Loss Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 Talk about it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Vrij is great because in addition to being a wrestler, he's also a total showman, which is a nice change of pace in RINGS. There's a psychology present here that isn't present in other RINGS matches, and this has the feel of a big time main event. I need to see every match these two ever had. Awesome match! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 It's amazing that Han can take that much punishment and comeback. Great stuff. Did Han vs Antonio Inoki ever happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJH Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 I think you're the first guy in the history of the internet to call Vrij great, Loss. I don't think these matches are particularly "good", but they work, and are fun. And, no, he never wrestled Inoki. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 I liked this and kinda had a "Rocky" feel to it. Vrij was good with his heeling it up and playing to the crowd. This had a ton of heat, and made the match seem special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Ridge Posted September 21, 2012 Report Share Posted September 21, 2012 Han's takedown to start the match was pretty sweet. He moved really fast. I enjoyed Vrij's contribution cause he was getting the crowd involved. Good atmosphere to the match. Vrij looked like he was going to pull out the victory but went to the high kick too many times and got caught. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenjo Posted September 21, 2012 Report Share Posted September 21, 2012 Dick-o was a powerful looking man with hard strikes. It's wierd because the action wasn't that great but the fans were reacting like it's the most awesome thing ever. Piped? The storyline was as goofy as the proverbial pet coon as Han was down 4 times before the Rocky comeback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 Han is such a superstar to this crowd and he doesn't rest on his reputation, throwing all sorts of awesome spinning strikes and creative submission attempts. He's easily one of the most innovative guys you'll ever see in a ring. Vrij stays strong with a couple knockdowns but Han capitalizes on one of his own and gets the win with what looks like some kind of STF variation. ***3/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted August 24, 2013 Report Share Posted August 24, 2013 Vrij looks like a total badass and is charismatic, and is sort of the rich man's version of Tony Halme. But this is very broomsticky and a Han showcase, with some awesome flying takedowns and great selling even though Vrij doesn't do much more than kick and a nice escape or two. Basic heat->babyface comeback story that should be accessible to anyone, made by Han. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 Han is such a superstar to this crowd and he doesn't rest on his reputation, throwing all sorts of awesome spinning strikes and creative submission attempts. He's easily one of the most innovative guys you'll ever see in a ring. Vrij stays strong with a couple knockdowns but Han capitalizes on one of his own and gets the win with what looks like some kind of STF variation. ***3/4 Well, it was an ST without the F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garretta Posted March 27, 2016 Report Share Posted March 27, 2016 This was almost a squash for Vrij, as he knocked Han around the ring at will until the very end. It was when he tried to wrestle that Han got the advantage, and it was a hold that spelled his downfall, as Han was two-thirds of a point away from a knockout loss when he blocked a Vrij kick and turned it into an anklelock for the win as the crowd went nuts. Vrij threw one of the best backfists I've ever seen at one point. It caught Han behind the ear, and he sold it beautifully. He was never quite in his right mind for the rest of the bout, even though he pulled out the win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted December 2, 2016 Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 #426. This was blissfully short compared to the Misawa/Kobashi match I watched. Volk is such a beautiful wrestler to watch. Every motion he makes in this match is beautiful whether it's on offense or defense. It doesn't matter how good Vrij is, Volk is mesmerizing. I'm struggling to think of how many wrestlers I thought were on another stratosphere as though they were walking on clouds, but Volk is one of them. There are a lot of comments here suggesting Volk "pulled out the win." To me, he manipulated the situation from the get-go and the result was never in doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted March 10, 2017 Report Share Posted March 10, 2017 Really, the result was never in doubt after he was blasted in the head at on three different occasions from three different angles and had four knockdowns against him. From a kayfabe standpoint, to say Han was in control just smacks of silliness. Volk Han vs Dick Vrij - RINGS 8/21/92 Amazing drama in this shoot-style masterpiece. Vrij is a dickish headthunting heel. Han is the clean cut maestro. The match is really the high head kick of Vrij vs the legbar/heel hook of Han. Han sets the tone immediately taking Vrij down and just never letting go of the ankle. Just a great visual of Han having his prey by the ankle and Vrij desperately lunging for the ropes. That would be a seen played over and over again. We find out what Vrij's strategy is, keep it standing up and go high. There is a couple times he is able to catch coming in when he is shooting for legscissors or a takedown for legbar. The scoring seemed off as Vrij used the ropes on at least four occasions but didn't always get counted on. As the match progressed, Vrij was landing bigger and bigger shots. He was growing more and more confident. He was a great dick heel signaling to the crowd. The Han takedown attempts became more desperate as Vrij was clearly too close to the ropes for Han to do anything. Vrij hit an awesome spinning back fist and then totally rocked Han with a high kick to the head. Han had four knockdowns against him and one more knockdown would cost him the match. In a miracle, Han catches Vrij's high kick takes him down and wrenches in a great stepover toehold (STF without front facelock) to pull out the win. Classic mat wizard vs bomb throwing standup fighter. Very entertaining, great pacing and I loved how the strategies played into the finish! ****1/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkix Posted February 14, 2018 Report Share Posted February 14, 2018 Loved this match. Such an awesome dynamic between the heavy cyborg striker in Vrij and the submission specialist in Han, with the perfect build and set-up to the finish. It plays on the strengths of both dudes, and is sort of a personal dream match of mine from when I first started watching RINGS. Han knows what Vrij’s all about and immediately tries to submit him with the kneebar and keeps dragging him back to the middle of the ring. But once he’s back on his feet, Vrij goes hard with the strikes, cracking Han with kicks to the hamstring and brutal knees whenever Han tries for the double leg takedowns. On the ground, however, Han rules and he once again utilizies his legs in unique ways to try and pry open an armbar on Vrij. Vrij can't really hang with him on the mat.. He’ll hack out one of Han’s legs with kicks but he's unable to follow up with a submission. Even when he works in a head scissors, Han is able to turn it against him and force him to the ropes. By the end of the match, they’re both exhausted, they’ve used up all their outs and it’s down to the last submission or knockdown. Vrij swings for the fences with a high kick but Han’s able to catch it, spoiling Vrij’s homerun with a calf hold to submit him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted March 26, 2021 Report Share Posted March 26, 2021 Love both of these guys in this match. And the story. One of Han's early bouts he shows his strikes to be almost as good as his grappling and the match suffers for it. Here he plays up Vrij's striking superiority in every way possible and it is just amazing. Even down to the "that didn't hurt" reaction after the third knockdown he suffered that tells you he really is hurt. Not on the list of the best sub-10 minute matches ever, but totally on the list of best sub-11 minute matches ever. And probably one of the greatest worked shootstyle matches you'll see too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Posted April 8, 2021 Report Share Posted April 8, 2021 To me this is the best Han match up until this point in his career. A lot of Han's matches are built around a grappler vs. striker dynamic with Han being the superior grappler and until this point this is a peak of that. Vrij brings tons of personality to this and isn't afraid to pander to the crowd. Vrij also uses his strikes to keep Han against the ropes and retreating for the most part which is also beneficial to Vrij as he can easily retreat himself and force a rope break whenever Han catches one of his strikes and counters with a submission hold. Han is super fired up for this and even brings signs of "fighting spirit" which the fans totally eat up as he eats some vicious leg kicks and knees to the midsection. This also features a beautiful finishing sequence with Vrij going balls to the walls with strikes before Han catches him with a step over toehold and tapes him out immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted July 10, 2021 Report Share Posted July 10, 2021 I can totally see the Rocky comparisons here. Dick Vrij might not be a mat wizard, but he throws some devastating strikes and has one menacing look. Han carries him to a right barn-burner, in which I genuinely thought Vrij was going to beat Han by knocking him down multiple times and winning by points. The crowd was super into this and the place came unglued when Han was able to catch Vrij is a big submission for the victory. ★★★★¼ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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