FUJIWARA GUMI CHAPTER 4

August 23, 1991

Kazuo Takahashi . . . continues to be an undercard highlight, despite being so inexperienced.

Jerry Flynn . . . (yes, that one) plays to Bart Vale’s strengths and the result is the best Vale match ever.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara . . . takes the biggest guy he can find and literally chops him down to size.

DUANE KOSLOWSKI vs. KAZUO TAKAHASHI

The word that best sums up this match is ‘baseline’ - it’s a perfectly fine and watchable match, but there’s very little about it that truly stands out. Takahashi puts in another fine performance, and if nothing else, it’s a little bit of progress for him to lose to someone that has some credentials to his name. Duane works much the same way that he did with Shamrock with the amateur mindset and no personality, although between the fact that it’s only his third match and that PWFG only runs once a month, it’s hardly reasonable to expect him to turn the corner already. They mostly work the mat, as expected, and it’s impressive to see that Takahashi can keep up with Duane and even outdo him a few times. The only time it seems like the match might end is when Takahashi surprises Duane with a big throw, which really seems to hurt him, and then does an Achillies lock. But Duane uses the ropes to escape, and the next mat sequence is Duane outdoing Takahashi and getting on his own Achillies lock. When Duane’s German suplex nearly wins by KO, it’s obvious that Takahashi is on borrowed time, and it’s remarkable that he hangs in as long as he does afterwards. It’s also nice to see that it’s not a suplex that finishes him. Duane certainly tries for it, but Takahashi has a block ready and tries to counter, only for Duane to counter him right back into a sleeper.

BART VALE vs. JERRY FLYNN

This may very well be Bart Vale’s career best match. This is sort of like a Nakano/Miyato match in that they’re not going to wow anyone with their matwork, but the striking portions are good enough to keep things moving. They’re each looking for the big KO shot, and although neither of them lands it, they both come close. They both also show some noticeable dislike for each other. I don’t know if they had any history in Florida, but if not, it’s even more remarkable. Again, the matwork isn’t anything special, but Flynn’s selling and reactions to the few holds that Bart can get applied is another nice thing to see. The early chickenwing armlock segment is one of their few non-striking highlights. Bart can’t get it fully locked in, but he gets it enough to make Flynn yelp and scoot for the ropes which makes Bart lose his grip. So, Bart needs to get it again, which makes Flynn scurry more and they repeat it until Flynn gets there. Vale’s eventual win looks like something out of the playbook of The Fuj: Flynn hits a spin kick to the ribs which only drops Bart to one knee, but he stays down for a nine count in order to rest, and when Flynn tries to press things Vale takes him down in a headlock and cranks it just enough for the submission. Vale would never become a world class worker; but it’s still nice to see a match like this, that shows what he could accomplish in the right setting with the right opponent.

YOSHIAKI FUJIWARA vs. LATO KIRAWARE

Well, this must be one of the goofiest shootstyle matches out there. For as much of a size advantage as he has, Lato doesn’t even attempt to use it. And, for as much of an advantage as The Fuj would have on the mat, he doesn’t go there either. In fact, the only hold of the match, outside of clinching, is when Lato catches a kick and fumbles with a legbar before trying a half crab that Fujiwara easily gets out of. No, on this night, Fujiwara decided to showcase his striking ability by literally chopping down the biggest opponent he could find. He throws kicks and Lato topples like a house of cards. It usually only takes one or two of them to knock the big man off his feet. Yes, just kicks. The Fuj doesn’t even need to dig out his trusted headbutt. He just unloads on him, and eventually (maybe after getting called down too many times) the ref just calls it. Lato does get in one good shot of his own, when he gets some distance between them and hits Fujiwara with a running headbutt to knock him down, and Fujiwara’s reaction to it is positively priceless; as though he’s not sure if he should be impressed or amused.

Before the main event we’re treated to another mixed match, this time Lawi Napataya tangles with Minoru Suzuki. Like Fuke, Suzuki is good enough not to let the kickboxer land anything too cleanly. Unlike the rookie, Suzuki is good enough to be able to take him down, and once Suzuki gets him down, he has no problem locking in a juji-gatame and scoring the tap out.

MASAKATZU FUNAKI vs. WAYNE SHAMROCK

Outside of the last minute, culminating in Shamrock getting the KO win, there isn’t a whole lot to this. They both seem to want to win on the mat, which isn’t surprising, but neither of them is able to get a real advantage there. There are a couple of times that Funaki makes Shamrock yelp and grab the ropes, and Shamrock can take Funaki by surprise, but it comes from little things like Shamrock trying to work for a sleeper and Funaki turning his ankle, or Funaki blocking a chickenwing and Shamrock clamping on a head scissors and turning his neck. Nothing that really looks like a dangerous finisher. The one time that Funaki does catch Shamrock, all he has to do is twist his body and they both get tangled up in the ropes and the ref forces a break.

Once it’s announced that twenty minutes have passed, they both seem keen to end it quickly. The chess match feel of their mat segments is replaced with them doing something of a sprint and throwing strikes at each other. Shamrock slips behind and looks for a suplex and Funaki tried to deadweight him, but then he makes the mistake of throwing an elbow. Shamrock avoids the elbow and hooks the arm and that gives him the leverage to take Funaki over in a Dragon suplex. The suplex finish is a bit ironic because they both had used throws earlier in the match to get them into better position to get a hold locked in. But, between the opening that Shamrock got and how long the match had been going (more than double the length of the opener, which was the second longest of the evening), the suplex by itself is enough to end the match. Shamrock avenges his previous loss in the UWF finale and hands Funaki is second straight loss in the PWFG era.

Conclusion: This has been the best overall PWFG card thus far, the action is solid up and down the card.