Glass Hand Dissolving: Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito

 

vs Pedro Morales & Ray Stevens (San Fransisco 12/27/1975)

We're watching this short, silent, 8mm footage instead of anything else for one reason really, and that is, unless there's some extenuating circumstance or outstanding reason not to, like a "five star" match I want to revisit, I want to use these posts to watch new stuff, not stuff I've seen before. I've watched, to my knowledge, all of the All-Star Wrestling from the Fuji and Saito era of WWF, along with all of the house show footage from that period. That doesn't leave a ton to watch, and this, if nothing else is novel. We get to see a little of Fuji working his schtick, Morales hit a really big backbreaker, and some brief moments otherwise. No much to be gleaned, but Ray Stevens is one of those mythical sort of guys with limited footage and a big reputation, and is worth investigating. He doesn't do much in this short sample, I'll say that. 

vs Andre the Giant & Rick McGraw (WWF 4/20/1982)

This is a real piece of business here, not much of a match, but a pretty great piece of wrestling TV. This is maybe five minutes max, but a lot happens. Saito and Fuji injure Rick McGraw, and it looks like that's going to be it, but Andre decides to take on Saito and Fuji on his own. The crowd gets behind Andre in a big way as he has to make a comeback. When Andre finally turns the tables, Blackjack Mulligan hits the ring with a chair and bloodies up Andre. I don't know how much Saito and Fuji have to do with this, really, other than being a credible team that seems like a challenge to Andre two-on-one. 

vs The Strongbows (WWF 7/24/1982)

I have seen a handful of Strongbows matches that I liked, and a lot that I didn't, so we're entering into this with pretty low expectations.  This is two-out-of-three falls, and Saito and Fuji take the first fall very quickly as Saito distracts the referee while Fuji throws salt and lowblows Jules Strongbow. After the fall, Saito and Fuji continue the attack, going after both Strongbows and throwing them out of the ring. I might be grading it on a curve, but it was a pretty strong first fall all things considered. The second fall starts with Saito continuing to pound on Jules, who, after an extended beatdown, is able to crawl to his corner and tag in Jay Strongbow. Chief Jay doesn't do much better, but buys enough time to get Jules a break. Jules tags back in and rather quickly grabs a sleeper and gets the fall to even up the match. The third fall starts with the Strongbows in control; Chief Jay grabs a sleeper, which forces Fuji to come into the ring. Mr. Fuji has some more salt, so he throws that, which draws the attention of the referee, which then allows Lou Albano to come in and cheapshot Jay and put Saito on top. When the referee is done dealing with Jules and Fuji, he counts the three and Fuji and Saito win the match. This was really good. I liked all of this; it played to everyone's strengths in a way that moved the match forward. 

vs S.D. Jones & Frank Williams (WWF 8/25/1982)

Fuji and S.D. work the opening parts of this match, and for the most part it is pretty even. Fuji gets a bit of an advantage and tags out. Frankie Williams, on the other hand, does not acquit himself well; first Fuji, then Saito, take it to him. That's pretty much the match; Fuji and Saito smother Williams, and eventually Fuji hits a Vader Bomb for the win. This was a perfectly fine squash match. 

vs The Strongbows (WWF 11/6/1982)

The Strongbows get a lot of this match. Fuji doesn't get much offense at all; Saito gets some in spots, but both Jules and Jay get to show out a little bit here. These aren't guys who have the kinds of offense to show out, but they are over with the crowd, so that makes up for their lack of pop and sizzle. Jay hits a sloppy Thesz Press, and the Strongbows win the tag titles. The crowd is excited in a way that crowds haven't been for 40 years, like people at ringside want to shake Jay and Jules' hands in congratulations. As a match, it isn't much outside of an effective vehicle to get the belts onto the face team. 

Verdict

This is a good team. They don't have a ton of great matches on tape, but you can see it from what he have. Saito is a great wrestler, as we've seen; his offense is credible, he understands structure and pacing, and Fuji is a fine wrestler who is great at working schtick.