I decided to attempt to tackle PURO, so I've been feeling my way around, checking out the most heavily-pimped guys, trying to find a starting point. Thus far, Fujiwara has stuck out as the guy who most appeals to me. Basically, that means I prefer shoot-style stuff to the grandiose slugfests put on by AJPW heavyweights and the athletic sprints put on by Liger & co. Not that I dislike the other stuff, but yeah, Fujiwara's been rocking my world. So, bear with me: I'm going to do my best with analyzing and assessing a style that's brand-new to me. I've been watching early UWF stuff, which maybe still had elements of traditional pro-style stuff, but they're clearly working towards something new and more realistic, etc.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (Sayama) - UWF 9/7/84
Evidently, UWF pioneered shoot-style. Also, Super Tiger is the same Sayama who worked as Tiger Mask against Dynamite Kid, but this is much better than I remember those matches being. Watching this, you wouldn't believe it's the same dude who has a rep for whiffing kicks and no-selling. This was totally awesome, btw. They work the mat ruggedly and realistically, struggling for everything, and my favorite part is that they continuously go for kimuras and cross armbreakers and triangle chokes, but they don't get them locked in. The other guy always protects himself, and whenever it looks like the hold is cinched in, the guy in the hold sells it like death and yells and rushes to the ropes to break the holds. They make it seem like their arm's about to break because their arm is about to break because those two arm holds will break arms fast.
Story-wise, Fujiwara establishes himself as the superior mat worker. He doesn't dominate, but he definitely looks to have the other hand. He targets the arm but, like I said, Tiger can hang well enough to keep it from getting locked in. Sayama is known as a martial-artist, so he relies on kicks. Fujiwara sells his kicks like death, and aside from one bicycle kick attempt that goes awry, Sayama's kicks look stellar. He eventually goes to the air to try to put Fujiwara away and misses twice and maybe lands on his knees, so Fujiwara switches his focus to the leg, using a half-crab and a figure-four, which are less lethal holds, but they take a lot away from Sayama's offense. Sayama does sell the leg work and he sells it well, but he still manages to make his comeback. Fujiwara backs him into the corner and grabs a leg, and Sayama counters with that mule kick that Jeff Hardy does. He really nails it, and he follows it up with another great kick, and Fujiwara sells both like death, and then Sayama goes for a crossface chickenwing. Felt a bit out of nowhere for a finish, but with the way they put Sayama's kicks over, I'd buy that two big kicks nearly twenty minutes in would rock Fujiwara enough for Sayama to look in a hold that would finish him off.
Bunches of other awesome stuff in this match. Loved they way they struggled for holds and avoided and sold the dangerous ones; loved the way Fujiwara sold Sayama's kicks; loved how his strategy evolved throughout the match. Also, there was this great moment where Sayama slapped Fujiwara in the face. Fujiwara didn't have to do a lot with his face to look pissed because he was a naturally grumpy-looking dude. He lures Sayama to the corner and then throws him into the buckle and slaps the piss out of him. Fujiwara didn't go to strikes much, so that slap felt significant. There was also a really cool exchange where Sayama went for a triangle but Fujiwara didn't let him have his arm. Fujiwara then pulled his head out of the triangle and countered directly into a piledriver and then immediately went for the kimura again. Sayama sold it like death and went to the ropes and it was awesome.
Not sure how to rate/rank something like this, but I thought it was legit great.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger - UWF 9/11/84
Didn't like this quite as much as the first, but it was still really awesome. More great mat work, and they made Sayama's kicks an even bigger deal. Opening stages are really cool, as Sayama threatens with kicks to back Fujiwara off, and you can tell Fujiwara wants to get in close to take Sayama down and neutralize his kicks. There are a lot more strikes in this one, and Sayama goes deeper into his kick arsenal, which is a bad thing: the more complicated the kicks get, the less they connect. Still, Fujiwara sells them like death, and they do a few awesome things with the strikes. At one point, Fujiwara gets pissed and takes Sayama to the corner and decks him in the face. It's awesome. Later, he tries the same thing in the opposite corner, but Sayama blocks the punch and throws one of his own, then hits a spin kick to the gut in the corner. Fujiwara's sell rules. Later, he blocks that same spin kick attempt. Basically, it was awesome to watch strategies unfold simultaneously for the mat work and for the strike exchanges.
Finish was really great, too. Sayama hit that same mule kick that set up his victory in the first match. Fujiwara sells it brilliantly and then backs off into the corner to try to protect himself. Sayama pulls him out in a waistlock; Fujiwara elbows him in the face and immediately goes into a Fujiwara armbar. Awesome callback. Awesome awesome match. About on par with the first one.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki - UWF 1/7/85
Man, this was totally awesome. They open up with mat work and look pretty even until Yamazaki kicks Fujiwara's face off. Fujiwara sells kicks perfectly, so from now on, whenever I say someone kicks Fujiwara in the face, assume that kick is followed by top-notch selling unless I say otherwise. Ditto for if he gets kicked in the gut, leg, arm, etc. Wherever he gets kicked, he sells it well. Better than well. Anyway, Yamazaki backs Fujiwara into the corner and kicks the piss out of him, and Fujiwara balls up in the corner and covers up, and it's really something to see that grumpy-looking badass get leveled by a skinny dude. Fujiwara has been totally willing to put his opponents over with his selling, which is really awesome. He eventually gets up, though, and then he throws Yamazaki into the corner and throws these gorgeously nasty punches to the Yamazaki's mid-section. Just all over the place, wherever Yamazaki leaves an opening.
And from then on, these dudes are just mean to each other. It's really a battle of Yamazaki's kicks against Fujiwara's punches, with some beautiful slaps sprinkled throughout, until Fujiwara finally gets fed up and grabs Yamazaki's leg and takes him to the ground and starts tearing at his leg. Then they go back to mat work, and though I didn't like this as much as the Sayama matches on the whole, I'd say the mat work was even better. The stuff they do makes so much sense: they find openings and grab limbs and wrench on them, and then they sell and it's awesome. There's nothing fancy or clever, and I find it weird that a lot of this surprised me because it really looked so natural. This looked like two guys fighting on a mat. There was this awesome moment where Fujiwara went for a figure-four, and he had Yamazaki's left leg wrapped up, so Yamazaki just grabbed his right leg and held it in so Fujiwara couldn't complete the hold. Then, Fujiwara just sat on Yamazaki's left leg. Brilliant. Finish was great, too: Fujiwara locked in the kimura and Yamazaki went to the ropes, so Fujiwara picked him up, slapped the piss out of him, and then took him back down. Yamazaki kept sitting up to prevent Fujiwara from getting full pressure on the kimura, so Fujiwara turned it into a rear choke. No body scissors or anything: just one arm wrapped around his neck until he submitted. Fucking awesome. Yeah: stiff strikes, realistic mat work, perfect selling, and a general feeling of flat-out dislike: I loved this.
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