The magnificent pro wrestling. This was one of the earliest - maybe the very earliest - New Japan v UWF six-mans, with major players from both groups in there, with first-time pairings since the UWF guys had been brought back into the fold, with a deafening crowd for all of it. And we only have it because some magnanimous soul decided to sneak a video camera into a non-televised house show. What's special about this is that pretty much every single exchange established what every single wrestler was all about. If we'd never seen any of these guys in our lives, we could watch this match and gain a solid understanding of the hierarchy, the dynamics between certain wrestlers, the characters of the wrestlers themselves, all of it. That is cool as fuck. Fujiwara is pure belligerence, a man who will do what he wants and you can try to stop him if you think yourself capable. Fujinami is a man of honour, a beacon of what New Japan is all about, or at least all of the good stuff and none of the mental Inoki shit. You've never heard of a Fujinami scandal. Fujinami never had to shave his head as an act of public contrition because he pumped three strippers. But he will not be trifled with and Fujiwara learned that for certain when he slapped him across the face. We also watch this and for the umpteenth time we declare Fujinami v Fujiwara to be the greatest match up in wrestling history that never actually produced an official singles match. Fujinami almost cast himself the flag-bearer here, not necessarily for New Japan Pro Wrestling, but for the PRO style of pro wrestling, which I guess in some ways is even grander. His approach is different to Fujiwara's. His philosophy is not at all similar to Maeda's and you could convince yourself him and Takada are engaged in two completely different sports. But Fujinami is steadfast in his belief that the New Japan style of pro wrestling can conquer whatever the UWF guys have tapped into, and at times even that the New Japan guys can be just as adept at the UWF way. Most of the time that was in vain and he'd end up getting booted full force in the face or nearly have his leg snapped, but his determination is admirable and you can't help but want him to succeed. He puts Fujiwara in a kneebar at one point, sort of clunky in his approach, his application of pressure a few degrees off, Fujiwara outwardly mocking him as he tried to show him how to do it properly, finally getting fed up and turning it into one of his own that forced Fujinami scrambling to the ropes. Maeda is only in sparingly but every time he is the place turns nuclear. This might've been the first interactions between him and Fujinami and the crowd were desperate for every second of it. Fujinami once again tried to fight fire with fire - or if nothing else to show he COULD fight fire with fire - by grabbing a cross armbreaker. He had to work like a demon at the thing but after a minute he was pretty close to having it locked and the crowd went nuts. Then Maeda twisted his hips and escaped, snatching hope away in an instant. What made it worse was that he probably had it under control all along, letting Fujinami think he had it only to show emphatically that no, he absolutely did not, and the New Japan boys had a lot of catching up to do. Later on Maeda never bothered pissing about and fired off several head kicks while Fujinami slumped against the ropes, the last one probably leaving him concussed and falling face-first to the mat. Maeda was so assured in his dominance that he never even pressed the advantage, instead counting along with the ref' as Fujinami struggled to get upright. When Koshinaka came in he tried to bang with Maeda and ordinarily that would've been a monumentally stupid decision, but Maeda was feeling charitable and didn't outright kick his head off. He did still show his superiority though, balancing on one leg and refusing to be taken down even as Koshinaka tried to drag him to the mat by his other foot. If Maeda was restrained on the night then Takada decided to pick up the slack and him slapping Kimura across the face got an insane reaction, both from the crowd who wanted to see Kimura murder him and from Kimura who wanted to murder him. He never got his chance then and there but he paid him back later with a flurry of palm strikes and body shots, then, apparently satisfied, tagged in Koshinaka who came in and dished out more of the same. Still Takada had that UWF confidence and towards the end, when it looked like Kimura would put a nail in him with the jumping knee, Takada casually sidestepped it like Maeda would, Kimura crashing hard off the miss. But in the end Takada's confidence is his undoing, as he picks one fight too many with Fujinami who puts him on his neck with a German suplex. Vindication is a beautiful dish and nobody deserved to taste it more than Fujinami. The camera shuts off post-match as fans jump around while everything in the ring breaks into a melee and this really is one of the best feuds of all time.
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