The Rise And Fall Of FMW

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To your average fan, hardcore wrestling begins and ends with ECW, but just as WWE and WCW noticed what ECW was doing and changed things up, Heyman himself changed ECW from a regional NWA affiliate into the land of broken dreams and kendo sticks after watching in awe what Atsushi Onita was doing in Japan with FMW...
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Cultaholic provides video coverage of professional wrestling - including WWE (including WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, NXT and 205 Live), AEW, IMPACT Wrestling (formerly TNA), NJPW, ROH, and more with daily news updates, reviews, lists, highlights, predictions, reactions, podcasts and much, much more.

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Опубликовано:

3 дек 2022

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Комментарии : 329

@bull705 Год назад

Glad you guys remembered to give Kudo credit for her part in FMW history since Vice's Dark Side of the Ring episode on the promotion ignored her completely.

@Kleetus_Van_Damm Год назад

Yeah that episode was my only knowledge of FMW and had no idea about her until this video

@delcodel6835 Год назад

You could say they gave him “kudo”s??

@crazyangst12 Год назад

Hmm. Why did they not mention her?

@ToyotaKudoFan Год назад

FMW was as good as dead once she retired tbh

@johnathanrush4666 Год назад

Because the episode wasn't about FMW, it was about Onita

@michaelsinger4638 Год назад

Arai’s story is so sad. Onita set him up to fail there. Onita’s massive ego was FMW’s biggest drawback.

@smac919 11 месяцев назад

Onita had the opportunity to redeem himself when Arai went into debt with the Yakuza. Onita had the means and the power to get the Yakuza to leave Arai alone, at minimum Onita could have played mediator and helped Arai with the Yakuza. It is a shame Onita didnt do that for Arai and his family. Onita should have paid off the debts after Arai killed himself too.. it was Arai's family who still owed the Yakuza.

@jeffdakid5845 10 месяцев назад

@@smac919 not trying to disagree with you but according to Onita, Arai didn’t want to ask him because of his pride after he took over the company

@iamthefwordgaming3165 9 месяцев назад

@@jeffdakid5845 so its more like when a servant become a master they got bigger ego. well maybe. i mean onita fmw never got tv deal and when arai took it they got tv deal but screwed because many of their fans are hardcore fans wrestling.

@NathanMowery Год назад

If you’re new to FMW and wanna learn more about it I recommend Bret FMW’s channel. He does super in depth videos and has practically every FMW match ever uploaded. As an FMW fan that channel was the best discovery ever for me haha.

@lukewarmstanhouston9957 Год назад

He also sells a bunch of FMW, IWA Japan, BJW and other Japanese Wrestling DVDs and BluRays.

@irishhemmingsen2761 Год назад

@@lukewarmstanhouston9957 how where and website plz

@bobsanderz3005 Год назад

Thanks for the recommendation

@Burger-urger Год назад

It rules

@davidjsaul Год назад

I've just subbed to his channel, thanks for the recommendation

@mrf19741 Год назад

RIP, Hayabusa, Mr. Arai, Kodo Fuyiki, and Mr. Pogo. I got hooked on FMW in the early 2000's after finding some VHS tapes 📼 at my local FYE store. To find out what was really happening behind the scenes is mind-blowing.

@cliffordjackson3 Год назад

FACTS dude.

@ArcherSuh4721 Год назад

I don't know if these guys were on every VHS, but did the ones you had have those absolutely awful American commentators? I had a few of them and they all had these two d*ckheads doing the introductions and play-by-play and they were effin' HORRIBLE. I couldn't stand either of them!

@mrf19741 Год назад

@@ArcherSuh4721 Yes,They Absolutely Were!😤

@Jesusblowsme666 Год назад

Finding wrestling DVDs at fye is like a trip down memory lane

@chrisbutler1668 Год назад

I found the 1995 IWA King of the Death Match Tournament at an FYE. Sometimes I miss that store...

@WSK9002 Год назад

Arai's Daughter has every right to feel how she feels about Ontia, I feel that Ontia, created FMW out of spite after his All Japan career did not turn out the way, he expected it to, he felt he deserve to be on the level of Baba and Inoki, he got there, but in the tradition of most Pro Wrestling Promoters he stepped on a lot of people along the way.

@leonarddillon256 Год назад

Fun Fact: FMW still is the highest drawing promotion that labeled itself as a hardcore wrestling company. Not even North American wrestling companies could draw as much as Onita did in the company's prime on a monthly basis and made millions in the process. Even ECW died too prematurely from severe financial issues and others imitators could never get as mainstream television for as long.

@mrowley7300 Год назад

Honestly shout out to Bret FMW who went in to detail from the start of FMW to the closing of the company and everything afterwards

@cliffordjackson3 Год назад

FACTS.

@KVR216 Год назад

💯💯💯💯

@davidjsaul Год назад

Just subbed to his channel on the back of the recommendations

@wyzeguy6 Год назад

I love these deep dives that Ross and the staff have been doing on these promotions. Keep up the great work everybody!

@honestreviewer7788 Год назад

When they lost Hayabusa it really hurt them. Top young star just stopped completely in his prime

@cliffordjackson3 Год назад

FACTS them losing hayabusa fmw last true big star was the nail in the coffin for them.

@honestreviewer7788 Год назад

@@cliffordjackson3 yep. He was their future and lost him ina snap. Such a shame.

@BradleyVolk3 Год назад

Truly heartbreaking. The worst in ring injury I've ever seen. Its still hard to watch.

@honestreviewer7788 Год назад

@@BradleyVolk3 watched it once. Didn't ever wanna see it again

@BradleyVolk3 Год назад

@@honestreviewer7788 I hear ya. There's really no need to. I was honestly surprised afterwards to see guys like Jericho continue to use that move. I don't think many wrestlers would object to even banning it all together.

@dano_the_collector8421 Год назад

Megumi vs. Combat (retirement) is still to this day my favorite womens match ever. Violent but, told quite the story with the anguish of Combats husband in the crowd

@kibayasha7301 Год назад

I was just saying this to a friend a few days ago. So much emotion and so much devestation

@dano_the_collector8421 Год назад

@@kibayasha7301 Megumi folded in half on some of those suplexes 😬 I loved the crowd reaction when they got close to the barbed wire ooooooooohhhhhh 😁

@AllsparkSupremacy Год назад

That match and exploding ring main event blew my mind.

@Me-gy2ep Год назад

Her hair melted n shit lol I watched that tape until it broke❤️

@dano_the_collector8421 Год назад

@@Me-gy2ep me too 😂

@daviddeeks5480 Год назад

These documentaries are great. Ross and the editors are making amazing content that entertains and informs. Can't wait to see which promotion is next.

@cliffordjackson3 Год назад

FACTS.

@genesis4322 Год назад

Onita's attitude reminds me of a certain red and yellow wrestler I can't quite put my finger on.

@LordDeBahs Год назад

to be fair not only hogan does this . but yeah he is prime example

@genesis4322 Год назад

@@LordDeBahs He is the first guy I think of

@joshhale9355 Год назад

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Cultaholic is the best at the documentary style videos. Also, RIP Hayabusa, he was the trailblazer for a lot of, if not almost all, independent wrestling.

@Rando1975 Год назад

Just a correction on the fire match. FMW did run another fire match in 1995 with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Mr. Pogo, although it was very different and not nearly as much fire.

@polarbear138 Год назад

Love FMW. First Japanese promotion I ever got into. Loved Hayabusa, Gladiator and Super Leather!!!

@polarbear138 Год назад

Forgot Kudo! She’s my all time favorite woman wrestler

@M1stah.J Год назад

Thank you Cultaholic you now have me searching RU-vid for FMW matches 🤣

@garfieldsspaghetti Год назад

I have always remained adamant about Onita's ego-stricken behavior on the SquaredCircle subreddit, and everyone called me stupid. Glad to see it to justice here. The de-facto owner of FMW also killed himself over the fall of FMW, and he wrote a book detailing everything before his passing. It's mad.

@Jus2sick Год назад

Thank you so much for making this, I know a lot of people aren't a fan of the “WEW era” however it did have its good moments.

@ToxicAvengerCleanYourMind Год назад

A lot of people never knew it existed

@GM-tw4el Год назад

Excuse my ignorance but what’s WEW ? I’ve never heard of it.

@Jus2sick Год назад

As mentioned, Fuyuki turned FMW to be more entertainment based. He started WEW (World Entertainment Wrestling) like WWE so it originally started as a govorning body like the NWA or AJPW’s PWF (Pacific Wrestling Federation) and so it lead to stunts such as the FMW dances, the Fireworks match, and created its own titles. After FMW folded in 2002, it became its own promotion until Fuyuki’s death in 2003.

@Bosstype90 Год назад

Laying paralyzed he asked the fans not to let fmw die how fucn sad bro 😭

@Chris20xx Год назад

LOVED this video! I always like to know more about FMW as I've seen a lot of the shows - Hayabusa is my favourite wrestler in FMW, Will Ospreay just recently wrestled on a NJPW show with a tribute to Hayabusa and i loved that so much

@kylethompson8949 Год назад

Ross showing again why he's the puroresu expert!! Would love to see the rise and fall of all japan WOMEN's pro wrestling next lads. Or maybe pro wrestling noah (even though they're slowly rising again)

@supersasukemaniac Год назад

NOAH would just be out and out depressing after 2009. up to about 2015

@bertbernardo8583 Год назад

Love it everytime Ross says "Baba"

@abzorb9996 Год назад

I’ve been watching FMW recently so this is a treat.

@KMmouse20 Год назад

Yoooo I was hoping to see a Rise and Fall on FMW, this promotion had a wild story.

@aron7766 Год назад

It's a shame WEW never took off, because it gave you a glimpse of what FMW would have been if it kept going. Theres an alternate run where Tomohiro Ishii and Mammoth Sasaki were the 2000s Hayabusa and Mr Gannosuke.

@KingHayabusa384 Год назад

I absolutely loved this promotion. So many great memories.

@RandomTrinidadian Год назад

So Onita was the Japanese Hulk Hogan basically?

@Imhim247 Год назад

Yes

@karlrobinson4660 Год назад

Would love to see one of these on IWA Japan

@jjsrandomedits39 Год назад

I am absolutely obsessed with Onita and hardcore wrestling, so this video was a perfect way to start my morning.

@urbaindelva7869 Год назад

From watching this video, FMW went from intrigue and innovative to hype and success to insane and crazy to sad and heartbreaking.

@ryyanhyyland9020 Год назад

Awesome video. LOVE FMW . THANK YOU!

@OscillatorCollective Год назад

This got me emotional… This is the kinda shit that makes me LOVE professional wrestling.

@ijr_1598 Год назад

This was great!!! Please do Puerto Rico Wrestling next, I honestly want to learn about the insane crap that happens there.

@Cosmic_Gorilla Год назад

Loving this series, keep up the great work Ross!

@Rando1975 Год назад

Arai's story was so sad. He didn't know anything about how to run a wrestling company, and took over because Onita had planned to close FMW after his retirement, leaving many out of work. Onita was such an egomaniac he didn't want anyone else to go over him.

@WSK9002 Год назад

Onita makes Paul Heyman look like Verne Gagne, lol.

@cliffordjackson3 Год назад

Onita is like hulk hogan but If hulk was not just a wrestler but also a promoter.

@suneater98 Год назад

Hayabusa mask is iconic

@dannogsus2184 Год назад

Oh I'm glad they got Japanese wrestling's biggest fan to talk about this

@sophiaheaton6197 Год назад

Do a lucha underground one please

@cliffordjackson3 Год назад

FACTS love to see that.

@alexhartman6144 Год назад

Bret fmw is a channel I found at the beginning of quarantine. Its really great, he gives a detailed description of what was happening in the company year by year which is great. I've been watching fmw tapes since highschool but never really knew what was happening storyline wise

@amartyaroy3754 10 месяцев назад

Megumi Kudo was one of the few women in Japan who was doing death matches in the late 20th century something where WWE were using women as sex symbols. She is indeed the queen of extreme.

@rex788 Год назад

Thank you so much for these documentaries. I love the FMW story. I am writing a fictional book about a wrestling company. After learning about a lot of dead companies. FMW is one of my favorites.

@jonesjones3678 Год назад

Glad to see this included things that Dark Side didn't! Keep up the good work, Cultaholic!

@ShowdeQuetzal Год назад

Great video, I never knew the FMW story was that sad

@Darkworldinc1313 Год назад

This was great guys. More videos like this, please.

@shanestephens4728 Год назад

I would spend my breaks at school in like 99-00 reading and re-reading BAHUFMW’s super-detailed roster bios and without having actually watched a single match, declared Hayabusa as my favourite wrestler of all time - over Perfect, Macho, Shawn and even Bret. I remember infecting my family computer with AIDS downloading FMW clips off Kazaa. I also remember the excitement I had finally finding a full copy of the Onita/Hayabusa exploding cage match. I wish Hayabusa had made it to WCW’s cruiserweight division as I have no doubts he would have flourished and inspired even more generations of kids.

@CurlyFromTheSwirly 3 месяца назад

When I got into raslin in the late 90s a friend lent me a tape of FMW. It was amazing, especially Megumi Kudo.

@ApeLikeThinker Год назад

I had an old FMW VHS tape that had Leatherface and The Head Hunters vs Mike Awesome and some other guys along with Mock Foley in a barbed wire match and then Dick Togo and Terry Funk in an exploding death match.

@Rando1975 Год назад

It was Terry Funk and Mr. Pogo, not Dick Togo.

@azharmoosa4005 Год назад

Nice always appreciate the Puro content. Hope to see more

@cliffordjackson3 Год назад

FACTS hope they make a video about the rise and fall of impact wrestling, teddy hart, DX and many more.

@ousmansano21 Год назад

@@cliffordjackson3 Dx????

@TheShockninja Год назад

So I was today years old when I learned Jerry Flynn was in FMW.

@jonelliott7319 Год назад

This was some of your best work, Ross. Hell of a job to all involved.

@darXcore 11 месяцев назад

Very very interesting, lots of new info for me, thank you.

@bigjoeofthe707 Год назад

Hope to see one on NOAH but that could be called The Rise, Fall, and semi Rise of Pro Wrestling NOAH. Same with New Japan.

@mvjr7758 Год назад

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Well done. Hayabusa botch is still painful to see and get out of mind. He truly was a Sabu fan.

@Joe90h Год назад

Horace Hogan is the key to all of this...

@oddishhonor Год назад

Well done boys! This is a great watch

@richardhornby5058 Год назад

Another grate video. I have to wonder how many of Onita's hospital stays where actually a work. They didn't call him Mr Liar for nothing.

@Rando1975 Год назад

Well, they called him Mr. Liar because he came back from retirement. A lot of fans were really pissed off when he came back as it was a special occasion when a legend retires.

@richardhornby5058 Год назад

@@Rando1975 yep. That's also what makes me suspicious of cheap heat worked hospital stays

@iamtriston666 Год назад

I would love to see a movie about this.

@Brando-Lee3725 Год назад

I loved FMW . The early stuff was cool because it was SO DIFFERENT than anything else . But my favorite era of the company was when Hayabusa started rising . Besides Sabu , he was the only other to combine high flying wrestling with the deathmatch style . Well . Great Sasuke did too.

@Rando1975 Год назад

1996 was my favorite year for FMW. Hayabusa, Gladiator, Tanaka, Kanemura (my personal fave). We got good wrestling matches and death matches.

@Brando-Lee3725 Год назад

@@Rando1975 yes sir . Fun stuff !

@theneonchimpchannel9095 Год назад

Hayabusa was possibly the greatest in ring performer of all time. I don't think many people could have done what he did...and I'm not sure anyone should try given what happened to him.

@Rando1975 Год назад

True. He was a heavyweight, but was high-flying like a junior heavyweight. He became H to change his wrestling style, but went back to being Hayabusa.

@aaron24wood Год назад

Great video, learned a lot. Does make you wonder why Moxley worships Onita though. The facts hardly paint Onota on a good light as a person.

@Dannypuck Год назад

Another great video, Ross. This needs to be a Dark Side of the Ring episode.

@Rando1975 Год назад

It was. Although it really could have been a two-part episode.

@OscillatorCollective Год назад

FMW “tapes” were the wet dream of wrestling fans in the 90s. I had a few, blew my mind HAYABUSA IS GOD‼️

@808sirenz9 Год назад

Hayabusa is a top 20 talent all time. I wish he would be honored more than he already is. RIP. Muta Liger and Hayabusa made me spend hundreds on import tapes and games

@Kanzuki Год назад

Arai's end was pretty depressing. I felt bad for the poor guy and his family

@thatoneguy_313 Год назад

for an even greater in depth analysis of FMW check out the History of FMW podcast. Bret Querner is the definitive expert on all things FMW.

@WSK9002 Год назад

I have heard that story for two decades Onita has even says on "Dark Side of The Ring" the FMW brass asked him to leave, sorta like Vincent K. McMahon in the Summer of 2022, but in actuality Onita was most likely terminated, I am of the belief though that a lot of the FMW higher ups wanted to terminate Onita for being a Money Hungry Jerk, regardless of he drew money or was over.

@BretFMWWorld Год назад

Hayabusa wanted Onita gone and the wrestlers along with Arai sided with Hayabusa on the decision.

@webpulps Год назад

I'm sorry, "Accidentally swallowed barbed wire?" 🤐

@ryyanhyyland9020 Год назад

Wow. I heard bad things about onita but. Wow. He's unreal. Thats so disappointing.☹️

@LucienYT Год назад

Onita: The Japanese Hogan

@bally40001 Год назад

I know nothing about FMW but Ross makes it so interesting and more importantly funny!

@ToyotaKudoFan Год назад

We definitely need episodes on NJPW, NOAH and All Japan Women's now

@AdamNRG316 Год назад

Fucking great video Ross. Knew nothing about them until now. Really enjoyable listen.

@sensoriko Месяц назад

24:24 A young Eric Bischoff takes fashion notes.

@kidwaryodproduction Год назад

21:56 Taka's face easily can be memed 😆Very cute :) 27:05 Looks like Vampiro's long lost brother.

@claytonjones8358 Год назад

So cool to get their tapes from Japan in the 90s. Great times

@Gravity999. Год назад

Ty so much for this.

@Nbflowers1989 Год назад

Love these!

@mattnoble3444 Год назад

“I believe it’s pronounced ECW”- Vinny Mac

@DC90 Год назад

You never go full Russo.

@animeslayer4762 Год назад

I’ve seen FMW in DarkSide Of The Ring and it was crazy

@HyperActive7 Год назад

This Onita character is the Hulk Hogan of Japanese wrestling when it comes to his backstage politics..

@Brando-Lee3725 Год назад

I loved that match with hayabusa and tanaka vs funk and pogo !!!! Also the Funkmasters of wrestling show. Hayabusa had tons of great matches then . A bunch with Mike Awesome and some killer ones against Taka Michinoku and Sasuke along with great six man death matches .

@RockNRollHorrorshow Год назад

Honestly, while I think Hogan's politicing and other similar wrestler's antics are bad. I can't really HATE Onita for how he is. Beyond the Yakuza stuff, he really gets the "He's an asshole, but he's OUR asshole" sort of feeling from me. He's the reason why Deathmatch exists today and you can't deny that part of his legacy.

@UnpluggedIndividualYT 10 месяцев назад

Hardcore wrestling started for me wit the Harley race vs hacksaw backstage brawl at the 37th annual slammy awards in the 80s tbh

@yadielenielbellecolon982 Год назад

Great Story 😁😍😀💗

@jarvisyoung77 Год назад

If anyone want to see the full story of FMW go to Bret fmw channel called History of FMW.

@chewydewok Год назад

Is it just me, or does Onita sound like a Japanese version of Hulk Hogan?

@KVR216 Год назад

RIP Hayabusa, Arai, Goto, Pogo, Fuyuki, & Mike Awesome

@TheTribalgame Год назад

I'd love to see the rise and fall of WOS.

@dod6031 6 месяцев назад

The story of Sabu being battered by the Yakuza before being saved by Mike Awesome is one of the most mental yet lesser known wrestling stories out there.

@CharlyAreces Год назад

Great video

@petesmart1983 Год назад

Fmw changed when Arai took over and got rid of deathmatches which was it only unique appeal and slowly decline plus all the money he owned to the yakuza

@cliffordjackson3 Год назад

FACTS and him unfortunately committing suicide because of the whole.

@WSK9002 Год назад

It's kinda like now, there are no big differences between New Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH.

@joeywrestling9536 Год назад

This could be one of my favorite videos of the series. Unfortunately, this was during a period in which I was not actively watching wrestling. I had no idea of this promotion and found it incredibly fascinating. Thank you as always, Ross! Great job bonne lad!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

@iamcasihart 9 месяцев назад

Here to pay respects to THE Terry Funk. He seemed like a genuinely lovely, kindhearted, funny, interesting man, not to mention his absolute brilliance as a legend in pro wrestling. It saddens me that he never got the money he was owed for working so hard.

@B.-T. 2 дня назад

It's so tragic, because Ezaki could have followed in his mentor Jushin Liger's footsteps and grounded his wrestling style without switching gimmicks, and in doing that, FMW could have lasted a little longer and he probably could have avoided that tragic slip on the lionsault......

@chrisw413 Год назад

Really good video

@michaelsinger4638 Год назад

A fascinating “what if” what if Onita was not plagued with injuries. Could he have become one of AJPW’s top stars in Time?

@Thor-Orion Год назад

He made an entire promotion possible. I think he would have been a big star anywhere.

@ToyotaKudoFan Год назад

I don't think so, even during his prime years in AJPW he was average at best in the ring, nothing compared to the future stars like Misawa, Kobashi, etc. he wouldn't have risen past the mid-card imo.