[1987-01-02-NJPW] Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura

[Loss]

Kimura slaps Fujinami during handshakes, knocking him off his feet and setting the tone for the match. Kimura completely dominates the first half of this, leading to quite the excitement when Fujinami finally rallies back. It’s like an abridged version of Liger-Samurai in terms of the layout. Fujinami bloodies him up and the match gets pretty spirited and stiff. Great match with an upset win from Kimura, and I really like this as a budding feud for 1987. I don’t know if this is true for the context of the time, but I went into this expecting a technically strong match between friends and ended up getting something even better.

 

****

[Childs]

Yeah, they were long-time tag partners. I remember when I was reviewing footage for the DVDVR set how stunned and excited I was to see Kimura come out so aggressive in this one. I'd rate it right up there with the most pleasant surprises of the whole process. I hoped it was the start of a longer series, with Kimura trying to prove he was a guy to be reckoned with at the highest level. That didn't really come to fruition, though they had another good, heated match a few weeks later.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura - NJPW 1/2/87

Kimura punches Fujinami right in the face before the bell. Kimura goes for the cover, but the ref wont count because the match technically did not start. I did not expect this match at all. Fujinami & Kimura were long time tag partners and the current IWGP tag team champions.  They were the cornerstones of the pure, technical strong style of 80s New Japan. I expected a clean, scientific match. Kimura proves that this attitude is no fluke as he continues to punch Fujinami and not give clean breaks. I wonder if it is out of respect for his long time tag partner that Fujinami tries to wrestle this match straight for so long. He is doing armdrags and trying leverage based counters against an opponent that is using a closed fist and chokes. I know I said Fujinami had the best Scorpion Deathlock but Kimura busts one out that I think is really the best I have ever seen. Fujinami is powdering but he is still coming back locking up and looking for leverage-based wrestling. Then all of sudden CRACK! There was really no straw that broke the camel's back. Fujinami just EXPLODES! Hurls him out of the ring and sends him right into the post busting Kimura wide open. Fujinami is great working as an asskicker, working the cut over. However, he is not really going for the kill. Kimura hits a back drop driver, but Fujinami catches his running knee (which I think is Kimura's finish) and turns it into a deep Scorpion Deathlock. New Japan loves the Scorpion Deathlock. Fujinami wants the flying the kneedrop after Kimura makes the ropes but he crashes and burns. High risk can come high reward or it can be your undoing. It was the latter here as Kimura sends him outside for payback. He whips Fujinami hard into the railing and then gets a chair. I love when chairs just randomly get added in puroresu. He jabs the chair into Fujinami and the PILEDRIVES him on top of the chair. Nice! Kimura hits that running knee he wanted earlier to win the match in a huge upset victory. Talk about flipping expectations upside down. Great heated brawl that really builds. The beginning of the match with Kimura being a dick and trying to step out of Fujinami's shadow all the while Fujinami trying his best to be respectful really set up the second half so well. Once Fujinami unleashes his fury, this becomes a must see match. ****1/2

 

[KinchStalker]

There's a very important note I need to make; the match result was overturned and ruled a no-contest when it was found that Kimura had loaded his leg supporter for the Inazuma leg lariat.

[KB8]

This is one of my favourite Fujinami performances ever. Probably one of my favourite Kimura performances as well. I don't know why Kimura was so pissed at his former teammate but he clobbered him before the bell with a taped fist and Fujinami was up against it straight away. I thought Fujinami was amazing in the first half of this, all of it stemming from that opening punch. He can never really mount any offence and has to operate with caution, has to be patient before engaging, backing into the corner, trying to shake the cobwebs loose, clearly still reeling from the sucker punch and trying to just bide his time to get himself right. Kimura being all over him and socking his jaw several more times never did him much good either. There was a great bit where Fujinami managed to grab a nice hammerlock out of a standing switch, and instead of engaging in any of that Kimura just immediately cracked him in the cheek and Fujinami was on the mat staring at the lights. He'd stomp Fujinami while he was curled up in the ropes, punch him in the ear and let everyone know he was doing it, apply every submission with venom, basically he was all over Fujinami like a very angry rash. When Fujinami did manage to take over he absolutely slabbered Kimura like you'd want. He persisted and tried to wrestle this thing clean, but you can only push a man's buttons so many times before he snaps and when he did he tried to split Kimura's skull like a pomegranate. Fujinami punches the cut about a dozen times and you wonder if maybe Kimura should've stopped riling him up with those cheapshots earlier. The finishing run is short and compact and, even though they mostly stop the blatant closed fist punching, manages to capture a sense of escalating violence. That peaked with Kimura bringing a chair into the ring and piledriving Fujinami on top of it, and I guess even in Japan a piledriver on a chair carries some WEIGHT. KinchStalker's background info on the finish makes it even better. A loaded kneepad! In Japan! That boy hated Fujinami so bad he stuck a roll of quarters down his kneepad. How very Memphis. How very badass.