Throwback Match Reviews: Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) (09/11/1985)

Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) 09/11/1985

This was a great match to continue this rivalry. Super Tiger had defeated Fujiwara in the previous two bouts. The story of the entire match was that of Fujiwara trying to tame this wild animal and his flurry of attacks. From the start we get Tiger unleashing his devastating kicks. Fujiwara goes right after the left leg. Fujiwara’s attack on the leg was intense. He smoothly transitioned from hold to hold with great focus and intent. Tiger did an excellent job selling the leg while still throwing kicks with his right leg. Both wrestlers were consistent with their work. The match had great escalation that was properly done throughout. This first stage set the groundwork for the next phase.

Tiger countered Fujiwara’s leg attack by absolutely battering him with kicks with his other leg. He kicks him everywhere: on the legs, on the torso and on the head. These were some nasty kicks. At one point he does a spinning kick right to Fujiwara’s face while Fujiwara is backed up in a corner. I replayed the spot about five times. He also begins to kick him with his left leg in the torso in an act of defiance. It was a great no-sell but at the same time was still able to sell the leg. When Tiger would kick the torso with the right leg Fujiwara would go down with one or two kicks. With the left leg, Fujiwara took like four kicks but still did not go down. The kicks with the left leg were not as effective as the ones with the right leg. It’s a clever way to no-sell and sell at the same time. 

The escalation continued onto this third phase. Here it seemed both wrestlers have had enough of each other’s BS and just starting throwing suplexes and some nasty strikes. It was Tiger’s frustration that got the best of him here. He drifted away from what was working for him earlier in the match. At one point he even tried to do a Fujiwara armbar which Fujiwara easily escaped. The finish saw Fujiwara reverse a suplex attempt with an elbow to the face and some other type of armbar (I’m bad with move names). It was a bit anticlimactic even though I understand what they were going for. They wanted to go for the quick “gotcha” victory in order to show Tiger’s mistake. They could have reincorporated the leg here to really hammer home the point they were trying to make. Fujiwara finally gets the win against Tiger and did so by staying consistent with his plan.

Final Rating - ****¼

 

Throwback Match Reviews: Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) (12/05/1984)

Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) 12/05/1984

This was a great follow up match to the one they had earlier in the year. They picked up where they left off in that previous match. They go after each other right away. Tiger was excellent in this match. His strikes were brutal and his grappling was smooth. The mat work in this match was great because it had major importance to the overall match. There was only one part that was a little slow and it hurt the match a little. Fujiwara was also great here. He tried to slow down Tiger with his submissions. The match flowed very naturally despite the slow portion of it. The closing 7 to 8 minutes of the match were incredible. They absolutely battered each other. The finish was also great with Super Tiger just beating Fujiwara down to the point the referee stopped the match. Although there was the element of honor that a lot of shoot wrestling presents, they did a great job portraying some animosity between them. It was well balanced that way.

Final Rating - ****¼

Throwback Match Reviews: Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (UWF) (12/05/1984)

Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (UWF) 12/05/1984

Overall I will say this is a great match despite some flaws that I found with it, particularly due to the style of match. A large portion of this match was very slow and boring. A lot of the mat grappling was very badly done. When Takada had Yamazaki in a hold Yamazaki showed little to no effort to escape. He looked like he was just letting Takada try different holds on him the way you would with a younger sibling when you were kids. This is something that is present in a lot of matches in this shoot style of wrestling. It does not look like a struggle, it looks like cooperation. The crowd proves this theory as they only reacted when the match left the mat. During the mat grappling portions the camera would sometimes point at the crowd and everyone looked bored to death. You really can’t say that they were focused on the work. They were just waiting for something to happen.

Once the match kicked into the next gear it really got good. The mat work in this portion was really great because it was the opposite of the mat work earlier in the match. Both men wrestled with intensity and urgency. The grappling was clean and the strikes were impactful. Yamazaki’s performance was excellent. His comebacks were exciting. Whenever he fought back the crowd went nuts. Takada was a proper dickbag here. He did everything to suppress Yamazaki’s momentum. One spot I really enjoyed was when they were sparring and then went to a neutral position and Takada just slapped Yamazaki. The dynamic between the two was clearly defined and was consistent throughout the match. The finish saw Yamazaki pick up a quick pin with a bridging German suplex. It was a great pay off to the story they told in the match.

Final Rating - ****

Throwback Match Reviews: Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) (09/07/1984)

Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) 09/07/1984

This was a good match. Super Tiger’s offense was really great. He did everything with great intensity. Fujiwara’s control periods early on were really boring. He didn’t do anything of interest. Going back to the same well after it not working initially and not doing anything to change it was kind of dumb on his part. Super Tiger’s comebacks were well done. They were the things that the crowd really got into. After a while the action from both ends picked up. Fujiwara’s submission holds began to have more effect. Tiger ended up making Fujiwara tap for the victory. 

Final Rating - ***½