Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Osamu Kido (NJPW, 3/7/87)

I love a good 80's handheld match. Some can be a drag to sit through based on the operator, others are little hidden gems and I think this fits into the latter category. Tons of heat between Takada/Maeda and Fujiwara, but especially between hot-head Nobuhiko Takada and old iron-head Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Osamu Kido is the low man on the totem pole and things slow down whenever he's in the ring but, for the most part, he manages to fit in with these guys and does some neat stuff on the mat. At one point, he's got Takada in a leglock and when Takada struggles, Kido kicks his opposite foot to put the pressure back on Takada. Later on, he's able to catch a back kick from Takada and take him down into the single leg crab. But man, once Fujiwara gets in there vs. Takada, the match sizzles. Takada starts cracking Fujiwara's legs with kicks, Fujiwara gets pissed and smacks him down. Against Maeda, Fujiwara immediately takes it to him with body blows before Maeda and Takada work him over with stiff kicks. He's able to slip out of Takada's suplex attempt and take him down with the Fujiwara armbar but he can't get the submission. Maeda German suplexes him and goes into a crossface chickenwing but Fujiwara whips him off and re-applies the hold himself. The finishing stretch between he and Takada is just as nasty as when they started and I loved the actual finish, with Fujiwara catching a kick, stomping out the opposite leg, and then submitting him with the leglock.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Keiichi Yamada (NJPW, 9/23/86)

Watching Jushin "Thunder" Liger as young lion Keiichi Yamada grap it up with one of the best in Yoshiaki Fujiwara was just as satisfying as one might expect. For not having a ton of experience, Yamada looks pretty good in there with the reverse armbar maestro Fujiwara. I mean, whenever he has an opening, Fujiwara is quick to take him down with the armbar. When Yamada finally gets him in a leglock, Fujiwara mocks him, pointing at the leg like "are you kidding me with this shit?" before promptly exerting control. I really like Yamada's little slaps to the face when he's got Fujiwara on the ropes and then he climbs on with a great octopus hold. But Fujiwara peels him off, flings him down, and hits a side suplex. Yamada's able to grab a kneebar to take him to the ropes, and when he's on his feet, he's lunging at Fujiwara with slaps. At one point, he's able to get Fujiwara in a neat figure-four but that's the last straw as Fujiwara contiously takes him down with Fujiwara armbar counters, eventually submitting him for the win. Very cool match.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Joe Malenko (PWFG, 6/1/93)

Duh, this was great. No striking, very few throws or takedowns, but tons of excellent matwork -- in particular, the opening scramble was really good, with Joe Malenko showing off his responsiveness to the wily Yoshiaki Fujiwara, maintaining control of the leg even as Fujiwara is trying to roll out. The build to the Fujiwara armbar was done well, with Fujiwara scooting down to the mat in various attempts. But in classic Fujiwara fashion, he takes a moment to boredly rest his chin on his hand while he's trying to snag an armbar. I really liked how he used the knee on Malenko's chin to escape his control. Sure, there were lulls in the action but the attention to detail, the slick counters and reversals, and the tension built through submission attempts create a technically sweet mat-based encounter. In the end, Fujiwara's able to secure his patented armbar for the win.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (UWF, 9/11/85)

Hey, it's Super Tiger sans mask. The match is reminiscent of their first singles encounter, the emphasis placed on the “pro-wrestling” style rather than the hostility these two displayed throughout their “shoot" style encounters. Regardless, Fujiwara’s no joke here, being much better prepared for Tiger’s kicks and taking him to the ropes quite often. When Tiger’s able to let loose on him, he rocks Fujiwara with his wild kicks and knees, at one point catching him in the front teeth with a spin kick. One of the more disturbing visuals in this series comes when Fujiwara tries to choke Tiger out, cranking his head and neck in an unnaturally acute angle, the guttural hacks of Tiger adding to the realism. When Tiger attempts to finish Fujiwara off with the German suplex hold, Fujiwara’s able to take him down with his own signature armbar, the wakigatame, for the submission.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (UWF, 7/17/85)

This match is the culmination of the entire rivalry and embraces the viciousness of shoot-style through Tiger’s strikes and Fujiwara’s grappling. Fujiwara puts Tiger through the ringer on the mat, making him work for his rope breaks and at times, refusing to let him out of his grasp. He’s spry and self-assured, bouncing around the ring and looking maybe five years younger here. But once again, he’s starkly reminded of his own kryptonite when Tiger mule kicks him off and punts him in the ribs. As Tiger’s aggression becomes more and more intense down the stretch, Fujiwara’s resolve wavers and ultimately, he’s conquered by Tiger’s kicks – the viewer left with a lasting image of Fujiwara as Tiger’s foot slips through his desperate fingers and he crumbles in complete exhaustion. Awesome match and my second favorite of the series. It's a shame this does not exist in full...or does it?

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (UWF, 12/5/84)

By now, Super Tiger is familiar with Fujiawa and knows he can’t take him on the ground so he doesn’t hold back with the kicks early on. Really terrific footwork from Tiger complimented by Fujiwara’s selling. Similar to their September match, Fujiwara is looking for that German suplex but Tiger’s able to take him down with a beautiful armbar takedown into the kimura. As brutal as Tiger’s kicks and knees are, Fujiwara’s striking is just as awesome, especially when he’s unloading on Tiger in the corner with relentless body blows. He locks in a grounded choke sleeper and Tiger’s hacking and gagging adds an organic component to the match. When Fujiwara tries for his signature armbar, Tiger freaks out and hustles to the ropes. Fujiwara continues focusing on the arm, forcing Tiger to exert his own energy to find a rope break and each break pisses Fujiwara off more and more, as he stomps and kicks at Tiger. Suplexes are thrown but the final minutes are the real meat-and-potatoes of the match, as Tiger is unremitting with his kicks. He stuns Fujiwara with the solebutt and when he lands that high kick to Fujiwara’s head, the crowd explodes. His kneedrops to the back of Fujiwara’s head are incredible and while Fujiwara is still fighting, trying to keep Tiger at bay, he’s beaten and exhausted and he seemingly sacrifices himself to hit that big headbutt. Tiger sinks his teeth in with those kicks and won’t let up, kicking and kicking until Fujiwara can’t fight back any longer. Terrific match, and very likely my favorite of the series.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (UWF, 9/7/84)

The first match in their series. They're obviously still developing the "UWF shoot-style" as this felt mostly pro-wrestling but it's still a great match. Fujiwara sticks like a magnet to Tiger’s arm through the first half of the match, countering Tiger’s offense or executing his own piece of offense before promptly going back to the arm. Tiger realizes he’s not going to be able to take Fujiwara on the mat so he switches to shoot kicks but Fujiwara catches a foot and takes him down with the dragon screw legwhip, immediately going back to the arm. There’s some dirty slaps, nasty high kicks to the heads, and some great piledrivers from Fujiwara, including a counter to the triangle and a Gotch-style variation. Tiger gets a chain of offense, which includes kicks and a jumping tombstone but he can’t follow-up with the dive, allowing Fujiwara to take over again on offense. Fujiwara abandons the armwork in favor of attacking Tiger’s legs to weaken the kicks. Throughout the match, he keeps trying for the German suplex as a finish but Tiger is able to evade it up through the end of the match, ultimately submitting Fujiwara with the crossface chickenwing.

Inoki Festival 1995 (12/30/95)

The whole show is an easy recommendation and a breeze to watch at under two hours. Unfortunately, some of the matches are clipped, like the sweet Kakihara/Ikeda match, but everything delivers on some level, with original Tiger Mask showing off, Nakano/Hokuto trying to kill themselves, and fired up baby versions of Nagata and Nishimura. But, the two matches that really stood out, were the semi-main and the main events. 

Hiroshi Hase vs. Yoji Anjoh

It's Hiroshi Hase sans mustachio, not letting Yoji Anjoh get away with much -- really liked the tension build in the corner, which leads to them both slapping each other around. Hase is smooth as always, using a dope double leg takedown and working his way into an inverted STF. He hooks the leg when Anjoh tries to backdrop him, so that he lands on top when Anjoh still attempts it. Then we get a uranage and the giant swing, sold wonderfully by Anjoh, before eats a second uranage. Anjoh's able to fight out of the Northern Lights suplex attempt, delivering a nasty German, then following up with some great looking knee drops before finally stomping on Hase's face before he applies the leglock for the submission.  

Antonio Inoki & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki

A two-out-of-three falls tag match and a total blast. Nobuhiko Takada was, more or less, there to collect a paycheck but whenever Antonio Inoki was in the ring, the match really lit up, whether it was ground aggression with Yoshiaki Fujiwara, or pissy exchanges with Kazuo Yamazaki. Inoki and Fujiwara do the old man matwork better than most half their age and here, Fujiwara got to show off with some slick takedowns and at one point, really catches Inoki in the chin with one of his sig headbutts. When Yamazaki comes in, he tries to get crazy with Inoki but Inoku quickly gets hold of the reins and pins Yamazaki. During the second fall, Yamazaki calls out Inoki and when Inoki gets the tag, it's his turn to go nuts on Yamazaki but Yamazaki evens the score by kicking Inoki in the head. Yamazaki's still peppering Inoki with punches and kicks during the third fall but Fujiwara starts prepping Inoki's arm for his patented armbar. The finish to the third fall was...uh, strange. Takada breaks up the Fujiwara armbar by kicking Fujiwara in the fucking face, Fujiwara is loopy, Yamazaki injures himself flying into the ring to retaliate, completely missing his spinning wheel kick attempt. And then Inoki puts on the octopus hold to win it. 

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (NJPW, 6/1/94)

What a terrific little title challenge, with Yoshiaki Fujiwara trying to play defense against the increasingly aggressive Shinya Hashimoto. Hashimoto comes into this match with an injured left shoulder, a target for Fujiwara, and it isn't long before he has him on the ground in his patented armbar, making him work for the ropes. Love that Hashimoto gets pissier and pissier as the match progresses, starting with that nasty stomp to the head after forcing Fujiwara to the ropes with an armbar of his own. You get the feeling that Hash really wants to let loose on Fujiwara. Of course, Fujiwara is a dirty old man with the blatant chokes, the ref counting him off before he goes right back to choking Hash. He slaps him in the face, headbutts him, and keeps on choking. When Hashimoto ties him up in the corner, Fujiwara's sells it so well. Hashimoto keeps trying to kick him off but Fujiwara keeps catching or ducking the attempts, until Hashimoto kicks hard enough that he can't block it. He has to beg Fujiwara out of the corners and when he gets him in the front facelock, the knee strikes he uses to set up the DDT looked awesome. In the end, Hashimoto finishes him off with a nasty single-arm DDT, with Fujiwara nearly kicking out of it.

PWFG "One For All And All For One" (7/26/91)

Mark Rush vs. Kazuo Takahashi

If you like mat wrangling, then this is the match for you. Mark Rush is a burly individual with an amateur background and for over ten minutes, he and Kazuo Takahashi jockey for leverage on the ground, with Rush using his size to his advantage. Takahashi's focus is the arm and the struggle for armbar is a reoccurring and often compelling theme of the match. There's a couple of slams throughout but this mostly takes place on the ground, and finishes on the ground, as Mark hits a powerslam and taps Takahashi with a nice snug side headlock.

Wayne Shamrock vs. Duane Koslowski 

Duane Koslowski is about as Wonder Bread as they come, looking like 1990's Steve Rogers come to life. Wayne is Kenneth is Ken, and he brings a lot of aggression to this match, which I'm okay with. He tries to keep his distance with strikes while Duane looks to sneak in for a suplex. After taking a couple of shots to the head, Duane finally hits an All-American belly-to-belly suplex and tries for a double wristlock on the mat. He's able to bridge out of a choke and they get into a little spat of open hands before Duane belly-to-bellies him once again. At one point, Duane gives Shammy a love tap slap across the face and boy, does Wayne not like it. He soon finishes him off with the Shamrock Special #2 aka the Northern Lights suplex into the leglock. I want to see more Duane Koslowski.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Naoki Sano

SPOILER ALERT: This is a 30:00 minute time limit draw. However, it's one of the best time limit draws I've seen and the pace these two work throughout is incredible. Right from the get-go, they scramble around with the crowd buzzing, trying to get something locked in long enough without getting thrown off. Suzuki keeps going for the armbar but Sano isn't give him an inch. He'll slap at Sano's thigh, trying to break open the armbar, but no dice. I loved Suzuki's slap to the face>fireman's carry takeover into the armbar attempt, and when he tries for the double arm suplex and Sano resists it, he piledrives him instead. The stand-up striking feels very heated at times, and some of the open hands and palms exchanged look/sound real nasty. Exhaustion begins to rear its ugly head about 15-20 minutes in but Suzuki is dead set on getting the armbar. He hits a German suplex on Sano, but Sano is able to snag an arm off the bridge. At one point, Sano has Suzuki in a rear naked choke and Suzuki is slapping himself to stay coherent, it's great. Finally, Suzuki says "enough with the armbar" and grabs a single leg crab, but he can't maintain it and the time limit expires with them fighting over a leglock. High recommendation for this one.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Masakatsu Funaki

This wasn't great but it wasn't bad. It was SOLID. They work the mat to start, mostly fighting over leglocks, before Funaki starts in with the smacks and kicks, knocking Fujiwara on his ass. He comes at him with a big flurry of kicks and while Fujiwara's able to a catch a leg, he can't follow up with the leg trip and Funaki ends up taking him back down to the mat. One of the best moments of the match comes when Fujiwara's trying to get a hold of Funaki's leg while he's on the ground and Funaki pops him in the face with a defensive shin, once again dropping Funaki on his ass. Funaki doesn't let up, catching him with a hard slap in the face against the ropes and a kick to the face for another knock down. Then he unloads a barrage of body shots, open hands, kicks, but Fujiwara's a resilient and wily old fuck and won't fall. So when Funaki goes for the double leg takedown, Fujiwara snags his arm with his leg for the submission victory. Of course, Fujiwara pulls it out in the end.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. TAKA Michinoku (PWFG, 8/26/95)

Yoshiaki Fujiwara, as awesome as he is, doesn’t have time for TAKA Michinoku’s shit. Who does? But Fujiwara especially. No matter what TAKA tries on the mat, Fujiwara finds a way of countering and schooling TAKA in the art of old man grappling. When he’s not forcing TAKA to the ropes with a leglock, he’s smacking or headbutting him, naturally. At one point, TAKA sends him headfirst into the corner, but of course, Fujiwara no sells it to re-adjust his socks because his head is notoriously unbreakable. But bless TAKA, he keeps trying. When he attempts to boot out of a hold, Fujiwara snags the boot and screws the ankle, and when he’s had enough, Fujiwara cranks him into submission and doesn’t let go. What a crabapple.

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.

UWF Atlantis (10/25/90)

This show was an absolute blast and recommended to those who may be turned off by the art of fake fighting that is "shoot style". You've got four of the biggest shoot personalities going toe-to-toe, and an early look into the spastic underdog that is Masahito Kakihara. So in the words of Dr. Stephen Brule, PhD, let's check it out.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Takaku Fuke

Young Kakihara is already showing signs of what's to come with the immediate slap after the handshake. Kakihara's lightning-quick with his kicks and slaps and Fuke does all he can to try and slow the whirlwind down, at one point catching a leg and countering with a cool capture-style powerslam. Once Fuke's got him on the ground, he's able to send Kaki crawling to the ropes by targeting the legs, supplementing the holds with an occasional kick or knee to the face. He's able to catch him in a guillotine choke, smartly trapping the legs to prevent the break. There's plenty of takedowns and scrambling around the mat throughout, with Kakihara finally securing a head-and-shoulder-lock for the submission win.

Masakatsu Funaki vs. Akira Maeda

Loved the flurried slap-action to open and the frantic way Funaki counters out of the rear waistlock to ground Big Boss Maeda with the wakigatame, really cranking it on like he's fixing a leaky pipe. They convey good struggle for control and for the most part, Funaki's able to roll with a lot of Maeda's punches so to speak...you know, except for when Maeda is repeatedly rocking him kicks on the ropes. But I like that even when they're on the mat, Funaki is still trying to drive home a few knees and boots. Maeda's able to execute a beautiful German suplex hold but it doesn't do much to slow down Funaki, who comes at him with some good hard smacks, busting Maeda's nose. He slows him down with some focused legwork and plants him with a nasty capture suplex but still, Funaki keeps coming until eventually Maeda has to choke him out. Really great match.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Aside from his sometimes heavy striking, Takada doesn't do a whole lot for me, especially on the mat, but when he's paired against Fujiwara, I find myself more invested in him as a performer. He sells Fujiwara's awesome lunging headbutts like a million bucks and what I love about the headbutts is that can come from out nowhere and quickly turn the tide of the match. Fujiwara's methodical here in that he'll try to manipulate a limb into a hold but when there's struggle, he'll shift to another body part entirely. He's a real danger on the mat, and Takada recognizes that -- at one point, Fujiwara's able to reverse a leglock and Takada freaks out with boot shots in an attempt to escape. Of course, we get the classic grinning Fujiwara here, brushing off Takada's kicks and hanging out in the corners. Takada tries chopping out Fujiwara's leg and then starts trying to knock him with with kicks and knees but Fujiwara uses the corner as a home base to keep from falling. But when Takada's corner strikes get to be too much, Fujiwara slumps to the canvas in a fantastic moment, still managing a smile when he makes it back to his feet. Fujiwara's able to knock Takada down with another headbutt but ultimately, the old dog runs out of downs and Takada's finally able to get the TKO victory after a knee strike. Another terrific match.

BJW/Masahito Kakihara Produce "KAKI RIDE" (8/14/17)

Big Japan helped produced this special event as a way to support Masahito Kakihara, who has been suffering from malignant lymphoma since 2014. The event saw the return of Kakihara to the ring, in a sparring session with grapple legend, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, but everything else was fought under "UWF Rules", meaning points deducted for rope breaks, knockdowns, and in the case of Minoru Suzuki, penalties. On a whole, this was a really fun show and something I'd love to see BJW produce more often. Nothing super high end but I did have a few notes on the show. 

- In his sparring session, Kakihara tapped to Fujiwara a total of ten times. There wasn't much to this, some neat little tricks by Fujiwara, but the best moment came when Fujiwara smoked and ashed an imaginary cigar while had Kakihara in a headlock. Oh yeah.

- Minoru Tanaka managed to wrestle his best match of the year in just under 3:00 against Masakatsu Funaki. Funaki immediately whaps him in the forehead with a kick, and then they scramble around the mat with a real sense of urgency, trying to sink something in. Minoru's able to escape an armbar attempt but gets caught in a triangle and taps out.

- Tatsuo Nakano, still rocking that badass mullet, fought Daisuke Nakamura in a match that definitely over delivered. You've got Nakamura flying fancy round the mat and Nakano being Nakano just knees him in the face, dumps him with an armtrap release German, and submits him with the single leg crab. 

- Hideki Suzuki once again took former student Takuya Nomura to school on the mat, being real nasty with his forearms to the face and knees to the throat. I love the way he manipulates Nomura's arm with the wristlock in order to assert dominance. It seems Nomura's learned a thing or two from their match earlier in the year, where Suzuki basically smothered him into giving up, as he's able to avoid getting suplexed by sitting down and maintains arm control long enough to force Suzuki to the ropes. He's able to let loose a little flurry of strikes but Suzuki's too good, and the finish was swanky as fuck, as Suzuki counters out of the waistlock with a front necklock and then goes into the double arm suplex hold for the submission. 

- Rocky Kawamura (sans boxing gloves) always find a way of pissing off Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki was pretty great here. After landing a few slaps, he tries for the Gotch-style piledriver because you might as well and when Kawamura avoids it, Suzuki grabs the leg and cranks away, forcing Rocky to the ropes. When Rocky uses a jujigatame on Suzuki and doesn't let go after Minoru makes the ropes, the "oh no you didn't" look on Suzuki's face is fantastic. He tries to choke out Rocky, then starts kicking, stomping, and headbutting away, receiving a couple of yellow cards from the ref. Rocky fires off a few jabs but Suzuki's able to snatch an arm and wrench in the wakigatame for the submission. 

- Naomichi Marufuji doesn't have a whole lot of experience wrestling under "UWF Rules" and when he keeps revisiting the ropes on the ground, it becomes obvious that the only way he's going to beat Takaku Fuke is via strikes. He is able to secure a keylock but that's about as close as he gets to submitting Fuke. In the end, Fuke starts laying in the slaps and knees in the corner and out of nowhere, Marufuji connects with the Koo for the KO victory. Cool shorts, Maru. 

Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (NJPW, 1/10/86)

Sometimes in a pro-wrestling match, certain things occur and you think to yourself "well, fuck, why doesn't he just do (blank)?". Whether it's escaping a sticky predicament or blocking a strike, these things may seem obvious to us, the bystander, but more often than not, instinct goes out the window in favor of "dramatic tension". Well, Fujiwara does (blank) a lot, which is why he's one of the greatest scrappy technicians of all time, and this match exemplifies that awareness. How a simple boot to the ass can be used as a counter to a single leg crab, or turning a shoulder or back to a kick, or snagging an arm off a rear waistlock to avoid a suplex and take control of the situation. Good stuff. They open the match trying to grab holds and sink something in until Maeda gives up and just starts kicking at Fujiwara on the mat. He hits an awesome belly-to-back suplex counter to a side headlock attempt but when Maeda misses the big spin kick attempt, Fujiwara takes advantage with the headbutts. They roll out of the ring stuck in a leglock and Fujiwara's able to prevent Maeda from making it back to the ring...so they restart the match and this time, Fujiwara's all over Maeda's arm, trying to cinch in the wakigatame after a swanky roll through. He's able to catch a kick and get the takedown but Maeda slips into a choke sleeper, and the finish of the match is fan-fuckin-tastic, with Fujiwara trying to maneuver to the ropes until he starts foaming at the mouth and the referee calls for the bell. Awesome.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu (NJPW, 6/9/87)

Quite the little barnburner here between a couple of fiery personalities with a fun shift in dynamic, as Fujiwara goes from mean-spirited aggressor to a beaten and bloody mess on shaky knees. But when he’s being nasty, it’s terrific. The headbutts and punches, standing on Choshu’s busted face, the blatant choking. Loved the little maneuver where Choshu tries to push him off and Fujiwara takes the arms and lays back with the jujigatame. When Choshu stalks Fujiwara into the corner and starts laying in the shots, Fujiwara’s wears this amazing scowl as he absorbs the punches to the head. The only way Choshu’s able to make a dent is by ramming him headfirst into the ringpost, bloodying him…but even then, Fujiwara’s still throwing headbutts. Fujiwara makes use of the wakigatame as a counter but he can’t manage to submit Choshu and in the end, Choshu stands tall after blasting Fujiwara with a couple of nasty lariats.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWF, 4/15/90)

This ruled. You had Kazuo Yamazaki throwing strikes where he can, with the wily Yoshiaki Fujiwara weathering the storm to snag a limb and bend. He keeps turning the tables on Yamazaki, escaping his holds or countering with a hold of his own to force Yamazaki to the ropes. There are plenty of swank takedowns from both men but the patience and experience of Fujiwara proves to be an advantage over the more aggressive Yamazaki. At one point, Yamazaki is just kneeing the fuck out of Fujiwara's head to try and shake him off the arm but it's Fujiwara, dude, he headbutts for a living. Yamazaki's finally able to grab something, a single leg crab, but Fujiwara breaks the hold and is seemingly pissed off about it, unloading on Yamazaki in the corner with a flurry of old man strikes. He staggers Yamazaki with a slap but Yamazaki's able to deliver a German suplex, failing to bridge the hold as he's dog-tired. Fujiwara sells the suplex and when he's back on his feet, Yamazaki high kicks him in the head to lay him out for the KO. Yamazaki's post-match celebration is the buttercream icing on the cake.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Takuya Wada vs. Koji Iwamoto & Tadashi Matsumoto (Hard Hit, 7/16/17)

These Hard Hit shows are often more misses than hits but every so often, you get a little gem of a match. I'm not familiar with Takuya Wada or Tadashi Matsumoto but these guys were the highlights of this match. Of course, Fujiwara still showed that he's the wiliest old man around, grabbing limbs and cranking guillotines when and where he can, ultimately picking up the token submission with the haragatame. Iwamoto looked pretty good here in this setting, utilizing some neat takedowns, including his judo throw, but he was sent to the ropes a number of times. When Matsumoto and Wada were in there grappling, it was awesome. Matsumoto rolling around on the mat, trapping body parts while Wada showed his strength with some throws. Just lots of cool takedowns and reversals. Wada was able to get a leglock and then transitioned it into a swank double leglock and later in the match, Matsumoto used a monkey flip on Wada to snag an armbar. This match ain't for everyone -- there's no striking, no big moves -- but it's always a treat to see Fujiwara on the mat and the other three guys brought the energy he may lack at 68-years of age.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF, 2/27/90)

Nobuhiko Takada isn't the most exhilarating mat technician; his bread-and-butter is striking. He'd heat up the crowd with some of his kicks but then immediately cool them off by applying a very pedestrian leglock. Thankfully, Yoshiaki Fujiwara makes up for that, grabbing an armbar when and where he can and avoiding a lot of Takada's wild swings.  He's pretty great here as the wily veteran, hip-hopping Takada into a corner and blasting him with a headbutt, which serves as the real turning point in this match. Takada starts letting loose with the kicks, there are a couple of suplex throws from both sides, and the finish was pretty great, as Takada goes for one of his lame ass leglocks and Fujiwara counters with the cross kneebar and really cranks it in, sending Takada reeling, scrambling for the ropes and trying to peel Fujiwara off before finally tapping out. Fujiwara's post-match old man celebration is about as good as the match itself.

Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF, 8/13/89)

You've got the old guard of UWF dueling in a game of shoot-style chess. Fujiwara shows early on what happens when you back a grizzled dog into a corner, blasting Maeda's grill with some hard headbutts. When Maeda tries to sweep Fujiwara's leg, Yoshiaki smartly holds onto the ropes to maintain his balance. Maeda's strategy is straightforward: get Fujiwara into a corner and strike him down. As the match continues, you can really see the frustration mounting in Fujiwara, the way he slaps the canvas when he's forced to the ropes or the tired look on his face as he sits in the corner, biding his nine count. After Maeda dumps Fujiwara on his head with a backdrop suplex, he tries to grab the dazed Fujiwara in crossface chickenwing but he can't cinch it in. In a neat little counter, Fujiwara wrenches Maeda's ankle while he's in the bodyscissors and Maeda starts grasping for the ropes, the crowd buzzing. Fujiwara lays into Maeda with some bodyshots against the ropes but he's exhausted, collapsing into Maeda with headbutts as Maeda tumbles out of the ring. With the tank empty, Fujiwara keeps falling to Maeda's kicks in the corner and the referee calls the match, awarding Maeda the TKO victory. Fujiwara's performance in this match was fantastic and he really had my sympathy there at the end.