Han in the ropes. This is how Kohsaka goes up 4-3. VOLK HAN SNAPS~! Barrage of slaps and a KNEE THAT BUSTS KOHSAKA WIDE OPEN! TKO! Great finish which may have been a shoot. Insane. Volk Han is so good at sucking you into matwork and is great at selling from the way he quickly gets the ropes in a cross armbreaker to his sense of shame grabbing the rope in that Triangle Choke and that shame turning into anger. Kohsaka to his credit never wavers. So many times in puroresu, we see the lead horse choke, but here Volk Han turns that sense of choking into unbridled anger blasting Kohsaka so hard he knocks him out and leaves nothing to de decided. Great story and match. ****1/4

Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - RINGS 4/26/96 After relying on Soviet talent, RINGS tries to rebuild around native talent with young mid-20s talent in Yamamoto and Kohsaka. Yamamoto is coming off a victory over the Soviet Maestro, the Russian Wizard of the Mat, Volk Han. Kohsaka has a two match win streak going into this contest. This match is all about establishing Yamamoto as The Man of RINGS Japan and heir to Akira Maeda. He builds an easy 7-0 lead including a wicked knockdown based off an overhand slap. Kohsaka tries to bring the fight to him but is consistently counterwrestled. From the outset he shoots in and gets trapped in a guillotine choke. Or he get a Judo takedown or a submission and everything is countered forcing him into the rope. There is one point where each is trying to figure-4 the ankles and Yamamoto wins. It just goes to show Kohsaka is just one level below. Kohsaka forces Yamamoto into the ropes twice once with a triangle choke to at least get on the scoreboard, but ends up in the ropes one more time himself. It is sudden death time as Kohsaka has run out of rope breaks. He does wriggle out of one heel hook, but eventually falls prey to it and submits clean in the middle. Yamamoto looked good in this. He lacks the poise of Han and the charisma of Tamura, but technically he is very proficient. Kohsaka is a very good wrestler. This features great grappling, but it is a little on the dry side and lacks the strong characters that Han and Tamura provide in their shoot style matches. ***

Volk Han vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto - RINGS 12/19/95 Yamamoto is on the vanguard of the new generation of Japanese shoot-style talent along with Kohsaka and Tamura. These two had an amazing match in June of 95 with an epic finish. This match does not quite reach that level, but is pretty entertaining. Han basically ripped Yamamoto's arm out of his socket with biggest double wristlock rip of all time, but see here Han cant get that. I love how Han's way to fuck with people's guard is just to cross their ankles. That is really his solution to everything. Yamamoto tried to scissor a heel hook and Han just manipulated that into an ankle cross. Really Yamamoto the figure-4 is a much better hold than a scissors and makes it hard to transition into an ankle cross. Han was in full wizard at one point he went from a gruesome cross armbreaker to an ankle cross that had Yamamoto scrambling for the ropes. I will say Yamamoto hung in there and really started to make Han worry. At first it was heel hooks and you could see Han's countenance change. Like he was getting annoyed. After needing a rope break because he could not finish a figure-4 (Han is so good at the organic figure-4) and almost being choked out. Han was pissed. He started smacking Yamamoto in the head hard. VOLK HAN SNAPPED~! Yamamoto gets a textbook over the shoulder armbar takedown and transitions immediately into a cross armbreaker. Great selling by Han, he crosses up the ankles but cant exert any pressure and he is writing... VOLK HAN taps out?!?! WTF?!? Crazy finish. This was six months before Tamura would join, but Maeda needed a new Japanese ace so I can understand the finish. Match was great. Not nearly as memorable as the June match, but nice progression from Yamamoto and selfless performance from Han and all his classic stuff minus the double wristlock. ****

Wait people hate RINGS?!?! But why? Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura - RINGS 1/22/97 This match starts off the same way as their first encounter when Han gets an awesome double wristlock rip (did you see the wrist control!) and then ankle crossing. The difference here is Tamura acquits himself much better on the mat. He is not as easily suckered into a cross armbreaker and holds his own. The second spot in the first match is Han getting heel control here Tamura throws a wild spinning mule kick. Han tries to close the gap, but Tamura goes for a rolling legbar, but Han picks his foot out and Tamura does a kip up. WOW! Loved it! I am sorry how did anyone buy this as a shoot though? Tamura gets a takedown. Tamura is doing a lot better here. The jockeying around the heel hook is great with each looking to be in command. There is a great moment where Han has switched to a double wristlock, but releases as Tamura almost gets the ropes to prevent the rope break. Tamura gets a cross armbreaker and forces the first escape. Tamura 1-0. Interesting. Tamura is just as aggressive but is definitely wrestling within himself. Tamura is way more aggressive in his stand up now. I think this is a winning strategy for Tamura. The kicks to the legs look like they are making in roads and Han does not look as comfortabke standin up. I love Han is constantly trying to close the gap and Tamura is pushing him away so he can get full extension on his kicks. Tamura's mistake is going for a bodyscissors takedown and not completing it. This leaves him open for Han's second favorite hold the ankle cross and Tamura has to go for the ropes. On stand up, Tamura goes back to work, but Han closes the gap and takes him down with a double wristlock. Great selling from Tamura once he gets out. On the mat, Tamura gets a flash cross armbreaker that freaks Han out and Han retaliates with a choke, but keeps his ankles to the side so they cant be crossed. Very cool! Hot sequence. Tamura goes high with a kick and it is blocked. Han is vulnerable to the STRAIGHT FRONT KICK! Tamura up 4-2 and is looking much better going into the home stretch. Until Han just takes him down and immediately crosses his ankles for the rope break. Han absorbs some kicks finally feels the rhythm and catches one and THEN HE KICKS OUT THE PLANT LEG! WOW! Heel hook and immobilizes the free leg and Tamura has no choice to tap. Great callbacks to the first match. Awesome progression from Tamura. I feel like there was a lot of nervous energy in the first match (in a good way) here he is much more in the zone. He acquits himself well with the Mat Wizard from Soviet Russia but starts to make in roads in the stand up game. However, Han can still take him down at will and Tamura really does not have a defense against the double wristlock or ankle cross. The kicking out the plant leg and just watching Tamura's knee buckle was crazy. The progression from Tamura and the awesome finish make this another stone cold RINGS classic. *****

Volk Han vs Kioyshi Tamura - RINGS 9/25/96 Volk Han in all his glory double wristlock rips, ankle crosses galore and him taking a straight front kick to the gut. Tamura is a great opponent because he is so energetic and feisty. That opening double wristlock rip is godly. Tamura is a champ for taking that. As soon as Tamura wriggles free, it is right into the ankle cross. This is Volk Han 101 and it looks great because of Tamura's energy and struggle. I love how Han has an answer for everything. Tamura goes for a legbar to counter the ankle cross and Han goes for the cross armbreaker. Han grabs heel and had good control, but squanders the control and on the takedown almost cost himself by ending up in a cross armbreaker. Han is able to counter into an amazing double wristlock and forces him to go for the ropes. Amazing ability to stay on offense by Han. Han has great takedown defense for Tamura who tries to switch up by shooting for a double leg. These are great opponents because Han is so cool under pressure and Tamura is feisty. Han can get cocky though like his showy pulling arm through Tamura's legs and Tamura catches him with a heel hook forcing the rope break. Han grabs a choke and of course his ankles get crossed so you believe a submission is possible. They end up in the ropes and Tamura gets charged with an rope escape. Weird. DEEP Tamura single leg crab then floats into an armbar. Great struggle in this. I loved Han's short leg scissors amazing bend. I love when wrestlers figure-4 random body parts. Always looks amazing. Another tremendous Han spot is when Tamura tries to apply a figure-4 to his leg and leaves his arm just out there and Han grabs a cross armbreaker. Tamura is just writhing around in pain and flaying. It really feels like a finish and I know Han has finished a match like that before. Just great drama. Han goes up 4-1 in rope breaks and then in classic Han runs into a straight front kick for the knockdown. That sort of levels the playing field and looks like Han could fall after controlling the first portion of the match. Tamura is working so hard. Look at how much effort he does getting a side headlock and the way every single muscle is focused on making a Volk Han head pop. Han slaps the taste out of his mouth and gets a knockdown. Tamura tries desperately for a choke, but Han is able to grab his favorite hold, the double wristlock. Amazing match! Before I always I thought I liked and appreciated shoot style, but I could never really love it as much as traditional pro wrestling. I loved this! The struggle and energy were off the charts. I liked the strategy and the distinct characters. The matwork was incredible and the way he kept going for double wristlocks and ankle crosses gave the match a touchstone that a lot of shoot style matches lack. Highly recommended. *****

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Mikhail Iloukhine - RINGS 11/97 Iloukhine is an average height stocky ex-Soviet that does not seem all that special to me. I much preferred the bullish Tariel from Georgia to him. Kohsaka acquits himself well on the mat early on. They have a pretty good scrap on the mat that Kohsaka wins after some human pretzel making. After that it is Iloukhine with the takedown but he has no control over the takedown and Kohsaka builds up an impressive lead forcing Iloukhine to go to the ropes to escape out of an array of submissions. Iloukhine struck me as kinda clumsy and completely outclassed by Kohsaka on the mat. Iloukhine does work an elementary front chancery (guillotine choke) in the latter stages of the match which was first effective maneuver. Even here Kohsaka maneuvers into a triangle and then works a heel hook while Iloukhine tries a figure-4, but the Russian has to go for the ropes. It is 6-2 Kohsaka at this point. All of sudden, Misha gets a rolling legbar takedown and it is a heel hook, legbar combo that gets him the flash submission. I am surprised this was so highly acclaimed. It is a good match. It feels like a blowout, but Kohsaka chokes and just doesn't put the Russian away. It eventually bites him. Everything was well-worked, but nothing really stuck out to me. ***1/2

I'm at RAW in Boston and there's a Bray Wyatt VS Finn Baylor match about to happen so I figure I take this time to write something that has bothered me over the last year. Modern WWE will skip the babyface shine and go right to the heat segment and usually the heat segment is methodical with lots of dead space. In my opinion it suckd all the fun outta wrestling. I think you can only do this when the babyface is already established and over. If the babyface is NOT, this creates a negative feedback loop leading to a heat vacuum. Where the crowd can't invest in the babyface can't get over because no one likes a loser. They are letting Finn have a babyface shine and people are chanting Too Sweet! See the formula works! The babyface shine is fun and gets crowd rolling. It makes them want to see the comeback because they know the babyface is a badass. It makes the heat mean more because the babyface made a mistake or was wronged. Also the immediacy of the heat screws up the elevation of selling and kills the register. It causes overselling early and blowing off selling later Without the shine or a hotly contested heat segment, there's no energy in the match or arena. I think this is epidemic throughout WWE besides AJ Styles matches. What do you all think?