Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 6/27/98
This was, in my opinion, the match of the year in 1998, slightly beating out Misawa vs Kobashi. This is the only RINGS match on my list, in part because the shoot-wrestling style can be boring to most fans except for certain quality matches. This was one of those special matches and probably the best RINGS bout ever. The first 12 minutes saw mainly mat wrestling, but it was so much fun to watch. The work was so realistic, yet fluid, especially in Tamura's case. Both wrestlers attempted armlocks, leglocks, and chokes, but their opponent escaped each time. Finally, Kohsaka scored the first point when he applied a leglock and Tamura grabbed the ropes to break the hold (the rope break is worth one point for the guy on offense). Kohsaka also scored with a leglock and rope break at 16:04. Tamura scored a point with an armlock at 18:23, but Kohsaka retaliated and scored his third point with an armlock of his own at 20:04. Less than a minute later, however, Tamura evened the score by scoring a two point knockdown on Kohsaka with a series of palm strike. The second half of the match also featured dramatic striking in addition to the matwork and submission holds, and the crowd heat reached a fever pitch on several occasions. Tamura scored the next two points with an armlock and then a choke to take a 5-3 lead. Kohsaka then scored two points of his own with an armlock and choke. Tamura locked on a leglock with time running out and the fans went crazy in anticipation of a Tamura win. However, the 30:00 time limit expired before a point was scored. Since each wrestler had scored 5 points, the match was ruled a draw. If you are into mat and shoot style wrestling, this is a must-see! *****