Search - Pride Fighting Championships: Shock Wave 2004 on DVD

Pride Fighting: Shockwave 2004

Matt | NJ | 08/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Shockwave 2004 is a huge spectacle, loaded with awesome matchups. Fedor will face Nogueira for a 3rd time, Wanderlei Silva was supposed to fight Sakuraba again, but due to injury, Silva will now face Mark Hunt, who hopes to become an instant force in Pride and CroCop gets his rematch against Kevin Randleman...

The first bout of the event-
Ikuhisha Minowa v. Stefan Leko:
Can't honestly say that I was too excited for this one. It ends very suddenly not too far into the 1st round, which was nice... a decent kickoff to what should be an amazing night of fights.

Giant Silva v. Choi Mu Bae:
Silva is a huge, somewhat disturbing-looking human being. He doesn't quite look like he belongs in mixed martial arts. His movement is almost too awkward and sloppy for him to be all that threatening. Imposing? Yes. He is very large, but he doesn't appear to be too skilled. Mu Bae is undefeated in Pride, with a record of 3-0. Silva makes crazy monster noises while Mu Bae pounds away at his mid-section with elbows and forearms. I was just happy to see this fight end.

Yoji Anjo v. Ryan Gracie:
The low-energy action in this fight is weak, especially given Gracie's usually fiery spirit. Another fight that I was happy to see come to an end.

Ryo Chonan v. Anderson Silva:
The first fight of the night that I was excited to see. Silva is a very impressive fighter and I was looking forward to seeing HOW he would end this one. Chonan lands a good shot that wakes Silva up. Silva then closes in on Chonan with his well-measured precision and lands some shots of his own, gets Chonan to the ground and takes his back. Both fighters prove to be good technicians on the ground. Silva lands more good shots in the 2nd, as the fight remains on the feet. When it goes to the ground, the action slows and nothing much in the way of stratedy occurs, either. The 3rd round, however, contains something that will shock you... The first fight of the night that can be called "great".

Hidehiko Yoshida v. Rulon Gardner:
Gardner trains with Team Quest (Dan Henderson, Randy Couture, etc.). He's a gold medalist in greco-roman wrestling and there is much speculation behind his venture into the Pride ring as to what he will be capable of doing. He drops Yoshida with a stiff straight shot early on and settled into the situation well. It's a slow and reserved battle, with Gardner appearing to maintain a slight upper-hand throughout. Yoshida is yellow-carded in the 3rd round for playing around and trying to entertain the crowd. Gardner then beats up on Yoshida.

Mirko CroCop v. Kevin Randleman:
The rematch we all knew we would see. CroCop wasn't "supposed" to lose to Randleman the first time, as he was surely on the path to the top of his division... a shot at Fedor. This time, things are indeed different, although Mirko does appear to be somewhat tentative prior to the fight, not returning Randleman's stare while receiving pre-fight instruction. I suppose that's just his way.

Yuki Kondo v. Dan Henderson:
Henderson gets control and almost ends it right away with a submission. Kondo is able to turn the tide... Something that happens a good deal between these two during the fight. There are periods of brawling, usually at the opening of the rounds, which is exciting. This is a good fight.

Takanori Gomi v. Jens Pulver:
I was very excited to see the Pulver-izer in Pride action. Gomi is 4-0 in Pride at the time, so you know they are putting Pulver right in there with the best in his weight class. This is an excellent display of stand-up fighting, with good, solid, crisp strikes from both fighters. They both have their moments in this striking war, but we all know how most shootouts like this end. Great action.

Wanderlei Silva v. Mark Hunt:
Hunt is far larger than Silva (70+ lbs). This does not deter Silva at all, UNTIL he gets a taste of some solid strikes from Hunt. Silva surprisingly gets a ton of takedowns in this fight, which is a good strategy against a striker of Hunt's size. I mean, Silva is basically Pride's premier striker, but taking shots from someone that large is not exactly a good gameplan. Instead, he is as cautious as I've ever seen him. There are some really exciting exchanges and each fighter makes a great showing. Hunt debuts what Randy Couture (on guest commentary for this fight) calls the "Atomic [...] Drop". Silva does get rocked a few times in this fight. There is just great action all around in this one.

Emelianenko Fedor v. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira:
These two face off for the 3rd time. The first, Fedor won convincingly, the second was a no contest, stopped due to an early cut. This time around, we should find out who the better fighter is, thereby uniting the heavyweight title. Fedor is 8-0 at this point in his Pride Fighting career.
This fight isn't all that different from the first time they met. Fedor appears to control most of the fight.

This is an awesome Pride event. I would recommend at least checking it out.

The bonus DVD includes a number of indepth interviews with the fighters. They're all great, but seriously, watch Kevin Randleman's borderline-insane rant when they ask him if he's excited about the middleweight tournament. WOW."

An MMA Event of Epic Proportions

robbypark | Saskatoon, SK | 07/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"PRIDE or PRIDE Fighting Championships is the largest mixed martial arts organization in the world. It is based in Japan and currently promoted by Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE). Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997, promoted by Kakutougi Revolution Spirits (KRS). It is the most popular MMA organization in the world based on the number of event attendees: the PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 event had over 67,000 people in the audience. The audience record is 91,107 people on the PRIDE and K-1 co-production Shockwave/Dynamite, held in August 2002. It is considered to be the premiere MMA organization on the planet.

PRIDE Shockwave 2004 is the year-end show that took place in Japan on New Year's Eve. The NYE show is always the biggest show of the year for Mixed Martial Arts. "Shockave" is basically the "Wrestlemania" of MMA. The 2004 edition does not disappoint.

With a stacked 10-fight card, Shockwave assembles perhaps the greatest array of fighters on one card that has ever been done before. Here is a rundown(with no spoilers) on the card:

IKUHISA MINOWA vs STEFAN LEKO - 8/10
- The incredibly popular Japanese superstar, Ikuhisa Minowa, takes on Stefan "Blitz" Leko, a K-1 superstar making his MMA debut. Minowa gives him a warm welcome to PRIDE.

CHOI MU BAE vs Giant Silva - 6.5/10
- The undefeated Korean wrestler battles the 7'4, 400lbs giant of a man. This fight is somewhat entertaining because of the sideshow factor, but overall its pretty boring.

RYAN GRACIE vs YOJI ANJOH - 7/10
- Although the fight has some history behind it, the overall result isn't as good as you like. Still, it is decent for the time it lasts.

RYO CHONAN vs ANDERSON SILVA - 9/10
- A tremendous fight between two top 10 Welterweights(183lbs). A back-and-forth battle that ends in arguably the greatest submission finish in the history of the sport.

RULON GARDNER vs HIDEHIKO YOSHIDA - 8/10
- For the first time ever, two Gold Medalist meet in the ring as Greco-Roman wrestling Gold Medalist, Rulon Gardner, does battle with Judo Gold Medalist, Hidehiko Yoshida.

MIRKO FILIPOVIC vs KEVIN RANDLEMAN - 9/10
- This is the rematch between the two fighters after the shocking events that transpired at Total Elimination 2004. Short and sweet.

DAN HENDERSON vs YUKI KONDO - 9/10
- A war between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The result is considered controversial by many people.

TAKANORI GOMI vs JENS PULVER - 10/10
- STAND. UP. WAR. Takanori Gomi, the #1 ranked Lightweight fighter in the world faces off against former UFC Lightweight Champion, Jens Pulver. an action-packed fight wiht neither man backing down.

WANDERLEI SILVA vs MARK HUNT - 10/10
- In a special catchweight fight, the PRIDE Middleweight Champion and #1 ranked 205lbs fighter in the world, Wanderlei Silva, takes on 290lbs Mark Hunt, a former K-1 World Grand Prix Champion. An incredible fight and the debut of the infamous atomic butt drop.

FEDOR EMELIANENKO vs ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA - 9/10
- After a controversial ending to their last encounter, the two best heavyweights in the world meet for the 3rd time on the biggest stage of them all. Both men show why they are considered the two best fighters in their weight class.

Overall, this is another one of those must-have PRIDE DVD's. The package contains a good amount of extras including an extra fight that was originally not aired in PPV broadcast."