[1989-08-13-UWF] Akira Maeda vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara

[Phil Schneider]

This is one of my favorite matchups in wrestling history, just two masters who brought out the best in each other. I had seen this match before in the 80s DVDVR Other Japan set, but that was a long time ago. Really enjoyed revisiting this. Fujiwara comes out super aggressive flying at Maeda with nasty jumping headbuts right in Maeda's dental work. Maeda responds with some nasty headkicks and the tone is set early. Fujiwara is so great at both taking and delivering body shots, they always look nasty when thrown, and he does a great job of trying to recover from getting hit in the liver himself. It slows down a bit with some matwork, Fujiwara gets locked in a bodyscissors and cranks the foot to get a near fall submission in a cool counter. This didn't have a super awesome finish like so many of the Fujiwara UWF matches, which puts it a slot below the other amazing matches between these two, but this was still great stuff, it is a bummer that this kind of wrestling is dead, because it is beautiful when done right.

[superkix]

I think the date on this is 8/13/89. You've got the old guard of UWF dueling in a game of shoot-style chess. Fujiwara shows early on what happens when you back a grizzled dog into a corner, blasting Maeda's grill with some hard headbutts. When Maeda tries to sweep Fujiwara's leg, Yoshiaki smartly holds onto the ropes to maintain his balance. Maeda's strategy is straightforward: get Fujiwara into a corner and strike him down. As the match continues, you can really see the frustration mounting in Fujiwara, the way he slaps the canvas when he's forced to the ropes or the tired look on his face as he sits in the corner, biding his nine count. After Maeda dumps Fujiwara on his head with a backdrop suplex, he tries to grab the dazed Fujiwara in crossface chickenwing but he can't cinch it in. In a neat little counter, Fujiwara wrenches Maeda's ankle while he's in the bodyscissors and Maeda starts grasping for the ropes, the crowd buzzing. Fujiwara lays into Maeda with some bodyshots against the ropes but he's exhausted, collapsing into Maeda with headbutts as Maeda tumbles out of the ring. With the tank empty, Fujiwara keeps falling to Maeda's kicks in the corner and the referee calls the match, awarding Maeda the TKO victory. Fujiwara's performance in this match was fantastic and he really had my sympathy there at the end.

[Microstatistics]

Wily veteran using different strategies to survive the UWF ace juggernaut. Fujiwara's performance in this is about as good as it gets. The best shoot style match of the 80s. ****1/2

[Superstar Sleeze]

Wow, I guess I am way off base here, thought this was great, but nothing super special. Definitely preferred Fujiwara vs Takada.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda - UWF II 8/13/89

To me this is always the most interesting matchup because it is the intriguing and personable Fujiwara vs the ice cold load, Maeda. I love to see what Fujiwara can pull out of him. I thought the beginning was the best part, it petered out and then picked back up. Fujiwara just RAMS his head into Maeda's three times hard right in the corner. I was expecting a real humdinger of a match after that raucous start. He was lunging and leading with the head brutal. That ended up being his only knockdown. Maeda came back with a kick to the leg and head to score his first knockdown in brutal fashion. After that, it was a pretty strong shoot-style match but nothing special. It was weird seeing Fujiwara dominated like this after watching him dominate Yamazaki. Maeda was the one winning on the ground, forcing rope breaks and getting another knockdown. Fujiwara is trying to lure Maeda into the corner but he ends getting taken down at will. Nice German from Maeda and then a nice double underhook bridge. On the mat, everything is struggled for. The match picks back up when Fujiwara is able to get an ankle cross on a sloppy Maeda rear naked choke. Volk Han fans will know he often used this as an escape from chokes in his matches. Maeda sells this well and here comes the Fujiwara barrage. Body shots and he butts Maeda out of the ring. They dont count this as a knockdown. It is too little too late as Maeda is able to recover without penalty as the ref backs off Fujiwara. Maeda is able to use a series of stiff kicks to put Fujiwara down three times in a row in the corner. Fujiwara was definitely the best part, but I have seen better individual performances. This is the type of match that I enjoy, but it doesnt feel sticky like I am going to forget most of it. Still one of the better Maeda matches. ****

 

[Makai Club #1]

This was incredible, like always. Both bring out each other's aggressive tendencies which inevitably turns them annoyed with each other, leading to Maeda kicking Fujiwara hard in the back after the rope break and Fujiwara nailing Maeda with running headbutts to the mouth. The grappling wasn't as tricked out as Fujiwara can offer. It was simple and basic but both were persistent and rugged with it. Maeda even had to ease up on an over the top shoulder lock to avoid snapping the arm long before the finish. The main component of the match was the striking. Even outside of the petty cheap shots. Fujiwara had some great hooks to the body and Maeda responded with his powerful kicks that break through Fujiwara’s defence, eventually causing the TKO after knocking him down three times with kicks to the left side of the torso. My favourite moment of the match was Akira Maeda living up to his initial role as the next Inoki after Fujiwara almost broke his patella with a kick. Maeda dropped to his knees and challenged Fujiwara to bring it. Fujiwara tested the waters a little but he didn't fancy it and Maeda got back on his feet. Obviously this is shoot style and you can't be doing “bullshit New Japan” spots so we got a UWF version of it and it's still incredible. It had me marking out big time. God bless Maeda. ****1/2