Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling

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Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Acronym FMW
Founded July 28, 1989 (re-established March 4, 2015)
Defunct February 15, 2002
Style Hardcore wrestling
Sports entertainment
Headquarters Japan
Founder(s) Atsushi Onita (original)
Yukihide Ueno (new)
Akihito Ichihara (new)
Owner(s) Atsushi Onita (1989–1995)
Shoichi Arai (1995–2002)
Yukihide Ueno (2015–present)
Akihito Ichihara (2015–present)

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989 by Atsushi Onita that specialized in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their first show on October 6, 1989. In the late 1990s, FMW had a brief working agreement with Extreme Championship Wrestling, and as well had 14 DVDs released in the U.S. by Tokyopop. On March 4, 2015, FMW was resurrected under the name Chō Sentō Puroresu FMW.

History

FMW under Atsushi Onita (1989–1995)

In August 1990, Onita wrestled in the first ever exploding barbed wire match with Tarzan Goto. This match started a revolution amongst the small "garbage wrestling" organizations of Japan. From there, Onita recruited some of hardcore wrestling's most notable names, like Mr. Pogo, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Super Leather (Leatherface) and Kintaro Kanemura. In October 1990, they held Japan's first mixed tag team match. In 1995, Onita wrestled his retirement match with young talent Hayabusa in an exploding ring, barbed wire steel cage match. Hayabusa became the central star of the promotion winning its belt several times and battling most of the FMW roster. FMW also had a thriving women's wrestling division, led by Megumi Kudo who was one of FMW's biggest stars in her heyday. All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling talent feared them so much that they rarely had inter-promotional matches against each other, but the FMW women were successful in other feuds with LLPW and JWP. During this time FMW signed a contract to hold a major event every May 5 in the Kawasaki Stadium.

FMW under Shoichi Arai and Hiromichi Fuyuki (1995–2002)

Under new FMW president Shoichi Arai, the promotion began to falter. Arai brought in former International Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and Super World of Sports jobber Kodo Fuyuki as the new booker and he brought an end to the garbage/death matches in favor of an entertainment-oriented style based on that of the WWE. Although this saved the roster from further potential injury, it called into question the essence of FMW's wrestling. Onita began withdrawing further into the background, eventually leaving the promotion altogether to create his own death match ventures and to go back to high school to earn his diploma.

On October 22, 2001, in a match against Mammoth Sasaki, Hayabusa attempted a springboard moonsault—one of his signature moves—but slipped on the ropes and fell directly on his neck, breaking it and paralyzing him. He retired, but actually regained some control over his legs a year later. By the end of 2001, Arai owed about a million dollars to influential organizations in Japan, rumored to be connected to the Yakuza (or Japanese Mafia). Realizing that the promotion was going nowhere, he decided to finally close its doors. FMW came to an end with a final show on February 4, 2002 and Shoichi Arai declared FMW bankrupt on February 15, 2002. On May 16, 2002, Arai hanged himself by his tie in a Tokyo park to collect life insurance for his family to pay off his debt to the Yakuza.

Aftermath

The talent divided into two promotions: Kodo Fuyuki's WEW (World Entertainment Wrestling), the name of FMW's title governing body since 1999, and Mr. Gannosuke's WMF (Wrestling Marvelous Future). Some of the talent also made appearances on Onita's special shows.

Revival (2015–present)

On April 3, 2015, Hideki Takahashi, Hayabusa and Choden Senshi Battle Ranger held a press conference, announcing they were reviving FMW under the new name "Chō Sentō Puroresu FMW". Takahashi will serve as the president and Hayabusa as the executive producer of the promotion, which will also feature participation from Atsushi Onita. The promotion held its first event on April 21.[1][2] On October 30, 2015, they announced that they were reviving the FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, as they set a match to determine new champions on December 22.

In 2016, two tragedies have befallen FMW. On February 17, 2016, Ray announced that she has inoperable stage three brain cancer after being diagnosed with a tumor in December 2015 and undergoing a biopsy on January 21, 2016. Over two weeks later on March 3, Hayabusa died at his home from a brain aneurysm, at the age of 47.

Current FMW roster

FMW alumni (1989–2002)

   

Championships

See also

References

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External links

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