[1998-07-20-RINGS] Kiyoshi Tamura vs Wataru Sakata

This was pretty dope. The match is, more or less, contained to the mat, with Tamura primarily in the driver’s seat. Sakata isn’t as skilled as Tamura but he’s stubborn, which makes for a fun match-up. When they do engage in striking, it can turn ugly. Sakata catches Tamura with a spinning backhand and tries to continue the barrage but Tamura decides…no way, and destroys Sakata with some gnarly high kicks to the head. Tamura shines with the waterwheel drop into the kneebar and I loved the leg scissors choke as a transition into the jujigatame.  Toward the end, Sakata hits a cool Exploder suplex to set up the follow-up armbar but Tamura rolls through into his own, and when Sakata tries to roll out of it, Tamura smartly keeps him trapped and Sakata has no choice but to tap. Very cool finish.