FMW 8th Anniversary Show was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

event produced by

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their ...

(FMW). The event took place on April 29, 1997 at the

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. This was the eighth edition of the company's flagship event Anniversary Show, commemorating the seventh anniversary of the company. It was the second edition of the event at the Yokohama Arena after 3rd Anniversary Show in 1992 and the first time in four years that the event was not held at

Kawasaki Stadium is a stadium in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The stadium was opened in 1952 and had a capacity of 30,000 people, but was demolished and rebuilt in 2003 as an American football venue and is now the home of the Fujitsu Frontiers of the X-League. ...

. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was a no rope 200 volt double hell double barbed wire barricade double landmine crushed glass electrical barbed wire deathmatch between

Shark Tsuchiya Eriko Tsuchiya (土屋恵理子, born February 19, 1970) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by the ring name Shark Tsuchiya (シャーク土屋). She spent most of her career working for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. Pr ...

and

Megumi Kudo is a Japanese entertainment personality and former professional wrestler. She wrestled under her maiden name for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, where she became the top star of the Women's Division. Kudo is primarily known for competing in bru ...

for Tsuchiya's FMW Independent and WWA World Women's Championship. Kudo defeated Tsuchiya to win the title. The match was billed as Kudo's farewell match as she retired from wrestling after the event. In other major matches on the card, FMW's

Atsushi Onita is a Japanese actor, politician, and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and is credited with introducing Japan to the deathmatch style of professional wrestling. He founded ...

and Masato Tanaka and

W*ING Alliance The W*ING Alliance was a Japanese professional wrestling group that existed in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) between 1994 and 1997. The group consisted of wrestlers from the W*ING promotion, which ended in March 1994 due to FMW hiring the ...

W*ING Kanemura ( ko, 김행호 ''Kim Hyeong-ho'') (born August 9, 1970) is a Zainichi-Korean retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is also known as W*ING Kanemura or . He is best known for his death matches in Apache Army, Big Jap ...

defeated Funk Masters of Wrestling's

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – ...

, Cactus Jack and

The Gladiator ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

in a Texas Tornado Street Fight Deathmatch and

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C fo ...

defeated

Mr. Gannosuke is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) under the ring name . Honda was quickly pushed as "Mr. Gannosuke" due to his resemblance to the actor Ashiya Gannosuke and he beg ...

in a highly acclaimed mask vs. hair match, the first of the historic matches of their epic rivalry.

Event

Preliminary matches

The opening match of the event was a

tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

, in which

Ricky Fuji Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

teamed with

Ricky Morton Richard Wendell Morton (born September 21, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit. He is the current GCW Television Champion, after pinning Matt Cardona at GCW Say You Will. For most of his care ...

to take on Hido and Dragon Winger. Fuji executed a jumping DDT and a

brainbuster A brainbuster is a professional wrestling professional wrestling throws, throw in which a wrestler puts the opponent in a Professional wrestling holds#Front facelock, front facelock, hooks their pants or thigh, and lifts them up as if they were e ...

to Winger for the win. Next, the team of

Tetsuhiro Kuroda is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently competing as a freelancer on the Japanese independent circuit. He is best known for his time with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where he primarily competed from 1993 until the promotion's cl ...

and Hayato Nanjyo took on Flying Kid Ichihara and Crypt Keeper. Keeper delivered a double underhook powerbomb to Hayato, allowing Ichihara to execute a

moonsault A moonsault, moonsault press, or back flip splash is a professional wrestling aerial technique. It was innovated by Mando Guerrero. Much of its popularity in both Japanese and American wrestling is attributed to The Great Muta, despite it being u ...

to Ichihara for the win. Next,

Koji Nakagawa is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) between 1992 and 2002. He is perhaps best known for his “Hitman” character, heavily inspired by Canadian professional wrestler Br ...

competed against Funk Masters of Wrestling member Katsutoshi Niiyama. After a back and forth match, Nakagawa delivered an

exploder suplex A suplex is an offensive move used in sport wrestling as well as amateur wrestling and professional wrestling. It is a throw that involves lifting the opponents and bridging or rolling to slam them on their backs. Professional wrestling featu ...

to Niiyama for the win. After the match, Niiyama turned into a fan favorite by shaking hands with Nakagawa as it was Niiyama's last match in FMW. Next, the team of

Kaori Nakayama Kaori Nakayama (中山香里) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, who spent much of her career for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling. Professional wrestling career The daughter of former All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling star Miyoko Hoshino ...

, Michiko Omukai, Chikako Shiratori, Mizuki Endo and Yoko Ikeda competed against

Lioness Asuka is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by her ring name . Along with long-time tag team partner Chigusa Nagayo she formed Crush Gals, known for their mainstream popularity in the 1980s, and for being one of the most successfu ...

, Eagle Sawai, Crusher Maedomari, Michiko Nagashima and Miss Mongol in a ten-woman tag team match. Nakayama delivered a

frankensteiner Professional wrestling throws are the application of professional wrestling techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. They are sometimes also called "power" maneuvers, as they are meant to emphasize a wrest ...

to Mongol for the win. Later,

Jinsei Shinzaki Kensuke Shinzaki (新崎健介 ''Shinzaki Kensuke'', born December 2, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive, better known by his ring name, Jinsei Shinzaki (新崎人生 ''Shinzaki Jinsei''). He is curre ...

competed against Super Leather. After a back and forth action, Shinzaki applied a '' Gokuraku-Gatame'' on Leather to make him submit. Next,

Hisakatsu Oya Kenichi Oya (大矢健一) (born July 2, 1964) is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Hisakatsu Oya (大矢剛功). Although he started out for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, he is well known for his stint in Fro ...

and

The Headhunters The Headhunters are an American jazz fusion band formed by Herbie Hancock in 1973. The group fused jazz, funk, and rock music. History (and name) Hancock had grown dissatisfied with his prior band, Mwandishi, and wanted to make a band with a s ...

competed against Fuyuki-Gun (

Kodo Fuyuki (May 11, 1960 – March 19, 2003) was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter better known by his ring name best known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), W ...

Jado and Gedo were a professional wrestling tag team that currently work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where they are also the head bookers. One of the most accomplished tag teams in puroresu, the team has won numerous tag team titles and six-man tag tea ...

) in a Street Fight. A Headhunter delivered a double underhook powerbomb and a moonsault to Gedo for the win. Next,

took on

in a Mask vs. Hair match. Near the end of the match, Gannosuke delivered a

Northern Lights suplex A suplex is an offensive move used in sport wrestling as well as amateur wrestling and professional wrestling. It is a throw that involves lifting the opponents and bridging or rolling to slam them on their backs. Professional wrestling featu ...

to Hayabusa but got a near-fall and then Hayabusa delivered a '' Falcon Arrow'' to Gannosuke for the win. After the match, Hayabusa offered to forgive Gannosuke and not to cut his hair if Gannosuke left Funk Masters of Wrestling and joined FMW side. Gannosuke then shook hands with Hayabusa but turned on him by attacking him and ripping off his mask and then attempted to blow fire on him until Jinsei Shinzaki made the save. The penultimate match was a Texas Tornado Street Fight Deathmatch, pitting the team of

, Masato Tanaka and

against Funk Masters of Wrestling members

, Cactus Jack and

. Kanemura dived from the top rope and hit Gladiator with a chair for the win.

Main event match

In the main event,

defended the

FMW Women's Championship The FMW Women's Championship (or the FMW Independent Women's & WWA Women's Championship) was two Japanese women's professional wrestling championships (WWA World Women's Championship and FMW Independent World Women's Championship) contested in the ...

against

in a No Rope 200 Volt Double Hell Double Barbed Wire Barricade Double Landmine Crushed Glass Electrical Barbed Wire Deathmatch. This was Kudo's retirement match. Near the end of the match, Kudo blocked a

lariat A lasso ( or ), also called lariat, riata, or reata (all from Castilian, la reata 're-tied rope'), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the Spanish an ...

by Tsuchiya, but both fell into the barbed wire. Tsuchiya managed to escape but Kudo was trapped and the barbed wire exploded with Kudo within it. She then fell on Tsuchiya and Tsuchiya got pinned, resulting in Kudo winning the title.

Reception

Stuart of Puroresu Central gave negative reviews to the event, calling it "a very disappointing major show", with "there were no good matches (a couple of those clipped matches looked promising, but were cut to shreds)." He panned the deathmatch between FMW and Funk Masters of Wrestling, considering it "the biggest letdown of the show and wasn't as good as people hoped it would be." He praised Kudo's performance stating that she "had an epic performance and took uncanny punishment. The post-match stuff was also very effective, a vintage FMW moment with raw emotion, not just a storyline. She went out with the belts, but it would have been nice if she retired having a match worthy of her talent, against someone like Aja Kong or Lioness Asuka." He praised the Hayabusa/Gannoske hair vs. hair match, suggesting it to be a "real good match" He praised Hayabusa's performance by stating that he "really stepped up to carry Gannosuke to more than just a spot-to-spot match", with Gannosuke "wasn't that great here, after wallowing as

Tarzan Goto , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled on the independent circuit most of his career. He is best known for his exploding steel cage matches against Atsushi Onita in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ( ...

's underling for so long. He always showed potential, but never really had the chance to build on it until arriving in FMW". He stated that the "match was close and the finish was quick and somewhat sudden", with "telling the tale of how evenly matched they were" and opined that the match was a "good start to their excellent feud". He also praised Nakagawa/Niiyama match, with "the action was solid and the sequences quite smooth".

Results

References

External links

FMW 8th Anniversary Show
* {{FMWPPV, Anniversary Show 1997 in professional wrestling 1997 in Japan FMW Anniversary Show April 1997 events in Asia Events in Yokohama 1990s in Yokohama