[1992-03-20-PWFG] Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Bart Vale

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Phil Schneider]

This owned, Fujiwara is the worlds best Toru Tanaka. It was really fun to watch him work a completely different style, then he works in a normal PWFG show. He isn't the legend that the young guys have to get past, he is the dirty foreigner cheap shotting your local hero. No real Fujiwara matwork or reversals, no cool moves to speak of, but it was great. You get the sense that Fujiwara would have had an amazing career as a Gary Hart managed guy feuding with Dusty or a Tojo managed Akio Sato tag partner.

[Loss]

Really fun to see this style worked in front of a U.S. audience that pops for different things. Fujiwara knows this and does a great job setting up spots for Vale to look strong and get big pops. Fujiwara complaining about Vale going after his eye and getting in a few cheapshots is great! Fun match.

[Tim Evans]

Weird seeing Fujiwara in boxing shorts. Was this the show that took place in Miami? Really seed like a rowdy wrestling crowd. Fun match.

[shoe]

I liked this, and it wasn't worked like how I was expecting it. I guess Vale would be considered a high spot worker in this style with the cool kicks.

[Eduardo]

I adore this match. I haven't seen it since I got the PWFG set from Will a few years ago. Fujiwara walking away with a grin on his face after the first headbutt was awesome. Loved Vale doing the headbutts on the ground and seeing Fujiwara complain in such a crybaby heelish way. It's cool seeing how Fujiwara reacts towards Vale's kicks, like he's so overwhelmed by them and intimated by the striking of Vale. This is so great.

[Chess Knight]

I'm not going to lie, I don't think I've ever been less invested in a Fujiwara match. The pro-US crowd were really hot for Vale, and it looked like Fujiwara wanted to give him something when Fujiwara would back off, but Vale would just grab him and they'd wind up on the mat. Didn't seem like anything was going on on the mat, either. Just holding each other. Fujiwara being the sort of-foreign heel is something that should have happened a lot more, though.

[Zenjo]

Surprisingly fun. The rowdy partisan crowd made it a wild atmosphere. It was for the "Shootfighting Championship of the World" after all. Dull on the mat but the strikes were much better. Fujiwara did a great job heeling it up and riling the fans with a couple of headbutts. The hometown fighter went over, props to Wara for carrying him.

[MikeCampbell]

This was just what I needed to wash away the memories of the Kaki/Silver match. It's one third the length and eons more appealing. It was funny watching Fujiwara play despicable foreign heel, all that was missing was throwing a handful of salt into Vale's eyes.

[WingedEagle]

Ha he really does look like Toru Tanaka. I wasn't aware PWFG ran any US shows, but it probably meant a hotter crowd than we would've had in Japan. Fujiwara's heel work and facials highlighted this. Not as big a fan of this as the UWFI but still great to watch to see what else was going on in the world. Fujiwara is continually working towards an armbar, and eventually the crowd goes home happy with Vale knocking him out of the ring with a high kick for the victory.

 

***1/4

 

That wraps up a pretty interesting disc -- a bunch of promos, angles and highlights from WCW, WWF, Memphis & SMW mixed in with a couple domestic matches, a little NJ, Joshi, shoot style and Donahue. Talk about eclectic.

[PeteF3]

Weird atmosphere, with Fujiwara in purple (!) boxing trunks (!!) on an American show in what's clearly a boxing ring. I don't know if Vale was a local boy or just an unusually hip American audience but they're clearly hot for this. Fun stuff during the stand-up portions, with Fujiwara heeling it up and throwing some cool suplexes. Love the crowd going nuts as he has Vale immobilized on the mat and Vale starts raining knees on him. Vale eventually knocks Fujiwara out of the ring for the upset victory. Fun match and a very cool setting.

[xlynwoodx]

Totally in love with this crowd. As soon as Vale's music starts the entire front row stands up and goes crazy, pumping their fist and jumping around. I would love to know where this took place.

 

A lot of trading of headbutts, Vale gets fed up and just bulls his way through Fujiwara's attacks until he gets the KO. This was fascinating.

[garretta]

This was good for what it was, and Vale kept up well with the veteran. I didn't see Fujiwara doing any overt heeling like the rest of you seemed to; in fact, other than the purple trunks, this seemed like a typical Fujiwara bout to me. It turned into a battle between Fujiwara's headbutt and Vale's kicks, and Bart's feet carried the day

 

I'm not sure how much shoot-style had been seen by a live US crowd at the time, but this one sure seemed to be into the match, They did boo Fujiwara at one point, but I think they'd have booed anyone who was fighting a guy with the American flag on his tights.

 

I wonder if we'll see Vale defending his newly-won "championship" in Japan. A rematch between these two on Japanese soil would be interesting, to say the least.

[dawho5]

I really enjoyed Fujiwara's heeling here.  The way he dumbed down his offense even more standing up and cowered away from any of Vales strikes was great.  Great crowd to boot.  Really good match and very unique.