Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling

Details
Acronym	FMW
Established	1989
Style	Hardcore Wrestling
Location	Japan
Founder(s)	Atsushi Onita
Owner(s)	Shoichi Arai
Parent	World Entertainment Wrestling

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, better known by its initials FMW, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 1989 by Atsushi Ōnita (often spelled Ohnita). It specialized in hardcore wrestling, involving weapons such as barbed wire, fire and explosives, and often portrayed Ōnita as the hero of the organization. FMW also had a short lived working agreement with Extreme Championship Wrestling. FMW has had 14 volumes releases in the U.S. by Tokyopop. Image File history File links FMW_Logo. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... There are many different styles used in professional wrestling. ... 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. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require removal of its excessive redlinks. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 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. ... Hardcore wrestling (sometimes referred to pejoratively as garbage wrestling) is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted. ... Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) is a groundbreaking and influential professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon, and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001. ...

In 1991, Ōnita had the first ever barbed wire, exploding ring match with Tarzan Goto. This match started a revolution between the small "garbage wrestling" organizations of Japan. From there, Onita recruited some of garbage wrestling´s best, like Mr. Pogo, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Leatherface and Kintaro Kanemura. In 1995 Ōnita wrestled his retirement match with young talent Hayabusa in an exploding ring, barbed wire steel cage match. This match started a revolution in FMW, called Neo FMW, where stars Masato Tanaka, The Gladiator and Ricky Fuji took part in high-flying matches. Hayabusa became the central star of the promotion, winning its belt several times, and battling most of the FMW roster. FMW had also a thriving women's wrestling division led first by Shark Tsuchiya and then by Megumi Kudo. The women were no different than the men in handling foreign objects and beating each other silly using them - All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling talent feared them so much that they rarely had interpromotional matches against each other, but the FMW women were successful in other feuds with LLPW and JWP. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of slang, in-references and jargon. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hayabusa Eiji Ezaki was a Japanese professional wrestler better known as the masked Hayabusa (Falcon/Phoenix), who competed primarily for Atsushi Onitas Frontier Martial Arts promotion. ... Many types of matches can be found in professional wrestling. ... A barbed wire match is a professional wrestling match in which the ropes surrounding the ring are replaced by strands of barbed wire. ... Ric Flair and Randy Orton in a cage match, showing the current WWE Steel Cage. ... Masato Tanaka (born February 23, 1973 in Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture) is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in Japan with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling and in America with Extreme Championship Wrestling. ... Mike Alfonso a. ... Ricky Fuji Kantanori Morimura is a Japanese professional wrestler best known under the name Ricky Fuji. ... Megumi Kudo Megumi Takayama, better known under her stage name, which is also her maiden name, Megumi Kudo (工藤めぐみ Kudou Megumi), and by her nickname Kudome, is an entertainment personality, and was a professional wrestler who worked most of her career for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. ... All Japan Womens Pro-Wrestling (全日本女子プロレス, Zennihon Joshi Puroresu), nicknamed Zenjo (全女: å…¨ meaning All, 女 meaning Woman) is a joshi puroresu (womens professional wrestling) promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. ...

However, under new FMW president Shoichi Arai, the promotion began to falter. Arai brought in former International Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and SWS jobber Hiromichi 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. The women's and junior heavyweight divisions were scrapped. 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. Hayabusa abandoned his mask and costume to become "H", a male-model gimmick in short shorts. Shawn Michaels was even invited as a guest referee for one match. International Pro-Wrestling (国際プロレス興行;, Kokusai Puroresu Kogyo, International Wrestling Enterprise) was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1967 to 1981. ... All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) (全日本プロレス, zen nihon puroresu) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1972. ... Super World of Sports, more commonly known as SWS, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion from 1990 to 1992. ... A booker, as the term is used in professional wrestling, is a person who puts matches together and determines basics about their content, such as relative overall length, who the eventual victor will be, and many of the moves which will be made during the match; in other words, the... World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ... Michael Shawn Hickenbottom, (born July 22, 1965 at the Williams Air Force Base in Chandler, Arizona) better known by his ring name The Heartbreak Kid (HBK) Shawn Michaels is an American professional wrestler and one of the longest-tenured employees of the company today. ...

In 2001, in a match against Mammoth Sasaki, Hayabusa attempted an springboard moonsault—one of his signature moves—but botched and fell directly on his neck, breaking it and paralysing himself. 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. 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 15, 2002, in which Atsushi Ōnita, the founder 13 years earlier, returned and addressed the crowd. On May 16, 2002, Arai hung himself in a Tokyo park using his tie. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... A moonsault or moonsault press is a professional wrestling aerial technique with much of its popularity in American wrestling being attributed to The Great Muta, also known as Keiji Mutoh. ... To botch in professional wrestling means to attempt a scripted move that does not come out as it was originally planned, due to a mistake, a miscalculation, or a slip-up. ... Paralysis is the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups. ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ...

The talent divided into two promotions: Fuyuki's WEW (World Entertainment Wrestling, the name of FMW's title governing body since 1997), and Hayabusa's WMF (Wrestling Marvelous Future). Some of the talent also made appearanced on Onita's special shows.

External links

• FMW fan site. Includes history, wrestler profiles and title records