Atsushi Onita is a Japanese professional wrestler and a wrestling legend, who is best known for his work in FMW. He set a new record for the most stitches needed as a result of a wrestling match when he needed 111 stitches after a very violent match. ... Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, better known by its initials FMW, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in the late 1980s by Atsushi Ōnita (often spelled Ohnita). ...

Career

He was the first true graduate of the All Japan Pro Wrestling dojo (Jumbo Tsuruta had debuted first, but he had trained in Amarillo, Texas, with Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk). In his early days he teamed with dojo classmate Masanobu Fuchi, who debuted only a few weeks after him. He was known as a loyal ring attendant to Giant Baba, who had accepted him into the dojo despite not having graduated from high school. In the late 70's early 80's he and Fuchi toured Memphis, Tennessee, winning the AWA Southern tag team title three times. All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) (全日本プロレス, zen nihon puroresu) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1972. ... Tomomi Jumbo Tsuruta was an All Japan Pro Wrestling star from Japan. ... Nickname: The Yellow Rose of Texas, Helium Capital of the World, Rotor City USA Official website: http://www. ... Dory Funk, Jr. ... Terrence (Terry) Funk (born June 30, 1944 in Amarillo, Texas) is an American professional wrestler, known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the later part of his career that inspired many later wrestlers, most notably Mick Foley. ... Shohei Baba (1938–1999) was a professional wrestler and co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling. ... Nickname: The River City, The Bluff City Official website: http://www. ...

When the junior heavyweight boom started in Japan under Tatsumi Fujinami and Tiger Mask Satoru Sayama, Onita was picked as the ace of AJPW's makeshift junior heavyweight division. Baba was able to get Chavo Guerrero, who had been an early rival of Fujinami, over to AJPW's side, and Guerrero brought the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship with him, effectively establishing it as AJPW's junior heavyweight cornerstone. Onita and Guerrero's subsequent feud over the title spanned three promotions (AJPW, Jim Crockett Promotions and Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre), and, while not as spectacular as New Japan Pro Wrestling's junior division, provided solid alternate wrestling to AJPW fans. - A legend of pro wrestling in Japan - Nicknamed The Dragon - Invented the Dragon Sleeper and Dragon Suplex - Wrestled Ric Flair in a re-match at the first ever WCW SuperBrawl in Florida after a controversial match in Japan. ... Tiger Mask is the name of a masked Japanese professional wrestling character in an eponymous manga series, also adapted into a televised anime series in 1969, and later a gimmick used by a succession of real-life pro wrestlers. ... Satoru Sayama is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known as the original Tiger Mask. ... Chavo Guerrero Chavo Guerrero, Sr. ... Jim Crockett Promotions was the name of a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. ... The Logo of CMLL Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) is a lucha libre promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara and Puebla. ... New Japan Pro Wrestling (新日本プロレス, shin nihon puroresu) is a major professional wrestling federation in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in 1972. ...

In 1985 he had to retire due to accumulated injuries. By then he had already been replaced as the junior ace by the new version of Tiger Mask, Mitsuharu Misawa. Mitsuharu Misawa is a Japanese professional wrestler. ...

He returned in 1989 on an independent card, and pretty soon created his own promotion, FMW, basing it around death matches he had seen during his earlier stay in Memphis. His first "death match" was against martial artist Masashi Aoyagi, which he won. Over the next few years, until 1995, he had several death matches for FMW's heavyweight title, the World Martial Arts/Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship, defending it against former AJPW comrade Tarzan Goto, as well as the Sheik, Terry Funk and even boxer Leon Spinks. His last defense, in May 1995, saw him defeating Hayabusa, who succeeded him as the promotion's ace. Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, better known by its initials FMW, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in the late 1980s by Atsushi Ōnita (often spelled Ohnita). ... Edward George Farhat (June 11, 1924 – January 18, 2003) was a professional wrestler best known as The Sheik (or The Original Sheik to distinguish him from the wrestler the Iron Sheik of the 1980s). ... Terrence (Terry) Funk (born June 30, 1944 in Amarillo, Texas) is an American professional wrestler, known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the later part of his career that inspired many later wrestlers, most notably Mick Foley. ... Leon Spinks is a former boxer who tasted lifes highs and lows more than most other boxers. ... Hayabusa Eiji Ezaki is a professional wrestler best known as the masked Hayabusa (Falcon). ...

After a sabbatical, Onita returned to the ring in 1997 as the leader of nWo-like stable ZEN, by which he attempted to return FMW to its old death match ideology. Already, however, Shoichi Arai and Hiromichi Fuyuki were toning down the death match content, which lead Onita to leave FMW altogether and promote his own ventures. He used the promotional names "USO" (all caps version of the Japanese word for "lie"), "Jado" ("evil ways"; not to be confused with the wrestler of the same name), "Onita Pro" and "Project X". The nWo (New World Order) was both a professional wrestling storyline and the stable of wrestlers who were its central players. ... In typography, all caps (short for all capitals; often written as ALL CAPS) refers to text or a font in which all letters are capitalized. ...

In 2001 he was elected to office, following Antonio Inoki and Hiroshi Hase to a seat in the Japanese Diet. In the same year he returned to AJPW for one night only, at the Tokyo Dome, to team with Terry Funk against Abdullah the Butcher and Giant Kimala. Whereas AJPW fans had already known Funk and Abdullah's willingness to brawl, Onita also played a huge part in the match, and his team emerged victorious. Antonio Inoki (アントニオ猪木), real name Kanji Inoki (猪木寛至, born February 20, 1943) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who now resides in California. ... Hiroshi/Hiro Hase was born on May 5, 1961 in Koyabe, Toyama, Japan. ... The National Diet of Japan (国会; Kokkai) is Japans legislature. ... Abdullah the Butcher Larry Shreve best known as Abdullah the Butcher, was one of the most nefarious rulebreaker/bad guy/heels in Pro Wrestling History. ...

In 2002, following FMW's closure (he appeared in the last card to address the crowd, despite the promotion no longer being associated with him or his promotional ideology), Onita began a sabbatical that may signal his true retirement (previous retirement announcements of 1985 and 1995 were not kept, so Onita may have wanted to retire without much fanfare and indicating that he may return at any time).

Credentials

• Height = 5'9
• Weight = 240 Pounds
• Birth Date = October 25, 1958

October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 67 days remaining. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Championships and Accomplishments

Titles

• 3-time AWA Southern Tag Team Champion (with Masanobu Fuchi)
• 3-time NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion
• 4-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion
• 3-time FMW Martial Arts Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time FMW Martial Arts Tag Team Champion (with Tarzan Goto)
• 3-time FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Champion (once with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, once with Mr. Gannosuke and once with W*ING Kanemura)
• 2-time FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Champion (once with Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Hido and once with Kuroda & Koji Nakagawa)
• 2-time World Barbed-Wire Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Champion (once with Shigeo Okumura & Mitsunobu Kikuzawa and once with Kikuzawa & Exciting Yoshida)

The American Wrestling Association was a professional wrestling organization, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ... The National Wrestling Alliance is a group of independent professional wrestling promotions, in operation since 1948. ... Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, better known by its initials FMW, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in the late 1980s by Atsushi Ōnita (often spelled Ohnita). ...

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 1996)
• 1993 Best Babyface
• 1994 Best Babyface
• 1994 Most Charismatic Wrestler