Photo Credit: Dradition on X
By: Thom Fain
Tatsumi Fujinami, 72, hinted that he may bring back the Dragon Suplex when he teams with Zack Sabre Jr. against Olympic judo gold medalist Aaron Wolf and Tatsuya Matsumoto on Nov 6, according to Tokyo Sports reporter Yusuke Okamoto.
The match is the main event of Fujinami’s 55th anniversary show at Korakuen Hall, Dradition announced over the weekend.
At his Sep 30 press conference Wolf, 30, promised to “definitely throw” Fujinami. Fujinami joked that he would like to feel a gold medalist’s throw, maybe a shoulder throw, and called the match a pleasant tension he had not felt in a long time.
On the suplex, he told Okamoto it “might be suicidal,” but that he has that mindset. He also plans to use his Dragon Screw and the throws he learned from Karl Gotch, and said he wants the adventurous spirit he had at Madison Square Garden.
Fujinami is credited with inventing the Dragon Suplex. He unveiled it at the Garden in January 1978, when he also won the WWWF Junior Heavyweight title, and that he has largely sealed it since a back injury in the late 1980s. Fujinami suffered a severe back injury to June 1989, in a match with Big Van Vader, and he did not wrestle again until September 1990. Okamoto puts his last suplex in April 1998, a German suplex on Kensuke Sasaki.
Sabre beat Fujinami with the Zack Driver in at Dradition on Nov 14, 2025, before 1,473 fans. Before that match, Sabre called it a dream and said he had watched hundreds of Fujinami’s matches on VHS as a child. Afterward, he said he had never had a match that moving.
Wolf won the 100 kg judo gold at the Tokyo Olympics, made his New Japan debut on Jan 4 at Wrestle Kingdom 20, and beat Evil that night for the NEVER Openweight title.
Chigasaki City is also offering the gown Fujinami will wear on Nov 6 as a hometown-tax gift, at ¥1.3 million, with ring shoes at ¥330,000 and a towel at ¥180,000, each signed and shipped after the show.
Date:
October 13, 2026
Category:
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