[1989-03-29-AJPW] Masa Fuchi vs Mitsuo Momota

[Superstar Sleeze]

PWF World Junior Heavyweight Champion Masa Fuchi vs Mitsuo Momota - AJPW 3/29/89

King's Road is here baby! I had never heard of Momota is a mustachioed stocky little fella. He was over like rover. My God, they chanting his name incessantly. I couldnt figure out why until I read his Wiki. He is the son of Rikidozan! Well that explains it! I have never heard anyone in Japan, native or gaijin, get as much heel heat as Fuchi did in this match and he didnt do anything that heelish. I think Momota was just that over. Fuchi had just won the Junior Heavyweight Championship back from Mighty Inoue a couple weeks prior. 

Red hot start that sets the tone early. Momota hits a crossbody block at the bell for two. I love those types of jumpstarts. Crazy out of control dive by Momota. Ok I see you. Boston Crab roll through by Fuchi and he uses a closed fist to the face to big boos. The rest of the match the crowd was cheering and chanting for Momota and booing Fuchi. Momota worked a strong headscissors and a variety of them. Eventually Fuchi escaped into an Indian Deathlock before settling into some arm work using a variety of armbars. Momota started rattling off some quick pinfall attempts and dropkicks. Fuchi avoided the big dive on the floor but Momota hit another dropkick on the floor. Fuchi nailed a Kawada-style Jumping High Kick to regain control which really kicks off the finish stretch. Momota is left writhing in pain grabbing his face as the crowd chants his name. There are a zillion Back Drop Drivers in this match. It really gives it that King's Road feel with all the doubling up of moves. Given that these were Juniors in 1989, I was biting on everything. Bombs away Knee drop from Fuchi gets two. Momota shifts the weight on the Back Drop Driver to give himself an advantage. I love that spot and used it all the time as a finish in my living room matches against my brother. There was a nice double reversed crossbody off the top rope that I bit on with Momota ending up on top. I really thought Momota had a chance. At one point he hit a pair of Back Drop Drivers, I was beginning to wonder if I was in 1993. Fuchi used Momota's own momentum against him with a Hotshot, Jackknife cover. Fuchi misses the second Bombs Away Kneedrop and the Enziguiri! I love missed moves.  Fuchi was working the kicks to the head, Enziguiri to the back of the head sending Momota to the floor and then late a Kawada Jumping High Kick. Momota unleashes a barrage of slaps in the corner and then some headbutts. Momota hits another pair of Back Drop Drivers but the second one takes too much out of him. FUCHI THESZ PRESS 1-2-3!

What sets this a part is the crowd is red hot for this Juniors match and that it is the prototype of the 90s All Japan style all here in 1989. Tons of bombs down the stretch all the typical All Japan moves with the Hotshot and Thesz Press thrown in to remind us this is the Jumbo era. Really breezy bomb-throwing match that never lets up! ****

[tcg91]

Good juniors match. Momota came in hot and opened this with a dive, which I did not expect at all. Fuchi drew good heat with his arrogance and his arm work on Momota was good, at times nasty, feeding the opponent's underdog state. Momota clearly gave all he had here and the Korakuen Hall loved the nearfalls towards the end, with a flashy fashion that you wouldn't expect from either man. Decent flashy finish too.
***1/4

[Owen Edwards]

Surprised I didn't post my review of this when I watched it last year:

*Masanobu Fuchi © vs Mitsuo Momota (March 29^th, 1989): AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title match. 15:57. This is not yet part of Fuchi’s record-length reign, which starts later in 1989; this is during his short second reign. This is very good. The Korakuen is very, very hot here. They chant “Momota” from before the match to after it, they boo Fuchi hard throughout, especially when he wants to do his moves. Momota is older than Fuchi here and well-established as the curtain-jerker, but he has just had a challenge against Mighty Inoue, so he’s a natural lower-ranked challenger. Momota runs a long early shine segment starting with a crossbody and then a high-impact suicida. A curious thing with Momota – it comes up elsewhere – is that he can work shine off putting his opponent in holds. He counters Fuchi again and again, keeps him slowed down, and it takes some time before Fuchi gets his first big turn. Then Fuchi tortures Momota (with Kobashi as Fuchi’s cornerman, there’s an irony here). Momota can sell, screaming painfully as he’s taken down into armbreaker drops and acting very expressively with his face. The story now is that, with his technical acumen out of the way, Fuchi is just much better than him – well, so we think. His hope spots get quickly cut off, he’s really put through the wringer…and then, thrown into the corner, he somehow works a Sunset Flip, and though Fuchi does cut him off repeatedly, he scrappily works a comeback period through a mixture of guts and brains. He dodges a second fist drop and a gamengiri, he turns round a Backdrop attempt into a Crossbody pin, he works a a few flash pins when Fuchi is off-balance, after Fuchi dodges another Suicida attempt Momota slides out and dropkicks him instead. Eventually he gets a Bridging German, but Fuchi survives through it all and even when Momota hits two Backdrop Suplexes, it’s only to catch his breath, and Fuchi is up first. Still, Fuchi has to turn to a slightly exhausted Thesz Press to win – it’s almost a desperation move, and it will also remind us of Jumbo, and of that move as the mark of the ace. Possibly the best singles match of Momota’s career, and a genuinely good and emotionally compelling bout. 4.5/5