Fuyuki Army New Year Entertainment 02/19/98
By Maffew Gregg on 6 April 2025
Korakuen Hall
Attendance: 2,000
Well if ZEN are able to have their own shows then it’s only fair for Team No Respect to have theirs too. Even if they’re held under the Fuyuki Army name because that was a thing prior to the mega-stable (and would out-last FMW).
Here in the Samurai TV studios for the Fuyuki taping we’re joined by…Fuyuki.
Mr. Pogo #2 vs. Yoshinori Sasaki
I didn’t have anything to say about these guys the previous times and three weeks in, nothing’s changed. Politely dull action again ends with a Thesz Press from Pogo #2 at 7:50. Only Pogo #2 could have you wanting to see Pogo #1.
Masked Ryuga & Bloody Phoenix & Fung Suzuki vs. Yoko Kosugi & Miyuki Segabe & Sachie Abe
Yeah I’m going to ask someone else more qualified to watch this.
Hey all! Jabronville here, recruited by Maffew with my joshi watching expertise! Which is nigh useless here because I have so little familiarity with JD’ from this time period, haha. So JD’ (the dash is later just spoken as “Star” but not yet!) was a promotion built up around Jaguar Yokota, a top Zenjo (AJW) star of the 1980s, and many of these kids are all her trainees. Ryura is FMW wrestler Drake Morimatsu, of whom I’ve seen little- as FMW only had two women who knew how to work (Megumi Kudo & Combat Toyoda), I don’t expect much. The Bloody Phoenix, later called “The Bloody”, is a total nutjob risk-taker and got good very quickly. Fang is a first-year at this point, and is themed kinda like an FMW brute- facepaint and a scary look. Kosugi is an early JD’ trainee and can be kind of decent but generic. Sogabe and Abe are both 1996 debuts so are barebones rookies- Sogabe retires by the end of the year and Abe ended up wrestling all the way to 2014- in my 2000 stuff she’s still a very green wrestler barely focused on. So this comes off as mostly a rookie-ish match, with the veterans being a late 1994 debut (Bloody) and the 1990-debuting Ryura. Masked Ryura is the biggest person here by a lot and of course is masked, and her buddies are in matching blue & black (Bloody has the longer hair). Kosugi’s in pink, Sogabe’s in red, and Abe’s the short skinny one in the dark peach non-frilly gear.
The heels jump to start and whip Ryura into the babyface jobber squadron, and when Pink tries to do something cool, she immediately slips and falls off the ropes. Nice try. Fang hits a spinning sleeper on Orange, and the Bloody adds a rolling cradle. Sogabe gets dragged in and ducks a chain but runs into Ryura’s chairshot and OH MY GOD the Bloody just does the Owen Hart sit-out tombstone piledriver through a table on her! You can tell it’s huge because Abe leaps in like “oh my god are you dead?”, covering her partner with her own body. Ryura drags Sogabe into the ring and wraps a chain around her first, which… doesn’t really assist the lariats she’s doing, but okay. She also tries to pin her while her leg’s still on the rope, which is a doofus move even for an FMW trainee. Sogabe counters a whip with a horrible crucifix (thankfully Ryura just goes along with it like she’s “tripped” by Sogabe falling down her body) and tags out to Kosugi, who’s a house afire but is still super clumsy and flaily, slipping around as she does everything. She takes a lariat but manages a counter for two and the rookies triple-team Ryura- dropkick/leapfrog assist kick/facecrusher gets two. Kosugi gets a Northern Lights Suplex for two and we’re clipped to her whipping Fang but getting trapped in a Ryura full nelson, but swinging her legs up and spinning out both heels in a neat reversal. Sogabe hits a missile kick & moonsault, very tentative on both but impressing the fans. Ryura just chairshots her to stop the pin. Double chairshot from her & Bloody! Bloody with a backdrop suplex hold for two, then gets a NICE flying senton, just splatting the kid for two- the others save, but she casually hits Rolling Germans for the three at (5:23 shown of 21:40).
This felt very much like an exhibition of mostly rookies- the heels dominated for several minutes, even flinging in a new rookie to beat on without going for any falls, then the babyfaces got to each try their own stuff. Someone eating an OwenDriver through a table on the floor and just recovering like nothing happened is an AEW-style move and pretty funny, even though piledrivers usually mean very little in joshi puro I’ve seen. Kosugi had good effort but was slippery and clumsy for most of it. Sogabe seemed fine for her experience level, but wrestled like she was counting her steps. Very hesitant and careful with everything (watch her climb to the top rope and make sure to put each foot on each turnbuckle once during her climb). Abe was fairly noticeably absent from what we saw, which fits all the JD’ stuff of hers I’ve seen. The end of it was mostly a “Bloody Showcase” as she hits unanswered move after unanswered move. The clipping was pretty good, as I had no idea this was only 1/4 of the actual match. The heels cheating was okay, but like… done with so little energy that it failed to get much crowd heat, and we missed any stuff that featured babyface selling- cheating-filled joshi matches tend to be predicated along lines of “pathetic mournful babyfaces desperately trying to oppose vicious, cruel heel tactics” but here the heels were just kinda casually throwing chairs and chains around in a perfunctory manner. The Bloody’s offense looked GREAT, however- like she was using this match as a resume for the bookers of her own promotion- as she was senior to Sogabe, I guess the kid just had to go for all the wild shit she was trying, haha.
Rating: ** (looks like a very typical solid pro wrestling match- not that great but hardly bad)
Thanks mate. What the hell is a “rating”?
Hido (Team No Respect) vs. Kouki Kitahara
Oh what’s Kitahara doing here? Oh he’s freelance now that WAR is on it’s arse. Lucky us. He’s still dressed as a bus seat.
Hido wears him down with wristlocks but Kitahara headbutts to escape before treating Hido’s face like a small fire that needs kicking out. Jesus I forgot how stiff this goon could be. Hido looks dazed as he attempts to batter Kitahara with a ring bell, before he gets punched in the face and powerbombed in the alcove near the ring in between fans. Kitahara smacks the ring bell over Hido anyway, with Hido thankful it’s not a kick. Hido manages a Dragon Screw before trying to swinging leg kick Kitahara who covers up and it results in barely any collision. You’re going to soccer kick a dude in the face then sell like that? Kitahara gets his knees up on a moonsault attempt so Kitahara fucking NAILS Hido full force in the face.
Kitahara wraps Hido up in a hold for the win at 8:28.
What a selfish dogshit performance from Big Bus Man. I know there’s plenty of Puro veterans who aren’t shy about firing live rounds but at least with guys like Kimura or Orihara or whoever they’re willing to take as well as give. Not this guy. Kitahara wouldn’t make an appearance for FMW or Fuyuki Army until the 2001 WAR mini feud and even then that was out of sympathy. Poor Hido.
Rocky Mountain North American Mid-Heavyweight Title
Ricky Fuji vs. Gedo (Team No Respect)
Well there’s nothing on cagematch or wrestlingdata about the Rocky Mountain North American Mid-Heavyweight Title so I assuming it’s an in-joke.
Fuji overcomes an attempt from Gedo to suplex him outside with a Moxley Tope. Fuji tries to batter Gedo with the microphone but it doesn’t go “BONK” like it does in USA so he demands Gedo quit instead. Gedo responds with nothing but English curses. Fair. Back inside, Gedo lands a pyjama assisted enziguri and a woeful Pedigree. Fuji follows with a falling off the ropes backwards Superplex to really put the MID in MID-CARD.
Fuji tries a Falcon Arrow but Gedo rakes his eyes but Fuji neglects to sell so kind of stumbles around like a first year student. I’m waiting for this to end. Gedo tries the Gedo Clutch but cruelly kicks out so the match carries on with Fuji kicking a chair into Gedo’s face. Gedo smashes the ring bell into Fuji instead, which leads to Fuji blocking a splash with his knees. Please end. Gedo loads up a lariat, Fuji sees it and attempts to go in between the legs but Gedo converts it into the Gedo Clutch so we can finally move on with our lives at 13:10.
I know Gedo has the ability to be good but these two had absolutely no idea how to follow one another’s moves leading to an awkward mess with the match going everywhere but the right direction. Match was as worthless as the title Gedo now holds.
Hisakatsu Oya vs. Jado (Team No Respect)
Oy yeah it’s Oya. Polite applause for the feeling-out process which involves a crowd brawl. Jado uses a chair to choke Oya before heading back in. It’s been five minutes and very little of anything has happened. Oya ducks a Patera Charge to unleash one of his trademark brutal Back Suplexes but Jado shrugs it off somehow to start throwing lariats. Oya kicks out of four of them, dodges Jado’s low blow and delivers another brutal Back Suplex which Jado no-sells and pops off. Oya delivers another which is also ignored before a third puts him away at 12:33.
This was spectacularly dull and unexciting, with the finishing sequence doing nothing to change that regardless of the FIGHTING SPIRIT moments. What a show.
FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles
Mr. Gannosuke & Yukihiro Kanemura (Team No Respect) vs. Koji Nakagawa & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (ZEN)
Team No Respect lost the Six Man Street Fight titles at the last show so now the tag titles are on the line against the exact same people. A-E-DUB A-E-DUB.
Kanemura immediately squares off with Guest Ring Announcer Go Ito who was the ref that ruled that Kanemura was unconscious and was the reason TNR lost the Six Man Tag Titles to ZEN. He’s still hobbling on his crutch because of the injuries he sustained last time so naturally Kanemura kicks his leg out of his leg to cause ZEN to bum-rush the champs.
Gannosuke and Kuroda go at it with the crowd very much into this early on. Nakagawa blasts Kanemura into the chairs at ringside while Kuroda nails proper lariats unlike those wussy ones we saw in the previous match. Nakagawa keeps the advantage on Kanemura back inside with Kuroda showing signs of improvement every time he wrestles by double-teaming Kanemura while the ref is distracted. This works to their disadvantage when Kanemura low blows Nakagawa causing Gannosuke to work the Bret Hart cosplaying numpty over with a chair. TNR also bust out their deliberately-dumb double teams like Gannosuke stretching Kanemura while he’s using a Boston Crab for added leverage. Superbomb gets two with Kuroda getting ejected from the ring, which only motivates Nakagawa to make a comeback and tag in a recovered-Kuroda who causes Kanemura to do the Rikishi/Jannetty/Billy Gunn sell from a lariat.
Nakagawa starts countering everything Gannosuke is throwing at him, resulting in a German Suplex pin that is broken up by Kanemura and the most nonchalant kick to the leg possible. Kuroda is disgusted by that and takes Kanemura out with a clothesline as Gannosuke lobs Nakagawa into the ref who then takes an accidental lariat as the crowd roar with laughter. Oof. With the ref down, a still-injured Ito is dragged out as he’s still qualified to be a referee so you think he’s going to replace the dead ref to count the pin on the team that injured him, but instead…as Nakagawa heads up to the top rope, Ito breaks his crutch over him to reveal he’s not even wearing a tie at all injured!
Ito flips off the crowd and bounces around with a grin on his face as Gannosuke smashes Nakagawa with the title belt as Ito wakes up the ref for TNR to retain at 11:21.
Ito embraces his new team-mates and they establish it was a SET UP ALL ALONG by doing the dance.
Once again TNR’s antics save another show from being worthless. I could watch the blend of Kanemura’s bumps and Gannosuke’s daftness every day and the post-match angle only increased the nonsense as it means we’re getting more of this.
Lumberjack Match
Hayabusa vs. Kodo Fuyuki (Team No Respect)
It’s Fuyuki’s show so he gets the main event with his chosen stipulation and opponent. After trying to match Hayabusa’s speed, he takes a breather outside and is told to politely go back in by the Lumberjacks (members of Team No Respect). Hayabusa dropkicks him back outside causing the TNR and FMW guys to commence brawling. Everyone calms down as Hayabusa skilfully uses armbars to keep the big man at bay until Fuyuki kicks him low.
Fuyuki attempts to crossbody Hayabusa outside but he sails over/through him instead and eats a lot of shit in the process. Hayabusa helps out by landing a sweet Tope Con Hilo, which wasn’t the smartest of choices as Mr. Gannosuke takes his opportunity to unmask Hayabusa and split him open via the ring post. Fuyuki stomps and yells away as the blood leaks out of Hayabusa’s face and onto his white tights. Fuyuki breaks a chair over his poor head as his face is completely covered in red stuff. Fuyuki continues to pound away and stretch Hayabusa with a Stretch Plumb as the blood starts to cover Fuyuki’s arm too.
Hayabusa manages to get the ropes and then starts swinging wildly at Fuyuki to knock him down as the crowd cheer him on. Lionsault gets two with an impressive German Suplex getting the same. Hayabusa just about manages a Falcon Arrow but nothing’s working on TNR’s leader. Hayabusa very brutally lands a 450 Splash knees first onto Fuyuki and Jesus that had to suck. Fuyuki rolls outside where his stable mates try to protect him until Hayabusa dives onto everybody. Again, not the smartest of moves as Gannosuke sucks it up and powerbombs Hayabusa onto a pile of chairs. Fuyuki lariats Hayabusa very gently (presumably his chest was fucking killing him after that splash) before Hayabusa tries to back suplex Fuyuki but ends up dropping him onto himself for two.
Fuyuki lands a better lariat for another dramatic two-count but another gets converted into a giant Dragon Suplex, with Fuyuki’s kick-out stunning the crowd. Woof. Fuyuki counters a Frankensteiner with a release Powerbomb before landing another lariat. When Hayabusa no-sells that one, Fuyuki immediately responds by landing a Spinning Back Elbow to KO Hayabusa for the pin at 16:17.
Lots of fun here with Fuyuki getting a mildly shocking upset over the Ace, but it’s clear it took an entire stable (THERE WAS FIVE OF ‘EM), chairs, unmasking and gallons of blood to put Hayabusa down. Hayabusa’s selling was top-notch and he had the crowd in the palm of his hands. Shame he crushed the air out of Fuyuki but he’s got a big set of lungs on him so he’ll be alright.
Overall: Only worth it for the last two matches as Team No Respect is easily the highlight of FMW right now. Which is just as well as half the card is based around them and it’s only going to increase as the year progresses.
Next Week: We start a tournament to decide the next challenger to the Double Titles!
I’ve been Maffew