Naoki Sano vs. Wayne Shamrock (PWFG - 5/16/1991)

I remember how stunned Phil and Tom were when they made their initial run through the PWFG footage and saw this performance from Shamrock. He had the goods to become an all-time great if he'd stayed on the path suggested by this performance. Sano actually was an all-time great. The fact he whipped off shootstyle matches of this quality just a year after he finished his famous feud with Liger about sums it up. Not sure this will make my 100 but it belongs in the discussion.

Best PWFG match that I have seen, but I have only seen three. I really enjoyed this. Very explosive performance from Shamrock. Great stand up and excellent defensive positioning. I thought Sano was good on defense but was lacking on the mat during offense. Some of the matwork did long in the tooth without any immediate payoff. Work was high-end and entertaining, but it didnt move me. Wont make my list but I recommend it.

Wayne (Ken) Shamrock vs Naoki Sano - PWFG 5/19/91

Doing a live watch. Shamrock's hair is glorious as they trade kicks in the standup. Shamrock throws a high one, caught by Sano roll through but end up in the ropes. Sano shoots for the single leg and Shamrock comes down and goes for an ankle. Sano ends up on top of his back and scissors the arm. Nice escape by Shamrock. Shamrock looks like Sean Penn with this hair cut. This is generally regarded the best PWFG match. PWFG was born out of the Newborn UWF's dissolution. Lots of struggle on the mat as Shamrock is working a legbar. Everyone is always trying to escape or apply. PWFG was founded by Fujiwara and he was accompanied by Shamrock, Funaki and Suzuki. Really nice top wristlock from Shamrock in the side mount and great verbal selling from Sano to clue you in that something is happening. Sano makes it to his belly. PWFG would later give birth to Pancrase and BattlArts. I know the least about PWFG compared to UWFi and RINGS. Sano is someone I have liked from the Liger and Misawa matches, but had not seen the deep cuts. They are working hard on the mat. Sano is trying for a double wristlock in the side mount. He gets it. Great verbal selling from Shamrock and nice bridge escape. They are doing a great job chaining. Lots of body contact. Lots of smart weight distribution to impede the other from gaining an advantage. Snap takedown by Shamrock sort of a side German suplex. Shamrock is laying on his head, but Sano sneaks out. This is wrestled so differently lots of work from side mounts and from the back. I am surprised there are not more choke. Shamrock almost gets a calf-slicer, but Sano immediately blocks. Shamrock gets an amazing roll (basically he flips Sano using his left leg onto Sano's back) into a cross-armbreaker, but Sano has his hands clasped. Shamrock figure-4s Sano's midsection and here is our first choke attempt. Not as strongly sold as the other holds but Sano gets the ropes. Shamrock I would say won that lengthy exchange.

Back to stand up and they let the hands fly. Sano catches him with a kneelfit and grabs a front chancery and spikes him on his head. Nice organic DDT. Sano immediately goes for the cross-armbreaker. Shamrock rolls in and gets on top driving into an armbar, but Sano blocks. Shamrock gets a hammerlock, but Sano gets to his knees. Shamrock seems to have any answer for everything and is getting Sano's back. Shamrock drops back into a choke again. Sano makes the ropes. Wicked double underhook suplex by Shamrock! He looks damn good here! Tries to get a top wristlock from the side mount immediately but Sano scrambles out. Shamrock quashes him and just rides him. Shamrock was thinking Fisherman Suplex, but Sano breaks free with a kneelift. A series of slaps and a roundhouse kick gives us our first knockdown as Shamrock takes a nine count. Shamrock beats the shits out of him with palm strikes and then gets him in the clinch with knees. Sano throws a wild slap. Shamrock gets him in the corner and the ref breaks it. Shamrock takes him down. Some really good stand up. Shamrock has been owning Sano on the mat thus far. Shammy is riding, but seems to have his arm trapped. Shamrock ends up almost getting a double wristlock but Sano escapes. The crowd is very intelligent they are reacting to almost applies submissions and escapes. I feel this is very amateur wrestling based a lot of side mounting on the back. Nice headscissors on Sano while on top of his back. I like how they are organically standing back up. Sano rolls nicely into an STF, but Shamrock is too close to the ropes. That was Sano best submission. Shamrock almost takes Sano's off with a wicked kick. These front kicks by Shamrock the way he flicks his foot look deadly. Sano is selling the midsection. Shamrock comes in with a flying knee and a ton of kneelifts. He takesdown Sano down via a front chancery to get a nine count on Sano. Shamrock comes flying back into the screen with wild palm strikes. Sano tries a back heel trip, but Shamrock rolls through to end up on top. Shamrock has Sano's back again. Sano looks like he doesnt know to shit or wind his watch. Great organic German Suplex. Shamrock has a waistlock, Sano stands up and Shamrock hoists him and dumps him on his head for a nine count. Great flurry of strikes and Shamrock wins the clinch with a kneelift & front chancery. Sano finally gets Shammy's back when they go to the mat. Not much happening right here. Shamrock definitely is doing more of the moving in this match. Shamrock wriggles out and looks for a toehold, Sano has a waistlock. First time, this match has dragged. I cant believe Shamrock is out wrestling Sano. Shamrock pops out with a deep legbar. Sano makes the ropes. Shamrock is outclassing Sano.

Sano catches the kick, but Shamrick tries for a legscissors. Nice block by Sano who has his arms figure-4'd around Shamrock's left leg, but again cant do anything. Shamrock gets a kneebar and Sano makes the ropes. Thank God for the Ropes if you are Sano. Sano gets a double underhook takedown. Both guys are working incredibly hard. This is such a physically demanding match and style and to be going 20+ minutes is insane. They are struggling against each other so much. I know I said it before, but the weight distribution and balance is so impressive here. They are both doing so well to keep a wide base. The defense here is top notch. This is a defensive wrestling fan's dream. Are there defensive wrestling fans? I am pretty traditionalist, but I dont even like defense that much. Really great rolling ankle pick, but again Sano gets a great facelock to pry Shamrock off his ankle. Nice, nice defense. Let it fly, boys! Shamrock shoots in for the double, but Sano pancakes him. Shamrock has a waistlock, but Sano picks the ankle rolls through into a kneebar and Shamrock gets the ropes. Shamrock comes up swinging. SOME BRUTAL SHOTS! Wicked kneelifts. He is swinging for the fences. DRAGON SUPLEX~! Sano applies a Fujiwara armbar immediately for the tapout.

The struggle was definitely real in this match. The standup was excellent. Shamrock hit some big boy shots in this match. He was letting it fly. I thought the matwork was very tight. Some really cool setups for the application of a wide variety of submissions. I thought Sano was good on defense but was lacking on the mat during offense. Some of the matwork did long in the tooth without any immediate payoff. I thought Shamrock was the most dynamic and explosive wrestler here. Surprised more of his shoot style work is not more heralded as he looked great here. ****

Yeah, 5/16 seems correct.

www.prowrestlinghistory.com/shoot/pwfg/pwfg1991.html

From my rewatch project...

Wayne Shamrock vs Naoki Sano (5/19/1991)
Current Rank: 50
Trending: Up

You know how I would always harp on “urgency” in my earlier rewatch posts. It’s one of the key terms I keep coming back to when I watch wrestling I really love, that I truly think is elite. This match would be on the short list of matches I would pick to embody that quality. This is urgency and violence at its absolute finest and boy o boy does Ken Shamrock shine on this stage. Shamrock is like Backlund in that I wish we got a lot more shoot style wrestling from them. As good as they could be in the sports entertainment scene, this feels like what they were born for. Sano seems to be the perfect opponent for Shamrock here too. This is just two studs going in there and beating the ever loving hell out of one another and it winds up being one of the most believable and legit looking matches I can think of. The grappling is super tight, the transitions are incredibly smooth, and the strikes are absolutely brutal. Its maybe not as technical as some of the other top-shelf shoot matches, but they are both so jacked when they muscle out of stuff its pretty believable. Sano and Shamrock keep an unbelievable pace and never really seem to lose their discipline. All of this is obvious from the get go, from the first time I laid eyes on this. However, in going back this time I was really taken by how they move back and forth between leg and arm and neck work… and from striking to grappling and back. They don’t stay in anything too long and they are always attacking one thing to open up their options elsewhere. I just love everything about this match. It is visceral, violent, technical, nuanced, and captivating from start to finish. This one is going to be moving up pretty significantly for me I think, probably find its way into that top quarter or so. Much like Sano vs Suzuki, I am not ruling out top 10 consideration and top overall shoot match. The only thing that might keep it outside that range is the finish not quite matching the rest of the match. Even still, this is 100% my kind of wrestling.

Full Post: gweproject.freeforums.net/thread/657/caps-watching-project-reports?page=2#ixzz63hZ2vTgz