Masashi Aoyagi May Be Crazy But He Ain't No Fool

Masashi Aoyagi vs. Tatsumi Fujinami NJPW 6/12/91 - GREAT

PAS: This was a different style fight, which is the NJPW version of a worked shoot/shootstyle match. This was a nifty styles clash with Aoyagi lacing Fujinami with kicks to thigh and to the ribs, and Fujinami trying to get close enough to take him down. There was a sick spot where Fujinami stepped into a kick with a forearm strike, and then bodied Fujinami with Gi assisted judo throws, including using Aoyagi's gi to nearly choke him out. The actually finish was Fujinami using a figure four choke to get Aoyagi to tap, but that Gi choke was way sicker. About five minutes long but a cool five minutes.

Masashi Aoyagi vs. Kantaro Hoshino NJPW 11/11/91 - FUN

PAS: When you see two chaos agents like this lined up against each other, you are expecting a whirlwind. This was more of a tempest in a teacup. Hoshino comes out totally fired up, but after the first minute or so he really slows it down and it never regains the tempo. There was some stiff stuff, and it got a little chippy, but every time it felt like it was going to boil, they took it back to simmer. We even had Hoshino with the dickish kickout right at three to minimize Aoyagi's win. I was so amped when I saw this match was available, and while it had enough stuff to move it past SKIPPABLE, it was well beneath what I was hoping for. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE AOYAGI