Thunder on! Stride on! Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Strike With Vengeful Stroke!

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Antonio Inoki/Akira Maeda vs. Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu/Animal Hamaguchi NJ 2/9/84-GREAT

This is part of the Choshu's Army feud and Fujiwara got his first big run here and was awesome. The match is focused around the Army triple teaming and beating on Fujiwara. They bust him open and he fights them off with blood running down his face, there is a moment where he blocks a shot, smiles a bloody smile and just unloads with headbutts. Choshu's army matches all pretty much have unsatisfying finishes, and this ends with a crappy ref DQ, still this was the earliest super Fujiwara performance I have seen, and all Fujiwara fans should check it out.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Riki Choshu NJ 3/2/84-FUN

Real short brawl, which was still a blast. Fujiwara comes out ready for war and they just go at it. Choshu gets a bit of advantage with some big lariats, and Fujiwara roles to the floor and grabs a bolt and tries to stab Choshu with it. The Army runs in and we get a big multi man brawl. More of angle then a match, but you have to love the intensity and heat from this period of New Japan

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger UWF 9/11/85- EPIC

This is the final UWF 1 match up between these two, and really their masterpiece. Kris Zellner described the beginning of this match resembling a heavyweight title fight, and that is really accurate. The first part has a lot of feints and shrugs, Fujiwara throws some jabs, Tiger tosses some range finder kicks but neither guy wants to make the first move. At one point Fujiwara grabs Tiger's wrist and just yanks him in to take him down.

Then you have the Fujiwara controlling Tiger on the mat. The two most trite moves in the first UWF are the half crab and sitting leg lock. Watch some of the lesser matches from this period and they are loaded with diffident half crabs and somnambulant sitting leg locks, watching Fujiwara work those moves shows the real gulf between him and everyone else. He is constantly moving and working to improve his position, and Tiger is constantly trying to counter. There is never a point in the hold where nothing is happening. After being controlled on the mat, Tiger is able to get a break and unloads a nasty jumping knee right to Fujiwara's face. Fujiwara gets up at nine, backs Tiger into the corner and just blasts him with one of the best straight right hands in wrestling history. And it is on. Most UWF1 matches have a slow build and a hot finish, but this was the best slow build of any of the UWF, and damn near the best hot finish.

The end run of this match was really all about establishing distance. Super Tiger needs to have some distance to unleash his kicks, and when he gets that distance Fujiwara does an amazing job of selling them as deadly, even when they don't land clean. He is drooling, eyes rolling back into his head, checking his tooth to see if it still there, gasping for breath when he gets hit in the belly, Tiger looks like a guy who has the eraser in his feet, he can end a match with one shot. Meanwhile Fujiwara is attempting to keep it close, either on the mat, or in the corners where he can land body shots or headbutts. The finish run is perfect example of that, Tiger gets a couple of near fall KO's, but makes the mistake of locking up with Fujiwara, he tries for a German suplex, but Fujiwara, throws a back elbow, and just drops into a Fujiwara armbar for the tap out. Just an awesome perfect finish for a great match.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Antonio Inoki v. Akira Maeda/Tatsumi Fujinami NJ 9/7/87- GREAT

This is a battle of teams who really match up well against each other, Fujinami and Maeda are two of Fujiwara's best opponents, and Inoki also really works well with both. Built really well, with everyone hitting the mat with vengance, Inoki and Maeda had an especially neat exchange with Inoki using an Elevator to reverse position and land some nasty punches from the top. Finish was spectacular with Inoki avoiding all of Fujinami's attacks and catch him with his enzigiri, however Maeda comes in and catches Fujiwara with a nasty liver kick for the KO. Total chaos at the end which ruled.

The Complete and Accurate Yoshiaki Fujiwara