Maffew and Mike Review FMW 10th Anniversary Show Entertainment Wrestling Special Live

Happy Saturday Everyone!

For the first review of 2024 I’m very pleased to be able to welcome a most salubrious guest in the form of that fine gentleman known as Maffew. You might have seen his work over on the YouTube’s in the form of Botchamania. In addition to that, any regular visitors to the Blog of DOOM will know of Maffew’s excellent wrestling reviews. Over the years Maffew has tackled such subjects as WWECW, NXT and a real smorgasbord of Japanese Wrestling, featuring the likes of SWS, NOW and WAR. It’s that latter category that made me feel that it was a good time to ask Maffew if he fancied a collab. Thankfully he did, and thus here we are as take a look at FMW 10th Anniversary Show Entertainment Wrestling Special Live (say that one fast three times!)

You can view the card for FMW 10th Anniversary Show Entertainment Wrestling Special Live by clicking the link below:

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=10380&page=3

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling was the brainchild of Atsushi Onita, as he had to retire from All Japan Pro Wrestling due to injuries but decided he wasn’t done in the world of Pro Wrestling yet, leading to him starting up his own promotion. As Onita couldn’t athletically perform to the level of the top stars in All Japan and New Japan, he instead decided to take inspiration from the time he spent on excursion in Memphis and present a more brawling storyline based promotion where his lack of high level work rate wouldn’t be such an obstacle to superstardom. Thus FMW was born, with their trademark being wacky blood filled gimmick matches, which would allow Onita to do the four things he was best at; bleed, sell, cry and cut awesome promos.

As the name would suggest, 10th Anniversary Show Entertainment Wrestling Special Live is a celebration of FMW’s ten years of existence (for the history buffs amongst you, the first ever FMW match back in 1989 saw Boat People Joe take on Monkey Magic Wakita) with a big match between Mr. Gannosuke and Hayabusa, although Gannosuke is wrestling under the name of Hayabusa whilst Hayabusa wrestles under the name of H, for reasons that Maffew will hopefully explain when we get there. Maffew knows far more about FMW than I do, but this show does also feature some ECW involvement and I’m more on the ball with that, so between us we should hopefully have enough knowledge to make this an enjoyable read.

I’ll let Maffew go into any of backstory for 10th Anniversary Show Entertainment Wrestling Special Live down below if he would like to and then we’ll kick on with the review. This is an eight match show, so I’ll be taking matches 2, 4, 5 and 6, whilst Maffew will be taking 1, 3, 7 and 8. We will both give our individual thoughts at the end of each match. I don’t think Maffew normally does star ratings, but I’ll stick a little section at the bottom of the review where I’ll list each match and the rating that I gave it.

So without further ado, is there any backstory or background you’d like to give us for this show Maffew?

Thanks for having me Mike! This is the show that sets up FMW on the death spiral that would ultimately end the promotion and the promoter, the equivalent to watching someone pick up a heroin needle with a “what’s the worst that can happen?” attitude.

This is sadly the show that started FMW on the downturn that would ultimately kill it (and it’s CEO, Shoichi Arai). FMW’s attendance numbers had been declining in the summer so Arai naively thought that if they put together their biggest show in years, on the public holiday of Labor Thanksgiving Day, and spend a ton of money they didn’t have then this would help them get attention and out of the debt they found themselves in…right?

That sounds suitably ominous Maffew. Let’s get on with watching the frig out of this wrasslin’ show!

This event is emanating from Yokohama, Japan on the 23rd of November 1999

Calling the action are J-Taro Sugisaku, Takashi Saito & Jun Kusanagi

We get an electrified brain that then melts away at the opening of the show, which might possibly suggest the level of mind rotting drugs you’d need in order to enjoy FMW’s product during this time-frame.

Opening Match
WEW Six Man Tag Team Titles
Ladder Match
Chocoball Mukai, Flying Kid Ichihara and Ricky Fuji w/ Sena Wakana Vs Team No Respect (Gedo, Jado and Koji Nakagawa) w/ Kaoruko Arai

Match Write-up by Maffew:

And straight away we see how dimly lit the arena is in an attempt to disguise the fact that there’s not a lot of people here, with the few tickets FMW were able to sell being in the cheap seats at the back. Even the bigged-up “11,000” number isn’t a good sign for an arena that can hold 18,000 and it’s sadly comparable to Herb’s Blackjack Brawl.

Chocoball Mukai is a porn-star who trained briefly at the NJPW dojo before allegedly escaping by running out in the middle of the night. Using porn terms, he’s barely qualified to be a fluffer in the ring, but FMW is currently porn mad so suddenly he’s qualified to be here on the biggest show of the year. His partners aren’t much better but at least they’re trained. I’ll be polite and say Sena Wakana is a jezebel to keep this blog profitable for Scott Keith.

The Pornies bum-rush TNR during the entrances with Ricky getting no reaction for his through-the-ropes dive. Mukai lands on his feet after a tilt-a-whirl attempt from Gedo who does everything in his power to make Mukai look like he belongs. Ichihara lands an Asai Moonsault and the painters must be in as HERE COME THE LADDERS. Mukai takes one straight to his money maker which gives Mukai an excuse to get out of the way for a bit. Some slow-mo ladder spots occur with none of the wrestlers feeling like taking any too tough shots and none of the crowd caring too much, until they laugh at Gedo taking down a set-up ladder to balance it against the ropes.

Hey they’re right, that is a dumb thing to do! Gedo hams it up and takes a slingshot right into it. TNR trap Ichihara in a ladder to batter his legs which is a rare example of solid psychology, with the commentators naturally laugh at as he’s the next person to try to scale the ladder like nothing happened. Crowd is silent. Mukai falls off the apron when he’s not supposed to so Gedo and Jado have to put down their ladder to go outside and bring him back and pose him back on the apron, just to knock him down. It’s a wonder the wrestlers are able to do anything with all these inanimate objects shoved in the match.

Mukai kicks Gedo into a ladder to knock down Ichihara & Nakagawa to the crowd’s glee. Jado powerbombs Mukai leaving Gedo free to scale the ladder, except we get the Elizabeth Summerslam finish with Kaoruko Arai taking her clothes off to distract him, only for Ricky Fuji to try climbing and get distracted by Sena Wakana who does the same. The Jezebels engage in the worst recorded cat fight in history as every wrestler suddenly gets on the ladder resulting in The Fuj grabbing the titles at 14:54.

WINNERS AND NEW CHAMPIONS:MUKAI, ICHIHARA & FUJI

Maffew’s Thoughts: A pretty pedestrian inoffensive ladder match that was one part Mukai showcase and one part Chuckle Brothers. Crowd loved the porn.

Mike’s Thoughts: I do love Gedo and Jado’s “Smart Dressed Man” Rip Off entrance music, and they then eventually replaced that with a cover of “Caboose”, thus keeping their awesome entrance music streak going. Mukai looked kind of out of his depth here for the most part, but I don’t tend to hate Fuji as much as others do and Ichihara is “there” at worst for me, so the babyface team wasn’t too bad and I enjoy Gedo’s work quite a bit un-ironically, so there were enough people in this match that I could either like or tolerate that I had an okay time with it. I’m not sure whether it was the best option for an opener, but it had the relevant ladder spots along with some additional Sportz Entertainment from the managers, so it was watchable

We get some duelling microphones following the opener between the two FMW authority figures Kodo Fuyuki and Shoichi Arai, but I don’t speak Japanese so sadly we’ll have to skip that. Shawn Michaels shows up during the segment though and tells them both to scram so that the show can go on. Okay then.

Match Two
Jazz, Malia Hosaka and Miss Mongol Vs Emi Motokawa and Kaori Nakayama

Match Write-up by Mike:

Jazz had entered ECW in 98/99 as a heavy for Jason Knight, and for a while she didn’t even have a name. They did a good job protecting her, as she’d come in and hit a move on one of the bigger male wrestlers and the babyfaces hardly ever managed to get their hands on her. Eventually Jazz would turn babyface and feud with her former boss, defeating Jason at the Heat Wave 1999 pay per view before doing the Equality Fighter gimmick on EWR of battling all of the men in a quest to earn respect.

Hosaka has been wrestling on the independent scene since all the way back in 1991, and she was regarded as one of the better in-ring women’s wrestlers on the North American indies during the 90’s and 00’s. Despite some quick stints in the “Big Three” North American promotions during the Monday Night War, Hosaka never really broke into the mainstream during her career, but she’s still going as of the writing of this. Hosaka had done some dates for FMW back in 1994, but this is her first time back since then.

Mongol is also still going, after getting her start in FMW way back in 1995. She has gone under other names such as La Malcriada, Aki Kambayashi, Ms. Aki, Aky and Miss America over the years. FMW is different from most other Japanese companies in that it actually has a women’s division and the two divisions share space on the same shows, which isn’t always the case in Japan where men and women’s companies are normally separate from one another.

Motokawa would perhaps be better known by the name Emi Sakura these days, as she competes in All Elite Wrestling and has had shots at both the AEW Women’s World and TBS belts during her stay there. Nakayama got her start in FMW in 1994, and appeared to stop wrestling in 2002 if Cage Match is anything to go by.

The pre-match video package would seem to suggest that the team Jazz is on are the Heels here, seeing as they beat up the other team and left them laying. The babyface wrestlers seem to have come in fancy dress, with Kaori dressed as Sabu and Emi seemingly coming as The Bodyguard Ace Cowboy Bob Orton Jr (that probably isn’t what she’s going for, but I can’t resist a good Bob Orton reference). This quickly falls into the usual type of wrestling I expect from a Joshi match, with the women drop kicking and flinging one another around whilst screeching incessantly.

To my untrained Japanese Women’s Wrestling watching eye; this seems fine, with the Heel team showing some good personality and the babyface side taking some nice bumps for them, but I’m not sure if it would match up well with the type of Joshi going on at the time elsewhere. I’m guessing it’s not as good because this is FMW, but maybe I’m wrong on that? Kaori spends a big chunk of the match getting worked over, with all of the Heels doing a decent job at beating her up. Mongol even gets a chair involved at one stage, which the referee seems fine with allowing.

Kaori eventually hits Mongol with her own chair (it must have felt like rain on her wedding day) and that’s the hot tag to Emi who runs wild with, what else, dropkicks! Emi even dives out onto the Heels at one stage and it actually gets the crowd to finally react after not really caring for the majority of the bout thus far. Kaori does the rolling sunset flip pin that Tajiri used to do at one stage, but you can hear crickets for it, which is a shame as I personally though it was executed quite nicely. Jazz seems to fit in really well here, with her intense style feeling like it suits Japan.

The dives continue to be the only thing that get the crowd to react here, with Kaori diving out onto Jazz and Hosaka, but the two babyfaces can’t put Mongol away back inside despite doing a big wacky double team. However, victory soon beckons for the underdogs, as Kaori catches Hosaka with a Stunner from the top rope, which is enough for three and an end to an energetic effort.

Time: 9:59

WINNERS:

Mike’s Thoughts: I thought this was a reasonably fun outing, with everyone entering a solid performance. The only downside was that the crowd didn’t really care, but overall I was entertained by it. Whether it stacks up against the actual Joshi promotions of the time I can’t say as I probably know more about Thomas The Tank Engine than I do about Joshi Wrestling, but those better informed in the comments will be better placed to state one way or the other.

Maffew’s Thoughts: Like a lot of things on this card, it feels like FMW is doing this because they have to do this rather than having the talent or desire to do it. FMW gave up on their Women’s Division in 1998 and post Megumi Kudo we get a pretty decent card filler. Some nice moments from Miss Mongol in particular came off anticlimactic due to the dead crowd. Jazz is great but contributed little.

Match Three
Hido Vs Willie Williams

Match Write-up by Maffew:

Hido’s an inconsistent hardcore guy who is still dealing with a serious neck injury and biding his time while it recovers by doing a karate gimmick which is an excuse to bring in Willie “went to a draw with Inoki that one time” Williams. Crowd doesn’t give a single damn about Hido and his Billy Graham in ’82 get-up. Hido says something on the mic, to which Willie via interpreter tells him “I don’t know what you said.” Willie tries to make it serious but the ultra-serious interpreter only makes the crowd laugh. Yeah that’s a good sign.

Round One: I hate typing these things out. Willie bodies Hido from the get-go and after a brief kerfuffle where it looks promising, both men slow down and trade kicks like it’s the Hokey Pokey. Willie starts throwing knees that start grazing Hido’s elbows as the crowd get so quiet you can hear the hum of the generators. Hido nearly gets an armbar and the round ends.

Round Two: Hido takes Willie down but can’t maintain the guard, so they resume standing until Willie misses a giant roundhouse kick and Hido lands A FUCKING STUNNER to try another hold, but Willie weakly kicks Hido in the head a few times to put him down.

WINNER: WILLIE WILLIAMS

Maffew’s Thoughts: Willie attempts to praise Hido afterwards with the interpreter again sand-bagging it but the crowd take the hint and applaud. I hope you take the hint and make like you’re walking through the meadows with your lover and SKIP SKIP SKIP.

Mike’s Thoughts: I’m guessing that Williams was the inspiration for Jeffry from the Virtua Fighter games? Does that mean that Williams also had his boat wrecked by a giant fish and he’s now fighting in FMW in order to make enough money to buy a brand new boat? Anyway, I don’t mind worked shoots if they’re done well. This one wasn’t done well, with them visibly pulling their kicks and punches to the point it looked all kinds of hokey after a certain point. If you’re going to work this kind of match then commit to it, which in this case would have been Williams taking Hido apart in seconds.

Match Four
Naohiko Yamazaki and Yoshinori Sasaki Vs The Funk Brothers (Terry and Dory Jr)

Match Write-up by Mike:

Terry Funk was perhaps the only wrestler who could match Onita for walked-back retirements, although with Funk you tend to get the impression that he actually did intend to retire whenever he said it and he just couldn’t resist the allure of returning, whilst Onita was just doing it to work people in hopes of juicing ticket sales for whenever his inevitable return was booked. The Funk’s were legendary figures in Japanese Wrestling, and they were so beloved that the Japanese fans almost adopted them as two of their own, even though they were both foreigners. Before The Funk’s the foreign wrestlers (especially Americans) were almost always Heels in Japan, but Tery and Dory Jr were so popular that they changed attitudes.

Yamazaki was only a year into his career at this stage and he would retire from in-ring action in 2001. Sasaki is still going, but is perhaps most well-known in some circles for a very tragic reason, as it was against Sasaki that Hayabusa suffered the career ending neck injury that saw him paralysed and in need of a walking stick for the rest of his life. At this stage though Sasaki is still a youngster in only his second year in the business, and the Giant Haystacks sized discrepancy in experience levels between the two teams here makes this one feel like a bit of a mismatch. The Funk’s cut a pre-match promo before entering to their traditional Japanese entrance music

The Funk’s have Bruiser Brody’s boots with them and will be dedicating the match to him tonight, which pretty much guarantees that they’ll be picking up the duke, as if the fact they’re basically wrestling two wrestlers greener than a less accurate Koopa Shell on Mario Kart didn’t make it clear enough. Yamazaki actually earns The Funk’s respect in the early going by grabbing onto the ropes following a double Irish Whip so that he can’t take whatever move they have planned, but Dory Jr quickly sticks him in a Spinning Toe Hold for his insolence, with Sasaki getting one as well. That was an enjoyable sequence that showed that the younger lads have some wrestling credibility, whilst also showing that The Funk’s are still clearly a level above them but appreciative of their impetuousness.

Sasaki decides to go route one by squishing Dory Jr in the corner, which seems to work reasonably well for a brief period, but Dory Jr soon slows things back down to his preferred pace. Dory Jr seems more interested in doing technical wrestling here whilst Terry looks to turn things into a fight, which is a nice difference that adds some variety depending on which Funk is in there at any given time. Dory Jr actually looks pretty good here, especially as he was 58 at the time. The crowd gets really into The Funk’s doing their traditional spots, including Terry getting dizzy and stumbling to the floor at one stage, where Sasaki puts a beating on him.

This has gone longer and been more competitive than I was expecting actually, as the younger wrestlers have done a reasonable job hanging with the vastly more experienced grapple merchants across the ring from them. Yamazaki and Sasaki decide to attack Terry’s legs at one stage, because not doing so would be like fighting King Hippo and not punching him in the belly when the opportunity presented itself, with Terry doing a good job of selling it all. I have to say that some of Yamazaki’s strikes look pretty weak here, possibly because he’s trying to be respectful to Terry and not hurt him, or possibly because he just isn’t very good at them. Sasaki focuses more on doing things like splashes and shoulder tackles, which play to his size and can disguise any potential lack of skills elsewhere.

Sasaki tries to finish things with a Choke Slam to Terry, but Dory Jr breaks it up. Some of Yamazaki’s chops look good, which makes me think that he wasn’t taking it easy on Terry and rather he just wasn’t as good at the other strikes he was attempting. Dory Jr eventually gets the hot tag and destroys Yamazaki with some gorgeous looking European Uppercuts, leading to The Funk’s hitting Yamazaki with a DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE, which gives us stereo Spinning Toe Hold’s onto the Japanese contingent for the double submission.

Time: 15:13

WINNERS: THE FUNK BROTHERS

Mike’s Thoughts: I enjoyed this for what it was, with it being more competitive than I thought it would be and the crowd digging the classic Funk spots. Nostalgia done right, as The Funk’s didn’t beat a team the company had plans for and the younger wrestlers weren’t presented as utter goofs, so they gained something from the bout even in defeat.

Maffew’s Thoughts: Surprising seeing Dory Jr. wrestle for a non-AJPW company but he did something to be on the outs so he’s joining his crazy brother in both man’s last FMW appearances. A feel good exhibition with both Funks allowing their green opponents to look at least respectful while Terry yells YA SON OF A BITCH and falls out the ring.

Yamazaki and Sasaki bow to their opponents following that, as you do in Japan.

Match Five
WEW Hardcore Title
Champ: Kintaro Kanemura Vs Balls Mahoney

Match Write-up by Mike:

Kanemura dropped in to ECW a couple of times and had gotten his start in the W*ING promotion, which was another hardcore death match promotion that tried to get a slice of the pie that FMW was dining on. Balls was a multiple time Tag Champ in ECW with Masato Tanaka and Little Spike Dudley on different occasions, and he’d just previously Main Evented his first ever pay per view back in September 1999 when he’d closed the show against Rob Van Dam at the Anarchy Rulz pay per view. These two in fact had a match together on ECW pay per view in March of 2000, but it was pretty rushed and was used more as a set up angle for Balls to get beaten up by Da Baldies. Let’s see how they’ll do with some more time to work with.

We get clips of Kanemura doing some squats on a rooftop before he enters to the Japanese version of “Come Out and Play” whilst doing his trademark wacky dance that was also an entrance you could give your created wrestler on the Smackdown games. Sadly Balls has the Muscadine version of “Big Balls” here, which is nowhere near as good as the AC/DC or Boner versions. It should shock no one that this is a brawl from the off, with Balls clobbering Kanemura with his trademark chair and then throwing punches before coming off the top with the New Jersey Jam for two.

The match itself is fought at a quick clip, with Balls getting amble opportunity to show off his deceptive athletic ability, so as when he does a Cactus Leg Lariat to send both wrestlers tumbling from inside the ring to the floor. Kanemura does eventually get a chance to fight back a little but, although the majority of the bout is still Balls wrecking Kanemura’s stuff. It appears that Hardcore matches are falls count anywhere in FMW just as they were in WCW and the WWF, with Balls throwing Kanemura into an exploding part of the entrance area for a two count up on the ramp. We head backstage following that, with Balls flinging Kanemura onto a conveniently parked car (possibly in the hope of picking up a 3,000,000 points bonus).

In an inventively brutal spot, Kanemura busts the windscreen of the car with a nearby hammer and then sits Balls in the front seat before rubbing the shards of broken windscreen into Balls’ face. Balls responds by giving Kanemura a Powerbomb onto the car for two, as they are making good use of the prop thus far. Balls finds a table following that, and it’s one of those Japanese ones that don’t always break easily, so I can sense Maffew starting to sweat whilst watching. And indeed, Kanemura manages to back body drop his way out of a Powerbomb attempt and Balls falls onto two Japanese tables, which promptly refuse to break. Seeing as Maffew is involved in this review, I am now contractually mandated to post the following;

I don’t make the rules, I just follow them like a scared oxen. Balls takes the fight back into the entrance way following that, and looks to have it won, but some of the lads that were part of Kanemura’s entrance get involved and end up saving their buddy from certain DOOM. Kanemura chokes out Balls with a cable following that and then lays Balls onto a pair of Japanese tables before chaining him down so that he can’t get off. It looks a bit flimsy though, so Kanemura’s buddies help hold Balls down so that Kanemura can jump off the entrance way to put Balls through at least one of the tables for the three count.

Time: 12:34

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: KINTARO KANEMURA

Mike’s Thoughts: This holds MOTN honours thus far, with both of the two wrestlers working hard and taking some nice bumps. This wouldn’t have looked out of place on an actual ECW show, with it arguably having better production than ECW to boot. Kanemura took a pasting for most of the match, but he was winning in the end so that didn’t really matter, with Balls looking suitably dangerous until it was time to look at the lights.

Maffew’s Thoughts: Kanemura was one of the best things during this terrible period, always happy to put himself through whatever violence was required to make a match good. Thankfully on this big show Kanemura has himself a willing dance partner in Mahoney who is more than happy to completely devastate a car backstage and let Kanemura’s doughy body crush him after a stage dive. Unsophisticated well done violence, thanks lads.

Match Six
WEW Tag Team Titles
Champs: Hisakatsu Oya and Tetsuhiro Kuroda Vs Tommy Dreamer and Raven w/ Francine

Match Write-up by Mike:

Oya started out in New Japan in 1986 and then jumped to SWS in 1990 before hopping over to FMW in 1993 when SWS folded. Kuroda was a regular stablemate of Kanemura and Hido, with him being a member of the No Respect group as of the time of this show. Dreamer and Raven were currently in the midst of Paul Heyman’s favourite booking trope, as they were Tag Team Champions that hated one another. Paul E did that one A LOT over the years. Dreamer and Raven were probably the zenith of that particular act though due to them feuding for years before finally teaming up and then combusting again in the Spring on 2000.

Kuroda gets a special motorbike entrance here, which the crowd responds to, whilst Oya pulls out some singing lass on a rickshaw. Well, both of those entrances were suitably wacky enough that they felt like they made sense on a big event like this, where you normally expect an extra bit of flavour to the entrances during important matches. Heaven’s knows what Dreamer and Raven were thinking watching all of that backstage though. Dreamer looks like he’ll be in the unusual role of Heel this evening as the Champs seem popular with the crowd. Raven gets to keep his music despite, it being the same song as Kanemura’s (albeit the actual Offspring cut of the track as opposed to the Japanese karaoke version that Kanemura enters to)

The fight quickly heads out into the crowd for some classic Memphis styled brawling (which makes sense seeing as that style inspired the creation of FMW, which in-turn inspired the creation of ECW). If you like watching folks fight all over the building and hitting one another with assorted weaponry, then you will probably enjoy this. If that doesn’t sound fun to you though, then it’s unlikely you’ll dig what they’re doing here. I must say that we’ve basically already had the best version of this sort of match that we’re likely to get tonight in form of the WEW Hardcore Title bout, so these guys are fighting an uphill battle in having to follow it. There is a fun spot where Kuroda goes for an Inside Cradle onto Raven on the entrance ramp though, leading to both of them rolling down the ramp like Sonic and Tails in the Chemical Plant Zone.

We eventually head into the ring, where Kuroda rides a ladder from the corner onto Dreamer. Interestingly Oya steps onto the apron following that like he expects the bout to become a standard tag team contest now that everyone has fought down to the ring, but Raven and Dreamer appear to think that this will be Tornado rules and just start beating up Kuroda 2 on 1, meaning that Oya has to amble back in to help his partner again. Raven gets Irish Whipped into a ladder in the corner at one stage from Kuroda and looks to hurt his finger in the process, making me think he dislocated it and had to pop it back in Bret Hart style. Raven comforts himself by giving Oya his trademark Drop Toe Hold onto a nearby chair.

Francine eventually gets involved in order to save Raven from an Oya Octopus Hold, which leads to Dreamer bonking Oya with a chair to rescue his bird. Dreamer is trying quite hard here, even leaping off the second rope onto a chair at one stage and then splashing Oya from the top whilst Oya is laying on the remains of a damaged table. Kuroda rescues his partner though and then gives Dreamer a quick Lariat for the three count.

Time: 11:13

WINNERS AND STILL CHAMPIONS: OYA & KURODA

Mike’s Thoughts: As Maffew says below, Raven didn’t seem that into this for whatever reason, but Dreamer did his best to be a good sport for the home team wrestlers. As a result it was a reasonably energetic brawl with little in the way of chicanery, outside of Francine briefly getting involved. Francine seems to call out the lass who sung Oya’s entrance music following the match, even going as far as to take her shoes off in preparation for a brawl, but the lass in question doesn’t seem that interested. She doesn’t look like a wrestler to be honest, so I can understand why she didn’t want to mix it up in a physical confrontation with Franny. Instead the Japanese lass just sings again whilst Francine stands in the ring and gets annoyed. She does almost break into a smile at one stage, but manages to stop herself, meaning I don’t have to cue up the MegaDrive version of “Beat It”…

Maffew’s Thoughts: Speaking of a company trying to emulate it’s success from years ago, it’s Raven & Dreamer teaming up! Aside from a lovely rolling pin-fall sequence on the ramp from Kuroda this was basic ladders/chairs stuff we’ve already seen plenty of this evening. Raven seems unwilling to do anything other than his trademark bits and Dreamer is at least trying I guess, but this match would have been treated like Bob Dylan playing electric guitar for the first time if it had taken place at Viking Hall. Crowd seemed to like it, but they may have just been cheering Francine’s Swiss-cheese outfit.

There’s a long video package to hype up the next match, featuring a scene where the Fuyuki led Heels all take a Jimmy Riddle on the commissioner, which was probably a good allegory for the company as a whole at the time based on what Maffew has been saying.

We get a quick run down of the outsider wrestlers that will be coming in soon to future FMW shows, including American Dragon, Lance Cade, Axl Rotten, Super Crazy, Tajiri and Balls Mahoney.

Semi-Main
WEW World Heavyweight Title
Luchas de Apuestas
Career Vs Career
13,000 Volt Thunderbolt Cage Death Match
Champ: Kodo Fuyuki Vs Masato Tanaka

Match Write-up by Maffew:

Kudo seized control of the company in April (both on-screen and off) and told Masato Tanaka that if he lost a match, he’d be out of FMW. Tanaka eventually earned the right to have that NOT happen and managed to get this incredibly gimmicked match set up for tonight, with Kudo preparing for this match by bathing with electric eels.

The lights are dimmed (even more) so we can appreciate the coolness of the electric cage, complete with the plasma tubes showing the Leccy Lines. The cage slots around the ring to save precious PPV time and the lights dim (even more) so the crowd can appreciate the electric current running through the tubes on the outside.

Also Fuyuki is the first ever WEW World Heavyweight Champion after declaring himself as…the first ever WEW World Heavyweight Champion. (Quick Mike Interjection: I don’t think it officially counts unless Eric Bischoff hands you the belt on an episode of Raw though)

Both men immediately attempt to launch the other into the leccy, with Fuyuki starting with the big screams straight away. Tanaka sails over the ropes but stops himself in time and the crowd loudly OooooOOos that. Tanaka attempts the same but stops himself by hanging onto the ropes, leaving Tanaka to land a leg-drop on the balancing Fuyuki which causes him to fly backwards into the…slightly underwhelming sparks.

Tanaka tries to land flying elbows into Fuyuki but he converts them into a backdrop into the cage wall as it’s Tanaka’s turn to explode. Fuyuki lands his Running Lariat and Fisherman’s Buster but neither put his opponent away, leading Fuyuki to “Waahhh” loudly like a pissed-up Wario. Powerbomb connects but Tanaka doesn’t feel pain for very long so he stuffs Fuyuki with a Tornado DDT. Tanaka flies off the top a few times before Fuyuki YELLS UP to lock in a Stretch Plumb. Crowd like that but like Tanaka leg-dropping Fuyuki again.

I didn’t realise he did so many, I’m so used to seeing him getting smashed in the head. Another Tornado DDT gets two before Tanaka is doing what he does best, which is shrug off a vicious German Suplex to lariat Fuyuki. Fuyuki recovers to land a Muscle Buster but even this doesn’t put away the mentalist. It’s enough to distract while Fuyuki takes apart the ring ropes so he can throw Tanaka into the cage easier, which makes sense. Tanaka gets choked with the big yellow ropes and surely he can’t come back from this?

Fuyuki instantly gets thrown into the electric cage, proving he was trained by the best and the best was Cannon & Ball. Tanaka impressively powerbombs Fuyuki for a close two as the crowd is switched on. Tanaka gets mad, making him look even more like an old baby than usual and lands the Rolling Elbow for…two. Both men slap it out dramatically with both of them landing in the cage at the same time which manages to look even more like a sparkler than the previous attempts.

This match is finally getting good and then the cage fucks on them like their dad is dead. Tanaka kicks out of Fuyuki’s pin and as both men power up to land the first shot, Tanaka sparks out Fuyuki who tries to do the same on the way down with Tanaka landing on his opponent first to score the win and title at 16:14.

Post-match, the cage is raised and Tanaka dumps Fuyuki into the back of a garbage truck and drives out the arena with Fuyuki in the back. In a sign of things to come, Fuyuki would return a month later and lose several more Loser Leaves/Loser Retires matches in 2000 as the company’s direction sunk further and further into ridiculousness as it became harder to tell what was pretend-stupid and just-stupid.

WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: MASATO TANAKA

Maffew’s Thoughts: Even though the wussy electrics did them no favours, I enjoyed this match, which felt like the big deal they were aiming for. Fuyuki didn’t do much cage/explosion stuff, but when he did he always tried to throw logic into the mix like removing the ropes in this match. Often matches like this dissolve into high-spots so I appreciate the big’s lads attempts at making this make sense. Tanaka was his usual great self here so if you have to watch something from this show, make it this one (and pretend the Roman Candles are M-320s).

Mike’s Thoughts: Tanaka was one of the very best wrestlers going in any promotion at the time, so if anyone was going to drag a good match out of Fuyuki then it was going to be him, and that’s what he mostly did here. It had some of the best heat on the entire show, and Fuyuki sold everything well in fairness to him. I actually thought the explosions looked okay as well, and the crowd seemed to buy into them, so they achieved their purpose. I actually found the match was more enjoyable when they took a break from all of the cage antics and just had a solid Puro style match with the big moves and near falls you normally associate with that type of wrestling. The cage stuff turned this from a match you’d see on a regular show to something a bit different though, so I understand why they included it and the moving parts generally came together as they needed to in order to make the match work.

Main Event
Guest Referee: Shawn Michaels
“Hayabusa” Vs H

Match Write-up by Maffew:

There’s a lot of history here. Both men broke into FMW together with Gannosuke leaving for a while with his mentor Tarzan Goto after he very abruptly declined to headline the biggest FMW show ever. Hayabusa replaced him to become the new ace, with Gannosuke eventually returning in late 1996 to build to one of the company’s biggest post-Onita matches, the Hair vs. Mask at the 8th Anniversary Show. Hayabusa won but declined to shave Gannosuke’s hair and just wanted his friend back, to which Gannosuke responded by attacking his former friend to keep both men as eternal frenemies.

H is Hayabusa under a new unmasked gimmick after Fuyuki advised him there was no room in FMW for superheroes, so H freshened himself up.

During H’s debut match, Gannosuke sustained a knee injury which prompted Gannosuke to return a week later wearing his own Hayabusa mask and claiming he had always been Hayabusa. He would attempt to disgrace Hayabusa’s name by shoving fireworks up H’s backside and appearing in a legit porno (called DIRTY HAYABUSA) of which we will not talk about anymore. Pity the poor person who traded this tape unaware of what was going on and wondering why Hayabusa isn’t Hayabusa and Hayabusa is also not Hayabusa.

The story behind Shawn Michaels being involved is an interesting one: FMW threw a bunch of money at WWF to give them someone for this big show (having borrowed Foley, Vader and Shamrock previously) and WWF gave them Steve Williams. Dr. Death strongly disagreed with the idea of working for FMW because he had pledged loyalty to Baba so he declined to go, which WWF used as a reason to fire him. He was only good for the glue factory post-Bart Gunn anyway. So WWF sent still-retired HBK to justify having retired Sexy Boy still on the books.

I wouldn’t be surprised if a dazed HBK bumped into Gannosuke backstage and muttered “they made you Hayabusa? that’s bullshit, you shouldn’t be Hayabusa.”

H makes his entrance by floating above the entrance gate suspended by wires, which was apparently agony for the poor guy because the hooks ended up digging into his back and putting him in an incredible amount of pain.

I don’t know what the thought process was there but then again I’m not FMW. Hayabusa removes his mask to reveal a second mask, even more identical than the first. HBK makes his grand entrance rubbing his nose and looking so high that Aerostar is ready to jump off of him.

Hayabusa immediately kicks HBK in the groin to remind him it’s No DQ. H sends his good friend, better enemy outside and follows with a rolling swanton off the apron. Hayabusa gets sent into the guardrails to really highlight how dark the venue is. HBK orders the pair to get back in the ring while rubbing his nose like it’s his tell and he’s got a good hand. Hayabusa re-enters the ring and connects with a top-rope dropkick. We’re in a weird place with the larger Gannosuke doing high-flying spots to impersonate his opponent who has now modified his high-flying style to a much less flashy style. H locks in a lengthy head-scissors which gives HBK something to do. His daisy dukes really add to the tension. A quick Falcon Arrow only gets two (NO-ONE KICKS OUT OF THAT) as Hayabusa tries to use a chair but HBK tries to take it from him, despite it being No DQ. So Shawn takes a chair to the gut, which only motivates HBKoke to land Sweet Chin Music on Hayabusa.

Shawn then tries to remove Hayabusa’s mask and this feels like the kind of things that should be happening at the end of the match but apparently we’re doing them now. H has to pull the ref off his opponent as HBK seems uncertain about what’s supposed to be happening. Hayabusa removes his mask so he’s just Gannosuke now, which leads to a nicely done fast-paced sequence ending with H landing an Asai Moonsault to the outside. H continues with his sweet swanton/moonsault combo in the ring before both men sail outside yet again as Shawn decides to get in the way again and starts counting both men out. Gannosuke yells “No No No, Shawn!” but HBK thinks he’s singing so he responds with “I THINK I’M CUTE.”

Shawn gets the hint and watches intently as H smashes Gannosuke with a Double Underhook Suplex on the concrete. Crowd sadly don’t react for that as it’s so damn dark. H teases further violence but Gannosuke shrugs it off to deliver a Kryptonite Krunch off the apron. In theory. In reality, H would have been lower-case h if he’d landed it how Nova would do it, so instead Gannosuke lands on his feet then falls down which saves his opponent’s life but also neutralises the coolness of the move.

Gannosuke rolls back in and argues again with HBK about counting H out. Did they discuss any of this beforehand? Or has HBK just forgotten? H rolls back in and get locked in the Gannosuke Clutch, before getting the ropes. Shawn’s at “Piper during Bret vs. Backlund” levels of distraction during these holds by yelling and shaking his Flander’s arse all over the place. Gannosuke tries the Praying Powerbomb he stole from Jinsei Shinzaki but H counters with a Frankensteiner he stole from Frankenstein. Gannosuke ignores it and lands Praying Powerbomb for real-real for two. Gannosuke dumps H directly onto his head with a brutal German Suplex, which H repays the favour by shrugging it off and delivering his own.

A Fisherman’s Buster and a Double Underhook gets two, generating weak applause. Falcon Arrow (NO ONE ETC ETC ETC) gets two but a quick Gannosuke Clutch gets a gasp and another kickout, followed by another and another. We’re really driving around Move Lane now. H lands an overhead Pele kick which also gets no response despite him politely landing on his head while doing it. H manages the Firebird Splash, which he was doing much less during this new gimmick, but that also gets two so it’s time for the H Edge (Uranage) to also not end the match. Gannosuke dodges a clothesline to set up another German and a brutal Fire Thunder Driver…for two. OK the crowd is finally eating this up. Powerbomb Without A Prayer can’t put H away, as he recovers straight away to get dumped on a Top Rope Frankensteiner with a Shotei and another H Edge getting…nothing, as HBK doesn’t realise it’s a cover. Oy vey. H follows with a Phoenix Splash which mostly misses except for H’s legs which smash into Gannosuke’s poor face to end this at 18:21.

Post-match, both men finally embrace while HBK tells the crowd FMW is the best company in Japan.

They’d be dead in two years.

WINNER: H

Maffew’s Thoughts: Even though this match should have heat even with all the silly bollocks leading up to it, ultimately there was just far too much excess baggage keeping this from flying high. From the porn, the lack of reaction from the invisible crowd, HBK’s attention-seeking performance, the moves that didn’t quite work, H’s gimmick not being anywhere near as popular as Hayabusa, a finishing stretch that was just move move move….this was merely an OK match by these two guy’s standards. I mean it’s got a nice last few minutes and if you watch it without context you’re sure to enjoy it but it’s also pretty sad to see these mega rivals doing their best with what they’ve been given while the company drives off a cliff.

Mike’s Thoughts: H’s entrance was something to behold I must say. I have to second most of what Maffew said about this one really. This wasn’t a bad match, but it never really got past being just decent for me, which is disappointing for the Main Event of such a big show. I didn’t find Shawn’s performance to be quite as distracting as Maffew did, but he did look pretty out of place in this setting, even though FMW was the resident Sportz Entertainment group in Japan at the time. It did look like they hadn’t briefed Shawn on the rules though, as I don’t think FMW had count outs and he was still counting anyway. They probably should have closed with the cage match.

In Conclusion:

Maffew’s Final Thoughts: Everything feels like Leonidas’ last shot at Xerxes: so close to the mark yet also miles away at the same time. FMW were convinced the dip they were in was simply temporary so re-doing everything they’d done before would get the attendance figures they used to have, right? If you don’t care about context, the show wasn’t flat-out bad (way worse was soon to come) and the Kanemura/Tanaka/H matches were all worth a watch to see what a company attempting to emulate the Attitude Era looked like…before wising up and going back to Funk vs. Onita.

Mike’s Final Thoughts: FMW may have been dumpster fire on the road to their DOOM at the time, but in isolation I found this show to be reasonably watchable. 1999 wasn’t really a banner year in Japan, with even All Japan being a bit light on top notch wrestling for the most part outside of some notable exceptions, whilst New Japan was just starting to enter the years of Inoki-ism hell. If you skip the filler segments and video packages, then you could probably blow through this one in under 3 hours, and for that length you’re getting an okay show. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to see it, but the better matches will likely entertain you if you happen to stumble across them.

Thanks so much to Maffew for being a part of this and please let us know what your thoughts on this show are in the comments section!

Mike’s Star Ratings

Mukai, Ichihara & Fuji Vs Team No Respect: **
Jazz, Hosaka & Mongol Vs Motokawa & Nakayama: **1/4
Hido Vs Williams: N/A
Yamazaki & Sasaki Vs The Funks: **
Kanemura Vs Mahoney: ***
Oya & Kuroda Vs Raven & Dreamer: **
Fuyuki Vs Tanaka: ***1/2
“Hayabusa” Vs H: **1/2