Adam Saitiev v unknown Russian, 1997 Russian Nationals

Inside Trip   1:54   sick!!!

Awesome

Sometimes your place in history is inches away. Saitiev goes on to become one of the legends of the modern era and a Russian HERO while this STUD in the blue who displayed equally spectacular techniques probably works as a minimum wage security guard at a Russian Gulag in upper Siberia... with no health insurance. Amazing how cruel history can be.

That's some crazy footage. What was the venue? Weird to see a shotgun shack with the roof falling off in the background of a wrestling match. As for the match itself, it looked like some kind of exhibition, with both guys throwing caution to the wind and trying to rack up as many total match points as possible. Looked like Saitiev was pinned at one point.

Rare match of Adam Saitiev at 1997 Russian Nationals. Saitiev was around 19 years old at the time and down at 69 kg (152 lbs). You can see he is still trying to perfect his style and is somewhat sloppy and all over the place. Still had great hand fighting and a killer inside trip. Saitiev placed 4th at the Europeans & 6th in the World Championships that year. 2 years later he won the World Championships at 76 kg and then the Olympic Gold a year later at 85 kg.Enjoy.