Rants

FMW Over The Top & ECW Japan Tour 12.13.98 DirecTV PPV

By Maffew Gregg on 22 June 2025

Previously In FMW…

Well it’s all happening in December: A two-night sixteen man tournament to decide the Number One Contender to the FMW Double Titles, and also a bunch of ECW wrestlers are visiting!

Over The Top Tournament Quarter Final Match

Tetsuhiro Kuroda vs. Mohammed Yone 12/13/98

We get highlights of Yone’s victory over Gosaku (“highlights” being subjective) and Kuroda’s defeat of Leatherface to bring us up to speed.

Yone has the early dyed blond spikes thing going on to let us know what year it is. Kuroda deals with the fashion of the time by slamming Yone’s kicking leg into the ring-post. Yone slaps his own leg a few times to get the feeling back before throwing more kicks. Silly billy, you’re supposed to kick while slapping your leg. Kuroda locks in an ankle pick and his selling of desperation as he struggles to the ropes is wonderful. There’s no doubt he’s winning but the crowd still yell for him. Yone lands a wonderfully high leg drop for two before Kuroda misses a lariat so he can again oversell like mad as the crowd go wild again. Yone blocks a lariat with a kick but Kuroda ignores it to land another because he fucking loves lariats for the win at 8:10.

A showcase for the always-improving Kuroda while Yone did what he knew best (kicking and having nice hair).

Over The Top Tournament Quarter Final Match

Hido vs. Masao Orihara 12/13/98

Hido qualified by beating Takeshi Ono, Orihara is here because he’s mental he pinned Fuji. We get the clips of Orihara winning via the cruiserweight tradition of three low blows and a roll-up.

Orihara almost immediately starts throwing low blows on poor Hido before bodying him around. Hido notably pauses and simply waits for Orihara’s next spot because he know Orihara’s preferred match-up is eating his opponent alive. Orihara sets up Hido on the top rope for a low blow which is a new one for me. Top rope Frankensteiner nearly goes bad but then Orihara brains himself headbutting Hido. Some more low blows set up some more low blows before Orihara kicks the ref low for daring to intervene and that’s enough for the DQ finish at 5:33.

Orihara is a fascinating guy to watch, as he’s both talented and awkward as fuck. He’s Teddy Hart without the cats.

Over The Top Tournament Quarter Final Match

Mr. Gannosuke vs. Yukihiro Kanemura 12/13/98

Kanemura vanquished an unusually motivated Hosaka, meanwhile Gannosuke defeated team-mate Koji with his new Nirvana submission hold. Gannosuke refused to release it, so Kanemura attacked his former friend to give this match some heat and meat.

Gannosuke is still cosplaying as an evil monk (in tribute to his rival Shinzaki) so Kanemura is able to run into the ring and chair shot him as he meanders down the aisle. So Gannosuke was in Team No Respect but declined to shake Kanemura’s hand on the previous shows so the usually jovial Kanemura is PISSED as a result. Gannosuke kicks Kanemura out the ring while trying to disrobe, which allows Kanemura to send him into the front row and then throw a table on top of him. Kanemura very hurriedly splats Gannosuke through a table via chubby arse off the balcony as an angry Kanemura is a sight to behold.

Kanemura brings the remains of the table into the ring so he can alternate between stabbing Gannosuke with pieces of it and dunking him into what’s left of it. A bloody Gannosuke can’t avoid the table suplexes coming his way as the role of Kanemura will be played by Vader tonight. Gannosuke attempts a Dragon Screw but Kanemura kicks him in the dick (as was the style at the time) to actual boos. There’s been about a dozen of them so far tonight and none of them got that kind of reaction. A hard slap from Kanemura sets up a middle rope legdrop and the first attempt at actually ending the match with a two-count.

Gannosuke blocks a table-wielding Kanemura by landing the Dragon Screw, which then means the table piece flies into the crowd for a very worried/amused crowd pop. Gannosuke gets it back though, no harm done please don’t sue. Kanemura takes the table shots to the dome with Gannosuke actually able to smash them in half over that big head of his. Gannosuke likes the sight of Kanemura bleeding so he stabs him some more with a knife that’s part of his monk gear for some reason.

Kanemura gets madder and begins to ignore the strikes so he can come back with his own Praying Powerbomb – oh no he doesn’t, Gannosuke rolls him up with the Gannosuke Clutch for a very close two count. That was great. Kanemura very quickly lands his top rope back senton, nailing it so fast one of the commentators yells “oh shit!” Gannosuke doesn’t care about his hate-filled cardio and spikes him with the Fire Thunder Driver.

Gannosuke tries the Nirvana Clutch but Kanemura expertly blocks it by flipping himself and getting a Sunset Flip for a close count. Kanemura ignores a German Suplex but takes a lariat for two. Gannosuke finally ends this war after a devastating Fire Thunder Driver at 10:53.

Oh yes, this was the stuff. Kanemura wasting no time with his usual grandstanding or smiling to start throwing bombs from the get-go was very jarring and helped convey the anger he had for his former friend. These two always had great chemistry and it’s just as well both were friends in real life as they had no issues doing such bad things to one another. Recommended match and feud!

Hayabusa vs. Hisakatsu Oya 12/13/98

This one has heat because of a press conference months ago where Hayabusa listed the people he was looking forward to wrestling but Oya’s name didn’t come out of his mouth. Oya’s new-found spite helped him defeat Fuyuki (wait why was he in the tournament when he’s champ?) via shock roll-up. On the same show, Hayabusa qualified by putting away Gedo which is no big deal. So if Oya can pin the guy that pinned Hayabusa, can he defeat Hayabusa himself?

Oya attacks Hayabusa as he is entering the ring because it’s a night of hate. Hayabusa doesn’t care and lands his stunning Quebrada while wearing his cape. Oya casually dodges a follow-up springboard clothesline so he can deliver one of his trademark disgusting backdrop drivers. Hayabusa isn’t impressed so he pops up to kick Oya in on of the three remaining hairs on his head so he can attempt a roll-up. However Oya lives on the mat so he’s able to easily counter this into an ankle lock, making little laugh noises as Hayabusa tries to roll out of it. Hayabusa tries his own hold so Oya punches him around the ring. Oya is having his way with the Ace now, using a neckbreaker to take Hayabusa to the mat where he can transition to a hammerlock. Hayabusa eventually manages a hold of his own but Oya smoothly wiggles out and turns it into an Bow & Arrow to the crowds “oooos”.

Oya gets complacent so Hayabusa kicks him outside and follows with a beautiful Asai Moonsault. I mean he could have sold his fucking ankle or any other body part Oya’s played with but eh. Dream Sequence impresses the fans before a Fisherman’s Buster gets two. Dragon Suplex sets up Hayabusa heading to the top, but Oya cuts him off with a strategic knee to the falling hero. One negative of Oya’s work here is the lack of crowd reaction because no-one thinks Hayabusa is tapping to a Boston Crab. So another disgusting backdrop driver it is, with Hayabusa surviving thanks to a rope break. The Octopus Stretch worries the fans but again Hayabusa lands in the ropes before taking a series of belly-to-bellies. Hayabusa blocks another backdrop driver by crossbodying Oya who enziguris Hayabusa right in the back of the head. Another backdrop driver is blocked by Hayabusa simply sticking his foot underneath Oya, who then slaps Oya with a Shotei and a Falcon Arrow. Butterfly Bomb gets two as we’re in the vinegar strokes. Oya kicks out of the 450 Splash to a very impressed crowd, before Hayabusa attempts the Falcon Arrow which Oya wriggles out of and successfully pins a shocked Hayabusa with the Octopus Stretch Pin at 13:28.

Lovely match with Oya being pushed as the next challenger by way of pinning both Hayabusa and the champ Fuyuki. Although the match showcased Oya’s talents and different styles to both men, it has to be said that Oya could do with picking just one limb to work on as opposed to his opponent’s entire body to build tension to one of his ten thousand holds actually work. Minor niggle aside, this was fun.

Ricky Fuji & Super Leather & Flying Kid Ichihara vs. Kodo Fuyuki & Koji Nakagawa & Gedo (Team No Respect)

Kid starts off and busts out his smooth offence if you consider Prince Iaukea to be smooth. After landing a headscissors on Gedo, Kid gets bum-rushed by the all three TNR members and absolutely bodied with a Superbomb off the top. As Gedo & Koji take out the team-mates on the apron, a Yelling Lariat actually finishes the match at 2:10 with neither of Kid’s team-mates getting to tag in. Ha!

Oh that was a great squash. Fuyuki needed to do something dominant after taking the pin to Oya and this was better than seeing a full-length match between these two teams so I approve.

Super Leather is super pissed at his team-mates for sucking so he destroys them both with Tombstones and chair-shots, before the ref tries to intervene so he gets levelled as well before Leather grabs his chainsaw and heads into the crowd as everyone runs for their worthless lives. This show is awesome, even Leather’s getting a chance to look good.

We get a look at the ECW wrestlers signing autographs and being silly sausages. RVD pretends he doesn’t see the microphone and says “man it sucks being in Japan OH MAN I mean I’m so happy to be here.” The Dudleys get to tell everyone how great they are while D-Von wears a Corona Light shirt. Shane Douglas talks about how he likes the honourable things in life but talks for so long that they have to fast-forward his promo which I’m sure many fans wished they could have done in 1998.

ECW World Title

Shane Douglas vs. Gedo 12/12/98

Shane’s nearing the end of his painfully long fourth title run, which allegedly carried on and on because Shane didn’t want to drop it as it would have meant Heyman wouldn’t have paid him the money he was owed. (Source: Shane Douglas).

There’s a few ECW die-hards in the crowd who start the “fuck him up Gedo, fuck him up” chant out of respect. Douglas’ wrist is all taped up which doesn’t prevent Shane from mockingly applauding Gedo’s armdrag attempt. Both men manage the Guerrero/Malenko pin exchange with a crucifix causing the crowd to yell “wooo!!” because even these guys know Douglas hates Flair. Or maybe the Japanese fans are enjoying yelling American stuff. Shane manages a leapfrog but Gedo dropkicks him in the ankle because that’s the obvious limb to go after when his arm is so bandaged. Ito smashes a chair and a guitar over Douglas’ ankle while Francine distracts on the apron and the commentators get excited at the sight of her. Douglas teases nearly getting pinned with a Figure Four and the crowd enjoy that because they’re loving everything involving the yanks. Douglas eventually spins it over and mule kicks Gedo to set up a swinging neckbreaker. Two piledrivers get no reaction but the rolling necksnap gets a lot of love. Francine and Ito nearly go at it but they’re reading different scripts so Douglas delivers a stalling suplex to more respectful pops. Abdominal Stretch with Francine’s help only powers up Gedo to land his basic offence as that must be the reason for the title shot, Gedo’s not going to hurt Douglas with his powerslams and top rope splashes. Shane takes a top rope dropkick but catches Gedo attempting to go under his legs to successfully deliver a Fisherman’s Suplex for the win at 12:25.

This was a perfectly decent match helped by the curious and enthusiastic crowd, a section of which were just happy to see the Americans. This match aired a week later on ECW Hardcore TV where it was probably forgotten about by anyone who watched it.

Hayabusa & Tommy Dreamer vs. Sabu & Rob Van Dam 12/12/98

We’re JIP to Dreamer taking a wonderful Triple Jump Moonsault from Sabu, kickstarting a “EC-DUB” chant. We cut to RVD landing Rolling Thunder on fat Dreamer before he takes every other double team from the Stoner Brothers. RVD at one point attempts to pin Dreamer by standing over him and holding his legs up, which gets a one count. Man that’s some beautiful disrespect. Dreamer takes more cool ass moves before countering Air Sabu with a lariat to tag in Hayabusa. It gets a bit messy as Hayabusa doesn’t seem to know what to do with the “everyone doing moves at the same time” thing ECW had narrowed down to a fine art so he goes outside with RVD while Dreamer splashes Sabu off the top. Hayabusa tags in to deliver a 450 Splash as we mercifully clip ahead. Hayabusa knocks Dreamer off the apron accidentally so RVD takes the opportunity to dive onto him, so Hayabusa joins in with an Asai Moonsault and Sabu follows by only slipping slightly and landing on RVD. Fonz crotches Dreamer allowing Sabu to block Hayabusa’s springboard with a flying table toss. RVD then executes a Van Daminator with a whole table which worked better than you’d think.

Sabu bounces off a Japanese Table trying to put Hayabusa through it so of course the mad man does it again to much rejoicing. Dreamer makes the save because Sabu never got to pin Hayabusa. RVD helps Sabu Tornado DDT Hayabusa before RVD finishes with the Five Star Frog Splash at 17:27.

As a showcase of RVD & Sabu and all the cool stuff they could do, this worked very well. As a match it was an odd mess of Hayabusa being the odd one out before it turned into every guy landing their trademarks and settled into a watchable spot-fest. Probably for the best it was so heavily clipped but that Table Daminator ruled.

ECW World Title

Shane Douglas vs. Tommy Dreamer 12/13/98

Of course Dreamer gets a title match after losing the day before. Douglas uses Welcome To The Jungle as his entrance music because if there was a band that famously didn’t make it in Japan it was Deep Purple. Douglas yells “Cut the fucking music!” and gets a pop because these fans are nerds (and they know it’s not the right song). Douglas and Dreamer mouth off at one another to build tension but the fans and commentators are too distracted by Francine jumping off the apron.

Douglas attempts to sneak attack from the front but even fat Dreamer can dodge that. Chops are exchanged so the fans yell “wooo!” some more and making Douglas die inside. Francine grabs Dreamer’s foot which allows Douglas to get rolled up in the exact same Sunset Flip sequence we saw yesterday with Gedo. Dreamer attempts an armbar on the heavily-wrapped up wrist of Douglas which Shane escapes out of and gets thrown into some chairs. Douglas gets crotched on the guardrail because that was the one thing left on him that wasn’t broken. Dreamer tries to Pillmanize Douglas’ wrist but he misses and takes an anklebreaker right into it. Fans enjoyed that. Francine delivers a Banzai Drop to Dreamer’s ankle as the commentators squeal. Dreamer gets crotched to more enjoyed noises. Francine distracts the ref so Douglas pretends to be blinded so Francine can land another Banzai Drop but Dreamer gets his fingers stuck in her like a bowling ball as the crowd cannot be heard over the noises the commentators are making. Douglas tries to shove Dreamer into a chair but gets kicked low to set up a slow-mo small package reverse sequence. Dreamer gets slapped by Francine so he spanks her bare arse as the commentators yell “oh shiiiit!!” Douglas uses his momentum to land the belly-to-belly for two. Dreamer attempts the “YELL THE NAME OF THE COMPANY” DDT but Douglas shoves him down onto a chair for two. He disrobes his wrapped wrist in an attempt to twat Dreamer but misses, Dreamer tries something that is then converted into a Fisherman’s Buster at 12:08 to decide the winner of Most Working Whilst Injured.

Match was OK as it tried to do everything from hardcore to comedy to serious but mostly came down to how loud the commentators could yell whenever Francine’s arse appeared. Douglas had more tricks than Inspector Gadget’s sleeve during this period and he needed all of them.

ECW Tag Team Titles

The Dudley Boyz vs. Sabu & Rob Van Dam 12/13/98

This would be during the Duds’ fifth title reign having defeated Masato Tanaka & Balls Mahoney to end their amazing five day reign. RVD & Sabu make their way out to the theme from Lawrence of Arabia for some rea- ohhh it’s because Sabu right, I only just got that.

This match also aired on ECW Hardcore TV a week later. Everyone clobbers to start, with Bubba doing those overhead shots to the back like he’s Jos LeDuc or something. Brawl into the crowd sees Fonz trying to help by throwing a chair at Bubba who launches one back right at him. Bubba reminds me what a great bumper he was, moving into the correct positions for Sabu’s Frankensteiner and Arabian Moonsault, making sure to stand up just so he can bump down again. A second Frankensteiner gets turned into a powerbomb, followed by a mocking Sabu pose to much crowd laughter. RVD kicks the spit out of D-Von’s mouth so Bubba punches him from the apron. Bubba’s earning a lot of new fans here tonight. D-Von blocks RVD’s springboard so he can land that huge diving neckbreaker of his. I love that. RVD blocks a DDT with a Northern Lights so the crowd can be impressed at his flexibility. Double legdrop on D-Von brings in a yelling, screaming Bubba to instantly get double suplexed.

And then in a legendary moment, Sabu tries a chair assisted dive to the outside and fucks it up four times, resulting in RVD diving outside instead to save the spot. Wow.

Sabu redeems himself by busting out a perfect Triple Jump Moonsault on D-Von. Bubba throws a table in to blast Sabu in the face with it and set up a Bubba Bomb after a missed clothesline. Bubba was such a ring general in 1998, able to give and take everything. Sabu converts a headscissors into a Camel Clutch so RVD can dropkick him in the face. The Duds land the backdrop/neckbreaker combo that needed a name so commentators could stop accidentally calling it the 3D. The commentators do it here too. Sabu lands a top rope Frankensteiner and RVD follows with the Five Star Frog Splash but only gets two thanks to D-Von. The Duds regroup by throwing tables and chairs into the ring but Sabu successfully lands a chair assisted dive outside that he probably hoped would be edited into the dive from earlier but no such luck. RVD also sails with that crazy agility because he doesn’t want to be edited out like his team-mate. Sabu and Bubba fight over a table with the idea being that RVD kick Bubba in the face with it but he’s late to the spot so Bubba fucking LAUNCHES it into poor Sabu’s face. RVD realises he’s late so runs in to kick the table into Bubba’s face before double rolling legdrops put D-Von away. Sabu lands a legdrop off the apron through D-Von before Bubba and Sabu exchange table shots to the face for the third time this match. We’re getting a little lost here.

D-Von recovers very quickly for a dude who took a table legdrop but Sabu tells him to fuck off so he can smash chairs over Bubba’s face for the fourth time we get the “Bubba stands there all woozy” spot in ten minutes. C’mon lads. Sabu lands an elbow drop on D-Von, RVD lands a Five Star on Bubba but both kick out. RVD Van Daminates Bubba in the face with him taking it wonderfully, before D-Von is disposed of with a flying chair off the top to give Sabu & RVD’s their second & final reign as tag champs at 16:59.

The best and worst of RVD & Sabu’s work here. Tremendous at putting together spots and delivering high flying chair-assisted violence, but at their worst their matches could go on and on to an excessive degree. Here we saw the exact same spot done four times to needlessly pad out a match that was working fine at the length it was at already. But if you’re not too nitpicking (and don’t mind Sabu messing up a spot four times in a row) then the action here was as hard-hitting and smooth as you remember it being with Bubba being a great base to help the challengers stay on track and take every bump available.

And then everybody brawls to the back with Sabu busting open Bubba with a spike for good measure with even more chair shots and action before Sabu tries to stab RVD after the bell and Fonz needs to break it up. Then Sabu attempts to stab a few fans and the crack FMW security need to drag him to the back. Enough already.

Over The Top Tournament Semi Finals

Mr. Gannosuke vs. Hido 12/13/98

Hido attacks during Gannosuke’s pose, landing a few spinning wheel kicks and a quick piledriver. No-one reacts because no-one thinks Hido has a chance of winning. That and they’re following thirty minutes of tables and chairs and fan assaults. Gannosuke lands a Praying Powerbomb for two, Hido tries a small package but Gannosuke grabs him and shoves Hido into the Nirvana Stretch for the tap-out at 2:22. Good, I didn’t want to see a long Hido match at this time of night.

Super Leather attacks Hido afterwards because he still hates all of TNR and then shakes hands with Gannosuke.

Over The Top Tournament Semi Finals

Hisakatsu Oya vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda 12/13/98

OK so who’s advancing: The cruel master of submissions or the quickly improving lariat-thrower?

Oya attacks Kuroda during the entrance as I think because of ECW this show is running crazy late. Kuroda brawls with Oya into the crowd so Kuroda can land the running-through-the-aisles lariat. Oya isn’t impressed and suplexes Kuroda down the stairs. Nice. Oya uses chairs which isn’t his style but you do get to an age where you want to hit everyone younger than you with shit. Kuroda attempts to drop toe hold a charging Oya but he leaps over him before sticking him in an Abdominal Stretch. Now that’s the old Oya we like. He’s only 34 here but still. Kuroda tries his own Abdominal Stretch but Oya easily hip tosses out of it. Kuroda doesn’t care and smashes Oya’s leg into the ring post which would become his trademark because the crowd get to join in making noise. Kuroda thinks that means he can lock in Figure Four but Oya extracts his leg from his leg while grinning, leading to Oya getting off pretty quick. Kuroda is apparently the dumbest wrestler in FMW as he goes for a knee-based hold I don’t know the name of and…oh, Oya doesn’t reverse. Fair enough.

Oya does get an Octopus Stretch locked in though and when Kuroda reverses out of it, he turns into a piledriver. That was nice. Kuroda lariats him anyway for two. Kuroda ducks a flying enziguri but walks directly into a disgusting backdrop driver. Ah. Oya manages a cross armbreaker but Kuroda is in the ropes instantly, so Kuroda tries a lariat which Oya ducks and rolls into the Abdominal Stretch Pin that ended Hayabusa…but Kuroda kicks out. Kuroda tries a quick backslide pin but Oya instantly reverses into a Fujiwara Armbreaker as the crowd lose their mind. Kuroda gets the ropes so Oya drops him with another Disgusting Backdrop Driver but Kuroda bounces off his own head to land a lariat. Both men struggle to their feet with Oya’s enziguri being blocked by Kuroda to set up a lariat from a yard away for two. Kuroda repeats this close lariat for another two and he can’t believe that didn’t work. Hey I’m sure another million lariats will help. Kuroda wriggles out of whatever to land a third DBD with Kuroda back on his feet right away to throw another lariat…which gets ducked leading to yet another DBD for a very close two as the crowd are on fire now. Oya drags him up and lands two enziguris and a massive German Suplex to advance at 13:42.

Wow. First half felt like Oya letting Kuroda get some stuff in as he was doing things he doesn’t usually do (crowd brawling, allowing someone to put him in a hold) but once Oya started throwing his offence off Kuroda which was then shrugged off by the youngster this got really hot as it was genuinely hard to tell who was winning. Kuroda’s strategy of not letting Oya get the chance to counter by throwing lariats from centimetres away from him was a very effective way of establishing he knew what Oya was like in terms of counters. Great stuff here considering it only went 13:42.

Oya delivers an Onita-style speech after the match and has the fans swarming the ring to touch him. He should have wrapped them all up in Octopus Stretches.

Overall: Oh man, I was going to give up on FMW after their supposed big show of the year bombed harder than Morbius. However this PPV was a hell of a turnaround and featured all the things that made this period so fun to watch in the first place. Gannosuke vs. Kanemura was a must-see, the rest of the tournament was very watchable and the ECW matches are a nice curiosity if you’re that way inclined. Let’s blame Onita for the previous show sucking and move on to 1999.

I’ve been Maffew