Get Well Soon, Nature Boy!
Fighting Network RINGS was born from the three-way schism of the second UWF, a shoot-style promotion from 1988-1990. In 1991, the three biggest stars of the Second UWF each created their own promotion: Nobuhiko Takada (UWFi), Yoshiaki Fujiwara (PWFG) and Akira Maeda (RINGS).
Shoot-style is a working pro style with the intention of making pro wrestling look as real possible. Usually the style forsakes pinfall decisions for submissions or knockout finishes. Matches are short usually sub-15 minutes to simulate a shoot. The matches take the look and feel of Mixed Martial Arts matches. There is a stand up portion (no closed fists, kicks are legal), takedowns and lots of submission wrestling.
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| GO MUTHAFUCKIN BLUE! Where the hell were you when I was in school? |
RINGS was the most the legitimate looking of all of the UWF successors. There is none of the pageantry of UWFi, which PRIDE would inherit from Takada or zaniness of PWFG. Maeda used the Inoki booking paradigm of pitting himself against legit gaijin shooters. He would leverage Japanese nationalism as the fans would lap up watching their native hero vanquished his foreign foes in shoot matches. Most often these fighters were either Dutch kickboxers or ex-Soviet Sambo wrestlers.
The most famous of these fighters was the incomparable Soviet Maestro of the Mat and the Russian Wizard, Volk Han (roughly translated as Wolf Khan, even his name is badass). Even though Maeda was the owner and native hero, he was overshadowed by his foreign archenemy. By the 90s, Maeda was already getting up there in years, Volk Han was carrying the workload in the ring. He was considered the #1 Russian on a team that included future PRIDE superstar Fedor Emelianeko. While Maeda would continue to win major matches as he won RINGS annual Mega Battle Tournament to start 1996, it is the Volk Han matches is what fans of RINGS remember.
Volk Han has the uncanny ability to make matwork captivating and organic. You simply cannot take your eyes off him for one second because blink and you will miss an ankle cross. There are many times you are watching him control a wrist only to have him put his legs in position to figure-4 an entirely different body part. He makes submission grappling can't miss. There is no one who puts on a deeper figure-4 in a more organic fashion. His double wristlock takedown RIPS will cause you to pop out of your seat. His ankle crosses are deadly and come out of nowhere. His selling is sublime. When a hold gets him, he lets you know how his limbs shoot out for the ropes like lightning bolts. He is an incredibly selfless performer always leaving opportunities for his opponents to look good and get the best of him. But more times than not, the Soviet Maestro of the Mat will leave with his hand raised in victory and you will find yourself rewinding to find out how he found that slightest opportunity to sink in the lethal submission.
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| The Wolf Khan |
Volk Han went 8-2 in 1996 including three victories over young, rising native star, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka with the second match (8/24/96, ****1/2) being a classic in the Volk Han canon of amazing finishes. One of his other victories was a match that could be considered the greatest pro wrestling match in history (9/25/96, full *****) against fellow shoot-style legend, Kiyoshi Tamura.
Kiyoshi Tamura (6-1 in 1996, shoutout to Willie Fucking Peeters the Dutch Kickboxer with a fucking attitude, kid) is a good-looking, shredded Japanese shoot-style worker that joined RINGS halfway through the year from the ostentatious UWFi and his no-nonsense, aggressive style fit like a glove in RINGS. Tamura was 3-0 entering his first match with the Russian Wizard and together they engineered a classic of young, feisty native lion taking on the cold, calculating foreigner. Tamura eventually ruffles the feathers of the typically cool Volk Han and all Hell breaks loose. At the end of the year, Tamura has an incredibly ferocious bout in the Mega Battle 1997 Tournament Semi-Final against Yoshihisa Yamamoto (5-5 in 1996, losing streak at the end).
You see Yamamoto defeated Volk Han at the end of 1995 and at 26 years old looked poised to be the successor to Akira Maeda as the promotion's top native star (he was the runner-up to Maeda in 1996 Mega Battle Tournament Final). Then Tamura joined RINGS and it stole some of his thunder.
IT WAS ON~! RINGS is mostly known for its amazing matwork, but the stand up tends to be more on the tepid side (if you want good stand up, watch BattlArts). Yamamoto and Tamura beat the holy living shit out of each other with some legit shoot strikes as Yamamoto draws blood from Tamura's cheek. You really felt like they were fighting to prove who the baddest Japanese muthafucka was.
Here are the five matches from RINGS 1996, I think are must see.
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| Kiyoshi Tamura |
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, while the match was on. 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! ****
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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
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Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - RINGS 8/24/96
So this is RINGS, human pretzel making. A sick part of me wishes Uncle Eric brought in these dudes to WCW so I could hear Tony, Dusty & Bobby call the action. Dusty would say "uncle" and "uncler" so much. Han gets the coolest, most organic figure-4 you will ever see from a standing half guard. Yep, believe the hype brutha, Volk Han is legit. Thought the escapes from Kojsaka on the figure-4 and cross arm breaker were too easy. Then they started using rope breaks which I liked better. Han lets Kohsaka take him down and grabs a double wrist lock. The double wrist lock seems to be the base for everything. In kayfabe, it seems like Han is being presented as the better wrestler. I hate the bundle of legs dueling submission as a spot no matter what. Han drops down with a rear naked choke and Kohsaka comes up with a sick counter of basically an inverted deadlock on the legs. I marked out and Kohsaka has a renewed sense of confidence. That felt like a big moment where the momentum could have shifted to Kohsaka. He grabbed a rolling leg takedown but in the pretzel he created he left his arm exposed and Han grabbed hyperextended it and since Kohsaka was in pretzel of his own creation he had no escape and was forced to tap.
Even though I haven't watched much shoot style I gobble it up with a spoon when I do. It was exciting to see my first Volk Han match thought he lived up to the hype. Definitely some mark out moments like the figure-4 and just some of those wrist lock grabs and chains. The counter to the choke by Kohsaka was my favorite spot felt electric and like everything was going to go his way, but then he taps in his own trap! Thought some escapes were little too easy in the beginning and in shoot style I like narratives of contrasting styles didn't feel that here. It was an incredible display of grappling wizardry. ****1/2
So this is RINGS, human pretzel making. A sick part of me wishes Uncle Eric brought in these dudes to WCW so I could hear Tony, Dusty & Bobby call the action. Dusty would say "uncle" and "uncler" so much. Han gets the coolest, most organic figure-4 you will ever see from a standing half guard. Yep, believe the hype brutha, Volk Han is legit. Thought the escapes from Kojsaka on the figure-4 and cross arm breaker were too easy. Then they started using rope breaks which I liked better. Han lets Kohsaka take him down and grabs a double wrist lock. The double wrist lock seems to be the base for everything. In kayfabe, it seems like Han is being presented as the better wrestler. I hate the bundle of legs dueling submission as a spot no matter what. Han drops down with a rear naked choke and Kohsaka comes up with a sick counter of basically an inverted deadlock on the legs. I marked out and Kohsaka has a renewed sense of confidence. That felt like a big moment where the momentum could have shifted to Kohsaka. He grabbed a rolling leg takedown but in the pretzel he created he left his arm exposed and Han grabbed hyperextended it and since Kohsaka was in pretzel of his own creation he had no escape and was forced to tap.
Even though I haven't watched much shoot style I gobble it up with a spoon when I do. It was exciting to see my first Volk Han match thought he lived up to the hype. Definitely some mark out moments like the figure-4 and just some of those wrist lock grabs and chains. The counter to the choke by Kohsaka was my favorite spot felt electric and like everything was going to go his way, but then he taps in his own trap! Thought some escapes were little too easy in the beginning and in shoot style I like narratives of contrasting styles didn't feel that here. It was an incredible display of grappling wizardry. ****1/2
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Volk Han vs Kioyshi Tamura - RINGS 9/25/96
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| ANKLE CROSS~! |
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. *****
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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
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With a semi-final victory over top native rival, Kiyoshi Tamura faces none other than Volk Han in 1997 Mega Battle Tournament Final. Who will win? Can they top their 1996 classic? What else does RINGS have in store for us in 1997?
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