Yoshiaki Fujiwara's Power is Made Perfect in Weakness

Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Antonio Inoki NJPW 5/20/87-GREAT

Another previously unseen HH gem from Max Lanicault. These guys have two of my favorite matches of the entire 1980's. This isn't at that level, but it is another example of their great chemistry. The early parts of the match are fun bits of grappling mixed in with bursts of temper. They grapple, and every once in a while pop each other in the face. My favorite example of that is Fujiwara doing a MUGA style headscissors counter and cuffing Inoki hard in the ear. The finish run is pretty neat, it starts with Inoki escaping a knee bar and bounding off the mat into an enzigiri. Fujiwara is stunned but still able to counter a suplex into a Fujiwara armbar. Finish is pretty cool with Inoki hitting a back suplex and then stomping the shit out of the back of Fujiwara's head, add a couple of enzigiri's and Fujiwara gets stunned enough to get pinned. I liked it conceptually, but I was hoping for more of a finish run, it felt a little abrupt especially considering how amazing their finishes usually are. Very happy this showed up though, and very cool to see.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE YOSHIAKI FUJIWARA