Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ryuma Go (NJPW, 10/2/79)

This match combines the best of their previous encounters from 1978, incorporating the suave matwork, the fiery strikes, cool paybacks and callbacks, and a little extra somethin’ somethin’ from Ryuma Go. Fujinami heats up Go with a slap right out of the gate and Go’s beside himself, tossing Fujinami out of the ring. There’s a great sequence with Go grounding Fujinami with a vicious-looking cravate takedown and Fujinami bridging out to snapmare Go. Once again, Go tries slapping his way out of a leglock but only succeeds in pissing off Fujinami, a recurring theme, in which Fujinami lays into him with hard slaps and kicks. In general, Fujinami treats Go like he’s beneath him, at one point shoving him out of the ring while he’s running the ropes. Awesome strikes throughout, especially those headbutts from Go. After Go cuts Fujinami up top, dropkicking him out of the ring, he goes high-risk with a diving body press – only to be followed up shortly after by a plancha from Fujinami. Terrific false finish off of the German suplex, with Fujinami just barely getting a foot on the rope, before Go gets the upset victory with the backslide.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ryuma Go (NJPW, 11/30/78)

Similar competitive touch-and-go matwork to open with neat takedowns and reversals, including Fujinami showing off his strength as he lifts Go while he’s still in the armbar to reach the ropes. After jockeying a bit for control, things heat up as they start throwing some heavy slaps. Go is persistent with his little side kicks to break up a leglock and a pissed off Fujinami busts him open with a hard smack to the face. The fans eat up that violence. Again, while Go isn’t quite as slick as Fujinami on the canvas, he more than holds his own and works an effectively aggressive style, never letting up on Fujinami, keeping him on the rocks. Loved his repeat elbow drops to the knee to set up the figure-four leglock, with some terrific selling from Fujinami during the struggle. Go also gets some nice elevation on those knee drops before he goes back to the leg, working in an Indian deathlock. It was if they were constructing a good narrative with their meticulous ground game, but then they had to finish it off mid-sentence with an exclamation point. They throw chops, slams, and suplexes, and after Go no sells a piledriver, Fujinami puts him away with the dragon suplex hold. Enjoyed this a shade more than their 7/27 match. 

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ryuma Go (NJPW, 7/27/78)

A slick hold-for-hold junior heavyweight exhibition, with Fujinami showboating on the mat and Go more or less keeping pace. This never really moved past the exposition but it had some cool moments. When Go tries to get out of a toehold via slapping, Fujinami responds by smacking the taste out of his mouth and wrenching the hold even harder. Fujinami continues working over the leg for a bit while Go tries to avoid getting trapped but it doesn’t go anywhere as they shift offensive gears. Fujinami’s offense is swanky, with his double wristlock suplex into the armbar, his sick piledriver, and the German suplex hold to finish off Go. An easy watch and something that wouldn’t look too out of place by today’s standards.