Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS - 4/4/1997)
Mar 11, 2019 12:58:53 GMT -5
Post by superstarsleeze on Mar 11, 2019 12:58:53 GMT -5
Surprised this has not been nominated because late 90s RINGS is pretty well-liked here and this is my favorite non-Han, non-Tamura match. I think they do a great job working with the 30 minutes and really building something great. This is about as perfect an execution of the RINGS formula (standup->takedown->grapple->rope break, rinse, lather, repeat) that there is.
Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - 4/4/97
"That doesnt look good" - Some ignorant American fan hollering in the middle of the match
First 15 minutes: Yamamoto is a wizard and coming out of all my 1996 watching I thought he was a solid 3rd behind Han & Tamura. It was demonstrated in the first half of this match as he was clearly dominating on the match. He was wearing the kick pads but no boots which would leave him open for my dreaded Greco-Roman Toelock. When my buddy comes home, we always wrestle (him being an actual wrestler from back in high school always beats me in the end), and my favorite finish is too grab his big toe and just wrench it. Anyways, the reason not to wear shoes is to evade heel hooks. As typical with RINGS, it is standup->takedown->scrap on the mat->rope break, rinse lather repeat. The interesting stuff is always the mat action. Kohsaka was usually the one taking Yamamoto down, but Yamamoto was the one who would win the scrap on the mat. Kohsaka was breathing heavy about ten minutes into this match. Yamamoto was countering at will. At one point, the crowd popped because they though Kohsaka had a toehold, but Yamamoto remained calm; wriggled free and won the day. It was mostly toeholds that Yamamoto was using, there was a great one he basically did a double wristlock but applied to the ankle. He also had a strong guillotine choke. The sequence of the match thus far was Kohsaka had a side-mount double top wristlock which Yamamoto beautifully turned into a DEEP headscissors and from there a bodyscissors, but left his feet dangling and Kohsaka crossed his ankles to force the break. Late into the 15 minutes, Kohsaka again was about to counter into a toehold that is hard to describe. In the resulting standup something interesting happened, Yamamoto actually connected with a vicious knee that drew blood from Kohsaka's face right above the eyebrow. RINGS in my experience is very much a mat-based promotion and the stand up is usually perfunctory. They take about a minute to check on him and that wraps up the first half. I would say Yamamoto won the first half, BUT Kohsaka looked strong in the last two scraps, however he just took a knee to the face. Will the knee change the complexion of the match and turn it into a stand up fight OR do they keep it on the mat? Fuck, I almost forgot, the coolest submission of the first half was Yamamoto using what can only be described as a Short Leg Scissors. Think of a Short Arm Scissors but applied to the knee instead of the elbow. He had it in their deep. I cant believe I almost forgot that. I marked out for that.
Final 15 minutes: Wow I dont think they were selling exhaustion, I think they were exhausted. What a cardio workout that was amazing. Kohsaka comes out hot from the knee to the face. He throws some of his own knees and settles for a heel hook, but thats reversed, Kohsaka does force the rope break. He is off to hot start. The standup has definitely gotten more fierce. Kohsaka comes down from his high. Yamamoto cool & calm as ever takes him down with a guillotine choke and takes the next two rope breaks. Kohsaka takes the next one. By my count, they are even, but I may have missed one. I feel like this match was designed to be very symmetrical. To me the story was Yamamoto is the natural. Kohsaka is the workhorse. Yamamoto makes things look effortless. Kohsaka's strongest attribute is his willpower. It goes full stand up and wow it is amazing. So much desperation. So much exhaustion. Kohsaka throws a kick to Yamamoto's side that crumples him which is an automatic down. That takes me back to the old UWF days when a well-placed mid-section kick could really ruin someone's day. Kohsaka gives as good as he hot as he rips the side of the eye/eye lid of Yamamoto open. Nasty injury! I couldnt really tell how it happened. I bet they didnt plan for blood on either end but it worked into the symmetry story AND how desperately these men wanted the victory. Yamamoto finished the sequence out coming roaring back to knock Kohsaka down. Again the story is symmetry. They tussle on the mat. The end of the match is Yamamoto desperately trying to pry the clasp of Kohsaka's hands so that he can apply the cross-armbreaker. Honestly, when the bell rang, I thought it was a straight up draw, but I think there was one Yamamoto rope break I might have missed, but this was insane.
Talk about wanting to win a match these two men make you believe that their entire worlds depend on the outcome of this match. The exhaustion, the nasty, hardway cuts, the desperation grappling, My God. The submission wizardy in the first half was engrossing and the grittiness in the second half had me on my seat. Generally, I am not a proponent of long shoot style matches. I think this is easily the best long shoot style match I have seen, BUT it still had some of the negatives that come with this type of length: there are only so many toeholds, wristlocks that you can do and there is a lot of jockeying. They should be applauded for having a classic match at this length in a genre that does not benefit in going long, but I still think the length was to the detriment of the match. Hate to criticize but I have to because I am always thinking Greatest Match Ever. Still these are two men who honestly I dont care about. I have seen 3-5 matches from each. I dont love or hate them, I just have no emotional connection to either. It is a feather in their cap that they made me care. I was on the ride with them and I wanted to know who the hell was going to win. Incredible gutsy performance from both men. ****3/4
Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - 4/4/97
"That doesnt look good" - Some ignorant American fan hollering in the middle of the match
First 15 minutes: Yamamoto is a wizard and coming out of all my 1996 watching I thought he was a solid 3rd behind Han & Tamura. It was demonstrated in the first half of this match as he was clearly dominating on the match. He was wearing the kick pads but no boots which would leave him open for my dreaded Greco-Roman Toelock. When my buddy comes home, we always wrestle (him being an actual wrestler from back in high school always beats me in the end), and my favorite finish is too grab his big toe and just wrench it. Anyways, the reason not to wear shoes is to evade heel hooks. As typical with RINGS, it is standup->takedown->scrap on the mat->rope break, rinse lather repeat. The interesting stuff is always the mat action. Kohsaka was usually the one taking Yamamoto down, but Yamamoto was the one who would win the scrap on the mat. Kohsaka was breathing heavy about ten minutes into this match. Yamamoto was countering at will. At one point, the crowd popped because they though Kohsaka had a toehold, but Yamamoto remained calm; wriggled free and won the day. It was mostly toeholds that Yamamoto was using, there was a great one he basically did a double wristlock but applied to the ankle. He also had a strong guillotine choke. The sequence of the match thus far was Kohsaka had a side-mount double top wristlock which Yamamoto beautifully turned into a DEEP headscissors and from there a bodyscissors, but left his feet dangling and Kohsaka crossed his ankles to force the break. Late into the 15 minutes, Kohsaka again was about to counter into a toehold that is hard to describe. In the resulting standup something interesting happened, Yamamoto actually connected with a vicious knee that drew blood from Kohsaka's face right above the eyebrow. RINGS in my experience is very much a mat-based promotion and the stand up is usually perfunctory. They take about a minute to check on him and that wraps up the first half. I would say Yamamoto won the first half, BUT Kohsaka looked strong in the last two scraps, however he just took a knee to the face. Will the knee change the complexion of the match and turn it into a stand up fight OR do they keep it on the mat? Fuck, I almost forgot, the coolest submission of the first half was Yamamoto using what can only be described as a Short Leg Scissors. Think of a Short Arm Scissors but applied to the knee instead of the elbow. He had it in their deep. I cant believe I almost forgot that. I marked out for that.
Final 15 minutes: Wow I dont think they were selling exhaustion, I think they were exhausted. What a cardio workout that was amazing. Kohsaka comes out hot from the knee to the face. He throws some of his own knees and settles for a heel hook, but thats reversed, Kohsaka does force the rope break. He is off to hot start. The standup has definitely gotten more fierce. Kohsaka comes down from his high. Yamamoto cool & calm as ever takes him down with a guillotine choke and takes the next two rope breaks. Kohsaka takes the next one. By my count, they are even, but I may have missed one. I feel like this match was designed to be very symmetrical. To me the story was Yamamoto is the natural. Kohsaka is the workhorse. Yamamoto makes things look effortless. Kohsaka's strongest attribute is his willpower. It goes full stand up and wow it is amazing. So much desperation. So much exhaustion. Kohsaka throws a kick to Yamamoto's side that crumples him which is an automatic down. That takes me back to the old UWF days when a well-placed mid-section kick could really ruin someone's day. Kohsaka gives as good as he hot as he rips the side of the eye/eye lid of Yamamoto open. Nasty injury! I couldnt really tell how it happened. I bet they didnt plan for blood on either end but it worked into the symmetry story AND how desperately these men wanted the victory. Yamamoto finished the sequence out coming roaring back to knock Kohsaka down. Again the story is symmetry. They tussle on the mat. The end of the match is Yamamoto desperately trying to pry the clasp of Kohsaka's hands so that he can apply the cross-armbreaker. Honestly, when the bell rang, I thought it was a straight up draw, but I think there was one Yamamoto rope break I might have missed, but this was insane.
Talk about wanting to win a match these two men make you believe that their entire worlds depend on the outcome of this match. The exhaustion, the nasty, hardway cuts, the desperation grappling, My God. The submission wizardy in the first half was engrossing and the grittiness in the second half had me on my seat. Generally, I am not a proponent of long shoot style matches. I think this is easily the best long shoot style match I have seen, BUT it still had some of the negatives that come with this type of length: there are only so many toeholds, wristlocks that you can do and there is a lot of jockeying. They should be applauded for having a classic match at this length in a genre that does not benefit in going long, but I still think the length was to the detriment of the match. Hate to criticize but I have to because I am always thinking Greatest Match Ever. Still these are two men who honestly I dont care about. I have seen 3-5 matches from each. I dont love or hate them, I just have no emotional connection to either. It is a feather in their cap that they made me care. I was on the ride with them and I wanted to know who the hell was going to win. Incredible gutsy performance from both men. ****3/4
