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[1986-06-12-NJPW] Antonio Inoki vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara


Superstar Sleeze

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Antonio Inoki vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara - NJPW 6/12/1986

Call me crazy but I preferred the rematch to the original. This was the brutal, violent spectacle that I expected the first one to be. So let me get out of the way why I suspect this match did not do too well the constant rear naked choke/sleeper, I can see how the repetition could make the match drag for some people. For me, it hooked me. Fujiwara was pissed he got choked out in February and was out for blood. This was Fujiwara unleashed and what I was clamoring for. He bumrushes Inoki and just snapmares him to death before applying a choke. When Inoki gets out of that, it judo throw after judo throw and apply the choke. Thats the match folks Fujiwara would come up with new ways to take Inoki down and choke him. Inoki for his part was great in making comebacks. His Indian Deathlock got a big pop, but for me it was when he transitioned into a choke when Fujiwara was in the ropes that drove home that Inoki was out for blood too. Inoki is great at getting his receipts in. My favorite part was when Fujiwara simply went for the old fashioned hand around the throat choke and Inoki gave him a "Fuck you" punch to the back of the head. Fujiwara was a supreme dick in this and Inoki was giving us those mini-payoffs. Fujiwara was his typically great self at selling the chokes on his end with the foaming at the mouth sell. Choking is such a visceral and violent thing. You have crossed the line from trying to win the match to depriving a man of air, our life force. That's intense shit. The finish is great with Inoki trying to escape the choke by throwing himself over the top rope, but Fujiwara follows and keeps the choke on Inoki with dogged determination. Inoki finally shakes him by lunging into the post and bucking Fujiwara head first into the post cutting him real good. Fujiwara is a bloody mess but in typical Fujiwara fashion when it is a head injury he does not sell shit. Inoki really tees off on the cut. Those were some great punches. Eniziguiri! Fujiwara no sells and dodges the second. This shit is intense. Fujiwara hooks the rope on a whip and Inoki kicks him in the midsection this is enough to hoist him over for a German suplex pin bridge. 

Really fantastic match, I can see why this is not for everyone, but to me this is letting Fujiwara be Fujiwara. A nasty, violent muthafucka that is trying to choke out the Ace of the company. Inoki is the fiery babyface that is not afraid to punch and claw for the win. The finish stretch is incredible the amount of effort it takes Inoki to finally injure Fujiwara enough to relinquish the choke is impressive and the aftermath is wicked dramatic. Dont stop at the original watch the rematch, decide for yourself which one is better. ****1/4

 

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  • GSR changed the title to [1986-06-12-NJPW] Antonio Inoki vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara
  • 3 years later...

A very different match to the February bout, but an awesome one all the same. In February they went for more of a slow cook, where they used their charisma and personalities to bring it to a boil and build drama. This time there was no need to try and build tension - their factions had been going at it for months now and the tension was inherent, a palpable ever-present, so Fujiwara jumped Inoki at the bell, tried to snapmare him into oblivion and then choke him to death. As far as beginnings go it was pretty great. This was more of a pure babyface Inoki, almost the underdog given the way Fujiwara blitzed him early. Fujiwara was the Terminator, an unrelenting force that wasn't to be denied. If it looked like he had to give too much to Inoki in February then he took it all back here and it never once felt like Inoki had the upper hand. There was no shit-talking while locked in a hold, no counters or reversals that he didn't have to fight tooth and nail for. The first time he managed to sneak out of the choke he went straight into an Indian deathlock and the way he fired up the crowd was awe-inspiring. He tried to match Fujiwara with the sleeper and I love that Fujiwara literally went for his throat. They escalated like that the whole way through, Inoki having to throw more and more of his honour out the window to keep pace with someone who never brought any in the first place. When he punched Fujiwara in the back of the head and Fujiwara just grinned at him you kind of knew that the rest of the match would be fought on Fujiwara's terms. And once again nobody works or sells a choke like Fujiwara. He has to be the best ever at both and I loved Inoki trying to shake him by just throwing both of them over the ropes, only for the camera to pan around and there's Fujiwara still wrapped around Inoki, relentless. You think Inoki might finally have slowed Fujiwara down after ramming him into the post, but even gushing blood from his head Fujiwara kept coming forward. It was pure defiance, taking punches to the cut and giving no ground, refusing to even be whipped into the ropes, even getting blasted with the enziguri and walking away grinning, which was about 90% amazing and 10% horrifying. In the end Inoki might've found a way to eek out the win, but he had to walk through fire to do it and Fujiwara was the dragon. 

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