Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Kantaro Hoshino & Umanosuke Ueda v Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Nobuhiko Takada, Kazuo Yamazaki & Osamu Kido (New Japan, 3/26/86)
I don't know how many of these multi-man matches I've written about here by now. I bet that for every one of them I've said something along the lines of "really the very best wrestling there is!" Or something like, "if modern New Japan was like this then I'd watch it every week" or some such blatant fabrication. Basically I'm just repeating myself about the broad strokes, but this was amazing in the same ways the two '87 matches and the '88 match and the '90 and '93 matches are amazing. Every single person involved gets to look good. There's next to no downtime and something interesting is always happening. It's chaotic and the intensity is through the roof and they have the crowd going nuts from the first minute to the last. They weave the minor story points through the major story points and develop them over the course of the match. The key differences then are the stories that they're actually telling, which is where the beauty lies in making all of these matches feel very different and distinguishable.
This started with the big Inoki/Maeda confrontation everybody wanted, possibly contrary to team New Japan's strategy because none of them seemed to want Inoki to start the thing. Even Hoshino took a slap in the face from the boss for trying to restrain him. It still seems wild that they never had that singles match in '86 because the people were molten for it. They do a quick bit of rope running and Maeda tries to take Inoki's head off with a high kick and this was one of those shots that, if it was designed to actually miss, you sure couldn't tell by the way he threw it. After that opening exchange they turn the pace up and everything goes by at a hundred miles an hour. Since everyone is fresh it's almost certainly going to take a flash pin or submission or a quick toss over the ropes for the first elimination to occur. Everyone is just too amped up for one guy to be able to hit a string of offence and score a pin without the opposition making a save. It's the best kind of hectic and some guys thrive in that environment. Hoshino will come in and punch you dead in the face twelve times, Takada and Yamazaki will throw multiple spin kicks in succession, Fujiwara will headbutt you repeatedly and oh if you're thinking it's a travesty that we never got Inoki/Maeda in '86 then what the fuck are we thinking about never getting Fujiwara/Fujinami EVER? Not one bastard singles match! Their early exchange was sensational and easily my favourite of that opening stretch.
After the first elimination (a quick backslide) we settle into some of the bigger stories. It's easy to say this in hindsight, but if Inoki/Maeda was the money match going in then by the end of it Maeda/Fujinami felt like the logical progression. As the boss Inoki almost had to operate with a level of detachment, much like any boss would, I suppose. He bleeds for New Japan because New Japan is who he is, but I never really got the sense he bled for his teammates. Fujinami, on the other hand, was every bit the leader you'd want in the situation. He was always willing to come to a partner's aid, always the first to congratulate his teammates when they made an elimination, always rallying even in the face of adversity, then when he and Maeda got in together there was a different sort of anticipation. Inoki was the King and the bigger scalp, but Fujinami was the Prince and his downfall more than any would lead the kingdom to ruin. Maybe Fujiwara knew it too because he came in and tried to choke the life from him. I always associate Fujiwara with the amazing choke hold selling but Fujinami might've had him beaten here, eyes rolling back in his head and spluttering for air. Fujiwara must've had the thing on like a vice grip because Fujinami's lips were turning blue. And then Fujinami went and took a bullet for his team, launching himself and Fujiwara over the top rope, knowing he was going down but refusing to do it quietly, refusing to let Fujiwara wreak any more havoc in his absence. It was the perfect representation of Fujinami and not a chance Inoki would've sacrificed himself for the greater good like that.
That said, Inoki/Fujiwara was a highlight in a match full of highlights. There was nothing quite as poetic about this as there was with Fujinami, instead it was a couple of old warriors crossing paths for the umpteenth time. Inoki grins and points at Fujiwara like "I see you're still wearing those socks" and Fujiwara grins back like "I see you're still a fucking prick." The exchange wasn't fancy but it was rugged and they fought over every hold. I should really watch their singles matches again (I guess there's no more fitting a time to watch a bunch of Inoki). Then there's Ueda. This is legitimately one of the only Ueda matches I've ever seen where he doesn't try and hit someone with a stick. Honestly it might be the only one. He's just a couple years older than Inoki at this point but really has no shot against the UWF guys, and yet the crowd are fucking badgershit mental for him. I think he spends a total of 45 seconds in the ring throughout the match and on one of his entries he's immediately tagged by Inoki and told to get back out again. When it comes down to him and Inoki against Maeda, Takada and Kido you're thinking it might as well be Inoki going it alone against all three. When Maeda spin kicks Ueda in the face you have no reason to believe in anything other than his impending demise. And then he takes a page from Fujinami's book and goes down in a blaze of glory, grabbing Maeda's leg and rolling to the floor, dragging Maeda along for the ride.
The 2v1 finishing run isn't as dramatic as the rest of the match, doesn't quite have the same hook as '88 with Fujinami losing gallons of blood trying to survive against Inoki and Saito, but Inoki uses the lifeline Ueda gave him and if nothing else there's something satisfying about Mr New Japan braining the shoot stylists with enziguris. Really the very best enziguris there are. Really the very best wrestling there is.
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