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RINGS LIVE SPECIAL ON WOWOW
2/21/99 Akira Maeda Intai Jiai ~The Final~ Akira Maeda vs. Alexander Karelin 2/21/99 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena (17,048 sellout) Rankingsen (Ranking Match): Volk Han (RINGS Russia, 48-18, #4) vs. Nikolai Zouev (RINGS Russia, 11-12, #10) |
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A good short worked match. Han still looked really good here. The highlight was early on when Zouev charged at Han after escaping his udehishigigyakujujigatame attempt, but the backpedalling Han laid him out with a shotei. Han used a wicked spinning backhand, but Zouev didn't go down. From here they took it to the mat where they exchanged submissions for the remainder of the match. One really good spot was Han grabbing the ropes immediately after Zouev busted his clasp and straightened his arm for the udehishigigyakujujigatame. Han makes spots like this look so dramatic by reacting with genuine desperation. They did an interesting spot where Han locked the udehishigigyakujujigatame in the center of the ring, but Zouev twisted his body to alleviate the pressure. Zouev pushed Han's legs off him so Han still had the arm, but now it was bent at the elbow so it was no longer going against the joint. Han won with an ashikage facelock (a legscissor 1/2 crab plus a facelock). A good match, but awfully short. 4:49
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