Kiyoshi Tamura: Complete and Accurate

[elliott]

So, I think Kiyoshi Tamura is awesome, but I’m not really sure just how awesome. My knee jerk reaction over the years has always been that I think Volk Han is better and I always liked Maeda more even while recognizing that Tamura was probably better. And after watching a shit load of Fujiwara I would comfortably call him the best shoot style worker. But I’ve been thinking about Tamura recently. He’s an interesting wrestler to think about for the GWE poll because he didn’t wrestle 100s of matches per year, didn’t travel internationally, and only worked one (very) niche style (albeit a style most people consider extremely difficult) but is universally considered a master of his style. What the fuck do we do with a candidate like Tamura? His matches with Volk Han, Kohsaka, and Vader have always been some of my favorites since I first saw them 15years ago and in all the different stuff I’ve watched recently against guys like Yamamoto, Kakihara, etc a theme started to develop…Kiyoshi Tamura is really fucking good. So I started poking around youtube and dailymotion to see what was out there. I noted all the Tamura matches that made the yearbooks and wrote down their disc# for easy access. I started to realize that for a guy who didn’t work a ton of matches, I seemed to have easy access to a fuckload of them. I looked at http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com and searched for all the Tamura matches I could find from his debut in May 1989 for UWF2.0 all the way up through 1999 RINGS. I stopped there because I’m pretty sure 2000 is when RINGS started moving to all shoots or mostly shoots in 2000. I am 99% sure that the Frank Shamrock draw from 1999 was a shoot so I’m not counting that. In all, I found that between UWF2.0, UWFi, and RINGS, Tamura had 99 matches from 5/89 through 12/99. Between the Yearbooks, Youtube, and DailyMotion, I have all of Tamura’s matches except for 25 or 26 of them. Sadly most of the 25 or 26 matches I’m missing are from RINGS which is a huge bummer. But still, having 73 or 74 matches out of 99 is easily the highest percentage of matches from someone’s career that I’m going to get. So I figured what the fuck, lets watch all of them.

 

Since I’m blatantly ripping off Phil Schneider’s “Complete and Accurate” title, I will make this a complete and accurate rip off by using his EPIC, GREAT, FUN, and SKIPPABLE rating system.

UWF 2.0

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Minoru Suzuki 5/21/89

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxiV8KEnmas

 

 

This is actually Tamura’s debut match which is cool to have. He’s already got the red trunks. Tamura excites the crowd right away. His first kick to the chest is so fast and so hard there’s a loud “OOOHHHHHHHHH” and Tamura follows it up with a lightening fast knee before getting caught in a bodyslam after attempting another high kick. It’s the very first sequence of Tamura’s career and the crowd is buzzing. Tamura again gets the crowd buzzing when Suzuki has his leg up and Tamura rolls through to attempt a leg submission that you’ll see him nail in the future. The opening sequences have Tamura pretty overzealous with strikes. He has been throwing a lot and hits some but ends up getting caught eventually. Suzuki has more success with submissions but Tamura is a striking machine in this. He shows some ability to get out of holds and he has the speed/agility to avoid takedowns, but he is definitely going for strikes more than submissions thus far. When they’re in close or on the ground, Suzuki tends to be in control. This is a short match. 5minutes 30 seconds long to be exact. And it has a 19 year old in his debut. But FUCK is this something everyone should watch. It probably isn’t the best sub 6minute match but I can’t imagine very many guys look as good as Tamura in their debut. Tamura’s striking is there from Day 1. He throws unbelievably quick combos with both legs and both hands. All of his strikes LOOK really fucking good. He doesn’t show much in the way of submission work here. We all know he will turn into one of the greats on the mat and defensively there are some snippets you can see. Most of it is in countering through submission attempts or simply trying to avoid a takedown. You can see great potential in Tamura from his very first match. FUN

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Shigeo Miyato 8/13/89

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6jSHp8TzCc

 

 

 

Tamura’s 2^nd ever match. Crowd is buzzing at the start of this. Again this starts off with Tamura throwing some really good looking strikes until getting caught and slammed. Miyato is way more willing to try and kick Tamura in the face than Suzuki was trying to do in the last match. So this could turn into a standing battle. Tamura is again slowed down when they get close or go to the mat. Tamura takes some wicked bumps on hip tosses and slams by the way. You don’t really think of bumping in shoot style, but Tamura was certainly capable. Tamura is more successful against Miyato than Suzuki in terms of takedown attempts and maybe starting to think about trying for a submission. But Miyato tends to reverse things pretty easily when they’re on the ground but he can’t put Tamura away. Nice pop when Tamura actually sinks in his first submission attempt but Miyato is able to reverse it pretty easily forcing Tamura to go for the ropes. Tamura isn’t able to counter every submission. He’s been able to counter out of a few, he kicked his way out of one and has gone 2 rope breaks. It’s pretty clear at this early stage he’s still “learning” on the mat but his speed, agility, and striking are able to keep him from being totally eaten alive out there. Right as I say he’s “learning” on the mat, a minute or so goes by and he hits a beautiful flipping cross armbreaker. Miyato manages to reverse out of it but for the first time in his career Tamura is REALLY on the offensive. He hits some killer knees and a judo throw and a sub attempt. AWESOME spot where Tamura goes for another throw but Miyato just grabs him and kills him with a suplex. Tamura is knocked silly. He makes a valiant attempt to throw some strikes and keep momentum, but Miyato is able to destroy him getting repeated knockdowns with kicks and knees to the chest. Miyato checks on Tamura afterwards. This match goes 9 minutes and fucking rocked. EPIC

 

There’s a 5minute long rematch on 9/7 that unfortunately isn’t online but I’d love to see it. Luckily the 4^th match in Tamura’s career is and is against an old favorite…

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoji Anjoh 9/30/89

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Gle7Wr5k4

 

 

 

Tamura is going for subs early and often in this as they stay on the mat to begin with. Anjoh is able to reverse Tamura’s attempts pretty easily but Tamura looks much more confident in his ground game already. Its Anjoh that throws the first hard knee strike in this. I almost get the feeling that Anjoh is baiting Tamura into going for strikes. Everytime Tamura goes for a strike, Anjoh is waiting for it, grabs Tamura and throws some nasty strikes (usually hard knees) of his own before taking things back down to the mat. Tamura really starts to show his ground skills in this but from a kayfabe persecptive Anjoh really has an easy time countering and reversing most of it. Tamura is able to reverse some of Anjoh’s sub attempts, but still has to make several rope breaks. Tamura finally has a little flurry of success striking before Anjoh cuts him off and just starts killing him with strikes. Tamura tries the flipping cross armbreaker again but it doesn’t look great. He does lock in the armbreaker though and Anjoh has to make for the ropes. Seriously, Anjoh is just killing him with knee strikes in this and gets a knockdown with a nasty headbutt. Everytime Tamura tries to make a comeback and make something happen, the crowd is waiting to explode but Anjoh is really just too much for him. Tamura gets a really nice “OOOHHHHHHHHH” reaction when he’s able to counter out of a rear naked choke, but Anjoh is able to lock in a toe lock for the sub. This was like the greatest squash match in history. Anjoh is a beast and Tamura is a straight up prodigy. EPIC.

 

Tamura’s 5^th match is 2minutes 2seconds against Maeda on 10/25/89 which isn’t online even though 3 of the other 5 matches from the show are (and the 4^th is a 30 min draw with a dude named MacDuff Roesch that I can only assume is terrible) online in full. Annoying. I would LOVE to see Maeda murder Tamura for less than two and a half minutes. But alas.

 

UPDATE Thanks to GOTNW, we have this match and it is everything you could hope for.

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Akira Maeda 10/25/89

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_4t5MDwvok

 

 

Tamura comes out absolutely firing. He is throwing crazy fast slapping/kick combos at Maeda trying to do whatever he can to put the boss down. Maeda manages to snag a leg and take Tamura down for a quick submission leading Tamura to roll desperately towards the ropes. He’s slow getting up and limping to sell the quick early damage. Back standing and Tamura continues to try and strike with Maeda so Maeda decides to teach the kid a lesson and starts throwing the hardest knees to the face/chest in a wrestling match that I have ever seen. It is completely ridiculous. Maeda beats Tamura so badly in this he gets a knockdown 10 count off of a rope break. Tamura actually attempts a dropkick in this. Anything to stay alive. This only seems to piss Maeda off more as he continues with the hardest knees in the history of wrestling for a KO. This is the greatest two minute match in history and maybe the greatest squash in history. If you like watching dudes get kneed in the face really fucking hard for the sake of pro wrestling, watch this shit. FUN

 

 

Also pretty annoying is that he doesn’t actually show back up until December 1, 1990 where he scores his first win over Masahito Kakihara in 15minutes with a TKO. I ALSO can’t find that match online, which is ALSO pretty fucking annoying. This complete and accurate is getting less complete and accurate by the match (I learned from watching you, Phil).

 

Edit: Well, I ended up getting this match so here's my review!

 

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

 

However, we do have the next match in Tamura’s career from 5/10/91 in a rematch against Kakihara as the first match on the first ever UWFi card. Does anyone know what Tamura was doing from 10/25/89-5/10/91 excluding the one match on 12/1/90? Was he hurt? Was he training? I get that the 2^nd half of that gap is due to the splintering of the UWF into the 3 new shoot style feds. But what was he doing from 10/89 through 12/90? I would love for the answer to be something like “Oh he was ‘touring’ overseas. There’s footage of him in Texas as Samurai Tamura against Eric Embry or something ridiculous like that. But I assume he was “training” or Maeda beat him into a year long hibernation.

 

 

 

UWFi

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masahito Kakihara (UWFI 5/10/91)

 

First match from the 1^st UWFi show. This is the 7th match of Tamura’s career. Kakihara has only just debuted on August 31, 1990 and this is his 5^th match. It is also worth noting that Kakihara turned 19 just 12 days before this match. Since Tamura is a few years older and debuted earlier, we get to see Tamura be more successful in takedowns and getting closer to locking in submissions much more easily in this compared to his prior matches. He looks quite good defensively avoiding takedowns and selling the effectiveness of Kakihara’s wicked striking. In the early going, the roles are flipped from Tamura’s previous matches. Instead of relying mostly on his striking for offense, he’s going more for takedowns and submission attempts. Early on Kakihara is fairly outclassed by Tamura on the mat so he uses crazy fast striking combos to gain the advantage. There’s a really great sequence early on where Kakihara is just rocking Tamura with strikes and Tamura is covering up trying not to get KO’d, then before you realize it, Tamura is diving in for a doubleleg takedown and locks on a submission causing a rope break. Tamura is already really really good on the mat. He’s not quite as smooth as he is later in his prime, but we’re finally getting the chance to see him work with some variety on the mat. There are some great examples of him using his grappling offensively and defensively. He looks sharp going in for takedowns and working towards submissions and there are great moments of him avoiding/reversing takedowns and submission attempts. I’ve talked a lot about Tamura’s mat work in this because it has been the first chance to see him show a lot on the mat, but it definitely should be mentioned that he is still an incredible striker. His punches/slaps to the head/body, kicks to the knee/body/head, knees to the body/chest, and ground strikes are ALL delivered with incredible speed, accuracy and stiffness. He tends to give more to Kakihara in the striking exchanges to make the match better but you can tell from watching this that Tamura is already world class when it comes to striking with great speed, accuracy and variety. Finishing run in this is terrific. Kakihara seemed to have trouble both defending a submission while looking for his own at the same time. So when he finally reverses an ankle lock with one of his own the crowd pops huge for it. But he got a teensy bit cocky and tried to drag Tamura into the center of the ring away from the ropes but Tamura was able to reverse it leaving Kakihara nowhere to go. This is fucking awesome. Find me a match as good as this where the participants have 10 combined matches and I will call you a liar. EPIC.

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tom Burton 6/6/91

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSLCa4eTinI

 

 

Oh, English commentary sweet. Here’s our first Tamura vs Gaijin match. Commentary talking about Burton’s weight advantage and Tamura being known for his speed, skill, and agility and if that will be enough to overcome the weight advantage. So doing my job for me so far. Tamura uses a lot of leg kicks trying to keep his distance. When Burton closes the distance he throws some hard knees and is going for suplexes. Tamura is awesome escaping them here and there and using his speed to avoid getting squashed. Burton gets ahead quickly going for submissions attempts and forcing Tamura to go for the ropes. Everytime he gets to close, Burton is tossing him using his strength to lock in submissions. They do a really good job getting over the size difference with Burton taking the advantage everytime Tamura gets to close. Tamura is constantly changing it up trying different strikes and trying to keep moving constantly. Tamura manages to get a quick submission with a cross armbreaker after flipping out of a Fujiwara armbar. This was way better than I expected. They really told the same story like 5 times in a row in a 9 minute match but they went about telling it different ways every time. FUN (Commentary is not very good by the way)

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoji Anjoh 7/3/91

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AdZZJNTnyw

 

 

Our next match is Tamura vs an old favorite in Yoji Anjoh. They’ve had a match before on 9/89 that I described as the greatest squash match ever. So this will be a good opportunity to see Tamura’s growth. Immediate difference from the 89 match as Tamura is able to score a couple of quick takedowns with ease. Crowd is already super hot and the opening back and forth grappling is so fast at times early on that the thought crosses my mind that the film has been sped up (it hasn’t been). The big difference from Tamura now and Tamura’s first few matches in 89 is that Tamura is MUCH better defensively and countering out of submissions in order to create offense instead of going for the ropes right away. Although Anjoh is obviously good enough to get Tamura in peril and force several rope breaks, Tamura is much more likely to first look to counter before making a play for the ropes. Tamura really uses his speed and agility to counter and escape from submissions while Anjoh is a little bit slower but a little more forceful and rough with his counter attempts. Tamura gracefully rolls out of a Fujiwara armbar attempt while with an Anjoh counter, you’re more likely to catch an elbow in the face. Tamura is REALLY showing his ground skills in this. There are some absolutely breathtaking exchanges here both on the mat and standing and striking. Anjoh has more success the more striking exchanges they have. Tamura definitely has some awesome flurries but he is again mostly working towards submissions. Anjoh’s ground game is more successful as the match moves along because he’s started to weaken/slow Tamura down a bit with his brutal knee lifts. At one point, Anjoh is working on a toe lock and Tamura finally kind of snaps and just starts blasting Anjoh with knees and slaps which is just awesome. Fired up Tamura throwing everything he’s got at someone is one of the most exciting moments in wrestling. His speed is just indescribable. Anjoh is ahead on points most of the way (He’s 5 points ahead at the moment of Tamura’s flurry), but he lets Tamura shine so much throughout the match that he seems closer to evenly matched than you would think just looking at the points. As the match builds, Anjoh definitely starts to have an easier time than he did at the beginning. Tamura is able to keep him working by moving around and constantly working for counters, but Anjoh’s strikes REALLY start to take their toll and Tamura starts to rely more and more on making it to the ropes as Anjoh starts to rack up the points. This ends up with Anjoh WAY ahead on points and getting a decisive victory with one of the nastiest looking single leg boston crabs you’re ever going to see. Although Anjoh decisively won, Tamura comes out of this looking really great. He was definitely worn down eventually by Anjoh’s knees and submission attempts, but he more than held his own throughout. From a kayfabe perspective, Tamura needs to work on his striking defense. His technique is already there in terms of knowing all the holds and counters and you get the sense that if he protected himself a little bit more throughout the match he’d have enough stamina to keep up towards the end. This is a fucking awesome match. Easy EPIC.

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura and Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoji Anjoh and Jim Boss 7/30/91

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiNvDd_94jQ

 

 

 

This is the first tag match of Tamura’s career. Prowrestlinghistory.com tells me that the match went 31 minutes but I can only find 21minute long videos. Is prowrestlinghistory.com wrong or are all the versions clipped up? Jim Boss looks like Hank from Twin Peaks with a poor man’s Tom Selleck mustache so I’m sold already. Tamura and Anjoh start this off which, after the last match, is exactly what I want. Opening is almost like the shoot style version of a lucha trios opening with crazy fast back and forth mat work. Seriously, these two are scary fast in there against each other. I feel like Anjoh probably doesn’t get the love he deserves as a mat wrestler because most people tend to think of him as an ass stomping charismatic prick. But that dude can GO on the mat. Both guys tag out without establishing much beyond “FUCK THESE GUYS ARE FAST.” Neither guy really puts the other in a sense of peril. Jim Boss throwing side kicks for some reason is REALLY funny to me. He reminds me of Rex from Napoleon Dynamite. “You think anyone wants to take a roundhouse kick to the face while I’m wearing these bad boys? Forget about it.” The announcers are literally laughing at Boss throwing kicks. The grappling in the Takada/Boss segment is not as enjoyable as Tamura/Anjoh. Tamura tags in and Boss immediately walks over to tag Anjoh back in. OK! Deal! The match immediately picks back up, and honestly, the crowd immediately reacts. You get the sense of that old cliché about Japanese wrestling during the first Takada/Boss segment that the fans are watching intently, patiently and quietly until they do something exciting. Tamura and Anjoh are doing something exciting everytime they get near each other and the crowd responds in kind. (sidenote, I LOVE the announcers talking about this as “REAL PRO WRESTLING” in the middle of a freaking tag match.) They get over what they were doing in the last singles match. Tamura is a prodigy on the mat and is able to lock in a submission, which forces Anjoh to go for the ropes. When they’re back standing, Anjoh is starts demolishing Tamura with knee’s forcing a knockdown and a 9 count. But Tamura is able to take Anjoh down again and drags him over to the corner and tags in Takada. They have a really nice strike exchange between the two with Takada able to block everything and fire back before hitting a nice suplex leading to Anjoh tagging out. They talk about Jim Boss being a black belt in Tae Kwan Do which I find hard to believe (or is totally meaningless given his technique) and I’m literally laughing out loud thinking about Rex Kwan Do. Perfect. Takada gets a knockdown and tags out to Tamura so we get our first chance to see Tamura vs Rex Kwan Do. Tamura mostly keeps his distance going for low kicks and any sort of opening for striking. He manages to force Boss back into his corner with his rapid fire strikes and Anjoh tags back in. They go back to the mat pretty quickly and it is predictably good. Tamura is really good at rolling with his opponent defensively, using Anjoh’s own momentum and turning it against him to create a submission opening. Tamura forces a rope break on a single leg crab before tagging out to Takada. Takada has a pretty easy time with Anjoh. Quickly locking in a submission leading to a rope break and scoring a knockdown with a hard knee. Obviously Takada is the Ace of the promotion while Anjoh is much lower ranked. So it’s a good job of establishing that Takada doesn’t need to do much to put Anjoh in peril. After the knockdown, both guys tag out so we get Tamura/Boss matched up again very very briefly before Tamura tags back out to Takada and Boss tags back out to Anjoh. Anjoh throws some incredible strike combinations which actually leads to a knockdown. Crowd is super hot for Anjoh taking it to Takada but Takada is able to reverse fortunes pretty quickly and starts blasting Anjoh. They tag out and we’re back to Boss/Tamura. Tamura really outclasses Boss on the mat but it putdown by a HUGE roundhouse kick to the face (told Tamura he didn’t want that). Boss shows some fire finally and scores a knockdown on Tamura. Tamura does a really great job selling Boss’s (comparatively) pansy ass strikes until Boss tags back out to Anjoh. I seriously cannot get over how fast Tamura and Anjoh are against each other. Anjoh ends up taking this with a Fujiwara armbar. This is pretty much what you would expect coming in. Tamura and Anjoh are fucking awesome against each other. It is decidedly less awesome when they tag out. Takada and Boss really don’t do a hell of a lot in this but that’s a good thing. FUN

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yuko Miyato 8/24/91

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS3MrZpIGU0

 

 

 

Yuko Miyato is Shigeo Miyato. So even though Tamura has still had less than a dozen matches in his career, we get to see him against a familiar opponent. Opening grappling is what you come to expect. Tamura is insanely fast and constantly moving around looking for an opening. jdw always used to describe Takada as a “thinking man’s wrestler” back in the day. He would talk about how Takada always “looked” like he was calmly thinking about his next submission attempt or counter. (This was John’s way of excusing Takada’s really boring sitting in holds mat work, but hey, it’s 2015 now and we don’t have to take his word for it anymore J ). Tamura is a REAL thinking man’s wrestler. He’s in constant motion on the mat looking for a free arm or leg to grab and twist. Takada’s “thinking man’s” approach was to sit around and sit around while Tamura’s approach was constantly moving around so his opponent doesn’t really know where the submission attempt is coming from. Tamura seems to really have Miyato outclassed on the mat. He keeps things competitive by going for a rope break and doing a good job selling coming out of rope breaks, but you can tell which one is the good hand and which one will develop into the stylistic master. Miyato is much more successful standing. Tamura does an excellent job putting over Miyato’s striking eating two knockdowns which leads to Miyato having the opening to lock in a single leg crab leading to a rope break. It’s a brief but important flurry to keep the match competitive and make Miyato look really good and rack up a big points advantage. Really nice work to the finish as Miyato is able to control with strikes but he works outside of himself and goes for a takedown which Tamura is able to easily reverse into a sleeper. Miyato is able to make a brief counter with an ankle lock but Tamura really has him where he wants him, locks on the sleeper and gets the win. The announcers put this over as a big upset and in a sense, it is because Miyato is more experienced. But watching these guys matchup, Tamura is clearly the more skilled wrestler. FUN

[elliott]

I wanted to make a list of all the matches I haven't been able to find in the hopes that someone can point me to stuff I've overlooked or missed. Also if I could get some guidance on those RINGS matches. I'm pretty sure the Frank Shamrock match is a shoot. Are there any other likely shoots from that list so I can cross them off and feel ok about not watching them?

 

UWF 2.0

Tamura vs Shigeo Miyato 9/7/89

Tamura vs Akira Maeda 10/25/89

Tamura vs Masahiko Kakihara 12/1/90

 

UWFi

Tamura vs Gene Lydick 1/16/95

Tamura vs Billy Scott 4/19/96

One or two Tamura vs Sakuraba matches. Honestly not sure which one's. I've found 2 videos online, but they may be the same match. I'll hopefully know more when I watch them. But for curious souls, here are the two Tamura vs Sakuraba matches I was able to find. The first one is definitely 3/1/96.

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2rhnug_kazushi-sakuraba-vs-kiyoshi-tamura-uwf-i_sport

 

 

and

 

 

 

 

Since I'm trying to watch everything in order, it'll be a while before I figure out if it's the same match or different. Anyway, moving on to RINGS where I'm missing the most matches sadly.

 

Missing RINGS:

Tamura vs Chris Haseman 4/4/97

Tamura vs Grom ZaZa 5/23/97

Tamura vs Hans Nyman 8/13/97

Tamura vs Elvis Sinosic 10/14/97 Possible Shoot

Tamura vs Joop Kasteel 11/20/97

Tamura vs Sergei Sousserov 3/3/98

Tamura vs Dick Leon-Vrij 3/28/98

Tamura vs Wataru Sakata 7/20/98

Tamura vs Masayuki Naruse 8/28/98

Tamura vs Vladimir Klementiev 10/23/98

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

Nikolai Zouev

Tamura vs Kenichi Yamamoto 11/23/98

Tamura vs Kohsaka 1/23/99

Tamura vs Overeem 2/21/99

Tamura vs Frank Shamrock 4/23/99 Shoot

Tamura vs Bitsaze Tariel 5/22/99

Tamura vs Joop Kasteel 8/19/99

Tamura vs Dave Menne 12/22/99 Shoot

Tamura vs Boris Jeliazkov 12/22/99 Shoot

[andrew79]

Missing RINGS:

Tamura vs Yamamoto 12/19/96

I think this is 12/21/96 (and if so, Ditch is hosting it).

[Childs]

His U-Style stuff from '04 and '05 is also worthwhile.

 

Oh and he missed all that time in '89-'90 because he was hurt in the Maeda match.

[elliott]

 

Missing RINGS:

Tamura vs Yamamoto 12/19/96

I think this is 12/21/96 (and if so, Ditch is hosting it).

 

 

Awesome! I forgot to look at Ditch's lists! Sweetness!

[elliott]

His U-Style stuff from '04 and '05 is also worthwhile.

 

Oh and he missed all that time in '89-'90 because he was hurt in the Maeda match.

 

There isn't a ton of U-Style online that I've been able to find. I only have 3 matches saved so far against Alexander Otsuka, Sakata and Dokonjonosuke Mishima. But I definitely plan on watching whatever I can find.

[dawho5]

Ditch's 2000s project had a few U-Style Tamura matches on it. Really good stuff IIRC.

[elliott]

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tatsuo Nakano 9/26/91

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dou1y2a2zVc

 

 

Interesting that Tamura refuses to shake hands with Nakano at the beginning leading to a big “OHHHHHH” from the crowd. Grappling to start and Tamura is a big more aggressive than usual. He’s definitely using his speed and agility to his advantage but his movements seem a bit rougher than the early moments in previous matches. The opening is actually pretty dull considering the prematch handshake refusal. There’s more lying around doing nothing than in any Tamura match so far. Nakano really isn’t doing much. Tamura gets the crowd into a little bit by letting Nakano slowly sink in a choke and then rushing to get to the ropes. Tamura has to be the fastest wrestler I’ve ever seen. It’s all in short bursts on takedowns or scrambling away from reversals but he is just stunningly fast. GREAT spot where Tamura is going for a takedown and Nakano just kills him with a knee to the face. This leads to some really great striking exchanges. Match really picks up after the knee to the face. It slows Tamura enough that Nakano is able to sink in some submissions causing a few ropebreaks. Nakano is way ahead on points. Tamura’s head is taking a pounding with knees and a spot where he lands directly on top of it trying to reverse a double underhook suplex. Tamura is awesome in the guard working for submissions and baiting Nakano into going for strikes opening him up for a reversal and a choke. Nakano is able to reverse out of it without going to the ropes but Tamura manages to get him back into it. Back to their feet and Nakano blasts Tamura with some slaps getting yet another knockdown. It’s starting to get real so Tamura goes after Nakano with a crazy fast striking exchange. Both guys seem desperate to finish each other off and Tamura manages grab a leg and sink in a heel hold for the win after being way way down on points. This starts off slowly but really picks up after the huge Nakano knee to Tamura’s face a few minutes in. FUN

 

Kiyoshi Tamura and Yuko Miyato vs Tatsuo Nakano and Tom Burton 10/6/91

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geMQM1JBBII

 

 

This should be fun. Tamura has had good matches with both Nakano and Tom Burton. Nobody shakes hands again in this one and crowd is buzzing to start. Miyato and Nakano start off. They’re both pretty careful sizing each other up not trying much before Nakano tags out to Burton. Miyato is pretty careful against Burton keeping his distance with leg kicks but Burton manages to get in close and score some big takedowns. Burton works Miyato back to the corner and Nakano comes in and Tamura comes in to a big pop. They immediately go to work with some excellent grappling before Nakano tags out to Burton. Burton immediately grabs Tamura and hits basically a spinebuster and starts working for a side headlock and kimura. Tamura beautifully evades it and tags out to Miyato who comes in striking away leading to Burton tagging in Nakano. Nakano hits the prettiest armdrag this side of Ricky Steamboat. Tamura comes in, hits a few leg kicks, scores a takedown. Nakano and Tamura do an awesome rendition of the Achilles hold reversed by Tamura into a leg lock that Tamura/Han would perfect later in the decade. Both guys tag out and we’re back to Burton and Miyato. Again Miyato tries to keep his distance and slow Burton down with leg kicks opening up an opportunity to Miyato to nail his nasty spin kick. Miyato really has Burton rocking with strikes and then manages a belly to belly suplex. Nice sequence and both guys tag out. Strike exchange between Tamura and Nakano which Nakano ends up winning by scoring a knockdown with a really strong kne to the chest. Tamura gets another takedown, kicks Nakano twice and tags out. Miyato comes in with some crazy strikes and a nasty side suplex then starts working towards submissions. Miyato gets a little overzealous going for his spinning kick and Nakano nails him with a german suplex before tagging out to Burton. Tamura also tags in and immediately starts working for a submission but both guys quickly tag out. Miyato and Nakano come back and have another nice strike exchange. Ton of quick tags in and out as Miyato tags out to Tamura. Tamura continues the strike exchange but goes for one too many head kicks as Nakano reverses it into an Achilles hold. GREAT moment as Nakano grabs Tamura’s arm back from reaching the ropes. Nakano is really just blasting Tamura with strikes and hits one of the nastiest head kicks you’ll ever see. Both guys tag out and Burton just starts killing Miyato with knees and hits a beautiful double underhook suplex. Miyato manages to tag out and Tamura immediately eats a german suplex and a NASTY powerbomb! WHOA! Burton goes for a boston crab, and tries to pull Tamura back as Tamura goes for the ropes. So Tamura rolls through, locks in an ankle lock and scores the submission! DAMN! That came out of nowhere. Man, I enjoyed this. They tagged in and out a whole lot in this which kept the match moving along but also felt like it didn’t really get a chance to breath. And having watched so many southern tag matches, it’s always a little jarring to watch a tag match that doesn’t follow that traditional structure. But there is a lot of good stuff in this. Miyato and Nakano are awesome together and I want to watch some of their singles matches together. I’m enjoying Burton much more than I expected at the start of this project. This isn't the most impressive Tamura performance and honestly, I would say Miyato and Nakano steal the show in this match. But it seems this match was more about developing a future Nakano/Miyato match than anything else. Tamura was very good when he was in the match but there just wasn't a ton of ringtime. The last few minutes and the finish in particular were spectacular. An easy FUN.

[Frankensteiner]

Tamura vs Elvis Sinosic 10/14/97

Tamura vs Dave Menne 12/22/99

Tamura vs Boris Jeliazkov 12/22/99

 

I think the last two are shoots. Not sure about the first, but possible shoot as well.

[elliott]

 

Tamura vs Elvis Sinosic 10/14/97

Tamura vs Dave Menne 12/22/99

Tamura vs Boris Jeliazkov 12/22/99

 

I think the last two are shoots. Not sure about the first, but possible shoot as well.

 

 

Had a feeling about those. What about vs Overeem from 2/99?

[Childs]

Overeem is a shoot.

[elliott]

Kiyoshi Tamura & Yuko Miyato vs Yoji Anjoh & Tom Burton (UWFi 11/7/91)

 

Replacing Nakano with Anjoh from the previous match? Sounds good to me. Anjoh and Miyato to start. Both guys are cautious to start. They’re both throwing strikes but nothing’s really landing. Crowd is silent. There is a tiny tiny pop for the first takedown but nothing for their initial grappling and then their harder strike exchange when they stand again. Anjoh forces Miyato back to the corner and Tamura tags in to a nice pop (finally!). As they circle you hear someone scream out “TAMURA!” and a few other people yell stuff as well and there’s a nice round of applause for Anjoh avoiding Tamura’s first takedown sequence. Tamura scores a quick takedown and works towards a submission which leads to some nice back and forth grappling on the mat. They stand again and battle for position with Anjoh getting in a few nice knee strikes before tagging out to Burton. Burton comes in and gets a quick spinebuster before going to work on a toelock. Tamura tries for a reversal but ends up needing to go for a ropebreak because Burton’s strength. Standing again and Burton immediately gets a bodyslam and ties for another submission but Tamura is too fast and locks on a headscissors as Burton rushes towards the ropes. Tamura might not be strong enough to reverse a Burton sub that’s locked in but he’s fast enough that he can counter out as Burton is attempting to lock something on. Tamura does a nice job selling the leg and tags out to Miyato. Same story with Burton. He closes the gap, gets a slam or takedown and tries to get a submission. Miyato ends up having to go to the ropes and we’re standing again. Burton tens to stand and go for strikes a bit more with Miyato than Tamura at least in the early going. The formula changes up a bit as Miyato avoids a Burton takedown attempt and manages to get behind him on the ground. Burton on the defense against Miyato trying to work a submission isn’t very interesting but it is a twist on the Burton formula (that sounds like a criticism, but it isn’t, I actually am digging Burton on this project). Miyato can’t seem to think of anything to do with Burton so he slaps him on the head, both guys stand and tag out. Anjoh NAILS Tamura with a kick to the face for a knockdown but Tamura gets right back up and Anjoh nails him AGAIN in the face with a jumping kick in the corner Tamura is dazed in the corner, doesn’t fall but it is counted as a knockdown. The first one was a good shot and Tamura got right back up but the 2^nd one really knocked him for a loop. Anjoh gloats and its awesome. Both guys lock up and Tamura suplexes Anjoh and starts punching and stomping his head! WHOA! Tamura goes fucking nuts literally kicking Anjoh out of the ring. That was awesome and crowd is going nuts. Don’t piss off Kiyoshi Tamura damn. Standing again and he Tamura immediately shoots in for a takedown and works towards a choke then we have the awesome opponent tries to ankle lock Tamura and Tamura rolls through for his own ankle lock. Anjoh escapes with some hard kicks and tags out. What a fucking sequence. These two are awesome together. Tamura decides to not tag out, which is fine by me. It is short lived as a takedown attempt is blocked by Burton who goes for a choke. Tamura manages to escape and tags out. Miyato gets some knees to the chest and a double arm suplex and a rear naked choke for his troubles. Miyato manages to grab and ankle leading to a burton rope break. Miyato is determined to stand and strike the big man and he manages to get a knockdown with his spin kick. Miyato has a little too much success against Burton who says fuck this and tags out. Anjoh hits a quick suplex leading to Miyato tagging out. Anjoh crushes Tamura with a suplex and starts working towards submissions but Tamura reverses into a choke, leading to an Anjoh rope break. Back standing and Tamura is really taking charge hitting some great strikes, slamming Anjoh, and forcing a rope break. Anjoh tags out. These two are really something special against each other. Burton comes in and plants Tamura then hits a powerbomb and we almost have a repeat of the finish of the last match but Tamura grabs the ropes. He blocks the next Burton takedown attempt finally and goes to work looking for a sub but gets planted against with a german. We do get a repeat of the last matches finish as Burton is dragging Tamura back towards the center of the ring but Tamura desperately rolls through and gets an ankle lock. Burton manages to make the ropes though. Both guys tag out by Tamura is falling in the corner trying to get out of there selling like a champ. Miyato and Anjoh take turns slamming each other and are working much more aggressively against each other than they were which is what you want out of these two. Every time they go to the mat is pretty listeless and not very interesting which is obvious with Tamura in the match. Speaking of Miyato tags out. Tamura comes in, slams Anjoh and we get the most dramatic half crab and side headlock imaginable leading to an Anjoh rope break. Fucking Tamura on cue with the mat work goodness. Both guys tags out. Burton keeps going for subs ad Miyato keeps going for rope breaks. Burton is sick of getting slapped by Miyato I think. Miyato really wants to stand and strike. Burton is really quick to go in for double and single leg takedowns. Nasty suplex by Miyato on Burton actually leading to a sub attempt and rope break. I’m really surprised by how well Miyato handles Burton in this. Both guys tag out! Anjoh comes in firing! Getting a few near knockowns before they go back to grapping and Anjoh manages to submit Tamura. Awesome match. Tamura and Anjoh are phenomenal together. Tom Burton isn’t some lost great worker, but he’s perfectly solid and brings a decent amount to the table in this setting. Miyato isn’t an interesting mat worker but he’s an exciting striker. EPIC

[Childs]

I'm enjoying this thread as yet another reminder of how awesome Tamura was. It's inspired me to watch old UWF II shows from the treadmill the last few mornings. Would that they could have gone on for 10 years with that roster ... as long as they brought in Han and a few of his Russian buddies, that is.

[Tim Cooke]

4/16/98 Overeem is a shoot

2/21/99 Overeem is a work

[elliott]

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Gary Albright 12/22/91

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aTv0xDT45A

 

 

 

First time Albright and Tamura are matched up against each other. Very short and easily the worst match of Tamura’s career so far that I’ve seen. He’s not terrible, there’s just really nothing to the match. Basically Albright suplexes him into oblivion until the match is stopped. Tamura does get once chance to lock in a sub attempt leading to a rope break so I guess there’s that. The mat work in this isn’t very interesting as Tamura can’t really do much with Albright. Gary does throw some great suplexes and Tamura looks great bumping. But this is definitely SKIPPABLE

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yuko Miyato 1/9/92

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wbkZVLenHQ

 

 

Tamura comes out striking and these two have an AWESOME striking exchange to start with Miyato getting a quick knockdown. Standing again and Tamura is sick of getting blasted so ducks in for a go behind and grabs a sleeper taking Miyato down. Miyato’s not really the most exciting mat worker but Tamura keeps it interesting working the sleeper. Cinching it in for effect and dragging Miyato to center ring to keep things interesting. Miyato is able to manage a counter but Tamura gracefully glides back into the sleeper which he won their previous match with. Some nice grappling leading to Miyato getting the advantage on the mat leading to a kimura and rope break for Tamura. For some reason they counted it as a knockdown too which was weird. As usual, Tamura is WAY behind on points. GORGEOUS rolling cross arm breaker by Tamura leading to a rope break as Tamura starts to mount a comeback but is cut off by a sick Miyato back suplex for another knockdown. Tamura makes his comebacks going for leg submissions. A singe leg boston crab, and an ankle lock both leading to rope breaks. He’s way behind on points because Miyato has several knockdowns, but Tamura is causing some real damage so Miyato tries to go back to striking. Tamura is able to catch him, slam him and sink in a leg lock in the center of the ring. These two continue to have really solid matches against each other with Miyato playing the striker and Tamura looking for submissions. This is short and not super memorable in the grand scheme of things. But it is yet another good Tamura performance. I mean, I hate to keep saying over and over how quick and smooth he is, but he is just an incredibly graceful athlete. Based on the Kakihara match and everytime he matches up with Anjoh, you get the sense already in his career that if you give Tamura a good-great opponent and 15 minutes, you’re going to get an excellent match. This wasn’t that but it is an easy FUN.

[Childs]

4/16/98 Overeem is a shoot

2/21/99 Overeem is a work

 

I think I had the '99 match slotted as a shoot because Tabe referred to it as such in his listings. I went back and watched it, and there were elements that felt like a shoot. Overeem dislodged one of Tamura's teeth with a kick, and he tapped almost instantly to an armbar. On the other hand, some of the grappling felt more cooperative. Anyhow, I trust Tim's judgment. Assuming it was a work, it wasn't a particularly notable match for Tamura's resume.

[elliott]

What can you guys tell me about Joop Kasteel, Sergei Sousserov and Vladimir Klementiev?

[elliott]

Kiyoshi Tamura and Yuko Miyato vs Mark Silver and Tatsuo Nakano from 2/11/92

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BOPvsjezmQ

 

 

 

Holy shit, Mark Silver’s hair. That is the most ridiculous rat-tail I’ve ever seen to the point that calling it a rat-tail is understating what is happening on this guy’s head. Raccoon tail is more precise. My mother calls people with rat-tails “Alien Pioneers” and from the looks of it, Mark Silver was the captain of the ship. We start with Miyato and Nakano so it’s striking to start. Fairly listless stuff to start before Nakano takes out to Silver who hits a pretty quick suplex. Some back and forth on the mat before Tamura tags in. Nice grappling to start. Silver is bigger than Tamura but not so big that Tamura is completely overwhelmed like against Albright. Tamura has a much easier time avoiding takedowns, getting reversals on the mat, and countering. Silver isn’t exactly Volk Han on the mat. When Tamura sinks in a sub or gets close, Silver isn’t looking for counters, he’s looking for the ropes. Nakano back in and its straight to the mat. Nakano does not mind laying in holds honestly. He manages to sink in a leg lock and Tamura goes for the ropes and tags out to Miyato. Pretty sure we get a brief clip after the replay because it comes back with Silver back in against Miyato. Quick knockdown for Miyato as he blasts Silver in the face with a soccer kick as Silver is trying to stand up off the mat. They fight for position standing for a bit before Tamura tags back in. Tamura gets a quick knockdown with a kick to the knee, then takes Silver down and forces a rope break off a single leg crab. Silver immediately tags out. Dramatic moment with Tamura and Miyato trading sleepers leading to a Tamura rope break. Match is really picking up. Miyato takes Tamura to suplex city before tagging out to Silver. Silver hits a german and shoves Tamura over to the corner. Miyato comes in FIRING away and absolutely KILLS Silver with strikes and a belly to belly with Silver landing directly on his head. Nasty spot. Nakano comes in and Miyato continues his slapping assault before tagging out to Tamura. Nakano immediately wins an exchange and gets a knockdown. Tamura comes back with a HUGE suplex and a rear naked choke. I like what they did. Nakano laid out dead in the ring not going for a counter or the ropes so Tamura just lets him go and makes the ref count a knockdown. Nakano is out on his feet and Tamura immediately gets him back in the choke. Same story with Nakano laying in the hold not going for counters or reversals and this time the ref stops the match. This was so so to start but really picks up with an exciting finishing stretch. You can see in matches like this though that Tamura is holding back compared to how he’d work against someone like Anjoh. If he wanted to, he could work circles around Nakano on the mat and blast Silver with lightening quick strikes. Tamura definitely has the skill-set to have been pushed as a major guy already, but that’s not really how Japanese wrestling worked at the time. You can easily envision an alternate universe where UWFi realized what they had with Tamura and have him beat guys like Nakano, Silver, Burton more easily and put up a much bigger fight against Albright than he did. Anyway, FUN match overall.

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Mark Silver 2/29/92

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xveR9L4iWBk

 

 

Tamura’s back is all taped up in this injuring himself in training according to the commentary. Feeling each other out to start with Silver getting the first takedown after Tamura avoided the first few. Silver makes a few submissions attempts. He looks so-so. He seems to have an idea of what he wants to do. Cross armbreaker attempt gets over big with Tamura’s desperation selling and rope break. Nice double arm suplex by Silver that Tamura did a nice job defending. Back to grappling and Tamura has an easy time doing what he wants to Silver going for a leglock leading to a rope break. Back standing and Silver keeps going for suplexes, but Tamura’s defense is stellar leading to a takedown by Tamura. This has really turned into Silver repeatedly going for a double arm suplex with Tamura defending it over and over again. Silver is pretty outclassed on every level here so when he does get some submissions locked in, Tamura rushes to the rope to put Silver over. But Tamura is really just defending throws with ease and locking submissions on with ease as this progresses. Tamura’s flow is so natural in this, all of the counters and reversals are just second nature for him. With Silver, you get the sense that he has to think “Ok, in this position what should I try? Oh right a kimura, ok, lets see if I remember how to put on a Kimura. Attempt for Kimura.” Tamura just knows what to do and when. He’s not just thinking in the moment but he’s steps ahead. Super quick finish as Tamura sinks in a side headlock for the sub. FUN match as this is Tamura leading a technically outclassed opponent through a competitive match.

[Childs]

Tamura definitely has the skill-set to have been pushed as a major guy already, but that’s not really how Japanese wrestling worked at the time. You can easily envision an alternate universe where UWFi realized what they had with Tamura and have him beat guys like Nakano, Silver, Burton more easily and put up a much bigger fight against Albright than he did.

 

Agreed but they did put the rocket on him fairly quickly as '92 went on. I think they realized he was something special compared to good hands such as Nakano and Miyato ... even compared to Anjoh, who was a hell of a wrestler in his own right.

 

As for the earlier question about Kasteel, Sousserov and Klementiev, were you asking if his matches against them were shoots? Or just about them in general? Kasteel was a Dutch shoot fighter, but I'm pretty sure their '99 match was a work. I assume Sousserov and Klementiev matches were worked.

[elliott]

 

Tamura definitely has the skill-set to have been pushed as a major guy already, but that’s not really how Japanese wrestling worked at the time. You can easily envision an alternate universe where UWFi realized what they had with Tamura and have him beat guys like Nakano, Silver, Burton more easily and put up a much bigger fight against Albright than he did.

 

Agreed but they did put the rocket on him fairly quickly as '92 went on. I think they realized he was something special compared to good hands such as Nakano and Miyato ... even compared to Anjoh, who was a hell of a wrestler in his own right.

 

As for the earlier question about Kasteel, Sousserov and Klementiev, were you asking if his matches against them were shoots? Or just about them in general? Kasteel was a Dutch shoot fighter, but I'm pretty sure their '99 match was a work. I assume Sousserov and Klementiev matches were worked.

 

 

Tamura definitely starts to get a bigger push as 92 goes on, but I just haven't really gotten there yet

 

I actually re-watched Vader/Tamura yesterday (didn't review it, I will when I get there chronologically) because it is one of my favorite matches and it is crazy how much offense he gets in against Vader compared to vs Albright. His push/growth is very clear if you compare the first Albright and first Vader matches. I think that Tamura could have been pushed to look as strong vs Albright as he did vs Vader a few years later. Of course, Albright was new and getting the monster push to face Tamura, so I get why they did what they did. I know he wasn't ever going to be #1 over Takada. But I see no reason he couldn't have been pushed more evenly with Kazuo Yamazaki. The talent was there to make up for the lack of experience.

 

As for my question about Kasteel et al, it was really just about them in general. Those names jumped out as "I don't ever remember seeing these names before."

[Childs]

Kasteel was a big, strong guy (think he either came from or went into bodybuilding), a little awkward but became a decent fighter. His '99 match with Tamura was pretty good.

 

Sousserov was one of the armada of Russians who came in after Han. He seemed like a really gifted athlete but was never featured as prominently as some of the others.

[elliott]

Kiyoshi Tamura and Yuko Miyato vs Yoji Anjoh and Mark Fleming 3/17/92

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sdwTTtKtac

 

 

I’m excited for anytime Tamura and Anjoh are in a match together now. So looking forward to this. Miyato and Fleming start off. Striking to start before Fleming catches Miyato and slams him. I mean, I’ve seen all of 8 seconds of Mark Fleming and I kinda dig him. He’s super aggressive and just seems pissed off. There’s another quick suplex by Fleming and they go to the mat. Fleming actually shows some knowledge down on the mat too causing a few rope breaks. Miyato tags out and I’m pretty excited for some Tamura/Fleming action. Fleming immediately goes for a takedown and Tamura is able to defend for a bit but they go to the ground and start working for submissions. It’s pretty solid. Fleming is definitely more dominant with Tamura struggling for counters/reversals due to Fleming’s combo of knowledge (announcers are putting Fleming’s submission skills over pretty big on commentary) and strength. After mostly controlling Tamura for a bit, Fleming tags out to Anjoh. They start with their typical crazy quick striking/grappling each guy going for the advantage. Going from Fleming to Anjoh is a pretty stark contrast right away. Tamura is SO fast against Anjoh that can see how he’s holding back against Fleming to make sure Fleming gets to look good and control their moments against each other. Anjoh is more of a peer/someone for Tamura to prove himself against so he really unleashes and holds nothing back against Anjoh. Great spot with Tamura catching a low Anjoh kick, nailing him with a spinebuster and working towards a single leg crab. Another great sequence where Anjoh forces a rope break, they stand up, and Anjoh absolutely blasts Tamura in the chest for a knockdown. Tamura’s selling is Kawada-esque and he’s forced to tag out. Honestly, Tamura doesn’t normally tag right out after a knockdown. He usually likes to “prove he’s ok” for a bit before tagging out. But that kick was rib crushing and Tamura is selling like a champ down on the apron. Quick little exchange leading to a sick looking Anjoh ankle lock leading to a Miyato rope break and tag out to Fleming. Another very brief exchange with Fleming sinking in an ankle lock, rope break, tag out to Tamura. Fleming immediately gets a takedown and goes for an STF leading to a break. Great double arm suplex by Fleming who then tags out to ANjoh. Anjoh goes for a backsuplex and Tamura sinks in a side headlock for a rope break. It sounds super simple and basic but this was actually a really spectacular moment. Tamura really cranked it and Anjoh scampered to the ropes. Great example of a “ho-hum” pro-wrestling move being put over in a major way and the crowd being super into it. Tamura immediately gets another takedown and works for a leglock and another rope break. Tamura tags out and Miyato rushes in as Anjoh is limping so bad he can’t make it to the corner. Miyato starts unloading on Anjoh and hits his spinning back kick for a knockdown. Anjoh manages to limp over during the reset and tag out and Fleming comes in blasting but gets suplexed and facelocked by Miyato. FUCK this has been good from the start but picked up in a huge way. Right as things start to slow down with Fleming and Miyato on the mat, they both tag out to Tamura and Anjoh. Both guys attempt some strikes and we have another spectacular spot. One of Tamura’s favorite/signature spots has become a quick go-behind into a standing sleeper and he is dragging Anjoh around the ring with the sleeper as Anjoh desperately fights for the ropes leading to a break. Another of Tamura’s favorite spots is the rolling leg lock and he nails it here. I cannot put over enough how fast these two are. Anjoh continues his fantastic selling of the leg as both guys tag out. Fleming immediately gets a takedown and starts working for a submission. I like both Miyato and Fleming but they are not Tamura and Anjoh which is ok because they both tag back in! More insane lightening fast grappling by these two. Finish is one of the most beautiful spot you’re going to see with Tamura going for his flipping leg lock, and Anjoh reversing it into a cross arm-breaker for the win. Wow. I really dug this. Everyone knows about Volk Han as far as Tamura opponents go, but Yoji Anjoh/Tamura is quickly becoming one of my favorite pairings in the shoot style genre. These two were made for each other. Easy EPIC.

 

 

Tamura vs Matthew Saad Muhammad 5/8/92

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP5ety8mfnI

 

 

This is a “Wrestler vs Boxer” match from UWFi’s first anniversary show worked second from the top underneath Takada/Albright. So that’s pretty cool. Saad is wearing his boxing gloves and if early UFC taught me anything it is that he will lose badly. Bell rings and Tamura starts with the hardest leg kicks known to man. One of them takes Saad down, Tamura pounces, throws on a choke, and we’re done. Crowd goes crazy and Tamura celebrates like Lex Luger beating Hogan on Nitro for the belt. SKIPPABLE really only because it lasted 35 seconds. But it felt like an important moment for Tamura.

[DR Ackermann]

I hope that Anjoh gets more attention from all of this. Tamura is awesome and an all-time great, but I think Anjoh is a pretty underrated guy and deserves more consideration from people. He's a pretty awesome wrestler in his own right and you can see here that he continuously brings out the best in a young Tamura

[elliott]

I hope that Anjoh gets more attention from all of this. Tamura is awesome and an all-time great, but I think Anjoh is a pretty underrated guy and deserves more consideration from people. He's a pretty awesome wrestler in his own right and you can see here that he continuously brings out the best in a young Tamura

 

Yes yes 1000 times yes. Everyone thinks of Anjoh as a surly punk who throws stiff strikes but he also an incredible mat worker and everytime he gets in the ring with Tamura is absolute magic. Anjoh is flying up my list and I might look into doing a Complete and Accurate Yoji Anjoh when I'm done with this project. I've always liked him but he is flying up my list.

[elliott]

Kiyoshi Tamura & Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Gary Albright & Mark Silver (UWFI 7/12/92)

(Yearbook)

 

Tamura and Silver start off against each other. Silver’s hair is still awful but it isn’t nearly as ridiculous as it was back in February. Nice grappling to start with both guys looking for leg locks. Tamura works at a slower pace than he would against Anjoh so Silver can keep up with him early on. Some great defense by Tamura on a double arm suplex attempt. Tamura works to Silver’s back and locks in his sleeper leading to a ropebreak and tag out to Albright. Albright is just massive, smothering a Tamura takedown attempt and taking control on the mat. Tamura can’t do much with him down there as Gary’s so big and is just smothering him. Albright looks like a freaking bear. Albright slowly works on a kimura leading to a Tamura rope break and tag out. Albright is not a good match up for Tamura aesthetically, unless Gary is throwing him around like a ragdoll. Yamazaki comes in and goes for a low dropkick. Albright avoids it and works towards a submission. Yamazaki manages to roll through for a leg lock attempt and we’re trading ankle lock attempts. Albright going for a rope break gets a big pop and Albright tags out. Silver comes in for some Rex Kwan Do. Yamazaki gets another ankle lock on Silver and another rope break. GREAT German suplex by Yamazaki leading to a sleeper attempt and another rope break. Yamazaki is just decimating Silver with submission attempts before tagging out to Tamura. Tamura gets a takedown and immediately just mounts Silver. Tamura is pretty cocky here. Not going for any submissions and not going for strikes but just mounting Silver basically saying “do something” and countering Silver’s counter attempts. Finally Tamura locks on an arm bar leading to a rope break. Tamura slaps him for good measure. Damn Kiyoshi. You get the sense that Tamura is just fucking with Silver, which is a cool side of him. Silver gets pretty pissed and starts throwing knees to Tamura’s head and chest. Tamura again takes him down and mounts his back daring Silver to counter, even slapping him in the back of the head Scott Hall style. Tamura puts on a full nelson and Silver heads for the rope. Damn. Tamura and Yamazaki are making Silver their bitch in this. Tamura kicks Silver again after the rope break. Geez. Silver tries to use his weight to his advantage, getting in close and going for suplexes. But he’s not that big and Tamura easily slips behind him and puts on an Achilles hold leading to yet another rope break. Crowd is getting hot as silver is getting outclassed over and over again. Yet another takedown attempt blocked by Tamura who tags out to Yamazaki. Silver FINALLY manages something as he blocks a yamazaki high kick and slowly works it into a boston crab before going to a side headlock. There you go Silver. Yamazaki manages to get out/Silver kinda just lets him out and Yamazaki immediately puts him down with kicks for two straight knockdowns. Good lord. I’ve never seen a Tamura team so far ahead. Silver manages to block a Yamazaki submission and put on his own leg lock leading to a rope break. Silver has some momentum finally and lands some kicks, blocks a Yamazaki spin kick. But he manages to get knockdowned by Yamazaki with a kick to the face while Yamazaki is on the ground. Holy shit. Tamura tags in. and slams Silver. Before Tamura can make a sub attempt, Silver rushes to the ropes. This is nuts. 19-2 Tamura and Yamazaki are ahead. Silver manages a uranage type slam on Tamura and FINALLY tags out to Albright. Crowd pop huge. Gary immediately hits two huge belly to belly suplexes on Tamura. Tamura struggles to his feet and Gary PLANTS him with a german suplex and the ref stops the match just like that. Holy shit. Um, wow. Quick finish but Gary is so massive and his suplexes are so great that it doesn’t even matter that the finish was so quick. This was interesting as it was basically worked as a southern style tag match with Mark Silver playing the Ricky Morton role. The first few minutes of this, particularly Gary’s first time in the ring, I wasn’t really digging this. When we got the long section of Silver in peril, it really started to come together and turned into an awesome match. EPIC

 

 

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Ray Lloyd 8/14/92

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88EFlbz5WIQ

 

 

Tamura vs the future Glacier! Fuck yeah! I was the world’s biggest Glacier fan back in the day. Tamura takes him down right away and we start with some amateur wrestling leading to nice Tamura toe lock and a rope break. Back standing and Glacier throws some pansy knees, and takes Tamura down going for a cross armbreaker. Tamura is able to block it pretty easily and goes for a leglock into a single leg crab and yet another rope break for Glacier. Glacier manages to sink in a sleeper leading to a rope break. Another rope break by Glacier as he goes for an Achilles hold but Tamura sinks in his own. Quick win as Tamura takes this with a single leg crab. Pretty much a squash for Tamura with Glacier getting a few chances to grab some submissions. So so and cool to see Tamura beating guys this quickly but this is SKIPPABLE.