(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Atsushi Onita vs. Hayabusa – FMW 6th Anniversary Show

Do you like violence? How about blood? And explosions? Yes to all? Okay, how about seeing someone get electrocuted? Or how about someone running into barbed wire? Still here? Okay, how about having two men trapped in a cage surrounded by all of these implements of destruction unable to escape while fighting against time under the threat of a time bomb going off? If all of this sounds like a fun time then boy do I have the match for you.

This one of the craziest stipulation matches of the past three decades, so much so that AEW tried to copy it (and failed spectacularly). When people complain about exploding matches in North America not living up to historic standards, this is the match to which those lesser matches are compared. It certainly had a lot to live up to, and with so much change in the wrestling landscape, let’s see how well it holds up.

The Story

Atsushi Onita is widely considered the godfather of deathmatch wrestling in Japan. He filled the void for more violent hardcore inspired wrestling after his career in AJPW fizzled out. By sheer force of will, Onita became the founder and biggest star of Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), and would spend years having high-profile feuds with the likes of Mr. Pogo, Tarzan Goto, Sabu, and some martial artists from other disciplines. But this wasn’t just mindless violence: Onita would become something of a cult star by presenting a level of violence and excess that would make people really think he had intense hatred for his opponents and vice-versa.

By the mid-1990s, Onita’s career seemed to be winding down and so he teased retirement. Unfortunately, Onita was more of a carny than many of his Japanese peers and so his first retirement in 1994 ended up being a work. Apparently this didn’t sit well with many people in Japan because that kind of overt bait-and-switching is considered lying/deception in Japanese culture which is something of a taboo. Well Onita learned his lesson because Onita decided to hold one more totally-for-real-this-time-guys retirement match in 1995. Onita did everything he could do convince his diehard followers that this would indeed be his last match and he would be passing the torch to Hayabusa, who would become the new ace of FMW. It turns enough people believed Onita this time, to the point that 50,000 people (reported as ~58,250) filled Kawasaki Stadium for Onita’s last-ever match.

And what better way to go out with a bang than…by literally going out with a bang?

The Match

This took place on May 5, 1995.

This is a No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Mine Explosion Time Bomb Death Match for FMW’s top singles title, the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship. For any indication of how wild this stipulation actually is, the referee appears to be wearing higher-grade safety eyewear along with some other safety equipment.

They lock-up and instantly the match feels serious as the slightest loss of strength will cause one man to be shoved into the barbed wire ring “ropes”. Both men struggle for control and fall to the mat while still locked up. Even rolling on the mat carries a degree of risk. They lock-up again and Hayabusa nearly gets Onita to the wire but Onita shoves him back. Another lock-up leads to a teased shoot off the ropes/wires but Onita maintains a headlock to literally save his skin. Both guys fight to their feet and trade strikes. Hayabusa comes within less than inch of touching the wires. He lands a spinkick and repeats that same spot on Onita. Yet another basic headlock spot sees Onita nearly escape and sees Hayabusa come millimeters from the wires. Onita tries to counter a headlock with a Backdrop suplex but Hayabusa keeps it applied. Onita fights to his feet and tries to break free. Unable to do so, he and Hayabusa rush forward…and collide with the barbed wire, leading to an explosion. Smoke billows from one side of the cage wall. The referee goes down before the wrestlers do. Both Onita and Hayabusa sell this like they actually got tazed, their bodies going stiff and then falling forward slowly.

There is an ENORMOUS sustained pop from the crowd in response to this first explosion. The camera pans to the countdown clock, which drops below 10:00 remaining. Onita gets up first, ignoring the puncture wounds in his right arm, and kicks a downed Hayabusa. A second Backdrop suplex gets him a two-count. He follows that with two snap jumping DDTs and sends Hayabusa into another cage wall, leading to another explosion.

The referee checks on Hayabusa but Onita continues to punish him with a suplex and a leg drop across the throat for a two-count. Onita follows with a sharpshooter and one of the nastiest half crabs I’ve ever seen. And what’s poor Hayabusa to do, reach for the “ropes”? Even if the explosives are gone they’re still replaced with barbed/razor wire that may or may not still be electrified. With only one option, Hayabusa musters all of his strength and throws Onita off with his legs.

Onita gets up first and applies another headlock. But this time Hayabusa struggles like this is a 1920s old-school amateur grappling contest and launches Onita into a third wall. There’s explosion #3.

Three minutes left on the timer. A buzzer starts going off and the announcer’s tone turns far more serious.

Hayabusa fires back with a back suplex and a moonsault splash for two.

Two minutes left

Hayabusa lands a knee crusher into a Figure-4 leglock. The crowd rallies behind Onita. Both wrestlers slap each other while trapped in the Figure-4.

One minute left.

Onita lands a Folding Powerbomb. Two-count.

Thirty seconds left.

Snap DDT by Onita. Two-count.

Ten seconds left.

Hayabusa lands a spinkick. Then, with time running out, Hayabusa runs into the one cage wall that hasn’t yet exploded and it detonates a split second before everything else does.

BOOM!

Three big explosions rock the entire cage and soon the entire structure is engulfed in smoke. It takes a few seconds before anything can be seen in the ring. When the smoke clears enough we can see that Onita actually covered the referee with his own body. Meanwhile, Hayabusa is lying nearby, having been thrown back into the ring after trying to do…something…to possibly reduce his chance of injury.

After a few moments of inaction, Onita gets up first and powerbombs Hayabusa again but only gets two. The crowd chants for Hayabusa now. Hayabusa counters another powerbomb with a Frankensteiner for a near-fall. Thunder Fire Bomb by Hayabusa. He’s not done. He climbs the cage and dives off the top with a moonsault…and misses. Onita with a third powerbomb. It’s still not enough. Onita lands another but this time it’s done sloppily because he’s completely exhausted. So he tries one more. A fifth powerbomb connects. One, two, and three! Onita wins!

Winner and STILL FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion after 18:11: Atsushi Onita

Post-match a ringside official gives both men water and Onita pours water on Hayabusa first before himself. The crowd erupts in “Onita” chants as he helps Hayabusa – whose mask falls off – to his feet. Onita cuts a brief promo but then Hayabusa collapses from exhaustion. He’s put on a stretcher as the crowd chants “Ezaki”, which is Hayabusa’s real name. Hayabusa’s carted off backstage (and then into an ambulance) as Onita cuts a babyface promo to send the crowd home happy.

Review

I’m not usually a deathmatch guy but this was an incredible piece of wrestling drama. Having minimal exposure to FMW and Onita in particular beyond one match involving Terry Funk I was expecting bullshit or some kind of cop-out with the stipulation. So imagine my surprise when they actually lived up to it and made it into something truly nail-biting. It was as much a grudge match as it was a horror show. But this wasn’t SAW-style torture porn or the visceral “let’s see how much raw carnage we can get away with” type of horror but genuine worrying horror with an inescapable sense of impending doom. The stipulation was terrifying on its own; the fact that these guys could build such incredible tension and drama over a basic headlock or a lock-up was proof enough. But once the timer was added this became one of the most deservedly urgent matches you’ll ever see. The stakes were so much higher and the fact that the crowd of ~50,000 was making so much noise added to the tense atmosphere and the almost hypnotic quality of what was otherwise a mediocre wrestling match.

Had this been a “normal” match without its wild setting then the match would’ve easily been condemned to obscurity. Think of one of Brock Lesnar’s worst four-minute sprint squashes without any tension of a big opponent and that’s what this risked being. The actual wrestling itself was limited to a handful of moves and some repeated finishers. That might turn some people off, especially those that don’t like repetition in matches. But it made sense in this case: why expend precious energy or spend critical seconds thinking what to do next when you can do something with a track record of success, especially when you’re not only fighting against an opponent but also against time?

As for the main issue – the stipulation – it was executed as well as it could be. This was a product of its time and setting, something that couldn’t be executed today with so many regulations and restrictions in place on shows with smoke and explosives. This looked far more realistic and dangerous than many attempts at the same from American companies. FMW got away with something this risky thanks to its environment coupled with the audience being willing to possibly take one for the team if something went slightly wrong. I’m sure some people in the front rows inhaled a bit of smoke or got slightly covered in ash yet I haven’t heard of anyone complaining about it. Had this exact match taken place stateside – assuming fire marshals would allow it to happen – at least one person would’ve sued the promotion for smoke inhalation or somesuch which would prevent similar matches from happening.

Final Rating: ****

This is more spectacle than anything else but it’s spectacular for good reason. This isn’t your typical deathmatch or something that someone like Jim Cornette would call “indy mudshow bullshit”; it has a big fight feel, it compensates its simplistic action for genuine tension, and the payoff is decisive and cathartic. Even if Onita reneged on his promise to retire, the match didn’t feel any less special or serious. And while much of the praise should go to the delivery of the stipulation, I think that the more noteworthy thing here was how these two wrestlers with opposing styles managed to make the most basic day one training wrestling moves matter. We’ve all seen countless wrestling matches and very, VERY few have something matter from not just the opening bell but from the very first moment the two sides make contact.

Though there are better wild deathmatches than this one – Onita’s similar match with Terry Funk still reigns supreme – there’s enough compelling here to make it worth your time to watch.

Thanks for reading.