PRO WRESTLING FUJIWARA-GUMI SHOW #19 6/1/93 TRY AGAIN

Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Shinobu Kandori

TKG: This was worked as shirt on exhibition match. I watched alot of 80s indie Japan and the shirt on exhibition match was an undercard staple. For that genre this was pretty fun. Fujiwara dominated this repeatedly getting Kandori to tap. there was a kind of jovial atmosphere around the exhibition as Fujiwara was amused by Kandori and Kandori was never humiliated and came across as really game trying again and again. Kandori did get one set of strikes off that were answered by Fujiwara clinching and then kissing her on the cheek. She blushed. Favorite sequence was when Kandori went for cross arm and Fujiwara did the dead lift counter easily lifting the smaller woman and then putting her down gently on the top turnbuckle only to be met by a choke that took him down. You got a sense that the two were having fun throughout and that sense of fun was contagious. the bell calls for the end and the two go to the back joking about the ringrat they intend to double team.

PAS: I didn't like this as much as Tom did. For veteran mat guy with great headbutts v. spunky bull dyke, this is smoked by any permutation of Ian Rotten v. Mickie Knuckles. Fujiwara must have gotten a dozen taps, and this match would have really worked better if he had half as many taps, and Kandori had twice as many little offensive runs. Kandori doesn't work as Momoe Nakanishi, spunky underdog who is humiliated but never gives up. She works as unprofessional bitch who is all ways shooting on someone, having her work as Momoe really kills her gimmick.

Jerry Flynn v. Diuseul Berto

PAS: I was totally blown away by this match. Berto is a guy who we knew had some fun spots and really great sperm, but nothing he did before really prepared us for a match this good. In my previous review I had talked about liking one dimensional kicker Jerry Flynn better then multifaceted Jerry Flynn, but here was the match where he put it all together. The mat work was great, I especially loved this crossarmbreaker spot, where he was able to shift his body and hold on to the hold even as Berto was rolling him around the ring. He also had a great rear naked choke off of a missed high kick. Then when he unleashed the stand up, you had some great back and forth exchanges with Berto, who's goofy Ninja kicks actually landed well.

TKG: This was AMAZING. Not just surprising since "better than should be" but actively really good. Second best match on show. In the past most of Flynn's matwork has been built around him working defensive. here he was aggressive moving from one submission attempt to other. Berto would get off his strikes in bunches. It wasn't that he had impressive hand speed or impressive combinations but rather that he would just get the strikes off in bunches before Flynn would be able to get off a response (normally a shotayish jab). Berto also had some really great Nipsy Russelesque selling of knock downs. Match was filled with hot near falls, my favorite being one where Berto maneuvers out of way of a kick dodging it in such a way that Flynn ends up behind Berto and gets him in a choke.

Yuki Ishikawa v. Carl Greco

PAS: There is alot of patterns in Fujiwara booking, as this was clearly worked like your Minoru Suzuki v. Wayne Shamrock, young native v. young gaijin. This was a little less juniorsish, and had a finish, so I liked it more then most of those matches. Plus it's Yuki Ishikawa, even incubatory Ishikawa is still Ishikawa. There is alot more matwork in PWFG Ishikawa v. BattlArts Ishikawa, so I keep waiting for Ishikawa to punch Greco in the face. Still if you watch it without that expectation, it is really great.

TKG: I didn't like this as much as Phil. I'm not a big fan of the Takada vs. Yamazaki type of juniors style shootstyle matches. And there were moments that were a little too juniorsish in the early parts. Although Ishikawa stays away from juniors style "selling" . This does pick up by the sixth rope break as the submissions are sufficiently nasty and the mat reversals are sufficiently neat. Ishikawa never punches Greco right in the face but he is willing to eat a kick right in his own face. This show is great from top to bottom. I don't know if you can run a Japanese promotion with only two Japanese workers but Ishikawa is a great second native.

Bart Vale v. Mark Ashford-Smith

PAS: I don't know if Ashford-Smith has any martial arts backround. I do know that his brother was a master of the deadly killing arts of the Orient, but don't know about him. What he is really amazing at is selling though. He eats kicks amazingly, I actually though Vale KO'ed him on the first high kick, as he looked like the recipient of an early Mike Tyson left hook. I mean Vale looked like a killer, almost to the point where it hurts the match that the match isn't over after the first shot. Vale is awesome at this point, and really controls the match.

TKG: This is 1993 so MMA was really in its most primitive form, Ashford-Smith had the advantage of coaching from 2002 era MMA. Nonetheless, Ashford-Smith was the underdog here with Vale dominating. We keep on saying that Vale has gotten really good but it needs to be repeated. Ashford-Smith has good mat work although it feels a little pro style at points and he eats kicks really well but again he eats them with spectacular bumps. not the type of cumulative damage bumps that Takahashi took. Still I get sense that Mark Starr has a ton of potential as a shoot style worker. Did Mark Starr ever feud with Jumping Gary Albright in Memphis?

Yoshiaki Fujiawara v. Joe Malenko

PAS: This was so much fun, just a pair of true maestros pulling pushing and twisting each other until someone gives. This wasn't an exchange of holds, it was a constant battle by both men to find some advantage or defense. This was really a Malenko show, as he controlled with great takedowns, and constant attacking, with Fujiwara really focused on defense. Of course Fujiwara is the greatest defensive pro-wrestler of all time, so the defense stuff ruled.

TKG: This was a Malenko show. My favorite thing that he did was use his knee and shin as simple machine, constantly pushing it against stuff to act as a lever, inclined plane or wedge to force Fujiwara to move one body part or another, worlds most violent physics demonstration.