Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 17: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Steve Keirn (11/6/80)

We saw this one early on (Match # 2). It had a good storyline to a 2/3 falls match, and now the long awaited rematch begins.

Fujinami has confetti in his hair at the start. It’s a good look for him. Keirn fireman carries early on are fun. I’m a mark for that move. Fujinami counters with some good head scissors. You get the typically strong Fujinami mat work here, and Keirn is decent in his own right. I’d say he’s doing more than following along. In typical Fujinami fashion he ends up being controlled and beaten down a bit, gets frustrated, and then has some bursting comebacks that are great to watch. He isn’t my favorite wrestler overall, but for the early 80s New Japan he’s the man.

Fujinami takes out Keirn’s knee hard and works him over, causing Keirn to pull out some desperation sleeper holds. Fujinami escapes and hits a wicked knee drop from the top rope. The finish comes at about seventeen minutes when they go a few reversals and Fujinami hits a German suplex for the win. Solid, if uneventful, stuff at this point. 3 and 6/10.