You may have noticed that I've been watching a lot of 1986 New Japan lately. On my travels through time I've concluded what any sane individual would - that Yoshiaki Fujiwara was the best wrestler alive that year (and the year after, as we discovered when we went through 1987 New Japan last November). It got me thinking about the man's prime. I'd foolishly thought in the past that his absolute peak was 1989-90. I mean I'd still say those years were PART of his peak, but the peak certainly didn't start in '89. He was already unbelievable at least three years before that. So when DID the peak start? Was it '86, when he returned to New Japan with a fire lit under him? Outside of one of the Fujiwara/Super Tiger matches I haven't watched any of the original UWF run in at least a decade. So we're taking a wee detour to see how good Fujiwara was going back to 1984. At this point he's pretty much solidified himself as one of the top 5 wrestlers in history; now it's just a case of determining where in that top 5 he lands.
Fujiwara and the original UWF is such a match made in heaven. Nobody does corner strike exchanges like Fujiwara and nowhere accentuates the violence of corner strike exchanges like the original UWF. I think it's because that first UWF run was a little less defined from a stylistic standpoint. In UWF 2.0 and then especially the Takada/Maeda/Fujiwara offshoot promotions, you weren't going to get some of the insane brutality you got here because the rules around TKOs and knockdowns were actually enforced. You wouldn't get Fujiwara lying hunched in the corner while Yamazaki tries to cave his skull in with kneedrops in RINGS or PWFG. This had some of the very best corner striking you'll see, almost bordering on Battlarts at points. There was a spell of about four minutes where they pretty much stayed in the one corner shredding each other with kicks, punches, slaps and headbutts. First it was Yamazaki leathering Fujiwara with kicks, Fujiwara covering up and trying to weather the storm, then Fujiwara reversing it and laying into Yamazaki with body blows, then the tables being flipped again and Fujiwara ending up back in the foetal position. The heat for Yamazaki catching Fujiwara with kicks was absurd and there was one high kick to the neck that elicited one of the loudest pops ever, as well as one of the best Fujiwara sells of a high kick you'll see. There's another moment where it looks like Fujiwara has Yamazaki trapped against the turnbuckles and Yamazaki rips off a spin kick that about ruptures Fujiwara's spleen. He sold this thing like he had internal bleeding and I legit thought they were going to do a stoppage for a second. Basically this was some godly corner work and corner work is another thing Fujiwara is an expert at. The thread running through this is one as old as time in shoot style - Fujiwara is clearly the stronger on the mat while Yamazaki would rather be standing and striking, so it's the always-reliable striker v grappler dynamic. Yamazaki is often frantic in trying to reach the ropes while Fujiwara knows he can cinch in holds with significantly less resistance. Some sick examples of this where Fujiwara will rip into a hold in about two seconds and Yamazaki is left floundering. I thought the kimura following the piledriver was for sure the end, but Yamazaki making the ropes sent that crowd fully off their head. It was nuts. It's sort of unfortunate then that as soon as Fujiwara grabbed the nasty facelock the crowd knew it was over. There was no way he was escaping twice in quick succession like that, not with Fujiwara. Who - you may be shocked to hear - looked fucking amazing in this bout. So we're off to a flyer.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara v Riki Choshu (New Japan, 3/2/84)
This is one of the best matchups ever, right? They bring out in each other my favourite side of both - the belligerent Choshu who won't be denied and Fujiwara on the rampage - and this had some of that, though it was more angle than match all things considered. '84 Fujiwara isn't a whole lot different from '86 Fujiwara. Maybe a bit less secure in his persona, his connection to the crowd a little less established, but within three seconds of the bell he's trying to throw Choshu out the ring and when that doesn't work he has him by the throat. So he sure never needed the UWF excursion to find that side of himself. He was Inoki's enforcer here and when you think about it that's pretty much a perfect role for him. Not that the Fujiwara who forged his own path wasn't perfect, but really, who better to send in than a mad bastard who'll wreak havoc under any circumstances? I guess if nothing else we know that Fujiwara was great as mad bastard who'll wreak havoc under any circumstances even in 1984. Choshu eventually comes back and wellies him with two lariats, so Fujiwara grabs what looks like a fucking crossbow bolt from under the ring and tries to fully stab Choshu with it. That results in a melee where Yatsu and Animal Hamaguchi hit a doomsday device on Fujiwara and Inoki comes out looking like the baddest man alive in his incredible jacket. I guess I should just watch every since second of Fujiwara v Choshu.
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