KINGDOM: LAST MATCH 1/28/98 & 3/20/98

KINGDOM: Last Match

Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1/28/98 2,150 in Attendance

Yokohama Cultural Gym, Yokohama, Japan
3/20/98 250 in Attendance

FRIENDS! This is the last KINGDOM Pro-Wrestling commercial release and I am sad to see this day come. The BIRTH STEP series introduced us to the closed-fist way of KINGDOM, teased a relationship with Inoki and Ogawa that went nowhere, and introduced us to the colorful characters of Mark “Just go out there and band” Hall and Nikolai Gordeau. The Million Yen One Night Tournament showed the rise of Yuhi Sano to great heights of (fake) shoot fighting only to have his run crumble during Prelude for the World and New World. Nobuhiko Takada, our enthusiastic yet vacant founder and leader, was sadly almost never here; he ventured off to the harsh lands of PRIDE and lost to Rickson Gracie in front of thousands of people. Our shoot-style friends went out to the southern and northern fringes of Japan to spread their worked MMA gospel to the delight of many. KINGDOM then faced off against the UFC and conquered; our commander Yoji Anjo was sacrificed in the process to Tank Abbott but Kazushi Sakuraba was launched to new heights never seen before. Now, it is time for the end.

The true ending to the KINGDOM story happens in the venerable Korakuen Hall of Tokyo, Japan in January of 1998 just a few weeks after the triumph of KINGDOM over the UFC. We open the show with the image of a TV stuck in the sand playing a retrospective of all the intros to the events so far before the music cuts... and we see KINGDOM (in the style of almost an ancient wonder) stuck in cosmic sands with a blue planet (yet certainly not earth) in the distance. There is so much genuine emotion and thoughtfulness in this short opening segment; KINGDOM is lost to time but there is one LAST MATCH.

Its time for the fighter parade! We have plenty of old friends and new faces here as the KINGDOM theme trumpets across Korakuen Hall. As per custom, I have to report on anyone wearing a gi, and let me tell you our Sambo friend Nicholas Starks is wearing one with a giant KINGDOM logo on it.

HEY! It's Nick Starks again and he's here to break bones (his old sambo instructionals are very sick)! “Hes tough... and hopefully we'll have a good match... go out and maybe have some dinner afterwards.” It is good to know that KINGDOM is a place where after some nearly full contact shoot style battles, compatriots can go have a meal together afterwards.  Minoru Toyonaga, a late addition to the KINGDOM family but cherished nonetheless, gives a short promo and seems quite eager.

Right out of the gate Toyonaga shoots in for a double leg takedown but Starks is unphased and controls the situation, almost sinking in a rear naked choke. Toyonaga grabs a rope to bring this back up, but is again denied when he attempts a takedown. Starks has total control of Toyonaga here, dragging him to the center of the ring for a heel hook attempt that sends Toyonaga to the ropes once again. Nick Starks has confidence here that he clearly didn't have in his earlier fights in KINGDOM which is a bit sad seeing there really won't be anymore KINGDOM to be confident in. Minoru Toyonaga is able to gain the top position but is tapped out with a triangle choke from Nicholas Sparks! That was not as strong of a bout as their last meeting but it was a nice quick opener. Before we move on Starks proclaims“I finally got used to the rules, now I'm ready to bang!” This is very sad in hindsight ;_: because he is so good at... bangin'.

Let us not be too sad because its time for MARK HALL! “You saw me once... you saw me.. uh... two times. Third time... is mine...third time the charm... third time I WIN!” A true wordsmith at work here friends, Hall does not disappoint. Oh hey! Its Shunsuke Matsui who was not on the last show, its good to have the guy back here for this final Korakuen Hall show.

Mark Hall kicks this one off with his weird tae kwan doe kicks that never land so Matsui shoots in but Hall is able to prevent it. Hall is forcing Matsui down to prevent him from standing up, and is able to prevent or reverse Matsui's sweep attempts until Matsui grabs an ankle that causes a rope break.  Hall's ground skills are much improved here as he slips out of an armbar attempt that may have ended a fight earlier in his KINGDOM career and is able to take Matsui's back for a rear naked choke that brings Matsui to the ropes. Both fighters have 4 points left as Matsui scores a trip and gains top mount so our ref begins to shout HIT HIT HIT. The crowd goes WOOWW as Hall sweeps and I wowed as well because he honestly was very weak in this respect in his other fights but here looks just as crisp as out KINGDOM mainstays. Mark Hall gets full back mount and chokes out Shunsuke Matsui! The crowd goes silent as they did not expect a Hall win here. That was a thrilling bout and I gotta say I joke about Hall quite a bit on this blog but he is so entertaining and really showed what he could've done had KINGDOM kept on. “Im very good when I get the back. Im very good, very few people can get away from my choke hold. AND HE DONT KNOW THAT, maybe if he knew he wouldn't have let me get the back!” WISE WORDS FROM MARK HALL!

This upcoming fight is between Daniel Rodriguez and our favorite cool karate dude Keinichi Yamamoto. Rodriquez cuts his promo in Spanish and says he's the Mexican champ then says “JAPON!” and does a thumbs down (how mean!).

OK so Keinichi Yamamoto absolutely towers over Daniel Rodriguez here like wtf. Yamaoto pulls guard from a standing guillotine and almost scores with a cross armbar but Rodriguez rope breaks out! Oh wait he just rope breaked again and hes lost 2 points. Yamamoto lands a big knee in the clinch before Rodriguez takes the back and gets a takedown, but Yamamoto attempts a Kimura which causes another rope break so Rodriguez is down to 2 points already! LOL he rope escapes again cuz hes being punched from the back mount and the crowd just is laughing at this point. Keinichi Yamamoto wins with a deep double-wrist lock that the ref breaks for the technical submission win! I can't tell if this was a shoot or not frankly. Did Daniel Rodriguez just not realize he was using up his points? Was Yamamoto putting the pressure on so hard that Rodriguez was forced into escaping? These questions cannot be answered!

It's our big juiced up friend Larry Parker from KINGDOM AMBITION! He's about to face Kazushi Sakuraba who is coming off an amazing win at UFC 15.5 Ultimate Japan and defended KINGDOM from those UFC goons (and began the long journey of exposing BJJ as just another martial art and not some ultimate unbeatable weapon).

 Sakuraba scores first with a nice headkick then a loud and deep leg kick. Parker is really trying to force Sakuraba down with his strength, but Saku is able to sit to the side and avoid a complete take down. Parker gets north south and is able to secure a half nelson on Saku who amazingly doesn't panic while riding it out. Parker tries to throw Sakuraba to the side but Saku counters and now has Parker's side. It is so amazing how Kazushi Sakuraba is able to handle himself against guys who have so much muscle on him and its completely without panic; it always looks so easy. LOL saku is such a sneaky fuck sometimes as he lands a kick as they both stand. Parker gets control but cant get anything going as Sakuraba gets a DEEEEEEP Kimura on him. The ref has to call the technical submission as it seemed like Kazushi Sakuraba was going to snap Larry Parker's arm. Parker mildly protests but it was for his own good as Saku totally could have wrecked that arm regardless if this was work or a shoot cuz that hold was on there DEEEEEP. This reminds me of how the Gracie's always bitched about technical submission decisions against them but it was always the ref just trying to keep their limbs from being torn off. Saku smiles after the win and Nick Starks consoles Parker in the back after the fight.

THE FINAL BOUT of the night is Rick Lucero, one of the Dirty Dozen (the OG American BJJ black belts), clashing with Hiromitsu Kanehara. Lucero name drops the BJJ guys hes trained under like Rickson and some of his training partner like KIMO and Sean McCully. He talks up the fighters he's training at Joe Moriera's school and how hes going to send them to KINGDOM to fight (of course, this sadly never happens).

Leg kick exchange to start this one off! Kanehara is a lot larger than Lucero (despite him being very jacked) and his able to hold him at bay preventing the takedown. Lucero does what any good BJJ guy does in this situation and that is stalling lol but the ref is having none of it and brings them up. Lucero pulls guard and Kanehara just stands above him and controls Lucero's head. Lucero shoots in and Kanehara comically hangs on the ropes before just sitting on top of Lucero. Kanehara is really bullying this guy around, and some of this stalling and calculated maneuvering makes me think this might be kind of a shoot (or maybe I am wrong, this is also a total possibility). OH SHIT Hiromitsu Kanehara wins with a kimura! This truly is the night where everyone wins by that hold. Rick Lucero is bloodied up and looks so tired afterwards.

After that, we cut to after the fights and our friend Yoji Anjo is in his responsible dad clothes with the whole KINGDOM crew. He's bantering and joking with this Korakuen crowd until the KINGDOM dudes all link together and bow to their loving fans. What a sweet ending to the last real show in this promotions history.

Why do I say last “real” show? Well because 2 months later they decided to have one last show titled EXTENSION but the only KINGDOM guys here are Mark Hall and Yoji Anjo! And let me tell you, this show is not very good so I will try to be as brief as possible! We are the Yokohama Cultrual Gym, a large venue even by the standards of KINGDOM at its peak. As expected with none of the named talent except Anjo, this show only did about 250 in ticket sales. Its a rough sight!

The first match of the night is an exhibition between Hidetada Irie and Kazunobu Nakamura. Irie was a KINGDOM trainee and after this one bout went on to create the KINGDOM EHRGEIZ mma and pro-wrestling promotion. KINGDOM EHRGEIZ still does events (they seem incredibly indie if that makes sense) and Irie is the DEEP Champion but its like an honorary thing. Weird! This exhibition sucks by the way so don't watch it!

OK so our next bout is between THE SAINT and Niihao! Niihao is listed as ??? on most databases but luckily the tape trader I got this from correctly listed his name on the card listing (thanks dude). Another weird thing (which we have honestly come to expect in KINGDOM) is that Enson Inoue is in THE SAINT's corner!? Honestly this is another really cruddy bout that I recommend giving a big fat SKIP but maybe you'll enjoy it!

tfw you lose by points

NEXT UP and equally as weird we have Koki Kitahara, the founder of CAPTURE International which continues to put on shoot-y shows to this very day, is going up against Jesse Kellis who has Mark Hall in his corner. This one is actually worth a watch if only for Kitahara's INCREDIBLE getup. Like seriously its something special. For a bout that goes only 7 minutes and some, this one really drags. Koki Kitahara won with a cross armbar!

CAPTURE HAS THE BEST LOGO BTW

SO NOW THAT WE ARE PAST ALL OF WHATEVER THAT WAS, we can watch the last main event in KINGDOM history. All have left for MMA but you know who stuck around to finish this damn thing off once and for all: BIG YOJI ANJO, MR 200%. I started this journey hating on this guy but was so quickly shown the errors of my foolish ways. Mark Hall rages at the camera and says “The best man will win......... tooo..nighhhht... Im gonna try and kick his butt.” Alright!

*blep*

Yoji Anjo walks to the ring as fans swarm him and the hot lights shine down. KINGDOM Pro-Wrestling is dead, but he has business to finish here.

WEWH these dudes are swinging on each other here for this incredibly small crowd. Hall pushes Anjo to the ropes and Anjo sinks in a guillotine for a moment but loses it before they each land a hook or two as they break. Hall shoots in too high on Anjo so they move to the corner and stall for a second before the ref wisely breaks them. Hall throws some nice kicks until Anjo catches one and just dusts Hall in the jaw for his troubles. Hall kicks but slips and Anjo is right on him and already has control of Hall from the side. Anjo is quick to block Hall's sweep attempts and remains in control as he moves his leg over so he can attempt an armbar a bit later. Anjo gets the leg over Hall's neck and realllllllly wants that arm but Hall defends well by locking his arms and pushing into Anjo. Hall has to go to the rope as Anjo gets a toe hold.

Mark Hall is back to his kicks once more (and they don't connect as usual). They are swinging again but Anjo gets the much better hits before being pushed back into the corner by Hall who gets tripped quickly. Anjo is back in full control and you can hear Hall breathing heavy and panicking a bit. Yoji Anjo snatches an arm in a double-wrist lock as Mark Hall tries to scramble out! It seems like Mark Hall might be able to defend but Anjo is able to get the arm away and fully torque it for the big win on the last show! Yoji Anjo grabs the mic and cuts a promo to thunderous applause. We cut to the sand buried television from the intro as it flashes the finishing maneuvers from over the course of KINGDOM.

The final images of this last commercial release show Yoji Anjo having a laugh with the visiting Takayama, Kanehara, and Orihara (the KINGDOM punching bag) backstage post-show; a truly human moment to end this promotion's life on. At the end of the day, KINGDOM was former UWF-I comrades having a last go at shoot-style before the behemoth of Mixed Martial Arts consumed everything around them and honestly, ruined all the fun.

I truly hope you have enjoyed this time watching and reading about KINGDOM Pro-Wrestling and its place in history. A few months ago I became intrigued by this little stop-gap between the heights of shoot-style and the decadence that would be the MMA boom so I decided to seek it out and record my entire experience of it firsthand. In a fairly unpleasant time in my life, this blog has been a real adventure and an absolute joy to produce. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me as much as I enjoyed writing about it.

BUT DON'T DESPAIR FRIENDS! This blog is not dying but changing focus to something else not much talked about anymore. Soon, I will be watching EVERY show put on by K-1 HERO'S from their beginning in 2005 all the way till their demise in 2007! Expect freak show fights with Akebono and Bob Sapp, fixed and worked matches, AKIRA FUCKING MAEDA, sad old Don Frye, Yoshihisa Yamamoto trying his damn best, and plenty of other good/bad/strange things. Hope to see you all there! :)