FMW Wrestling tore through the Japanese wrestling scene with a fury the likes no other man has seen. The impact they made on the wrestling world could be felt for many years to come. The extreme hardcore action that Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling provided the normally subdued Japanese fans would soon come to the United States in the form of Extreme Championship Wrestling. While ECW was not as violent as FMW, the extreme theme was felt and soon imitated by the World Wrestling Federation, which used the form to create the empire it has today.
Wrestling fans in the U.S. tune in every Monday night and Thursday night, plus one more time a month for special pay per views, so they can catch their favorite WWF stars tear each other limb from limb, but now they have a chance to see the federation that made it all possible. FMW has invaded American shores and if you have been paying attention for the last few months, you would have read the action packed reviews of six FMW videos that can be purchased right here in the states. In this issue, we present reviews from two other videos, Crash N' Burn and Ring of Torture. If you aren't satisfied with FMW, you are not a real wrestling fan.
The first match on the tape featured a brutal match where the ring was surrounded by fire torches on two sides and barbed wire on the other two sides. Pogo started the chain of violence off by wrapping a chain around Matsunaga's face, but Matsunaga, that sadistic bastard, went one step further, wrapping barbed wire around his head and smashing his head against Mr. Pogo's. Yes, there was lots of blood in this match and Pogo, who has a penchant for using a sharp sickle in his matches, drew most of it. Using the sickle, Pogo scraped it across Matsunaga's head, into the man's cheek and in his mouth. Pogo followed the action off by throwing his opponent into the fire and then pulling up one of the torches so he could spit fire across his back. However, Pogo set Matsunaga's elbow pad on fire and Matsunaga hit Pogo with that dreaded clothesline of fire, before ramming Pogo face first into a torch. Matsunaga then picked up the big pin to cap off the comeback.
Probably two of the biggest names from FMW's storied history, Tanaka and Mike "Gladiator" Awesome have a heated rivalry that dates back many years. The powerful combatants relied on their power to wear down one another in this hard-hitting brawl. Awesome landed a flying clothesline and then picked up Tanaka and rammed him into the turnbuckle corner. Tanaka fought back and tied Awesome up in the tree of woe, before landing a big dropkick right in the Gladiator's face. Awesome fought back once again; in fact the tide changed so many times and so fast, a true testament of how much work these men put into their matches. Awesome would eventually grab a big advantage, landing his Awesome frog splash that usually puts out his opponent. However, Tanaka broke from the pin and ended up hitting three forearm smashes. His greed got the better of him, and as he went for the fourth smash, Awesome hit Tanaka with a big boot. Not learning his lesson, Tanaka went for it again, and was hit with a flapjack, followed by an Awesome bomb and a Gladiator victory. I don't think anyone ever won this rivalry.
This was a great match. I didn't think it would be, because Hayabusa is so quick and agile and Kanemura is fat. However, the contrast in styles worked and the action went in and out of the ring, exciting the fans in the arena and this fan at home. Hayabusa started things off with an amazing display of kicks, dropkicks and a display of power I didn't even know he possessed. Kanemura fought back, and using a table, really took advantage of his power. First, he body slammed the masked man onto the table, smashed a chair across Hayabusa as he lay prone on the table and then flew off the ropes, onto the Flying Eagle, and through the table. Hayabusa looked dead to rights and could barely stay in the match, struggling to kick out of pin attempts and at one point, surviving the match just by placing his hand on the ropes to stop the count. Kanemura had the match in hand, but he let frustration get the better of him, attempting a high-risk flying maneuver, which he missed onto the hard floor outside the ring. Kanemura would actually go to the top ropes again, this time with a chair, only to be met with an awesome kick from Hayabusa, which sent the chair into Kanemura's head. Hayabusa would then hit his trademark moves, ending the match with a Phoenix/Firebird splash from the top ropes to get the win. Kanemura shook his hand as a symbol of respect. This is why FMW works. They can take two guys who do not look like they can work well with each other, and create a five-star match.
In other matches, Tanaka couldn't catch a break and even lost his match to Super Leather after some big headbutts laid the FMW superstar out. In a women's tag-team match, Nakashima and Mad Dog Nagayo beat Sub Miss Sato and Shark. Nagayo confronted Megumi Kudo about the quality of women's wrestling in FMW, prompting Kudo to insult Sato and Shark's wrestling ability and get a huge pop from the fans. Matsunaga continued his winning ways, beating Kanemura in a brutal, nasty barbed wire street fight. In a 30-minute draw, Hayabusa and Ooya put on a wrestling clinic, starting out the first half of the match bringing back some old school ground wrestling flavor, before energizing the fans with high flying action. These guys looked good in the ring and after 30 minutes, they looked tired. This was one of the best matches on the card, but it is a match you have to see to appreciate. Neither man won, but both men were victorious to the fans.
Again, this was a contrast in styles as Hayabusa is a small, highflying wrestler and Awesome is a huge man who relies on power as well as an aerial assault of his own. The match started out slow, but moved along quickly as things went on. Awesome hits the first high flying move of the night, after throwing Hayabusa over the top ropes, and flying over those ropes on top of his opponent. Imagine a big man flying so high. Now, imagine that assault sending his opponent through a table. Ouch! There was plenty more of that to go around and Awesome was very brutal in this match, working over Hayabusa with one hard shot after another. Watching this match made me wonder why Awesome could be so good in Japan, but suck so bad in the WWF.
After getting over that sad thought, I realized Awesome was not that good, as he slammed a piece of the table across the pole, even though it was supposed to look like he hit Hayabusa's arm. Even still, after the shot imaginarily heard round the world, Awesome could only get a two count. Hayabusa fought back, landing a beautiful superkick, a big DDT and a firebird splash, only earning a 2¾ count. Oh so close, but Hayabusa went right back to his perch, only this time, he missed. Awesome went back on the assault, landing an Awesome bomb and a two count, then a running Razor's Edge and another two count. Sensing that he needed a big move to put him away, Awesome took Hayabusa with him as he climbed the ropes and attempted a huge powerbomb from the top. However, Hayabusa had other ideas and turned the move into a hurricanrana from the top ropes to get the big win. Afterwards, Hayabusa thanks the fans and tells them that the new FMW will never die as long as they have the fan's support, simply another reason why FMW is the people's federation.
The matches contained a mix of hardcore, technical, men's and women's matches, giving something for ever wrestling fan. The tape starts off with a quick match as Getkou, the man in a clown-like costume, beat his opponent, Gosaku, bloody, hitting a fisherman bomb and getting the pin with one foot. The nest match featured women as Submiss Sato used her power in an effort to subdue Nakayama and Nakayama used her speed to tire Sato out. Nakayama was getting hurt, but she wouldn't give up, bridging out of several pin attempts and eventually shocking Sato with a rollup and a pin.
The women continued to put on a show as Bad Nurse Nakamura took on Ishikura. Now, while Bad Nurse is something to look at, she isn't that much of a wrestler and relies on dirty tactics to take advantage of her opponent. Ishikura used her speed, but was slowed down in her tracks when Bad Nurse applied medical powder to her eyes. She's a bad nurse, I guess. Ishikura fought back, and used some power herself, hitting a big body slam and then landing a flying bodypress, but only getting a two count. She went for it again, and landed it, but Bad Nurse flipped it over and got a two count of her own. Bad Nurse went for a superplex from the top ropes, but Ishikura shoved her off and went to the well once too often, attempting another flying bodypress, missing and getting tied up in a STF-like submission move. Bad Nurse picked up the win, when Ishikura couldn't take her form of medicine and gave up.
The next match sucked, not because there wasn't any action, but because both men looked too ordinary and neither man stood out. Neyama took on Korota in a match of the unknowns. I couldn't keep up with the match and I didn't know who was who, so I felt lost. I was impressed with the stiff nature of this fight as both men put each other through the ringer. If you want to see a straight wrestling match, this is the match to see. I think Neyama won.
What a match. This match is one of the top matches I have seen in FMW. Mr. Pogo is known for his violent attacks and Tanaka is known for his pain threshold. Both men went to battle in what was sure to be a bloodbath. The fight started right on the outside as Tanaka landed some brutal chair shots, only to be attacked with the old school boot to the head. Surprisingly, Tanaka started bleeding from the Dusty Rhodes-style boot shots. Pogo worked on the bloody gash by hammering it repeatedly with a chair. Pogo had the advantage for much of the beginning of the match, using a sickle and driving it into Tanaka's head. Even I turned away. Some things are a little hard to watch and Mr. Pogo's brand of violence is one of them. Pogo lightened up a bit and decided on using a chain instead, tying it to Tanaka's leg and throwing him over the ropes. Pogo pulled on the chain, effectively putting Tanaka's leg through hell. Pogo then choked Tanaka with the chain and went for the big finish, the use of fire.
However, that is when things took a turn. Pogo had Tanaka tied to the ropes and went to spit fire at Tanaka, but the FMW hero broke free from the ropes and hit a big forearm. Tanaka would then send Pogo through a table and then use that piece of table to slice into Pogo's head. Pogo fought back and turned the tide by slamming Tanaka's head into the table repeatedly. However, Tanaka was on fire and didn't let that stop him. Using brutal force, Tanaka literally smashed a piece of wood through Pogo's head. Minutes went by and Tanaka hit two brutal forearm smashed followed by a DDT and the first two count of the night.
Pogo brought the match back into his favor with a bulldog onto a chair. The master of insane violence took out a barbed wire bat and used a piledriver to send Tanaka's head into the barbed wire bat. Taking things to a further extreme, Pogo spiked Tanaka again onto the barbed wire bat and still could only get a two count. Eventually, things got too much for Tanaka, and Pogo was able to choke out Tanaka to get a surprising TKO victory on the FMW Legend.
This was a battle of four longtime friends in the wrestling industry. They have a friendly rivalry with one another and as Mother-In-Law was set to retire, the four decided this was the time for this match. Toyoda and Ajya are two big behemoths who exchanged powerful moves back and forth throughout the match. Neither woman would go down until Ajya was able to gain control of the match and send Toyoda to the outside. Kudo landed a suicide bomb on her former lover, Toyoda and then goes at it with Bison. Kudo didn't look like a winner as Bison used a straight jacket submission move to wear the legendary woman wrestler down. Kudo fought back and when Ajya was tagged back into the ring, there was no stopping her. Ajya felt no pain and landed a big boot on Bison, eventually knocking everyone out of the ring. It took a double team effort to finally get Ajya off her feet. However, Ajya was able to tag in Kudo, who pounded away on Bison and put the pressure on with a Boston Crab submission move. Bison gets to the ropes and starts an offensive assault including a barrage of bitch slaps that displayed no respect for the career Kudo brought to FMW. Bison used a Boston Crab of her own and Toyoda placed Kudo into the torture rack before turning a vicious airplane spin into a equally vicious backbreaker. Kudo still kicked out at two.
Ajya eventually made her way back into the ring and the good guys picked up an advantage that didn't look like it would end. However, Ajya was finally taken down. Toyoda, who is pretty big, picked up the even bigger Ajya and held her up for Bison, who flew from the top ropes with a great clothesline, reminiscent of the Legion of Doom. Kudo was able to break up the two count and suddenly, the action shifted back and forth with no one gaining a clear advantage at all. Kudo took out Toyoda, but Bison leveled her with some more vicious bitch slaps. Then, shocking the world that thought Bison could only perform the bitch slap, Bison landed a bridge suplex to gain a two count on Kudo. Bison landed a vicious powerbomb and Toyoda helped her partner, squashing Kudo from the top ropes, only receiving a two count for her efforts. The double teaming wouldn't end, but Kudo fought back and reversed a double suplex into a double DDT. Kudo then turned a normal sunset flip from the top ropes into a powerbomb on Toyoda and a shocking rollup pinfall victory. I sure didn't see that coming. All that action and the match ends in a rollup. Go figure.
However, it didn't end there. Ajya confronted Toyoda and told her that she couldn't retire until they fought in a singles match and then said Toyoda could fight Kudo afterwards. Toyoda accepted and the retirement tour was on. Check out the first review of FMW action to read about Toyoda's retirement match with Kudo.
All six guys went into this match representing WING wrestling. They put the match together to let FMW know what extreme was all about. In this barbed wire death match, there were beds of barbed wire, tacks and glass on the outside. Kanemura tasted blood first, sent into a bed of barbed wire after a whole lot of teasing. These matches are great for this type of action. They get so close to the barbed wire, but nothing happens. I bet Kanemura was wishing he would be the one teasing the fall into the barbed wire and not actually taking the nasty bump. Matsunaga soon joined him and his opponents sure enjoyed playing a game of shove the poor guy deeper into the sharp stuff. I remember playing that game with my sister.
Even tables were used in this match. They put the unmasked Jason onto a table and Kanemura jumped from the top ropes onto Jason. The table didn't break, so Super Leather had a chance to splash his horror movie rival through the table and did so. Super Leather then brought in the iron toothbrush, a big piece of wood with hundreds of nails on it. Glass was laid on Matsunaga's chest and Super Leather drove the iron toothbrush through the glass. There was so much blood on Matsunaga's chest. Jason exacted revenge for his partner and sent Super Leather through a bed of nails, glass and barbed wire. Barbed wire was hanging from Super Leather's hair as he left the ring, allowing his partner Hido to face Jason on his own. Jason spiked Hido with a piledriver and picked up the big win for his team. Then all of them challenged Hayabusa to a deathmatch to show WING's superiority. Afterwards, all six men hugged, giving me the belief that no matter how bad the fight is, peace is achievable.
FMW keeps bringing the action to its fans. I am running out of tapes and I don't know what I am going to do when I am done. After watching FMW action, nothing else seems the same. Feel the excitement and hardcore, watch the blood flow and the barbed wire fly and see why so many Americans are raving about Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, the ultimate in extreme.
Send your comments and or questions to JMinners@ybfree.com.