Masakatsu Funaki
Rutten's groundwork was built through a slow evolution and was unusual for being mostly self-taught. Initially counting only on defense rudiments learned from Chris Dolman and Masakatsu Funaki, he developed his game by copying Pancrase trainings and became a dangerous submission fighter. His wrestling style was patterned after Pancrase's native shoot wrestling (better known as "Catch wrestling" in the west), and he focused on chokeholds, leglocks, and a solid submission defense, which helped him to avoid being forced to submit by even high-level offensive grapplers like Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki.