(May 11, 1960 – March 19, 2003) was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or project ...

best known for his time in

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba ...

(AJPW),

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),

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority sha ...

(NJPW), Wrestle Association R (WAR) and other Japanese and international promotions during the 1980s and 1990s as the leader of 6-man tag team

Fuyuki-Gun Fuyuki-gun (English: Fuyuki Army) was the name of Japanese professional wrestling stables led by Hiromichi Fuyuki in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and Wrestle Association R (WAR) during the 1990s. Fuyuki-gun was originally founded by F ...

with

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 ...

and Jado. He is also known as a mainstay of FMW where he was the arch rival of the company's top star

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 a founding member of the stable Team No Respect included Kintaro Kanemura, Hideki Hosaka,

Masao Orihara (born June 16, 1969) is a Japanese professional wrestler. Orihara is known by his career in numerous Japanese promotions such as Michinoku Pro Wrestling, Wrestle Association R, Battlarts and Dramatic Dream Team. Professional wrestling caree ...

, Tetsuhiro Kuroda,

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 be ...

, Koji Nakagawa, Horace Boulder, Super Leather,

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 ...

, Gedo and Jado.

Career

International Pro Wrestling / International Wrestling Enterprise (1980)

Trained by Isao Yoshihara, Hiromichi Fuyuki made his professional wrestling debut in International Pro Wrestling on May 4, 1980, one week before his 20th birthday. Three months later, IWE folded, and Fuyuki applied to the All Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1981-1990)

In August 1981, after spending a year training in the dojo, he made his debut in

. In November 1984, he went on an excursion of North America, where he made stops in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and San Antonio, Texas, where he wrestled under the name Ricky Fuyuki, in honor of his childhood idol,

Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a booker. He is considered one of Japan’s most influential wrestle ...

. He would also wrestle in Memphis under the name Mr. Helo, teaming with " Mr. Shima, and was managed by Tojo Yamamoto. In December 1985, he returned to AJPW, under the name Samson Fuyuki, and began teaming with Toshiaki Kawada, under the team name " Footloose". As members of

Genichiro Tenryu , better known as is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling. "Tenryu" was hi ...

's Revolution Army, Footloose captured the

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA fou ...

three times between March 9, 1988 and October 20, 1989. Footloose would disband in April 1990, as Kawada teamed with

Tiger Mask II is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's ''Bokura Magazine'' from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in '' Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1970 ...

, who would later unmask, revealing himself as Mitsuharu Misawa, during a match on May 14, where Fuyuki teamed with Yoshiaki Yatsu.

Super World of Sports (1990-1992)

One of several wrestlers to leave AJPW with

in July 1990, Fuyuki competed in Tenryu's rival promotion Super World of Sports under his real name, also appearing on interpromotional shows for the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

, with little to no impact.

Wrestle And Romance / Wrestle Association R (1992-1996)

Following the closing of SWS in June 1992, Fuyuki followed Tenryu to WAR. While there, he became one of the top wrestlers and was the main heel. In August 1993, Fuyuki was invited by

to participate in the G1 Climax tournament; he defeated Takayuki Iizuka in the first round, but lost to

Masahiro Chono is an American-born Japanese-American retired professional wrestler and actor best known for his 26 year stint with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As the leader of nWo Japan, Team 2000 and Black New Japan, he was the promotion's top heel for ...

in the quarterfinals. In 1994, he would make a brief stint in EMLL in Mexico, once again under the name Samson Fuyuki, feuding with

Vampiro Ian Richard Hodgkinson (born May 31, 1967), better known by his ring name Vampiro, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler who most recently served as director of talent for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He also worked for Lucha Und ...

. In early 1994, he started teaming with Jado and

, with whom he held the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship five times between June 1994 and June 1996, as well as a single reign with

UWFI Union of Professional Wrestling Force International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1991 to 1996. The UWF international was the successor to the ''Newb ...

's Yoji Anjo and ECW's Bam Bam Bigelow in October 1996. Lionheart also became a member of Fuyuki-Gun, during their stint in WAR.

Freelance (1996-1997)

Upon leaving WAR in October 1996, he wrestled briefly as a freelancer, wrestling in various promotions such as

, Big Japan Pro Wrestling, and International Wrestling Association of Japan. Around this time, he started using a shorter variation of his real name, Kodo Fuyuki.

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling

Fuyuki-Gun (1997)

After spending over four months freelancing, Fuyuki found a new home in

in February 1997. Fuyuki-Gun made their FMW debut on February 19 by defeating W*ING Alliance members

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 ...

, Hideki Hosaka and Dragon Winger. Fuyuki-Gun initially performed as freelancers on the Japanese independent circuit until they began competing full time for FMW. They appeared at the 8th Anniversary Show, where they defeated Hisakatsu Oya and The Headhunters in a street fight. Fuyuki began feuding with

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 – ...

, the leader of Funk Masters of Wrestling, which culminated in a loser leaves FMW match between the two at Fall Spectacular, which Fuyuki lost. As a result, he was forced to leave FMW. He began promoting his own shows under the "Fuyuki Army" banner. He began competing for FMW full-time on November 15, when Fuyuki-Gun defeated ZEN members

, The Gladiator and The Great Fake. They ceased appearing for other promotions and established themselves as a villainous group and entered a rivalry with Atsushi Onita and his ZEN group.

Team No Respect (1998–1999)

In 1998, Fuyuki formed Team No Respect with several of FMW's leading wrestlers which remained the dominant "heel" stable until its disbandment in June 2000. From there, he formed multiple stables, which didn't last as long.

WEW World Heavyweight Champion (2000–2002)

He became the head " booker" of the promotion in 1999. Attempting to distance the promotion from its earlier reputation for "

garbage wrestling Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling where disqualifications, count-outs, and all other different rules do not apply. Taking place in usual or unusual environments, hardcore wrestling matches allow the use of numerous items, inclu ...

" style, he instead focused more on a "

sports entertainment Sports entertainment is a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competitive event using a high level of theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertaining an audience. Unlike typical sports and games, whi ...

" approach based heavily on comedic storylines and characters similar to American promotions such as

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

. The beginning of the end for FMW was realized after its top star

suffered a career-ending injury in October 2001; to make matters worse,

injured both his ankles in January 2002. With Hayabusa and Gannosuke gone, Fuyuki was finally forced to close the promotion in March 2002, one month after it filed for bankruptcy.

World Entertainment Wrestling (2002)

Soon after the close of FMW, Fuyuki opened his own promotion, World Entertainment Wrestling, and briefly appeared in WEW before announcing his retirement after being diagnosed with cancer. Wrestling his last match at a retirement show held by

Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left th ...

, Fuyuki teamed with

Yoshinari Ogawa (born November 2, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for Pro Wrestling Noah. He has earned the nickname of "Rat Boy" from the English-speaking Puroresu fanbase due to his sneaky, clever in-ring tactics and baiting hi ...

& Mitsuharu Misawa to defeat Tamon Honda, Masao Inoue &

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (born November 21, 1964) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH. Kikuchi idolized and patterned his style after the Dynamite Kid. Professional wrestling career All Ja ...

on April 14, 2002.

Death

Although continuing to promote events for WEW during the next year, he planned to come out of retirement and had been scheduled to face Shinya Hashimoto before his death. Fuyuki died at approximately 6:50pm on March 19, 2003, after an almost year long battle with intestinal cancer. Fuyuki was perhaps the only wrestler to participate in a match posthumously, as the planned barbed wire deathmatch with Hashimoto indeed went ahead, with Kintaro Kanemura taking Fuyuki's place. After a ceremony in Kawasaki stadium honouring Fuyuki, Hashimoto clutched an urn containing Fuyuki's ashes, and he and Kanemura flung themselves into the barbed wire, both giving Fuyuki a final victory. Fuyuki was survived by his wife Kaoru, whom he married in November 1986, and his two daughters. Under his associate Kintaro Kanemura, the promotion reorganized in 2004 as Apache Pro-Wrestling Army, but continued the WEW titles.

Championships and accomplishments

( 3 times) - with Toshiaki Kawada * Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling - World Entertainment Wrestling ** FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) - with Hido and Yukihiro Kanemura ** FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) - with Gedo and Jado (1), Hido and Yukihiro Kanemura (1), and Koji Nakagawa and Yukihiro Kanemura (1) ** WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship ( 5 times) - with Koji Nakagawa and

(1), Kyoko Inoue and Chocoball Mukai (2), and Mr. Gannosuke and Shinjuku-zame (2) ** WEW World Heavyweight Championship ( 3 times) ** WEW World Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) - with Kyoko Inoue, Tetsuhiro Kuroda and The Sandman ** WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament (1999) - with Koji Nakagawa and Gedo *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **Ranked #119 of the 500 top wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2000 **Ranked #379 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003 **Ranked #69 of the 100 best tag team of the "PWI Years" with Toshiaki Kawada *'' Tokyo Sports'' **

Fighting Spirit Award The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

(1995) ** Outstanding Performance Award (1998) ** Service Award (2003) * Wrestling and Romance / Wrestle Association R ** WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship ( 6 times) - with Jado and Gedo (5), and Yoji Anjo and Bam Bam Bigelow (1) ** WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament (1994) - with Jado and Gedo

References

External links

FMW Profiles: Kodo Fuyuki
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuyuki, Hiromichi 1960 births 2003 deaths Deaths from cancer in Japan Deaths from colorectal cancer Japanese male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Tokyo Professional wrestling promoters 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers All Asia Tag Team Champions Tenryu Project World 6-Man Tag Team Champions FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champions FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Champions FMW Independent Heavyweight Champions FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Champions WEW 6-Man Tag Team Champions WEW Heavyweight Champions