[2024-01-14-AJPW] Masanobu Fuchi vs Yuma Anzai

[Ma Stump Puller]

Fuchi the GOAT for being 70 and having a 20 minute match with one of All Japan's brightest and youngest stars. It was also really cool to see 90's prick Fuchi return; cool uncle Fuchi is nice and all, but that was his peak years in terms of entertainment and even here with all of the natural wear and tear he's brought with him you still get that occasional moment of greatness out of the guy that brings you back to those times. Anzai humours the vet with some basic lockup exchanges until Fuchi pokes the bear a bit too much with a cheeky slap to the face and a flash backdrop to try to end the match early for the upset, inviting a big beatdown from Anzai as he essentially runs over the guy with his Jumbo knee and other finishes. I do like how the match doesn't try to pretend that Fuchi is on any big equal footing with his opponent: he's consistently struck down and having to really sell through a ton of work just to get maybe a couple of shots in, and even those aren't really that effective. Consistent great camera shots of Fuchi's struggle as he has to claw himself back up from his beatdowns conveys a naturally very compelling narrative that the crowd took easy to with numerous chants and big heat whenever Fuchi did actually manage to get something out.

Was also cool seeing him hit some throwbacks like the Fuchi dropkick and Baba chops/boot. I thought this also really did a great job with how minimalistic it was at times; getting convincingly solid sequences out of exchanging and struggling out of surfboards, getting huge reactions for them struggling over who can bodyslam who, etc. It was a breath of fresh air to see someone throw actual good punches for once as Fuchi gets to do his dirty antics for old times sake. The last third being a battle for survival as Fuchi battles his own ailing body more than Anzai himself, taking consistent running knees and barely able to do anything but kick out. The big finish being around imparting his signature facelock to the younger talent by tapping out to it was especially cool to see. Obviously this is going to be limited by your tolerance for a 70 year old wrestling but in terms of guys his age Fuchi is WAY better than a lot of wrestlers both his age and younger, you can tell he's at least kept himself in relatively good shape all this time given he could still hit the beats here and whatnot. It's less about the workrate anyway, it's all about milking crowd reactions with a beloved talent with relatively little action, and guess what? It worked very well in that regard. Anzai did a solid job carrying Fuchi physically to something beyond what he would do normally, but as a consequence of that he seemed a bit muted by contrast, more as the wall for Fuchi to bounce off and work off than his own standalone personality.