PRO WRESTLING FUJIWARA-GUMI SHOW #1 3/4/91

Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi 3/4//91

After watching all of the UWF2 from 88 and 89, and reading the Funaki bio in the Observer, I decided I need to get all of the Fujiwara-Gumi. Tim Cooke, Tomk and I are buying all of it, and will be reviewing all of it. When we are done we will be putting together a PWFG comp so everyone can feel the love as well.

Wellington Wilkins Jr. v. Yusuke Fuke

I only ever remember Wilkins as a comedy opening match guy in MPRO, but he is a blast as a shootstyle guy, just laying in the kicks and submissions. Fuke has really fast hands, and throws a couple of really pretty flurries. Goes back and forth for a nice long time, before Wilkins wins with a nasty looking kneebar where he grabs the folded up knee. This was better then most of the opening matches from the late 80's UWF, and got me very excited to work through these shows.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Johnny Barrett

I was really excited when I saw this on the matchlist. Barrett is an early 90's Florida indy worker who was an early DDP tag partner and feuded with the Nasty Boys. Somehow he ended up in UWF2 working as a Greco guy. All of his earliest UWF matches are filled with 3 Stooges style selling and dropkicks, so of course I loved them. Fujiwara of course is fucking Yoshiaki Fujiwara. This was as great as I was hoping it would be, although for different reasons. By 1991 Barrett had gotten the hang of working the style and is actually a really great shootstyle monster, kind of like Gary Albright with takedowns instead of suplexes.

Fujiwara really puts him over great here, as they exchange big shots, including Fujiwara's awesome shootstyle headbutt, which is completely different from his pro-style headbutt . His Pro-style headbutt has him grab the hair and really rare back, the kind of showy headbutt that plays to the back row. The shootstyle headbutt is more like a ram, he bends his knees and drives the top of his head right into either the jaw or the temple of his opponent. It is so different from his pro-style headbutt, that it always looks reckless and potatoey. It really looked like he broke Barrett's jaw. The finish was awesome, Barrett is on top, and tries to maneuver for a cross armbreaker, he slips while trying to apply it, and Fujiwara pounces, grabbing his ankle and sinking in a deep ankle lock for the tap. It actual looked like Barrett blew the spot and Fujiwara just went with, although it might have been intentional. Fujiwara is an amazing defensive wrestler, and this was just a brilliant reaction spot.

Minoru Suzuki v. Wayne Shamrock

It is good old Ken rocking an amazing Paul Diamondish mullet. This is clearly a showcase match for two of their young stars, and they work a showcase 30 minute draw. Kind of the shootstyle version of a IWA-Mid South "two-guys-who-trained-with-each-other-intro-match" Think Delirious v. Matt Sydal or Marek Brave v. Josh Abercrombie except with kneebars instead of mirror sequences, and nine counts instead of 2.9 finisher exchanges. Much like one of those matches, their was alot of cool spots, but no real structure or story outside of "look at these two guys do stuff". Watching Ken Shamrock wrestle is alot like watching him shootfight, he has a bunch of cool looking leglocks and leglock counters and awful looking strikes. There was some nice stuff here, I especially liked Suzuki using the Fujiwara headstand leg scissors Boston Crab counter into an armbar near fall. Very cool Fujiwara tribute on a Fujiwara show. I also liked the draw finish as it really looked like Suzuki was desperate to put away Shamrock. Still some cool stuff doesn't make a great match.

Masakatsu Funaki v. Bart Vale

While Johnny Barrett has improved a ton from the UWF2 I watched, Bart Vale really hasn't. He still is pretty useless on the mat and throws these flowery kicks which don't really land at all, think Ernest Miller. Funaki puts together a pretty cool match, but plugging Vale into it really doesn't work. For the match to work Funaki has to sell Vale's shitty looking kicks like death, which looks like crap. The near falls and the finish were all really cool, and this would have been a good match with a kicker who actually connected with what he threw.