PRO WRESTLING FUJIWARA-GUMI 2/28/94

Shoichi Funaki v. Minoru Tanaka

Man this was great. It is so weird that Funaki went from this kind of strict shootstyle to being a beloved comedy jobber in the WWE for so long. Tanaka dominates most of this, throwing big kicks, locking on super tight chokes, even throwing a couple of plausable looking shoot drop kicks. Funaki had some nice takedowns, but spent almost all the match on defense. Finish is great, Tanaka hits a super nasty, super fast judo throw and gets an 8 count. When Funaki gets up, Tanaka rushes him to try for the KO, throwing knees, and Funaki spins him into super fast kneebar/ankle lock combo for the quick tap. It was a very Fujiwara finish to the first match on a Fujiwara show.

Shinobu Kandori/Utako Hozumi v. Harley Saito/Mikkiko Futagami

This was a LLPW exhibition match, and worked like an exhibition match, so the stakes felt sort of low. Still there was a lot of fun stuff in this match. Saito and Futagami are both kickers and they were throwing heat rocks, Saito especially throws with recklessness. Hozumi was very much in the Manami Toyota spirit, but her bodypress and dropkick shtick felt out of place on a card where ladies were headhunting.  I loved Kandori's tribute to Fujiwara headbutts, and her finishing cross face chicken wing submission was really neck cranking.

Next we have a pair of kickboxing matches, which appear to be shoots. Cagematch didn't have match listings, and there were no brutal KOs or anything, so I skimmed past these.

Diusel Berto v. Shupo Toto

Toto is a Thai Kickboxer, and Berto is an early UFC fighter who is the father of ex middleweight boxing champion and Mayweather opponent Andre Berto. This might have been a shoot, as it was a little dull for a work. Berto eats some kicks until he gets close enough to throw Toto and neck crank him for the tap.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Katsumi Usuda

This is a classic Fujiwara versus a young guy match. Usuda throws out everything he has with kicks and takedowns, and Fujiwara counters and perries. The outcome is never really in doubt, and the match only goes about three minutes,  it is more like figuring out when Fujiwara will finish the fight. There are some cool bits of technique, including Fujiwara reversing a top wrist lock from his back, and a nice neck crank. This match up would certainly be better a couple of years later when Usuda wasn't a rookie, but it was fun to watch Fujiwara show off his skill, the way he works an ankle lock is a pretty bit of extreme violence.

Yuki Ishikawa v. Glen Jacobs

This was really good, one of my favorite Jacobs matches ever (admittedly a low bar). Jacobs is pretty great as a shootstyle bruiser he has nasty looking overhead slaps, and he is good at big throws and proto attempts at ground and pound. I loved Ishikawa crawling all over Jacobs like a jungle gym, grabbing and twisting arms and legs. There were also some moments where he just slaps the shit out of Jacobs which feels really satisfying if you have had to sit through years of shitty Kane matches. Liked the finish with Jacobs putting on a grounded full nelson and cranking Ishikawa's neck.

Battle Royal

I am amused how this show ends with a battle royal like every mid 90s US indy show. This was one of those weird Japanese battle royals where someone gets knocked down and they all dogpile on top them. There was a couple of amusing moments with Jacobs ragdolling everyone who attacked him, and I liked Don Arakawa directing traffic. The whole thing seems purposeless though, although it was fast.