Kazuyuki Fujita

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[El-P]

The dark days of New Japan, Inoki fucked it up with his shitty MMA guys, that's what I think when I think about Fujita. What happened to him anyway ? Still working Inoki's show I guess.

[El McKell]

Didn't this guy get given the IWGP Championship because he beat Bob Sapp in a fight in K-1 when Sapp was champion or something weird like that

[pol]

I've only ever seen the match where he kicks Tanahashi's head in (which I'm sure some people here would love him for alone ), but I thought he was incredible in it. Great heel charisma.

[El-P]

He looked like a neanderthal man, and worked about as well.

[GOTNW]

He had a special aura and a couple of great matches. He's not a lock for my list by any means but I could justify him as my #97 because of how unconventional he worked and how much I like shoot kicks to the head.

[DR Ackermann]

I've only seen one match. It was against Kawada and he seemed like an incompetent non-wrestler. That was well into his relatively short career. No shot.

[GOTNW]

If I were making a list based purely on whose presence makes me want to check a match out, he'd probably be my #1. I don't know if that's where he'll finish, but I can't envision my top 10 without him. He just bring an aura of violence with him that appeals to me so much, that even if comparatively someone like say Ikeda might have a stiffer match, the aura of Fujita makes his stuff stick out more. Being a legitimately skilled fighter who nearly KO'd Fedor probably doesn't hurt his perception in that regard. Obviously the bulk of Fujita's case is going to come down to what you think of his main event run. If you can't stomach Inokiism-era New Japan and subscribe to the theory it's all rubbish, it won't matter much how good you think his earlier work as more of an amateur wrestler is or whether he had good matches in IGF.

I will say though, while it hasn't been the convincing factor for me (nor do I think it will be for others) in forming this opinion, his recent NOAH run has confirmed everything good I thought about him and really cemented my opinion on him. Even in a post-modern environment (and a pandemic one to add to that), he has continued to produce engaging, unique and special work.

Some match recommendations:

vs Kensuke Sasaki-NJPW 8.10.2001.

vs Masahito Kakihara-NJPW 8.10.2002.

vs Hiroshi Tanahashi-NJPW 5.6.2004.

vs Katsuyori Shibata-NJPW 19.7.2004.

w/Daisuke Sekimoto vs Suwama & Yuji Okabayashi-Tenryu Project 15.11.2015.

vs Yoshiki Inamura-NOAH 16.9.2019.

vs Shuhei Taniguchi-NOAH 2.11.2019.

There's more I could add but if these don't pique your interest, additional recs probably won't change your mind either.

[Grimmas]

12 minutes ago, GOTNW said:

If I were making a list based purely on whose presence makes me want to check a match out, he'd probably be my #1. I don't know if that's where he'll finish, but I can't envision my top 10 without him. He just bring an aura of violence with him that appeals to me so much, that even if comparatively someone like say Ikeda might have a stiffer match, the aura of Fujita makes his stuff stick out more. Being a legitimately skilled fighter who nearly KO'd Fedor probably doesn't hurt his perception in that regard. Obviously the bulk of Fujita's case is going to come down to what you think of his main event run. If you can't stomach Inokiism-era New Japan and subscribe to the theory it's all rubbish, it won't matter much how good you think his earlier work as more of an amateur wrestler is or whether he had good matches in IGF.

I will say though, while it hasn't been the convincing factor for me (nor do I think it will be for others) in forming this opinion, his recent NOAH run has confirmed everything good I thought about him and really cemented my opinion on him. Even in a post-modern environment (and a pandemic one to add to that), he has continued to produce engaging, unique and special work.

Some match recommendations:

vs Kensuke Sasaki-NJPW 8.10.2001.

vs Masahito Kakihara-NJPW 8.10.2002.

vs Hiroshi Tanahashi-NJPW 5.6.2004.

vs Katsuyori Shibata-NJPW 19.7.2004.

w/Daisuke Sekimoto vs Suwama & Yuji Okabayashi-Tenryu Project 15.11.2015.

vs Yoshiki Inamura-NOAH 16.9.2019.

vs Shuhei Taniguchi-NOAH 2.11.2019.

There's more I could add but if these don't pique your interest, additional recs probably won't change your mind either.

 

 

Feel free to post these in the Recommendations Docs.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rgl1utpEKF0EBGkV6HgfphF3ODzgceeV7ustiy7GkaM/edit?usp=sharing

[Reel]

I'm not over the moon about the current NOAH run. I don't object to the idea of him like some people have lately, he has an aura and a presence, and sometimes that manifests itself in stuff I really like, and other times it's stuff I don't have time for. I thought him grabbing Masao Inoue and tapping him in ten seconds ruled and showed a sense of hierarchy that is rarely ever seen, but I thought the Shiozaki thing was overindulgent and had people placing a lot of meaning on it that it didn't earn.

The NJPW run is sort of maligned because that whole era is maligned, and that whole debate has been run into the ground and not worth revisiting, but he was great. The 04 Shibata match is one of the best matches in that promotion in the decade.

All that's to say, I'm going to rule him out, but I'm pretty sure there are 100 better wrestlers. 

[Jetlag]

I like him a lot as a superior Japanese Goldberg and while he has a ton of matches I really like he has also been in some real fiascos. The fact people get excited about his over the hill act in NOAH right now seems more testament to how dire Japanese wrestling has gotten in the last 10 years. That Shiozaki match was an absolute joke and the fact some people love that is part of what alienates me from discussing wrestling so hard.

[DylanZero]

On 4/10/2021 at 12:51 AM, Reel said:

I'm not over the moon about the current NOAH run. I don't object to the idea of him like some people have lately, he has an aura and a presence, and sometimes that manifests itself in stuff I really like, and other times it's stuff I don't have time for. I thought him grabbing Masao Inoue and tapping him in ten seconds ruled and showed a sense of hierarchy that is rarely ever seen, but I thought the Shiozaki thing was overindulgent and had people placing a lot of meaning on it that it didn't earn.

The NJPW run is sort of maligned because that whole era is maligned, and that whole debate has been run into the ground and not worth revisiting, but he was great. The 04 Shibata match is one of the best matches in that promotion in the decade.

All that's to say, I'm going to rule him out, but I'm pretty sure there are 100 better wrestlers. 

100% agree. Enjoyed him very much in his brief NJPW stuff and in NOAH he has value too like in the Inoue case you mentioned it was completely awesome, but not what they actually did with that horrible Go stuff. Jetlag is way smarter than me because I actually did have to talk to those guys who insisted it was the highest and greatest expression of wrestling and anyone who didn't like it was a dumbass. It was just as miserable of a headache as you would imagine.

 

Still though, there's a place for Ironheads in wrestling. Just not in a top 100 GWE list with his lack of quantity. 

[strobogo]

I can't say I've actually ever seen too much of his work, but his nut shot to Kimo at the Dome might be the GOAT nut shot in pro wrestling. Just annihilated that breh's balls. 

[mmcoor]

When he is good he is great but he has some awful matches, probably around #100 for me

[Ma Stump Puller]

I love Fujita as this Inoki-Ism caveman who isn't a very good striker, was a mediocre wrestler, had no real good work in submissions, but a dude who could just consistently run someone down by brawling with them or just kicking their head off: it's like a RPG character that put all of their experience into being a huge brickhouse that has one way of fighting. Want to have a slow, calculated match with rich nuance, maybe a Kings Road build? Fujita doesn't give a shit, he's gonna spit mouth sanitizer or throw you off the roof of Korakuen. Dude can only work Inoki-Ism shoot-style, take it or leave it, he's fucking wrestling you to the mat or hitting you with the stiffest shots possible. The way that he just almost intrudes on anyone and gives them a hard time because of that fact, because he doesn't try to wrestle a slow methodical "epic" or a million false finishes, he just beats your ass and wins or you do it to him even more violently and win: that's a special aura that I think gives him a unique status of menace regardless of where he is on the card. Despite him showing up randomly to stare down Nakajima the other night, I still got hyped up, because I know he's gonna be a huge problem for the champ. He can brawl with young-guns trying to make a name for themselves, go for slugfests against more equal opponents, or just run through people and get some really compelling performances and reactions from wrestlers who usually don't bother (Saito for one) as they struggle against this relic kicking their brains loose. Aces can face him and reliably place themselves at risk because Fujita has that dangerous reputation that'll never vanish properly. 

As a pure wrestler yeah, he's not focused at all, isn't smooth whatsoever, can't even bump correctly most of the time and his matches usually follow few narratives. Those narratives are all he needs, because he's Fujita, and he's always been this single-minded fighter that brute-forces any problem he encounters. You take it, or you leave it. I think I need to stick him on the top 100 just because he's so good when he's on the ball in that format. Guilty pleasure for sure.

 

 

[Boss Rock]

He almost KO'd Fedor.

I liken Fujita to Goldberg if he could work longer matches.

[Reel]

10 minutes ago, Boss Rock said:

He almost KO'd Fedor.

Should I nominate Kevin Randleman?

[Boss Rock]

2 hours ago, Reel said:

Should I nominate Kevin Randleman?

Hell yeah.

[CheapPop1999]

On 4/9/2021 at 4:09 PM, GOTNW said:

Some match recommendations:

vs Kensuke Sasaki-NJPW 8.10.2001.

vs Masahito Kakihara-NJPW 8.10.2002.

vs Hiroshi Tanahashi-NJPW 5.6.2004.

vs Katsuyori Shibata-NJPW 19.7.2004.

w/Daisuke Sekimoto vs Suwama & Yuji Okabayashi-Tenryu Project 15.11.2015.

vs Yoshiki Inamura-NOAH 16.9.2019.

vs Shuhei Taniguchi-NOAH 2.11.2019.

There's more I could add but if these don't pique your interest, additional recs probably won't change your mind either.

Gonna work through these over the next few days. I've always liked the idea of Fujita.

[Ma Stump Puller]

29 minutes ago, CheapPop1999 said:

Gonna work through these over the next few days. I've always liked the idea of Fujita.

If I could just make one extra suggestion, I'd absolutely suggest checking his match with Takayama (29.08.2002) it's a very rare underdog Fujita match and done pretty well

 

[CheapPop1999]

Sweet, I love Takayama

[club]

Fujita vs Tatsutoshi Goto from the 2005 G1 is well worth the time.

 

Generally not a guy I'd consider though. He's been in some great matches but it's down to the other guy to create something compelling.

[Ma Stump Puller]

Idk I remember Fujita v Go being firmly all Fujita-based in terms of actually being anything worth watching. Not to say that being more interesting than Go is a GWE achievement, but still, something at least. 

 

[club]

Is that the one where they stare at each other for 30 mins? I'd need to rewatch it but yeah from what I remember he was better than Go. I also recall a tag match at Ryogoku with BJW guys and Suwama with a lot of staring. Is this a thing with him?

TBF my impressions of Fujita are almost entirely based on his NJPW stuff from two decades ago. I haven't kept up on NOAH. The best Fujita matches from that era had a 'how to slay the beast?' narrative. Tanahashi, Shibata, Chono. Great matches largely dependent on the opponent.

[CheapPop1999]

The staring match can kick rocks, respectfully.