KRS-PRIDE

KRS-PRIDE (PRIDE 1)

Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan

10/11/1997 47,860 in Attendance

Hey! There's no KINGDOM show during October in 1997. I wonder why that is... oh yes I know why! The man behind KINGDOM Pro-Wrestling, our dear leader Nobuhiko Takada, is about to have a legitimate fight against Rickson Gracie in front of a massive crowd at the Tokyo Dome. This is the same man who turned down a fight against Takada way back in 94, the same man who beat up our cocky yet talented friend Yoji Anjo to the delight of the Japanese press. The man who claimed to have over 500 wins (he didn't) is about to fight Takada and this event is so big in fact that they created the Kakutougi Revolutionary Spirits (KRS) company to promote it. This event would do so well that they continued promoting shows and in a few years time (and a change of owners) they would be giving birth to some of the greatest examples of shoot fighting ever seen. But let us focus, and handle the task at hand: KRS-PRIDE and the impending annihilation of Nobuhiko Takada!

This intro starts off with some nice synth rhythms as Alexander Otsuka (I am pretty sure that is him) has electricity flow through him and a CGI dragon does some stuff! OK but we are right into the first fight between Kazunari Murakami (AN ABSOLUTE FAVORITE OF MINE) and John Dixon. Our commentators are “The Fight Doctor” Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten who inform us that Dixon has lost both of his MMA fights (nice).

Kazunari comes out flying and there is a nice brawl to start. Dixon gets a takedown and is in Kazunari's half guard. Kazunari pushes Dixon off and they get back up. Kazunari quickly lands a HUGE hip throw and wins with the armbar! Ok so I have some sad news, this match is widely purported to be a work and that is confirmed by Kazunari Murakami's terrible punches to the mid-section of John Dixon to set up the armbar. At least that one was fairly fun.

BUT WE CANT DILLY DALLY, as Gary Goodridge is about to fight Oleg Taktarov and heavy metal music is playing! We all know Big Daddy Goodridge, the great arm wrestler and face puncher, and Oleg Taktarov who won UFC 6 by choking out Tank Abbot. Taktarov is a sambo guy mostly but according to Bas Rutten, hes been training in boxing for this fight (hence his boxing shorts). 

Taktarov lands a nice combo on Goodridge but you just know this one is gonna pop off soon. Goodridge is able to get a cut on the left cheek of Taktarov. This is a little slower than you would expect then BAM Goodridge lands and Taktarov is on on the ground and getting wailed on. As they get back up, you that Taktarov is really banged up. He shoots but Goodridge sprawls and completely shuts it down (“Interesting fight” notes Rutten). After some toying, Goodridge lands a huge right hand knockout (with 2 extra shots on the ground which were a little much but its justified since this is NO HOLDS BARRED, BABY) and screams at a very silent and scared crowd! We end this segment with a shot of Oleg Taktarov being stretchered out and Bas comments “Now hopefully everything is gonna be ok with Oleg... I guess we will find out later........ but its good.”

The crowd was so afraid of Gary Goodridge

After that fun matchup, now its time for a 30 minute draw! We have Akira Shoji going up against a member of the Gracie Family, Renzo Gracie to be exact. A quick aside: these early PRIDE rules are strange in that if you go the full 30 minutes, its an automatic draw. Obviously, thats a bit buns but we will have to deal with it. This first round is a lot of pushing into the corner by Akira Shoji and then control on the ground by Renzo. Akira Shoji famously gets out of numerous submissions that Renzo locks in strongly. I don't mean to convey that this is a bad bout, there is a technicality on display here but I found myself a bit tired with it. In the second round, Shoji gains top control but can never finish the fight. Renzo can't seem to lock anything on strong enough and also fails to finish anything. The round finishes with Renzo laying on his back and Shoji standing there.

This third round starts off with some striking with Shoji landing a jab and leg kick combo. Shoji is able to block a takedown attempt by Renzo. This match, and many more in the coming years, would really chip away at the mystique of the Gracie family as they began losing more and being unable to finish fights strongly. Shoji continues to land those kicks to the leg and Renzo is getting bruised. Renzo shoots in and Shoji stuff the takedown and begins raining knees but the ref says NO NO NO as the viewer and the commentators learn that knees to the head on the ground are not allowed! These early PRIDE rules are... not good lol. Shoji is maintaining a very tight top control to prevent any submissions and even lands some nice knees to Renzo's tailbone area. Renzo sets up a submission but switches up to a mount but then Shoji twists out! Bas Rutten is impressed with thus "Mr Pride" Akira Shoji, who sadly lost more than most people would have liked! Shoji stuffs ANOTHER takedown and wails on Renzo for a bit before being pushed off, but the fight is over shortly after this sequence. I was probably too harsh on this fight at the beginning, as on this second watch of this bout while doing my write up I came to quite enjoy it in the later rounds!

UP NEXT Nathan Jones, famous for being in the WWE for like 5 seconds, is up against Koji Kitao, a former yokozuna and pro-wrestler who was shoot kicked in the face by Takada years earlier (“WOW THESE GUYS ARE BIG” exclaims Quadros). Jones shows off a huge crescent kick (but it misses) and then locks on a guillotine choke (poorly). Koji catches a leg and brings it down into side mount and locks in a KEY LOCK for the win. That match, even more obviously than the Kazunari and Dixon bout earlier, was a work. It was a fun little thing but as Quadros remarks “Neither one of these guys are gonna be breaking into the top ten anytime soon.”

UH OH WE HAVE KICKBOXING NOW! From what I understand of these earlier PRIDE events, they were meant to have some combination of No Holds Barred events with Kickboxing, worked fights, etc. mixed in and here we see an example of that. Branko Cikatic, a famous and ill tempered former K-1 Grand Prix champion, is up against Ralph White. These guys are not wearing standard kickboxing gloves, but some uhhh strange fingered kickboxing gloves. Cikatic starts it out with a cheapshot spinning body kick to start and that is a bad omen for what is to come. As White falls after some strikes a bit laterr, Cikatic shin kicks him in the head with an illegal strike to a downed opponent. As White's team argues with the officials for minutes, the commentators are just having a huge fucking laugh with Scanners, John McCain, and Clearasil jokes. Goddamn this is a treat just for the banter. As you might expect since this is not a NHB bout, Branko Cikatic gets disqualified for doing an illegal kick to Ralph White.

OMG its Kimo Leopoldo vs Dan Severn. 

This match stinks. Nothing happens for an entire 30 minutes, like actually nothing. The commentators progressively get more agitated throughout and by the end are revolting. This is a stinker. The crowd boos so loudly and let me tell you they deserve it!

WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY, We can now handle the real task at hand: Rickson Gracie vs Nobuhiko Takada! Unfortunately I am watching the english dvd release of this show and it doesn't have their entrances sadly!!! 

Right out the gate, Bas comments on how Takada will just not be able to win this fight. You can just feel it in your bones that this fight will be a weird one. “I just want to see him fight like a top guy also” laments Bas (oh man we all did). Quadros really tries hard to get over Takada as a big deal in Japan, but also mentions how he's about to go against someone many (at the time at least) thought was the best at MMA.

The fans are chanting for the founder of the great KINGDOM, Nobuhiko Takada, as they announce his name and then Quadros goes “he's not gonna win.” OMG THIS STANCE THAT TAKADA BUSTS OUT AT THE BEGINNING. Robot Rickson walks around as Takada circles endlessly. “Throw a high kick” the commentators plead of Takada but he just circles some more (now hes running lol). “THERES A LOW KICK” says Quadros and I think he wants Takada to win secretly. After a break from the corner (an unfair call), Gracie gets a double leg/slam takedown on Takada and gets the mount. Rickson then crossfaces and punches Takada to grind him down for the upcoming submission. 

 As Takada tries to get out, Rickson slaps on an armbar for the very quick submission. Nobuhiko Takada books it out of the ring afterwards with Yoji Anjo and others in tow. He disappears into the back as Rickson Gracie celebrates with his big trophy.

A sad day for Takada but let us not be down as waiting in the wings of our KINGDOM to revenge pro-wrestling's greatest defeat is Kazushi Sakuraba! As we continue our exploration of KINGDOM, we will be checking in on Sakuraba and Takada's continuing adventures in MMA. However, our next outing will be KINGDOM Gyakushuu at the venerable Korakuen Hall! Before you go, I leave you with an ode to Takada, the hero we all needed.