New Japan 80s Top 30 Countdown! Match # 29

#29 Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Akira Maeda 1/10/86

This was at the beginning of the UWF invasion of New Japan and served as an into to the style, and what an intro it was. They start out with some really nasty tight grappling on the mat, with Maeda looking more comfortable and active then he ever does against anyone else. Maeda was presented very strongly here, he absolutely lays into Fujiwara with nasty brutal kicks. Fujiwara does the awesome spot where he attempt to catch Maeda's kicks, but still gets cracked. No one in wrestling history is better at taking a beating then Yoshiaki Fujiwara, his selling, facial expressions and body movements can total engage you in even a one sided match. The finish was tremendous, with Fujiwara surviving a big beating but in classic fashion he was able to grab the back elbow flash Fujiwara armbar for the tap. I just love when he pulls out these miracle finishes, and this is one of the best. This match was in my top 5, this is up there with Regal v. Finlay and Casas v. Santo as my favorite individual matchups in wrestling history, and this was one of their best