Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS - 6/24/1999)

My working #2. 15 minutes of epic matwork and storytelling followed by maybe the 5 most dramatic minutes of wrestling ever.

Wow! I am on an island here. Massive disappointment in my eyes. Feels like Shawn vs Bret. Nobody wanted to sell shit. Nobody wanted to apply a hold because nobody wanted to use rope breaks. Also there were less rope breaks which was an issue. I get the psychology of the dinky little punches, but I thought they sucked and took me straight out of the match. The stand up was awesome and really salvaged the match. The draw sucked a big one. Felt anti-climatic and not earned. The Kohsaka vs Yamamoto '97 draw blows this out of the water.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto - RINGS 6/24/99

Here we go the match that is supposed to save 1999 from being the worst year for pro wrestling in the footage era until the year 2006 stole that claim from 1999. I have watched this match once a couple nights ago and it didnt smack me in the face as a top end classic, but I chocked it up to being tired. I am going to do something different. I am going to write this review as I watch it. As the ref is checking them, Tamura is a remarkably good looking dude isnt he? Definitely right up there with the likes of Ricky Martel and Ricky Steamboat. But he is way more of a dick than them as he SMACKS Yamamoto in the face right before the bell and IT IS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG! Readinth PWO thread about this, apparently there is legit heat here as these two cant stand each other. I love the opening matwork. It is all arms and legs. They look the Tasmanian Devil in the dust cloud! Tamura gets a single leg catch back heel trip, but Yamamoto evades the knee bar and takes a side mount. He is looking for a double wristlock. He drags Tamura away from the ropes. Lots of struggle here as Tamura is resisting well and Yamamoto tries to position for a cross armbreaker but Tamura shoves him off. Yamamoto maintains side-control. The crowd is red hot for this. Here we go...the controversial part of the match. Yamamoto takes a full mount and hits these dinky little punches, which I think are so pissed off Tamura. I liken it to Nakamura's silly head games the head to the belly button bullshit. I get the psychology but I am coming out and saying it I HATED IT! Sorry, but took me flat out of the match. Yamamoto sinks in a deep figure-4 around the midsection, but Tamura gets to his knees. More of these dinky little punches. Why does Tamura not do anything? Fuck em up! Tamura gets a switch and they stand up and Yamamoto falls back down with a figure-4 around the leg. Yamamoto seems to have a kneebar always hard to tell with Tamura because he doesnt sell too much. Kind of in a bundle of leg locks but Tamura gets a deep toehold and here are those silly punches. A little better this time because it is sending the message that your toehold does not hurt. Yamamoto gets a reverse chinlock. They are very close to the ropes. Tamura is in Yamamoto's guard. Not much going on. Ok here we go, a little more struggle. Here come those dinky punches. Yamamoto finally snaps and starts punching the midsection but gets a Yellow Card which drops him a down. They only have 5 downs was that bullshit just to get the "Yellow Card" over? Tamura has Yamamoto's back. Tamura has been resisting well, but not seeing much from him. Here we go! A good scrap here on the mat. Nice try at a guard pass from Yamamoto. Really, really good shit here. I really feel like Yamamoto is bringing it to Tamura on the mat. He is offensive-minded looking to get mount control and for holds. Tamura is doing a good job resisting, but has been very defensive. Tamura takes him over and has a side-mount, but isnt doing much. Full mount here and again wasted time. Tamura throws some dinky punches and them some harder ones. This is just strange. Tamura is looking for a cross armbreaker, but Yamamoto reverses into a rear naked choke, BIG POP! First big hold of the match and Tamura gets to the ropes. You know when Tamura goes to the ropes quickly it is a big deal because he don't sell shit. The stand up is pretty good, but short. Tamura is pissed. Yamamoto fucking brings it as the stand up fighting resumes. Their 1998 match is a surprisingly good stand up match they are great here. Tamure clinches him in the corner and hits rhythmic knees to the sides. Some damn good stiffness there. I think the dinky punches are over. Tamura has Yamamoto's back on the mat. He wants that cross armbreaker, Yamamoto resists. Tamura tries to punch the stomach to make him let go nice move. Yamamoto gets into guard and starts punching Tamura. Tamura tries for Triangle and then cross armbreaker and Yamamoto ends up in the ropes. 2-1 Tamura is up. Lots of leg kicks in the reset. Yamamoto hits some big slaps but Tamura comes flying back with flying knees that rock Yamamoto. Catches Yamamoto's kick and back heel trip. Heel hook but Yamamoto escapes into a side mount. Yamamoto slows the match down as all the momentum was on Tamura's side. I feel like Tamura is going for rope a dope let Yamamoto have the first half and now Tamura is starting to pour it on. The old Greg Valentine strategy baby! Problem with that is you can let your opponent get too much confidence and that is happening as Tamura is trying to go to the next gear Yamamoto is staying with him getting that legbar to force Tamura to rope break. The stand up exchanges have been the best part of this and I love grappling. They clinch. Yamamoto hits big knees out of the clinch. Tamura slaps him but Tamura does not look great. Yamamoto palm strikes to the face. Yamamoto is building momentum. Tamura has a flurry back to the corner. Yamamoto big SHOTEI! Tamura knee lifts he wont go down. Yamamoto slaps the taste out of his mouth, a big flying kick. Tamura finally goes down. It is Yamamoto up 4-2 and if he knocks Tamura down he wins. Here comes the Tamura comeback baby! Tamura hits a flying enziguiri and Yamamoto is rocked. Big left kick to the head and it  a flurry of strikes and Yamamoto is down. Next knockdown wins!!!! Tamura is slapping the shit out of him. Yamamoto takes him down, but Tamura pops out and wants to finish it standing. Tamura with rapid fire kicks to the right side of Yamamoto's body. They fall down and they go to a DRAW! Fuck I forgot this goes to a draw. Terrible DRAW finish! Incredibly anti-climatic. Totally sucked the air out of the room. Yamamoto vs Kohsaka's draw from '97 blows this out of the water. The stand up of this match saves this match, but I even liked their 1998 match better. For anybody else, this is a great match, but given these two and the rep this match has, massive disappointment. ****

all time classic first slap tells you they arent fucking around and are going for the kill it was brutal and felt visceral and trscending maybe my fav moment in wrestling ever asaide kawada booting kenta and misawa in 6/9/95 off the apron. then the epic matwork which is realistic and brutal and exicting and has a sense of danger its so urgent and they mix a great narrative with it tamuras juxpostion etc. they struggle and use genius holds while also working with the narrative every way increadiable crowd heat. then as time passes it just epic as they stand up and murder each other with deadly shots epic overall selling by both of exhusation as well as every hold. tamura just delievers such mental shots its truely his show as it has urgency and struggle and selling perfectly. the execution of every move is perfect and also ugly dangerous. that jumping kick is maybe my fav thing ever and it just crushes him some of my fav exchanges and strikes. there was nothing anti climatic about the ending it was perfect with the right narrative and feel. great heat as well as the small shots were a great show of disrespect it played up with the narrative as after that tamura just starts punching straight in a sitting position he just oberalites yoshihisa out of existence also those shots werent different from the down shots you see in ufc just cuase they dont make sound doesnt mean they arent brutal and everything was intense with no down time non stop urgency and violence. the ending with em losing in exchanges trying to go back to mat after realizing and then draw was awesome payoff. yoshihisa had great selling and from overall body language to everything puts on carrer performance. this smokes any other draw ever so easily. 98 percent top 10 contender.

Kobashi vs Sasaki was my #1 favourite match of all time for ages and it was seemingly unbeatable up upon its perch. But, to twinge a famous quote from Sir Alex Ferguson, Tamaura and Yamamoto finally knocked it off its f*cking perch. I think as soon as Tamura slapped Yamamoto before the bell, I knew this was going to be special. And it was. Plus more.

The story of the match plays out like this - Yamamoto is on-top for the most of the match, leading the holds and controlling Tamura on the ground via a vice-like body scissors. He manoeuvres around Tamura, who in turn is on constant defence, attacking any opening Tamura allows in. Tamura is totally focused and tries to minimize any danger that can come to him. Yamamoto fights off light body shots with closed fist, trying to bait Tamura into giving an arm up, only to get stiffer and stiffer with them before finally unloading on the stomach and getting yellow carded by the ref, giving up vital points. A pivotal plot point that links into the latter stages of the match. Tamura slowly gets more control on the mat and becomes obsessed with locking in a cross arm-breaker. There was an awesome moment that sums Tamura up as a character to a tee where Tamura rides a nasty rear naked choke from Yamamoto to gain a better position to lock on the cross arm-breaker. And he’s like a pitbull whenever he gets the chance to snag the arm. It’s relentless action that tires you out as a fan. They work in rope breaks well, all while putting good emphasis on how last resort the rope breaks are in RINGS. When either has to grab the rope, they are pissed and angry with themselves. The transition to the stand up exchanges was great and so perfectly timed. Yamamoto wins out the first strikes by knocking down Tamura first, seemingly winning the match for himself with a flurry of palm strikes to the bridge of the nose and kicks to the head. And Tamura has to first back with big shots to just stay alive, and that he does. Tamura hits a lovely jumping head kick but that fails to knock down Yamamoto to everyone’s surprise, so he fires one on the chin but that fails too for a small while as Yamamoto finally falls a few seconds later to more palm strikes to tie the two on points. And they finish off an extremely tense and exciting 5 minutes by returning to the mat seeing out the match.

Unbelievable match. Perfect from bell to bell and more. *****

Peak Tamura was the best

I kind of agree with Cap on the criticism of the middle part. However, while those segments aren't at the level of the rest of the match, they add so much tension and suspense because they've already stablished that things can go pretty wild at any moment between these two. I would've still prefered a more compact, with clear winner, match, but still.

This match is fascinating. The proof that shoot style can be as powerful and dramatic as any other pro wrestling style done well. These two would kill their mothers before losing to the other, and they told that perfectly throughout the whole match: Tamura slap, their facial expressions when they finally have to use the ropes, and with one of the most dramatic "third acts" I've ever seen in any match, definitely the best one in shoot (maybe with the exception of Funaki/Nakano but I'm not sure).

More of the same as their last match, but they dial the hate up to 11 and they get some nuclear heat from the Korakuen Hall crowd. Tamura slaps Yamamoto hard during the opening handshake and it damn near felt like the roof was going to come off the building. The mat-work here varied in speed. Sometimes it looked like they were going at it like two hyperactive rabbits, but other times it looked like they were taking their time and working a more methodical approach. Although he acts smug, I couldn't help but find myself rooting for Yamamoto during the final few minutes of the rough strike exchanges. Both men were down to their final point and the next knockdown would decide a winner. Super gripping stuff with a molten-hot crowd. ★★★★¾