Tatsumi Fujinami

[William Bologna]

FIGHTING SPIRIT 2002 February 1, 2002 Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Sixth game Masahiro Chono & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiroyoshi Tenzan VS Shiro Koshinaka & Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami

I actually went slightly out of order on that last one. When presented with a choice between Misawa and Tatsutoshi Goto, my subconscious tried to do what was best for me.

The crowd reacts in unexpected ways. Before the match, Tenzan grabs the mic and says some stuff that's presumably pretty spicy (it makes Choshu pretty mad, whatever it was) - no reaction. During match, Koshinaka hits guys with his ass, and we get a huge pop every time.

Anyway, this match is a complete failure. Tenzan talks a big game (I'm guessing), but there's nothing to back it up. After the opening sequence in which a fired up Choshu gives him his comeuppance, there's nothing to suggest that these teams dislike each other or that one of them is made up of bad guys. They just go through the paces, doing all the stuff they'd do anyway.

Also, there seems to have been some kind of mass miscommunication at the finish. They're setting up Chono kicking Koshinaka and pinning him, but people are standing around at the wrong time and in the wrong places. We get there, but it's not smooth.

These late career Fujinami matches are turning out to be pretty boring most of the time, and I don't think you can blame it on our hero aging. He's just in there with people who aren't all that good and/or aren't trying very hard. *pretends to cough but actually says Chono*

[William Bologna]

WRESTLING WORLD 2003 2003 January 4 Tokyo Dome The first game Osamu Nishimura vs Tatsumi Fujinami

Every so often we get one of these throwback exhibition matches. "Remember when guys in black trunks used to do this?" and then they roll around and procure wristlocks for a while. There was one with Kido that was entertaining, and then there's this one, which was lousy.

It's also kind of sad. Fujinami's a legend who can still go, and Nishimura was always a better wrestler than his push. Yet here they are jerking the curtain with an eight minute bad match while the Tokyo Dome crowd steels themselves for what looks like a really, really crappy card.

It is bad, which you wouldn't expect given that this is right in Nishimura's wheelhouse. Previous installments have seem him looking smooth as silk exchanging holds, but here he and Fujinami aren't on the same page. There's just too much fumbling. The finish in particular is terrible. Nishimura does the thing where he puts his feet in the other guy's armpits and flips him over, and then he does a bridge. There's nothing cooler when it's done well, but . . . well, I've never New Japan's current crop of young lions do anything this awkwardly.

[William Bologna]

Fighting Spirit starting ~ CHAPTER1 ~ January 4 Tokyo Dome, 2006 The fourth game Tatsumi Fujinami Osamu Nishimura Takashi Iizuka Toru Yano Hirooki Goto Hiroshi Nagao vs Choshu force Kohei Sato Uwa NoTakashi Yoshito Sasaki kamikaze Daisuke Sekimoto

So I guess Choshu's invading with a mob of indie guys? Fujinami looks to defend the honor of New Japan with an army consisting of Nishimura and three young boys, all in black trunks. What they lack in experience and visual appeal they make up for with enthusiasm. Fujinami's team runs in and starts brawling. Their leader lags behind, but we can cut him some slack. The man's 53 years old.

I would have thought that as we get closer to the present, it would be easier for me to identify the wrestlers. But what with gimmick and costume changes, and with quite a few of these guys never reaching a level of prominence high enough to be observable by me, I'm clueless about a good third of them. It says Hirooki Goto's in this, but I don't know which young guy in black trunks he is.

I do recognize Toru Yano before his dissipation became his gimmick. Black trunks, black hair - seemingly an upstanding citizen. He doesn't even punch anyone in the balls.

On the indie side, we've got a blue guy, an orange guy, a guy in long pants, a tall guy, and Daisuke Sekimoto! I love that dude. He doesn't yet have his mullet, but he's always recognizable because he looks like a thumb.

Everyone gets in and does stuff, and every so often everyone runs in and brawls. Twelve men in a match is too many, but it's fine. My biggest issue with this match is that the finish involved two of the guys I didn't recognize so I had to figure it out. It turns out Kohei Sato pinned Hiroshi Nagao.

For five of these fellows, this is their only entry on NJPW World. I hope you weren't looking forward to any more Yoshihito Sasaki matches

[William Bologna]

Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome January 4, 2008 Tokyo Dome Sixth game ONE NIGHT STAND ~ LEGEND vs V・B・H ~ Choshu force AKIRA Jyushin Thunder Liger Masahiro Chono Tatsumi Fujinami vs "brother" YASSHI Shuji Kondo TARU heresy heresy

Pre-match prediction: The indie dirtbags do a bunch of disrespectful stuff, and then the old guys kick their asses. Let's see if I'm right.

Post-match analysis: I was right! One of the dirtbags got on the mic and said something over and over; something disrespectful enough to get him booed. Then they got some heat and finally got their asses kicked.

It was actually more fun than I thought it would be. The bad guys did some cool stuff, like holding AKIRA up by his legs and axe kicking him the dick. They then did a commendable job getting their asses kicked. The dude wearing the Jamaican flag as a headband in particular earned his paycheck.

So, I thought I was done. I was going to watch the Choshu retirement match and go do something else. But once again Gedo snuck in and added a bunch of content. As a paying customer, I guess I should be grateful. I'm not.

So it's once more into the breach (in this case, "breach" means "1980s"). We get some Dick Murdoch, which should be fun. Sadly, I have to watch another Bruiser Brody match. Also a weirdly large amount of Jimmy Snuka. King Kong Bundy. A number of Strong Machines. All the greats, coming soon.

[William Bologna]

New Year Golden Series January 27, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, 1984 Antonio Inoki＆Tatsumi Fujinami VS Hulk Hogan＆Iron Mike Sharpe

As I step out of my time machine and back into 1984, I'm thrilled to see the Hulkster. It makes up for also seeing Inoki.

We also get Iron Mike Sharpe, who's a lot of fun here. He just heels like crazy. He hits Fujinami with the semi-foreign object around his wrist; he whines to the referee; he grabs hair and generally cheats. It's a little confusing, because his partner is, if not the good guy, certainly not the bad guy. Hogan does all the stuff he always does in Japan, but neither I nor the crowd is tired of it.

What they really want is a showdown between Hogan and Inoki. They get it after Fujinami puts Sharpe in the scorpion deathlock. Hogan comes in and axe bombers Fujinami out of the ring. Inoki comes in, and the two illegal men have a sequence hot enough to bring the crowd to its feet.

It is the 80s, though, so the bell rings halfway through the confrontation: Fujinami has been counted out.

This worked because the crowd was so hot for it and because it felt like the silly-ass 80s finish was building to something. I don't know if the Hogan vs. Inoki payoff happened. If it did Fujinami wasn't in it, so it's really not any of my business.

[William Bologna]

1984 Other matches March 30, 1984 Korakuen Hall Seiji Sakaguchi＆Tatsumi Fujinami VS Masked Superstar＆Don Muraco

Super hot crowd. During the milling around after the introductions, they launch into a deafening "Muraco" chant. Don is eager to maintain heel status by dismissing this enthusiasm, so they respond by chanting "Sakaguchi" but somehow cramming it into three syllables. I've been sitting here trying to do it with limited success. I'm glad I have the place to myself. The trick is to barely enunciate the "gu." SA-KA-(gu)CHI!

This is a fun trip down memory lane. Remember that swole referee in the skin-tight polo shirt? He's back! And Fujinami is all young and dynamic again. I forgot how fast he used to run the ropes. 

We even get a terrible, obvious 80s finish. Mr. Superstar comes in to save his partner from Fujinami's octopus hold. Fujinami tries to cross bodyblock the two of them out of the ring for the countout, but of course it doesn't work - one of the biggest difference between wrestling now and wrestling then is simple execution. So they kind of pull each other out, everyone brawls, and Fujinami rolls in for the win.

Sakaguchi is a pretty impressive physical specimen, but he seems to have gotten old early. He's only 42 here, but he's all hunched over.

Neither of the foreigners made much of an impression except for the audience's unrequited love for Don Muraco.

[NintendoLogic]

I noticed you described Inoki/Fujinami vs. Choshu/Saito on 5/24/84 as "a good 20 minute match that would have been a great 15 minutes." As it turns out, such a match exists. It's easy to find on Dailymotion if you can bring yourself to step outside the NJPW World cocoon. It even has a clean finish.

[William Bologna]

I'll keep that in mind. On the one hand, this project has made me realize that Masa Saito is really great and I need to watch more of him.

On the other, I was fully intending to go seek out more Fujinami from other sources before they doubled the number of matches I need to get through. So we'll see if I can stomach any more of the old bastard after I get through this.

[William Bologna]

1984 Other matches September 7, 1984 Fukuoka Sports Center Tatsumi Fujinami VS Abdullah the Butcher

We spend some time doing clean breaks here until things pick up. Fujinami hits Abdullah with some kind of flying chop, which of course gets the Butcher to bleeding. I didn't see him blade, but he must have, right? I'm sure Abdullah's better at cutting himself than I am at noticing it.

Fujinami presses the advantage with an enzuigiri and a God-bless-him-he-tried bodyslam. Then the gentlest dropkick I've ever seen sends the Butcher outside.

Abdullah drags Fujinami outside with him, and the ref waves it off almost immediately. There definitely wasn't time for a countout, but I guess Abdullah's reputation preceded him. The ref knew they weren't getting back in, so why tax his brain counting to twenty?

I was expecting more of a madman vibe from the Butcher. He didn't move with any urgency, and other than a couple throat chops (followed by his little Abdullah dance), most of his offense was holding Fujinami real close.

The bell-to-bell part of this wasn't the worst four minutes, but the post-match was really bad. All Abdullah did was hold Fujinami against something and bleed on him, and this was before we knew how dangerous it was to get that guy's blood on you.

[William Bologna]

1984 Other matches November 1, 1984 Tokyo Gymnasium WWF International Heavyweight Championship Tatsumi Fujinami VS Cowboy" Bob Orton

This is the first time I've seen Bob Orton since my Hulkamania-plagued childhood. I liked him! He did these theatrical, Curt Hennig-style bumps. They weren't quite smooth enough to be described as Perfect, but still they were interesting. I like his offense. His super deliberate elbows to the throat were cool. He brought more high-flying than I would have guessed. He prefigured Gran Naniwa by getting on the second rope at the turnbuckle and shuffling to the middle, whence he dropped a knee on Fujinami. He also tried a Vader Bomb, but Fujinami got his knees up on that one. And he hadn't even wrestled Vader yet - how did he know?

The thing about Cowboy Bob Orton is that the crowd just did not give a damn. Did he not have a pedigree in Japan? He did a bunch of cool stuff, Fujinami did some cool stuff, Orton emoted largely, all to tepid reactions from the Tokyoians.

They tease a couple countouts, but we do get a finish as Fujinami throws Orton off the top and procures a scorpion deathlock for the win.

This was a pleasant exercise worked at a very nice pace. I don't understand why the people watching it didn't like it as much as I did.

[William Bologna]

1984 Other matches November 30, 1984 Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium MSG Tag League Antonio Inoki＆Tatsumi Fujinami VS Strong Machine No.1＆Strong Machine No.2

This may look like a mismatch in the ring - you have a couple IWGP champions vs. Junji Hirata and some Korean guy - but the Machines have backup. KY Wakamatsu is yelling into his megaphone, and Hiro Saito is ready to make his presence felt. The good guys, meanwhile, have only a young, pimply Masa Chono in their corner.

There's plenty of heat; the crowd is going banana as they brawl among the streamers, and the enthusiasm doesn't really let up. Not even when Inoki wraps a towel around his hand to punch a Machine. Must have been extra fighting spirit in it or something.

Inoki is just not any good except when he's brawling (when he's really, really good). He lacks ring awareness or something. There's a spot where he gets one Machine (either 1 or 2) to run into the other one (either 2 or 1), and instead of following up, he just strolls in the direction of his corner while the Machine waits for him to do something.

But it's far from the worst Inoki experience, since he keeps things moving and throws a lot of punches. The finish is very mid-80s sloppy. Whichever Machine loses (presumably the less Super Strong one) lands kind of under the ropes on an enzuigiri, so he has to move his hand and Inoki has to move his ass to stay in bounds for the pin, which I swear is only a two count. Different rules for the guy who owns the place. Hiro Saito immediately runs in, and we brawl again.

One other thing about Inoki - in kayfabe, he's just an awful tag partner. Fujinami hit a dragon suplex, which got a huge pop from the crowd, the announcer, and me, and Inoki could barely be bothered to get into the ring to protect the pin attempt. Even worse is in the post-match brawl. Saito is choking Fujinami with a rope, and Inoki completely ignores it. He at least waits until Saito stops to raise his hands in triumph, but his partner's suffering is obviously not troubling him.

[William Bologna]

1984 Other matches December 6, 1984 Hiroshima prefectural gymnasium Tatsumi Fujinami VS Dick Murdoch

Finally we get some Dick Murdoch! He's been hanging out in the margins of this project, even giving Fujinami a postmatch handshake at one point, but this is the first time we see him in action.

He's awesome, of course. The match is built around his peerless punches. Fujinami gets a transition off blocking one and complains to the ref (resplendent in a WWF polo shirt) about them.

The crowd is good but unusual. They're just loud in general. There's a high level of background noise, but they don't always react to the things you'd expect them to. There's a repeated chant that I don't understand, but at least they're enjoying themselves.

Murdoch is a perfect opponent for Fujinami. Consider:

1. Fujinami is at his best when he's getting hit really hard. Hashimoto, Tenryu, Dynamite - these are the guys who bring the fighting spirit out of him. He's a pretty colorless guy unless he's getting pasted in the face, and Murdoch is happy to oblige.
2. He has a tendency to get overshadowed and eaten up when he's in the ring with a dominant personality. I love the Hogan matches, but you don't remember Fujinami's performance in them. Against Flair he's the proverbial broomstick. Murdoch, however, complements him. He's got all kinds of personality, but he uses cartoonish selling to make his opponent look like a badass. He's physically imposing in spite of his physique (he towers over Fujinami), and his offense is as believable as fake fighting can be, so it really means something when he switches gears and starts staggering around after getting punched.

This is a lot of analysis for a ten minute match with a typical 80s non-finish (DCOR), but man is Dick Murdoch good. I liked this a lot, but I'm not objective about this guy. He's the gaijin Tenryu - I'd watch him order lunch and give it four stars.

[William Bologna]

December 6, 1984 Hiroshima prefectural gymnasium Super heavyweight battle royal

Fujinami and Murdoch are pulling double duty! Later in the same evening as their epic double count-out showdown, both are here for the Super Heavyweight Battle Royal!

This is my kind of battle royal. It's five minutes long, they get the chumps out of there quick, and it tells a story which despite its brevity is full not only of twists but also of turns.

Inoki sees KY Wakamatsu (whose name is Japanese for "Jimmy Hart") and a couple Strong Machines outside the ring and is so incensed that he eliminates himself going after them. The swole ref in the WWF polo really has to put his foot down about Antonio getting back in. It's like, yeah I gave you a pin on a two count last time, but the rules of the battle royal are sacred. I'll have to keep an eye out for this guy - we may never see him again after he crosses the boss like this.

I gather that there's an issue between Fujinami/Kengo Kimura and Murdoch/Adrian Adonis. Kimura and Adonis eliminate each other like they're Eteocles and Polyneices before one of the seven gates of holy Thebes. The rest of the match tells the tale of Murdoch, Fujinami, and the near-literal elephant in the figurative room, Andre T. Giant.

Andre is down, and Murdoch takes the unexpected but expedient route, motioning for Fujinami to cooperate with him in dumping the giant. The crowd is thrilled.

But can Captain Redneck be trusted? You will not be surprised to learn that he cannot. He betrays his momentary ally but comes close to eliminating Andre accidentally as Fujinami ducks a double team maneuver. Murdoch recovers to dump Fujinami, only for Andre to bring things to an abrupt end by dropping Murdoch atomically with such force that he springs over the top rope. It hurts more when you're a giant.

My heart sank when I saw there was a battle royal on the docket. The last one I saw was that time the Rock tried and failed to convince everyone that Roman Reigns was extremely tough and cool, so I'd soured on the whole concept. But this was a hoot. Five minutes. Told a story. Made Inoki look stupid. A triumph.

[William Bologna]

Big Fight 2nd series In April 1985, 18 days Ryogoku Kokugikan Tatsumi Fujinami VS Strong Machine No.1

We've been getting a lot of Strong Machine content lately, and now they're multiplying. They're rolling five deep before the match starts: KY Wakamatsu is there accompanied by no fewer than four Strong Machines. But Strong Machines 3, 1, and 2 make themselves scarce before the action.

I feel like I'm missing something culturally with Wakamatsu. What is he supposed to be? He's got a lab coat, bow tie, derby hat, Mardi Gras beads, a crucifix, a megaphone, and a whip. Did they spring it on him right before a show? "Hey, Inoki says we need a manager for these here robots. Go over to the lost and found and get an outfit together."

But if it works it works, and KY earns his paycheck this time out. Fujinami and Machine have a solid 80s match - the kind of thing where they sit in holds, get up and do a highspot, and then go back to the holds. Whenever the crowd begins to quiet, Wakamatsu yells into his megaphone, and they're right back in it. It works every time.

This is a longish match, and there's something about the pacing and SM's deliberate, bodyslam-intensive offense that makes it feel like it's happening in the background of a movie. Like, our hero meets an informant at the sumo hall and they have a tense conversation while Machine plays to the crowd behind them. That's not a complaint - this is real solid stuff. Junji Hirata (the ring name Strong Machine #1 settled on after he took off the mask) always surprises me with how good he is, and this is when Fujinami could still move.

We get a really dramatic finish. Hirata has Fujinami in a waistlock, and Wakamatsu hops onto the apron and throws powder. Fujinami ducks, and Hirata takes the powder followed by a dragon suplex for the pin. It was so good one fan let the spirit of the sumo hall take over and threw his cushion into the ring.

And here we begin to see cracks in the Machines/Wakamatsu partnership. Hirata is understandably upset at his manager's tomfoolery; they come to blows, and Wakamatsu leaves without his #1 Machine. Fujinami follows, and alone in the ring Hirata seems to be having something of a personal crisis. Does he rid himself of his mask and manager? Or is the way of the Machine too Strong?

This man vs. machine struggle gets over like crazy, and we fade out to the thunderous din of every fan in the building chanting "HI-RA-TA!"

I had no idea this was going to be so much fun.

[paul sosnowski]

I would be curious to see your thoughts on the Kerry Von Erich title unification match 12/9/88 (incomplete highlights)

and the IWGP Title defense against Jerry Lawler 3/16/89 (full match)

[William Bologna]

Those sound pretty intriguing. We're in a chronologically coherent stretch now, and those will fit right in as we proceed (again) through the 80s.

[William Bologna]

1985 Other matches May 10, 1985 Fukuoka Sports Center Antonio Inoki＆Tatsumi Fujinami VS Andr? the Giant＆Jimmy Snuka

Have you ever heard Meltzer go on and on about why Andre got over while Paul Wight never did? You know, Vince Senior made sure Andre was a special attraction, didn't overuse him, etc. etc. It's nonsense because it assumes that all giants are created equal. But you look at Andre and you look at Big Show, and you can see that statement is not true.

Even when he's not doing a whole lot, Andre has this menacing but engaging presence. And he's good at this job, too. This match is all about Fujinami and Inoki taking turns trying to wear him down, and he is very convincingly worn down. You believe that these twerps are gradually getting to the giant.

The other smart thing they do here is keep is short. You don't want the man out there for 20 minutes, so let's get to our annoying DQ finish quick.

Snuka was barely in this. Or maybe I didn't notice him as much because he wasn't a bellowing evil giant.

[William Bologna]

1985 Other matches May 24, 1985 Kobe World Memorial Hall Tatsumi Fujinami＆Kengo Kimura VS Dick Murdoch＆Adrian Adonis

This is what I was waiting for when I saw that Gedo added a whole new pile of Fujinami matches and realized that I'm never going to be done with this (this thread turned two years old a couple months ago. It has a favorite dinosaur and is speaking in intelligible sentences. Mostly about dinosaurs).

This is for the vacant WWF International Tag Team Championship, which is made up even by the standards of pro wrestling titles. Still, our play by play man does his best to convince us that they're important. I can't understand half of what he's saying, but the other half is "WWF" and "New York." Look at what an insider this guy is, referring to the WWF as "New York." Yeesh.

The titles on the line may be extra fictitious, but this is an event. Flowers handed out, and Adonis sets the tone by throwing his at Kimura. It's already getting chippy out there.

It's a good match, and the crowd is pumped for every Murdoch/Fujinami exchange. After a pair of dueling backdrops (which Fujinami would re-use against Vader), Fujinami plays face in peril for a while. But we really get to see Dick Murdoch shine after a dropkick and a hot tag leads to Kengo Kimura beating the hell out of him. He's just a master of showing sudden vulnerability, and he makes Kimura look like a buzzsaw.

That's been a theme here: People selling like crazy for Kimura. Were there plans for this guy that never panned out? People act like his leg lariat hurts more than anything Hase ever did. He's treated with more respect than you would expect for someone with his resume.

This is a long match, and it reveals Murdoch's one weakness: Stamina. He holds Fujinami up for a Davey Boy-ish amount of time (revealing more of the Dragon's bikini zone than I ever wanted to see) and then just collapses. It counts as a brainbuster, but only technically. He can't quite get Fujinami out of the ring a moment later, and Adonis has to help.

This leads to the finish. They brawl, but our heroes get the foreigners to run into each other, whereupon Fujinami dashes back into the ring for the countout win.

Adonis and Murdoch do not take this well. They grab the belts, kick the trophies, rip up the certificates, and generally throw a tantrum. Murdoch flings a trophy into the ring and almost hits Kimura, who looks legit surprised. They're finally dispatched with a belt shot and double dropkick, and these hallowed, prestigious tag team belts are presented to our heroes.

The WWF International Tag Team Championship, by the way, had been deactivated 13 years prior to this and would again be deactivated in October. Kimura and Fujinami were the only champions. But it's OK because this was good.

[paul sosnowski]

There actually were WWF International Tag Team titles from June 1969 to November 1971.  Then they were vacant for over 14 years and brought back here.   Kimura & Fujinami were champs until October 1985 and the titles were inactive since then.   Weird....

[William Bologna]

1985 Other matches May 31, 1985 Omiya City Gymnasium Antonio Inoki＆Tatsumi Fujinami＆Kengo Kimura VS Dick Murdoch＆Adrian Adonis＆King Kong Bundy

This is like a stress test. "OK, you four had a pretty good match last week. Let's see what happens if we add a couple of stiffs." 

I'm going to nitpick extensively about Inoki:

• Inoki's done this thing a couple times, and I don't like it. Before the match starts, he'll get all mad at someone on the other side and make one of his teammates hold him back. "Let me go, Kengo! I'ma get this fool!" "No, Antonio! It's not worth it!" As if he's going to face repercussions for starting a fight half a minute before it was going to start anyway. 
• I think he missed Murdoch trying to build some drama. Captain Redneck is at whom Inoki is woofing pre-match, and he looks like he's going to be first guy for his team, but when we start, Adonis is in there. I think Murdoch was trying to do the thing where he teases us with the matchup we want to see, but Inoki wasn't paying enough attention to do anything with it.
• He also misses an opportunity when Bundy comes in. Everyone's been in the ring and exchanged headlocks except Bundy, who's obviously the most imposing man in the match. As soon as he tags in, Inoki runs over there as fast as a he can and gives him a martial hug. What he should have done was back off and maybe try to look intimidated or at least concerned at how he was going to address this threat. He's not good at subtleties. 
• Oh, and at one point Kimura does what's probably a cool sunset flip to Adonis, but we miss it because the camera's showing us Inoki. This may be slightly unfair to Antonio even by my standards, but if I can blame Gedo for the state of NJPW World, I feel comfortable pinning this one on the boss.

I liked Bundy! He moved well enough, used his bulk effectively, had some solid offense (including a really vicious-looking kneedrop), and showed some personality. Kimura took his time on a clean break, so Bundy just shoved him away and yelled at him. He hit Fujinami with a splash, but Kimura came in to break up the pin. Not missing a beat, Bundy transitioned into a headlock and took a minute to admonish the ref (swole, WWF polo) for not being able to control things.

It's no surprise that Murdoch was great, but he was extra great this time. He's as good at the little things as Inoki is bad at them. In an early exchange, I said to myself, "Man, he's giving Kimura nothing." Kengo was trying to wrestle or whatever, but Murdoch wasn't interested, preferring to hit Kimura really hard over and over. Ten minutes later, the crowd pops huge as Kimura takes the upper hand and hits that leg lariat, which of course Murdoch sells like he was murdered.

We wind up with an out of control, chair-swinging brawl leading to a DCOR, but it was OK. Things had been heating up enough that everyone losing their temper didn't feel perfunctory. I may be getting Stockholm syndrome with these terrible 80s finishes, though.

I enjoyed this. Bundy turned out not to be a stiff after all, and for all his faults, Inoki is pretty good at getting beaten up and then looking angry about it. The participants played to their strengths.

[William Bologna]

Burning Spirit-in-Summer August 1, 1985, the two countries Kokugikan Tatsumi Fujinami VS Jimmy Snuka

I'm kind of punting on this one. Snuka skeeves me out out, and I don't like looking at him. Even if I didn't know he was a (alleged) (probable) murderer, he's just off. If you pointed him out to me and said "Hey, that guy killed someone," I'd be all, "The roided out guy in the leopard print underpants and no shoes with the gross perm who's making weird faces that suggest he doesn't perceive the same reality that the rest of us do? Yeah, I can buy that."

So I spent most of this match looking at a different tab, but it didn't seem like anything special. They roll around on the mat, and then they do some stuff. Snuka flexes and makes faces.

This does give us probably the worst-botched Fujinami finish, and that's far from an empty category. It's supposed to be the old top rope bodypress rolled over into a pin by the other guy. I can't even describe how they mess it up. Fujinami lands on Snuka, but his momentum takes him too far. He has a slide back over while Snuka clings to his legs. Fujinami makes a bridge over him for a moment before Snuka rolls him over and gets the pin.

I'm glad I wasn't enjoying this match, because that would have ruined it. It's weird that Fujinami, who's so good at so many things, has all these awful screw-ups at the ends of matches.

[William Bologna]

1985 Other matches August 3, 1985 Aloha Stadium Tatsumi Fujinami＆Kengo Kimura VS Gene Lewis＆Gary Fulton

Whole different feel here as the Fujinami Show goes Hawaiian. This is a big NWA show (Polynesian Hot Summer Night! - Here's a newspaper article about it) in Hawaii, and I wondered about the crowd. They give the swole ref a nice hand when he's introduced. They boo the Americans and cheer Kimura and Fujinami. They even seem to know who Fujinami is - they pop when he tags in the first time. So I don't know. Were they just polite, or was the crowd full of tape traders and vacationing Japanese? Is Giant Baba there? Is Maunakea Mossman?

Actually, there's a pretty good chance Mossman is there, right? He's nine years old at this point. Curtis Iaukea was apparently his uncle, so he was wrestling-adjacent. I guess Taiyo Kea isn't a big enough deal that we get the Mick-Foley-watching-Superfly treatment when something like this happens.

I detected a styles clash. I think Lewis and Fulton were trying to make Kimura the face in peril, but he decides it's Fujinami's turn and just walks over there while Lewis is beating him up. I think he was supposed to make that a little more dramatic. The result is that they're both faces in peril. The vast proportion of the match is the Americans beating up on one or another of these guys. They're in full heel mode, using the rings ropes as a garrote and yelling at the fans to shut up.

Bad 80s finishes aren't only a problem on one side of the Pacific, it turns out, as we brawl outside and the bell rings. Everyone looks confused until the ring announcer comes in, mumbles something, and points at Fujinami and Kimura. Hail to the victors!

This just didn't quite work. It was almost a traditional FIP-style tag match, except the faces weren't on board. The bad guys took almost all of the offense, but it didn't work as a giant vs. underdog thing because they weren't giants and cheated the whole time. If these guys worked together regularly, they probably could have done something nice. No one looked terrible, and there flashes of a good tag match.

This probably wasn't the match that inspired Maunakea Mossman to be a pro wrestler.

 

[William Bologna]

Challenge Spirit '85 September 18, 1985 Fukuoka Sports Center Antonio Inoki＆Tatsumi Fujinami VS Giant Machine＆Super Machine

With special guest referee Lou Thesz! I guess this match is a bigger deal than it seems. 

Super Machine is Bill Eadie, they tell me. He's not any good. Andre's not any good in this either, and he's usually awesome. The match isn't any good. Inoki isn't any good. There are about 40 seconds combined of cool stuff here, which I'll get to in a minute.

The Machines, who are really missing Hirata here, spend most of their time holding Inoki and Fujinami down and doing unconvincing rest holds on them. It felt like a WWF match - Andre even busts out the double noggin-knocker (they no-sell it).

Fujinami is just great when they let him do anything. He takes over on the smaller but still pretty large Machine and starts going a mile a minute like he did back then. Top rope shin drop, explosive drop kick .  . . and then he's stymied by a bear hug.

As if that weren't bad enough, Andre shuffles over and they do the worst double-team maneuver I've ever seen. While Super Machine holds the victim in a bear hug, Giant Machine waves his mighty arm vaguely in Fujinami's direction. Come on, Andre. I know it's a lot of effort to get yourself in a position whence your arm can reach the guy, but it would have looked a lot better if you had.

They then do it to Inoki, and it doesn't look any better. Pretty disappointed in Andre here. I guess he figures we won't know it's him because of the mask.

So that earlier cool part was 35 seconds, and the other 5 comes at the finish. Andre and Inoki brawl outside, and Fujinami backslides Eadie for the win. It was fast and crisp, and everyone was so excited afterwards. That was cool. The rest of this was garbage.

[William Bologna]

85IWGP Tag League match December 10, 1985 Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium Tatsumi Fujinami VS Bruiser Brody

Brody's a wildman! He throws the ref out of the ring before the match starts, which brings no repercussions. Honestly, New Japan Pro Wrestling, that's just going to encourage more wildness. I know Brody's an intimidating guy with his fur vest and fur boots and standard-issue K-Mart gym socks, but you have to stand up for yourself.

I tried to keep an open mind, but Brody saved me some time by being annoying immediately. The ref tries to get Brody's chain away from him, and as Bruiser stomps away from him, Fujinami attacks him from behind. But it doesn't hurt Brody, who can't even bother to look inconvenienced before applying the chain to Fujinami's throat.

But - and I hate to admit this - Brody actually uses his invulnerability for something useful in this one. Fujinami gets a long stretch on offense, and Brody very gradually feels the effects. He drops to one knee. Fujinami hits him again (mostly enzuigiris) and he drops to both knees. He stumbles. He staggers. Finally Fujinami takes him down with a backdrop, and the crowd is going wild.

Everything after that is a letdown, as they rush to the DCOR and then brawl outside basically forever. The whole thing's only 10 minutes, and maybe half of that is the bell-to-bell match.

It was almost really good, as Brody was downright Andre-ish in his role as a giant being gradually chopped down.

ADDENDUM: I was in a hurry when I wrote this, and I've been thinking more about this match, which is an impressive feat of storytelling. These dudes had five minutes, and they told a damn story. It had well-defined characters and an arc. It started and ended poorly, but all the lame stuff was maybe a minute long, and the people who paid money to see it liked it anyway. 

They had not been conditioned to sit on their hands because they knew nothing of consequence would happen in the first 20 minutes.

[William Bologna]

IWGP Champion Series June 1986 6 days Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center IWGP Tag Championship Tatsumi Fujinami＆Kengo Kimura VS Jimmy Snuka＆Wild Samoan

They're calling him Wild Samoan, even though it clearly says "Samu" on the back of his jacket and on his pants. It's a little dehumanizing. The man has a name.

So anyway, these two dudes with perms and no shoes get a shot at the tag titles, but Snuka doesn't seem all that interested. He spends an awfully long time sitting in headlocks. Then he'll throw a couple chops and do a half-assed high spot and let Mr. W. Samoan take over.

Samu puts in the effort, but he seems to be out of his element. Fujinami tries to start out slow with some armlocks and stuff, but Samu resorts immediately to bodyslams. That feels like more a five-minutes-in move. He does some nifty, fast-paced stuff (including throwing himself over the top rope in order to bounce Fujinami's throat off it), but he didn't impress.

Finally Kimura hits a couple leg lariats and pins Samu, and everyone goes home. Forgettable.