[2005-08-14-NJPW-G1 Climax Night 8] Kazuyuki Fujita vs Masahiro Chono

[Superstar Sleeze]

Kazuyuki Fujita vs Masahiro Chono - NJPW 8/14/05 G-1 Climax Finals

I watched this yesterday but only getting to the review now. It is honestly that good to get everything exactly right so I’m not too worried. 
 

Fujita is the ultimate coulda woulda shoulda wrestler. With the right management and right mentor on psychology, this dude could’ve been real money. Chono is Chono. He is over like rover but I just don’t give a shit about him. Fujita comes out like a beast ground & pound knees. I like the route they take at the beginning cat & mouse. The only way Chono can get an opening is if Fujita hurts himself. Fujita misses a charge and tumbles to outside or kicks the post. There’s a great Fujita German off the apron to the floor. Chono’s transition is both good and bad. I liked that Fujita no sold the initial Saito Suplex and it took a string of four bombs for Chono to actually gain control. I still felt that it came out of nowhere and was not earned. 
 

I don’t know when this started but it seems Chono replaced the Yakuza Kick with the Shining Yakuza Kick. He seems to use his foot rather than his knee (Mutoh would use his knee). I don’t know if this was a conscious decision or Chono just couldn’t bend his knee properly. At one point he tears his tights, so he can expose his knee pad but repeatedly runs the flat of his foot into Fujita’s face which honestly looked more painful than a normal Shining Wizard but also has nothing to do with the exposed knee.

I forget Fujita’s finishing run I’m sure it was a lot of chokes and knees. Chono set his up with an STF which is a great spot. He does a great STF, it generates a lot of heat and it feels like he can win but obviously Fujita was not going to tap. So a bunch of Shining Yakuza Kicks wins the day. 
 

It was a little sad to see big bad Fujita job to this fossil but the people were happy. I thought the match was a mess and nothing too terribly interesting happened. 

[G. Badger]

Chono was hitting stiffer than Fujita. Kazuyuki was one of the better shooters in NJ as he was beefy and had a personality in ring (to an extent). Even if that personality was a bone crusher. I thought this was a lot of fun.