Dradition - Tatsumi Fujinami Debut 45th Anniversary Show - 20/04/2017

As the title suggests, this is a show to celebrate Fujinami's 45 years in wrestling, topped with an all-star main event. Nothing blowaway here, but good enjoyable stuff from start to finish

Ryuta Hasumi & Super Tiger vs Nobuyuki Kurashima & Sanshu Tsubakichi

The first part of this match involves Kurashima and Tsubakichi working opposite Hasumi, slowly breaking down his resistance between them. Kurashima is able to control Hasumi on the mat, which slows him down enough that Tsubakichi is able to get in strikes, when he hadn’t been able to at the beginning of the bout. Kurashima hits a great looking deadlift back suplex. Tiger has to make several saves, as Hasumi is getting more and more overmatched. When Tiger gets in, he’s able to regain control for his team, though he does eat a nice STO from Tsubakichi. However, Tiger gets the win with a seated Octopus stretch on Tsubakichi. Fun opener.

LEONA vs Kenichiro Arai

LEONA is the son of Tatsumi Fujinami, so it makes sense for him to on this show. The match is worked with Arai as the wily veteran vs the less experienced LEONA, and Arai is a lot of fun in the role. Stooging about, hiding in a bid to avoid a LEONA dive and hitting a cheapshot off a handshake in the ropes. He also moves the ref into the corner in order to hide a low blow, and makes a liberal use of the ropes to help himself. LEONA hits a nice butterfly suplex and wins with a backslide.

Shinjiro Otani & the Great Kabuki vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshiaki Fujiwara

This is uncomplicated fun, with no-one really getting into second gear. This kind of helps with Kabuki, who doesn’t look in as good shape as the other three. Otani and Fujiwara work a fun segment based around Fujiwara’s hard head, before Fujiwara works an armbar vs chops section with Kabuki. Kabuki looks pretty hunched over, not in great shape, but he can still throw strikes and later works a decent strike exchange with Fujiwara. Otani looks unassuming, like a mild-mannered accountant out for the weekend, but his segment with Takaiwa is really fluid. Otani’s Tree of Woe dropkicks still look nasty. Kabuki works a claw section, and I like Otani pulling the ropes away to prevent a rope break. Takaiwa eats the red mist from Kabuki and staggers into an Otani lariat for the win.

KENSO & Mitsuya Nagai vs Naoki Sano & Yoshihiro Takayama

Another match that’s uncomplicated fun. KENSO has really nice physical charisma, he seems to have progressed a lot in that department in his WWE run. He slaps Sano from a rope break early, and Sano has this really confused sad pug look on his face. Nagai tries to outkick Takayama, which goes about as well as you’d expect. Nagai gets worked over, eating a nice belly-to-belly from Takayama, but makes a comeback with an unlikely exploder. Loved KENSO’s out of control dive, just looked like a big man using his body as a weapon with little regard of the consequences. Sano has nice spinning kicks, but gets isolated. KENSO hits a top rope elbow on him, and Nagai hits a top rope knee-strike to the face to win.

Riki Choshu, Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsumi Fujinami vs AKIRA, Keiji Mutoh & Vader

As is in keeping with the rest of this show, this is an enjoyable match without ever being close to being a classic. It’s very much a case of giving the crowd what they want, with all 6 men being able to hit their big stuff and get out without getting to exhausted (though Vader looks in bad shape afterwards, seemingly passing out on the mat in the post-match presentation ceremony to Fujinami). AKIRA is in the best shape of his team members, so ends up taking the bulk of the bumps for his team. Fujinami, apart from a really sloppy looking slam on Vader (felt like Vader wasn’t able to get himself up fully for the slam and Fujinami wasn’t strong enough to be able to adjust him in the air), looks good throughout, really fired up. He eats big moves from all the opposition – bear attack from Vader, Shining Wizard from Mutoh and top rope splash from AKIRA, but escapes at two. Unsurprisingly, it’s AKIRA who takes the fall, as Choshu nails a lariat and Fujinami locks in the Dragon sleeper for the tap.