Goodbye Hayabusa was the name of two

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 ...

series of events 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) in 1999. The backstory of the series was that

on-screen An on-screen display (OSD) is an image superimposed on a screen picture, commonly used by modern television sets, video cassette recorder, VCRs, and DVD players to display information such as volume, channel, and time. History In the past, mos ...

FMW Commissioner

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 ...

decided to end

Eiji Ezaki was a Japanese professional wrestler, stage actor, musician and professional wrestling promoter, better known under the ring name . He was best known for his time with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where he primarily wrestled throughout ...

's "Hayabusa"

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

after August 25, 1999 and the tour consisted of farewell matches of Ezaki's Hayabusa character and the end of it. The first part of the event took place between July 18 and July 31, 1999 and the second part of the event took place between August 20 and August 25, 1999. The series also introduced the

WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship The WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship was a championship in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and later in World Entertainment Wrestling. It was active from July 1999 until February 2002 as a substitute for the FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team C ...

, a substitute for the

FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship The FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship was a championship in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). T ...

, which had been retired and awarded to the departing

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 ...

by FMW President

Shoichi Arai Shoichi Arai (荒井昌一 ''Arai Shōichi'') (December 19, 1965 – May 16, 2002) was a Japanese professional wrestling promoter. Arai ran Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling from 1995 until its closure in 2002. Career Arai started with FMW as a ...

on November 20, 1998 for establishing FMW and taking it to a huge level.

Dates, venues and main events

Goodbye Hayabusa I

Goodbye Hayabusa: II

Background

On May 5, 1999,

Team No Respect Team No Respect was a professional wrestling faction in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), which existed in the company between 1998 and 2000. The ideology of the group was that they disrespected all the wrestlers in FMW as well as the compan ...

reunited when they helped

in retaining the FMW Double Championship against

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 ...

. After the match, Fuyuki revealed that he had become the new Commissioner of FMW as he had goaded FMW President

into giving him the position. On May 18, Fuyuki separated the Double Championship by awarding 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 ...

to his

teammates

Yukihiro 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 ...

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 ...

respectively. On June 15, Fuyuki decided to end the

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 ...

and announced that Eiji Ezaki would not be allowed to compete with the mask or under the "Hayabusa" character after August 25. Later at the event, the FMW team of Hayabusa,

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a one-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WEW World Heavyweight Champion and in Ext ...

and

defeated Mr. Gannosuke, Yukihiro Kanemura and

Hido was a Japanese professional wrestler, better known under the ring name or simply . He is best known for his time with hardcore wrestling federations Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA-MS), Frontier Ma ...

in a

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becom ...

which stipulated that Fuyuki would have to eat

dog food Dog food is food specifically formulated and intended for consumption by dogs and other related canines. Dogs are considered to be omnivores with a carnivorous bias. They have the sharp, pointed teeth and shorter gastrointestinal tracts of ca ...

if TNR lost. Fuyuki chewed it and then spit it in Hayabusa's face and a brawl took place between TNR and FMW wrestlers. On June 23, Hayabusa met Arai to null Fuyuki's decision of ending the Hayabusa character but Arai said that the decision stood. The legitimate reason of ending the gimmick was that Ezaki had suffered many injuries throughout the past few years and he was unable to do high-flying in the ring and he needed to change his wrestling style to mat wrestling, so he needed a character change. A series of events took place to feature farewell matches of the "Hayabusa" character titled ''Goodbye Hayabusa'' from July to August 1999. On July 2, Kodo Fuyuki announced the formation of a new

and four teams were selected to compete in a tournament to crown the inaugural champions and the tournament would take place throughout the ''Goodbye Hayabusa'' tour. The four teams were Fuyuki,

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 ...

and

Gedo Gedo ( so, Gedo, Maay: ''Gethy'', ar, جيذو, it, Ghedo or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. It was created in 1974 and is bordered by the Ogaden in E ...

, the team of Mr. Gannosuke, Yukihiro Kanemura and

Jado (born September 28, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as part of a tag team with his partner Gedo. Jado and Gedo's careers have largely para ...

, the team of Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda and the team of Super Leather, Armageddon #1 and Armageddon #2. The first match took place on the first show of the ''Goodbye Hayabusa'' tour on July 18, in which the team of Hayabusa, Tanaka and Kuroda fought Fuyuki, Nakagawa and Gedo to a thirty-minute time limit draw. Super Leather and

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

defeated Hayabusa, Tanaka and Kuroda to gain two points. Super Leather and Armageddon lost to both TNR teams and then both TNR teams competed in a match, which Fuyuki, Nakagawa and Gedo won. This gave them the advantage and they qualified for the final. On July 29, Hayabusa, Tanaka and Kuroda fought Gannosuke, Kanemura and Jado to a time limit draw, giving the advantage to the latter team and they qualified for the semi-final. The teams of Hayabusa, Tanaka and Kuroda and Super Leather and Armageddon would compete in a decision match on the July 31 show airing on pay-per-view.

July 31 pay-per-view

The seventh show of the "Goodbye Hayabusa" tour aired live on

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

via

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

. The event took place on July 31, 1999 at the

Korakuen Hall is a famous sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many notable boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

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 event featured matches of a

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...

contested for the new

, in which the team of

and

qualified for the final by defeating the team of Super Leather, Armageddon #1 and Armageddon #2 and the team of

and

and then faced the team of

and

in the final. Fuyuki, Nakagawa and Gedo became the inaugural 6-Man Tag Team Champions when Fuyuki performed 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 ...

on Hayabusa.

Preliminary matches

Yoshinori Sasaki defeated Naohiko Yamazaki in the opening match by performing a '' Nodowa Otoshi''. Flying Kid Ichihara got a disqualification victory against

member

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 ...

defeated Hiroshi Usumi with an

octopus hold Professional wrestling holds include a number of set moves and pins used by performers to immobilize their opponents or lead to a submission. This article covers the various pins, stretches and transition holds used in the ring. Some wrestlers use ...

and then called

out to the ring and as Fuyuki came, Oya removed his wig to reveal his bald head. The next match was a decision match in the

tournament pitting

and

against Super Leather, Armageddon #1 and Armageddon #2. Hayabusa performed a '' Firebird Splash'' on Leather to win the match and to qualify for the semi-final match against

and

. Hayabusa slapped Jado and rolled him up to qualify for the final.

Main event match

Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda took on

and

in the final of the WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship tournament as Fuyuki's team got the advantage by topping the round-robin stage. After a back and forth match, Fuyuki performed a running lariat on Hayabusa to win the title.

Results

Tournament brackets

;Round-robin stage ;Knockout stage

Goodbye Hayabusa II

Three more events were conducted as farewell to the "

" character following the July tour in August 1999 as a continuation of the "Goodbye Hayabusa" series. The three events concluded with the end of Hayabusa's character. The first event

Haunted House A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

took place on August 20 at the

. At the event, Hayabusa unleashed his "darkside" for the final time and the event was headlined by

beating

for the

. The second event Hayabusa Graduation Ceremony aired as a

event on August 23 at the Korakuen Hall and the departing character of Hayabusa defeated

in the main event to win the

. The final event in the series was the Last Match, also airing on pay-per-view and taking place on August 25 at

Nakajima Sports Center The was a multi-purpose event facility located in Nakajima Park in Chūō-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. It was built in 1954 for the National Sports Festival of Japan. A concert by the rock band Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenom ...

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

. Masato Tanaka retained the Independent Heavyweight Championship against Yukihiro Kanemura and Hayabusa retained the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship in his last match under the gimmick against frequent rival Mr. Gannosuke in the main event of the show.

Aftermath

Kodo Fuyuki deactivated the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship and the Independent Heavyweight Championship and created the WEW Single Championship in place of the double titles. After the retirement of the "Hayabusa" character, Eiji Ezaki announced that he would begin competing as "H". H was an unmasked cool dude wearing jeans and shirts and was completely different than the serious Hayabusa. He debuted the character on August 27 and continued his war with Team No Respect but the character failed to get

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

with the fans and attendance declined, forcing FMW to revive the Hayabusa character on July 23, 2000.

References

{{FMWPPV, Goodbye Hayabusa FMW Goodbye Hayabusa July 1999 events in Asia 1999 in Japan