Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling

Chō Sentō Puroresu FMW

Chō Sentō Puroresu FMW logo
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)
Formerly	Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling

Chō Sentō Puroresu FMW is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). The promotion specializes 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 in 1998 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.

Closure and aftermath

The talent divided into two promotions: Kodo Fuyuki's World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW), the name of FMW's title governing body since 1999, and Mr. Gannosuke's Wrestling Marvelous Future (WMF). Some of the talent also made appearances on Onita's special shows. Following Fuyuki's death in 2003, most of the WEW talent formed a successor promotion, Apache Pro-Wrestling Army.

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 would serve as the president and Hayabusa as the executive producer of the promotion, which would also feature participation from Atsushi Onita. The promotion held its first event on April 21. 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 had befallen FMW. On February 17, 2016, Ray announced that she had inoperable stage three brain cancer after being diagnosed with a tumor in December 2015 and undergoing a biopsy on January 21, 2016. She succumbed to the disease in 2018. Over two weeks later on March 3, 2016, Hayabusa died at his home from a brain aneurysm, at the age of 47.

On October 31, 2017, FMW founder Atsushi Onita retired after 43 years in the ring. The promotion is still in operation.

Current FMW roster

• FMW Seikigun
  • Ricky Fuji (K-Dojo)
  • Masato Tanaka (Zero1)
  • Hideki Hosaka
  • Gosaku Goshogawara
  • Choden Senshi Battle Ranger
  • Tomohiko Hashimoto
  • Mammoth Sasaki
• FMW Joshi Seikigun
  • Miss Mongol (WPA)
• W*ING Monster-gun
  • Nosawa Rongai (freelancer)
  • Kazunari Murakami
  • Monster Leather
  • Monster Freddie
  • Super Shooter
• UWF Seikigun
  • Masakatsu Funaki
  • Mitsuya Nagai
  • Yoshihiro Takayama

FMW alumni

Aja Kong Atsushi Onita Badboy Hido Bad Nurse Nakamura Balls Mahoney Big Titan Chigusa Nagayo Chocoball Mukai Chris Jericho Combat Toyoda Crusher Maedomari Damián 666 Eddie Fatu Mr. Gannosuke Gedo The Gladiator The Great Sasuke Grigory Verichev

Hayabusa Haystacks Calhoun Jr. The Headhunters Hisakatsu Oya Homeless Jimmy Horace Boulder Jado Jason Ray Jason the Terrible (Rafel Moreno Jr.) Jimmy Backlund "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka Jinsei Shinzaki Kaori Nakayama Kintaro Kanemura Kodo Fuyuki

Koji Nakagawa Kyoko Inoue Lance Storm Leon Spinks Dr. Luther Masato Tanaka Matty Smalls Megumi Kudo Mick Foley Mitsuhiro Matsunaga Miwa Sato Onryo Original Sheik Pat Tanaka Mr. Pogo Ricky Morton Sabu

Shark Tsuchiya Shinjuku Shark Super Leather Supreme Tarzan Goto Terry Funk Tetsuhiro Kuroda Tiger Jeet Singh Vic Grimes Willie Williams

Championships and accomplishments

Current

Championship	Current champion(s) (Tag team name)	Reign	Date won	Days held	Location	Notes
FMW World Street Fight 8-Man Tag Team Championship	Tiger Clan (Great Tiger, Tiger Mask III, Black Tiger V and Black Tiger VII)	1	November 24, 2016	2907	Tokyo, Japan	Defeated Atsushi Onita, Raijin Yaguchi, Hideki Hosaka and Hi69 in a decision match to determine the inaugural champions.

Defunct

Championship	Date of entry	First champion(s) (Tag team name)	Date retired	Last champion(s) (Tag team name)	Years active	Notes
AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship	1989	Jimmy Backlund	April 1992	Dr. Luther	1989–1992	FMW began using the title shortly after the promotion's creation and recognized it as its junior heavyweight championship. However, the title changes in FMW were not recognized by AWA.
WWA World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship	January 7, 1990	Beast the Barbarian	February 27, 1991	Atsushi Onita	1990–1991	The title was initially established as the WWA World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship and later replaced by the WWA World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship.
WWA World Women's Championship	November 5, 1990	Combat Toyoda	February 15, 1994	Crusher Maedomari	1990–1994	The title was unified with the new FMW Independent Women's Championship in 1994.
WWA World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship	February 27, 1991	Grigory Verichev	August 28, 1993	Atsushi Onita	1991–1993	The title replaced the former WWA World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship as the company's primary championship. It was replaced by the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship in 1993.
WWA World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship	December 9, 1991	Atsushi Onita and Tarzan Goto	September 19, 1992	Grigory Verichev and Tarzan Goto	1991–1992	The title was initially created as the WWA World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship and vacated it in 1992 to be replaced by the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship.
WWA World Martial Arts Junior Heavyweight Championship	April 1992	Dr. Luther	1993	Dr. Luther	1992–1993	FMW renamed the previous AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship as the WWA World Martial Arts Junior Heavyweight Championship to distinguish it from the AWA banner. The title was retired in 1993.
FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship	August 27, 1993	Atsushi Onita	August 25, 1999	Hayabusa	1993–1999	FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship replaced the former WWA World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship as the company's premier title. The title was abandoned in favor of the WEW Single Championship in 1999.
FMW Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship	October 28, 1993	The Great Sasuke	May 31, 1999	Naoki Sano	1993–1999	FMW introduced the title as a replacement to the WWA World Martial Arts Light Heavyweight Championship. FMW discontinued the title after May 31, 1999 and the title has since been defended in various Japanese independent promotions.
FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship	January 18, 1994	Big Titan and The Gladiator	June 16, 1999	Gedo and Koji Nakagawa	1994–1999	The title replaced the former WWA World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship as the company's tag team title. The title was renamed by Kodo Fuyuki as the WEW World Tag Team Championship in 1999.
FMW Women's Championship	February 15, 1994	Megumi Kudo	September 28, 1997	Shark Tsuchiya	1994–1997	The title was created in a tournament and unified with the WWA World Women's Championship. The title was deactivated in 1997 as the women's division of FMW ended with the departure of the final champion Shark Tsuchiya.
FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship	May 5, 1996	Puerto Rican Army (Headhunter A, Headhunter B and Super Leather)	October 27, 2016	Atsushi Onita, Hideki Hosaka and Sean Guinness	1996–1998 2015–2016	The title was awarded to the departing Atsushi Onita as a tribute for establishing FMW and making it a success and was abandoned as a result. The title was later brought back in the resurrected FMW in 2015 and abandoned in 2016 in favor of the new FMW World Street Fight 8-Man Tag Team Championship.
FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship	August 1, 1996	W*ING Kanemura	August 25, 1999	Masato Tanaka	1996–1999	The title was originally designed as Atsushi Onita's FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship title belt for his retirement match at FMW 6th Anniversary Show but could not be available at the moment and was finally shipped to FMW in 1996 and used as the company's second world title. The title was abandoned in favor of the WEW Single Championship in 1999.
WEW World Tag Team Championship	June 16, 1999	Gedo and Koji Nakagawa	February 15, 2002	Kodo Fuyuki and The Sandman	1999–2002	The former FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship was renamed and changed to the WEW World Tag Team Championship in 1999. The title has been defended in World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW), Apache Army and A-Team after FMW's closure in 2002.
WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship	July 31, 1999	Team No Respect (Gedo, Kodo Fuyuki and Koji Nakagawa)	February 15, 2002	GOEMON, Hayabusa and Tetsuhiro Kuroda	1999–2002	The title was defended in World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW) after FMW's closure in 2002 until being retired in 2004.
WEW Hardcore Championship	September 24, 1999	Kintaro Kanemura	May 22, 2001	Kintaro Kanemura	1999–2001	Kanemura retired the title in 2001.
WEW Single / Heavyweight Championship	September 24, 1999	Kodo Fuyuki	February 15, 2002	Kodo Fuyuki	1999–2002	The title was defended in World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW) and Apache Army after FMW's closure in 2002 until being retired in 2016.
WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championship	April 25, 2000	Hideki Hosaka and Yoshinori Sasaki	February 15, 2002	Daisuke Sekimoto and Men's Teioh	2000–2002	The title was defended in Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Kaientai Dojo, Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS and several Japanese independent promotions after FMW's closure in 2002.

Tournaments

Main article: FMW tournaments

Events

Primary events

Main article: List of FMW supercards and pay-per-view events

See also: Goodbye Hayabusa and Super Extreme Wrestling War

• FMW Anniversary Show
• Summer Spectacular
• Fall Spectacular
• Year End Spectacular

Interpromotional events

• ECW/FMW Supershow (with ECW)
• FMW/WWA in Los Angeles (with WWA)
• FMW/MPW (with MPW)
• FMW/LLPW/AJW (with LLPW and AJW)
• Super Extreme Wrestling War (with ECW)

See also

• List of FMW supercards and pay-per-view events
• List of Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling tournaments
• Professional wrestling in Japan
• List of professional wrestling promotions in Japan
• All Japan Pro Wrestling
• W*ING
• Apache Pro-Wrestling Army

External links

• FMW site. Includes history, wrestler profiles and title records
• Wrestling-Titles.com: FMW
• Official FMW Website