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Post by microstatistics on Jan 6, 2018 23:18:34 GMT -5
Wily veteran using different strategies to survive the UWF ace juggernaut. Fujiwara's performance in this is about as good as it gets. The best shoot style match of the 80s for me and a Top 50 lock.
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Post by elliott on Jan 6, 2018 23:34:55 GMT -5
Seconded.
One of those matches I'm seconding to get myself to rewatch it. I love these two and their rivalry was my favorite on the Other Japan set after the Fujiwara/Super Tiger rivalry. I maintain that Akira Maeda was one of the best Japanese wrestlers of the 80s, and a big part of that was his matches with Fujiwara. So I will rewatch all of them for the purposes of this project.
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 25, 2018 18:53:46 GMT -5
Bumping this. Even if you don't like shootstyle, watch this for the character work and story. Not too grapple heavy and has violent strike bursts.
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Post by elliott on Aug 27, 2018 17:43:21 GMT -5
Watched this again finally. Fantastic match. I think Akira Maeda is one of the most underrated sellers in history. He is awesome in this match selling the immediate and long term damage Fujiwara inflicts. He is never mentioned when people talk about "best sellers" but his "out on his feet nearly knocked out" selling is as good as anyone. I really want to rewatch all of the Maeda vs Fujiwara matches. I've never been able to decide on a favorite one like I can with Fujiwara vs Super Tiger, Yamazaki & Takada.
I liked this a lot and see it as like a 4 1/2 - 4 3/4 match, but it is a step below the top tier shoot style matches in my opinion. It is a great match no doubt, but I found the finish to be a bit of a let down for what they did before. I would still encourage everyone to check it out.
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Post by makaiclub on Jun 20, 2021 21:27:48 GMT -5
This was incredible, like always. Both bring out each other's aggressive tendencies which inevitably turns them into being annoyed with each other, leading to Maeda kicking Fujiwara hard in the back after the rope break and Fujiwara nailing Maeda with running headbutts to the mouth. The grappling wasn't as tricked out as Fujiwara can offer. It was simple and basic but both were persistent and rugged with it. Maeda even had to ease up on an over the top shoulder lock to avoid snapping the arm long before the finish. The main component of the match was the striking. Even outside of the petty cheap shots. Fujiwara had some great hooks to the body and Maeda responded with his powerful kicks that break through Fujiwara’s defence, eventually causing the TKO after knocking him down three times with kicks to the left side of the torso. My favourite moment of the match was Akira Maeda living up to his initial role as the next Inoki after Fujiwara almost broke his patella with a kick. Maeda dropped to his knees and challenged Fujiwara to bring it. Fujiwara tested the waters a little but he didn't fancy it and Maeda got back on his feet. Obviously this is shoot style and you can't be doing “bullshit New Japan” spots so we got a UWF version of it and it's still incredible. It had me marking out big time. God bless Maeda. ****1/2
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Post by KB8 on Mar 14, 2023 14:57:42 GMT -5
Another corker of a match from one of the best pairings ever. This was more of a shoot style brawl of sorts, not a ton of matwork, but the grappling we did get was niggly as hell and served as nice punctuations between them trying to smash each other to bits. It couldn't have started any better, with them immediately clinching and ending up in the corner, Fujiwara hitting one disgusting headbutt and then an even more disgusting headbutt, the second one from a running start. Fujiwara threw a number of them throughout the match and I loved how Maeda would respond with some of his own, at one point throwing about seven in succession that about sent Fujiwara through the ropes. I'll always love the moments in Maeda matches where his temper boils over and this time he tried to volley Fujiwara's liver into the fifth row off a break. Fujiwara was winding him up the whole match as well, as is Fujiwara's wont. Maeda would just about cinch in a hold and Fujiwara would briefly scream in pain, then he'd readjust and alleviate some of the pressure, and there were at least two instances where he went to grab the rope for the break but pulled back. He'd tease it, pull back, tease it again, pull back again, and pretty soon the crowd picked up on it. He had no intention of grabbing the rope, had no intention of giving Maeda the satisfaction. He was being a prick and that was the long and short of it. He would also throw a bunch of kicks and the ref' kept having to admonish him like "you're not wearing kickpads, you can't be fucking doing that!" Of course he kept doing it anyway and eventually Maeda dropped to all fours as a challenge (the part mentioned by makaiclub), something to get him in close. Fujiwara throwing another kick as his answer was perfect Fujiwara. I thought the finish was a wee bit of a lukewarm one, but at the same time Maeda made him pay for all of those kicks in that he basically kicked him into a state of debilitation. Their '87 New Japan match will be absurdly high on my list. This one will miss out, but that's not a knock by any means. What a match up.
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