Shinya Hashimoto v Yoshiaki Fujiwara (New Japan, 6/1/94)
This was Fujiwara, four or five years past his prime, challenging for the IWGP title for the first and only time in his career. In contrast, Hashimoto was bang in the middle of his own prime and a thresher if there ever was one, so Fujiwara had to use all of his considerable guile and aggression, his limitless smarts and dig deep into his bag of tricks. He even had a bum leg, judging by the brace on it. In that situation it makes sense to go for your main weapon as early as possible and if Hashimoto thought he was in a fight with a guy past his sell-by date he probably reconsidered as soon as Fujiwara grabbed the armbar. When Hashimoto opted to kick Fujiwara in the lungs rather than give him a clean break a minute later, you knew the old master had gotten under his skin. The crowd got on Hashimoto's case after that and it's sort of amazing how Fujiwara managed to be a sympathetic figure while simultaneously choking Hashimoto with both hands around his throat. The pacing of this was such that every moment felt big, and these are guys who know how to milk every exchange, every glance, every gesture. When Hashimoto wraps Fujiwara's bandaged up knee around the rope and yanks at it - to another chorus of boos - Fujiwara rasps in clear pain while Hashimoto points to his own shoulder like "we can both be pricks if you want to play it that way." Nobody eats a barrage of roundhouse kicks like Fujiwara and nobody throws a barrage of roundhouse kicks like Hashimoto so the latter trying to kick the former in the lungs was amazing, Fujiwara trying and more or less failing to catch those shots, the majority of them getting through what used to be a world class defence. Although in fairness, maybe not even Maeda could swing like Hashimoto. He sure couldn't drop someone with a DDT like Hashimoto and that first one was absolutely putrid. Fujiwara half kicking out of the second was instinctual but for all intents and purposes he was dead in the water. I guess the ref' agreed.
