Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Joe Malenko (PWFG - 6/1/1993)

2nd. I'm a Joe Malenko fan. Largely because he's a great grappler, and, well.. that's it. This is largely worked as two expert carny grapplers twisting eachother where they can and find out breaks first. Parts of it came across as high end pro style matwork, altough that only added to my enjoyment. There is working "stiff", as in hitting eachother hard, and there is working "stiff" as in making your body stiff to prevent movement and put restraint against the other guys attacks, and there was a ton of that here aswell as lots of low end blocking and high end countering going on. They basically start working on the ankles with a bunch of twisting and knee grinding before moving up the body to arm attacks until Malenko finally gets the grovit on Fujiwara's head in the climax of the match. Subtle bout, not much to it really, but one of my favourite fights ever.

Great grappling match. No highspots, no strikes and even the takedowns are bland. This is all matwork. It is a good watch for people who like matwork like me, but that is it.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Joe Malenko - PWFG 6/1/93

Doing a live watch. I love Fujiwara so any time something with him get recommended I have to watch. This was nominated for Greatest Match Ever. PWFG is a huge blind spot. I dont know what has and has not been touted. It does not seem as prolific as the Original UWF or RINGS. I have seen two Joe Malenko matches in my life so excited to see some more. Pretty basic takedowns thus far. Pretty cautious wrestling. Fujiwara seems to go away in the 90s besides a really great Hashimoto match in '94 and Tenryu match in '97 (both are underrated). and of course the Takada classic in '90. Fujiwara is the opposite of Chono as his breathing adds to the match instead of being distracting. They are doing a bundle of leg locks. But both have their two holds so sunk in that it is pretty good. Joe relents and grabs the ropes. Only Volk Han is better at that spot and thats a spot that is usually a real killer for me. Malekno gets a nice hammerlock. Good squeal from Fujiwara. Fujiwara uses his own abdomen to block the hammerlock. Fujiwara comes up trying for a double wristlock, but Malenko blocks by keeping his arm forward. Fujiwara grabs the ankle lets go and they stand up. Shake hands. Thats nice. Good hipblock/oo-soto-gari takedown by Malenko. Joe is thinking short arm scissors but Fujiwara blocks and evades. Fujiwara gets a front chancery and Malenko muscles him into the ropes. Joe takes him down more forcefully and pounces into a toehold. Fujiwara reverses efficiently into a cross-armbreaker attempt as Joe is moving towards the ropes. Fujiwara casually puts his hand to head to say he is resting. He is a cheeky bastard and I love it. Fujiwara gets his takedown and is trying for his armbar, but Joe blocks. Nice bridge by Joe to reverse. This is all matwork. Very tight and great struggle. Fujiwara is just grabbing joints from crazy positions. Fujiwara is the one who needs the ropes when his toehold fails. This is grapplefuck to the highest degree. No strikes. No highspots. Even the takedowns arent that exciting. Basic takedowns a lot of them falling together. It is all grappling and chaining on the mat. Joe is starting to dominate nice crossface and headscissors. Fujiwara squeals are so important to sell all this. Fujiwara stands up with a hold of the leg. They are all wrapped up. I cant tell who has who, but in a good way! They are both attacking and defending. Joe applies a modified Crippler Crossface but Fujiwara rolls into and gets a full mount. Fujiwara is close to a top wristlock. Joe gets on his stomach and sit outs into a Fujiwara armbar on Fujiwara! Fujiwara uses his legs to get on his toes and drive out of the hold. This is high end technical wrestling. Malenko gets a double wristlock from underneath that looks like it could be a finishers, but again Fujiwara is using his weight balance to block some of the move to avoid the maximum damage. Fujiwara kind of had an armbar, but they ended up in the ropes. Joe locks into a front chancery more conventional oo-soto-gari takedown with the back heel trip. Joe gets on top with a side mount looking for a double wristlock. It is a top one. Fujiwara ends up on top, I got to rewind, I missed that. Fujiwara scissors the leg causing pain to Joe and that allowed Fujiwara to flip him. Malenko gets a headscissors from underneath. Get sell from Fujiwara. Fujiwara has the hands clasped to avoid an armbreaker. Nice short knee by Malenko on top (good Fujiwara sell) and Malenko grabs a front chancery as they stand up. Fujiwara gets out of that into his Fujiwara armabr, center of the ring and thats the finish. ***3/4