YBFREE.comIn Pursuit of Human Interests
| YBFREE.com In Pursuit of Human Interests |
Archives | BLOG | Auctions | Shoppe | Message Board | Company Info | Search |
Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW) for a decade bucked tradition and overcame the odds to become the most talked about Japanese wrestling federation outside of the big two: All Japan and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Alas, all good things come to an end and there are no more FMW as the company has having filed for bankruptcy; an era has come to an end. As a tribute YBFREE.com presents a look at FMW from its birth to its demise and the highlights that made the organization legendary.
FMW was born in 1989 when Atsushi Onita decided to form his own federation when Japan's UWF denied him the opportunity to wrestle in one of their shoot (real) wrestling shows.
FMW was unique because everything was legal, from martial arts to every type of weapon (barb wire and fire were favorites). FMW held its first show on October 6, 1989 with a wild action packed show containing violent death matches featuring barbed wire, glass, spikes and explosives. On August 4, 1990, FMW held the first no-rope, electric-explosive barbed wire death match where Onita pinned the famed Tarzan Goto in a bloody encounter with more to follow.
Over the years, FMW's roster grew beyond Onita to include Masato Tanaka, a hard-hitting monster; Tetsuhiro Kuroda, the young lion; Mr. Ooya, the grappling specialist; Kintaro Kanemura, a hardcore icon and more. Terry Funk and Mick Foley even showed up (read the King of the Deathmatch and Yokohama Deathmatch reviews). Mike Awesome made his name in FMW before going to ECW, WCW and WWE. Sabu first started his cult following in FMW. Then, a wrestler like none other joined FMW. Eiji Ezaki, the man known as the Masked Hayabusa (check out Flying Assassin) joined FMW and things changed forever.
Hayabusa was a marvel. He risked everything in the ring with a breathtaking display of Japanese and Lucha Libre style wrestling that made FMW fans take notice. Combining hardcore with technical expertise, Hayabusa became an instant sensation and when Onita retired in 1995 and Shouichi Arai took his place as president. Arai was not a wrestler and more of a businessman. He did not have the same ambition to make himself a star and Hayabusa became FMW's top star.
Then in late 2001, Hayabusa slipped off the ropes attempting a Moonsault and landed on his head. He became paralyzed and still managed to tell the fans that he almost died for FMW. Hayabusa is still in a wheelchair, but working hard in rehabilitation attempting to make some sort of wrestling comeback.
FMW was all about hardcore. Even the women were hardcore. Megumi Kudo was actually one of FMW's biggest stars. Her beauty and ability to bleed for the fans, participating in barbed wire, electrocution matches that rivaled the men, made fans go crazy for her. Combat Toyoda's retirement match with Kudo was actually a major mainstream attraction as was Kudo's retirement against Shark. The women were even featured in their own DVD Torn to Shreds, showcasing just how tough the women were in FMW.
No one can deny how FMW changed professional wrestling. FMW's legacy still lives on. US and Canadian fans can relive FMW's glory through its DVD series distributed by TOKYOPOP.
American fans remember FMW whenever they think of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) patterned its' style from their Japanese counterpart and even took part in memorable crossover feuds with the promotion (International Slaughterhouseand War of Attrition: When Egos Collide) where Fuyuki brought an ECW faction, including Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Balls Mahoney, Axl Rotten and others, to destroy FMW. Even Tanaka (Masato Tanaka: The Enforcer), a popular star for FMW joined ECW and turned on his friend Hayabusa leading to a memorable feud culminating at Final Encounter: Backdraft, the last real great feud to capture the attention of fans in Japan and the U.S. DVD market. Even the WWF's Attitude can be traced back to FMW, as it was a direct rip-off of ECW's style. Even Shawn Michaels, the Heartbreak Kid himself, showed up at FMW as a guest referee during the famous final showdown between Hayabusa's alter ego H and Mr. Ganosuke (Judgment Night).
However, with Hayabusa gone and his famed partner in combat, Mr. Ganosuke also injured, FMW's business died. Fuyuki, who took over booking responsibilities, was blamed for the demise when he decided to attempt a WWF entertainment style of show instead of the straight hardcore blood fest that captivated the fans. In reality, Hayabusa and Ganosuke's absence was felt and fans were not attending shows. On February 16, FMW announced its bankruptcy and folded in March. Shortly thereafter, Arai was rumored to have owed too much money to creditors and undesirables. Facing a large debt and the sadness of losing so much, killed himself.
Onita tried to reinvigorate another promotion using FMW's name. Fuyuki started Fuyuki's Army Promotion, which in March, gave a 10-bell salute to FMW and held a storyline where Onita blasted Fuyuki and as a member of the House of Representatives (wrestlers, like Antonio Inoki, get into politics on a regular basis) threatened to prosecute Fuyuki for pulling out of FMW stock when he knew it was going under, but didn't tell anyone. How about that? Enron found its way into a wrestling storyline.
Fuyuki would later change his company name to World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW), which fans may remember as the company within the company of FMW. Fuyuki retired from active wrestling after having intestinal cancer and having surgery to remove it, but is doing well promoting his new company. Masato Tanaka wrestles for Japan's Zero-One Promotion and shows up in America's Ring of Honor show also wrestling Kanemura to keep their legendary feud alive. Onita stopped using the FMW name, because he wanted Hayabusa to use it. Hayabusa, still in a wheelchair taking part in three hours of rehabilitation a day, (almost sounds like a storyline itself), started his own wrestling company called Wrestling Marvelous of the Future or WMF, which is FMW backwards. Mr. Ganosuke and Hakushi wrestle in that promotion. "I want to do my best desperately, also for one day aiming at an early ring return," said Hayabusa. "Until then, I will be commissioner of WMF."
I urge everyone to check out BahuFMW.com for really detailed information on FMW's entire history. I used this site for research and it is the best FMW site out there for non-Japanese speaking fans looking to learn more about the company that revolutionized the sport. As for FMW, nothing that good ever dies. Talks of ECW being resurrected was mentioned at Vince McMahon's latest stockholders meeting. Maybe with enough money, FMW will rise again. In spirit, in memory and in each wrestler who bled buckets for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, FMW still lives on forever.
Send your comments and or questions about this article to Bandwidth@ybfree.com.