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Post by elliott on Dec 3, 2017 17:37:13 GMT -5
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (UWF – 12/5/1984)
I think this is the best Fujiwara singles match ever. I agree with many of the criticisms of Tiger Mask in New Japan, but Sayama is a completely different guy in UWF as Super Tiger. He’s an incredibly charismatic striker who would just blast dudes. This is my favorite example of a Striker vs Grappler match with Fujiwara constantly charging in trying to get inside of Tiger’s striking. I think the finish of this is super compelling and memorable. This is awesome. I really hope folks who “Don’t get” or just “don’t like” shoot style will give this match a shot.
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Post by GOTNW on Jan 5, 2018 13:37:42 GMT -5
"This is my favourite Fujiwara/Super Tiger match. They work it with Fujiwara having the upper hand on the mat and Tiger being the dominant striker but the gaps aren’t huge and both can hang and fire back in both departments. Fujiwara is awesome here, busting out awesome takedowns, countering Tiger’s strikes, reversing his holds on the mat etc. but he also has all time great punches and just rocks Tiger with them when they’re standing. There’s a really great moment when Fujiwara starts choking Super Tiger with a Sleeper and Sayama sells it with this disgusting cough. Finishing stretch is just unreal with Sayama killing Fujiwara with brutal kicks seemingly forever and his knee drop is also up there with the best there have ever been. Fujiwara is the master at blocking kicks and reversing everything so you can buy he could come back at any time but Sayama just keeps on kicking him in the head and destroying him and it’s this super dramatic struggle and then one time when Fujiwara finally gets a comeback in he gets cocky and throws a headbutt that knocks HIM down. That spot played up so many things, from Fujiwara’s arrogance to the damage of Sayama’s offence neutralizing a spot that I don’t think had ever been neutralized before. And he just keeps on killing him and pretty much invents the shoot style KO/TKO finish in the process.*****"
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Post by fxnj on Jan 5, 2018 22:17:25 GMT -5
Thirded. Nothing much to add. This is Fujiwara's masterpiece and a strong candidate for best shoot-style match ever. Will definitely make my list.
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Post by stunninggrover on Jan 14, 2018 16:32:53 GMT -5
The original Japanese UWF promotion was a shoot style pioneer. Shoot style usually isn’t really my thing, but this match was great. The way it was worked made it compelling. The psychology and selling were great. This was one of the best performances of “Super Tiger” Satoru Sayama (formerly known as the original Tiger Mask). Yoshiaki Fujiwara was great, as usual.
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Post by supremebve on Jan 15, 2018 13:39:02 GMT -5
I think I'm too deep in my MMA fandom to ever actually really appreciate shoot-style wrestling. I honestly think I would like this more if I got into shoot style wrestling before MMA, but I just can't get behind some of this when I have so many years of MMA fandom coloring my perception. For instance, I would have found that choke spot cool if I would have watched this before I'd been put in a rear naked choke myself, but I know that coughing is proof that the choke isn't applied properly. Trust me, you'd wish you could cough when in a choke, but you can't. You can't do anything but tap or pass out. With that said, I thought this was a fun departure from the wrestling I usually watch and I'm interested in watching more. I just don't think I'm in a place where I can put this on my list, because I don't think I have the ability to actually appreciate it with my obvious biases.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Oct 10, 2018 22:22:31 GMT -5
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger - UWF 12/05/84
Perhaps the greatest and most influential match of all time.
First Half: Fujiwara throws his flowers into the crowd. He is pissed he lost in September and came to play. They establish the story early. Tiger is going for knockout head shots and Fujiwara is looking to counterpunch with takedowns and grappling. The key for Tiger is not to overrotate on his kicks. The very first kick he does and misses. Fujiwara gobbles him up and applies a double wristlock. Tiger safely makes the ropes. You see Tiger rifle some kicks but he is much more control of his body does not leave himself as open to the counterattack. He goes for a headshot and clips the head. The crowd "Oooohs and Aaaaahs", but it was a glancing blow and Tiger overrotated and Fujiwara pounces. Sayama digs in his heels to block and actually gets a double wristlock of his own. This morphs into the second story of the match whenever Sayama starts with control on the mat he ends up losing control. After a couple instances of this, you believe he has to win by KO, Fujiwara is just too good on the mat. Tiger makes his first major in roads when a check kick to the leg crumples Fujiwara. He got him just right. Fujiwara goes into traditional pro wrestling selling as Tiger pounces on the leg with wicked kicks. After needing the ropes on several occasions to force a break, this is Tiger's first big break, but he cant capitalize on the mat. Fujiwara retaliates with a flurry of wicked body shots in the corner. Sayama desperate starts throwing knees and one catches Fujiwara pretty good in the head. Tiger unleashes one wicked kick to the head and then drops down with a knee drop. Wow what a sequence! Again, Sayama loses control on the mat. He just does not have the ground acumen of the crafty Fujiwara. Then comes my favorite sequence of the whole match. Fujiwara grabs a rear naked choke and YANKS Tiger into the middle of the ring. Tiger is coughing and struggling to breathe. It really builds the drama and tension. You can hear the coughing subtly at the beginning of the match, but he goes full bore here. I also love that when Fujiwara goes for the armbar how desperately Tiger scrambles for the ropes. It really puts over the danger of the hold. Then Sayama keeps selling the choke with more coughing! Fantastic! There needs to be more coughing in wrestling. Fujiwara wants to apply a Crossface Chickenwing the same hold he submitted to in September, but Tiger makes the ropes and as the first half closes Tiger is trying for the same hold on Fujiwara. Sayama settles for a side mount triangle choke, which Fujiwara alleviates the pressure by bearhugging his own knee. God Bless Fujiwara, he is a boss. Absolutely thrilling first half where they established the key offensive strategies of both wrestlers and completely hooked you into the fight.
Second Half: In typical Tiger fashion, he loses control of the Triangle Choke and falls prey to a Triangle Choke, but gets to the ropes. Fujiwara is pissed and tries to keep attacking, but the ref points out Sayama is still under the rope. Fujiwara throws him with a butterfly suplex to restart the submission game. Tiger makes the ropes on a double wristlock and then throws a German suplex. He goes for a cross armbreaker, but again loses control on the ground. Then it happens when they stand back up. The roundhouse kick to the solarplexus that changes the match. Fujiwara has the wind knocked out of him by the lightning kick. From then it is a relentless barrage of kicks by Sayama to the head of the fallen Fujiwara. Fujiwara desperately tries to cling to the kicks of Super Tiger to create offense, but he is too weak. When he does stand, Tiger nearly kicks Fujiwara's head off to the great excitement of the crowd. Sayama then drops brutal knees using the top rope for added leverage on the prone head of Fujiwara. I love that one camera angle where it is on Fujiwara standing reeling and all of sudden Sayama with just flash onto the screen whacking Fujiwara. Fujiwara has one last flurry punctuated by a big headbutt, but knocks himself loopy. He is easy pickins' for Super Tiger that continues his brutal onslaught with furious kicks to the head. Eventually, Fujiwara is left in a heap knocked out by Super Tiger.
No Irish Whips. No Moonsaults. No Tombstone Piledrivers. Just close contact grappling and swift kicks. On this day, Mixed Martial Arts was born to a man in a tiger mask. *****
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Post by elliott on Oct 10, 2018 23:31:20 GMT -5
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger - UWF 12/05/84 Perhaps the greatest and most influential match of all time. Are you considering this for #1? |
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Post by superstarsleeze on Oct 11, 2018 23:06:48 GMT -5
Yes, I am. I think my top choices are all going to be what I consider important and influential matches. Great work is the first screening, but what separates the 25 top matches from the rest of the field will be the feeling of historical importance. This match is so crucial to shoot-style and by proxy Mixed Martial Arts. You could make the argument that this is the most important match of all time if you believe that the most important contribution of pro wrestling is begetting mixed martial arts.
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Post by jetlag on Apr 27, 2019 2:57:52 GMT -5
The previous match saw Fujiwara mangling Tiger for the entire match before getting caught in a whirlwind of kicks. If Fujiwara has learned that Tiger has the edge standing, he tries to even things out a little here by using Sayama as a punching bag. That corner punch combo is easily the greatest I've seen in a worked match. He also mangles Sayama even worse than in the last match. Sayama doesn't have quite the mat skill to really be a great matchup for Fujiwara on the mat besides a nice move here or there, it's pretty much irrelevant as Fujiwara is so great at working holds. Eventually though Fujiwara gets what's coming to him as Tiger discovers that he can just kick him in the head while he's down over and over. He dishes out such a savage beating that it's almost hard to see the two halves of the bout as one match as they are so distinct. It really gives out the vibe that the ruleset (and referee) that UWF was using at the time was not prepared for this kind of dangerous violence, and Fujiwara is very believable at selling that he's at a point human beings previously haven't been at and therefore close to getting killed on his not so easy mission. I did love the two Fujiwara comebacks though, one of which involves him stepping on Tiger's toes. So yeah, in a sense this the original BattlARTS match. Really good wrestling and savage street fighting.
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Post by dkuchler31096 on Sept 22, 2020 20:07:42 GMT -5
This was more engaging than the first shoot style match I watched with Fujiwara. It was more interesting that they wrestled straight in the first half and then went to the striking in the second half. The grappling work was realistic and the strikes were really good. My main issue with this being a higher end of match is that Fujiwara to me doesn't click with me and it's the same issue I had when I watched a later Maeda match. I'd still rate this **** butI tick this more in the most influential than greatest match
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Post by Cap on Sept 22, 2020 21:13:26 GMT -5
This was more engaging than the first shoot style match I watched with Fujiwara. It was more interesting that they wrestled straight in the first half and then went to the striking in the second half. The grappling work was realistic and the strikes were really good. My main issue with this being a higher end of match is that Fujiwara to me doesn't click with me and it's the same issue I had when I watched a later Maeda match. I'd still rate this **** butI tick this more in the most influential than greatest match I would highly recommend the Fujiwara vs Takada match from from 10/25/1990. It is my favorite Fujiwara match and is pretty commonly regarded among the bet shoot style matches. I also think it would be one of the more digestible matches for those dipping their toes in the style and in Fujiwara's work more generally. Takada as hybrid worker may help here I suspect. |
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Post by makaiclub on Mar 29, 2021 13:10:10 GMT -5
That finishing stretch was pretty amazing. So definitive as well. It’s just a seemingly endless barrage of the hardest kicks and jumping knees you’ll see. Fujiawara had no answer for it. He would only take the kicks and try and push through only to get a kick in the jaw for his troubles. I had no real idea of what the “death” match rules would mean in this case but this finish defined it. The rest of the match was a classic struggle of Tiger trying to defend against Fujiwara’s relentless grappling. Laser focused attack on the arm with endless supply of great holds and counters from Fujiwara. ****3/4
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Post by puropotsy on May 30, 2023 18:57:54 GMT -5
Brilliant pioneering shoot style work. They take it to each other and are on each other with a relentless pace throughout the match. Tiger takes over at the end and Fujiwara keeps fighting through despite being less responsive but eventually after a number of kicks to the head he’s counted down.
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