Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoji Anjoh (UWFi - 8/28/1992)
Dec 10, 2017 22:42:31 GMT -5
Post by elliott on Dec 10, 2017 22:42:31 GMT -5
Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoji Anjoh (UWFi - 8/28/1992)
My review from the Tamura Complete & Accurate:
This is the 23rd match of Tamura’s career and my 20th review. There couldn’t be a better matchup. Tamura slaps Anjoh on a handshake attempt. Uh oh. Both guys are cautious to start, but Tamura nails the first takedown. Nice grappling to start as both guys are pretty evenly matched. Both guys are going for and getting close to locking in submissions early on and instead of going for rope breaks, both guys are staying calm and looking for other means of escape. Tamura forces the first rope break of the match locking in a sick looking Misawa-esque facelock. It’s the only rope break in the first 5 minutes of just beautiful grappling and submission work. Anjoh finally locks Tamura in a triangle choke and we get our 2nd rope break of the match. We’re going long here so they’re not going Ludicrous Speed like they do in tags matches. But the mat work is gorgeous and the variety of holds and counters on display here is astounding. Tamura gets blasted in the head going in for a takedown for a knockdown. Brutal looking. Instead of trying to get into a striking match with Yoji Anjoh, Tamura does what he does best and goes for submissions. He locks in a nasty toe-lock leading to a rope break. Anjoh tries for some knees but Tamura takes it right back down. Anjoh is always thought of as a striker, but he’s excellent on the mat. He can really do everything you’d want from a shoot style wrestle. He pulls out some crazy almost lucha-esque submissions here mixed in with all the typical shoot submissions. He goes for an STF at one point but instead of doing the cross face he puts on a full nelson. There is great moment where Anjoh stands up off the ground and dares Tamura to get up to face him. Tamura is hesitant at first but gets up at Anjoh’s insistence. As soon as Tamura gets on his feet Anjoh throws a wild kick to head which Tamura easily avoids. Anjoh has a big shit-eating grin on his face and the crowd goes crazy. Awesome little moment. Back to the mat with more submission attempts. They’re both constantly looking and maneuvering for any opening that can lead to a submission. Back on their feet and Tamura is very cautious and aware of a Anjoh’s high kick. Anjoh takes Tamura over with a suplex but Tamura immediately floats back over and locks in a kimura leading to a rope break. That’s something you’ll often see in a Tamura match. His opponent will just finish executing a move like a hiplock or slam like Anjoh here and Tamura will use his athleticism to capitalize on the situation (Anjoh is laying flat on his back right now, maybe I can get to his arm). Anjoh manages to put Tamura down with some really hard leg kicks. Anjoh has a big lead on points getting several knockdowns. AWESOME sequence with Anjoh following up with strikes and hard knees. He gets a little cocky and tries to german suplex Tamura (instead of just finishing him off with strikes) which opens the door for one of Tamura’s signature moves the quick go behind into a sleeper. Huge pop from the crowd. But Anjoh manages to slip out. Anjoh has really started to take over forcing two straight Tamura rope breaks to further widen the gap. Tamura manages to sink in a leg lock and Anjoh does one of the best scrambles for the ropes in history. Seriously it was fucking awesome and might be my lasting image of this match. Back to some really nice grappling leading to another Anjoh rope break. Tamura is trying to mount a comeback with leg submissions. Which makes sense. All the kicks/knees Anjoh throws leaves him open if Tamura can manage to grab one. Also in theory working on the legs will “weaken” Anjoh’s kicks and knees. I think this is more of a case of Tamura finding openings where he can. Anjoh is definitely working on the legs intentionally here late. Tamura stopped wearing shin guards in the last few matches theoretically so he could focus more on his submission wrestling (so said the announcers in a previous match) and would be less inclined to kick. Anjoh is just blasting him late with low leg kicks taking Tamura off his feet and slowing him down. Those shin guards might have helped. Closing minutes and Tamura gets a big slam and locks in a sleeper. Anjoh is struggling looking for an escape as the bell rings. Um. WOW. That was incredible.
I know everyone in the yearbook thread talked about how this would have been better if it was 10-15minutes shorter. But I thought this was an excellent match. Once I finish this project, I might watch this side by side with some other 30minute draws. I though they paced this really well with clear escalation. Their cardio is insane, particularly Tamura as they kept up a relatively quick pace throughout (quick for a 30 minute draw). They showed a ton of variety in their work. Obviously they both have certain things they like to do and both have clear gameplans, particularly as the match developed. But they showed so much depth of knowledge here when it comes the application of submissions, amateur wrestling, striking, suplexes and all of the defenses for these techniques. Easy EPIC.
Edit
Forgot to mention the draw also worked for me because of the way they worked the finish. Anjoh is WAY ahead on points but Tamura has him locked into his favorite submission hold as the time expires. Both guys look good coming out of the draw and theoretically a rematch is set up for down the road. Of course I just looked and there isn't a rematch and they only meet one more time in a tag match. And now I'm sad. Ugggh. Damn you UWFi!!!!
My review from the Tamura Complete & Accurate:
This is the 23rd match of Tamura’s career and my 20th review. There couldn’t be a better matchup. Tamura slaps Anjoh on a handshake attempt. Uh oh. Both guys are cautious to start, but Tamura nails the first takedown. Nice grappling to start as both guys are pretty evenly matched. Both guys are going for and getting close to locking in submissions early on and instead of going for rope breaks, both guys are staying calm and looking for other means of escape. Tamura forces the first rope break of the match locking in a sick looking Misawa-esque facelock. It’s the only rope break in the first 5 minutes of just beautiful grappling and submission work. Anjoh finally locks Tamura in a triangle choke and we get our 2nd rope break of the match. We’re going long here so they’re not going Ludicrous Speed like they do in tags matches. But the mat work is gorgeous and the variety of holds and counters on display here is astounding. Tamura gets blasted in the head going in for a takedown for a knockdown. Brutal looking. Instead of trying to get into a striking match with Yoji Anjoh, Tamura does what he does best and goes for submissions. He locks in a nasty toe-lock leading to a rope break. Anjoh tries for some knees but Tamura takes it right back down. Anjoh is always thought of as a striker, but he’s excellent on the mat. He can really do everything you’d want from a shoot style wrestle. He pulls out some crazy almost lucha-esque submissions here mixed in with all the typical shoot submissions. He goes for an STF at one point but instead of doing the cross face he puts on a full nelson. There is great moment where Anjoh stands up off the ground and dares Tamura to get up to face him. Tamura is hesitant at first but gets up at Anjoh’s insistence. As soon as Tamura gets on his feet Anjoh throws a wild kick to head which Tamura easily avoids. Anjoh has a big shit-eating grin on his face and the crowd goes crazy. Awesome little moment. Back to the mat with more submission attempts. They’re both constantly looking and maneuvering for any opening that can lead to a submission. Back on their feet and Tamura is very cautious and aware of a Anjoh’s high kick. Anjoh takes Tamura over with a suplex but Tamura immediately floats back over and locks in a kimura leading to a rope break. That’s something you’ll often see in a Tamura match. His opponent will just finish executing a move like a hiplock or slam like Anjoh here and Tamura will use his athleticism to capitalize on the situation (Anjoh is laying flat on his back right now, maybe I can get to his arm). Anjoh manages to put Tamura down with some really hard leg kicks. Anjoh has a big lead on points getting several knockdowns. AWESOME sequence with Anjoh following up with strikes and hard knees. He gets a little cocky and tries to german suplex Tamura (instead of just finishing him off with strikes) which opens the door for one of Tamura’s signature moves the quick go behind into a sleeper. Huge pop from the crowd. But Anjoh manages to slip out. Anjoh has really started to take over forcing two straight Tamura rope breaks to further widen the gap. Tamura manages to sink in a leg lock and Anjoh does one of the best scrambles for the ropes in history. Seriously it was fucking awesome and might be my lasting image of this match. Back to some really nice grappling leading to another Anjoh rope break. Tamura is trying to mount a comeback with leg submissions. Which makes sense. All the kicks/knees Anjoh throws leaves him open if Tamura can manage to grab one. Also in theory working on the legs will “weaken” Anjoh’s kicks and knees. I think this is more of a case of Tamura finding openings where he can. Anjoh is definitely working on the legs intentionally here late. Tamura stopped wearing shin guards in the last few matches theoretically so he could focus more on his submission wrestling (so said the announcers in a previous match) and would be less inclined to kick. Anjoh is just blasting him late with low leg kicks taking Tamura off his feet and slowing him down. Those shin guards might have helped. Closing minutes and Tamura gets a big slam and locks in a sleeper. Anjoh is struggling looking for an escape as the bell rings. Um. WOW. That was incredible.
I know everyone in the yearbook thread talked about how this would have been better if it was 10-15minutes shorter. But I thought this was an excellent match. Once I finish this project, I might watch this side by side with some other 30minute draws. I though they paced this really well with clear escalation. Their cardio is insane, particularly Tamura as they kept up a relatively quick pace throughout (quick for a 30 minute draw). They showed a ton of variety in their work. Obviously they both have certain things they like to do and both have clear gameplans, particularly as the match developed. But they showed so much depth of knowledge here when it comes the application of submissions, amateur wrestling, striking, suplexes and all of the defenses for these techniques. Easy EPIC.
Edit
Forgot to mention the draw also worked for me because of the way they worked the finish. Anjoh is WAY ahead on points but Tamura has him locked into his favorite submission hold as the time expires. Both guys look good coming out of the draw and theoretically a rematch is set up for down the road. Of course I just looked and there isn't a rematch and they only meet one more time in a tag match. And now I'm sad. Ugggh. Damn you UWFi!!!!
