Fujiwara Family: PWFG 6/4/94

Shiochi Funaki vs. Minoru Tanaka

PAS: Both of these guys made their names doing other things, but at this point they were straight shootstyle guys, and pretty damn great at it. Funaki had a couple of totally awesome looking slips into tight rear naked chokes, and a really cool kneebar for the tap. Tanaka throws a couple of fast suplexes and a nasty headbutt while in the mount. This was way better then it would be a couple of years later, as they were PWFG young guys trying to prove they belonged. 

Katsumi Usuda vs. Joe DiFuria

PAS: This was great, DiFuria is a big jacked guy who spends much of this match chucking Usuda around the ring. He treats Usuda like a tackling dummy, dumping him with a couple of super nasty German suplexes and a deadlift throw, he was also super heavy on top, really leaning on Usuda with full weight and submissions which didn't look slickly applied, but a big jacked guy choking you is going to hurt even if it isn't perfectly applied. Usuda was able to wing some big kicks when he was able to get away from DiFuria, and the finish was an awesome Fujiwara special, DiFuria has Usuda locked into a rear naked choke, and it looked like curtains, but Usuda was able to grab an ankle and damn near twist it off forcing DiFuria to tap fast. Cool match, DiFuria had one match with Fujiwara which Tom and I didn't like 10 years ago when we watched it, but I kind of want to see his Vampire Warrior matches in Florida indies. 

Daisuke Ikeda vs. Bart Vale - FUN

PAS: This was a big kickboxing fight, and a rare match where Ikeda was in there with a guy with heavier feet. Vale really developed into a entertaining wrestler in the end days of PWFG, and he is thumping Ikeda with his big tree trunk legs. Vale isn't going to give a ton to Ikeda at this point in their career, Ikeda gets a couple of submission attempts, which Vale reverses, and throws some big kicks which mostly get blocked. This match was here for Vale to eat, and Ikeda was the meal, he would be at the big table plenty as his career moved on. 

Wellington Wilkins Jr./Yuki Ishikawa vs. Hanzo Nakajima/Naohiro Hoshikawa

PAS: Fuck this was badass. Wilkins and baby Ishikawa make a totally killer team. Wilkins is a square shaped guy who works like a total crowbar, he tosses some suplexes that have ab almost Taz on Pablo Marquez level of disregard for the well being of his opponents. He also throws some really sick headbutts including breaking a german suplex by just flinging the back of his head into the face of Hoshikawa, just gross. Ishikawa is also great, mixing a phenom level of matwork, with some real aggressive attacks. Nakajima is wearing a ninja mask and has a bad ass look, he looked perfectly comfortable on the mat with Ishikawa and mixed in some really graceful flying, he isn't a guy who had much of a career, having a cup of coffee with KDX in Mpro a couple of years later, but he looked great here. Hoshikawa is awesome in these kinds of hybrid matches, can hang on the mat, throw some kicks, and also hit a dope tope. Built to a pretty wild finish run, with Wilkins throwing this crazy top rope superplex, and locking on some sort of carny neck lock for the tap. The kind of match which would have led off a Schneider Comp back in the day.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Mark Ashford-Smith

PAS: This was a strange match which is worked entirely as a grappling contest, all on the mat with some long pauses and movement in and out of holds. It really felt in parts like Mario Yamazaki need to stand them up. Smith seemed comfortable on the mat, and this really felt like the might have been shooting at points, I can't imagine much was called before. Really a match for your Fujiwara completest, (or I suppose any Mark Starr superfans out there) I am a big enough Fujiwara head that I enjoyed watching him grapple and shift position, and the finish was pretty cool.  I liked this, still I imagine this will bore most folks.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DAISUKE IKDEA

FUJIWARA FAMILY

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The World is a Dangerous Place, not Because of Those Who Do Evil, but Because of Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Kengo Kimura v. Bad News Allen/Dick Murdoch NJ 9/16/83 - FUN

This is one of the earliest Fujiwara matches we have and he is pretty spectacular already. The focus of the match is Bad News's befuddlement at the hardness of Fujiwara's skull. There is a great section where both guys are exchanging headbutts and Fujiwara decides to shift his strategy and aim shots at the side and back of Allen's head rather then the front. Fun stuff, although more a chance to see young Fujiwara rather then a stand alone great match.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Akira Maeda v. Super Tiger/Nobuhiko Takada UWF 7/23/84 - GREAT

This is a classic example of a big star tag match. It isn't a shootstyle match (missile dropkicks, top rope headbutts ect), this is your main eventers matching up. Lots of heat, guys getting off their big moves, and setting up your singles matches. The kind of match that would headline a Smackdown PPV. I enjoy stuff like that, although it isn't a match that was particularly high on my Other Japan ballot. This was a nice table setter for Takada v. Maeda and Fujiwara v. Super Tiger which are the big two feuds in the early part of UWF 1. I could see this match making me want to see those singles matches, especially Fujiwara v. Super Tiger. Super Tiger really comes off great here, as it almost feels like he is more over in early UWF1 then he is later. He is also throwing nastier kicks then either Maeda or Takada. Fujiwara is Fujiwara, and he has the charisma that is really need to pull of this kind of star based match.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Joe Difuria PWFG 10/31/94 - SKIPPABLE

TKG: Difuria is a big roided up US indy guy. i think I may have once seen him and Scott Putski work The Headbangers in King of Prussia. I mean he looks like the kind of guy that you'd see tagged with Putski vs. the Headbangers. He works like he may have been the Shane Twins trainer. I think Fujiwara vs. Putski, or Mosh would have been a much better match. I mean why wasn't DC Drake returning PWFG's calls? Difuria works like barely trained big roided guy and Fujiwara does the type of selling you do when faced with big barely trained roided guy. None of Difuria's stuff looked as good as Jacobs and on some level I think Fujiwara had Difuria control way too much. Not good.

PAS: I liked Fujiwara in this, as I thought he laid out a nice match, as DeFuria shrugged away everything he tried until he finally got the heel hook in. With Glen Jacobs this match would have been good, hell this match would have been good against Van Hammer, DeFuria is worse then both and so it wasn't good. Still I was impressed by Fujiwara.


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PRO WRESTLING FUJIWARA-GUMI SHOW #25 10/31/94

Minoru Tanaka v. Takashi Okano

TKG: We think Okano might be Winger, he has some nice kicks and does a neat rolling knee bar but this is mostly Tanaka taking Winger down and forcing him to go for rope breaks.

PAS: Tanaka did break out his northern lights suplex into an armbar, which I remember thinking was really awesome when I saw it originally, but looks kind of stupid now.

Don Arakawa v. Hiroyoshi Kotsubu

TKG: We think Kotsubo is the future Yone Genjin. I don't understand why you wouldn't run Wellington Wilkins vs. Arakawa instead. This isn't worked as comedy match so much as Yone Genjin vs. Arakawa working a really basic PWFG style match. Genjin really isn't very good at this as he has some horrible knee strikes in the corner. Genjin is able to take down Arakwa but Arakawa is better when they actually get to the mat. The finish to this is really awesome as Kotsubo goes for a hiptoss and Arakawa pulls away into a front choke.

PAS: For a comedy guy working shootstyle Kotsubu is no Lingerie Muto. I bet Lingerie Muto v. Don Arakawa worked PWFG style would rule.

Katsumi Usuda v. Shoichi Funaki

TKG: Last time these two matched up it wasn't very good, this time I dug it a bunch. Last time i think it was worked more evenly. This time Usuda works as stronger (higher level) of the two and just pastes Funaki with strikes, while Funaki gets in really fast near fall submission attempts. Funaki goes for one drop kick that felt really out of place, Usuda steps out of the way of the drop kick and just stomps Funaki when Funaki falls to floor.

PAS: Yeah Usuda was a real asskicker here, last match they were two debuting guys working even. Here Usuda was clearly higher up on the food chain, and he just pounded the shit out of Funaki.

Taka Michinoku vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa

TKG: This isn't really worked like a PWFG match. Its more or less a straight up juniors match just without pinfall attempts. I guess they do very little rope running. But essentially a juniors match. These two are really high end junior workers and best match on the show thus far. Still not a PWFG style match.

PAS: They start working the mat, but by the end they are breaking off dives and big nearfalls. TAKA in the mid nineties was my favorite wrestler and he was really awesome here. The springboard dive is still super impressive looking, and he did this great move where he started to whip Hosikawa into the ropes and instead clotheslined him in the back of the head. Not a PWFG style match at all, but still a total blast.

Daisuke Ikeda v. Yuji Nagata

PAS: This was pretty great, for some reason the yutz doing the handheld, finally realizes how to use the zoom function, so it is a lot more watchable then the other matches. This is worked really BattlArts style, as there is less matwork and more kicking people in the face and dumping them on the top of their heads. Nagata especially breaks out some nasty suplexes, you get the sense from this match if he had just worked BattlArts he could have ended up a second rate Usuda rather then a eighth rate Masahiro Chono

TKG: Ah he could have been a first rate Hijikata as heavy. And whatever else you want to say about Nagata, he is a lot better than Glen Jacobs. This has a lot more mat work then Phil remembers, simply cause thats less memorable than the strikes and violent throws. The matwork was really fast and all about jockeying for throws. the whole thing was worked at a really nice heavyweight sprint pace.

Yuki Ishikawa v. James Anderson

PAS: I have no idea who Anderson is (maybe Jack Birthrider?), and the cameraman zooms out again, so I don't get a good look at his face. This was fun though, as Anderson had some nice takedowns, and Ishikawa's matwork was really violent. He looked like he was trying to rip Anderson's arm or leg or head off. They had some really nice near falls too, I wish I had a better view of the whole thing,

TKG: I don't think he was Birthrider. I think he may have been Charlie Anderson as he works kind of like Anderson. Anderson has some nice throws and nice matwork and does some neat stuff where he moves from clinch to the ground. He'll grab a lock and force Ishikawa down. His stuff doesn't really have the force of Ishikawa's. I mean Anderson isn't throwing week Momoe Nakanishi style suplexes but it still comes off as though he's working a whole lot more gentle than his opponent. cooler stuff in this match then in the one before, but Ikeda and Nagata were working with same level of force.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Joe Difuria

TKG: Difuria is a big roided up US indy guy. i think I may have once seen him and Scott Putski work The Headbangers in King of Prussia. I mean he looks like the kind of guy that you'd see tagged with Putski vs. the Headbangers. He works like he may have been the Shane Twins trainer. I think Fujiwara vs. Putski, or Mosh would have been a much better match. I mean why wasn't DC Drake returning PWFG's calls? Difuria works like barely trained big roided guy and Fujiwara does the type of selling you do when faced with big barely trained roided guy. None of Difuria's stuff looked as good as Jacobs and on some level I think Fujiwara had Difuria control way too much. Not good.

PAS: I liked Fujiwara in this, as I thought he laid out a nice match, as DeFuria shrugged away everything he tried until he finally got the heel hook in. With Glen Jacobs this match would have been good, hell this match would have been good against Van Hammer, DeFuria is worse then both and so it wasn't good. Still I was impressed by Fujiwara.

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