FUJIWARASMIRK

Before going into the reviews, I’d like to remind readers that I recently introduced a Ko-Fi link! I’ll continue to be focusing my writing primarily on the year project, but if you’d like to see me write about any match of your choosing, I currently charge $3 a review, or $5 for any match that goes longer than an hour. You can find the link right here at https://ko-fi.com/fujiwarasmirk. I appreciate the continued support, and I hope you continue reading!

Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior (WWF WrestleMania VI, 4/1/90)

This is not complex.

This is, quite obviously, not some kind of workrate masterpiece or anything (and I’m not sure why you would expect that, quite frankly). This isn’t an intricate display of matwork or what have you. What this is, is a big spectacle match in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, The Hogan special if you will.

And it rules.

I don’t know what to say, man, it just works. Do they slow the match down to a tedious level at points with bear hugs? Sure, but it’s hard for me to be too mad about that with a crowd this electric and a match structure this engaging for those that choose to invest in it. As someone born like 15 years too young for Hulkamania and a decade too young for Ultimate Warrior’s ascension up the WWF ladder, I’m clearly not one for nostalgia with these two figures, but that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize such an immediately compelling clash between titans.

This is billed and advertised as a face vs. face bout, but maybe the most fascinating aspect of it is Hogan dipping his toes into heel waters with the faking of his leg injury. Many would say that Hogan always kept some of that bad guy DNA with him while he was on top of the mountain (the guy was still doing eye rakes, for God’s sake), but it reads like such an overtly dickish thing for him to do to gain an advantage, an insinuation that he feels the pressure of the younger, maybe more powerful wrestler in front of him, and he’ll do anything to maintain his spot.Interesting, too, is how this match gets to that point. It’s almost like a Hogan formula match flipped on itself, with Warrior routinely getting the better of the yellow and red clad megastar, forcing him to regroup outside with the leg strategy.

The gigantic clashes at the heart of this all kick ass, too; by the end, it really does feel like one big move from either man could seal the deal, even as both men power out of pin attempts to get the crowd to a fever pitch. Indeed, you could reasonably make the assumption that if Warrior doesn’t get out of the way at the exact right time to dodge the iconic leg drop, Hogan would’ve kept his spot as the top dog with both titles in his possession, but that’s not how the chips fell on that night.

Certainly, this match won’t be for everyone. Your mileage will definitely vary on how much Hogan bullshit, Warrior bullshit, and even WWF bullshit (ref bump at the climax, eat your heart out Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes) you’ll be able to tolerate, but this worked for me in a real way and I believe it’s a major bright spot in what’s been a solid but unspectacular year for the World Wrestling Federation so far.

Not bad for the second best Hogan match of the month.

Rating: ***3/4

El Dandy, El Satanico & Gran Hamada vs. Angel Blanco Jr., Emilio Charles Jr. & Pirata Morgan (EMLL Super Viernes, 4/6/90)

When I saw my beloved Gran Hamada showed up in an EMLL ring tagging with and against not just some of the best wrestlers in Mexico, but the entire world, I knew I just had to write about it.

Thankfully, the match itself is awesome!

While not being the most inspiring match to come out of the promotion so far this year, it’s still a handful of the best workers in the world clashing in fits of fury and violence, and it’s incredibly worthwhile. Whole lotta punches, whole lotta kicks, and a whole lotta underhandedness from the rudo trios, what’s not to love?

Emilio Charles Jr. is such a gremlin of a wrestler, and it how in everything I see him in. I love watching him stick to El Dandy as soon as he sees the indignant tecnico start to interfere with the action in the ring. I love watching him unload hands of stone upon our dream team of tecnicos, too, but I might actually prefer seeing him eat shit when those guys clock him right back in response.

Pirata Morgan, as usual, is so solid in his role as well, a fantastic mesh of viciousness and willingness to bump his ass off; the flip bump he takes off the apron from a Dandy enzuigiri is such good shit, along with him tripping on his feet immediately afterwards on the outside. Maybe even better is his bump right into the ringpost on the outside, baited by his former Los Infernales companion in Satanico.

All three of the tecnicos are on point as you would expect, with Hamada making things especially fun with his pinball energy and willingness to stand and bang with some of the best punchers in the company. He fucking launches himself into a lariat perfectly directed at Charles Jr.’s neck, and it’s that kind of energy that makes this go the extra distance to something genuinely great and worth recommending.

Not that the company needs some kind of shot in the arm with the level of consistency it’s been operating at, but it’s simply more interesting to have more random pop-ins like Hamada in these otherwise formulaic trios matches; you could replace him with an Atlantis, for example, and the quality wouldn’t be diminished whatsoever, but it misses the novelty factor that would make me want to write about this thing in the first place.

Rating: ***3/4

Mr. Saito vs. Larry Zbyszko (AWA SuperClash IV, 4/8/90)

Mr. Saito, or Masa Saito, and Larry Zbyszko are two of my guys. Ironically, the first match I’ve seen from both may have been their clash on the New Japan Tokyo Dome show from February of this year, a match I’ve revisited for this project and still enjoy a ton.

So, why am I writing about this match in a clearly dying promotion instead of the one two months prior on one of the biggest shows of the year?

Well, for one, this match has all-time great Nick Bockwinkel as a special guest referee, an advantage against most matches in most years in history, not just 1990 in particular.

For two, these men decided to have such a great, mean little title fight that surprised me so much I felt I had to talk it up.

Firstly, I want to talk about Masa Saito, who I have less to say about than his opponent, but not because of any blemishes on his part. His performance is literally rock-solid, a great contrast to the more flashy elements Zbyszko introduces into the bout; he’s often the one grounding the match in between the bigger moments of kineticism, such as his minutes-long facelock that Zbyszko has to fight and claw to get out of, or the scorpion deathlock he applies to wear down the challenger. He’s also often the one really laying shit in when it’s time to strike, pasting Zbyszko with palm strikes and ramming his head repeatedly into the turnbuckle until he drops like a stone. He also brings some spite to the affair, choking Zbyszko on the mat under the turnbuckle as if

Larry Zbyszko, though, is fucking outstanding here.

I knew I had to write about this when, at the start of the match, I saw him jaw jacking with Bockwinkel about Saito hitting him after he was touching the ropes, and then immediately started hammering the foreign champion in the back as soon as he found himself doing the same thing. It’s the kind of petty, hypocritical dickheadedness that made Larry Z so compelling a decade prior, and it’s the kind of thing that really sticks with me in the aftermath of my viewing.

The other thing that stuck with me is his unbelievable bumping and selling. It’s really hard to convey just how well his pinballing works here, but it’s why Saito’s straight-faced ass-kicking works as well as it does; when he falls down on his a and into the ropes off a headbutt, it really makes Saito seem like a million bucks, a worthy champion for the AWA. Even when he snatches control with a turning kick that catches Saito in the gut, he still struggles to his feet and stumbles back into the turnbuckle, or grabs at his back after reversing an octopus stretch. It’s him who makes this match truly special, and one of my favorite hidden gems of the project.

Rating: ***3/4

Genichiro Tenryu vs. Randy Savage (WWF/AJPW/NJPW Wrestling Summit, 4/13/90)

I mean, of course this rules.

Two of the biggest stars of their respective spheres in wrestling over the past decade squaring off in the Tokyo Dome is a surefire spectacle, especially with wrestlers the caliber of Genichiro Tenryu and Randy Savage. This isn’t an especially complicated or ambitious match, sure, but it’s immensely entertaining to see a fired-up Tenyru match up with a Savage still in or at the least just removed from his prime.

For Tenryu, the more sports-entertainment leaning affair that takes shape here really showcases his range and diversity. He can do the more sporting championship bouts that All Japan adhered to since its inception, as evidenced by a match I’ll be writing about a little further down this list, as well as out-of-control brawls and crowbar fests, as evidenced by the MVC tag from March as well as the next 25 years of his career, but the fact that he fits so seamlessly into this more Vince-esque vision of professional wrestling is reallly impressive. What’s more impressive is that he really doesn’t need to change much of anything up for this to work; he’s more fiery than usual, but aside from that he’s still the same stoic son-of-a-bitch we all know and love.

On the flip side, in the case of Savage, this bout is really a testament to how over his act could get in any setting. The wild eyes, the frantic, almost nervous energy he moves with, it all gets the crowd super invested in a match that already felt massive before the bell even rang. He’s constantly taking advantage of the distractions provided to him by his manager, Sensational Sherri, which seems so atypical of what you’d expect in this setting, but it works because it riles the crowd up. And, despite the WWF-ness of the whole affair, Savage taps into a more vicious style at points, driving his heel into Tenryu’s neck and choking him on the mat. These two both gel well together in this clash of styles, but it’s clear that if Savage really wanted to go on a run in Japan he’d be just successful as he is in Conneticut.

I’m not sure this would make a top 100 matches of either man, but it’s one I enjoy a lot simply as comfort food, watching two titans have a proper dream match in front of one of the biggest crowds of the year.

Rating: ***3/4

Stan Hansen vs. Hulk Hogan (WWF/AJPW/NJPW Wrestling Summit, 4/13/90)

I’m aware that Hogan/Warrior is not everyone’s cup of tea.

I do not presume to tell you, my dear readers, that Ultimate Warrior was a great or even good worker (though effective is maybe more accurate). I’m not going to tell you that you have to be into the real-life equivalent to throwing colorful action figures at each other, though I’d argue it fits into the grand spectacle it hypes itself as more than most in its vein. Even beyond its detractors, there are those that merely chalk the match up to crafty booking and layout by the likes of Pat Patterson backstage, a fluke of sorts, and I can understand that perspective.

This match has no such qualifiers.

Stan Hansen, force of nature that he is, is not known for having his matches laid out prior to walkouts. He is, however, known to throw lariats and clubbing fists like a son-of-a-bitch, and see what his opponent brings to the table in response. Doesn’t matter if it’s a young boy like Akira Taue or the biggest goddamn wrestler on earth, Hansen is guaranteed to hit you and expects to be hit back.

So, naturally, the biggest wrestler on earth hits back.

It’s almost shocking, how great Hogan is in this environment. Of course, he’s seen his fair share of brawls in the past decade, even bloody ones during his big world title reigns in the 80s, but this feels like the best asskicking performance he’s ever given. I hate to lend the “Hogan in Japan” narrative credence, but I’ve never enjoyed Hulkster more than when he’s going toe to toe with a behemoth like Hansen in this, putting the theatricalities on the backburner in favor of repeated punches to a (soon bloodied) forehead. He doesn’t Hulk Up when he gets hit, he simply decks Hansen with equal force. For a guy often booked as the wrestling equivalent to Superman over the last decade, this performance is almost Terminator-esque in Hogan’s relentless approach to inflicting pain, barely even acknowledging the large crowd he’s in front of.

Of course, this is Hansen’s domain of expertise, so it’s no shock that he’s also outstanding here. After the initial feeling-out period, he resorts to going blow for blow, feeling as if he has the advantage on the former WWF champion when it comes down to a fistfight. As always, the most impressive thing to me about Stan Hansen is how well he toes the line of vulnerability while never giving up his credibility; he knows exactly when he should look like the unstoppable juggernaut with the indestructable arm, and exactly when he should be stumbling around dazed after taking a shot to the head. He bumps his ass off for Hogan, too, dropping like a sack of potatoes off a lariat in the corner and flying out into the crowd after a right fist on the outside, and even eating immense shit on a table right after. To put it simply, the Texan gets his ass handed to him for large parts of this bout, which is maybe not how you would expect it to go when you read the names on paper, but it fits perfectly with Hogan’s uncharacteristic aggresion and Hansen’s wonderful selling chops.

Of course, no lead is ever safe against Hansen, and when he gets a chance to exact revenge he does exactly that, bloodying his opponent with fists and knee lifts right to the head. From there, it’s a battle of attrition to see who could do enough to get the pinfall. Naturally, being that we still are a ways away from Hulkamania being a thing of the past, and being that Hansen was a last-minute replacement for Terry Gordy who didn’t want Hogan to go over on him, the result of this match was never in any real doubt, but the fact that the crowd is still into all the nearfalls down the stretch is a testament to the hard work both men put in. Hogan wins, perhaps ironically, with a lariat, and Hansen storms, with a bloodied Hogan posing in the ring to big applause, a fitting end to one of the strongest matches of the year.

Rating: ****

Lizmark vs. Ulises (EMLL Super Viernes, 4/13/90)

This match was for Lizmark’s NWA Light Heavyweight Title, and it kind of took me off guard. With big names like Dandy, Satanico and Atlantis generating the bulk of my excitement for EMLL this year, it’s easier to overlook matches like these, even with wrestlers as solid as Lizmark and Ulises, but it’s a testament to the company with the best hitrate in history that I enjoyed this as much as I did. The first two falls are mostly standard fare, with a steady emphasis on matwork and limb targeting from both. The work is rock-solid, but it’s not until the third fall in which Ulises goes for a handshake and hug with the champion before immediately ramming his arm into the turnbuckle that this becomes something a little more impactful, a little more dangerous, and thus a little more resonant as a result. Ulises’s path to victory, of course, is to continue to attack that arm, so he does just that, and Limzark sells the varied attack wonderfully, holding the arm like a wounded bird would a hurt wing. They transition out of that to escalate the stakes, going for higher risks like dives to the outside and off the top rope en route to a near-spent Lizmark retaining the title off a sunset flip pin attempt. Great sleeper hit from a company on fire right now and showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Rating: ***3/4

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

When you wrestle Yoshiaki Fujiwara, you aren’t just wrestling the man, you’re also wrestling yourself. Arguably his greatest attribute is turning his opponent’s own body and mind against itself, playing a waiting game necessitated by his patient, defensive style to capitalize on the smallest mistakes and make them the key to his victories. Essentially, for as much as you have to worry about his own submissions and his sudden strikes and takedowns, you also have to keep yourself in check, make sure your execution never waver, your mind doesn’t falter, and that you put the old bastard away before he takes you to deeper water than you’re accustomed to.

Kazuo Yamazaki has come prepared for this.

Throughout the majority of this match, Yamazaki has an answer for anything Fujiwara attempts to do. It might seem headstrong for him to rush the veteran early on, but he’s ready to counter the takedown attempts Fujiwara’s conditioned to go for in response. When Fujiwara traps him in the corner and starts unloading punches to his stomach, Yamazaki merely answers back with knees to the midsection. When Fujiwara counters a boston crab attempt and sends Yamazaki flying, Yamazaki is disciplined enough to hold on to the legs and apply a leglock. The impressive thing here is that Yamazaki’s often the aggressor in the exchanges, such as when he gets Fujiwara on the ropes and repeatedly knee him in the stomach; you’d expect this to be to Fujiwara’s advantage, but when the wily old man can’t keep a hold on for too long, it does seem to lend to the idea that this might be Yamazaki’s night, his chance to beat his mentor and former partner where he once could not a year prior.

Unfortunately for him, though, Fujiwara’s not going to just give a win away where he can help it.

There’s a sequence in this on the mat where it felt like I was watching Fujiwara slowly unweave a web that Yamazaki had spun as he was breaking out of a submission attempt before swiftly spinning one of his own, a leglock that put Yamazaki in real trouble for the first time all match. From there, although the advantage remained in Yamazaki’s favor for a while afterward, you could feel it slowly trickling towardss Fujiwara as the match wore on. He reverses a hold and forces Yamazaki to grab the ropes, and I swear there’s a spring to Fujiwara’s step as he gets back up. These rope breaks on Yamazaki’s end become more and more prevalent as the match continues, even leading to a referee count of 9 as he struggles to get back to his feet. Yamazaki’s aggresion does end up catching up to him when a stray body kick gets caught and leads to a mercilessly wicked ankle lock that Yamazaki only barely gets himself out of.

For as much as Fujiwara starts applying pressure in the back half, though, Yamazaki never folds. Every exchange on the mat is a constant fight for positioning from both men, very clearly an uphill battle for the younger competitor but one he remains steadfast in fighting. He knees his former mentor in the head while he looks for ways to submit him, and then resists Fujiwara’s triangle choke long enough for him to get up and make him pay for it. He even manages to grab a leglock, which he transitions into a half-crab that it takes everything in Fujiwara’s power to escape from.

By this point, it’s anyone’s match, and both men know it. After a bit of stalling via adjusting his socks, Fujiwara uncharacteristically becomes the aggresor and goes for the kill shot, unleasing a flurry of strikes in the corner that might have signaled the end for Yamazaki, had he not managed a huge German suplex that leave Fujiwara stumbling long enough for Yamazaki to nail him with a head kick. Ten seconds later, and one of the biggest underdog stories of the year (and of UWF 2.0’s history) has been successfully completed.

The best UWF match of the year to date.

Rating: ****

Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Danny Spivey & Stan Hansen (AJPW Champion Carnival 1990 – Day 18, 4/19/90)

Miracle Violence Connection are so fucking bipolar, man. It feels like you can flip a coin and one side would signify a low effort, plodding affair like their match against Can-Am Express a few days prior to this, and on the other side would be great, gritty slugfests like this match and the Tenryu/Hansen tag earlier in the year. Obviously, replacing an all-time great in Tenryu with a…let’s say serviceable hand in Dan Spivey caps the quality of this one in comparison, but it’s still much the same as it was then, hard hitting and impressive power moves for 20 minutes. Gordy in particular is really throwing heaters here, slapping the piss out of a bloodied Hansen who promptly responds with headbutts. Perhaps more impresssive of the duo though was Steve Williams, on fire as a big bruiser that’s willing to stretch his opponents out just as much as hold them in the air for seconds at a time. And, while Spivey isn’t exactly ideal in here with the other three, he’s more than capable enough to hold his own, taking and dishing violence in equal measure and mixing it up well on the mat. MVC retain the titles after a rollup from Williams following a missed elbow drop from Spivey, but the crowning moment of all comes immediately afterwards whe Hansen levels him with a signature Western Lariat; didn’t get him the win, or the titles, but it damn sure solidfied this as a match worth going out of your way to watch.

Rating: ***1/2

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW Champion Carnival 1990 – Day 18, 4/19/90)

It’s unfortunate when a match that sounds as good as this one does on paper is hampered by backstage politics. In this match’s case, Tenryu is on his way out the door of All Japan after significant disagreements over his booking, and as such Baba was inclined to make his biggest rivals (Jumbo and Hansen) look much stronger than him, hence why Hansen attacks him before the bell and Jumbo basically dominates the entire match as a result. It’s a bitterly dissapointing end to one of the best feuds in wrestling in Jumbo vs. Tenryu, and one that would unfortunately never be revisited in the wake of Jumbo’s retirement and passing.

Thankfully, this match is just great enough to get past all that baggage.

Of course, Tenryu’s not really asked to do much here, but everything he does do is great. In particular the slap he gives a sympathetic, almost pitying Jumbo is perfectly in tune with what this feud has been about, only further exemplified by Jumbo’s temper flaring up immediately afterwards, once again proving a point Tenryu’s been trying to make about his former partner since they split apart. His selling of Jumbo’s onslaught is very good, often making it look even more impactful from the way he’ll grab at his face in agony after a knee drop from the middle rope or roll out of the ring after a pinfall attempt. When he doe get a chance to be on offene he looks great, wrenching on a killer leglock that ends Jumbo writhing in pain. For as much as Baba wanted to bury the man on his way out, there’s only so much you can do to someone as innately great as Genichiro Tenryu, especially one in the midst of his prime.

In contrast, this is completely and totally the Jumbo Tsuruta show.

Everything he does here just stands out so vividly, in practically every facet a pro wrestler can excel in. The early selling of the head is great, with him grabbing at it multiple times as if there’s a searing pain in his forehead from Tenryu’s early rush. The later selling of his knee when Tenryu get a few brief moments of control and attacks the leg off a missed jumping knee in the corner is incredible, both from his physical body language and his vocality. Where he really shines, though, is in his work in control, a necessity given how long the match asks him to do so. He strikes the perfect balance of brutal but not overly malicious, a line we’ll see him cross repeatedly as the year goes on. Is he being a dick when he drops a knee onto Tenryu’s face in the ring and on the floor outside? Absolutely, but it doesn’t feel quite a murderous as it would when he’s opposite a certain wrestler in green tights a couple months down the line. Additionally, his offense is really varied, both with his strikes (lariats in the corner, two-handed chops, kicks to the face) and the moves he unleashes (knee drops, jumping knees, backdrop suplexes, piledrivers, etc). He truly portrays an insurmountable wall incredibly effectively here, a storm that can’t truly be weathered if you aren’t at 100%, and his emphatic backdrop driver to retain the Triple Crown proves as such.

Not what it once was, unfortunately, but this pairing truly cannot miss even with all the factors stacked against it.

Rating: ***3/4

Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono (NJPW Shinto Fight STATION BAY N.K., 4/27/90)

This was Keiji Muto’s first match back in New Japan since his enormously beneficial excursion to WCW as the Great Muta character, and you can immediately tell from how hot the crowd is at everything he does. He’s pretty electric here too, moving with an urgency that’s often absent in his later years. He bounces incredibly well off of Hashimoto especially, providing a perfect foil to the big man’s dangerous aura with his frenetic energy. Speaking of Hashimoto, it’s pretty impressive to me how much he already resembles the perennial best in the world candidate he would evolve into in the next 3-4 years. As mentioned before, he already moves in a way that feels constantly menacing, as if he’s ready to fire off one of his devastating kicks at any moment, and it’s often Chono who takes the brunt of them here. Chono (and Saito) don’t immediately stand out like their respective partners do, but they’re both really solid in there with two of the most exciting prospects in the company at the moment. Saito’s offense, as usual, all looks real great and mean, and Chono does an admirable job of getting his ass kicked by both he and Hash for the majority of this. What really puts this match over the top for me. is the pace of it, constantly moving upward and escalating as both teams gain and lose the advantage before culminating in a Muto hot tag that practically tears the roof off the building as he unloads rights at Masa Saito, reverses a backdrop suplex, and takes advantage of an errant spinning kick from Hash long enough to hit his moonsault to win the tag titles. Great match, and a real spark for a promotion that’s already been pretty great all year.

Rating: ****

Atlantis, El Dandy & El Satanico vs. Emilio Charles Jr., MS-1 & Ulises (EMLL Domingos De Coliseo, 4/29/90)

The great match factory once again churns out another hit, this time a trios match with most of the usual suspects involved. It’s interesting how much quality can be gleaned from such a simple formula; tecnicos shine and take the first fall, rudos cheat and dominate the second fall (usually in short order, as this one goes), and then the tecnicos fight back in the third. It could easily run the risk of coming across to formulaic and thus formless in the sea of other trios matches that EMLL runs this year, but it always manages to strike me as great, in large part due to the great and reasonably varied perfomances given every week. For instance, on the tecnico side, Atlantis is the flashy one, often impressing with his moves and dives in contrast to the more grounded, punch-heavy Satanico who picks fights with his former Los Infernales teammate MS-1 as much as possible, and Dandy serves as the team’s jack-of-all-trades, mixing it up with Ulises on the mat with the same intensity that he trade punches with Emilio Charles Jr. On the rudo side, Emilio continue to be the angriest man in the building, throwing fists with any tecnico in his vicinity, while Ulises is more in support of his teammates and MS-1 focuses on Satanico, even going blow for blow with him on the mat during the climax of the third fall. All the individual parts come together to elevate this beyond the standard solid-to-good quality that you often see from week-to-week EMLL and into legitimately great, another notch on the belts of El Dandy and El Satanico in 1990.

Rating: ***3/4