FUJIWARA OF THE DAY #3

Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Kintaro Kanemura ZERO-ONE 9/1/03

This is from the 2003 Fire Festival and is just a total blast. You have the king of the scum garbage indies v. the king of the scum shoot indies. Fujiwara slaps the shit out W*ING to start the match. He also lands some nasty headbutts busting up Kanemaru's head hardway (of coure he probably gets busted open legit putting on a baseball cap) but gets cut off by a punt to the balls.

Fujiwara sells shots to the balls really well, wincing with each motion afterwards. There is a great fighting spirit spot near the end of the matches, where they exchange slaps and ball punts, and Fujiwara does a really great fighting through testicle pain sell. Kanemaru takes it to the streets slamming Fujiwara into the rail and putting him through a table. He controls until he decides to smash Fujiwara's head into a table, he dents the table, but everyone know you can't hit Fujiwara in the head. He comes back with some brutal slaps and headbutts until Kanemaru bumps the ref. Kintaro grabs a chair a swings it, but Fujiwara catches his arm in a Fujiwara armbar, an awesome counter, unfortunately the ref is down, and when Fujiwara checks on him, he gets rolled up in a very RAW semi-main kind of finish.

This was really fun, Fujiwara fits perfectly in a crazy brawl, and has some really fun garbage wrestling spots. It really makes me want to get a hold of all of his FMW. Kanemaru is a guy who has great shtick, and can do his match really well, and Fujiwara plugs right into a Kanemaru match and it is great.

Read more!

FUJIWARA OF THE DAY #2

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Mariko Yoshida v. Yuki Ishikawa/Carlos Amano 3/25/05

This is a mixed tag from a Chigusa promotions show of all weird mixed tags. For some reason they were using a gigantic ring, I mean a ring that looked 30x30. I would have liked to see spots where the younger Ishikawa used the giant ring to tire the older Fujiwara, but I shouldn't Coey a match. Fujiwara and his trainee Ishikawa start out, and run through some beautiful shootstyle stuff. Great matwork, and super nasty punches and headbutts. Ishikawa has one of the best punches in wrestling, and he drills Fujiwara here. Fujiwara of course smacks him with Kikuchi level headbutts. One of the craziest things about current Fujiwara is that he has really retained all of his quickness. He is 57 years old, but every once in a while he will break out a counter which is blindingly fast. The first move of the match is Ishikawa going for a shoot and Fujiwara countering into a Fujiwara armbar with Dragons Gate speed.

Fujiwara also has some really fun mixed tag spots. Amano comes in and tries to outstrike him and he no-sells except a shot to the balls. Then she comes in later to headbutt him, he laughs at her grabs her like he is going to headbutt her, but instead gives her a big kiss Dusty Rhodes style.

Ishikawa however is the king in this. He comes off as such a scumbag rapist. He lifts Marika for a bodyslam, and just holds her there with his hand on her special parts and a smirk on his face. There is also a section where Ishikawa and Yoshida do some awesome fast matwork which ends with Ishikawa in an STF and he leans down to lick her ear. You really get the sense this how every Joshi fan with a Yoshida avatar would wrestle her if given the chance.

Finish is great as Amano goes all Take Back the Night on Ishikawa and all three of them beat on him. Yoshida then locks in a triangle choke and Yuki just gets this beatific smile on his face as he is face first to her flower. He even waves off the save from Amano.

Totally fun match, which makes me badly want to see an Ishikwa v. Fujiwara singles match, and for GAEA to restart with Ishikawa as your lead heel.

Read more!

FUJIWARA OF THE DAY #1

Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Shinya Hashimoto 6/1/94

Despite being the first ever New Japan trainee, this was Fujiwara’s only IWGP title match. This is a match up of two of my favorite wrestlers of all time, I saw Hashimoto maul Dylan Knight live in a tiny gym in Pennsylvania and caught his bandana when it was thrown to the crowd. I still have the bandana hanging in the hall of my apartment.

I could see a lot of Puro nerds not caring for this match. This isn’t smooth and dramatic like a classic All Japan match from the 1990’s, this was rough and awkward. Both guys would try attacks, which would get countered and then there would be pauses and restarts in action. It was very weirdly paced, in a way I really liked and could see other people hating. Fujiwara really dominates the opening, working on Hashimoto’s shoulder and attempting to really lock in the Fujiwara armbar. The first pause and shift in momentum comes, when Hash bulls Fujiwara into the corner and wraps his bad knee in the ropes. Hash then points to his shoulder in a real “eye for an eye” kind of way.

Nothing was hit really cleanly here, Fujiwara kept trying to catch all of Hash’s kicks. Some he would succeed in blunting, but a lot would go through. The more that landed the less he was able to block, in a way that you could tell he was being worn down. All the blocking and awkwardness was the really the opposite of the big strike exchanges most big Puro matches have. Everything was a struggle. There is a long fight for the first DDT, with Fujiwara trying a bunch of counter attempts, and Hash laying in the knees. When it finally hits Fujiwara takes an almost Kobashish bump on it . Hash pins him off a second DDT which really was sold the way a tough boxer sells a meaningless second knockdown. The first KO was really enough to win the match, but his heart won’t let him go down. Still there was no fight left in him.

I loved this match, it really felt more shootstyle then Hash’s match against Takada. This didn’t have the drama of that match, but it had the rough edges and awkwardness, which really made it look like a fight.

Read more!