January 23, 1999 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 10,500
WELCOME TO 1999 IF YOU CAN EVEN BELIEVE THAT WE ARE HERE ALREADY AS WE ENTER ONCE MORE 日本武道館 NIPPON BUDOKAN FOR THE ANNUAL JANUARY BACK-DATED RINGS TOURNAMENT GRAND FINAL and let us be frank (we owe this not only to each other but to ourselves) and say openly that this tournament has not been the high-point of RINGS tournamentry, has it, and the shows have in fact been, on the whole, really not nearly as good as just regular RINGS shows at all. This is disappointing! It is also somewhat dark to glance ahead at the RINGSyear that awaits us and see a slight decline in the number of shows scheduled to be run: from thirteen in 1998, we will be reduced to ten in 1999; before you know it, we will be down to the seven and eight shows of 2000 and 2001, respectively (all figures RINGS Japan, I should note), and then, of course, the grim end. But let us not be dispirited! For there is much RINGS excellence yet to unfold before us, even if the World Mega-Battle Tournament: Grand Final itself is unlikely to prove a part of it!
Before we address ourselves properly (or improperly, who am I to say) to this event, we would be remiss were we not to attend to the happenings of a mere fifteen days prior. I speak here of UFC 18, which claims to have been held in New Orleans but which, in truth, was held just beyond its bounds in Kenner, Louisiana at the Pontchartrain Center (it is a "Center" and not a "Centre," even though it follows the word "Pontchartrain," because language is, at its best, weird). Why, one might reasonably ask, would this particular UFC be of any more note to us, given our concerns, than any other of its suchlike fellows? To which one might super-excitedly reply because of Tsuysohi Kohsaka and Bas Rutten, both of whom are the best, a rational impossibility but an emotional truth:
And let us not for an instant not even the merest instant overlook the calibre of judging on hand for what would turn out to be a genuine classic in terms of martial arts broadly and not just of my own positions regarding which guys were, you know, the best guys; anyway look look look:
YAAAAAAAAYYYYY and it's not just Dave Meltzer (though that is clearly and by far the main thing here, please do not mistake me) but also Eddie Goldman, a true enthusiast for and great lore-keeper of this entire debased spectacle, whose name has appeared in our pages before as the oft-interlocutor of superb-Observer-correspondent Tadashi Tanaka over several podcast appearances, some (one?) of which still have (has?) working links, even. IT IS ALL COMING TOGETHER HERE AT TKSCISSORSDOTBLOGSPOTDOTCOM as it occurs to me that the first time I saw this match, I would have had no true context for the RINGS vs. Pancrase nature of it at all; and that's a heavy thought. I have learned much in the intervening eighteen years! And yet I am still but the tendermost babe of all this. But what I lack in knowledge I hope to atone for in merriment, enthusiasm, and merry enthusiasm. Plus I know the judo names for most things. So let's get to it! Let's see if I still get as bent out-of-shape by that fucking stand-up in 2017 as I did so many years ago! I would guess that probably I will, but I don't know, maybe I have mellowed on this point. We'll find out together!
The ring girls are more lurid than you would even expect (they are to me blameless; it is the world that is dark, and so too their path) as they lean over a railing at some jerks as Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, a fourth-degree black belt in traditional Kodokan judo with the heart of a lion, Mike Goldberg tells us, makes the short walk from the dressing room to the octagonal cage that has never actually been good. Great groundwork, says the first bullet point; excellent endurance, the second; has improved striking, the third. There is talk of The Alliance, as one would expect. And now the hotly-anticipated Bas Rutten, an excellent striker with good submissions and no losses in three years (thanks again, bullet points). (If I may digress briefly: a longtime message board and now twitter friend known only as pudintaine once suggested C.M. Punk's bullet points should read "• good talker • offensive skills largely unknown quantity • impious" and I have kind of not stopped laughing since [this happened last September]). Bas Rutten was King of Pancrase, yes that's true, Jeff Blatnick. Because of my first-rate humanities education I know that there is something Foulcauldion about listing each man's "discipline" as "submission" but because I staggered across the finish line of that first-rate humanities education in a decade that is very much not the present one, I cannot specify what exactly that might be, and I feel that I have failed the lovely and wise French Structuralist professor I had the privilege of studying under briefly (he was from le Collectivité d'Outre-mer de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and was a folklorist of that place; he would lecture in French [from ancient handwritten notes] but accept work in either langue officielle de notre pays and it all felt very scholarly [it probably was?]). "We know the TK Guard is one of the best in the nation! Will he have to use it? Will this go to the ground?" Mike Goldberg first asserts and then asks. Kohsaka is introduced as coming to us from 滋賀県 Shiga-ken but fighting out of Seattle and yes, Maurice Smith is there in his corner to confirm the truth of this. I am pretty excited, okay let's go! TK's first takedown attempt costs him a knee to the face but his second has Bas down and against the cage only a minute in. Blatnick and Goldberg note quite astutely that Rutten would be more accustomed to the stoppage-heavy, rope-escape style of Pancrase in situations such as this, that's true. At Kohsaka's first attempt to pass around Rutten's legs he gets to the side-position of yoko-shiho-gatame in an instant and starts elbowing the thighs pitilessly; Blatnick applauds this innovative approach to hitting. A scramble, and Bas explodes right here, he really does it, so every time he seemed frustrated and baffled that people refused to do the same when he was calling PRIDE fights, it really is genuine; he is like "hey I was pinned under TK and he was elbowing my thighs and it wasn't any göød so I exploded right there and it was over." Kohsaka grabs a kick and plants Rutten to the mat in the mode of kuchiki taoshi (朽木倒), the dead-tree drop, or pushing the rotted tree. Kohsaka is laying into him (and also on top of him) pretty well; Bas strikes reasonably well from the bottom, for he is a canny man. Goldberg says Kohsaka works out on a thirty-thousand dollar treadmill for his endurance? I guess I have never really thought about how much treadmills cost (I do not use them). Again Kohsaka is in yoko-shiho-gatame or perhaps mune-gatame (when he drifts higher) and alternates shots to the thighs and to Bas' very tummy. AAAAHHHHHH THIS ISN'T EVEN THE STANDUP I WAS THINKING OF and even this is nonsense: TK is in Bas' niju-garami or two-leg entanglement (half-guard) and laying in hard shots to the ribs when "Big" John McCarthy (and a yet a peewee of the spirit in this moment of appalling judgement and, I would argue, taste level) yells IMPROVE YOUR POSITION YOU GOTTA IMPROVE IT and it is like why, he is beating him up, and whilst I don't think there should even be hitting (I really believe this), if there is going to be hitting, and TK is on top and hitting, what is the problem with which position he chooses to hit from? Like, what business is that of yours, "Big" John McCarthy? Are you looking to call osae-komi once he gets around the legs again in this UFC judo match? Award him two points or whatever it is (I have students who compete in jiu-jitsu so I am vaguely aware of their rules, but not really) for passing? This is a damage sport and TK is parked on top doing damage. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE ALREADY and, again, this isn't even the part that has outraged me forever. Kohsaka does not yet look out of place standing with Bas Rutten, which is kind of insane, as he slips under a punch for the two-hand reaping double of morote-gari and Jeff Blatnick loves it. "And Tsuyoshi Kohsaka doing a great job of tying up the striker Bas Rutten." He mentions, too, this fine Blatnick, that TK cuts easily, and indeed he is cut here already (as is Rutten). Bas is doing a fine job striking from the bottom but TK is still laying in shots from the top. IMPROVE THE POSITION IMPROVE IT ALRIGHT UP TURN AROUND AND FACE ME man I am just irate at "Big" John McCarthy right now, this is not a good way to feel while watching something in your home. Rutten connects with a hard kick inside TK's lead-leg right at the knee and that looks like it hurt a lot (please see my earlier thoughts on hitting, and how we shouldn't [hands are for helping, and feet too, probably]). "John McCarthy, as always, doing a great job inside the octagon" no Mike Goldberg in fact he is ruining this. TK's knee is obviously not well and Bas gives him a second to see about it and then offers his hand to be slapped in fellowship while McCarthy the oaf yells COME ON LET'S GO LET'S DO IT and I will oppose him forever. TK's double-leg attempt is sprawled atop of and out of; Rutten's high-kick swings and misses but was terrifying. Kohsaka lands a pretty hard kick to the thigh, but Rutten kicks inside the lead leg again and really there can be no doubt as to who should and who shouldn't really be doing kicking. The long round ends after twelve minutes and Blatnick notes that this match will surely have ramifications in Japan.
At the risk of breaking the spell of art I must confess that I rejoin the overtime now some four hours after my initial outrage at all that lay before us, having been pulled away by the demands of domesticity (please do not mistake me, I am as solidly on the side of domesticity as anyone since at least Chesterton) but I have kind of been low-key stewing about this nonsense all evening (whenever I would remember it). Blatnick is surprised Rutten was only able to throw the one (errant) head-kick in twelve minutes but it must be remembered that Rutten spent most of the round getting taken down, laid on, and hit, before he was unjustly enstood by an oaf. LET'S NOT LEAVE IT TO A JUDGE COME ON GENTLEMEN are John McCarthy's inane words of instruction as though he were a coach and not a referee (this is not really a sport so it doesn't really matter). Kohsaka is trying to stand with Bas and somehow it is still not going terribly? Bas is obviously vastly better at it but it is really not going badly for TK at all right now, which is wild and plainly cannot hold. "If Kohsaka can get a takedown here he might be able to ice it," Blatnick notes. TK tries, it does not go well, and Bas lights Kohsaka up with a knee, like five punches, and a knee on the way down, what a finish. I remembered this fight incorrectly, in that I thought there was an egregious stand-up in overtime, but no, all of the outrage is confined to John McCarthy's twelve-minute reign of terror in regulation time. Please note that none of my ill-will regarding this fight is directed at all towards Bas Rutten, a seemingly wonderful man with whom we would all like to be friends and, as another longtime message board and now twitter friend, Josh, has said, ride bikes. And TK gets to live that dream, at the cost of not even a knockout, really (I am not suggesting Kohsaka was not done; he was done), as Rutten thanks him warmly for their quite beautiful match:
Is that Pedro Rizzo back there? Who can say. What a fight though! Great job, both guys! Terrible job, "Big" John McCarthy! I really disagree with the decisions that he made and also just his whole aspect and manner!
WHAT DID DAVE MELTZER, WHO SAT IN JUDGMENT THAT NIGHT, SAY ABOUT IT:
January 18, 1999:
"The latest incarnation of the UFC on 1/8 from the Ponchatrain Center in Kenner, LA, on the outskirts of New Orleans, was not without its great fights, its controversies and ended once again with a lot of questions.
UFC, in continuing what has turned into a lengthy battle for its survival, coming off an encouraging (0.55 although a very small universe due to most of the cable industry not carrying the event) buy rate on its previous show from Brazil, opened its new year with a slogan "nine in '99," in reference to presenting more events than ever before, made some cosmetic changes once again, and attempted to once again build the show around a new star, Bas Rutten, billed everywhere as "the world's greatest martial artist" who would be making his octagon debut on the show.
Behind the scenes the biggest battles are not the sometimes ferocious and sometimes not battles inside the octagon, but the fight for acceptance by the cable industry that will ultimately seal the fate one way or another. The only real substantial progress made in recent months is that Viewers Choice Canada carried the show, but with an ad budget stripped down and a show cut to the bone in an attempt to survive financially, it seemed only its most ardent fans even knew there was a show. The satellite companies that were still offering the show appeared to cut way back on advertising as compared to UFC Brazil, as the visibility of TV ads for not only UFC but also the WCW, WWF and ECW PPV shows this month are almost non-existent due to PPV companies devoting all of their energy to hyping the expected to be bigger money Mike Tyson event on 1/16. WWF will fare okay because it'll have a week of being the prime objective on PPV after the Tyson fight is over, and ECW and WCW have their own television shows which are far more important in getting buys than hype generated by the satellite companies. Jeff Blatnick, the television announcer and gold medal winning wrestler, was appointed commissioner of a Mixed Martial Arts Council, to create rules largely for the protection of the fighters and to get back on cable. It's a political battle where logic doesn't matter, and where the sins of advertising it as the most brutal combat possible in 1993 are still haunting the company in 1999 when it has become a very different animal.
Inside the octagon, it is a world that constantly evolves. As Frank Shamrock has said on numerous occasions when it comes to the constant evolution of the art of fighting, "nothing works forever." It's a world that went from domination of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu experts and world-class wrestlers, to a sport where nobody with a single sport background will be able to win consistently, and it's questionable if, due to the number of allowable tactics and the rapid turnaround, that any one fighter will ever truly dominate. In the early shows, striking was entertaining and on occasion memorable, but in the end, the ground fighters seemed to almost always win. Even early on, some experts from Vale Tudo, with experience in the evolution of the similar sport in Brazil, said the future would be more emphasis on Muay Thai fighting. Today it is clear that you have to be able to fight both on the ground and on the feet to win consistently. On this show, in every match, as it turned out, striking, not grappling, in every case at the end turned out to be the key in the final result, although that is partially due to rule changes allowing more stand-ups and was not without other controversy either. Partially it is also due to the current crop of fighters that are on top being good enough with standing balance and quickness to avoid take downs and thus it becomes a stand-up game as evidenced by Mikey Burnett going 15:00 with an Olympic silver medalist wrestler and never being taken down clean for more than a split second. Someone like a Royce Gracie would in reality have no chance against the top fighters of today. In an effort to put on a better and more entertaining show for the fans and avoid the lengthy slow spots that ground stalemates in "real fights" bring on, the stand-ups were used. It got ridiculous from a fan perception at one point when Rutten was on the ground and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was striking him with combination after combination on the ground, and some people from the outside, Rutten fans, were screaming for a stand-up at a time when action had hardly slowed, but may have effected the call for a stand-up at a time when action on the ground hadn't stopped at all. And that has made it more entertaining visually, but at a time when its popularity is becoming more and more limited due to visibility to its hardcore base. And at a time when the sport stresses safety, which has unfortunately hurt its appeal to the audience that set it on fire on PPV back in 1995, it is actually more dangerous than when it was talked of in the media as human cockfights and the reality at the time was it was far less dangerous than most fighting sports. The evolution had made it more dangerous, although at this point it is no more dangerous than any sport that allows strikes to the head and less dangerous than many.
This show had its controversy before it even started. The posters and advertising was built around Rutten, an exciting charismatic fighter who has been dominant in Pancrase since its inception, not having lost a match in nearly four years, since a March 10, 1995 match with Ken Shamrock (there's a back story to this one as Pancrase asked Shamrock to drop his KOP title to Rutten before this match since apparently they didn't want to risk having their world champion lose a match in UFC and Shamrock refused to put over a foreigner and instead agreed to drop the title in his next defense against Minoru Suzuki). After that point, Rutten captured the KOP title twice. While John Perretti, the matchmaker for the show, believed Rutten to be possibly the best fighter in the world, others who had made the transition from Pancrase to UFC such as the Shamrocks and Maurice Smith, felt he could be in for a rude awakening because of the rule and style differences. For one thing, there was his age. He turns 34 next month and fighting generally isn't kind to people at that age. There were the injuries. As anyone who has done both will say, Pancrase, because you fight more often and the fights are generally tougher, is tougher on the body than UFC and Rutten has been doing Pancrase from the very start. He only had one fight in 1998, which was either going to result in him being his healthiest in years, or being rusty, maybe a little of both and one never knows what that combination would bring. His opponent, Kohsaka, was so well respected by insiders and was thought to have a very strong chance at beating him, and he admitted publicly that Kohsaka was not a good opponent for him to make a spectacular debut against and even he was said to be worried that he was being hyped at a level that could lead to disappointment. Many fighters resented the billing of Rutten as the world's greatest martial artist before he had ever stepped into the octagon, although none denied he was a great fighter. Some saw it as a direct insult to Frank Shamrock, based on what Shamrock had done over the previous 15 months.
As it turned out, Rutten knocked out Kohsaka with 45 seconds left in overtime in a spectacular fight that Kohsaka was dominating until the final minutes when a bloodied Rutten came off the ground and used his legendary firepower to win. Whether he could have even won the fight without the stand-up calls that were controversial being that Kohsaka was hardly resting on top, is a point to consider but you play the game under the rules as they are presented. The finish brought the very tough crowd of approximately 3,000 in a 4,400 seat building that was largely on its feet the entire way to the perfect explosion to end the show and it had to rank as among the greatest fights in UFC history. As a fight, it surpassed its hype, particularly from a Japanese standpoint because of the RINGS vs. Pancrase interpromotional situation, which resulted in more Japanese reporters at a UFC event in many years. But still some on the inside, and some fans outside, were still disappointed thinking Rutten hadn't lived up to his billing, many of whom underestimated Kohsaka's ground skill and preparation."
and
"6. Rutten (1-0) beat Kohsaka (2-1) in a heavyweight title tournament match via knockout at 2:15 of overtime after a 12:00 regulation. Even though virtually nobody in the crowd had ever seen him fight before, Rutten's charisma was apparent and there was buzz about him more than anyone else on the show. The crowd immediately got into the match when he threw a high kick, but Kohsaka quickly took him down. The ground fighting was at a much higher level than is usual, with Rutten throwing some fast and hard strikes from the bottom and Kohsaka effectively working combinations from the top. Rutten escaped, but was taken down again. Kohsaka punished him even more this time with combination of body and head shots which opened Rutten up from a side mount. Rutten came back throwing knees from the bottom before getting guard. Kohsaka was punishing him from the top when McCarthy ordered a stand-up even though the ground fighting was pretty high level. Rutten hit Kohsaka standing a few times, but Kohsaka was able to get a third takedown and was punishing him again, and cutting his eye. After another stand-up by McCarthy came the turning point of the match, Rutten throwing a devastating kick to Kohsaka's knee and the usually stone-faced Kohsaka winced. Kohsaka without the knee, couldn't take him down, and standing Rutten was quicker and more devastating and took charge the rest of the way. In the overtime, Rutten asked his corner to let him know when the last minute started, clearly trying to tire Kohsaka on his feet and then unload. When he got the word he unloaded and knocked Kohsaka out. A great finish to an excellent match."
ALL TRUE BUT LET US TURN OUT ATTENTION NOW TO THE WORLD MEGA-BATTLE TOURNAMENT GRAND FINAL where, in a non-tournament bout, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka will face Kyoshi Tamura (in what I have every expectation [and indeed memory] is [was] a shoot-style bout) no more than fifteen days after his tremendous contest against Bas Rutten. That is the level of græppling, æsthetics, and græpplæsthetics TK was operating on in early 1999; fathom it, if you dare. But that is not for now, and instead for later, as first Yasuhito Namekawa and Lee Hasdell are scheduled to see what is up after footage of first Frank Shamrock apologizing for an ankle injury that prevents him from fighting Kiyoshi Tamura yet, and then, second, and unrelatedly, of Aleksandr Karelin in an airport, is shown. Namekawa and Hasdell have a weirdly one-sided twenty-minute fight in Hasdell's favour, considering Namekawa won by decision, but so it goes when the objective measure of points lost must, by rule, overwhelm one's subjective impression, however true it may be, of who got beat up. The crowd even booed when the decision was read in Namekawa's favour, but I don't think it bothered him especially, because mostly he seemed preoccupied with how his face was kind of mush now.
Hey look, Kenichi Yamamoto has a new robe:
Also, and I do not know how much any of this is related, he has kind of gotten weird, and also kind of insistent on kicking Willie Peeters in the groin. Maybe that last part is not actually all that weird, but he just has this slightly upsetting energy about him; he is an odd little fellow (not that little at all, really). Peeters wins, but remains a jerk and an inveterate grabber of ropes at times that reveal him to be unadventurous.
Dave van der Veen, a large muscular Dutchman we have seen before, enters the Budokan to the strains of Metallica's "Whiplash" to face Wataru Sakata and indeed us all. It takes Sakata a mere 2:41 to finish with a hiza-juji knee-bar and then receive comfortable words from the red-jacketed Akira Maeda at ringside. I believe this match to have been a shoot, and the first match, and I don't know what to make of the second one, if I may confess that to you.
Oh no, please, whatever you do, do not recap every WORLD MEGA-BATTLE TOURNAMENT 1998 match result in a lengthy video-highlight package; and yet the thing most feared in secret always happens. Hey look who arrived at intermission and is illuminated like a spectre by flash photography:
That's right it's Aleksandr Karelin! Present here at the Budokan in the service of . . .
When people are back in their seats he is introduced to a warm reception that befits a sportsman of his stature and attainment.
HIROUMITSU KANEHARA VS. VOLK HAN DO I SLEEP OR DO I WAKE and in fact it is super late and I actually do have to sleep; let me pick this up tomorrow. AND WE'RE BACK and both of these guys are great, this is going to be great. I am not going to suggest to you that Hiromitsu Kanehara is secretly greater even than Volk Han or anything like that but I think over the time in which both have been in RINGS, like the last however many months, I have enjoyed Hiromitsu Kanehara even more than I have enjoyed Volk Han; Kanehara brings to the table high-level enjoyability and a singular charm; also he is super short and it is very appealing. Wikipedia lists his height as 178cm, 5'10", and this is absolutely, without any question at all an enormous lie: when Kanehara takes the back it looks like Volk Han is carrying a chubby baby in a backpack:
Han disappoints slightly by wearing the shorts one most associates with boxing rather than the pale-blue tights one most associates with Volk Han but not all is lost: he is still, for example, very good at submissions. Kanehara is getting the better of things positionally, and the crowd applauds appreciatively whenever a scramble or exchange results in a strong position for Kanehara. Han spends a lot of time on the run here and it is quite compelling! Ten minutes in, we are down only a point apiece (this is a ten-point, rather than five-point match, and nobody [I only really mean me] knows what's going on). A knockdown from slapping! Volk Han is woozy (not really, this is a work)! But he attacks well with a rolling juji-gatame that sends Kanehara to the ropes. Hey remember the Juji-gatame Encyclopedia one of my judo pals lent me recently? It turned out not to be all that good, I am afraid, and totally padded out with variations so minute as to be inconsequential. I probably should have expected as much, as the author is a bit of a content-mill kind of guy; he publishes more græppling instructionals than anyone else I know of who is currently writing, and the level of the work isn't always all that high, though I am sure his own technical knowledge is very good. Alas. And also AH HAAAA as Volk Han finishes with kata-ashi-hishigi, the single-leg-crush, at 13:32. Excellent match! If you like to watch Volk Han "sell" then this one will appeal to you especially.
The 日本武道館 Nippon Budokan crowd gives Tsuyoshi Kohsaka's name the biggest pre-match ovation it has yet received in RINGS; it is bigger than the one given Kiyoshi Tamura's, even, although, as Kohsaka's came first, maybe a good portion of the response is owed to the people's anticipation of this sure-to-be-killer situation of the match as a whole and not specifically to TK, if you see what I mean, so maybe knock a small portion of the crowd's cheer off to get a clearer view of how things stand? Let's see about the actual introductions now that they are both in the ring, I am really curious about this: oh man that was close, I don't even know! I am of course thrilled to see again this Kohsaka/Tamura match for the first time in a while (since at least last year, I guess), the follow-up to their (and our, and art's, and physical culture's) best match ever (6/27/98), but it is a grim business to reflect on how this is their final RINGS encounter. It would not be until the too-brief days of U-Style that they would meet again, and I am definitely going to order all of those shows and get into them not long after our RINGS run comes to an end (but maybe a little after). There are those who will tell you that this 1/23/99 TK/Tamura was a disappointment given the quality of their first two matches but that is a wildly incorrect view and you should suspect all who espouse it (it really could have been one guy who said it on a message board one time, but it has stuck with me and I feel as though I must refute it without end). Ryogaku Wada offers final shoot-style referee's shoot-style instructions (no overselling, lay your strikes in, snug all holds up, never appear weightless) and we are ready to go!
To reiterate, two weeks ago TK fought the best no-holds-barred fighter in the world and took him to within forty-five seconds of the time limit; now he will have a brilliant match with one of the three best shoot-style wrestlers in the world (he himself clearly numbers among those three); this is really quite a thing to be happening or to have happened. Kohsaka's low leg-attack begins as kuchiki-taoshi and ends as kosoto-gake as he finishes a single-leg takedown with an outside-hook. Scrambling leads to Kohsaka's butterfly guard, which seems to be what we are usually talking about when we talk about the "TK Guard" but it's all still somewhat obscure. Yoko-sankaku-jime, a side-triangle choke, appears from the weirdest angle, and is, like so many other things we have discussed so far, to TK's great credit. GIVE UP? Wada asks as his duty demands but no, Tamura instead passes to tate-shiho-gatame (that's right up on top), and weathers a storm of TK Scissors, though an ashi-garami leg-entanglement puts him on his back a short time later. Tamura's juji-gatame attack leaves both men tangled in the ropes, and so they are stood. This is already excellent and I can't believe that one guy on a message board I do not remember the specifics of didn't think so.
Some light striking follows but it is Tamura's rolling juji-gatame countered by Kohsaka's frantically-rope-escaped hiza-juji knee-bar the really catches the eye and also heart. When next they stand, Kohsaka actually attempts 一本 背負投 ippon-seoi-nage--which is variously translated but might as well be the one-arm shouldering throw as anything else--perhaps into the merest hint of kouchi-makikomi, a neat little inside-trip of a sacrifice throw that often accompanies ipponzeoi, but Tamura rides it out well. The way you can hear the breathing in these matches, especially when they're in ne waza, seriously adds to the intensity of it all and we should probably thank WOWOW for this along with everything else. Kohsaka loses his first point at eight minutes as he rope-escapes an ashi-kansetsu (leg-bone-lock), and two more points less than a minute later as he is struck down in the corner, answering the count at nine. The crowd, which has thus far been in, is now in, and utter as one HWAAAAAAOOOOOOHHHH as the commentator shrieks first JUDO WAZA before NIPPON BUDOKAN [I can't make a couple out, forgive me] JUDO WAZA, IPPON! as TK does this:
It is the sweeping hip throw of 払腰 harai goshi into the arm-crushing-cross-mark-hold of 腕挫十字固 ude-hishigi-juji-gatame or, as we have already been told clearly, so why belabour the point, judo waza, ippon. They even have nice a nice replay angle:
"ACES HIGH" complete with the Churchill speech at the beginning is the Iron Maiden song that heralds the entry of the Netherlands squad of Dick Vrij, Joop Kasteel, and Hans Nijman (R.I.P.) into the hall to face the Georgians Grom Zaza, Bitsadze Ameran, and Bitsadze Tariel in the GRAND FINAL of the largely unsuccessful (I mean æsthetically, of course; ten-thousand people at the Budokan is probably very good business, were we to so concern ourselves [we are not to; it is a baseness to so do]) WORLD MEGA-BATTLE TOURNAMENT 1998. Zaza makes short work of Vrij with a standing kata-ashi-hishigi single-leg-crush; falls to Joop Kasteel, oddly enough, by hadaka-jime strangle, as does Bitsadze Ameran; Tariel knocks Kasteel out, and then also Hans Nijman, so it is to Georgia, an ever-deserving nation of martial sportsmen and sportswomen, that the WORLD-MEGA BATTLE 1998 title belongs. Congratulations to them!
AND WITH THAT we have well and truly entered into the græppling year of 1999!
WHAT DID DAVE MELTZER SAY:
January 18, 1999:
Dave
got
tape
of the previous show:
"12/20 RINGS: This was a weak show. All the matches were works, which isn't a knock, but they were bad matches for the most part. 1. Wataru Sakata beat Dick Vrij in 12:29 with an ankle lock. Vrij grabbed the ropes, which was his sixth lost point and the match ended. Sakata dominated but it was a work. The match was terrible because Vrij didn't do a thing. DUD; 2. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Hanse Nyman in 9:04 via tap out for an armbar. Nyman was leading 6-3 (don't ask me why this match had ten points allowable and the previous match had five) when he lost. There were some great standing exchanges including a few brutal kicks even though working that could have really hurt Kanehara because they were just barely pulled and on a wide open head. But the match lost momentum after a strong start. **1/4; 3. Joop Kasteel beat Masayuki Naruse by destroying his ankle with kicks and the doctor stopped the match. Kasteel had a 268-214 weight edge so it was just the bigger man overpowering the smaller man. 1/4*; 4. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Kenichi Yamamoto in 11:26. Tamura did his great matwork early, but this was another match that lost momentum as it went on. The referee stopped the match due to Tamura's kicks. Very disappointing for a Tamura match. *1/2; 5. Georgia beat Russia B 3-2 to earn the series with Holland on 1/23 at Budokan Hall in the Mega Battle tournament finals. First Nikolai Zouev of Russia beat Bitszade Ameran in 4:01 with a leglock submission. It was so-so. Grom Zaza evened it up with a choke in 2:28 on Zouev. Andrei Kopylov beat Zaza in 4:12 with an interesting looking submission. This left champ Bitszade Tariel left with Kopylov and Vladimir Klementiev. He KO'd Kopylov with an open hand in 2:18, and choked out Klementiev in 5:17. The latter match was pretty hard hitting, but the crowd didn't care about two flat guys in the main event."
and
"OTHER JAPAN NOTES: Frank Shamrock definitely won't be wrestling Kiyoshi Tamura on the 1/23 RINGS Budokan Hall show. Basically RINGS is stuck as the tournament screwed up and they have Holland vs. Georgia as the main event, which is hardly enough to draw a decent crowd at Budokan. Shamrock vs. Tamura is something of an insiders dream match because the two are the same size and have very similar skills. The match was to be a shoot as part of a two match deal where Shamrock would get a second match with RINGS, also a shoot later in the year but under Vale Tudo rules as RINGS is also going to promote more Vale Tudo matches this year, against Yoshihisa Yamamoto. Shamrock never signed the contract and is right now not 100% due to an ankle injury suffered about a month back in training, but RINGS announced it anyway, apparently figuring they needed something to sell tickets, and as of this point, have not announced in Japan that Shamrock isn't going to be there. RINGS did announce its annual Holland Free Fight would take place on 2/7 in Amsterdam, which is traditionally one of the most brutal fighting shows you'll ever see, and they'd also have a show on 3/7 in England, although I have no idea where. As far as the 2/21 Akira Maeda vs. Alexander Karelin match, the word among fighting world insiders is that, believe it or not, the match is going to be on the level. Maeda will be coming to Seattle to train and actually get in shape, which would be a first [this is brutal but not unfair--ed.]. Having seem clips of Karelin against world class wrestlers and how easily he throws them around, using basically a shoot version of the doctor bomb to take the heart out of his foes, one figures Maeda may get dizzy and go on some rides if that's the case. Of course, a lot would depend on the rules and frequency of stand-ups and if or how familiar Karelin is with finishing, although as a Soviet Army champion in sambo he has a background, but hasn't done that in 13 years. Then again, Maeda hasn't done a real match in his life and is nowhere near Karelin's league as an athlete."
and
"The TV show Rings no Tamashi on 1/7 held a live arm-wrestling tournament featuring both pro wrestlers and martial artists as a shoot. In the first round, Kensuke Sasaki beat Alexander Otsuka, Manabu Nakanishi Kensuke Sasaki beat Alexander Otsuka, Manabu Nakanishi beat Hiromitsu Kanehara (RINGS), Yoji Anjoh beat Kenichi Yamamoto and Enson Inoue (Shooto world heavyweight champion) beat Kazuo Yamazaki. Semifinals saw Nakanishi beat Sasaki (who even though he's very strong has those short arms that would give him a leverage disadvantage in arm-wrestling) and Inoue flash Anjoh. Inoue then flashed Nakanishi twice in a row."
RINGS-alum Otsuka news:
"Battlarts is planning an Anniversary who on 4/26 at Korakuen Hall using Otsuka vs. Shinzaki as the main event. Otsuka went to the same high school as Shinzaki although Shinzaki graduated five years earlier."
January 25, 1999:
"RINGS officially announced this week that Frank Shamrock wouldn't be facing Kiyoshi Tamura on the 1/23 Budokan Hall show, and that Tamura would instead face Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. With Kohsaka coming off the Bas Rutten match just two weeks earlier, one would hope this would be a work because putting him in a shoot this quickly would be a bad policy. Randy Couture was originally offered the spot in a shoot match but turned it down because it would be under RINGS rules as opposed to Vale Tudo rules. Couture and Tom Erikson have both been talked with about coming to RINGS to do Vale Tudo matches later this year. It also appears that Shamrock will face Tamura in a shoot match under RINGS rules on 3/23. On the 2/21 show, underneath the Maeda vs. Karelin match will be Ricardo Morais, the 6-8, 277-pound Brazilian facing Hiromitsu Kanehara in a Vale Tudo match which is a real interesting match because Kanehara is like 5-6 and 212, but far more skilled, but he's giving away a ton of size and Morais has had success in Vale Tudo around the world despite being very limited in skill. Akira Maeda and Yoshihisa Yamamoto, along with K-1's Masaaki Satake will all be joining Tsuyoshi Kohsaka in Seattle to train under Maurice Smith for the Karelin match."
and
"The middleweight title with Frank Shamrock appears still at the same impasse. SEG claims its contract with Shamrock would prevent him from being able to fight elsewhere (proposed RINGS matches). However, Shamrock was paid less than his contract figure (believed to be $30,000) for both the John Lober and Jeremy Horn matches, which he agreed to ahead of time because of the situation SEG is in financially. They offered him the $30,000 to face Vitor Belfort on 3/5, which he declined citing a prior commitment to do a seminar at the Arnold Classic the same day and also wanting more money since this was a genuine marquee fight. The belief is that if this isn't settled by the April PPV show, that Shamrock would be stripped of the title. The question is whether or not the contract would be valid, as Shamrock did agree to fight for a lesser amount, so it wasn't the pro wrestling "screwed on the money" scenario, but whether they could keep him from fighting elsewhere after changing the money terms after the deal was signed. Shamrock's student Charles Taylor fought the world's most entertaining fighter, Rumina Sato, on 1/15 at Korakuen Hall for shooto, and Sato caught a flying armbar in six seconds to win."
I think we all remember that fondly, and with nothing but sympathy for Taylor (not the same guy as the philosopher of that name I don't think [but don't *know*]):
February 1, 1999:
"1/23 Tokyo Budokan Hall (RINGS - 10,500): Yasuhito Namekawa b Lee Hasdell, Willie Peeters b Kenichi Yamamoto, Wataru Sakata b Dick Van Der Veen, Volk Han b Hiromitsu Kanehara, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka b Kiyoshi Tamura, Mega Battle tournament finals Georgia b Netherlands: Grom Zaza (G) b Dick Vrij, Joop Kasteel (H) b Zaza, Kasteel b Bitzsade Ameran, Bitzsade Tariel (G) b Kasteel, Tariel b Hanse Nyman. OTHER JAPAN NOTES: RINGS ended its Mega Battle team tournament before 10,500 at Budokan Hall on 1/23 which was also a live TV special, with Georgia beating Netherlands in the finals 3-2. Grom Zaza of Georgia beat Dick Vrij in 1:22 by TKO. Joop Kasteel then beat Zaza with a choke in 3:22. Kasteel followed beating Bitzsade Ameran with a choke in 2:46. This left Bitzsade Tariel having to beat both Kasteel and Hanse Nyman and he knocked both of them out to win it for his country. In the top undercard matches, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Kiyoshi Tamura in 9:22 with an armbar and Volk Han beat Hiromitsu Kanehara in 13:22 with an ankle lock. I'm presuming all of the above mentioned matches were works but haven't talked to anyone who saw the tape yet. There is a huge mystery as to why Tariel gets such a huge push (he's the group's world heavyweight champion) since he has no charisma, is a huge but unimpressive looking guy and isn't much in the ring. Japanese promotions like to build around Japanese trying to conquer huge foreign heels dating back to the days of Rikidozan facing Ben & Mike Sharpe. With Anton Geesink in the news [shady IOC dealings as regards Salt Lake City], it also occurred to me the physical similarities between Tariel and Geesink [this is absolute nonsense, and I will prove it with but a single image:
so come the fvkk on Dave--ed], who was an even worse performer than Tariel, but was a huge star in Japan in the mid-70s for All Japan because he was a huge man who was an Olympic gold medalist in judo, a sport created in Japan, and Tariel is the same except his sport is karate, which is also Japanese based. Alexander Karelin was in Japan this past week and things didn't go smoothly. There were several meetings with Akira Maeda, Karelin and the Soviets who control Karelin's business regarding the rules for the 2/21 match. No rules were agreed upon and there is at least conjecture that the match is in jeopardy. Apparently the Soviets were under the impression this was going to be similar to their dealings with New Japan and UWFI when top Russian amateur stars, most notably Salman Hashimikov and Victor Zangiev, went years back and they were of the understanding that Karelin was going to do an "exhibition" pro wrestling match as opposed to whatever it is exactly is that they want this match to be. Three more matches were announced for the 2/21 show, Kanehara vs. Ricardo Morais under Vale Tudo rules (as listed here last week), Tamura vs. Valentijn Overeem (the long awaited rematch of their now famous match from last year where Overeem blitzed Tamura in a shoot) and another Vale Tudo rules match with Yasuhito Namekawa vs. Tatsunori Kamiyama, the latter making his pro debut."
and
"We have unconfirmed reports that Dan Severn will return to shootfighting with a match on 2/2 in Honolulu and another match on the RINGS free fight gala in Amsterdam on 2/8 against Joop Kasteel, who is a large (265-270 pound) juiced up striker with questionable stamina. RINGS rules with the frequent stand-ups and the smaller boxing ring would work to Kasteel's advantage and the Amsterdam fights usually wind up being one of the most brutal shows of the year . It's hard to believe Severn, past the age of 40, would take two fights in different parts of the world so closely together, although it isn't as if he hasn't done that before."
February 8, 1999:
As part of the "Champions Roll Call" for 1998 (when did he stop doing these?):
"RINGS WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: 1. Kiyoshi Tamura def. Ilioukhine Mikhail in tournament final to become first champion 1/25/98 Tokyo; 2. Bitszade Tariel def. Kiyoshi Tamura 5/29/98 Sapporo; UNDER-209 POUND CHAMPIONSHIP: 1. Masayuki Naruse def. Christopher Hazemann in tournament final to become first champion 8/13/97 Kagoshima."
and
"RINGS 2/21 at Yokohama Arena besides Akira Maeda vs. Alexander Karelin has Volk Han vs. Nikolai Zouev, Andrei Kopylov vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto, Wataru Sakata vs. Sean Alvarez, Ricardo Morais vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara and Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Valentijn Overeem. The latest on Maeda-Karelin is that Maeda's side wants it to be two five minute rounds under RINGS rules. Maeda is currently in Seattle training mainly under Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (it is believed that Kohsaka will beat Bitzsade Tariel later this year to capture the heavyweight title [if only--ed.]). Those involved in training Maeda are saying they are being told it will be a shoot match. Of course we won't know until they get in the ring, and if it is, will be a first for Maeda. Maeda's training has been really hard with the cardio, light on the wrestling/submissions and almost no kickboxing. Karelin was at ringside for the 1/23 show, but as it turned out, arrived after the prelim matches (which were apparently shoots from what I'm told although I won't see the tape until this week), and only saw the worked matches. Frank Shamrock was also at the show in Kohsaka's corner for the Tamura match. That match was said to be a **** match. Although no contract has been signed, it appears at this point that Shamrock vs. Tamura will take place possibly in April, but more than likely will take place this year."
February 15, 1999:
"1/23 RINGS: This was a live showing of the Budokan Mega Battle tournament finals. The tournament turned out to be a major flop, so the biggest thing on this show was the appearance of Alexander Karelin. The irony is that Karelin sat at ringside, and got a very healthy reaction, after the third match was over which means he only saw worked matches. Frank Shamrock was also there, and announced that he couldn't face Kiyoshi Tamura due to his ankle injury, but would face him in March or April. 1. Yasuhito Namekawa beat Lee Hasdell via 1-0 score after they went the 20:00 time limit. Match was a shoot and a competitive good match. They had some good exchanges standing, which Hasdell seemed to do better in, and Namekawa after taking shots would take the fight to the ground. The point loss was a total fluke as Hasdell threw a punch when he wasn't on the ground while Namekawa had his knee on the ground which is illegal but hardly flagrant. Namekawa started getting tired and most of the last 7:00 saw him take a beating standing. Namekawa did get the mount and nearly got an armbar, but as time went on, Hasdell was hurting him standing with open hands and some hard knees. Namekawa was bleeding from the nose. Even though the Japanese fighter won, initially there was boos about the decision because without the point, Hasdell should have won, but after it was explained because of the point and the rules Namekawa had to win, the fans accepted it. Namekawa had to be helped out of the ring he was so badly beaten up; 2. Willie Peeters beat Kennichi Yamamoto in 13:45. There was showboating and facials early, and the match itself was really weird but didn't have any holes either. Peeters would grab the ropes and lose points before even being in a bad position, which is weird to do in a shoot. Peeters did it twice, then Yamamoto lost a point for a low kick, and then Peeters did it a third time to fall behind 3-1. Yamamoto threw another low kick and the ref was so mad about it he red-carded him (two point foul) to tie it up. It got strange from here and Yamamoto's behavior was weird how he seemed fighting with no brain. The ref probably should have stopped it. He ended up going down from a knee but just stood there like a zombie. He went down another time which would have ended it on points but the ref ruled it a slip, and this happened again before he took two head slaps and went down and the ref stopped it. Even though Yamamoto is a young guy, his behavior in this match was something to worry about as he's taken a lot of beatings over the past year plus; 3. Wataru Sakata beat Dave Von De Veen in 2:41 with a kneebar. This was also a shoot. Pretty exciting as well as Von De Veen, a former powerlifter who trimmed down to 211 and looked like a bodybuilder, was real aggressive and hard to handle, but Sakata knew more once they got on the ground; 4. Volk Han beat Hiromitsu Kanehara in 13:22. This was a worked match. It was slow in spots, and other spots in the match were excellent. They worked it to look like a shoot which hurts in the entertainment portion of our show. Han, who is getting old and has gained weight, started getting tired toward the end, before they did a reverse kneebar finish. **1/2; 5. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Tamura in 9:22. With Kohsaka only two weeks after from the Rutten fight, Tamura stayed away from his sore head on the stand-ups until the finish. Most of the match was on the mat and it was some great technical wrestling. Each got a rope break point before they went to the finish, where Tamura then started unloading with strikes standing up and finally went to the head. Kohsaka went down so Tamura went ahead 3-1. Kohsaka delivered this great hip toss takedown (it was over because it was the move he used on Pete Williams in UFC [it is over because it is a judo throw and everybody has always enjoyed those in the contexts of both shoots and shoot-style græppling--ed]), with Tamura landing on his arm, and quickly grabbed an armbar in the middle for the tap. People really popped for the finishing sequence. ***3/4; 6. Georgia beat Holland in the Mega Battle tournament finals. They changed the rules from all the prior tournament matches to stopping after three lost points instead of two. It improved the matches although it was bad because nobody really cared who won. Started with Grom Zaza beating Dick Vrij in 1:22 with a standing ankle lock and a rope break after Vrij had already grabbed the ropes twice before. It was hot while it lasted. Joop Van Kasteel beat Zaza in 3:32 in a very strange match. Kasteel got a lost point for throwing an illegal punch and then lost a point on a rope break. Kasteel threw a hard knee for a knockdown (in tournament matches, knockdowns are only worth one point instead of two in regular matches, which is why nobody seemed to have a clue what was going on). Kasteel got a second knockdown, so it was a next point wins situation, and they went to the ground and Kasteel got a choke. That was weird since everyone knows Zaza is a great wrestler and Kasteel isn't much on the ground. Kasteel beat Bitszade Ameran in 2:46 with another choke. This was a standing fight with great exchanges. It was great while it lasted. Bitszade Tariel then beat Kasteel in 1:36 in a strange one. Tariel lost a point throwing an illegal punch, since nobody understood the rules again. Tariel got a knockdown to tie it. Tariel got a second knockdown with a really wicked kidney punch. In real life you just don't go down so often from body shots but for a worked match he really laid it in to look good. Anyway, Kasteel got up, but the ref waived the fight off anyway. Kasteel acted like he was pissed. Tariel vs. Hanse Nijman (that's how he spells it on his ring jacket and I'm assuming he knows how to spell his own name) in 2:50. Nijman immediately got two points with a choke and a cranking headlock. Tariel got two back with two knockdowns from weak slaps so the next point would win. Tariel got it with a fairly weak looking knockdown for a flat finish."
ALRIGHT THEN this has been an extensive time together! Thank you very much once again for your attention to these matters, and also for your patience. Let us watch another tape together soon.
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