Fighting Network Rings


Fighting Network Rings, trademarked as RINGS, is a Japanese combat sport promotion that has lived three distinct periods: shoot style puroresu promotion from its inauguration to 1995, mixed martial arts promotion from 1995 to its 2002 disestablishment, and a revived MMA promotion from 2008 onward.

History

Early history

RINGS was founded by Akira Maeda on May 11, 1991, following the dissolution of Newborn UWF. At that time, Maeda and Mitsuya Nagai were the only two people to transfer from UWF, wrestlers such as Kiyoshi Tamura, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Kenichi Yamamoto would later also transfer from UWF International.
Despite starting out as a shoot style professional wrestling promotion, RINGS showcased primitive MMA fights, as early as 1991, and notably promoted shoot style wrestling matches alongside these legitimate fights on the same cards. Beginning in 1995, RINGS ceased promoting their product as professional wrestling and following founder Akira Maeda's retirement in 1999, the promotion transitioned into a full-fledged MMA promotion.
In its early years, the promotion often brought in fighters and professional wrestlers from Shooto, Pancrase, and Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi to compete against RINGS fighters.

Decline

Maeda retired from active duty in 1998, leaving Tamura as the top star, but the collapse of UWF International and the subsequent rise of PRIDE provided competition that proved to be too much for the promotion. On February 15, 2002, RINGS ceased activity.
Many Japanese RINGS stars, including Masayuki Naruse, Wataru Sakata and Hiroyuki Ito, made the transition back into traditional puroresu. Kiyoshi Tamura, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Yoshihisa Yamamoto and Tsuyoshi Kosaka continued competing in MMA, most notably for PRIDE. Mitsuya Nagai began a career in kickboxing before returning to traditional puroresu. The MMA promotion ZST was founded in November 2002 to accommodate former Japanese RINGS fighters who remained competitors in mixed martial arts.

Revival

Following the dissolution of Hero's and the conclusion of Maeda's involvement with FEG, Maeda revived the RINGS brand for a new series of MMA events named The Outsider. The first RINGS The Outsider event occurred on March 30, 2008. Over a dozen Outsider events have been held since.
The brand was resurrected once more on January 22, 2012 with Battle Genesis: Vol. 9; the event was sanctioned by fellow mixed martial arts promotion ZST. The previous RINGS Battle Genesis event, Volume 8, took place on September 20, 2001.

Tournaments

Mega Battle Tournament

  • Mega Battle Tournament 1992 – Chris Dolman
  • Mega Battle Tournament 1993 – Akira Maeda
  • Mega Battle Tournament 1994 – Volk Han
  • Mega Battle Tournament 1995 – Akira Maeda
  • Mega Battle Tournament 1996 – Volk Han
  • Mega Battle Tournament 1997 – Kiyoshi Tamura
  • Mega Battle Tournament 1998 – Team Georgia

    King of Kings Tournament

  • King of Kings Tournament 1999 – Dan Henderson
  • King of Kings Tournament 2000 – Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira

    Championship tournaments

  • Light-Heavyweight Title Tournament 1997 – Masayuki Naruse
  • Middleweight Title Tournament 2001 – Ricardo Arona
  • Heavyweight Title Tournament 2001 – Fedor Emelianenko

    Other tournaments

  • Rising Stars Heavyweight Tournament 2000 – Bobby Hoffman
  • Rising Stars Middleweight Tournament 2000 – Jeremy Horn
  • Absolute Class Tournament 2001 – Fedor Emelianenko

    Championships

Openweight Championship

Heavyweight Championship (+)

Light-Heavyweight Championship (−)

Middleweight Championship (−)

Roster

Japanese

  • Akira Maeda
  • Mitsuya Nagai
  • Yoshihisa Yamamoto
  • Masayuki Naruse
  • Tsuyoshi Kosaka
  • Wataru Sakata
  • Kiyoshi Tamura
  • Kenichi Yamamoto
  • Hiromitsu Kanehara
  • Ryuki Ueyama
  • Koichiro Kimura
  • Hiroyuki Ito
  • Yoshinori Nishi

    Foreigners

RINGS' system was largely much inspired by organizations such as the National Wrestling Alliance and FIFA, and featured fighters from different countries organized into stables. These foreign fighters would then compete against RINGS' Japanese competitors and against each other.

Stables