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.
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