Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 12: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kengo Kimura (9/25/80)

This seriously has the makings of a mirror match. Go ahead, make fun of me. They both have similar hair, bodies, and the same black tights. I’m screwed here once they start rolling around.

Unless there’s a close up on the ground I’m lost as to who is who, but the work on the mat and exchanging of holds/reversals is really solid here. Very smooth, while a strong style at the same time. It contains the shoot grappling aspect that I liked from some ROH matches in the early ‘00s where I first saw the style. It breaks down into nasty kicks about ten minutes in, and I’m hoping it goes to another level now, leaving the holds in the background. Kimura’s attempt at breaking out of an arm bar has a real aspect to it. The whole contest has a “real” feel to it, and both guys come off as being competitive, but honorable.

Fujinami is put into some peril in the last 1/3 of the match, but he survives a back drop driver and reassesses. Fujinami’s struggle to escape an arm bar is pretty epic in and of itself. When they do run the ropes it’s quick intense stuff. Other exchanges look sloppy, but the crowd is into this one.

There’s a vicious pile driver in this one that you have to see to believe, I think by Kimura. He dives to the outside and beats Fujinami some more. Fujinami barely makes the count out. He wipes out on a dive and barely makes another count. Kimura is bleeding, so now I can distinguish between the two better. Fujinami drop kicks Kimura off the top rope. It’s really built up now. Dramatic stuff. The match ends there with a pull apart, as I’d guess this is a twenty minute time limit. Both guys are spent. It became something special as they went on, and I’d dig a rematch. 3 ½ and 7.2/10.