Tatsumi Fujinami & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara (UWFi, 6/26/96)

I love the Fujis wholeheartedly and I loved this match-up, especially the surly, zero fucks given Fujiwara. I mean, Kakihara’s equally great as the snappy striker riling up the old guys but when he pisses off Fujiwara, Fujiwara wants nothing more than to choke Kakihara out and he tries, again and again, with that classic grinning taunt. When he’s reprimanded by the referee (“No choke! No choke!”), Fujiwara just starts punching Kakihara on the mat. Takada is here to kick and kick hard but Fujinami’s ready for him, countering the first attack with a dragon screw legwhip to set-up the figure four leglock. I thought Fujinami’s selling was fantastic while he’s getting hammered with knees and kicks. Takada uses those strong kicks against Fujiwara to cut out his legs, laying in the punishment before Kaki gets the revenge tag. Oh boy oh boy, here he comes, adrenaline-fueled, smacking the shit out of Fujiwara before he attempts (and misses) not one but TWO spinning heel kicks. With the wind out of his sail, Fujiwara promptly taps him out with the leglock.

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.