Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
2,160 in Attendance 11/3/1997
(Click the link for the full show!)
HELLO! Welcome back to the Kingdom of Shoot, the last remnant of the once grand shoot style empire that was the UWF. Much like the Neo-Babylonians, KINGDOM's time is waning but even in fall, its a NEW WORLD and there is much to experience.
We are back at the storied Korakuen Hall in the Tokyo Dome City complex! Before the event, however, there is a press conference with the architect of KINGDOM, Nobuhiko Takada himself. Coming off of his embarrassing defeat at the hands of Rickson Gracie, Takada clearly is quite reserved and is much less exuberant than usual. Let's hope he feels better in the coming months and doesn't close KINGDOM (haha get it)!
After the usual training montage opener and fighter parade (hey that one American guy is wearing a gi, that is very promising), we get a nice little promo from Yoji Anjo.
OUR FIRST BOUT of the night is a clash between the venerable standby Shunsuke Matsui (Daijiro Matsui in Pride and everywhere else really) and newcomer Minoru Toyonaga who is very fresh faced and super nervous. Looking ahead, Toyonaga will be appearing here for the remainder of KINGDOM. After his run here, he jumped between Pancrase, PRIDE, and RINGS gaining a 2-5 record, losing his first four bouts before shockingly reaching the final of the 1999 Pancrase Neo-Blood tournament. He was ultimately submitted by the famed Ikuhisa Minowa.
But lets not meander too far off course as we have a fight on our hands. Toyonaga does a funny march to the ring and is clearly full of heart while Matsui does his usual mean walk. I have a feeling this one will be short yet exciting. Toyonaga runs out to engage but is quickly outclassed by Matsui who after a second attempt brings it to the ground and is working for an armbar. Matsui finally pries the arms apart and forces Toyonaga to the ropes. After returning to the ground, Toyonaga is able to gain top control before returning up. He lands some nice shots on Matsui in the corner before being taken down by a slick double leg. After an accidental escape from being tied up in the ropes, Toyonaga is down to 3 remaining points. Shunsuke Matsui is able to get back on top and is really looking for the submission win here which he gets by a nice armbar. The crowd react with nice applause since this was just OK, but I am excited to see how Minoru Toyonaga grows as he competes in the KINGDOM of shoot.
NEXT UP we have the perennially cool Keinichi Yamamoto going up against Masao Orihara, the guy who got shoot soccer kicked for pissing off Kakihara. I would like to note that Orihara has absolutely dreadful weird braids here and I continue to not enjoy his presence!
Orihara is not a shoot fighter in the slightest and right out of the gate Yamamoto peppers him with shots and shuts down every takedown attempt. Yamamoto has Orihara's back and ankle now, and Orihara really has nowhere to go so just stalls till the ref orders them back up. Yamamoto stuffs another takedown and proceeds to pull Orihara's weird braids and lock in a deep rear naked that Orihara breaks by rolling to the ropes.
As they get back up Yamamoto drops Orihara with some big strikes and, you guessed it, grabs onto his back once more. Yamamoto is working for another rear choke but Orihara slips out the back door, slapping on a nice leg lock... that's instantly countered by Yamamoto forcing Orihara to the ropes lmao. WOW ok Keinichi Yamamoto brings Orihara down with a viscious Kimura for the win.
That was a fun one but UP NEXT we have Masahito Kakihara fighting Felix Mitchell! Something I would like to note before we jump in, all of the backstage footage of the fighters is shot in black and white and it gives this NEW WORLD event a striking look. Felix Mitchell (2-9 in MMA) mentions he competed in the UFC (where he lost every fight including one to “I JUST GO OUT THERE AND BANG, MAN” Mark Hall) and that he likes the rules of KINGDOM. I love that even months into this promotions life, they still feel the need to get the rules over for.... some reason (they are good, don't feel so insecure KINGDOM).
Kakihara looks suppppeeerr confident here so I think this will be a quick one. It starts a bit skiddish as Mitchell has probably 20ish pounds on Kaki, but this doesn't prevent him from shooting in on Mitchell who stuffs it and gains back control. Without punching on the ground except for in full back or top mount, Mitchell doesn't have a clue how to work on a submission. He just holds Kaki's waist super tight to maintain position. Kakihara is inching to the ropes and HAHA Mitchell hooks his arm on the rope and loses a point because he doesn't get the rules.
Mitchell also begins frantically bowing in apology in a probably sincere but odd/in poor taste/etc way. Instantly its back on the ground and wtf Mitchell throws a huge soccer kick that Kakihara narrowly avoids. The ref is like WHAT ARE YOU DOING and the frantic bowing apologies continue. What a shit show of a bout, these UFC goons are a goldmine of comedy. Masahito Kakihara thankfully ends this with a nice leg lock that causes Felix Mitchell to begin rolling around screaming and over selling. This one is highly recommended by me just for the extreme level of LOLs produced.
AFTER THAT WEIRD THING now its time for our pushed then de-pushed friend Yuhi Sano to face the lovely black haired and lightly goateed Yoshihiro Takayama. Sano seems contemplative in his pre-fight interview while Takayama seems happy and alert.
Right out the gate this one is a banger. They start trading heavy strikes back and forth, just as expected from any good bout with Sano or Takayama involved. Takayama brings him down for a bit but Sano is able to get to his feet. Takayama lands a great combo with knees, punches, and kicks but as he tries to suplex Sano, he gets countered and falls on his back. WOW Takayama just simply flips Sano over him and now has control from the top. Sano is able to tie up Takayama in a leg lock forcing the rope break.
Back up, Takayama goes back to kneeing Sano and then scores a huge double leg and puts on a leg lock of his own. Sano is NOT impressed (its not really applied right) and then hooks Takayama's heel eventually forcing another rope break and bring him down to only 3 points. After an entertaining bout Yoshihiro Takayama wins this with a sloppy triangle choke that brings this one down.
Yuhi Sano is clearly dejected and Takayama seems to reassure him after the bout ends. Sano then grabs the mic (we also see a pic of a SUPER jacked Takayama) and cuts a sad promo that gets a good amount of applause. Unfortunately, looking ahead, we can see that Yuhi Sano loses his upcoming bouts and leaves KINGDOM right before its final shows. Lets cherish him while we still can (;_; ).
BUT LETS NOT DWELL ON THAT SAD NEWS because now we have Kazushi Sakuraba and some guy named Greg Douglas up next (he was the man in the gi at the beginning)! Oh My GOD GREG DOUGLAS is amazing. This dudes positivity and “get to it” attitude is amazing and honestly reminds me of the Will Grello character from Tim and Eric. Greg talks about the need to be well rounded as a fighter (hes wrestled, kickboxed, played judo, what hasn't this guy done!) and how the rules are interesting but strange. “Having not done it, I can't say its not good. I'll give it my best shot” “I've read the rules but I didn't get a chance to get experience with them in the gym. I'll try my best.”
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| His corner man on the left just straight scratches his nuts in front of the camera... |
Sakuraba then proceeds to do the Triple H water spit thing while goofing around backstage, and then gives a pre-fight interview with a huge bandaid on his forehead. This Greg guy is a complete mystery to me, I cant find any info on him and the ring announcer bills his discipline as “FREE FIGHT.” This man is a mystery. Saku sticks his face into the camera (I've noticed a lot of the KINGDOM guys on this show are laughing and seem to just not give a fuck, its lovely) and is cool as a cucumber on his way to the ring.
They start with a little striking back and forth before Saku lands a HUGE head kick and a deep and persistent single leg takedown. He gets side control but Greg is gripped on tight as the ref demands ACTION. Sakuraba sits up and grabs an ankle lock from under Greg Douglas and cranks it on for the EASY submission win. Sakuraba is having a big laugh as he comes backstage!
IT IS TIME for our main event of this show as Hiromitsu Kanehara, the (future) last Ace of RINGS and destroyer of Sano's push (I wonder who was booking KINGDOM?), is about to collide with our great frenemy Yoji Anjo in something I can only expect to be a rock solid battle.
The pace of this bout is incredible and the amount of power being thrown behind the striking is immense. After the first exchange of furious kicks, the crowd is molten hot and just craving all this worked MMA goodness. After a second exchange, they end up on the ground where they continue this pace and are constantly changing positions. It's honestly a bit hard to even write while watching because its so fast and you just become enamored by it. Kanehara lands with a very clean hook (people in the crowd squeal!) and Kanehara is now on top of Anjo but Anjo is working for a kneebar then goes after the heel which forces an escape from Kanehara.
Kanehara's combos are so clean and accurate, always out pacing Anjo by a hair or two. After a nice jumping knee, Kanehara has Anjo back down on the mat once more. PUNCH PUNCH the ref shouts as Kanehara reaches full mount! Anjo manages to roll and get back on all fours and just like gets out of there as fast as possible. Anjo catches a kick and brings Kanehara down and is looking for an arm lock. He then gets into north south, almost sinking in a nice choke that Kanehara escapes from using the ropes. Its back on the ground and Kanehara has the dominate position now, the ref says HIT HIT and Kanehara obliges, and after a nice final sequence he locks on the armbar for the win.
Hiromitsu Kanehara is clearly being pushed and the fan favorite Yoji Anjo takes a big loss here. We close with some very aesthetically pleasing graphics and clips of the action from this event.
Nobuhiko Takada's experiment in shoot-style worked MMA continues forth! Despite the sad scene in regards to Yuhi Sano, this event was quite entertaining and continues the trope of the KINGDOM boys shooting on the foreign talent and generally just toying with them. From examining the pre-fight interviews of foreign talent throughout my watch, I am convinced they don't really explain the rules to these guys. Well, maybe they are just goons and don't listen (probably a bit of both). A trend I think we can all expect going forward is even less of Takada, the loss to Rickson was devastating but in all honestly, he would have abandoned this KINGDOM either way. We are long removed from the days of meetings with Inoki and Ogawa... but do not fret because we have more KINGDOM shows to come and I am sure they will not disappoint!
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