[1994-04-04-NJPW] Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Shinya Hashimoto

Super simple, intense affair between two of the greatest workers New Japan ever had. This works because New Japan booking conditions you that heavyweight matches can be fickle. Either of these guys can snap an arm or leg at anytime to decide the match. Fujinami is wary of Hashimoto early on, and prevents his assault for a moment by pushing him into the corner and decking him with lefts and rights, but soon Hashimoto goes after him like a demon. Fujinami just takes a monumental assbeating in this, as Hashimoto kicks him in the eye, in the face, in the back of the head, kicks him in the corner and then throws him back in the middle so he can kick him some more while he's down. In NJPW there's not always a „big comeback“ after a beatdown so fans buy the possibility that Hash may just beat Fujinami to death right there and win. Fujinami is a supreme seller when he wents to and you really buy the potential ref stoppage from his „holy shit I can't move“ state. Brutal stuff that draws you in, exactly the type of bout these two are so good at.