Kiyoshi Tamura: Complete and Accurate

[elliott]

Continuing on..

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Masayuki Naruse 8/28/98

Slow tentative start as you expect in a shoot style match. Tamura hits the always fun Muy Thai knees in the corner while they’re locked in the clench. The early mat work is perfectly solid stuff. Its more restrained than your insane all out Tamura grappling, but still good, organic, back and forth stuff where they work towards submissions and change positions without going for rope breaks. It isn’t as earth shattering as the Kohsaka match, but Naruse isn’t on that level. At one point, the match stop as doctors come in to look at Naruse’s knee after a Tamura submission attempt and rare rope break. Naruse is pretty badly limping at this point making himself an easy target for Tamura. Rope breaks start coming a lot quicker now with Naruse’s mobility fucked up as Tamura racks up a big lead in points. There’s also a great knockdown where Tamura nails Naruse with a kick to the ribs right as Naruse goes for his crazy spinning back fist. Finish was inevitable with Naruse hurt. This was, I mean, it wasn’t bad. It was on the disappointing side for sure. I’d say SKIPPABLE though. I can’t imagine recommending this.

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yammamoto (RINGS 9/21/98)

Yearbook

 

Nice feeling out opening mat work leading to an awesome moment where they both end up on their feet and Yammamoto just charges as Tamura. The mat wok here isn’t as over the top flashy as the Han or Ilioukhine match, nor as ambitious as the Kohsaka match, but it is great stuff for sure. Yamamoto is absolutely relentless with palm strikes during a standing exchange. Awesome moment where Tamura is trying to fight back after a knockdown and is unloading with this awesome striking combo and attempts a high kick which Yammamoto blocks and turns into an ankle lock. They continue trading strikes and the crowd is going bananas. Tamura plants a knee to the chest for a knockdown. This picked up in a major way when they just decided they were going to try and hit each other as hard as possible as many times as possible. After some unbelievable standing exchanges, they take things back to the mat and are both looking for finishes. Tamura is insane in this match attempting his jumping kicks and knees more often while Yamamoto fights back with hard slaps. Tamura takes the match with a hard slap leading to a choke. This felt like a really great New Japan match where they sort of fart around at the beginning (although it is good farting around) and then when it picks up it picks up in such a major way by the end of it you’re like “oh yeah that’s a MOTYC.” Easy easy EPIC.

 

 

Missing Tamura vs Vladimir Klementiev 10/23/98

 

Missing 11/20/98 Mega Battle Team Tournament with Tamura vs Andrei Kopilov and

Nikolai Zouev

 

Missing Tamura vs Kenichi Yamamoto 11/23/98

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kohsaka 1/23/99

Follow up to their all time classic from the previous June. They go right to the mat after a great struggle over a Kohsaka take down. Kohsaka is so fucking smooth. He’s one of the rare guys that doesn’t look completely outclassed by Tamura on the mat. This allows them to push their exchanges much further than you would see in something like the Naruse match. I mean, there’s a borderline rolling cradle at one point. Tamura is top notch as usual in terms of his selling and desperate attempts for the ropes when Kohsaka finally does get something locked in. This is all really good mat work until the finishing stretch when they have an awesome strike fest that starts with both guys throwing hard low kicks at each other, Tamura getting a slight advantage on jumping on it just blasting Kohsaka with jumping knees and hard slaps before getting the knockdown. But Kohsaka manages to pull out the surprise win. This was awesome. Its only 10 minutes so its WAY shorter than their classic from the previous June. But its cool to see them work a different sort of match. GREAT stuff.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara (RINGS 3/22/99)

Yearbook

 

Pretty tentative opening moments with both guys attempting strikes before taking it to the mat. The mat work is your more traditional shoot style mat work without the wild chances you’ll see in a Volk Han match. They don’t work at a breakneck pace but the grappling is typically excellent. Tamura has a pretty easy time with Kanehara early on and you don’t really get the feeling that Tamura is in any danger at any point even when Kanehara has better positioning or is attempting submissions. This was a bizarre match. It isn’t particularly bad and both wrestlers look fine, there just isn’t much to say about it. It almost feels like a NJ match where the light for TV goes on with 1 minute left. This is probably the worst match of Tamura’s career that goes longer than 15 minutes. Again it isn’t necessarily bad…its just felt like they slept walked through. I blame Kanehara. SKIPPABLE.

 

Tamura vs Frank Shamrock 4/23/99 (Shoot)

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Bitsaze Tariel 5/22/99

I enjoy this match up so I’m looking forward to this. Tariel is so much fun throwing a ton of big strikes and even jumping at Tamura at one point to the delight of the crowd. This is a lot of fun early on with Tamura just getting overwhelmed in the first 2 minutes. Tamura finally gets an opening and takes Tariel down and works towards a sleeper. Tariel’s striking is his best offense but also his worst defense here. He keeps leaving himself open for Tamura to get a takedown and Tariel cannot hang on the mat with Tamura so Tamura is able to maintain control. Tariel does a good job putting over the danger of Tamura’s ground game. This is a little formulaic. Tariel goes after Tamura with strikes, Tamura eventually gets a takedown and tries for submissions leading to Tariel going for the ropes which leads to them standing and repeating the formula. This is not a bad thing. It leads to an awesome match. Tariel gets blown up towards the end, but he worked his ass off to get there. GREAT

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yammamoto (RINGS 6/24/99)

Yearbook

 

OJ told me these two didn’t like each other in real life and the fans knew it. That added to the pre-match slap Tamura hit son Yamamoto give this a special feel from the get to. The opening mat work is incredible. It is lightening fast but worked with a grittiness that reminds me of the early exchanges against Anjoh only with more polish on both sides. The crowd here is fabulous. Reacting to every little cue the workers give. The mat work here is more in line with the Kohsaka match where it feels more traditional than a Han match that feels more innovative and exciting. Not to say the mat work here isn’t exciting. It is spectacular. Between the speed, technique, degree of difficulty, etc the best Tamura mat exchanges are the best in wrestling history. This probably has the most exciting strike exchanges I can remember seeing throughout this project. It may not be as innovative or how the highspots of Tamura vs Han or Tamura vs Ilioukhine. It may not have the ambitious sporting feel of Tamura vs Kohsaka. But this. This has all the great mat work and striking you hope to get out of a Tamura match but it adds a certain aggression. Tamura wrestles with more of an edge here than he usually does. He always wants to win and you can obviously see the urgency with which he wrestles. But here, this is the only time where it seems to go beyond sport and feels personal. Maybe I’m projecting because I know they don’t like each other in real life. But that really seems to come through. Compare this to the Kohsaka match. That seems positively Olympic. This is a fight with rules and it is spectacular. Probably one of the 20 best matches ever. EPIC

 

Sadly this is all I have from RINGS. I’ll have to go back and pick up some of these shows I missed at some point. It is much more likely I’ll pick up all the U-Style shows first to be honest. There’s a little bit of U-Style online though and I’ll review what I’ve been able to find.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Joop Kasteel 8/19/99

Goddamn Joop Kasteel is an intimidating dude. Slow start with both guys feeling each other out. I love the spot when they go to the mat and Tamura throws a punch at Kasteel’s gut and Kasteel just leans back and puts his arms out like “Come on, hit me” so Tamura blasts Kasteel to no reaction. So then Tamura just goes for a leg lock instead realizing that Kasteel is literally made of steel. Seriously Kasteel is so big and strong that his punches while lying flat on his back look really fucking rough. This is really Tamura just trying to figure out how to deal with this giant man on the mat who not only is deceptively quick but has the strength to just toss Tamura around. AMAZING knockdown sell by Tamura after Kasteel hits him with a low kick putting Tamura down. Kasteel actually responds in kind going down after a Tamura kick to the ribs. Tamura is just awesome towards the finish selling damage to the leg from a few really hard Kasteel kicks. Tamura gets the win which felt like an upset just because of the way it was worked. FUN

[Tim Cooke]

I'll get the 1/23/99 Tamura vs Kohsaka uploaded for you

 

Tamura and Yamamoto did not like each other. from the Nov 18, 2002 WON:

 

Tamura is very upset about the making of the Randleman vs. Yamamoto match because he hates Yamamoto and had no idea they would be appearing on the same card until the announcement was made publicly. I'm upset with that matchmaking as well, as Yamamoto has had serious concussion problems in the past and it was recommended years ago that he retire, and he's a much smaller guy than Randleman as Yamamoto fought at a UFC show at 169 pounds a few years back. The reason for the hatred by Tamura is that Yamamoto revealed publicly that a lot of Tamura's most famous matches in RINGS were actually pro wrestling matches and not MMA matches. There was talk over the weekend that Tamura may pull out of the show, which would wreck it completely from a marketing standpoint. Pride officials claim the story is overblown and internally they never knew of any problems until the story broke in the papers, and don't believe the match is in jeopardy.

[elliott]

Since it’s Hall of Fame season, I wanted to look at my dude Kiyoshi Tamura and see how he stacked up as a candidate. I ranked him 12^th overall during GWE, but if I had to do it again, I’d rank him #3 overall behind only Terry Funk and El Satanico. I’ll first run through his results/attendance figures and then post a Gordy List. Thanks to http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com for all results/attendance figures. I will also spoiler all the results/comments about results so this page is less ridiculous.

Kiyoshi Tamura debuted May 21, 1989 losing to Minoru Suzuki in 5 minutes at NK Hall in front of 7,000 people in the opening match. He continued on the in the opening match for his first few shows until he “got” to wrestle Akira Maeda in the semi main event (underneath a Takada vs Fujiwara match) in front of 5,600 people in Sapporro at UWF’s 10/25/89 show at the Nakajima Sports Center. It should be noted that even though he’s in the semi-main event, Tamura should get zero credit for drawing a single person. UWF was the hottest wrestling promoting in Japan in 88 and 89 on the back of Maeda and Maeda making Takada. Tamura was just cannon fodder. And Maeda treated him as such and destroyed Tamura with knees to the face so hard he broke I believe Tamura’s cheekbone. This caused Tamura to miss the next 14 months of action. Indeed he wouldn’t appear again until 12/1/90 in the opener against Masahito Kakihara in what turned out to be UWF2.0’s last ever show. When UWFi was formed, Tamura vs Kakihara was the opener for the very first show which I’ve always thought was really cool but again doesn’t mean anything. All Tamura is known for at this point is having his face destroyed by Maeda.

Tamura gets his first main event here:

 

 

July 30, 1991 in Fukuoka, Japan
Hakata Star Lanes drawing 2,000

1. Makoto Ohe KO Juan Arellano (2nd - 1:37) in a "kickboxing" match.

2. Yuko Miyato beat Tatsuo Nakano (9:41) via submission.

3. Kazuo Yamazaki beat Billy Scott via submission.

4. Yoji Anjoh & Jim Boss beat Nobuhiko Takada & Kiyoshi Tamura (31:02) when Anjoh forced Tamura to submit.

 

This is a small spot show as UWFi is still finding itself. This was their first non-Korakuen Hall show but Takada alone deserves all credit for UWFi drawing at this point.

 

Tamura spends the rest of 1991 in first or second matches on the card. He gets wins over Kakihara, Tom Burton once in a singles and once in a tag, Yuko Miyato, and Tatsuo Nakano. He loses 3 times to Yoji Anjoh in a (great) singles match and two tag matches. He also loses to Gary Albright at Sumo Hall on 12/22/91 at what is UWFi’s biggest show in history up to that point in front of 11,000 fans coming to see Nobuhiko Takada take on Trevor Berbick in a Wrestler vs Boxer match.

 

1992 Tamura moves up the card a bit and is working mid card matches. He picks up wins over:

Yuko Miyato, Tatsuo Nakano, Mark Silver, Ray (Glacier) Lloyd, and Steve Cox.

He lost to Anjoh in a tag match. Lost a tag match where his partner Yuko Miyato took the fall.

He had a 30minute draw against Yoji Anjoh

 

Tamura had one main event in 1992, which he lost:

July 12, 1992 in Shizuoka, Japan
Industrial Hall drawing 4,500

1. Makoto Ohe beat Fernando Calleros (5th) via decision in a "kickboxing" match.

2. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Yoshihiro Takayama (10:20) via submission.

3. Yoji Anjoh & Mark Fleming beat Tatsuo Nakano & Tom Burton (17:15) when Anjoh forced Burton to submit.

4. Yuko Miyato beat Masahito Kakihara (6:09) via submission.

5. Nobuhiko Takada beat Steve Cox (6:27) via submission.

6. Gary Albright & Mark Silver beat Kazuo Yamazaki & Kiyoshi Tamura (18:49) when Albright KO Tamura.

I don’t give Tamura any credit for this sellout. He’s the junior member in a tag match there to take the fall for a promotion that is hot as fuck and selling out all of their shows anyway.

 

Tamura did have two major wins in 1992 in a great position on the card:

May 8, 1992 in Yokohama, Japan
Yokohama Arena drawing 14,000

1. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Masakazu Maeda (15:08) via submission.

2. Masahito Kakihara drew Mark Silver (30:00).

3. Tatsuo Nakano beat Tom Burton (9:00) via submission.

4. Mark Fleming beat Yuko Miyato (8:07) via submission.

5. Yoji Anjoh beat Steve Day (11:48) via submission.

6. Nick Bockwinkel drew Billy Robinson (10:00) in an "exhibition" match. Lou Thesz was the referee.

7. Koji Kitao KO Kazuo Yamazaki (7:48).

8. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Matthew Saad Muhammad (1st - 0:34) via sleeperhold in a "wrestler vs. boxer" match.

9. Gary Albright KO Nobuhiko Takada (14:37)

This is the biggest show in UWFi’s history at this point and Tamura gets to work 2^nd from the top in a “wrestler vs boxer” match and win convincingly in under a minute.

 

 

October 23, 1992 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500

1. Kunpon Gehya Samureek beat Makoto Ohe (5th) via decision in a "kickboxing" match.

2. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Tom Burton (7:15) via submission.

3. Yoshihiro Takayama TKO Mark Silver (1:11).

4. Yoji Anjoh beat Khasrow Vaziri (Iron Sheik) (4:54) via submission.

5. Masahito Kakihara & Yuko Miyato beat Gary Albright & Mark Flemming (5:10) when Kakihara forced Flemming to submit.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Kazuo Yamazaki (15:34) via submission.

7. Nobuhiko Takada KO Koji Kitao (3rd - 0:46)

Now, that’s the biggest show in UWFi history up to this point and Tamura again gets to go over in a match 2^nd from the top. This time beating the #2 native in UWFi in an excellent match.

 

Like his other main events, I would give zero points for Tamura for drawing, but that’s great exposure and look. After the Kitao match, the very next show!!!

 

February 14, 1993 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500

1. Bovy Chowaikung vs. Mel Murray in a "kickboxing" match.

2. Yoshihiro Takayama drew Tom Burton (20:00).

3. Tatsuo Nakano beat Masahito Kakihara (8:44) via submission.

4. Mark Flemming beat Hiromitsu Kanehara (4:43) via submission.

5. Yuko Miyato beat Gene Lydick (5:29) via submission.

6. Dan Severn beat Yoji Anjoh (5:13) via submission.

7. Kazuo Yamazaki KO Dennis Koslowski (11:21).

8. Gary Albright KO Naoki Sano (4:20).

9. Nobuhiko Takada TKO Kiyoshi Tamura (15:03).

 

Tamura gets to main event against Takada and it’s a sell out at Budokan. I’m a big fan of Tamura, but I wouldn’t use this as an example of him as a draw at this point in his career. He’s been a young wrestler on the rise for sure and been involved in a bunch of great matches already sure. And I can’t deny that this is a Budokan sell out. But it feels wrong to say Tamura was a major part of that. “Takada” and “UWFi” had more to do with this selling out than “Tamura.” And the fact that Japanese wrestling was at its hottest point in the modern era probably doesn’t hurt. It’s a feather in his cap and cool, but I wouldn’t say “Tamura was a draw” and point to this as an example of him being a real draw. UWFi was selling out all of their Tokyo shows and so was All Japan. So yeah. Great match though. And Budokan.

 

April 10, 1993 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 7,500

1. Steve Day beat Hiromitsu Kanehara (6:55) via submission.

2. Mark Fleming beat Yoshihiro Takayama (7:01) via submission.

3. Tatsuo Nakano & Gene Lydick beat Yoji Anjoh & Tom Burton (15:57) when Nakano forced Burton to submit.

4. Bad News Allen beat Yuko Miyato (6:30) via submission.

5. Naoki Sano beat Masahito Kakihara (6:46) via submission.

6. Dan Severn beat Kiyoshi Tamura (21:37) via submission.

7. Gary Albright KO Dennis Koslowski (5:01).

8. Nobuhiko Takada beat Kazuo Yamazaki (15:13) via submission.

Severn had 3 matches up to this point in UWFi and this match was longer than all 3 of them combined. Severn beat Anjoh twice in 11 total minutes. It took him 21+ to beat Tamura.

 

May 6, 1993 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500

1. Bad News Allen beat Yoshihiro Takayama (6:14) via submission.

2. Masahito Kakihara & Yoji Anjoh beat Gene Lydick & Tom Burton (13:42) when Burton was injured.

3. Kazuo Yamazaki beat Yuko Miyato (12:47) via submission.

4. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Naoki Sano (19:26) via submission.

5. Super Vader TKO Tatsuo Nakano (3:35).

6. Gary Albright KO Dennis Koslowski (4:56).

7. Nobuhiko Takada beat Dan Severn (13:50) via submission.

Back to the midcard in a match that doesn’t sell any tickets but looks like a “go out and have a great match because nothing else is gonna be all that great” and they did.

 

 

July 18, 1993 in Tokyo, Japan
Sumo Hall drawing 11,000

1. Hiromitsu Kanehara drew Gene Lydick (20:00).

2. Bad News Allen beat Yoshihiro Takayama (4:44) via submission.

3. Yuko Miyato beat Ray Lloyd (7:25) via submission.

4. Dennis Koslowski & Steve Day beat Naoki Sano & Masahito Kakihara (14:20) when Koslowski KO Kakihara.

5. Kazuo Yamazaki beat Yoji Anjoh (15:09) via countout.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Tatsuo Nakano (13:32) via submission.

7. Gary Albright TKO Mark Silver (1:05).

8. UWFI World Champ Nobuhiko Takada beat Salman Hashimikov (8:30) via submission.

 

Another meaningless match against a jobber. See why I’m hesitant to give him points for the Takada match?

 

 

August 13, 1993 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500

1. Bovy Chowaikung beat Tony Cockburn in a "kickboxing" match.

2. Steve Nelson beat Kazushi Sakuraba (6:50) via submission.

3. Greg Bobchick beat Tommy Cairo (6:11) via submission.

4. Gene Lydick beat Yoshihiro Takayama (10:39) via submission.

5. Hiromitsu Kanehara TKO Tom Burton (7:06).

6. Masahito Kakihara beat Bad News Allen (7:06) via submission.

7. Dennis Koslowski beat Yuko Miyato (6:18) via submission.

8. Naoki Sano beat Yoji Anjoh (20:38) via submission.

9. Gary Albright & Dan Severn beat Nobuhiko Takada & Kiyoshi Tamura (21:39) when Albright forced Takada to submit.

10. Super Vader KO Kazuo Yamazaki (6:24)

This looks good. 2^nd match from the top on another Budokan sell out. AND he didn’t even lose. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s the lowest ranked guy in the match. He’s wrestled and lost to all of these dudes before. PLUS, Vader in UWFi was a HUGE deal. So at best Tamura’s the 6^th most important drawing factor, 7^th if you want to count the name “UWFi” and maybe even less than that if you want to credit the general hotness of the wrestling scene. It would be like looking at No Way out 1998 and saying Savio Vega deserves a slice of credit for the 16,000+ live crowd. No he doesn’t and I dig Savio. Tamura is one of my 5 favorite wrestlers ever and he shouldn’t get credit here.

October 4, 1993 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 5,900
Shown October 5, 1993 on PPV (0.48)

1. Mark Silver beat Kazushi Sakuraba (7:14) via sleeperhold.

2. Yoshihiro Takayama beat Tom Burton (11:12) via submission.

3. Yoji Anjoh beat Tatsuo Nakano (9:22) via sleeperhold.

4. Dennis Koslowski beat Masahito Kakihara (8:55) via submission.

5. Hiromitsu Kanehara KO Tommy Cairo (3:49).

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Yuko Miyato (8:19) via submission.

7. Gene Lydick beat Greg Bobchick (7:37) via submission.

8. Kazuo Yamazaki beat Bad News Brown (13:34) via submission.

9. Salman Hashimikov & Vladimir Berkovich beat Gary Albright & Dan Severn (13:09) when Hashimikov forced Severn to submit.

10. UWFI World Champ Nobuhiko Takada beat Billy Scott (13:00) via submission.

11. Super Vader TKO Naoki Sano (6:20).

 

There he is back in the mid card beating a jobber in a meaningless match.

December 5, 1993 in Tokyo, Japan
Jingu Stadium drawing 46,168 ($2,500,000)

1. Bad News Allen beat Kazushi Sakuraba (5:45) via submission.

2. Gene Lydick beat Tom Burton (2:48) via submission.

3. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Greg Bobchick (6:38) via submission.

4. Yoshihiro Takayama beat Tommy Cairo (1:25) via submission.

5. Masahito Kakihara TKO Tatsuo Nakano (9:24).

6. Mark Silver & Kazuo Yamazaki beat Naoki Sano & Yuko Miyato (19:17) when Yamazaki forced Sano to submit.

7. Billy Scott beat Yoji Anjoh (13:40) via submission.

8. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Dennis Koslowski (12:49) via submission.

9. Salman Hashimikov & Vladimir Berkovich beat Gary Albright & Dan Severn (17:41) when Hashimikov forced Severn to submit.

10. UWFI World Champ Nobuhiko Takada beat Super Vader (14:23) via submission.

He gets a win 3^rd from the top but this card is all Vader vs Takada.

 

 

 

February 25, 1994 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,000

1. Steve Nelson beat Kazushi Sakuraba.

2. Tatsuo Nakano beat Yoshihiro Takayama.

3. Yuko Miyato beat Hiromitsu Kanehara.

4. Gene Lydick beat Billy Scott.

5. Yoji Anjoh beat Kazuo Yamazaki.

6. Nobuhiko Takada & Naoki Sano beat Gary Albright & Dan Severn.

7. Masahito Kakihara beat Kiyoshi Tamura.

 

This though. This is really interesting and I’m not sure what to do with it. Its not a sell out. But it is Tamura. In the main event against a lower ranked opponent drawing 16,000 at Budokan with Takada in a tag match. Granted, Albright has been Takada’s biggest opponent in UWFi’s history other than Vader and Severn vs Takada sold out Budokan in 93. So that tag match is a pretty strong semi-main event. But yeah. This was a thing. What’s even more bizarre is…

April 3, 1994 in Osaka, Japan
Castle Hall drawing 14,000 Shown April 16, 1994 on PPV (0.1)

1. Kiyoshi Tamura KO Bad News Allen (6:11).

2. Super Vader beat Salman Hashimikov via submission.

3. Gene Lydick beat Vladimir Berkovich (9:40) via submission.

4. Yoji Anjoh beat Victor Zangiev (5:54) via submission.

5. Masahito Kakihara beat Dan Severn (10:39) via submission.

6. Gary Albright KO Billy Scott (2:11).

7. Nobuhiko Takada beat Kazuo Yamazaki (7:17) via submission.

8. Yuko Miyato beat Yoshihiro Takayama.

9. Tatsuo Nakano beat Hiromitsu Kanehara via submission.

So, he main events a near sell out Budokan against a lower ranked opponent and they follow it up with him in the first match? WEIRD. This was the first round of a tournament but weird.

 

 

May 6, 1994 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500

1. ISKA World Light Welterweight Champ Makoto Ohe beat Didier Montoya via decision in a "kickboxing" match.

2. Tom Burton KO Kazushi Sakuraba (5:10).

3. Hiromitsu Kanehara & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Dan Severn & Billy Scott (4:36) when Kanehara KO Scott.

4. Victor Zangiev beat Yuko Miyato (4:22) via submission.

5. Kazuo Yamazaki beat Tatsuo Nakano (9:42) via submission

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Naoki Sano (13:52) via submission.

7. Gary Albright KO Yoji Anjoh (4:26).

8. Nobuhiko Takada KO Gene Lydick (5:04).

9. Super Vader KO Masahito Kakihara (3:40).

2^nd round of the tournament.

June 10, 1994 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500
Shown November 11, 1994 on PPV (0.12)

1. Bovy Chowaikung KO Gary Hadwin (3rd - 1:11) in a "kickboxing" match.

2. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Tom Burton (7:29) via submission.

3. Billy Scott beat Yoshihiro Takayama (11:03) via submission.

4. Steve Nelson & Gene Lydick beat Kazushi Sakuraba & Masahito Kakihara (16:08) when Lydick KO Sakuraba.

5. Naoki Sano beat Tatsuo Nakano (9:15) via submission.

6. Salman Hashimikov & Victor Zangiev beat Kazuo Yamazaki & Yoji Anjoh (16:00).

7. Super Vader pinned Kiyoshi Tamura (7:14).

8. UWFI World Champ Nobuhiko Takada beat Gary Albright (16:36) via submission.

Semi-Finals of the tournament. I am still hesitant to give Tamura any sort of credit for drawing. But this was the best 7 minute match ever. And he made it to the semi-finals so if nothing else you have to call him the #2 native wrestler in UWFi at this point.

August 18, 1994 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500 ($1,150,000)

1. Bad News Allen beat Hiromitsu Kanehara (5:56) via submission.

2. Yoshihiro Takayama KO Mark Silver (0:37).

3. Kazushi Sakuraba & Masahito Kakihara beat Billy Scott & Gene Lydick (17:47) when Kakihara forced Scott to submit.

4. Salman Hashimikov beat Yuko Miyato (6:13) via submission.

5. Kazuo Yamazaki beat Tatsuo Nakano (11:11) via submission.

6. Yoji Anjoh & Naoki Sano beat Vladimir Berkovich & Victor Zangiev when Anjoh KO Zangiev.

7. Gary Albright KO Kiyoshi Tamura (17:31).

8. Super Vader KO Nobuhiko Takada (19:24) to win the UWFI Title and the Best of the World Tournament.

Semi main event and basically a 3^rd place match for the tournament. This was another great match for Tamura. I wouldn’t really give him any sort of credit for drawing the sellout since the match on top drew 46,000 fans the last time out.

October 8, 1994 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500

1. Bovy Chowaikung vs. Danny Steele in a "kickboxing" match.

2. Kazushi Sakuraba beat Mark Silver.

3. Yoshihiro Takayama drew Hiromitsu Kanehara.

4. Yuko Miyato beat Tatsuo Nakano.

5. Naoki Sano beat Vladimir Berkovich.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura & Dan Severn beat Yoji Anjoh & Steve Nelson.

7. Masahito Kakihara beat Gene Lydick.

8. Nobuhiko Takada beat Victor Zangiev (6:32) via submission.

9. Gary Albright & Kazuo Yamazaki beat Super Vader & John Tenta (17:54) when Albright forced Vader to submit.

October 14, 1994 in Osaka, Japan
Castle Hall drawing 14,000

1. Kazushi Sakuraba beat Kenichi Yamamoto.

2. Vladimir Berkovich beat Hiromitsu Kanehara.

3. Dan Severn beat Yoshihiro Takayama.

4. Tatsuo Nakano & Victor Zangiev beat Yuko Miyato & Yoji Anjoh when Zangiev forced Anjoh to submit.

5. Gene Lydick & Kiyoshi Tamura beat Steve Nelson & Masahito Kakihara

6. Nobuhiko Takada beat Naoki Sano (17:24).

7. Super Vader & John Tenta beat Gary Albright & Kazuo Yamazaki (14:07) when Vader KO Yamazaki.

 

And Tamura is back to the mid card anyway.

 

 

November 30, 1994 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500

1. Bovy Chowaikung KO Chris Mack (3rd - 1:11) in a "kickboxing" match.

2. Tom Burton beat Kenichi Yamamoto (5:25) via submission.

3. Yuko Miyato beat Kazushi Sakuraba (7:53) via submission.

4. Yoji Anjoh beat Hiromitsu Kanehara (7:54) via submission.

5. Billy Scott beat Tatsuo Nakano (9:36) via submission.

6. Naoki Sano beat Yoshihiro Takayama (17:03) via submission.

7. Kiyoshi Tamura TKO Dan Severn (7:14).

8. Kazuo Yamazaki beat Masahito Kakihara (14:12) via submission.

9. Gary Albright beat Nobuhiko Takada (15:20) via submission.

 

This is probably the biggest win of Tamura’s career at this point since the Yamazaki match in 1992. But Severn doesn’t mean as much as he did 18months before this. And Takada vs Albright is the draw anyway.

 

January 16, 1995 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500

1. Gong Yuttachai beat Rodney Brockfield in a "kickboxing" match.

2. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Kenichi Yamamoto.

3. Yoshihiro Takayama beat Tom Burton.

4. Tatsuo Nakano beat Bad News Allen.

5. Masahito Kakihara & Yoji Anjoh beat Naoki Sano & Kazushi Sakuraba.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Gene Lydick.

7. Kazuo Yamazaki & James Stone (Little Guido) beat Nobuhiko Takada & Billy Scott (1:03) when Yamazaki forced Scott to submit.

8. UWFI World Champ Super Vader beat Gary Albright (11:25) via submission.

 

Vader vs Albright is obviously the draw. Tamura’s in a nothing match.

 

February 18, 1995 in Tokyo, Japan
NK Hall drawing 7,000

1. Tatsuo Nakano beat Kenichi Yamamoto.

2. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Tom Burton.

3. Yoshihiro Takayama beat James Stone.

4. Yoji Anjoh beat Kazushi Sakuraba.

5. Billy Scott beat Yuko Miyato.

6. Naoki Sano beat Gene Lydick.

7. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Masahito Kakihara (2:06) via submission.

8. Nobuhiko Takada beat Kazuo Yamazaki (4:36).

 

This is a sell out. They have been doing Takada vs Yamazaki for 11 years by 1995. I bet Tamura vs Kakihara was talked about as the new era of Takada vs Yamazaki when this show was promoted.

 

April 20, 1995 in Nagoya, Japan
Rainbow Hall drawing 8,100

1. Tom Burton beat Kenichi Yamamoto.

2. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat James Stone.

3. Gene Lydick beat Yuko Miyato.

4. Yoji Anjoh beat Tatsuo Nakano.

5. Kiyoshi Tamura & Kazuo Yamazaki beat Yoshihiro Takayama & Kazushi Sakuraba.

6. Masahito Kakihara beat Naoki Sano.

7. Gary Albright beat Billy Scott.

8. Nobuhiko Takada KO Super Vader (15:40) to win the UWFI World Title.

 

The fact that UWFi has stopped running Budokan and Castle Hall every show and that Takada vs Vader is only drawing 8,000 (down 38,000 fans in less than 18 months) fans really goes to show that the UWFi isn’t what it was in 1993.

 

May 17, 1995 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 6,000

1. Kenichi Yamamoto beat James Stone.

2. Yoshihiro Takayama & Kazushi Sakuraba beat Hiromitsu Kanehara & Tom Burton.

3. Gene Lydick beat Tatsuo Nakano.

4. Billy Scott & Naoki Sano beat Yoji Anjoh & Yuko Miyato.

5. Kazuo Yamazaki beat Kiyoshi Tamura.

6. Masahito Kakihara beat Gary Albright (11:06) via submission.

7. Nobuhiko Takada beat Joe Malenko (21:36) via submission.

 

Honestly, Yamazaki vs Tamura is the most interesting looking match on the show from a fan interest perspective. I don’t know what Joe Malenko meant at this point.

 

 

 

June 18, 1995 in Tokyo, Japan
Sumo Hall drawing 11,000

1. Kenichi Yamamoto drew Steve Nelson (15:00).

2. Kazushi Sakuraba beat James Stone (6:59) via submission.

3. Hiromitsu Kanehara & Billy Scott beat Gene Lydick & Tatsuo Nakano (16:25) when Scott forced Lydick to submit.

4. Yuko Miyato beat Tom Burton (6:32) via submission.

5. Yoshihiro Takayama KO Kazuo Yamazaki (6:25).

6. Naoki Sano beat Yoji Anjoh (12:37) via submission.

7. Kiyoshi Tamura KO Gary Albright (9:34).

8. UWFI World Champ Nobuhiko Takada KO Masahito Kakihara (6:41).

 

This is the famous “BREAK GARY BREAK” match where Albright wouldn’t cooperate. Very very ood. Any match against Albright in UWfi is a fairly big match since he’s been primarily the #1 gaijin for the history of UWFi. But Kakihara has been getting a big push and Takada is Takada.

July 13, 1995 in Shizuoka, Japan
Industrial Hall drawing 3,500

1. Kazushi Sakuraba beat Kenichi Yamamoto.

2. Tatsuo Nakano beat Steve Nelson.

3. Yoji Anjoh & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Hiromitsu Kanehara & Masahito Kakihara.

4. Naoki Sano beat James Stone.

5. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Joe Malenko (18:14) via submission. .

 

Main event against Joe Malenko in 1995 drawing 3,500 fans on a show without Takada might actually sound impressive. But, ignoring 3 Korakuen Hall shows, this is tied for the smallest UWFi crowd since 6/28/92. So I wouldn’t give Tamura much credit for anything related to this show even if “vs Joe Malenko in 1995 drawing 3000+ without Takada” might on the surface sound kinda impressive.

 

 

July 22, 1995 in Fukuoka, Japan
Hakata Star Lanes drawing 2,500

1. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Kenichi Yamamoto.

2. Steve Nelson beat James Stone.

3. Yoshihiro Takayama beat Tatsuo Nakano.

4. Naoki Sano & Kazushi Sakuraba beat Joe Malenko & Yoji Anjoh.

5. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Masahito Kakihara (6:20) via submission.

 

Tamura again gets a main event. If you ignore Korakuen hall shows altogether, this would be tied for their smallest card in history. UWFi ran shows here when they first started up. They’re back now.

 

August 18, 1995 in Tokyo, Japan
NK Hall drawing 6,000

1. Kenichi Yamamoto beat Tom Burton.

2. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Kazushi Sakuraba.

3. Naoki Sano beat Yoshihiro Takayama.

4. Masahito Kakihara beat Yoji Anjoh.

5. Nobuhiko Takada beat Tatsuo Nakano.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Gary Albright (6:24) via submission.

 

Takada is back, but he’s in a nothing match and this is,the rematch of “BREAK GARY BREAK.” NK Hall holds 7,000 so they fail to sell out but that’s a pretty good number without any sort of support especially with UWFi crumbling financially.

UWFi was having serious financial issues at this point and so they entered the New Japan feud. Tamura didn’t want to associate with fake pro wrestling and didn’t appear on any of the New Japan vs UWFi cards. Which is unfortunate because it was a huge financial success with 3 of the biggest shows in Japanese wrestling history. I’m not sure if he was actually injured but Tamura didn’t appear again until 3/1/96:

 

March 1, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 16,500

1. Tatsuo Nakano beat Kenichi Yamamoto.

2. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Kazushi Sakuraba (8:42) via submission.

3. Masahito Kakihara beat Shinjiro Ohtani (7:55) via submission.

4. Champo beat Hiromitsu Kanehara via decision in a "kickboxing" match.

5. Yoji Anjoh & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka (12:42) when Anjoh forced Yamazaki to submit.

6. Keiji Mutoh beat Naoki Sano (14:30) via submission.

7. IWGP Champ Nobuhiko Takada beat Shiro Koshinaka (10:53) via submission.

 

March 23, 1996 in Sendai, Japan
Miyagi Sports Center drawing 4,500

1. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Kazushi Sakuraba.

2. Yoshihiro Takayama beat Tatsuo Nakano.

3. Kengo Kimura beat Hiromitsu Kanehara.

4. Masahito Kakihara beat Akitoshi Saito.

5. Akira Nogami & Kuniaki Kobayashi beat Kenichi Yamamoto & Yoji Anjoh.

6. Nobuhiko Takada & Yuhi Sano beat Shiro Koshinaka & Michiyoshi Ohara (12:46) when Takada forced Ohara to submit.

April 19, 1996 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 7,000

1. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Billy Scott.

2. Tokimitsu Ishizawa beat Kazushi Sakuraba.

3. Yoshihiro Takayama beat Tatsuhito Takaiwa.

4. Masahito Kakihara beat Yuji Nagata.

5. Tatsuo Nakano & Yuhi Sano beat Kenichi Yamamoto & Yoji Anjoh.

6. Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki beat Nobuhiko Takada & Hiromitsu Kanehara (10:40) when Sasaki pinned Kanehara.

May 27, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 15,300

1. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Kazushi Sakuraba (9:01) via submission.

2. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Akira Nogami (5:25) via submission.

3. Yuhi (Naoki) Sano beat Kenichi Yamamoto (6:02) via submission.

4. Koki Kitihara beat Tatsuo Nakano (6:35) via submission.

5. Yoji Anjoh & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki when Anjoh forced Gedo to submit.

6. Shiro Koshinaka pinned Masahito Kakihara (6:22).

7. Nobuhiko Takada KO Yoshiaki Fujiwara (9:46).

 

Tamura’s last matches in UWFi are all on decent sized to big shows, but he’s in the undercard every show.

 

 

 

From here Tamura jumps over to RINGS. So lets take a look…

 

 

 

June 29, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan
NK Hall drawing 6,700

1. Willie Peeters KO Wataru Sakata (10:08).

2. Masayuki Naruse KO Todor Todorov (8:36).

3. Bitsadze Ameran KO Dennis Raven (4:21).

4. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Dick Leon-Vrij (3:41) via submission.

5. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Jacob Hamilton (5:10) via submission.

6. Volk Han beat Mitsuya Nagai (11:47) via submission.

7. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat Maurice Smith (30:00) via decision.

 

He debuts in RINGS in the mid-card, but honestly that’s a really interesting match against Dick Leon-Vrij. This is a near sell out and Tamura debuting against Vrij is more interesting than anything except Yamamoto vs Smith. Han vs Nagai had happened at least 3 other times.

 

 

July 16, 1996 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 4,080

1. Wataru Sakata beat Valentijn Overeem (6:42) via submission.

2. Masayuki Naruse beat Sergei Sousserov (12:48) via submission.

3. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Willie Peeters (10:47) via submission.

4. Dick Leon-Vrij KO Christopher Haseman (3:08).

5. Bitsadze Tariel KO Joop Kasteel (7:47).

6. Volk Han TKO Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (11:23).

7. Hans Nyman TKO Yoshihisa Yamamoto (2:35).

 

Another mid card match placement, this time against a much less compelling wrestler with more interesting matches on the show. Furitsu Gym holds at least 7,000 people so this isn’t a very good number.

 

August 24, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan
Ariake Coliseum drawing 9,000

1. Willie Peeters beat Wataru Sakata (18:31) via submission.

2. Masayuki Naruse beat Egan Inoue (11:51) via DQ.

3. Walter Schnaubelt beat Vladimir Klementiev (5th) via decision in a "kyokushin karate" match.

4. Mitsuya Nagai beat Dick Leon-Vrij (6:16) via submission.

5. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Maurice Smith (10:58) via submission in a "vale tudo" match.

6. Adilson Lima beat Mikhail Ilioukhine (24:52) via submission in a "vale tudo" match.

7. Volk Han beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (13:52) via submission.

8. Ricardo Morias TKO Yoshihisa Yamamoto (0:46) in a "vale tudo" match.

 

Nice sized show. Tamura vs Smith is a shoot fight. Its in the mid card and I’m not sure if it could be credited as a draw. There are a number of shoot matches on this show so that could play a part in the large for RINGS at this time crowd.

 

September 25, 1996 in Sapporo, Japan
Nakajima Sports Center drawing 3,853

1. Peter Dijkman TKO Wataru Sakata (5:26).

2. Christopher Haseman KO Masayuki Naruse (9:12).

3. Mitsuya Nagai KO Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (11:05).

4. Bitsadze Tariel KO Hans Nyman (5:19).

5. Volk Han beat Kiyoshi Tamura (10:32) via submission.

6. Andrei Kopilov beat Yoshihisa Yamamoto (12:33) via submission.

 

The first Tamura vs Han classic is 2^nd from the top on this show drawing less than 4,000 in a building that holds at least 5,500. Kopilov vs Yamamoto is an interesting match, but Han vs Tamura feels like it would be the draw.

 

October 25, 1996 in Nagoya, Japan
Aichi Gym drawing 4,896

1. Gogitidze Bakouri beat Todor Todorov (8:09) via submission.

2. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Dick Leon-Vrij (5:35) via submission.

3. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Mikhail Ilioukhine (14:40) via submission.

4. Mitsuya Nagai beat Willie Peeters (9:36) via submission.

5. Bitsadze Tariel TKO Nikolai Zouev (5:34).

6. Volk Han beat Masayuki Naruse (10:24) via submission.

7. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat David Khakhaleshvili (2:24) via submission.

8. Akira Maeda beat Andrei Kopilov (4:54) via submission.

 

Tamura in the undercard against an interesting opponent. Maeda returns and this looks like a decent number. Any clue how big this building is?

 

November 22, 1996 in Osaka, Japan
Castle Hall drawing 7,880

1. Nikolai Zouev beat Wataru Sakata (10:01) via submission.

2. Dick Leon-Vrij TKO Masayuki Naruse (6:16).

3. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat Gogitidze Bakouri (4:52) via submission.

4. Bitsadze Tariel KO Hans Nyman (10:11).

5. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Mitsuya Nagai (6:13) via submission.

6. Volk Han beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (10:27) via submission.

7. Akira Maeda beat Yoshiaki Fujiwara (10:55) via submission.

 

Castle Hall holds 14,000 fans so even if RINGS was still running with higher than normal for wrestling ticket prices, this is a barely half full building. Tamura vs Nagai isn’t as interesting as Han vs Kohsaka or Maeda vs Fujiwara.

 

December 19, 1996 in Fukuoka, Japan
International Center drawing 5,680

1. Masayuki Naruse KO Dick Leon-Vrij (6:01).

2. Gogitidze Bakouri beat Mitsuya Nagai (8:59) via submission.

3. Hans Nyman KO Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (9:24).

4. Maurice Smith beat Bitsadze Ameran (4:54) via submission.

5. Volk Han beat Bitsadze Tariel (6:17) via submission.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Yoshihisa Yamamoto (9:49) via submission..

7. Akira Madea beat Vladimir Klementiev (3:17) via submission.

 

The biggest number I’ve seen for RINGS in this building was 7,526 on 10/23/93 so this isn’t a super number but Tamura vs Yamamoto & Han vs Tariel feel like strong support for a Maeda main event. Feels like a solid number for this time period even though they failed to sell out.

 

January 22, 1997 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 11,800

1. Wataru Sakata beat Sean McCulley (19:41) via submission.

2. Grom Zaza beat Masayuki Naruse (10:120 via submission.

3. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Mikhail Ilioukhine (10:04) via submission.

4. Nikolai Zouev beat Mitsuya Nagai (13:01) via submission.

5. Akira Maeda beat Maurice Smith (5:35) via submission.

6. Bitsadze Tariel TKO Yoshohisa Yamamoto (6:19) for third place in the Mega Battle Tournament 1996.

7. Volk Han beat Kiyoshi Tamura (12:36) via submission to win the Mega Battle Tournament 1996.

 

Tamura vs Han meet in the finals of the Rings Mega Battle Tournament. The fail to sell out Budokan on the one hand. On the other hand 11,800 is a pretty good number. RINGS has drawn better for Tournament finals at Budokan before this and actually worse. Maeda vs Bitszade Tariel in the tournament final in 1994 drew 10,360. So even though this is a knee jerk terrible looking number, I feel okayish calling this solid.

 

March 28, 1997 in Tokyo, Japan
NK Hall drawing 6,872

1. Minoru Tanaka KO Todor Todorov (15:49).

2. Willie Peeters beat Christopher Haseman (6:12) via submission.

3. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Bitsadze Tariel (8:11) via submission.

4. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat Hans Nyman (8:02) via submission.

5. Akira Maeda beat Kiyoshi Tamura (7:54) via submission.

 

Near sell out as Tamura meets Maeda in a main event.

 

April 4, 1997 in Tokyo, Japan
Korakuen Hall drawing 1,888

1. Sanae Kikuta beat Kaichi Tsuji (8:33) via submission.

2. Lee Hasdell beat Sean McCulley (3:59) via submission.

3. Masayuki Naruse TKO Valentijn Overeem (12:05).

4. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Christopher Haseman (6:52) via submission.

5. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Yoshihisa Yamamoto (30:00) via decision.

 

Tamura in the semi main against a not very interesting opponent underneath Kohsaka vs Yamamoto. No Maeda or Han and RINGS fails to sell out Korakuen Hall.

 

April 22, 1997 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 4,870

1. Christopher Haseman beat Sean McCulley via forfeit.

2. Dick Leon-Vrij TKO Tony Halme (2:40).

3. Joop Kasteel TKO Mitsuya Nagai (6:27).

4. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat Masayuki Naruse (21:20) via submission.

5. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (13:57) via submission.

6. Christopher Haseman TKO Alexander Otsuka (7:03).

7. Volk Han beat Akira Maeda (8:47) via submission.

 

Maeda returns to face Han. Tamura vs Kohsaka is a strong supporting match and Maeda vs Han is one of the bigger matches RINGs can run even if it is played out by 97. But Furitsu holds at least 7,000 so this isn’t a really great number all things considered.

 

May 23, 1997 in Sendai, Japan
Miyagi Sports Center drawing 3,850

1. Masayuki Naruse beat Willie Peeters (7:22) via submission.

2. Mitsuya Nagai beat Valentijn Overeem (4:58) via submission.

3. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat Herman Renting (3:17) via submission.

4. Kiyoshi Tamura KO Grom Zaza (8:15).

5. Volk Han beat Joop Kasteel (5:09) via submission.

6. Akira Maeda beat Bitsadze Tariel (7:18) vi asubmission.

Its kinda hard to give Tamura any sort of credit on shows like this and its small anyway. I lean towards saying Maeda vs Tariel was the match that sold the show but I do think Tamura vs Grom probably had some value. Hard to say about Joop Kasteel.

 

June 21, 1997 in Tokyo, Japan
Ariake Coliseum drawing 9,188

1. Wataru Sakata beat Yuri Bekichev (3:54) via submission.

2. Masayuki Naruse beat Lee Hasdell (12:58) via submission.

3. Mitsuya Nagai beat Andre Mannart (0:20) via submision.

4. Ricardo Morais drew Yuri Korchikin (20:00) in a "vale tudo" match.

5. Adilson Lima TKO Alexander Fedorov (10:10) in a "vale tudo" match.

6. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat Maurice Smith (6:00) via submission.

7. Nikolai Zouev beat Kiyoshi Tamura (10:30).

 

This is a feather in Tamura’s cap. RINGS ran Ariake Coliseum a lot. They had their first anniversary show there. They usually ran two shows a year there one in May or June and another in usually December sometimes November. This is actually the best number they’ve had in this building since 5/16/92 when the 1^st Anniversary Show drew 10,369 for Akira Maeda vs Hank Neumann. The year before Now, the 1996 show drew 9,000 fans and included these weirdo people like Ricardo Marais and Adilson Lima competing in Vale Tudo matches. Tamura vs Zouev is a good match, but I kind of question its status as the draw on the show. I’d love to give Tamura all the credit for it, but can anyone shed some light on the “vale tudo” guys? I feel like they may have something to do with this show doing so well.

 

July 22, 1997 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 4,500

1. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Grom Zaza (9:26) via submission.

2. Christopher Haseman beat Minoru Tanaka (9:07) via submission.

3. Masayuki Naruse beat Wataru Sakata (5:55) via submission.

4. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat Mitsuya Nagai (2:27) via submission.

5. Akira Maeda beat Hans Nyman (9:04) via submission.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura TKO Bitsadze Tariel (13:32).

 

About average what they’re doing in this building around this time. This place holds 7,000 so this isn’t a great number even with Maeda returning.

 

August 13, 1997 in Kagoshima, Japan
Kagoshima Arena drawing 3,380

1. Mitsuya Nagai beat Mikhail Simov (6:38) vi asubmission.

2. Wataru Sakata beat Minoru Tanaka (5:03) via submission for third place in the RINGs Light Heavyweight Title Tournament.

3. Masayuki Naruse TKO Christopher Haseman (14:26) to become first RINGs Light Heavyweight Champ.

4. Hans Nyman TKO Kiyoshi Tamura (9:03).

5. Akira Maeda beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (9:14) via submission.

6. Yoshihisa Yamamoto TKO Volk Han (11:30).

 

Top 3 matches are strong so I wonder how big this building is.

 

September 26, 1997 in Sapporo, Japan
Nakajima Sports Center drawing 4,820

1. Yuri Korchikin beat Malcolm Nay (4:33) via submission.

2. Pete Williams TKO Joop Kasteel (8:25).

3. Wataru Sakata beat Valentijn Overeem (2:16) via submission..

4. Frank Shamrock beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (30:00) via decision.

5. Akira Maeda beat Andrei Kopilov (8:32) via submission.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Volk Han (12:48) via submission.

 

This building holds at least 5,500. But this is close to a sell out. Maeda vs Kopilov was a major match in the early days of RINGS but you have to give Tamura vs Han the credit here considering their first two matches were so well regarded.

 

October 14, 1997 in Tokyo, Japan
Korakuen Hall drawing 1,860

1. Sanae Kikuta beat Minoru Tanaka (2nd - 3:08) via submission.

2. Alexander Otsuka KO Christopher Haseman (18:10).

3. Wataru Sakata beat Dominque Deligny (4:02) via submission.

4. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Elvis Sinosic (10:11) via submission.

5. Willie Peeters TKO Masayuki Naruse (16:44).

Tamura faces RINGS newcomer 2^nd from the top on a shitty card without Maeda, Han, Kohsaka, Yamamoto, Kopilov, Tariel, Zouev, Ilioukhine or Dick Leon-Vrij to name a bunch of people fails to sell out Korakuen Hall.

 

October 25, 1997 in Tokyo, Japan
NK Hall drawing 6,620

1. Joop Kasteel beat Lee Hasdell (8:55) via submission.

2. Mikhail Ilioukhine beat Masayuki Naruse (12:28) via submission.

3. Mitsuya Nagai beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (9:19) via submission.

4. Dick Leon-Virj beat Bitsadze Tariel (6:01) via submission.

5. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Boris Jeliazkov (30:00) via decision.

6. Akira Maeda beat Nikolai Zouev (5:17) via submission.

7. Volk Han beat Andrei Kopilov (10:52) via submission.

8. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Hans Nyman (10:34) via submission.

 

Hey look, everybody’s back! This building holds at least 7,000 but I think that’s it. So this is a near sell out and actually the 2^nd best number RINGS has ever done in this building. Tamura vs Nyman is a solid main event and there’s a ton of familiar names all over this card.

 

November 20, 1997 in Osaka, Japan
Chuo Gym drawing 5,110

1. Gilbert Yvel KO Lev Barkala (10:47).

2. Masayuki Naruse beat Mohammad Yone (5:35) via submission.

3. Mikhail Ilioukhine beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (14:16) via submission.

4. Akira Maeda beat Mitsuya Nagai (17:00) via submission.

5. Volk Han beat Dick Leon-Vrij (7:15) via submission.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Joop Kasteel (6:30) via submission.

 

No clue how big this building is but this feels like a solid number with another pretty loaded card.

 

December 23, 1997 in Fukuoka, Japan
International Center drawing 6,800

1. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Christopher Haseman (11:12) via submission.

2. RINGs Light Heavyweight Champ Masayuki Naruse beat Wataru Sakata (12:10) via submission.

3. Sean Alvares beat Willie Peeters (9:40) via submission in a "vale tudo" match.

4. Grom Zaza beat Ricardo Morais (20:00) via unanimous decision in a "vale tudo" match.

5. Mikhail Ilioukhine TKO Volk Han (9:36).

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Akira Maeda (6:30) via submission..

 

RINGS runs this building every year and this is the 2^nd biggest number they’ve done there up to this point. The biggest being the 10/23/93 show drawing 7,526 to see Maeda take on someone named Sotir Gotchev. Ricardo Morais is noticeable because he seems to pop up on these RINGS shows that do well, but Tamura vs Maeda is a big main event for RINGS, random Vale Tudo guys or not.

 

January 21, 1998 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 9,200

1. Wataru Sakata beat Herman Renting (3:24) via submission.

2. Masayuki Naruse beat Dominque Deligny (19:24) via submission.

3. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Sione Latu (1:58) via submission.

4. Bitsadze Tariel TKO Hans Nyman (6:31).

5. Akira Maeda beat Volk Han (4:24) via submission for third place in the Mega Battle Tournament 1997.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Mikhail Ilioukhine (18:12) via submission to win the Mega Battle Tournament 1997 and become the first RINGs Openweight Champ.

 

Yeesh. This isn’t a great number considering its Budokan Hall and the building holds 16,000+. That said, Ilioukhine isn’t exactly the worlds best possible opponent (ignoring match quality, because he WAS the best possible opponent on this night) and Han vs Maeda goes back 6+ years by 98. So its not a HORRIBLE figure. Fuck it. I’m not defending 9200 at Budokan.

 

March 3, 1998 in Tokyo, Japan
Korakuen Hall drawing 1,450

1. Akihiro Gono beat Tatsuya Kurahashi (7:07) vi asubmission.

2. Christopher Haseman beat Minoru Tanaka (12:01) via submisison.

3. Alexander Otsuka beat Wataru Sakata (30:00) via decision.

4. Masayuki Naruse beat Troy Ittensohn (8:22) via submission.

5. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Sergei Sousserov (9:27) via submission.

 

Especially when its followed up by another failure to sellout Korakuen. Again though, Tamura got no support on this card in terms of drawing.

 

March 28, 1998 in Tokyo, Japan
NK Hall drawing 6,200

1. Valentijn Overeem TKO Kenichi Yamamoto (6:39).

2. Bob Gilstrap beat Grom Zaza (30:00) via points in a "vale tudo" match.

3. Masayuki Naruse TKO Sander Thonhauser (10:37).

4. Mikhail Ilioukhine beat Hiromitsu Kanehara (14:03) via submission.

5. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Nikolai Zouev (10:20) via submission.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Dick Leon-Vrij (7:46) via submission.

 

Actually a pretty good number in this building at this time without Maeda, Han or Yamamoto with a bunch of repeat matches.

 

April 16, 1998 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 7,600

1. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Sander Thonhauser (6:26) via submission.

2. Gogitidze Bakouri beat Wataru Sakata (8:44) via submission.

3. Masayuki Naruse beat Andrei Kopilov (7:19) via submission.

4. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Joop Kasteel (7:49) via submission.

5. Valentijn Overeem beat Kiyoshi Tamura (3:56) via submission.

6. Volk Han beat Akira Maeda (5:43) via submission.

 

Whoa, seemingly out of nowhere, this is a great number with Han vs Maeda on top. Tamura vs Overeem is a shoot I believe and probably deserves some credit as nothing else looks really mind blowing and able to explain this number.

 

May 29, 1998 in Sapporo, Japan
Nakajima Sports Center drawing 3,200

1. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Lee Hasdell (30:00) via decision.

2. Kenichi Yamamoto beat Christopher Haseman (12:39) via submission.

3. Grom Zaza beat Joop Kasteel (5:54) via submission.

4. Mikhail Ilioukhine beat Masayuki Naruse (13:52).

5. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Volk Han (10:10) via submission.

6. Bitsadze Tariel TKO Kyoshi Tamura (3:39) to win the RINGs Openweight Title.

 

And then there’s this. No Maeda and even though its pretty played out by 98, Han vs Kohsaka is always a good match. Tamura vs Tariel in the main and at best this building is half full. Weird.

 

June 27, 1998 in Tokyo, Japan
NK Hall drawing 4,240

1. Yasuhito Namekawa KO Troy Ittensohn (2nd - 1:43).

2. Wataru Sakata beat Willie Peeters (1st - 1:45) via submission.

3. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Sander MacKilljan (1st - 3:25) via submission.

4. Hans Nyman beat Vladimir Klementiev (4:44) via submission.

5. RINGs Light Heavyweight Champ Masayuki Naruse beat Kenichi Yamamoto (11:07) via submission.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura drew Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (30:00).

 

Legendary match between Tamura vs Kohsaka did a terrible number drawing less than 4300 in a building that holds at least 7,000. No Maeda, Volk Han, or Yamamoto or other big name foreigners and this is I want to say the 3^rd Tamura vs Kohsaka match. But still. Not a good number.

 

"Akira Maeda Retirement Show"
July 20, 1998 in Yokohama, Japan
Yokohama Arena drawing 17,800

1. Gilbert Yvel beat Orjal Bekov (1st - 2:28) via submission.

2. Christopher Hazemann TKO Boris Jeliazkov (8:30).

3. Joop Kasteel KO Paul Varelans (7:27).

4. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Dick Leon-Vrij (4:22) via submission.

5. Volk Han beat Kenichi Yamamoto (8:24) via submission.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Wataru Sakata (9:48) via submission.

7. RINGs Openweight Champ Bitsadze Tariel KO Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (7:43).

8. Akira Maeda beat Yoshihisa Yamamoto (20:00) via decision.

 

Oh shit, looks who’s back. Tamura is 3^rd from the top against a young boy as Maeda sells out Yokohoma.

 

August 28, 1998 in Niigata, Japan
City Gym drawing 3,480

1. Yasuhito Namekawa beat Daniel Higgins (14:28) via submission.

2. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Grom Zaza (10:17) via submission.

3. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat Nikolai Zouev (13:30) via submission.

4. Wataru Sakata beat Kenichi Yamamoto (20:00) via points.

5. Bitsadze Tariel KO Volk Han (4:06).

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Masayuki Naruse (24:33) via submission.

 

No clue how big this building is, but its always ugly following “17,000” with “3,480.”

 

September 21, 1998 in Yokohama, Japan
Bunka Gym drawing 4,170

1. Yasuhito Namekawa beat Ryuki Ueyama (15:00) via points.

2. Lee Hasdell KO Kenichi Yamamoto (10:56).

3. Wataru Sakata TKO Christopher Haseman (12:21).

4. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Willie Peeters (6:57) via submission.

5. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Mikhail Ilioukhine (12:00) via submission.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Yoshihisa Yamamoto (18:52) via submission.

 

The biggest show I can find in this building from RINGS is 4/24/93 on a show without Maeda headlined by Volk Han vs Mitsuya Nagai which drew 4760. So we know this isn’t a sell out which has got to be disappointing considering Tamura & Yamamoto are two of the top 3 natives in the company with Maeda retired.

 

October 23, 1998 in Nagoya, Japan
Aichi Gym drawing 4,550

1. Masayuki Naruse beat Yasuhito Namekawa (4:50) via submission.

2. Team Netherlands (Hans Nyman, Dick Leon-Vrij, & Joop Kasteel) beat Russia "A" Team (Volk Han, Mikhail Ilioukhine, & Sergei Sousserov).

o Nyman KO Sousserov (2:59).

o Ilioukhine beat Nyman (2:54) via submission.

o Leon-Vrij KO Ilioukhine (2:50).

o Han beat Leon-Vrij (2:01) via submission.

o Kasteel KO Han (2:21).

3. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Vladimir Klementiev (7:51) via submission.

4. Japan "A" Team (Yoshihisa Yamamoto, Hiromitsu Kanehara, & Wataru Sakata) beat Team Bulgaria (Dimitri Petkov, Todor Todorov, & Boris Jeliazkov).

o Sakata beat Todorov (5:14) via submission.

o Yamamoto KO Jeliazkov (6:01).

o Petkov beat Yamamoto (3:32) via submission.

o Kanehara beat Petkov (4:55) via submission.

 

No clue how big the building is or how to judge who/what the draw is.

 

November 20, 1998 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 4,380

1. Yasuhito Namekawa drew Lee Hasdell (20:00).

2. Team Georgia (Bitsadze Tariel, Grom Zaza, & Bitsadze Ameran) beat Team Australia (Christopher Haseman, Daniel Higgins, & Troy Ittensohn).

o Tariel beat Higgins (0:22) via submission.

o Tariel TKO Ittensohn (0:42).

o Haseman TKO Tariel (1:57).

o Ameran TKO Haseman (1:32).

3. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Dave van der Veen (7:24) via submisison.

4. Russia "B" Team (Nikolai Zouev, Andrei Kopilov, & Vladimir Klementiev) beat Japan "B" Team (Kyoshi Tamura, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, & Masayuki Naruse).

o Naruse TKO Klementiev (2:16).

o Kopilov TKO Naruse (2:32) via submission.

o Tamura beat Kopilov (1:35) via submission.

o Zouev beat Tamura (3:17) via submission.

o Zouev beat Kohsaka (10:00) via points.

 

This time Tamura’s in the big tournament thing on a show that is again about 3,200 people away from selling out this mid sized building.

 

December 23, 1998 in Fukuoka, Japan
International Center drawing 5,500

1. Team Netherlands (Hans Nyman, Dick Leon-Vrij, & Joop Kasteel) beat Japan "A" Team (Yoshihisa Yamamoto, Hiromitsu Kanehara, & Wataru Sakata).

o Sakata TKO Leon-Vrij (12:29).

o Kanehara beat Nyman (9:04) via submission.

o Kasteel TKO Masayuki Naruse (8:33).

2. Kiyoshi Tamura TKO Kenichi Yamamoto (11:26).

3. Team Georgia (Bitsadze Tariel, Grom Zaza, & Bitsadze Ameran) beat Russia "B" Team (Nikolai Zouev, Andrei Kopilov, & Vladimir Klementiev).

o Zouev TKO Ameran (4:01).

o Zaza beat Zouev (2:28) via submission.

o Kopilov TKO Zaza (4:12).

o Tariel KO Kopilov (2:18).

o Tariel beat Klementiev (5:17) via submission.

 

More of the weirdo tournament shit for the Mega battle Tournament. About 2,000 away from the best RINGS number in this building with Tamura vs Yamamoto a strong supporting match to the tournament.

 

January 23, 1999 in Tokyo, Japan
Budokan Hall drawing 10,500

1. Yasuhito Namekawa beat Lee Hasdell (20:00) via points.

2. Willie Peeters TKO Kenichi Yamamoto (13:45).

3. Wataru Sakata beat Dave van der Veen (2:41) via submission.

4. Volk Han beat Hiromitsu Kanehara (13:32) via submission.

5. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Kiyoshi Tamura (9:42) via submission.

6. Team Georgia (Bitsadze Tariel, Grom Zaza, Bitsadze Ameran) beat Team Netherlands (Hans Nyman, Dick Leon-Vrij, & Joop Kasteel) to win the Mega Battle Tournament 1998. Zaza TKO Vrij (1:22). Kasteel beat Zaza (3:32) via submission. Kasteel beat Ameran (2:46) via submission. Tariel KO Kasteel (1:30) . Tariel KO Nyman (2:50).

 

Tamura vs Kohsaka is a strong match to help the tournament and this is up from the previous year’s terrible Budokan number. Still. It’s hard to call this anything but a disappointing number considering the size of the building.

 

February 21, 1999 in Yokohama, Japan
Yokohama Arena drawing 17,048 ($2,479,000)

1. Yasuhito Namekawa beat Ryuki Ueyama (20:00) via points.

2. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat Andrei Kopilov (6:55) via submission.

3. Volk Han beat Nikolia Zouev (1st - 4:49) via submission.

4. Sean Alvarez beat Wataru Sakata (20:00) via decision in a "vale tudo" match.

5. Ricardo Morias beat Hiromitsu Kanehara (20:00) via decision in a "vale tudo" match.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Valentijn Overeem (6:08) via submission.

7. Alexander Karelin beat Akira Maeda (2nd) via points.

 

But this is not a disappointing number. Tamura’s in the semi-main, but lets be real. This is all about Maeda vs Karelin

 

March 22, 1999 in Tokyo, Japan
NK Hall drawing 4,502

1. Christopher Haseman beat Yasuhito Namekawa (7:42) via submission.

2. Boris Jeliazkov beat Wataru Sakata (8:28) via submission.

3. Masayuki Naruse beat Dave van der Veen (7:36) via submisson.

4. Yoshihisa Yamamoto beat Valentijn Overeem (2:40) via submission.

5. Mikhail Ilioukhine beat Randy Couture (7:43) via submission.

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Hiromitsu Kanehara (20:14) via submission.

 

Look its Randy Couture! 2500 away from a sellout with Tamura main eventing against former UWFi wrestler Kanehara

 

April 23, 1999 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 3,870

1. Lee Hasdell beat Ryuki Ueyama (4:18) via DQ.

2. Grom Zaza TKO Sander Thonhauser (4:02).

3. Christopher Haseman beat Masayuki Naruse (13:18) via submission.

4. Yoshihisa Yamamoto KO Joop Kasteel (7:32).

5. Gilbert Yvel TKO Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (19:58).

6. Kiyoshi Tamura drew Frank Shamrock (20:00).

 

Shoot against Frank Shamrock as Furitsu goes down even further. Creeping towards a half empty building.

 

May 22, 1999 in Tokyo, Japan
Ariake Coliseum drawing 6,820

1. Yasuhito Namekawa beat Sara Umer (3:09) via submission.

2. Valentijn Overeem TKO Hiromitsu Kanehara (4:35).

3. Volk Han beat Masayuki Naruse (7:46) via submission.

4. Mikhail Ilioukhine beat Joop Kasteel (9:40) via submission.

5. Yoshihisa Yamamoto KO Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (15:41).

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Bitsaze Tariel (9:19) via submission to win the RINGS Openweight Title.

 

After not running a show at Ariake in 1998, RINGS returns in 1999 with a bunch of matches they’ve run before and have their worst number ever in the building with Tamura vs Tariel in the main event.

 

June 24, 1999 in Tokyo, Japan
Korakuan Hall drawing 2,020

1. Ryuki Ueyama beat Willie Peeters (18:05) via DQ.

2. Yasuhito Namekawa beat Minoru Toyonaga (9:51) via submission.

3. Wataru Sakata beat Boris Jeliazkov (6:49) via submission.

4. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Masayuki Naruse (30:00) via points.

5. Grom Zaza beat Volk Han (30:00) via points.

6. Joop Kasteel beat Bitsadze Tariel (6:01) via submission.

7. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Yoshihisa Yamamoto (20:00) via decision.

 

All time classic main event draws I assume a sell out in Korakuen. I’ve seen better figures for the building but I know its around 2000.

 

August 19, 1999 in Yokohama, Japan
Bunka Gym drawing 4,670

1. Ryuki Ueyama beat Yasuhito Namekawa (20:00) via points.

2. Christopher Haseman beat Willie Peeters (3:13) via submission.

3. Lee Hasdell beat Ricardo Fyeet (15:01) via submission.

4. Hiromitsu Kanehara beat Wataru Sakata (20:00) via points.

5. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka TKO Gilbert Yvel (8:17).

6. RINGs Openweight Champ Kiyoshi Tamura beat Joop Kasteel (12:17) via submission.

 

Near sellout in Bunka with Tamura in the main event!

 

December 22, 1999 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 5,100

1. Andrei Kopilov beat Leonardo Castello Branco (1st - 0:16) via submission.

2. Ricardo Fyeet KO Tyrone Roberts (2nd - 0:09).

3. Maurice Smith beat Brandon Lee Hinckle (2nd) via split decision.

4. Renzo Grace beat Wataru Sakata (1st - 1:25) via submission.

5. Gilbert Yvel beat Bitsadze Tariel (1st - 2:18) via submission.

6. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka beat Christopher Haseman (3rd) via split decision.

7. Boris Jeliazkov beat Tim Lajcik (1st - 2:23) via submission.

8. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Dave Menne (2nd) via unanimous decision.

9. Andrei Kopilov beat Ricardo Fyeet (1st - 0:08) via submission.

10. Renzo Grace beat Maurice Smith (1st - 0:50) via submission.

11. Gilbert Yvel TKO Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (1st - 1:17).

12. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Boris Jeliazkov (2nd - 1:17) via submission.

 

Furutisu is still about 2300 short of a sellout, but is up substantially from their last show in the building.

 

February 26, 2000 in Tokyo, Japan
Buodokan Hall drawing 13,000

1. Renato Babalu beat Mikhail Illoukhine (3rd - 0:40) via submission.

2. Dan Henderson beat Gilbert Yvel (2nd) via unanimous decision.

3. Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera beat Andrei Kopilov (2nd) via split decision.

4. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Renzo Gracie (2nd) via unanimous decision.

5. Bobby Hoffman KO Grom Zaza (1st - 0:34).

6. Dan Henderson beat Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera (3rd) via split decision.

7. Renato Babalu beat Kiyoshi Tamura (2nd) via split decision.

8. Christopher Haseman beat Brad Kohler (1st - 1:01) via submission.

9. Dan Henderson beat Renato Babalu (2nd) via split decision to win the King of Kings Tournament 1999.

 

I’m fairly certain RINGS is full on shoots at this point which makes it kinda suck that they do their best number in Budokan since 1995.

 

April 20, 2000 in Tokyo, Japan
Yoyogi Gym drawing 3,600

1. Allister Overeem beat Yasuhito Namekawa (1st - 0:45) via submission.

2. Wataru Sakata beat Brandon Lee Hinkle (1st - 7:23) via submission.

3. Bobby Hoffman KO Boris Jeliazkov (1st - 8:00).

4. Renato Babalu beat Travis Fulton (1st - 4:49) via submission.

5. Ricardo Arona beat Andrei Kopilov (2nd) via unanimous decision.

6. Jeremy Horn beat Yoshihisa Yamamoto (2nd - 2:50) via submission.

7. Gilbert Yvel TKO Kiyoshi Tamura (1st - 3:13) to win the RINGs Openweight Title.

 

This all looks like shoots to me and no clue how big this building is.

 

August 23, 2000 in Osaka, Japan
Furitsu Gym drawing 4,270

1. Matt Hughes beat Christopher Haseman (2nd) via unanimous decision.

2. Dan Severn beat Andrei Kopilov (2nd) via unanimous decision.

3. Ricardo Arona beat Jeremy Horn (2nd) via split decision.

4. Valentijn Overeem beat Joe Slick (1st - 0:36) via submission.

5. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka drew Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria (2nd).

6. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Pat Miletich (2nd) via split decision.

 

Furitsu is down. But these are all shoots so I don’t know why I’m still going.

October 9, 2000 in Tokyo, Japan
Yoyogi Gym II drawing 4,600

1. Roberto Traven beat Mikhail Borisov (2nd) via unanimous decision.

2. Dave Menne beat Wataru Sakata (2nd) via unanimous decision.

3. Valentijn Overeem TKO Suren Balachinsky (2:13).

4. Renato Babalu beat Bitsadze Tariel (1st - 2:58) via submission.

5. Randy Couture beat Jeremy Horn (3rd) via unanimous decision.

6. Ryushi Yanagisawa beat Boris Jeliazkov (1st - 3:45) via submission.

7. Antonio Nogueira beat Achmed Labasanov (1st - 1:38) via submission.

8. Kiyoshi Tamura beat Grom Zaza (2nd) via unanimous decision.

9. Dave Menne beat Roberto Traven (2nd) via unanimous decision.

10. Valentijn Overeem beat Renato Babalu (1st - 2:19) via submission.

11. Randy Couture beat Ryushi Yanagisawa (2nd) via split decision.

12. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira beat Kiyoshi Tamura (2nd - 2:29) via submission.

 

February 24, 2001 in Tokyo, Japan
Sumo Hall drawing 10,260

1. Hiromitsu Kanehara KO Dave Menne (3rd - 3:24).

2. Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera beat Volk Han (2nd) via unanimous decision.

3. Randy Couture beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (2nd) via unanimous decision.

4. Valentijn Overeem beat Yoshihisa Yamamoto (1st - 1:45) via submission.

5. Alistair Overeem beat Vladimir Tchanturia (1st - 1:06) via submission.

6. Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera beat Hiromitsu Kanehara (2nd - 0:27) via submission.

7. Valentijn Overeem beat Randy Couture (1st - 0:56) via submission.

8. Ryushi Yanagisawa beat Wataru Sakata (2nd) via split decision.

9. Renato Babalu beat Kiyoshi Tamura (2nd) via split decision.

10. Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera beat Valentijn Overeem (1st - 1:20) via submission to win the King of Kings Tournament 2000.

 

April 20, 2001 in Tokyo, Japan
Yoyogi Gym drawing 3,670

1. Jiro Wakabayashi drew Naoyuki Kotani (3rd).

2. Yasuhito Namekawa beat Wataru Imamura (1st - 1:48) via submission..

3. Fedor Emelianenko beat Kerry Schall (1st - 1:47) via submission..

4. Jeremy Horn beat Yuri Bekichev (1st - 0:50) via submission.

5. Bobby Hoffman beat Ryushi Yanagisawa (2nd) via unanimous decision.

6. Gustavo Ximu beat Kiyoshi Tamura (2nd) via split decision.

 

I don’t really have much else to say because I don’t consider shoots for the WON HOF. U-Style mostly ran in Korauken Hall and other small buildings. If someone has the numbers, please post them, but I don’t’ know how relevant they’d be in regards to Tamura’s “drawing power" considering they ran such small buildings.

 

 

[elliott]

Real quick here's where I stand on voting for guys purely on work...

 

I think it would be fine as long as all of the draws and historically significant people were already in. if work is being voted on, it should be the least important thing. I'm sure the tens of thousands of people who were paying to see JYD in the early 80s thought he was a great worker. I'm sure the 2,000-5000 fans that filled around half of the buildings Tamura performed in at his peak in 98/99 thought he was great too.

 

I understand that ring work is one of the 3 main criteria for the HOF, but it seems weird to me to vote in people who are only strong in the one totally subjective category. It just seems like a way to get favorites in when there are obviously more deserving candidates. By all accounts, Big Daddy is the biggest star in the history of british wrestling and people are voting for Kiyoshi Tamura who probably isnt one of the 100 most historically significant Japanese wrestlers for a "Hall of Fame" strikes me as a silly odd. Are the people voting for Tamura voting for Red Bastien? Bastien was widely considered one of the best wrestlers of his era.

 

This isn't to say we should discredit work entirely. Just mostly. Its hard for me to wrap my head around having the most subjective criteria by far be held up as the definitive building block. I mean, I think Tamura is the 3rd best wrestler of all time, best of the 90s, etc, but I make terrible decisions about everything so why would I assume I'm right about this? But I KNOW JYD was a major draw in the early 80s and was historically significant as an African American ace in the south. I find those qualities far more important as HOF candidacy building blocks than me really digging those 90 Tamura matches I watched.

 

I also don't really agree with GOTNW about the Japan category being the most chaotic category. I think its actually the least chaotic category. THe Sharpes and Gordienko probably shouldn't be on the Japanese ballot at all and that kind of muddies things up. What makes the Japan category tough is that people feel they HAVE to vote for someone and the Japanese candidates are really weak compared to the rest of the ballot and other than Fujiwara I don't really think any of them should be in.

 

Compare that to Mexico where probably 6 or 7 folks could have gone in already and then Meltzer adds Fishman who might actually be a legit candidate as well. That's a chaotic ballot. The Japanese ballot sucks because none of those dudes are HOFers yet everyone fees like they have to vote for a Japanese candidate.

 

Anyway, Tamura. Sure, I could see voting for him in the future but there are at least 20 "absolutely better candidates" on the ballot and probably 15-20 more people I'd need to know more about before saying one way or the other. I'm not honestly sure he'd be a better candidate than Low-Ki. Tamura is definitely a worse candidate than Ultimo Dragon who practically everyone agrees was a terrible induction.

 

I say ALL of this literally as I rewatch the 1/21/98 match against Ilioukhine which I think is one of the best matches ever. So. Yeah. I'm a weirdo.

[elliott]

Since I derailed my own celebratory thread about Tamura by eviscerating his HOF case, I wanted to take this back to Tamura the worker. I'll post my new reviews of missing matches & U-Style and then start working on my last Tamura project.

 

I wrote up all of the missing UWF/UWFi/RINGS Tamura that I have gotten and watched recently. I edited those matches into the posts so the reviews remained chronological for anyone coming across this in the future. But I'll post those reviews here in spoilers for people who want to read them.

 

Anyway, here we go.

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Masahito Kakihara 12/1/90

Finally recovered from Maeda breaking his face in October 1989, Tamura returns in tme to work his 6^th match ever (and Kakihara’s 4^th) as the opener on the final UWF2.0 card. This is a really interesting match to watch considering the experience level of the wrestlers and knowing Tamura is just back from a major injury. This is also really cool to see because it is the first opportunity to watch Tamura work a match of any real length as it runs 14:58. All of his matches have been good up to this point, but this is the longest one by far and he’s working against an even less experienced wrestler so he doesn’t have a veteran to lean on. So its hard not to call this a great match when thinking about it in those conditions. These two aren’t nearly as good as they would become and you can see that obviously. They aren’t even as fast or explosive as they would be in the years to come. Tamura isn’t nearly as polished or technically perfect as he would become and I think both guys got blown up at times. But honestly. This was pretty remarkable considering the experience level. For all I’ve said about being able to see Tamura’s potential in these early matches, this is really the best example of that. He’s already leading a younger worker in this match. Feeding him openings like Kakihara’s choke after a Tamura throw or the way Tamura leans into Kakihara’s spin kick to make sure he gets him just right. The way Tamura sells the spin kick and then milks every last second of the 10 count is just fucking perfect. Tamura keeps the match moving along and is already full of interesting and creative counters to submissions. His striking has been great from day one and this is awesome because you get to see him mad. Early on he has an easy time with Kakihara taking him down, locking in submissions etc. Finally Kakihara gets fed up and just starts blasting Tamura’s previously broken face. So Tamura’s like “ok you wanna strike, lets strike” and then he just annihilates Kakihara. Again neither guy, Tamura included, is the striker they would become, but in Tamura’s case I think its more of a stamina issue just coming back because he’s pretty amazing in flurries already. Anyway, this was really amazing to watch. Its not a MOTYC or anything and in terms of a “pure shoot style” match, this isn’t something I’d recommend to OJ. But I think Soup would really like this match. Soup, watch this fucking match! GREAT

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Gene Lydick 1/16/95

They go right to the mat trading submission attempts back and forth. Its not Tamura vs Han shit but its perfectly solid stuff leading to the first Lydick rope break. More solid back and forth mat work follows leading to Tamura needing a rope break. Tamura is really dominant on the mat without even seeming to be. He’s just so smooth he doesn’t appear to be in any real danger at any point. Lydick’s german suplex is awesome and I love that Tamura continues to sell the damage of it as he defends a Lydick submission attempt. Lydick’s selling of Tamura’s big knockdown off a high kick was terrific. Tamura’s desperation block of Lydick’s second german attempt was really amazing. Great struggle and really unique defense of the move really. Good finish. This was FUN.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Billy Scott 4/19/96

Tamura’s 2^nd to last UWFi match. The opening grappling is MUCH quicker than in the Lydick match I just watched. It’s not like Sakuraba level, but Scott is a much quicker athlete than Lydick and some of the other gaijin so Tamura is able to let losse a little more which is always great. The work leading up to the first rope break with Tamura’s sleeper attempt and then cross armbreaker is really good. The following back and forth grappling segment is also very strong with both guys really focused on going for kimuras before Tamura finally scoots away. Finish kinda came out of nowhere but that’s not a bad thing in shoot style. This is perfectly ok. I’ll say FUN.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto 12/19/96

I’m excited for this as it’s their first match together and they’d go on to become great rivals both in and out of the ring. This was really fun. Its short, about 10minutes, but very good and very aggressive. They’re standing and striking for most of the match and really just blasting the shit out of each other. I think the plan was strike until Yamamoto gets completely gassed, go to the mat until he catches his breath, stand up and strike, repeat formula. So this was very exciting and very heated. Tamura gets cut along the way and the finish is fucking spectacular. GREAT.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Chris Haseman 4/4/97

Very tentative and slow start. I can’t help but laugh at Haseman’s Amerian cornerman screaming “Rip his arm off” like it’s karate kid. GET HIM A BODY BAG YEAAAAH! This is a pretty non-descript match. Back and forth mat work. Nothing really spectacular or even notable. SKIPPABLE

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Joop Kasteel 11/20/97

Tentative start as Tamura figures out how to best approach this giant musclebound man in front of him. Kasteel is an imposing figure to be sure when he’s charging and throwing strikes at you because he’s surprisingly quick in addition to being a human brick wall. Finally Tamura is able to grab a leg and lock in an ankle lock for a flash sub. This was FUN. I enjoyed Kasteel quite a bit actually.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Dick Leon-Vrij 3/28/98

Vrij is such an intimidating figure. Just big and long and clearly a great athlete. This starts with both guys feeling each other out with strikes before going to the mat where neither guy can really get control. Great knockdown by Vrij with a sick looking knee which Tamura did a great slow knockdown sell for. Back to the mat with Vrij in control at first but Tamura getting a nice rolling counter to get the advantageous position but Vrij is able to just power out of it in a really impressive spot. Vrij follows up with a great striking combo. Tamura’s selling of near knockouts is one of his amazing traits I haven’t talked about nearly enough. He is incredible at selling damage in a realistic fashion that still reaches everyone in the crowd. Great facial expressions and body language. This fucking guy. Tamura gets some payback with a super fast slapping combo for a nominal knockdown. This only makes Vrij angry andhe comes out with a wild striking combo leading to Tamura locking in a sleeper and Vrij goes for the fucking eyes! Whoa! The ref gives Vrij a yellow card and Virj offers a handshake but Tamura waves him off. Damn. Tamura immediately takes Vrij down and gets a sleeper with Vrij tapping almost before Tamura even locks it in. Tamura stands over Vrij giving him the Allen Iverson stepping over Ty Lue look and it’s awesome. That was an interesting finish. FUN.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Masayuki Naruse 8/28/98

Slow tentative start as you expect in a shoot style match. Tamura hits the always fun Muy Thai knees in the corner while they’re locked in the clench. The early mat work is perfectly solid stuff. Its more restrained than your insane all out Tamura grappling, but still good, organic, back and forth stuff where they work towards submissions and change positions without going for rope breaks. It isn’t as earth shattering as the Kohsaka match, but Naruse isn’t on that level. At one point, the match stop as doctors come in to look at Naruse’s knee after a Tamura submission attempt and rare rope break. Naruse is pretty badly limping at this point making himself an easy target for Tamura. Rope breaks start coming a lot quicker now with Naruse’s mobility fucked up as Tamura racks up a big lead in points. There’s also a great knockdown where Tamura nails Naruse with a kick to the ribs right as Naruse goes for his crazy spinning back fist. Finish was inevitable with Naruse hurt. This was, I mean, it wasn’t bad. It was on the disappointing side for sure. I’d say SKIPPABLE though. I can’t imagine recommending this.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kohsaka 1/23/99

Follow up to their all time classic from the previous June. They go right to the mat after a great struggle over a Kohsaka take down. Kohsaka is so fucking smooth. He’s one of the rare guys that doesn’t look completely outclassed by Tamura on the mat. This allows them to push their exchanges much further than you would see in something like the Naruse match. I mean, there’s a borderline rolling cradle at one point. Tamura is top notch as usual in terms of his selling and desperate attempts for the ropes when Kohsaka finally does get something locked in. This is all really good mat work until the finishing stretch when they have an awesome strike fest that starts with both guys throwing hard low kicks at each other, Tamura getting a slight advantage on jumping on it just blasting Kohsaka with jumping knees and hard slaps before getting the knockdown. But Kohsaka manages to pull out the surprise win. This was awesome. Its only 10 minutes so its WAY shorter than their classic from the previous June. But its cool to see them work a different sort of match. GREAT stuff.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Bitsaze Tariel 5/22/99

I enjoy this match up so I’m looking forward to this. Tariel is so much fun throwing a ton of big strikes and even jumping at Tamura at one point to the delight of the crowd. This is a lot of fun early on with Tamura just getting overwhelmed in the first 2 minutes. Tamura finally gets an opening and takes Tariel down and works towards a sleeper. Tariel’s striking is his best offense but also his worst defense here. He keeps leaving himself open for Tamura to get a takedown and Tariel cannot hang on the mat with Tamura so Tamura is able to maintain control. Tariel does a good job putting over the danger of Tamura’s ground game. This is a little formulaic. Tariel goes after Tamura with strikes, Tamura eventually gets a takedown and tries for submissions leading to Tariel going for the ropes which leads to them standing and repeating the formula. This is not a bad thing. It leads to an awesome match. Tariel gets blown up towards the end, but he worked his ass off to get there. GREAT

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Joop Kasteel 8/19/99

Goddamn Joop Kasteel is an intimidating dude. Slow start with both guys feeling each other out. I love the spot when they go to the mat and Tamura throws a punch at Kasteel’s gut and Kasteel just leans back and puts his arms out like “Come on, hit me” so Tamura blasts Kasteel to no reaction. So then Tamura just goes for a leg lock instead realizing that Kasteel is literally made of steel. Seriously Kasteel is so big and strong that his punches while lying flat on his back look really fucking rough. This is really Tamura just trying to figure out how to deal with this giant man on the mat who not only is deceptively quick but has the strength to just toss Tamura around. AMAZING knockdown sell by Tamura after Kasteel hits him with a low kick putting Tamura down. Kasteel actually responds in kind going down after a Tamura kick to the ribs. Tamura is just awesome towards the finish selling damage to the leg from a few really hard Kasteel kicks. Tamura gets the win which felt like an upset just because of the way it was worked. FUN

 

 

[elliott]

And here's all the U-Style I have write ups for:

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Wataru Sakata 2/15/03

Tamura offers a handshake but Sakata opts to slap him in the face instead. You’re funeral Sakata. This is the main event of the first U-Style show so the crowd is into it. Tamura doesn’t look to have missed a beat which makes sense considering he’s spent the last 3 years doing shoots and probably the same training he’s been doing for years. This is all on the mat early with both guys looking good. Its not Tamura vs Han but its very good nonetheless. There’s an awesome sequence leading to a ropebreak where Tamura works for an armbar, triangle choke and back to the arm bar. This leads to a rope break and the first real strike exchange leading to Tamura’s awesome spinebuster, single leg crab combo that the crowd pops huge for. This has really picked up by this point and this is terrific from here with both guys desperately going for submissions and counters. Tamura honestly seems quicker now than he was when he was younger. AMAZING spot where Tamura is doing repeated knee strikes with the crowd cheering along and Tamura hitting an awesome jumping kick for the knockdown. Tamura’s selling is SO fucking good here. He’s incredible at the sort of “almost knocked out dead on your feet” selling mixed with desperation diving for the ropes. Finishing stretch was great. Tamura looks out of this world great. EPIC.

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Dokonjonosuke Mishima 4/6/03

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4thN6WttZpE

 

This looks slightly JIP on youtube. Crowd is into this early. Great throw by Mishima. Mishima wins my heart right away by taking some really creative chances for the sake of positioning. This is cool because its Tamura getting to work with someone smaller than him which isn’t something we got to see a lot of throughout his career. Mishima is really quick so there are some really breathtaking “blink and you’ll miss it” moments in this. Mishima also pulls out some of the most bizarre submission attempts this side of Mikhail Ilioukhine including this totally fucking gnarly toe lock that looks so brutal and leads to a rope break. Oh my god, those handstand kick things Mishima does. Holy shit. Dokonjonosuke, where the fuck have you been all my life? Everyone who likes shoot style just a little bit needs to see this shit. Tamura is the perfect sort of opponent for a goofy fuck like Mishima. Tamura has superior technique but also is one of the great athletes and naturals in wrestling history so he’s able to deal with all of Mishima’s weirdo stuff. EPIC match. Million billion stars. This was just an absolute delight. I with they had 10 more matches together.

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Katsuhisa Fujii 12/9/03

This is really good right away. They work a really quick and aggressive pace early with each guy trying to get the advantage. Fuji’s german suplex attempt and Tamura’s desperation “DON’T SUPLEX ME OH NO YOU’RE SUPLEXING ME NOOOO” selling is fucking awesome. Fuji is really cool trying to slam Tamura and throw him around but Tamura keeps fighting back with submissions. I’m watching this on Tabe’s best of Tamura comp and the match cuts out like right in the middle of a transition about 5 minutes in. DAMNIT. This was looking really good.

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 2/4/04

Here we go! Really nice back and forth mat work early on. These two were just made for each other. Their matches together don’t have the hatred of Tamura vs Yamamoto or, I hate to say creativity because these are creative matches, so I’ll say this doesn’t have the unique Umami flavor of the Han series. But these two might be each other’s best opponent in a more classical Flair vs Steamboat sort of way. Like these two reach the closest ideal to what the shoot style founders were pushing for. I dunno if that makes sense. That said, they do some really fun and interesting counters/escapes in this and the work in generally is what you would expect from these two: Fucking Excellent. They do a really good job here of building to counters. Sometimes they are quick and see and opening, boom counter. But they also work in some slower escapes as well that are super dramatic and beautifully built to like the triangle choke Tamura slllllowly works his way out of. Phenomenal short knee and high kick combo by Tamura with a really great “I’m woozy but I’m ok” sell from Kohsaka followed up by an every better high kick by Tamura and an “OK, now I’m fucking out” sell by Kohsaka. Great segment. They continue on with more awesome strikes trading the advantage back and forth. Crowd is hot for this shit. Tamura’s selling on knockdowns is so damn good. They go back to the mat and they’re a little quicker now. Working towards submissions faster and going for rope breaks as business has picked up in a big way. They do a wildly entertaining trading leglocks section that is usually one of the worst spots in shoot style matches but these guys are so fucking good they know how to actually make that entertaining. Tamura’s single leg crab is SO over in U-Style. Pretty amazing to see that move get that reaction in 2004. The finishing stretch is predictably fantastic with these two. This was just a phenomenal match. Easy EPIC. I love this match.

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kyosuke Sasaki 3/13/04

Sasaki slaps Tamura when Tamura offers a handshake. I’m sensing a U-Style trend there. I really like watching Tamura get to match up with all these small athletic dudes after watching him face people bigger than him throughout his career. It makes these U-Style matches a great change of pace and allows Tamura to not only be more dominant and also really push himself athletically and talk more chances. This is another really good match with typically excellent mat work. Tamura actually lets Sasaki get ahead on points by locking in a few submissions leading to Tamura needing rope breaks. After his 2^nd rope break, Tamura seems to get a little more focused like he’s determined not to let Sasaki get the better of him on the mat. Tamura has a really easy time standing with Sasaki. Tamura is bigger, stronger and as quick as Sasaki so he can just shrug off most of Sasaki’s strikes. Sasaki does a really bad job selling a knockdown off a Tamura slap but he makes up for it eating the vintage Tamura jumping kick. Love the guillotine choke by Tamura as well. Sasaki seems totally gassed and dead on his feet at the end of this. This didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I think that has more to do with Sasaki. Tamura looked great, I just don’t think Sasaki could keep up. I’ll go with FUN.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kazuki Okubo 4/28/04

Okubo changes up the prematch “Diss Tamura” routine by giving Tamura a shove intead of a slap. Okubo most really hate himself. They open with an awesome high kick exchange with Tamura getting the better of it and a quick knockdown. They go back to an awesome strike exchange before Tamura goes for a flipping armbar. Opening moments of this are terrific. They finally slow it down a bit when they go to the mat but its still really good shit and they keep the match moving along well. There’s a really nasty spot with Okubo doing almost a single leg crab but Tamura is lying on his back. Its gnarly. This is really hard fought back and forth mat work. The speed isn’t going to blow your mind, but it is quite intense and the flexibility required for some this shit is ridiculous. Tamura really makes Okubo work for every counter and submission attempt. They go to a strike exchange and its almost unfair. These guys are a similar size, Tamura’s a big bigger and certainly more muscular, but he’s also faster than Okubo so when they have a strike exchange, Tamura can just take a hard slap or kick and throw a more devastating strike right back. I remember the old “He’s a great thinking man’s wrestler” line about Takada calmly thinking his way through counters and reversals. You can really see that with Tamura in these U-Style matches. He seems completely in control at all times. Okubo ends up gassed and blown up and easy prey for Tamura to take apart with kicks. Tamura just goes after Okubo’s ribs with strike after strike getting two knockdowns. FINALLY Okubo gets a counter and puts Tamura in a single leg crab. Tamura’s really great selling it and inching slowly towards the ropes. But Okubo is too gassed to hang for the final strike exchange. Tamura even dances away making Okubo chase him a little and him with strikes before finally Tamura kinda gives him a “Ya done yet? Yeah you’re fucking done” before ending it. This was pretty awesome. Tamura was essentially playing the bully leading to a great finishing run. GREAT

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiroyuki Ito 8/18/04

Ito opts to shake Tamura’s hand prematch. Smart decision. Oh but Ito runs right out at the bell with a slapping combo leading to an intense striking exchange to start this off. Ito with a quick takedown and an immediate rope break from Tamura like a minute in. Whoa. That’s not something you see often. Back to the groud and Ito almost gets a triangle choke and cross armbreaker before finally getting a second rope break with a triangle choke. And holy shit Tamura is down 2 points early. He does an awesome job selling the damage from the triangle. Back standing and Ito really stays on top of Tamura with strikes but Tamura is able to block most of them. Tamura manages to take Ito down but Ito is skilled on the mat immediately looking for counters and almost locking in a 3^rd triangle choke. The grappling is fucking awesome in this match. Since Tamura is on the defensive so much we get to see a lot of really awesome counter attempts and he reminds you just how great he is at selling and building drama through holds. His selling during strike exchanges remains fantastic. The build and the pop for Ito’s first knockdown of Tamura is so so so great. And it makes Tamura mad so he fights back with his own wicked combo for a knockdown. But Tamura is still selling his ass off basically kneeling in the corner as Ito tries to beat the count. And Ito does so we get another amazing strike exchange. Goddamn this shit is amazing. Tamura actually gets down to his last point with Ito still having two left. So this is total desperation time. Tamura is just completely relentless going after Ito as the crowd goes bonkers. Finishing stretch here is just fantastic. This is a fucking classic match. Probably one of Tamura’s 10 best matches of his career. Easy EPIC. Stop everything and watch this fucking match if you haven’t seen it.

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Alexander Otsuka 8/18/04

Otsuka is one of my all time favorite wrestlers and I have a pretty high opinion on this Tamura guy too. So I’m stoked for this matchup. Seriously, if Otsuka does a giant swing, I’m going to call this the greatest match ever no matter what. Tamura gets an instant knockdown with two high kicks. Whoa. Otsuka is awesome selling so if he just gets his ass kicked the whole time, I’m down for that. Otsuka charges at Tamura and they go to the mat for some nice grappling. Even though Otsuka worked shoots and was a shoot style worker, I feel like when most people think of him they think of the real human suplex machine and guy who does giant swings and rana’s in BattlArts. But he’s an extremely talented mat worker also and he gets to show that off in these exchanges with Tamura. Really Otsuka is able to keep up with Tamura on the mat but whenever they stand, Tamura just crushes Otsuka with kicks. I love Otsuka’s selling of them covering up, almost turning around before finally crumpling under the weight of these kicks. Otsuka can bock them but it doesn’t help him at all. . He finally manages to fight through them and get one big slam in but he just can’t keep Tamura off of him. Finish is NASTY. This was short, there was no giant swing or tope con hilo or dragon suplexes or hurricanranas or any of the things you love about Alexander Otsuka. Just awesome mat work and selling. GREAT

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Josh Barnett 11/23/05

They go right to the mat for back and forth grappling. It’s all really good stuff and Barnett surprisingly is able to keep up with Tamura down there. This is so much better than you’d expect early on. Really fun mat work from both guys with cool counters and submission attempts. Tamura hits one of the greatest knees to the face in wrestling history for a knockdown. Barnett has one of Tamura’s legs and is going for a takedown and Tamura jumps up and just destroys Barnett with the other knee. It is so fast and so brutal. Just amazing. Barnett is furious and decides to come back with some of the best suplexes you’ve ever seen. Tamura is an awesome bumper and light enough that Barnett can do these incredible dead lift throws. Tamura has to fight back with strikes which Barnett is awesome selling or submission attempts, but Barnett shows himself to be a competent grappler capable of defending himself and using his strength and technique to put Tamura in peril on the mat. Tamura is really good at choosing when to sell one of Barnett’s throws as a knockout sort of throw and when to react as thought it was a takedown. Obviously the knockout throws probably hurt him way more, but I’m glad Tamura didn’t really sell the gut wrench suplex as a knockout because it didn’t really look all that devastating. Smart shit. The ensuing back and forth mat work is really good stuff. Their standing exchanges are super exciting too but Barnett starts to blow up a little bit as the match goes on. Tamura’s dead weight defense and rolling leg lock counter to a german suplex attempt was a fantastic spot. As was Barnett’s tribute to Maeda capture suplex. The finish is so so so so so so so good. Instantly one of my favorite finishes. Holy shit. This was really this great. Easy EPIC.