WAR Wrestle Association-R – Irrational General 3 Wars 09/25 -10/29/95
By Maffew Gregg on 14 April 2024
Wrestle Association-R
Wrestle And Romance is dead, all hail Wrestle Association-R!
Their first show after the name change is…a tape dedicated to everyone’s favourite Fuyuki-Gun member? Oh.
09/29/95
Chiba Koen Taiikukan
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shiro Koshinaka
Fuyuki spent the entire WAR vs. NJPW feud getting splayed by Shiro so let’s see if he’s levelled up enough to beat him. The footage is so dimly lit and grainy you’d think they were fighting in the Falklands. Fuyuki-Gun bum-rush Shiro so Fuyuki can start the match by removing the turnbuckle pad. Shiro spends the first half getting stomped and eaten which gets the crowd loudly supporting Shiro. Shiro tries to use a chair but the ref is like WOAH ONLY FUYUKI-GUN CAN CHEAT so he’s only able to gently ding Fuyuki’s cheesecake of a head. Both men are bleeding and powering out of shots now, acting like they’ve been at it for thirty minutes. Fuyuki lobs a table at Shiro but when Shiro tries to do the same, he runs away. Shiro does not like that and does his best to JFK Fuyuki with THE ASS off the top.
Shiro double stomps Fuyuki for two as the big man is trying to make this dramatic but crowd is 100% Shiro. Fuyuki escapes a camel clutch with a bite and crowd doesn’t like it. I know that sounds like a dumb thing to type because of course the crowd would boo that, but Fuyuki had been getting positive responses for his bollocks on other shows. Not here though. On the tape dedicated to him.
Shiro is dealing with Fuyuki’s awkwardness by simply ignoring his shots when he isn’t feeling it. Ha. Fuyuki kicks out of three powerbombs and a THE ASS so Jado grabs Shiro’s ankle to regain the advantage. Fuyuki goes low to keep the pressure on and sticks in a Stretch Plumb that Shiro sells like death, only barely able to power out and deliver a Superplex…which causes Fuyuki to pop up and lariat Shiro. Crowd doesn’t even like THAT and THAT was cool. Fuyuki-Gun Superbomb Shiro off the apron onto the cold, unforgiving blue mats. Shiro takes it pretty well as he’s able to block a crossbody with a kneel. Fuyuki-Gun interfere again with a Running Lariat ending it at 13:17 despite Shiro kicking out at 2.9 and massive boos.
Shiro was willing to take and give anything Fuyuki threw at him but it didn’t work as well as they were presumably hoping for as the crowd didn’t give two THE ASS about Fuyuki or his push. Shiro looked good when he was ignoring Fuyuki but I couldn’t think of a more counter-productive match to showcase for a dude WAR were pushing.
10/05/95
Omiya Skate Center
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Koji Kitao
Their only singles match, which is for the best. Tenryu really had a thing for chubby idiots. Fuyuki stalls until Kitao throws his lardy kicks and Fuyuki sells them like death blows, necessitating more time to ponder. Kitao armbars Fuyuki to show off his various gimmicks like a James Bond car chase. Kitao locks in a STF so the Gunners run in to save their meal ticket. Fuyuki is able to make a comeback with the crowd supporting his cheating. Kitao’s useless second is sent into a million chairs at ringside so Kitao escapes to save his idiot and also kick Fuyuki so he starts moaning. Kitao gets a respectful round of applause for rolling him back in rather than take the easy count out. KITAO GETTING POLITE APPLAUSE? And it wasn’t for finishing his veg? Kitao respectfully kicks an injured-looking Fuyuki while giving him a chance to recover, including the best spot Kitao’s ever been done, countering Fuyuki’s charging lariat with a big boot.
Kitao is doing too good so Jado unleashes a fire extinguisher at him, allowing Kitao to get triple teamed by Fuyuki-Gun before taking a charging lariat at 9:12.
Not great by any means but amazing by Kitao’s standards, with Fuyuki clearly puppeteering him around but fair play to the docile doughboy for being able to follow instructions. Crowd were far more willing to cheer Fuyuki’s cheating against the hated Kitao.
Oh and speaking of Kitao:
Kitao had a 20 minute meeting with Royce Gracie. Gracie makes his first trip to Japan at the end of November to promote his family’s videotapes.
Oh that’s going to backfire tremendously in a few months.
10/29/95
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu
Tenryu has beaten Fuyuki several times already in big matches so with the big man getting the big push, you’d think this is the time for the big win, right?
Fuyuki-Gun sneak attack Tenryu at ringside but Kitao shows up to make it clear this is a fair fight and they skedaddle to the back. Fuyuki takes this opportunity to lariat an unsuspecting Tenryu off the apron and follow with a giant crossbody to the outside. Tenryu (with short hair that doesn’t suit him) gets stretched with plumbs for a while. After a comeback gets cut shorter than his hair, Fuyuki bonks Tenryu into the exposed turnbuckle while the crowd mock Fuyuki’s yelling. Eventually Tenryu has enough and stands directly in front of Fuyuki while staring into his soul.
Tenryu blasts the WMX7 My Way montage right into Fuyuki’s skull while the crowd are thankful for him shutting up. Fuyuki gets kicked off the top rope to the outside so Tenryu follows with a tope cos his haircut makes him aerodynamic. Tenryu is so mad he mocks Fuyuki’s taunt-pin (that Jericho stole) and kicks him in the face until Jado uses the Warrior ’98 flame on Tenryu. Fuyuki is so mad that Jado would do this that he runs outside to slap him before lariating Tenryu for two. What? Why is he trying to be honourable after already having them cheat earlier? Tenryu kicks out of a powerbomb and he’s raging at the inconsistency of this and slaps him right in the mush. Fuyuki lands a ridiculous rolling Kappo kick and only Tenryu and his lack of hair could sell that like a world-beater. Tenryu pushes Fuyuki off the top rope and lands some SNUG kicks to the face. If nothing else the audio is amazing here, every slap and chop sounding like gunfire at night. Tenryu fires off some powerbombs and ends it at 13:20.
Even though the bits with Fuyuki-Gun didn’t make sense, crowd was very, very into this encounter and it was their best singles match together. And yet I watched it thinking “Fuyuki’s simply not at the level they want him to be, is he?”
So we get three different versions of Fuyuki on this tape: Heel Cheater, Face Cheater and Honourable Cheater. Only the Face Cheater worked on any level and the Tenryu match as good as it was, only showed that the crowd like him at a certain level i.e. not at the main event. For a modern comparison, imagine if MJF beat Moxley in 2019 and you’re nearly there.
All this tape proved is that Fuyuki may have had a Gun but it wasn’t always loaded.
And he’d be gone in a year’s time.
