Found Footage Friday: EXIT~!

Fugo Fugo Yumeji/Sanshu Tsubakichi vs. Munenori Sawa/Keita Yano EXIT 08/24/08

https://youtu.be/dCkb-5mpA7E?feature=shared

MD: Honestly, a match that defies words for the most part. Sanshu and Keita are in this, absolutely, and they are important to create a sense of normalcy and a baseline for things to push up against, but their mastery on the mat is completely overshadowed. This is about Fugo and Sawa being Fugo and Sawa, right? They throw hands, and then they throw heads, and then they throw hands again, and then they throw feet, and then it's back to the heads. I say hands because said hands are open and smashing directly against the skull and face of one another. Those come, more often and not from the ground and the kicks from a standing position and the heads fly from any position imaginable. 

They feel here like a perfect match, like an aligned pair, like each is the only one in the world that can complete the other. Granted, it also feels like if they were to touch for too long, it would set off a chain reaction and the entire world would explode. That sort of match. Fugo was all but unstoppable here, even from Sawa. There were two moments where he escalated matters into a suplex. After one, he held an advantage over Sawa so strong that the latter barely knew where he was, even as he kept coming in for more and kept giving more. And yes, Fugo was unstoppable as he captured Keita in a hold (after yet another headbutt) and Sawa kicked and kicked and kicked at him, the damndest kicks you'd ever see, and Fugo just held on until he got the tap. It's one of those matches that can't really be analyzed, only experienced. 

PAS: Fugo is such a malevolent force in EXIT, a grinning violence troll. Sawa was never my favorite BattlArts guy, a bit too flourishy for my taste, but anyone trained by Yuki Ishikawa can hang in this dungeon, and he just unloads with everything here, even his silly little skip kicks were full force to Fugo's torso. Fugo unleashed those disgusting headbutts and a keylock so violent you could almost see Yano's muscle tear. Exactly what you want from some guys in some chains. 

Toshiya Kurenai/Aki Shizuku vs. Ai/Kikujiro Umezawa EXIT 09/25/11

https://youtu.be/qNybdbDJmU8?feature=shared

MD: This match had the biggest pitfight feel out of the lot of them with the criss-crossed chains to express the barrier, the intergender aspect, the gloves on Ai. This is a little simplistic but until the final Ai/Aki exchange, this felt a little like rock/paper/scissors to me in the best way. Ai and Kurenai were the scissors, throwing kicks and evenly matched against one another. Then when Ai realized she was making no headway she tagged in Kikujiro and he was the rock, just absolutely streamrolling Kurenai with some of the best deadlift offense you'll ever see, just getting in close, throwing headbutts, and hefting him off the ground like he was absolutely helpless to stop it, no matter how skilled a fighter he was. Then Aki came in, pure paper, using holds and finesse to cover Kikujiro's large frame, outtechniquing him and stretching him in ways that should have been implausible to watch but that came off as absolutely believable. The opening few minutes of this felt like some of the most beautiful "different style" wrestling I've ever seen in that way. The last few felt like an absolute war between Aki and Ai as they went all out for even the slightest edge. 

PAS: Awesome match where I wasn't really familiar with anyone in it, and came away wanting to see more of everyone. Loved both women wrestlers who were throwing pure heat at each other with speed and force, it was like watching Lioness Asuka and Toshiya Yamada sped up without losing any of the pop Kikujiro was awesome just a golem, huge unmoving and violent, throwing these great looking deadweight suplexes hard on the concrete floor and smushing people with headbutts. This looks like the basement of container ship where the sailors made people they were human trafficking fight to the death, which is about the coolest wrestling atmosphere ever.  

Jota vs Kazuhiko Ogasawara EXIT 02/14/10

MD: This is a jaunt outside my comfort zone but one I'm glad to take.. Ogasawara is the master in a gi, older, calm, confident, at peace. At times he is in danger here but he is almost entirely unflappable. Jota is young, bald, a striker's striker who is able to get the absolute utmost torque on his holds. I didn't think this would last a minute honestly, because when Ogasawara got him down for the first time, the only word I could think of to describe the strikes he was laying into the leg, the side, any open area on Jota's body was "ground beef." That's what those strikes were doing to Jota. It was downright grisly.

But Jota either was able to lace limbs and joints together for a hold or get back to his feet and throw kicks. All it would take was one for Ogasawara to crumble but it had to be the right one and then he'd have to follow up, something that proved difficult. Mid match, he did got in a hold that trapped Ogasawara's head like a butterfly (we couldn't fully see what was going on with the arms from our angle) but he was able to get a break. Once back to his feet, Ogasawara broke his stoicism for the only time in the match letting out a yell and driving Jota back (almost from the sharp and sudden yell alone), but he was able to recover. The whole match there was the sense that Jota was doing everything in his power to contain Ogasawara, that one false step and he'd get crushed, but that he could win with one daring strike as well. When Ogasawara finally felled him with a swift kick, the one that would herald the beginning of the end no matter how many times Jota just barely managed to get up, it felt like a moral victory of sorts: Ogasawara's belt fell off. Symbolic as that might have been, it was ultimately futile, though the effort itself from Jota remains worth noting.

PAS: Big time Ogasawara fan from his Zero One days, and he is just a beast here, just pulverising Jota with every punch and kick, the shots to the body especially felt like they were powdering bone and pulping internal organs. I loved the first big Jota comeback as he hits an upkick, with Ogasawara doing this killer delayed sell. All of a sudden the kid had hope!! And he hits the vet with everything he had, only for Ogasawara to keep walking him down, until he finally puts him in deep freeze with several knockdowns. So awesome, so glad this existed and someone taped it.

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Complete and Accurate Fugo Fugo Yumeji

 

One of the great indy sleaze puro icons of all time. A guy who had some Zero-One undercard matches and then went on to have horrifically violent matches in tiny storefronts surrounded by chains. Some true horror shows which deserve more attention, and it also gives us an excuse to watch Zero-One undercards. Sebastian, Eric and Matt will be jumping on these as well. As always matches are EPIC, GREAT, FUN, SKIPPABLE

1988

Tadahiro Fujisaki vs. Shigeo Kato WYF 1998? - EPIC

2015

Fugo Fugo Yumeji/Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Joeta/Kendi Takeshima WUW 1/1/15 - EPIC

2018

Fugofugo Yumeji/Buki vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Joeta WUW 7/14/18 - EPIC

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Fugo Fugo is Miles Away From Nowhere and The Wind Doesn't Have a Name

Tadahiro Fujisaki vs. Shigeo Kato WYF 1998? - EPIC

PAS: Fujisaki is the future Fugo Fugo, a long time Segunda Caida favorite, and he shows that early in his career he had that same lack of regard for his own and his opponents well being. This is 10 minutes of two George Takano trainees trying to impress their mentor by holding absolutely nothing back. Fujisaki opens the match with a sick lariat and they do some pretty good scrambling on the mat. Kato tries to break a kneebar by elbowing Fujisaki right in the back of the head and neck, Fujisaki responds by scrambling to his feet and reckless stomping Kato in the head and we are off. Kato gets cut from a head butt and tries to drive his knee through Fujisaki's head. There is a section with Kato working a figure four, which isn't what we came for, before we get back to slapping each other in the face until Fujisaki starts spitting blood. We get a cool offensive run at the end with Fujisaki winning with a crazy slam into a chokeslam. Sebastian is so great at digging up this indy sleaze, and this was a gem.

MD: This gave you a little bit of everything in <10 minute package. These two are Shinichi Takano trainees and they leave it all out there. I liked Fujisaki a lot here. You got the sense he knew he wasn't Kato's equal on the mat so he rushed him with a clothesline to start and when he got some distance later after getting stretched a bit, he just stomped him mercilessly in the face. Kato decided the best way to respond was to mostly wipe out on a flip dive. By the end of it, both guys were bleeding and slapping each other head on, with Fujisaki escalating things to a couple of big bombs including the press up turning chokeslam that he won it with. His bleeding maw post-match was a face that only a mother or a trainer could love.

ER: Not a ton better than an unseen Japanese indy scum match surfacing, with two young workers stiffing each other for 8 fun minutes. The poise isn't there, but who needs poise when you can throw a lariat as mean as Orihara and palm strikes nastier than Liger's? Fujisaki's match starting lariat really sets a tone, and I was into all the ways Kato would fight back from that. Kato was more comfortable on the mat and threw sharp knees dead on. Kato even breaks out a surprising tope con hilo (that Fujisaki doesn't totally bother catching) and that reminds me of Orihara too. I know these are Nakano trainees but maybe he got some other SWS alumni to help. Fujisaki throws some of the hardest palm strikes I've seen. No glancing blows, just full straight arm shots, like he's throwing a shot put. They really highlighted the actual power of palm strikes as usually they don't read as well as even worked punches. Fujisaki bleeds from the mouth and Sato hits a lariat maybe as hard as Fujisaki's match starting shot. These are the Young Lions matches we as a people need. Great find. 

Fugo Fugo Yumeji/Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Joeta/Kendi Takeshima WUW 1/1/15 - EPIC

PAS: EXIT Underground is my new favorite wrestling thing. Takayama fits the chains perfectly as he has always been his best as a guy pushing the limits of violence, and he lays Takeshima out at the end of this match with a great looking side suplex and vicious knee strike. Still these matches are Fugo Fugo showcases and he delivers here, his stuff is like a mix of FUTEN and Kurisu which is an incredible mix. I love how he just will shut off all strike exchanges with sick headbutts, and he splits Takeshima with one after the match. He has great chemistry with Joeta and they are really killing each other with strikes and kicks in this match, Joeta has one whip kick from the floor which looks like it sends Fugo's jaw into the stand. Nothing I love more then super stiff wrestling in a filthy looking arena and this totally delivers on that promise.

MD: This wasn't quite as confined as the last match we saw with the chains, but no one was going anywhere anyway (except for that time where Fugo Fugo got knocked out of the ring). This had a real sense of inevitability given the way Takayama towered over his opponents and just crushed them down at will. It then became about whether or not Fugo Fugo would ever kick out or if he was bullheadedly going to fight off two guys forever. For a while, you got the sense he just might, just meeting them strike for strike for strike, just nasty shots all around. At one point they had him in their corner and you got the sense that Fugo Fugo's hubris might do him, but he roared back and when his thirst for violence was finally sated, he made that tag and that was basically the end of it. These chain rope matches need to make the rounds so they become Daniel Garcia's signature match and his blow off with Dante Martin in 2025 is in a match like this where Dante can't make use of the ropes to vault off of. In the meantime, we're more than happy to see 2010s Japanese vets beat the snot out of each other.

SR: Wow, Takayama enters the underground! This was raw, unfiltered brutality. I‘m pretty sure the only plan they had going into this match was that they were gonna beat the fuck out of each other for 15 or so minutes and call it that a day. And that they did. Takayama wasn‘t in the match much, but Fugo absolutely held up his end. He just had one brutal exchange after another and his chemistry with JOHTA was Ikeda/Ishikawa esque. You can tell these two loved killing eachother. Johta blasted Fugo in the face with some crazy enzuigiris and Fugo, as usual, unloaded his headbutts. There was a fun moment where Johta went to headbutt Fugo only for Fugos hard skull to fire back on him. Takeshima was also in this match and mostly ate punishment aside from trying to grapple here and there. And he just got slaughtered by Takayama for the finish, just ending a bloody mess. That said Fugo is looking awesome in these EXIT brawls.

Fugofugo Yumeji/Buki vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Joeta WUW 7/14/18 - EPIC

PAS: This is in what looks like the back of a comic shop in Tokyo somewhere. There is a tiny ring with chains instead of ring ropes and Japanese indy legends Yuki Ishikawa and Fugofugo Yumeji bringing along two guys I hadn't heard of to have a violent punch out. They couldn't run the ropes or do any complicated sequences in that ring so it was all punishing grappling and hard shots. Buki and Joeta were in the spirit of things, and their exchanges were nearly as violent as Fugofugo and Ishikawa. Buki especially was a nasty little prick yanking at Joeta's face and stomping on limbs. Ishikawa and Fugo is as great as that match up promises on paper, Ishikawa is a more skilled grappler working out of the guard, but Fugofugo throws some gross headbutts and uses his strength to move into positions. Really nice mix of FUTEN/BattlArts style stuff and backroom violent indy sleaze.

MD: Phil covered this well, but I'd like to double down on the sense of confinement. This ring was tiny. It was surrounded by chains. While they never came into play, all it took was one hard shot to knock you back to your own corner. When Ishikawa and Fugofugo tested each other with early grappling, there was a sense of extra care to it. Movement was limited and they were very much aware of it and working all the harder not to allow for openings or make mistakes. Buki came off like a real bastard throughout most of this, just a guy with a huge chip on his shoulder. Joeta held his own, just solid throughout, especially when going strike for strike against Fugofugo. As this escalated and became more and more violent, you lost sight of what was on the walls behind them and only focused on the cage and the tiny box which it enclosed. It gave everything almost a pitfighter atmosphere that really encapsulated the underground feel they were going for and that I imagine most of the rest of the card couldn't begin to manage in the same visceral way.

SR: Now this… this is a damn MATCHUP!! Fugofugo going toe to toe with Ishikawa is a weird fever dream of this blog… and in this match, holy fuck they go toe to toe! Everything you can ask for from a match in a tiny ring with chains instead of ropes held in a Tokyo merch store. You get Fugofugo and Ishikawa brutalizing each other (including Fugo almost shattering Yukis face with pretty much the most god awful headbutt in the history of the world EVER), but you also get plenty of neat Ishikawa matwork. BUKI and Johta are really fun complementing characters, BUKIs super stiff mini Great Kabuki act is so cool, and while Johta was slower compared to his CAPTURE days he was willing to hit and get hit which is all I ask for. This went +20 minutes and had a really nice ebb and flow structure to it. The finish was between BUKI and Johta and while maybe that wasn‘t the epic Fugo/Ishikawa showdown you hoped for it was primitve and violent. Besides both the old guys were probably on the verge of brain damage at this point. Really extremely well done stiff quasi-shootstyle brawl, felt like one of the better Japanese tags of the 2010s.

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New Footage Friday: YATSU~! TAKANO~! RED~! JOE~! FUGO FUGO~! TAKAYAMA~! JOETA~! CHAINS~!

Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Shunji Takano AJPW 6/5/89

MD: This was a recent Classics drop, a match we never had from the big 6/5/89 show. We don't have a ton of singles Yatsu matches from this period, as most of his big ones were tags or six-mans, so it was a welcome pick up. Takano is a guy that, if you had asked me in 89, and from performances alone, I would have told you would have been a much bigger star than Taue. He was a couple of years younger than him but much farther along, with more presence for his size, able to scrap with anyone on the roster, possessing a decent athleticism, and with those kicks that he'd use when the situation was warranted against someone like Abby or Hansen (or as the case may be here, Yatsu) as his secret weapon. They were loose allies as Takano was often the third guy in a Jumbo/Yatsu trios and started respectfully enough, but after Takano took a but too long on a break, Yatsu just exploded out of the corner on him with forearms and knees in the ropes and it became a heated ten minutes from there. This was 1989 AJPW so you could get a momentum shift from Yatsu just catching Takano off the ropes and shoving him down or Takano escaping a hold and just stomping Yatsu in the head on the way up. We got most of their big stuff, including Yatsu's power bomb (and a top rope elbow which was not one of his usual moves) and this great full rotation Saito suplex from Takano. When Takano did lay in those kicks in the corner, it felt like a full payment receipt for those early knees from Yatsu. The finish was weird, as Takano did seem to get his shoulder up and he was hot after the match. Definitely a good one to have escape the archive.

PAS: 80s All Japan is going to deliver big dudes hitting each other very hard, and this totally delivered that. Yatsu especially threw real heat including some big shots in the corner and a great looking throw. Yatsu had really powerful hips and he also got a ton of torque when he chucked someone. That finish was pretty badly blow which is why I imagine this was stuck in the vault for 30 years, but it was an entertaining 10 minutes nonetheless. 

Red vs. Samoa Joe ICW 6/26/15

MD: If the Red vs Rey match we saw a few weeks ago was worked like a dream match, this felt like much more of a sub-10 minute TV match sprint. It was a lot of fun though. The first half had Red try something only for Joe to one-up him: he hit a punch exchange and Joe just crushed him into the corner with a flurry; he got some chops off and Joe flattened him with one of his own. Things picked up to the point where Red's speed got him a DDT and a frog splash but the size differential made it so he could barely even reach over to hook a leg. After that it was just a matter of time before Joe caught him out of the corner and dropped him with the muscle buster (which Red somehow managed a face-first bump out of). You could haved tacked on a few minutes at the start with Red evading Joe and in the middle of Joe grinding Red down to have a more complete match but it was fun for what it was.

PAS: This was really fun stuff, it did feel like the best TV match of a week. Joe is a great bruiser and Red is one of the best working babyfaces of his era. I loved Joe just running through Red with a big shoulder block,  and his killer punch flurry in the corner. Red's comeback's worked really well, that snap rana was very cool, and the frog splash landed big. All of Joe's big bombs looked huge and it ended right when it should have.  

Fugo Fugo Yumeji/Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Joeta/Kendi Takeshima WUW 1/1/15

PAS: EXIT Underground is my new favorite wrestling thing. Takayama fits the chains perfectly as he has always been his best as a guy pushing the limits of violence, and he lays Takeshima out at the end of this match with a great looking side suplex and vicious knee strike. Still these matches are Fugo Fugo showcases and he delivers here, his stuff is like a mix of FUTEN and Kurisu which is an incredible mix. I love how he just will shut off all strike exchanges with sick headbutts, and he splits Takeshima with one after the match. He has great chemistry with Joeta and they are really killing each other with strikes and kicks in this match, Joeta has one whip kick from the floor which looks like it sends Fugo's jaw into the stand. Nothing I love more then super stiff wrestling in a filthy looking arena and this totally delivers on that promise.

MD: This wasn't quite as confined as the last match we saw with the chains, but no one was going anywhere anyway (except for that time where Fugo Fugo got knocked out of the ring). This had a real sense of inevitability given the way Takayama towered over his opponents and just crushed them down at will. It then became about whether or not Fugo Fugo would ever kick out or if he was bullheadedly going to fight off two guys forever. For a while, you got the sense he just might, just meeting them strike for strike for strike, just nasty shots all around. At one point they had him in their corner and you got the sense that Fugo Fugo's hubris might do him, but he roared back and when his thirst for violence was finally sated, he made that tag and that was basically the end of it. These chain rope matches need to make the rounds so they become Daniel Garcia's signature match and his blow off with Dante Martin in 2025 is in a match like this where Dante can't make use of the ropes to vault off of. In the meantime, we're more than happy to see 2010s Japanese vets beat the snot out of each other.

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New Footage Friday: TANK ~! BOSS MAN~! DEVIL'S REJECTS~! NWA ELITE~! FUGO FUGO~! ISHIKAWA~!

Big Boss Man/Tank vs. Pomp and Circumstances NAWA 2004

MD: This was a fun local match with a big star, though it was definitely much more of a Tank match than a Bossman one. That said, this was a younger, spry dominant clapping babyface Tank and no one's going to complain about watching him crush Rockwell and Tempers. The few times where Tank and Bossman did some stuff together were a hit, obviously. I thought Rockwell was more the stand out in bumping and feeding here, really flying around the ring. The transition, fairly deep into the match, was a low blow and the heat mainly about working Tank's leg and that was fine. When they swarmed him or cheated, they controlled things. When they let Tank create some distance, he got hope spots in. There was a fakeout hot tag that the ref didn't see. Because of that, I didn't like the lead in to the hot tag where Tank walked over to the corner and hit a superplex despite the bad leg. He could have just walked over to his own corner instead. It would have worked better with just a basic toss off the top. The finish was pretty much what you'd expect in a situation where they didn't want Rockwell and Tempers to lose clean. Overall, this was fun stuff though.

PAS: This was a fun Southern tag, with some big babyfaces mostly bumping around weaselly heels, MX vs. JYD and Bill Watts with Bossman in the role of Watts. Not sure of the date of this match, but Bossman would be dead in August 2004, so this was one of his last matches. He still came off like a star, but was clearly diminished. We have Devil's Rejects Tempers this week too, and it is fun to see him as a pretty boy heel as opposed to a face painted psychotic. It is a different role for Tank too, and one he does well. Nothing that will blow your mind, but something that delivered for sure.

Devil's Rejects(Tank/Iceberg/Shawn Tempers/Azreal) vs. NWA Elite (Kory Chavis/Jeff Lewis.Michael Judas/Onyx) NWA Anarchy 12/30/06

MD: This felt like the first chapter of the next book of the saga, a transitioning from the Rejects vs NWA Anarchy to the Rejects vs NWA Elite, something to whet people's appetites for the escalating violence to come. They always do an amazing job of making everything feel like it has gravitas and lore. There's just a lot of weight and inertia behind what was going on in the promotion. Everyone involved had a history with one another, with Bailey, to a degree with Wilson since he'd been the voice of the company for years. They were all former champions in Wildside or Anarchy or both. This expanded, extended Elite was made up of former allies and enemies, and they always seemed to work surprises in. In this case it was Mikael Adryan returning from Puerto Rico as Mikael Judas and Kory Chavis returning for the Elite even though they'd been enemies in his last appearances. It did hammer the notion that the Elite was elite which was necessary given the sheer force and dominance of the Rejects. 

And I know all this because they spent the first five or six minutes of the match not actually calling anything but just laying it all out. I'm not sure how much use that was to people closely following along in 2006 but I appreciated it fifteen years later. If I spent most of this review just setting the stage, it's because it was a stage worth setting. This feels like the most important thing in the world for the residents of Cornelia, Georgia. Past that atmosphere, the most impressive thing about the match was the restraint. While there was some interference from the outside, some foreign object use, Wilson involving himself a little, it was primarily kept to standard tag rules, with believable and fairly even momentum shifts and transitions, for an astounding amount of time. When it broke down and got violent, they built to a few big, memorable spots (primarily the massive, seemingly impossible razor's edge out of the corner by the returning Judas) and the arrival of Dominus who was best used as a tease anyway. It moved things along, gave the crowd a taste of what would come, decided nothing, reintroduced some players, and fit well on a card that also had a couple of title matches and AJ Styles. Maybe not the over the top spectacle we're always hoping for looking back, but a good piece of business overall.

PAS: This was the first match in this feud, we have the Wargames blowoff and are anxiously awaiting footage to drop of their fans bring the weapons match. This feud got covered in great detail on the Way of the Blade pod I did with Jeff G. Bailey and Rev. Dan Wilson which is a great listen. This wasn't one of the wild brawls that would follow, but a more traditionally worked tag that built to a pretty big crescendo. I liked the early Onyx stuff with Iceberg and Tank, he came off like a total horse throwing those huge guys around. We get some violent interference from both Bailey and Wilson behind the ref's back. It breaks down at the end with Judas hitting a razor's edge on Iceberg which was wild, and we had a lurk in by Dominus and the Rejects lay out Judas with two huge Iceberg splashes, and a sick top rope double stomp where Judas was being lifted off the ground. Totally did the job of making folks wanting to see the Elite get back their win.

Yuki Ishikawa/Joeta vs. Fugofugo Yumeji/Buki WUW 7/14/18

PAS: This is in what looks like the back of a comic shop in Tokyo somewhere. There is a tiny ring with chains instead of ring ropes and Japanese indy legends Yuki Ishikawa and Fugofugo Yumeji bringing along two guys I hadn't heard of to have a violent punch out. They couldn't run the ropes or do any complicated sequences in that ring so it was all punishing grappling and hard shots. Buki and Joeta were in the spirit of things, and their exchanges were nearly as violent as Fugofugo and Ishikawa. Buki especially was a nasty little prick yanking at Joeta's face and stomping on limbs. Ishikawa and Fugo is as great as that match up promises on paper, Ishikawa is a more skilled grappler working out of the guard, but Fugofugo throws some gross headbutts and uses his strength to move into positions. Really nice mix of FUTEN/BattlArts style stuff and backroom violent indy sleaze.

MD: Phil covered this well, but I'd like to double down on the sense of confinement. This ring was tiny. It was surrounded by chains. While they never came into play, all it took was one hard shot to knock you back to your own corner. When Ishikawa and Fugofugo tested each other with early grappling, there was a sense of extra care to it. Movement was limited and they were very much aware of it and working all the harder not to allow for openings or make mistakes. Buki came off like a real bastard throughout most of this, just a guy with a huge chip on his shoulder. Joeta held his own, just solid throughout, especially when going strike for strike against Fugofugo. As this escalated and became more and more violent, you lost sight of what was on the walls behind them and only focused on the cage and the tiny box which it enclosed. It gave everything almost a pitfighter atmosphere that really encapsulated the underground feel they were going for and that I imagine most of the rest of the card couldn't begin to manage in the same visceral way.

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New Footage Friday: FUJISAKI! KATO! LAWLER! BRUISER! ICEBERG! DUSTY MAC!!

Tadahiro Fujisaki vs. Shigeo Kato WYF 1998?

PAS: Fujisaki is the future Fugo Fugo, a long time Segunda Caida favorite, and he shows that early in his career he had that same lack of regard for his own and his opponents well being. This is 10 minutes of two George Takano trainees trying to impress their mentor by holding absolutely nothing back. Fujisaki opens the match with a sick lariat and they do some pretty good scrambling on the mat. Kato tries to break a kneebar by elbowing Fujisaki right in the back of the head and neck, Fujisaki responds by scrambling to his feet and reckless stomping Kato in the head and we are off. Kato gets cut from a head butt and tries to drive his knee through Fujisaki's head. There is a section with Kato working a figure four, which isn't what we came for, before we get back to slapping each other in the face until Fujisaki starts spitting blood. We get a cool offensive run at the end with Fujisaki winning with a crazy slam into a chokeslam. Sebastian is so great at digging up this indy sleaze, and this was a gem.

MD: This gave you a little bit of everything in <10 minute package. These two are Shinichi Takano trainees and they leave it all out there. I liked Fujisaki a lot here. You got the sense he knew he wasn't Kato's equal on the mat so he rushed him with a clothesline to start and when he got some distance later after getting stretched a bit, he just stomped him mercilessly in the face. Kato decided the best way to respond was to mostly wipe out on a flip dive. By the end of it, both guys were bleeding and slapping each other head on, with Fujisaki escalating things to a couple of big bombs including the press up turning chokeslam that he won it with. His bleeding maw post-match was a face that only a mother or a trainer could love.

ER: Not a ton better than an unseen Japanese indy scum match surfacing, with two young workers stiffing each other for 8 fun minutes. The poise isn't there, but who needs poise when you can throw a lariat as mean as Orihara and palm strikes nastier than Liger's? Fujisaki's match starting lariat really sets a ton, and I was into all the ways Kato would fight back from that. Kato was more comfortable on the mat and threw sharp knees dead on. Kato even breaks out a surprising tope con hilo (that Fujisaki doesn't totally bother catching) and that reminds me of Orihara too. I know these are Nakano trainees but maybe he got some other SWS alumni to help. Fujisaki throws some of the hardest palm strikes I've seen. No glancing blows, just full straight arm shots, like he's throwing a shot put. They really highlighted the actual power of palm strikes as usually they don't read as well as even worked punches. Fujisaki bleeds from the mouth and Sato hits a lariat maybe as hard as Fujisaki's match starting shot. These are the Young Lions matches we as a people need. Great find. 

Jerry Lawler vs. The Bruiser MCW 11/10/01

MD: Bruiser passed away from Leukemia back in November. He was a stalwart MD wrestler for years and years. This was a good showing, really one of the better 00s Indy Guy vs Lawler match you'll see. Bruiser measured his time and interacted with the crowd well and his punches were top notch, with Lawler answering in kind. That was a lot of the early structure actually, with Bruiser trying something (like punches in the corner or a kick out of a test of strength) and Lawler answering threefold. Lawler was actually a little too dominant here, but that's because Bruiser was ultimately going over, I think. I would have liked a couple more minutes of Bruiser leaning on Lawler (after a mule kick in the corner gave him an advantage) before the strap went down and we got the pile driver(s) and screwy finish, but it's really hard to fault the execution of anything here.

ER: This was fantastic, one of the best Lawler vs. Local Indy Star matches we've seen. MCW was one of those feds that I was inordinately familiar with just because of their PWI presence. Earl the Pearl, Romeo Valentino, Jimmy Cicero, I knew these names better than my own grandmother's. Bruiser was someone who I had on a couple VHS but haven't actually thought about in years, and this match makes me want to go out and find all the Bruiser that exists. This was Lawler working with a best case Louie Spicolli, and it was tremendous. Lawler takes an excellent high backdrop bump, throws a dozen different punches from a dozen different angles, and Bruiser staggers around constantly checking his mouth and nose for blood. Bruiser has a gorgeous right hand of his own, and there is literally nothing more I want from pro wrestling than a couple nice bumps, and several great punches. It's my base wrestling desire, and this is a great version of that. Lawler keeps setting up Bruiser for different kinds of perfect punches, like letting his sit up before flattening him with a right hook, or dropping straight down with a fistdrop, or throwing a combo before a snapmare to set up a middle buckle fistdrop. The crowd is hot for all of it, which makes it so much better. I love how Bruiser would pop Lawler and Lawler would fire back with his own, can only imagine how stoked I would be if I were there in Hampstead. The announcers absolutely lose their minds when Lawler drops the strap, audio going into the red, just losing it for Lawler strap down punches. The finish has a bunch of well done bullshit, like Bruiser shoving Lawler hard into the ref (nice ref bump into the ropes), two Lawler piledrivers, and a hard hidden weapon punch "not like this!!" finish. RIP Bruiser, you were clearly gifted. 

PAS: I went to a bunch of MCW shows around this time, and didn't have particularly fond memories of the Bruiser, but this really made me want to revisit that stuff, because he looked great here. Lawler is both the greatest puncher and the greatest seller of punches in wrestling history, but I think you have to give Bruiser some credit for how nasty his stuff looked. Just a classic Lawler punch out, with King throwing hands against a younger stronger kid (I loved the homer announcers saying "Lawler has been in there with some tough wrestlers, but Bruiser maybe the best guy he has wrestled). I didn't even mind the Lawler stunner which is normally the bane of my existence. You don't normally see the King lay down in these Indy matches, but a wrench to face will do it. Classic stuff. 

Iceberg vs. Dusty McWilliams PWA 12/26/15

MD: Methodological violence. Iceberg (and Bailey) was a face here and this was an escalation from a bullrope match the show before. As a face, he played to the crowd at times without ever losing what made him so imposing. This was a cage full of weapons where the weapons come into play far more than the cage. There's a brand of cage match (generally my least favorite) where the cage is primarily used to help guys who don't usually go up get to the top rope. While this fell along those lines, it was really mostly to contain the action and center the weapon shots. Transitions were good, with McWilliams taking things early, switching from weapon to weapon, until he gave Iceberg too much distance and he just plunged into him. Later on, he took back over after Bailey got Iceberg a fork and he decided to use that instead of bats and chairs. Finish centered around thumbtacks, with McWilliams grimly missing a moonsault and Iceberg hitting a splash. The match definitely lived up to the gimmick, though the cage was really just to steady them on the top.

PAS: I thought this started out pretty bad, with kind of bad german suplex and some shots with a cookie sheet which looked weak and didn't even sound cool. It picked up big time after that with an awesome looking spot where McWilliams tries to hang Berg with a noose by climbing to the top rope, only for Iceberg to throw him over head off the top rope. We get some sick weapons shots, including some sort of hard plastic contraption which splinters in a sick looking way. Matt thought that Bailey handed Berg a fork, but that wasn't a fork it was the implement of destruction, which is a fucking paring knife. That Iceberg top rope splash is one of the great high spots of the 21st century, just a crushing monstrous violent crushing blow. McWilliams is fine, and I am adding the dog collar match to the queue, but this was an Iceberg show and he is just a force of nature. First ballot US Indy Hall of Famer.

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