Tatsumi Fujinami vs Riki Choshu (NJPW - 4/21/1983)

This is the second match of the Riki Choshu vs Tatsumi Fujinami trilogy of 1983, you can see the review of the first one, that I did yesterday if you want to check it out, it will help you understand why this match is so important for the rivalry going forward and also why this match is pivotal for Tatsumi Fujinami, if you haven’t read that here’s a brief summary of the match. Riki Choshu just manhandled Fujinami, he was just unstoppable and Tatsumi couldn’t do anything about it, the pioneer of the sharpshooter had the performance of a lifetime against the wrestler I’m making the case for, Fujinami’s selling was outstanding, he made Choshu look great.

Fujinami was incredibly unselfish and did the job perfectly, Choshu won but the crowd was always in Fujinami’s side throughout the contest and with that out of the way let’s go to today’s match, it happened just 18 days after the last one so everyone has the match previously mentioned in mind, we have a much more aggressive Fujinami trying to overwhelm his opponent with a flurry of offense including a sharpshooter that he couldn’t execute successfully, after that Riki Choshu could regain his balance and keep the match in control with very few exceptions, Fujinami tried it all but he couldn’t put him in trouble at any point since then, Riki Choshu’s style got the better of Fujinami, Choshu battered the man who had conquered the junior division in the past and he made it look easy, if the previous match was a star-making performance this one is showed the world that his dominant victory weeks earlier wasn’t a fluke, in fact, it was the first of many he would have during his career in New Japan and All Japan in the 1980’s, a great performance by wrestling’s hottest heel at the time.

If you enjoyed the first encounter between these two watch it, if you weren’t able to watch the first one because of the video quality please give this match a chance.