Fall Spectacular: Kawasaki Legend was a Fall Spectacular

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 September 28, 1997 at the

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. ...

in Kawasaki, Kanagawa,

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 ...

. The show aired via tape delay on Samurai TV! on October 12. 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 Ropes Exploding Barbed Wire Steel Cage Time Bomb Death Match between

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

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 ...

, which stipulated that if Onita lost, he must

retire Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

from professional wrestling and if Kanemura lost, then

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 ...

would have to disband. Onita won, forcing W*ING to disband. After the event, Onita formed a bonding with W*ING members and quit FMW team in sympathy and formed

ZEN Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

with W*ING members to feud with FMW. In other major matches on the event, Masato Tanaka defeated

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 ...

to win the

FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship The FMW World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship was a premiere championship in the wrestling promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, ...

and the

FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship The FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship contested in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). It was one of the top two titles in the company, along with the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyw ...

, the All Japan team of

Kenta Kobashi is a Japanese former professional wrestler. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1988, where he became one of the promotion's top stars, holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship three times, and winning the Cham ...

and

Maunakea Mossman Mauna Kea ( or ; ; abbreviation for ''Mauna a Wākea''); is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii. Its peak is above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of Hawaii and second-highest peak of an island on Earth. The peak i ...

defeated

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 ...

and

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 ...

, Funk Masters of Wrestling leader

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 – ...

defeated Fuyuki-Gun leader

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 ...

in a loser leaves FMW match to retain the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship, Vader defeated

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (''né'' Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promoter and semi-retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kickboxer. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Cha ...

in an ultimate rules

steel cage 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 ...

and

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 ...

defeated

Aja Kong is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She is the founder of the Arsion all-women professional wrestling promotion and has won several championships in both singles and tag team divisions throughout her career, prima ...

to win the FMW Independent and WWA World Women's Championship.

Event

Preliminary matches

The opening match was a twelve-man

Royal Rumble match The Royal Rumble match is a professional wrestling match based on the classic Battle Royal match in which a number of wrestlers (traditionally 30) aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the ...

. The final two participants were

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" ...

and

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 ...

. Kuroda lastly eliminated Fuji with a one shoulder powerbomb to win the match. Next,

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 ...

and Miwa Sato took on Mad Dog Military members Crusher Maedomari and Miss Mongol. Maedomari executed a '' Nodowa Otoshi'' on Sato for the win. 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

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 ...

defended the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship against

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 ...

. Gannosuke executed a ''Thunder Fire Powerbomb'' on Gedo to retain the titles. Later,

took on

in a match for the vacant FMW Independent and WWA World Women's Championship. Tsuchiya attacked Kong with a fireball to win the vacant titles. Next,

defended the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship against

in a Loser Leaves FMW match, with the loser being forced to leave FMW. Funk executed 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 ...

on Fuyuki to retain the title. Next,

took on Vader in an Ultimate Rules

Steel Cage 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 ...

. Vader was awarded the match via referee stoppage after Shamrock began bleeding heavily. Next,

defended the unified FMW Double Championship against Masato Tanaka. Tanaka nailed a '' Rolling Elbow Smash'' to Gladiator to win the title, ending Gladiator's year-long reign. In the penultimate match, the team of

and

took on

and

in an interpromotional tag team match. Kobashi nailed a '' Burning Lariat'' to Hayabusa for the win.

Main event match

The main event was a No Ropes Exploding Barbed Wire Steel Cage Time Bomb Death Match between

and

. The match stipulated that if Onita lost then he would be forced to retire and if Kanemura lost then

would be forced to disband. After a back and forth match, Onita executed a ''Thunder Fire Powerbomb'' on Kanemura for the win, thus saving his career and forcing W*ING Alliance to retire.

Results

References

{{FMWPPV, Anniversary Show 1997 in professional wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling shows 1997 in Japan September 1997 events in Asia Events in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Professional wrestling in Japan