In 1989, Mr. Onita started Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW) for wrestlers who wanted a new league where they could push the limits of the sport. FMW is where anything and everything is allowed. Weapons are common in this organization. FMW also pioneered the use of explosive devices around the ring and no rope barbed wire matches. The hardcore aspects of the federation allowed it to compete with major promotions in Japan and around the world, making FMW more than just a cult hit.
In fact, FMW is credited for the start of ECW in America, and it was the WWF that got its style from ECW. All influences aside, the federation almost crumbled when Onita retired from the sport. However, Hayabusa, the legendary high flyer, took over and became the Rock of FMW. Wrestlers like Masato Tanaka have also become leaders in the organization that has boasted such American talent as Balls Mahoney, Terry Funk, Horace Boulder, Mike Awesome, and a whole slew of ECW wrestlers including the legendary Cactus Jack. Fans everywhere have become interested and should become interested in FMW.
In the year 2000, fans in America got a chance to find out what FMW was all about when TokyoPop released several videotapes and DVDs on the federation.
This DVD contained many great matches and equally great stars. This was the first DVD I checked out and I was shocked by what I saw.
In the first match, Jason the Terrible wrestled a stiff match against Nanjyo and won with a powerbomb that looked like it really hurt. I never got to see Jason wrestle and I heard so many good things about him from when he wrestled in Stampede. I am not sure if it is the same guy, but it was still great to see a man wrestle a match with a hockey mask on.
It was also cool to see the women wrestle and Mad Dog Nagayo beat Shark Tsuchiya in a brutal match that showed that the women could handle the sport just like the men could. It amazed me, because here in the States most women's matches are purely T&A in the end. I was happy and privileged to watch this match.
In a great match that featured some famous American faces, Horace Boulder (Hulk Hogan's nephew), Ooya, and Mike Awesome in his Gladiator persona went up against Super Leather (who once wrestled in the WWF as Corporal Kirschner) and the Headhunters. It was so cool to watch these guys in a different atmosphere. Awesome hit an Umm-Awesome Plancha onto the outside of the ring and the Headhunters wowed the audience with their phenomenal aerial assaults. They hit a phat Powerbomb-Neckbreaker combination on Horace from the top ropes. Then one of the Headhunters hit a Moonsault on Horace who was lying prone on a table. The table didn't break, but Leather, who wears a Leatherface mask, put him through the table. He broke out of the pin, only to lose the match right after. Great street fight action.
Cactus Jack cut an awesome promo before he was to fight Kanemura in a Deathmatch that saw barbed wire, beds with broken glass and nails and more. This was a barbaric match that saw Jack Suplex Kanemura through a bed of barbed wire before crushing a chair into him on the outside. Both wrestlers were very bloody, but they fought hard even as they became stuck in the barbed wire. This match was not for the weak at heart. Kanemura fought back, smashing Jack in the head with a piece of the table and then through the bed of glass. Jack fought back, but he couldn't keep Kanemura down until he DDTed him through a bed of barbed wire. Jack won in a match that showed why he was a hardcore legend.
Women really can wrestle in Japan. They are respected as much as the men. Combat Mother-in-Law Toyada took on Megumi Kudo in Combat's last match. This match was an electrified barbed-wire match. Combat held two titles and hoped to retire as the champ. This match was historical. The match featured great intensity as the wrestlers got close to the electrical barbed wire on several occasions causing the fans to watch closely, in hopes of seeing the first big shock of the evening. Nothing happened for quite some time until Combat used her power to push Kudo into the barbed wire, shocking her and leveling her to the mat. Combat tastes the electrified wire and it is all even as Onita watches with tears in his eyes. The match went back and forth with Combat using some hardcore power moves, and was still unable to put away Kudo. Kudo actually wins in a passing of the torch match that saw both wrestlers crying together in the locker room after the match-Pure class and ultimate entertainment.
Hayabusa and Tanaka fought Terry Funk and Mr. Pogo in a death match that had two sides of the ring missing ropes with the other two holding barbed wire with explosives on it. On the outside, there were beds of barbed wire and explosives.
The match took its toll on both teams who were in the middle of a lengthy feud over power in FMW. It was a great match that saw blood, explosions and the use of fire. After the 15-minute point, explosives around the ring blew up and everyone ended up on the mat. As if Hayabusa didn't get enough bad treatment, fire is spit on him and Mr. Pogo and Funk win.
This was a great DVD. It has a feature to allow you to hear the matches announced in either English or Japanese, there are even Spanish subtitles. There are also features on Hayabusa, a profile of the many stars in the federation, a history of FMW, a bonus match that shows Taka Michinoku wrestling better and more serious that he has in the WWF and a special Wrestling 101 clinic with the Snake Sisters. King of The Deathmatch was an awesome introduction into the world of FMW and it only gets better from there.
On April 29, 1997, three matches rocked FMW with an undercard featuring just as much excitement for the fans. Now, these matches can be yours on the great DVD from TokyoPop.
In the opening matches, I saw Crypt Keeper, who is a really cool looking wrestler. The fans in Japan really like the horror characters. In a 10-women tag-team match, 10 women demonstrate that you don't have to have T&A to put on a wrestling clinic. These people even put Lita to shame.
Hakushi (his former WWF name) beat Super Leather with a cool submission move called the Heavenly Lock. He pulled both his opponent's arms across his opponent's own neck until the wrestler submits. Great move.
In the three main events, Hayabusa fought his former friend Mr. Ganosuke. These guys met in 1987 and trained together in 1991. The DVD contains a history before each match, which is great for those just getting into the action. Ganosuke betrayed the FMW fans and turned on his friend, leaving the federation. When he came back, he attacked various wrestlers including the founding father Onita. Tanaka confronts Hayabusa and gives him a choice. Will he side with his old friend or will he defend the honor of FMW.
This led to their match, which featured some awesome aerial action from Hayabusa. He knows how to use the ropes better than anyone. As you watch the match, you notice that Hayabusa's finisher doesn't always end the match. It turns out that in Japan, wrestlers have more than one finisher to vary a match. Hayabusa does it all, but it doesn't finish off his opponent, who will even go so far as to use his old friend's finisher against him. Hayabusa eventually won with a Falcon Arrow, or what I know as a variation of the Michinoku Driver.
This match was a hair vs. mask match, but Hayabusa told his old friend that he would not cut his hair. You can hear him crying through the mask as he asks his opponent to shake his hand and start over. You have to see what happens next.
Cactus Jack is back, teaming with Terry Funk and Mike Awesome as part of the Funk Master of Wrestling (F.M.W) against Masato Tanaka, Kanemura, and Onita of the real FMW. Kanemura and Tanaka were fighting one another over leadership of FMW, but side with one another against a common threat. This was also the final match of Cactus Jack's, before he resurrects in the WWF (In fact, he was in the WWF, wrestling as Mankind when he went back to FMW for this match).
Awesome and Tanaka were in the midst of a great feud that brought the roof down in America when they both feuded in ECW. This match contains a whole lot of blood from the onset. A barbed wire baseball bat, along with a branding iron and fire are just some of the things you will see in this awesome battle that really showcases the talent of Awesome and Tanaka. He should come to the WWF and feud with Awesome to show everyone what these two are made of. Awesome dropped a tremendous Awesome-bomb from the top ropes onto a table, and goes for an easy pin, but Onita made a key save. Kanemura came down with a chair from the top ropes onto Awesome and got the win. This was an intense match I urge everyone to see.
Megumi Kudo and Shark Tsuchiya battled it out in. Kudo was (an is) so respected in Japan, that this was made the final match of the card. Shark won the Women's World Title and the Independent Women's World Title from Kudo, one month earlier, but Kudo wants revenge. The match is fought with two sides of ropes attached with barbed wire and 200 volts of electricity and 40 explosives on each side. The other two sides did not have ropes and instead had beds of barbed wire and 40 explosives on each side. There were 160 explosives used for this match. What a way to end a career! The match went back and forth, but Kudo took the brunt of the attacks, getting sent into the barbed wire once from the back and the second time face first. Kudo dazed and confused and close to losing the match, ducked down from a choke and sent Shark outside to the bed of barbed wire and explosives below. Kudo toke advantage and worked on Shark, but when she went for a Hurricanrana, Shark power bombed her into the bed of barbed wire on the outside. Kudo looked like she is about to lose the match, but kicked out of a pin attempt. Nothing Shark can do, even spitting fire in Kudo's face, could help Shark win the match. When both wrestlers fall into the barbed wire, Kudo falls on top of Shark for the big win, retiring as champ.
I am not being overdramatic when I say that this was the best match I ever saw. And the DVD is filled with so much more. There is another bonus match with Taka Michinoku as he battles Ricky Fuji, trailers of other TokyoPop tapes and DVDs, another Wrestling 101 class with the Snake Sisters and a look at Kudo in an emotional goodbye to her friends before she takes a ride in an ambulance after her retirement match. What a great DVD.
TokyoPop did a great job bringing FMW to American shores. Japanese wrestling is very different from American wrestling. The fans are more respectful, the wrestlers respect one another, and the action is stiffer, more violent and contains more action and blood than we are accustomed to-I LOVED IT! Women are respected and are not put into lingerie matches. This is the wrestling you should be watching. In the next few months, stay tuned to BANDWIDTH for more FMW.
Send your comments and or questions about this article to JMinners@ybfree.com.