My Kinfolks Tell Me Masashi Aoyagi's A Street Fighting Man

Masashi Aoyagi vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi NJPW 6/9/92 - EPIC

MD: This was about what I wanted to be, an absolute war with a few narrative checkpoints to keep it honest and an inconclusive finish based on the idea that they weren't done fighting until the moment that they finally were. Kobayashi ambushed with a forearm and a DDT right at the start and the next few minutes were about Aoyagi working from underneath and getting cut off and brutalized. That included a capture suplex and some nasty, nasty headbutts in the corner. When he came back, it was with all of the wrath and violence that you'd expect, but a bit of interference he had to swipe at from the outside meant that Kobayashi could get back in it. From there, they just went at each other until the ref seemed to want to call a stoppage. It didn't work. It didn't even come close to working until by the end they were just throwing shots and DDTing each other and it was like the tide going back out to sea as they laid there and finally decided it was enough. Dawn had come. It was time to pick up the pieces, patch up the wounds, and prepare to do it all again the next night.

PAS: Man this is my kind of wrestling, just an uncooperative fist fight with real malice behind every blow. I love how uncooperative all of the Karate fighters vs. HI matches feel, it really seems like there were just a bunch of guys in a dojo who developed a blood feud with a bunch of pro-wrestlers. Aoyagi with the thick beard, Gi and crimson mask is one of the most badass looking guys in the history of wrestling, and Kobayashi just gives no quarter, The ref basically throws the match out twice, not because of any interference or a double count out, but just because these two fuckers were going to kill each other, and it seems absolutely justified. It was all fun and games, but it got ugly and it felt like any moment now Aoyagi would jam his thumb in Kobayashi's eye socket and try to pop out a ball, and the ref wanted no part of what seemed inevitable. Pretty much the definition of an EPIC.

JR: At its core, professional wrestling is about structure. It’s about finding a pattern and a process and exploiting it. Like a line in chess it’s about knowing the variations, understanding the innate rhythms and positions and finding ways to subvert them until there is a singular moment of advantage.

Aoyagi finds structure in struggle. He finds ways to ply up the different style fight. He walks into simple moves and holds and finds himself overmatched. His inexperience manifests as a sort of uncooperativeness as Kobayashi struggles to suplex him or throw him.

As he searches for space, Aoyagi looks at times like an overmatched boxer, unsure of exactly how much space he should create or take away. He desperately goes for the clinch and finds himself thrown. He seeks the safety of the ropes and traps himself in the corner, stalked by Kobayashi and headbutted repeatedly.

Despite this, Aoyagi understands the moment and he understands the structure necessary to build to that moment. By closing the gap so repeatedly, Aoyagi baits Kobayashi into creating space, enough space to finally throw kicks. They stun Kobayashi, again like a boxer who finds himself able to fight through on adrenaline for a few seconds before collapsing. There is true dynamism here. Aoyagi in control feels different, a shift not only in tactics but in energy.

Eventually both men find themselves spent. The referee tries to stop everything and fails, facing two men with a fetish to physical contact. They find themselves only able to do the things they’d found success with earlier; DDTs and headbutts, powerful thrust kicks and wild strikes. They struggle. They collapse together. The structure collapses with them.

Masashi Aoyagi/Abdullah The Butcher vs. Mr. Pogo/Masanobu Kurisu Tokyo Pro 5/30/96 - GREAT

PAS: This delivered what you would expect, lots of grody stabbing, some solid Kurisu and Aoyagi chaos and a bunch of blood. The match had some clips, and the camera was focused primarily on Abby and Pogo when all four were crowd brawling, it made me want to see the Aoyagi vs. Kurisu focused cut of the match. The bits we got of both Aoyagi and Kurisu were pretty fun stuff, stiff each other and Pogo and Abby with kicks and chair shots, the Abby meat cleaver elbow drop is one of the greatest finishers in pro-wrestling history, I wouldn't have been shocked to see Kurisu's head rolling off his shoulders and out of the ring.

JR: This match is built upon faith. There is a 400 pound man with a serrated blade held to his forehead and his partner does not help him. He simply trusts him. He does karate, knowing that the 400 pound man has had too many blades held against his skin to count.

Instead of helping Abdullah the Butcher, Aoyagi continues to kick the shit out of Kurisu, that bald fuck. He is despicable and opportunistic and he finds himself repeatedly punished. His subconscious cowardice lends itself to a structure here. Despite dressing like Abdullah and antagonizing Abdullah, Kurisu largely stays away, creating a tag match that is largely composed of two separate but equally compelling singles brawls. Kurisu fights Aoyagi, which largely stays in the background of the larger and more vibrant brawl between Pogo and Abdullah.

What we have here is clipped and probably only a small portion of the actual match, but it remains an interesting artifact if nothing else. There are compelling pots and transitions throughout; the aforementioned faithful lack of a cut off from Aoyagi, some hand karate on the outside from Abdullah, Pogo stalking the ring with his evil looking weapon, dead set on hurting people. It sets up a quick but fulfilling finish when Aoyagi finally takes on Pogo, long enough for Kurisu to find himself caught. Never one to play the chickenshit, he is outmatched nonetheless. He falls immediately to the elbow drop. Aoyagi’s faith is rewarded.