[2000-07-01-AJPW] Toshiaki Kawada vs Masa Fuchi

[soup23]

Wow, what a great match to start the new era of All Japan. Everything looks a little different including the venue but Kawada and Fuchi really went out to prove they could still have a compelling match in this promotion and not sell out to the glitz and glammor that was promised from NOAH in the opening press conference. It is such a great contrast and one where I feel both promotions have pros/cons in the way they went about things. Maybe Kawada and Co were a bit too stubborn and they even had to sort of backtrack on things with the influx of Mutoh but for this night, Fuchi and Kawda rolled around on the mat for 20 minutes. One powerbomb was enough to put Fuchi away for Kawada but not before he made Fuchi’s chest look like hamburger meat. In between those strikes, the mat work was really engaging with each wrestler shooting on the other and locking in some tough submissions to work out of. Fuchi especially hadn’t been in this type of marquee singles match in a while and he delivers in spades here. A wonderful match to watch and one that made me really excited for the main promotions in Japan in the 2^nd half of 2000. ****1/4 (8.5)

[ohtani's jacket]

All Japan may have been an ailing promotion but Kawada beating the shit out of Fuchi was just what the doctor ordered. Maybe not the best All Japan match of the year but certainly my favourite.

[superkix]

One thing I love about pro-wrestling is a good, hard-hitting, extended squash match, and Kawada knows how to squash his way into my heart. After a stalemate opening, Fuchi slaps Kawada in the face to let him know that he’s the vet and Kawada starts hacking at Fuchi’s leg with kicks…you know, because Fuchi doesn’t wear kneepads so it’s an easy target. Hamstring kicks, face kicks, nasty stomps to the head, slaps, extended wristlock sequences – Kawada gives you a bit of everything. Fuchi finally catches a kick, dropkicks Kawada’s opposite knee, which is such a great counter, then proceeds to step right on his fucking face. When Kawada is peppering Fuchi with those shitty little face kicks, Fuchi stands up like “what!”, and Kawada slaps him and puts him back down for more shitty face kicks. Awesome moment. Fuchi heats up toward the end, delivering three consecutive backdrops to Kawada but that’s about the only whiff of victory he gets before Kawada builds to the folding powerbomb finish. My kind of match.

[Beast]

Dug the overall story by the end. Must be Fuchi's last hurrah, right?

First real look at Fuchi. Came off as a tough dude out of his element against top dog Kawada. Knowing the context (only 2 remnants of the original promotion), I thought it was strange Kawada ate Fuchi up for a while, but I guess Fuchi's persistence and ability to take a beating and still give some back was an attempt to tell a feel-good tale? Was really just an extended squash, especially seeing Kawada kick out at 1 after taking 3 big backdrop drivers.

Wasn't helped by the very, very quiet crowd.

If I was a fan of AJPW at the time, this match would have made me even more worried as it was clear Fuchi wasn't going to fill any sort of meaningful role leaving Kawada as the only real big name left. Luckily the influx of interpromotional guys saved the day.

 

[fxnj]

Supremely well worked match rife with symbolism that stands along side Kawada's line-up of masterpieces from the 2nd half of the year. Yeah, this was next-level stiff. 0 pull on those kicks whatsoever and the thud on everything more than made up for the dead crowd. I was reminded of that famous Yuki Ishikawa quote from Ditch's interview where he says he wrestles such stiff matches while imagining he's fighting against people who say wrestling is fake, except here it was like Kawada unleashing his feelings from the AJPW split. Others already mentioned most of the highlights, but the enzuigiris thrown by both guys were ridiculous and I was pretty impressed by how Kawada was still standing after the one he ate from Fuchi. Fuchi was also pretty compelling throughout the match as the old man who would never give up.

In terms of symbolism, Kawada enters wearing a "fight for tomorrow" t-shirt which he wore back in the Misawa vs Jumbo era, which can be taken either literally that he's fighting for AJPW's future, a throwback to the match being Misawa's No. 2 guy vs. Jumbo's No. 2 guy, or a jab at Misawa for splitting the promotion. The structure of the match as an extended squash itself also has some meaning attached to it, I'd argue. In a situation like this, I think most guys would do some 50/50 sentimental match, but by instead sticking to the same strict adherence to hierarchy that was AJPW's standard, it's like sending a message that the promotion will continue as normal. Interesting interview with Kawada afterwards as well with him saying that he wanted to match to leave an impression and transmit pain. He also mentioned that he wanted to show that there's more to wrestling than just big moves, which also seems like a shot at Misawa and Kobashi.