Welcome to the Kingdom of Shoot: BIRTH STEP 1 5/4/1997

KINGDOM PRO-WRESTLING: BIRTH STEP 1

Yoyogi National Gym, Tokyo, Japan

5/4/1997 3,800 in Attendance

Welcome to KINGDOM of SHOOT, an exploration of the short-lived Japanese shoot-style pro wrestling promotion KINGDOM Pro-Wrestling that ran shows from 1997 till 1998! We will be taking a look at all of their shows (well, the ones I can obtain) and will be making numerous shoot-style and MMA detours along the way. [Heads up: I am by no means a fight sport expert. While I have an extensive knowledge of pro wrestling and a deep appreciation of MMA, this blog wont be as articulate in regards to the nomenclature of certain particular holds and martial art techniques as others are (hi RINGS blog guy). I also am going to assume that since you are reading this little and very particular blog that you have some working knowledge of the history of shoot-style.]

We begin our adventure shortly after the collapse of the “Most Pro-Wrestling of all the Shoot Promotions yet Most Adamant about its Realness”, the UWF International. An ill-fated invasion of NJPW and WAR, the loss of Lou Thesz's endorsement and the title he supplied, combined with being incredibly owned by the Press and MMA fighters like Gracie Family, completely demolished Nobuhiko Takada's UWFi. Out of these ashes emerged KINGDOM Professional Wrestling, a stop-gap venture between UWFi and Takada's future creation of PRIDE.

Will this be any good? Will Yoji Anjo still be the worst? How “real” will this fake fighting company be? Let us stop gabbing and begin with BIRTH STEP 1 from the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan with a crowd of 3,800!

Like any reputable shoot-style promotion we start this tape with interviews of all the major dudes in the company and a run down of the roster (Kanehara is wearing a UWF shirt LOL). Before we get to the start of the show, a image comes on the screen proclaiming WE ARE KINGDOM and LET'S GET DOWN DO IT and I have to agree!

There is a nice parade for all the fighters in this smokey gymnasium. It almost feels like one of those good episodes of WWF RAW from the late 90s. I just absolutely love the post-pyro smokey arena thing! And let me tell you these guys are rocking very very nice KINGDOM branded track jackets that Takada must have ordered on extremely short notice. After everyone gets in the ring, we witness a few promos from the big stars of the promotion. Yoji Anjo gets the mic to a big applause which I do not understand, he remains extremely goofy in my eyes. Takada then talks to the crowd to a huge applause, and he continues to be a handsome dude. (then they start throwing balls out to the crowd as the KINGDOM theme plays and everyone is LOVING it but I dont really get it)

They explain the rules on this next part but there are like 6 slides of paragraphs of Japanese text so I have zero clue. Ok wait they are doing a live demo of the rules. Ref can stop the fight at tap out, KO, or TKO. You can punch someone in the head while they are laying flat on the ground but if they arch their back you cant strike the head??? ok thats weird but we are in KINGDOM so I wont argue. There are knockdowns and rope breaks like most other shoot promotions but it comes from the same pool of points. If you run out of points you lose.

Elbows are allowed I think? Thats not usual for jMMA but its allowed here in this half shoot half work promotion. There are rounds and if it goes to decision then who ever has the most points remaining wins. If you have the same amount of points remaining its a draw. Takada has really made these rules strange but this is his KINGDOM and the company folded in 1998 so I cant tell him its a bit much.

OK heres the first match and its between BIG BOY Hiromitsu Kanehara vs Keinichi Yamamoto! This should be a wild one. I have seen Kanehara in the UWFi vs NJPW stuff and I really dug his style. Both enter the ring wearing black shoes, black kick pads, black padded mma gloves, and black small trunks. Oh I forgot a rule, fighters can wear whatever they want but the black MMA gloves are required (I found this out on a nice little russian website dedicated to shoot style). Judging by their outfits and color schemes Im gonna say this promotion is gonna have a pretty no nonsense style. With the smokey arena and more aggressive personas, this is much more pit fight than something like RINGS which is quite high-taste and very graceful.

But who needs grace when these two guys go at it. One more rule: no weight classes so we see that Kanehara here is clearly way bigger than Yamamoto. Immediate grappling and some fun exchanges with a little leg lock sequence. Kanehara has kick pads that say UWF on the side, what a cool dude. And he hits a huge suplex on yamamoto. This weird no punching to the head while bridged thing has already come up once or twice. I think this will be an interesting aspect of KINGDOM that will continue to make the ground exchanges unique.

The striking is notably stiff, lots of closed fist boxing and knees. Both of these guys are clearly pro wrestlers throwing pro wrestling haymaker strikes. After a stand up sequence its back on the ground. We have our first escape from Yamamoto (You have 5 points btw). These fairly shoot punches while on the ground in a worked fight environment makes these ground sections quite PRIDE like. Kanehara loses a point on an escape and we are back to a fairly standard ground exchange thats back and forth until Kanehara locks in the big choke from the back for a win!

The crowd enjoyed that match! It wasn't the best but it was a good starter. Both fighters hug after but Yamamoto is really upset at the loss it seems. Kanehara grabs the mic at the end to say a few words and the crowd loves it! (Fun fact: Kanehara was the last ace of RINGS after KINGDOM collapsed!)

ALL RIGHT now we are onto a kickboxing match which I think is possibly a shoot. I am not particularly interested in this because this isn't pro wrestling or mma, but I can appreciate it. This match between Bovy Chowaikung and Hiroyuki Doi goes a full FIVE rounds to a draw. I've never understood these bits on shoot-style shows since I'm here for shoot-style and not, well, kickboxing. But I should stop complaining because next is Nikolai Gordeau against Shunsuke Matsui!

Shunsuke Matsui, also known as Daijiro Matsui, was in UWFI, Kingdom, Battlarts, IGF, even some Zero 1. The guy is a shoot-style journeymen and I respect that a lot since he was mostly doing it after most stopped caring, but I care and thats all that matters in the end really. His opponent is Nikolai Gordeau, who I can't find much info about other than he was on some late era UWFi shows, but rest assured that he looks very intimidating in his gi-pants (as someone who did some karate in his youth, gi pants are great and allow for great kicking related fun). Gordeau insists he has improved (which makes me worried about his abilities here in the shoot-style world) and he also says this exact statement “I don't care generally uhhhh what the rules are, as long as I can live with it. If there rules I cannot cope with it, uhhhh I wont do it.” At least he's honest... but this man is worrisome.

Oh god this guy definitely is a Gordeau...

OK to the match at hand: Nikolai Gordeau (god is he related to Gerard Gordeau the noted terrible bad dude who blinded a fighter in Vale Tudo Japan) is out the gate not very good but I enjoy his tattoos and gi pants greatly. OH NO Gordeau is wearing kickpads under his gi-pants while barefoot what is this. Matsui takes him down quickly after taking a few shots. In side control he gets some nice digs into Gordeau who I just know really deserves to get those short elbow shots. Something I have already noticed here is that while trying to be heavier and more MMA like, there is some pretty explicit heel and face work occurring here that does justify KINGDOMS continued use of the phrase pro-wrestling. Matsui gains mount and starts raining blows, he's trying to end this early. It goes back to standing and Gordeau gets a knockdown with a kind of sloppy kick but it looked fairly shoot so I appreciate it nonetheless. Every time it hits the ground Matsui really dominates.

Gordeau is wearing gi pants with kickpads underneath

After a break its back up and Gordeau manages to stuff a takedown and maintain some head control but Matsui is really pushing to get out. Matsui gets separation but eats a big kick, Gordeau then gets head control and rolls into a neck crank. Matsui is out now but he's being forced down, but hes managed to get an armbar that forces Gordeau to the ropes. Any time this gets to the feet Gordeau really goes in and hes able to knockdown Matsui once more then forces a rope break through sheer striking. Immediately after he KOs Matsui with a big head kick then he accidentally sits right on Matsui! Gordeau manages to win this with Karate coolness and gi-pants. This match was really short, not even hitting the second minute mark. Good news! WE HAVE CONFIRMATION that Nikolai is indeed related to Gerard Gordeau, as we see him in Nikolai's corner as the match comes to an end. Matsui collapses in a hallway and a medic sprays him with something that I assume is helping his wounds.

AND HERES THE STAR OF THE SHOW (and all of our hearts) Kazushi Sakuraba! He is happy in his interview and seems to be very positive! What a cool dude I hope he wins forever (seriously I honestly cant watch MMA bouts where I know Sakuraba loses its just too sad). He's battling Yuhi Sano (also known as Naoki Sano and Takuma Sano) who seems pretty cool as well. Sano is also a shoot journeymen, going from the PWFG to UWFi then on to Kingdom and Battlarts before sticking in NOAH for most of the 2000s (this is very respectable).

Doesn't this just make ya smile!!

You can tell from the beginning that this is gonna be a very strong bout. Sano starting early with BIG body kicks including a nice spinning one similar to Tiger Mask's kick, especially in his 90s return to shoot-style (remember in the introduction I mentioned we were gonna go on a few detours, well this ones coming up soon when we take a peek at the short-lived UFO promotion). Sakuraba loses a point as he is knocked down in the corner. It goes to the ground as Sano controls from the top before getting all tied up with Saku as they battle for leg locks. Saku is really going after the ankle but is also always looking for an arm bar when he can snatch it. This is very active and back-and-forth, a lot more fluid than what we have seen so far tonight. Saku is trying to grab armbars wherever and whenever he can. Very little in the way of ground and pound is occurring so far, this has been mostly grappling based.

A short sequence in the clinch quickly returns to the ground with initial control by Sano but Saku is back to his old “I'm putting you in a kimura dude sorry” antics. Sano has had ENOUGH, and as he breaks free and maintains top control in Saku's guard, lifts Saku up for a massive slam to a huge WOW from the crowd. I am convinced that going through stuff like this is what prepared Saku for his much later match with Rampage Jackson in PRIDE where he weathered a storm of slams to get the eventual win.

Sano has full mount and begins dropping bombs and goes for the arm, leading to a big rope break. As they stand back up, they both start throwing big hooks back and forth! Saku hits the ground and he only has 2 of his 5 points remaining!! However as they return to standing, Saku is able to weather the storm and gain control of Sano's back which is turned into a massive german suplex to the crowd's delight! This really is some pro-wrestling. He goes for a choke but Sano gets the rope break for his first loss of points. The knees that Saku is absorbing are huge and are fairly legit, this definitely is not a real shoot but it seems pretty close by pro-wrestling standards. After knees we are back on the ground but after a failed armbar by Sano, Saku is able to get out and crank the ankle for the tap out win!! This was a fantastic match, the sheer intensity of the striking and ground game combined with big slams exemplifies what I think will become KINGDOM's style as Saku emerges as the real ace of the promotion (but that is farther down the line). Sakuraba's right eye is fairly closed and bruised in the after match interview leading me to believe that this really was a shoot pro-wrestling match (if that makes sense, the lines here are totally blurred by Kingdom's pro-wrestling stylings).

This German Suplex was incredible

Next up we have a short EXHIBITION match between Certified Handsome Dude® Nobuhiko Takada, the man behind this quickly organized KINGDOM, and Ryushi Kimiyama. Takada is being interviewed beforehand and these Kingdom tracksuits are so sick like incredibly sick. Takada comes out in a KINGDOM tshirt that is great (if anyone has one or knows where to get one plz let me know) and white shorts. Kimiyama is a trainee I think and is also wearing the promotions tshirt and a black singlet underneath. This thing is quick, only lasting about 5 minutes. They go through some different sequences in different positions, almost to show what to expect from these matches. This “no punching till someone is fully mounted” rule is emphasized on the ground as Takada is in mount as the trainee works to his side to stop them. This is very light, a sparring sessions between a trainer and trainee. Its nice to see Takada not being rough, there is a friendly demeanor between the two and I think it gives insights to how Takada is in a gym with others. As the bout ends, Takada and the trainee throw their shirst into the crowd to the audible enjoyment of the fans. Some nice stuff but its an exhibition so its just some fun for the crowd, and it was fun! (one interesting note: next to this young trainee you can see absolutely how thick and muscular Takada is, the guy looks tough as hell)

Takada is lookin' real jacked, baby!

In this second to last match, Yoshihiro Takayama is coming up against Caribou Mandingo (wow thats a name and a half). We start off with an interview with this Caribou guy who says he's Caribbean, that hes the champion (flashing a title from I dont know where), and says he is going to “kill (?!) Japan people tonight.” I do not care for this guy but maybe Caribou is secretly an amazing heel. A quick internet search for his name brings up this one event and only that so Caribou remains a mystery!

He is the champion of the Caribbean!

Takayama, on the other hand, needs no introduction: an amazing pro wrestler, entertaining MMA fighter, and one time pop star with Yoji Anjo. He is a personal favorite of mine, and his recent traumatic spine injury was incredibly upsetting for everyone. But lets leave that sadness behind for a bit so we can experience some 1997 era Takayama. While being interviewed he wears a zip up sweater thats ALLLLLL the way zipped up which just brings a smile to my face. This Takayama has black hair and just seems like a huge badass. He comes to the ring in a fucking ridiculous massive trench coat, the man looks like a movie villain.

Zipped all the way up! 

Caribou is wearing boxing pants and Takayama is wearing simple small black trunks. I quickly notice that these dudes are mostly boxing at the beginning and Takayama is already beginning to rock the dad bod he would later all endear us with. Caribou is really green at this style and I thinkkkkk pretty much only knows strikes. OK hes poppin off kicks now so maybe hes a karate guy, Caribou remains a mystery. After some boring clinching, Takayama is able to hit Caribou with a shoot-styled belly to belly, but its quickly back up to the feet. This ones a bit of a dud unfortunately. The ref even at one point demands ACTION and I would agree cuz this is boring. We get a second call to ACTION from the ref and Caribou is reminded of the rules multiple times. Takayama is telling Caribou to bring it one but his strikes to Takyama's head are weak and poorly done. Finally Takayama hits the ground for his first loss of points. LOL fucking Takayama then out of nowhere hits Caribou with a huge leg trap suplex over his head and locks in an ankle lock for the win! That sucked very badly but its great that Takayama beat the man who said he would kill Japanese people.

Good Guy Kakihara :)

ON TO OUR LAST BOUT! The absolute good guy Masahito Kakihara is going up against Yoji Anjo! As Kakihara is interviewed, they blare the absolutely amazing UWF theme and Kakihara is wearing a very nice suit. He walks to the ring to a huge applaud while wearing a great green and blue jacket. 

Anjo is being interviewed and I really just cant take the guy seriously. He is such a goofy guy which is compounded by the fact that the literal concept of MMA wrecked all of his (little) credibility. The length of this interview and his speech at the beginning indicate that he, initially, is the big dawg of this KINGDOM's yard (let us pray that this ends soon so we can get to the era of Sakuraba as the big dawg). Anjo comes out in his usual black singlet thing but this time he has a golden scarf wrapped around his head.

Look at this smug motherfucker

This match starts intensely! Both are trading blows and being incredibly aggressive but Kakihara brings it to the ground with a quick single leg. They trade positions until Anjo forces their way to top control before Kakihara gets up to his feet. Anjo keeps looking for that mount so he can rain bombs (because he has no skill compared to most of these fighters!). Kakihara reverses an armbar attempt and is able to lock in a rear naked choke but its somehow unsuccessful as the ref demands ACTION which doesn't make any sense because submissions are occurring. They get back to their feet and as Anjo throws a kick it is caught by Kakihara who blasts Anjo with a huge (and I think shoot) straight left to the head for a knockdown. However, as Kakihara tries a huge flippy kick, he totally whiffs it and misses. Anjo proceeds to flop onto him and ground and pound.

This refs constant demand of ACTION is beginning to grate on me a bit. Sometimes someone is working a submission or fighting for dominant position, but its interrupted by this impatient ref. They have both lost 2 points by this point. A short standup exchange onto the ground then OUT OF NOWHERE Anjo gets the win with a sneaky armbar!! Despite Kakihara's anger at losing, both men shake hands and begin bro-ing out (this is the best way I could describe it). So despite the loss, at least Kakihara remains in good spirits with his UWFi brethren!

At least Yoji Anjo got wrecked by this left straight punch

That's the end for this first BIRTH STEP of KINGDOM Pro-Wrestling! An overall interesting show that mixes worked pro-wrestling and worked MMA styles well with strong presentation and an active crowd. That kickboxing match and the Takayama vs Caribou bout were definitely the worst on the card with the former being just boring and the later being downright bad! But lets not dwell on the negatives as we got to see young Kakihara, Sakuraba, and Takayama who are all legends in their own right. The show ends with a title card that announces We are KINGDOM, and I am incredibly excited for our next journey into BIRTH STEP 2!