Atsushi Onita
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is a Japanese actor,
politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...
, and semi-retired
professional wrestler 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 ...
. He is best known for his work 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). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their ...
(FMW) and is credited with introducing Japan to the deathmatch style of professional wrestling. He founded FMW in 1989 to defeat Masashi Aoyagi under his own rules and made it a full-fledged organization after his deathmatch style became popular with the Japanese fans. He was the company's top superstar, wrestling at sold out events with large crowds, making it a hugely successful company and earning a lot of money. Onita sold the company to Shoichi Arai and retired in 1995 to pursue an acting career, which was unsuccessful, forcing him to return as a wrestler in 1996. He led stables ZEN and
Team Zero WildStorm started publishing comics in 1992. Since then, they have published an increasing number of titles, both in the Wildstorm fictional universe and in various creator-owned titles. Under the most recent sub-imprint structure, all Cliffhang ...
after his comeback and departed the company in 1998 as he was upset at his position in the company. He held the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship a record seven times and headlined the first six editions of the company's premier event Anniversary Show from 1989 to 1995.


Professional wrestling career


All Japan Pro Wrestling and first retirement (1974–1985)

He was the first true graduate of the
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 ...
dojo (
Jumbo Tsuruta , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heav ...
had debuted first, but he had trained in
Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for " yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall Cou ...
, with Dory Funk Jr. and
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 – ...
). In his early days he teamed with dojo classmate Masanobu Fuchi, who debuted only a few weeks after him. He was known as a loyal ring attendant to
Giant Baba , best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota ...
, who had accepted him into the dojo despite not having graduated from high school. In the late '70s and the early '80s, he and Fuchi toured
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, winning the AWA Southern tag team title three times. When the junior heavyweight boom started in Japan under
Tatsumi Fujinami (born December 28, 1953) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE on a legend's contract. Fujinami is most well known for his long tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. ...
and the original Tiger Mask,
Satoru Sayama (born November 27, 1957) is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, MMA and wrestling promoter and writer, best known as the original Tiger Mask. He has wrestled under his real name as well as the names Sammy Lee, and masked ...
, Onita was picked as the ace of AJPW's makeshift junior heavyweight division. Baba was able to get
Chavo Guerrero, Sr. Salvador Guerrero Llanes (January 7, 1949 – February 11, 2017), better known as Chavo Guerrero or Chavo Guerrero Sr., and also known during the 21st century as "Chavo Classic", was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for ...
, who had been an early rival of Fujinami, over to AJPW's side, and Guerrero brought the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship with him, effectively establishing it as AJPW's junior heavyweight cornerstone. Onita and Guerrero's subsequent feud over the title spanned three promotions (AJPW,
Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...
and Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre), and, while not as spectacular as
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 ...
's junior division, provided solid alternate wrestling to AJPW fans. On January 3, 1985, he had to retire due to accumulated injuries, after a failed comeback attempt, which ended after his last match on December 2, 1984, against Mighty Inoue. He would be replaced by Masanobu Fuchi as the new junior heavyweight ace of AJPW.


Pioneer Senshi (1988)

After over three years recuperating from his injuries, Onita returned to the ring in December 1988 for Pioneer Senshi, losing a martial arts bout against Ryuma Go.


Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling


Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion (1989–1993)

Onita issued a challenge to the wrestlers of the
shoot wrestling Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their exciteme ...
based Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) but his challenge was rejected and he responded by taking on
martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...
Masashi Aoyagi in a martial arts fight for the World Karate Association (WKA) on July 2, 1989, during which Onita was disqualified for using wrestling moves on Aoyagi. Onita took it personally and promoted two shows under the
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) banner titled ''Grudge in Nagoya'' and ''Grudge in Tokyo'' in October and headlined both shows against Aoyagi. He lost to Aoyagi at ''Grudge in Nagoya'' and defeated him at ''Grudge in Tokyo''. Onita developed FMW into a full-time
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
and based it around martial arts fights and death matches he had seen during his earlier stay in Memphis. The first street fight of FMW took place on December 4, in which Onita and Dick Murdoch defeated Jos LeDuc and Masanobu Kurisu. Onita was featured as the company's main star and the top fan favorite and headlined every show. His first Barbed Wire Deathmatch took place at ''Battle Creation'' as he teamed with Tarzan Goto to defeat Jerry Blayman and Mitsuhiro Matsunaga. After being eliminated by his frequent ally Tarzan Goto from the Battle Resistance tournament, Onita defeated Beast the Barbarian to win the WWA World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship for the first time on January 17, 1990. The deathmatch wrestling style would become the main trademark of FMW and the martial arts fights would be restricted to mid-card matches. Onita would bring in numerous karate and martial arts fighters in the FMW roster. Onita's first
feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one par ...
began in the summer of 1990 when Onita defeated Lee Gak-soo in a different style fight on May 19 and then the two showed respect to each other and teamed to defeat Mitsuteru Tokuda and Sambo Asako in a tag team match on June 2. Goto was irate at Onita for teaming with karate fighters and toning down professional wrestling and he brought in Mr. Pogo to FMW and Onita began feuding with Goto and Pogo. Onita defeated Goto in an empty arena match on June 24 and then successfully defended the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship against Goto in the first-ever no ropes exploding barbed wire deathmatch at Summer Spectacular. After the match, Onita and Goto ended their feud by embracing each other and putting away their differences and then Onita began a legendary rivalry against Mr. Pogo, with Onita defeating Pogo in the first singles encounter in a street fight on August 25. Onita successfully defended the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship against Pogo in a Texas Deathmatch at 1st Anniversary Show. Onita lost the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship to
Grigory Verichev Grigory Vladimirovich Verichev (russian: Григорий владимирович Веричев; April 4, 1957 – May 25, 2006) was a Russian judoka who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1988 Summer Olympics. In 1988 he won the bronze ...
on February 27, 1991. Onita unsuccessfully challenged Verichev for the title in a rematch on May 5 and then received another title shot on May 29, where Onita defeated Verichev to regain the renamed World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship. On August 17, Onita defeated Jimmy Backlund, Ricky Fuji and Sambo Asako to win the Barbed Wire Deathmatch Tournament. During this time, Mr. Pogo left FMW and Tarzan Goto turned on Onita once again to renew their feud and became Onita's arch rival. Onita defeated Goto in the first-ever no rope exploding barbed wire steel cage
deathmatch Deathmatch, also known as free-for-all, is a gameplay mode integrated into many shooter games, including first-person shooter (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) video games, where the goal is to kill (or "frag") the other players' characters ...
at the very successful 2nd Anniversary Show on September 23 at the Kawasaki Stadium in Kawasaki, which would become the venue for FMW's major events in future. Onita and Goto reunited once again and they participated in the World's Strongest Tag Team Tournament, which they won by defeating Grigory Verichev and Koba Krutanize in the final on December 9 to win the inaugural WWA World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship. FMW phased away the martial arts style and emphasized on the deathmatch wrestling as its key feature during this time. Onita lost his World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship to Big Titan on January 15, 1992. Onita and Goto lost the World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship to Sabu and Horace Boulder in a no ropes barbed wire street fight deathmatch on May 7. Onita regained the World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship by defeating former boxing champion Leon Spinks in a
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 ...
on May 24, which earned a rapid rise in popularity and stardom to Onita for having beaten a famous celebrity. A month later, Onita lost the title to The Sheik on June 25 because of an injury sustained from an attack by Tiger Jeet Singh before the match. Sheik would later reward the title to Singh. Onita lost to Singh in a jungle deathmatch on June 30, before defeating him in a no ropes exploding barbed wire deathmatch to win his fourth World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship at the
3rd Anniversary Show Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * High ...
. Onita continued his success by winning the Street Fight Tournament with former rival Grigory Verichev on December 7. He ended his feud with The Sheik by defeating him for the United States Championship on January 18, 1993 and then returned the belt to Sheik saying that Sheik deserved the title for holding it for over a decade. This earned him Sheik's respect and both men ended their feud and became allies. Onita's success streak continued as he defeated
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 – ...
in the first-ever no ropes exploding barbed wire time bomb deathmatch at the 4th Anniversary Show on May 5. Onita renewed his rivalry with Mr. Pogo, who returned to FMW in the summer of 1993 and the World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship was replaced with the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship. Onita defeated Pogo in a no ropes exploding barbed wire time bomb deathmatch to win the vacant Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship at the Summer Spectacular show on August 22. Onita successfully defended the title against W*ING's former ace Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in a no ropes exploding barbed wire deathmatch at Year End Spectacular, and then the two men became allies to feud with Mr. Pogo and his entourage.


Second retirement (1994–1995)

On January 6, 1994, Onita lost the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship to Mr. Pogo in a street fight. After losing the title, Onita began his next feud with
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 ...
after the team of Onita and Tarzan Goto defeated Tenryu and Ashura Hara at Wrestling and Romance's Revolution Rumble when Onita pinned Tenryu. Onita and Tenryu competed in a no ropes exploding barbed wire deathmatch at
5th Anniversary Show Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...
on May 5, 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. Tenryu defeated Onita to even the scores and then Onita debuted his "Mr. Liar"
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 ...
by saying that he was not going to retire immediately and that the retirement stipulation would take place a year later. Onita began his retirement tour which would conclude at the following year's 6th Anniversary Show. Onita reunited with Tenryu as the two teamed with Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow at WAR's 2nd Anniversary Show and the trio won a Six-Man Tag Team Tournament. On July 31, Onita teamed with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga to defeat Mr. Pogo and Hisakatsu Oya to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. Around the same time, Onita renewed his feud with Masashi Aoyagi, who had returned to FMW and attacked Onita after a match. Their rivalry culminated in a no ropes electrified explosive barbed wire barricade double hell match at Summer Spectacular, which Onita won. Onita defeated Mr. Pogo to win his sixth Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship on September 7. After the match, former W*ING wrestler Yukihiro Kanemura made his FMW debut and attacked Onita to avenge the demise of W*ING. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga visited Kanemura at hospital as Kanemura was getting treated for some burns which he had suffered during a past match. Onita accused Matsunaga of turning on FMW and mistrusting his loyalty and this angered Matsunaga, who then joined Kanemura and Mr. Pogo to form W*ING Alliance and Onita feuded with the group for the rest of his retirement tour. As a result, Onita and Matsunaga broke up as a team and vacated the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship in October. On December 1, Onita debuted his
alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...
"The Great Nita", which was based and stylized on The Great Muta. The team of Nita and Tarzan Goto defeated Hisakatsu Oya and Mr. Pogo in a no ropes exploding barbed wire double hell deathmatch. Onita would return as Nita to defeat Pogo in a lumberjack match on December 20 and would continue to use this alternative character on several occasions. Onita lost the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship to Mr. Pogo's alter ego "Pogo Daiyo" on January 21, 1995. On February 24, Onita and his pupil
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 ...
defeated Pogo and The Gladiator to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Pogo and W*ING Kanemura on March 7. Speculation arose over the person to succeed Onita as the promotion's ace. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga had been the original choice but citing that W*ING had failed with Matsunaga as the ace, Onita had to change the decision and give the spot to Tarzan Goto, who would be Onita's opponent in his retirement match at the 6th Anniversary Show. Goto left FMW and took away his pupils Mr. Gannosuke and Flying Kid Ichihara as he was upset for putting over Onita again after having done it so many times in the past. On March 30, Great Nita lost to Pogo Daiyo in a lumberjack match. Mr. Pogo refused to be Onita's opponent at 6th Anniversary Show and then Takashi Ishikawa was finally selected as the ace until
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 ...
interrupted Onita at a press conference and volunteered to be his opponent at the event as Hayabusa had been convinced by Shoichi Arai, whom Onita had sold the company around this time. Hayabusa was ultimately selected to be Onita's opponent in his retirement match. Just one day shy of his retirement match, Onita defeated Pogo in a barbed wire double hell deathmatch to win his record-setting seventh and final Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship on May 4. The following night at the 6th Anniversary Show, Onita successfully defended the title against Hayabusa in a no ropes exploding barbed wire deathmatch. After the match, Onita vacated the title due to his retirement from wrestling to pursue an acting career. During this time, he starred in the movie ''Dan Gan'' (Japanese for "bullet"), which would later be adopted as the nickname for Onita's pupil,
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 Ex ...
. Onita's acting career flopped and he ventured a return to wrestling.


Return (1996–1997)

After a sabbatical (getting his high school diploma, as he had dropped out of high school when he was 16), Onita made a surprise return to FMW on March 15, 1996, along with his former rivals W*ING Alliance to rescue FMW's team from an attack by the Puerto Rican Army. He convinced the FMW wrestlers to challenge Puerto Rican Army at the
7th Anniversary Show 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mytho ...
and announced that he would be present in the crowd at the event. He also sold off his jacket that he wore for his retirement match at the 6th Anniversary Show to assist FMW team get the money for their match against the Puerto Rican Army. Onita made his next appearance on October 28, where his former rival Mr. Pogo begged him to come out of retirement and team with him against the Funk Masters of Wrestling in Pogo's retirement match at Year End Spectacular. Onita initially rejected Pogo's request and then rescued Pogo from an assault by Funk Masters of Wrestling on November 26 and agreed to come out of his retirement to team with Pogo. At the Year End Spectacular event, the FMW team of Onita, Pogo,
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 Ex ...
and Tetsuhiro Kuroda 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 – ...
, Hisakatsu Oya and The Headhunters in a Texas Tornado Street Fight Deathmatch. Onita had supposedly returned to the company for only one match until he began working part-time for the company on March 14, 1997 by teaming with Koji Nakagawa, Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda to defeat The Headhunters, Hisakatsu Oya and The Gladiator in a street fight. During this time, Onita also quietly ended his feud with W*ING Alliance as the group joined him in his feud with the Funk Masters of Wrestling. At the 8th Anniversary Show, the team of Onita, Masato Tanaka 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 ...
defeated Terry Funk, Cactus Jack and The Gladiator in a Texas Tornado Street Fight Deathmatch.


ZEN and Team Zero (1997–1998)

Onita headlined the Fall Spectacular event on September 28, 1997 against
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 ...
in a no rope barbed wire electrified dynamite land mine time bomb death match, which stipulated that if Onita lost, he must retire and if Kanemura lost then W*ING Alliance would be forced to disband. Onita defeated Kanemura, forcing W*ING to disband. Onita became upset at the W*ING Alliance members Kanemura, Hideki Hosaka 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 ...
, who were upset as no group would accept them and he became enraged at FMW leaders
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 ...
, Koji Nakagawa and
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 Ex ...
on their leadership of the FMW team. On September 30, Onita held a press conference in which he publicly denounced himself as a FMW wrestler and formed a New World Order (nWo)-themed faction ZEN with W*ING members and FMW wrestler Tetsuhiro Kuroda. As a result, Onita turned
heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exer ...
for the first and only time in FMW history. On October 14, the team of Onita, Hido and Kuroda defeated Hayabusa, Koji Nakagawa and Masato Tanaka to win the World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On October 19, Onita and Yukihiro Kanemura 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 be ...
and Hisakatsu Oya to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. Funk Masters of Wrestling came to an end as its leader Terry Funk left FMW, while the remaining members Mr. Gannosuke, Hisakatsu Oya and The Gladiator joined ZEN, which had now become the main villainous group in FMW against the FMW team led by Hayabusa. Onita and Kanemura were stripped of the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship in November due to Onita's inactivity and ZEN also lost the World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Hayabusa, Hisakatsu Oya and Masato Tanaka during the '' Super Extreme Wrestling War'' tour. During this tour, Mr. Gannosuke and Yukihiro Kanemura, along with Hido, grew upset at Onita for
book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...
ing himself in the main event match on December 19 against Masato Tanaka instead of booking Gannosuke and Kanemura's match. This exploded when the team of Hayabusa, Jinsei Shinzaki and Masato Tanaka defeated Atsushi Onita, Mr. Gannosuke and Yukihiro Kanemura in a
WarGames match WarGames is a specialized steel cage match in professional wrestling. The match usually involves two teams of either four, five, or more wrestlers locked inside a steel cage that encompasses two rings placed side by side. The cage may or may not ...
on December 22. After the match, Gannosuke and Kanemura attacked Onita and quit ZEN, along with Hido and Koji Nakagawa joined Onita as ZEN's newest member. As a result, Onita reverted to being
face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
along with ZEN. ZEN began feuding with the newly formed Team No Respect, which evolved from
legit ''Legit'' is a slang abbreviation of '' legitimate''. It may also refer to: * Legit (professional wrestling) * ''Legit'' (2006 TV series), Scottish sitcom * ''Legit'' (2013 TV series), created by comedian Jim Jefferies * Legit Ballin', a record ...
imate
heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...
between Onita and Kodo Fuyuki, who was getting a lot of influence and booking power in the company. Onita wanted to return FMW to its old deathmatch style ideology while Shoichi Arai and Kodo Fuyuki were toning down the deathmatch content. On February 13, Onita, Koji Nakagawa and Tetsuhiro Kuroda defeated TNR's Mr. Gannosuke, Yukihiro Kanemura and Jado to win the World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. Onita's rivalry with Fuyuki would lead to a match between the two at 9th Anniversary Show, which stipulated that Onita must disband ZEN if he lost. Onita lost the lumberjack match and was forced to disband ZEN but he said that he would break the group only if Kodo Fuyuki, Yukihiro Kanemura and Hido would beat Onita, Koji Nakagawa and Tetsuhiro Kuroda for the World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship at ZEN's promoted show on May 5. Onita's team would lose after Nakagawa suffered an injury. Nakagawa continued to fake injury and would ultimately be revealed as the man responsible for breaking ZEN after he turned on Onita during a Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship match against The New Footloose on May 31. After the breakup of ZEN, Onita took a hiatus as he was unhappy with his position in the company. He made an appearance for FMW's working partner
Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...
(ECW) on June 26 by costing The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer, a match against Dudley Boyz to set up a no ropes exploding barbed wire deathmatch against Sandman in ECW but the match never took place as Onita returned to FMW on July 20 to rescue Shoichi Arai from an assault by Team No Respect. At ''Atsushi Onita Presents Liar, Liar'' on August 11, Onita released his former ZEN teammates Hideki Hosaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda from Team No Respect's slavery and saved Shoichi Arai's job as FMW President by defeating TNR in a weapons deathmatch. On August 21, Onita formed a group called
Team Zero WildStorm started publishing comics in 1992. Since then, they have published an increasing number of titles, both in the Wildstorm fictional universe and in various creator-owned titles. Under the most recent sub-imprint structure, all Cliffhang ...
with Kuroda, Hosaka, Yoshinori Sasaki and Mr. Pogo #2 and the group feuded with TNR throughout the fall of 1998. Onita's former rival Mr. Pogo returned to FMW and the two feuded with each other, with Onita defeating Pogo in a match on November 20 to end their rivalry in FMW once and for all. This would be Onita's last match and last appearance in FMW as he left the company after the match as Shoichi Arai refused to restore him as the promotion's ace due to Onita receiving backlash from FMW's roster due to his reputation as an egomaniac and selfish.


Freelancing (1998–present)

He used the promotional names "USO" ( all caps version of the Japanese word for "lie"), "Jado" ("evil ways"; not to be confused with the wrestler of the same name), "Onita Pro" and "Project X." Onita made a few appearances for
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), in 1999, establishing himself as a heel, since he was a FMW employee, the crowd would not accept him on a NJPW ring, which prompted him to gain a lot of heat. During that time, he would cut promos insulting his interviewers (such as spit water in their faces, physically assault and threat them) and future targets. On January 4, during the ''Wrestling World Tokyo Dome'' event, he faced Kensuke Sasaki, losing by disqualification after throwing a fireball to Sasaki's face. Then on April 10, he wrestled
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 ...
on a No-Rope Explosive Barbed-Wire Death Match, ending in no-contest after both Chono and Onita were knocked out. Shortly after that, Onita allied himself with Chono and his Team 2000 faction against the nWo Japan. On July 21, he, Chono and AKIRA defeated nWo Japan's
Hiro Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler best known by the shortened name of . He was the first AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career A former judoka, Hiro debuted in 1978 in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In May 1 ...
, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and their leader, Keiji Mutoh. For a short period, he brought back his Great Nita persona, facing Keiji Mutoh's, The Great Muta in a No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Barricade Explosive Land Mine match (also dubbed ''Double Hell Deathmatch'') on August 28, losing the match after Muta used Nita's kama to knock him down. One year later, he challenged
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 ...
to a barbed wire deathmatch on July 30, 2000: Choshu accepted and came out of retirement to wrestle him. Choshu defeated Onita in a squash after launching him in the explosive barbed wires multiple times, and making him pass out while locking him in his finisher, the Sasori-Gatame. In 2001, he returned to AJPW for one night only, at the Tokyo Dome, to team with Terry Funk against
Abdullah the Butcher Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling m ...
and Giant Kimala. Whereas AJPW fans had already known Funk and Abdullah's willingness to brawl, Onita also played a huge part in the match, and his team emerged victorious. In 2002, following FMW's closure Onita appeared briefly in WEW, run by Hiromichi Fuyuki. The storyline saw Onita blaming Fuyuki's "Entertainment Pro Wrestling" business strategy and supposed embezzlement of money for causing FMW to close, and appeared to be paving the road to an eventual match between Onita and Fuyuki before Fuyuki abruptly announced his retirement due to cancer that would eventually claim his life in March 2003. Onita attempted to resurrect the FMW name with another promotion (called Onita FMW since he did not own the rights to the FMW name), but the promotion would fold after only three months. Onita would retire once again on September 23, 2003, losing a death match to The Great Sasuke, but this would not last long. Onita fought yet another retirement match on March 26, 2005, being pinned by
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 ...
. This also would be disregarded, as he would come out of retirement in May 2008 and would begin promoting his own cards again in July. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Onita kept on bringing Death Matches, (though mostly six-man affairs with Ichiro Yaguchi as one of his frequent partners), to promotions such as Osaka Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Zero1 and
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 ...
. On December 12, 2014 he returned to AJPW to team with Fuchi and defeat the promotion's current junior standard bearers,
Último Dragón (born December 12, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor, better known as . In addition to having trained in Japan, Asai learned to wrestle in the lucha libre style while working in Mexico. He is credited with popularizing the " A ...
and
Yoshinobu Kanemaru is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he also works as a backstage producer. Kanemaru is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he holds the records for the most reigns with the GHC ...
. In April 2015, FMW was again resurrected with Onita as its central wrestler. On July 11, 2016, Onita announced the foundation of a new promotion named Fire Puroresu, which was set to hold its first show on August 26. On July 24, Onita fractured his right arm in a match, where he lost the Bakuha-ō Championship to
Masakatsu Funaki is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as , who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (U ...
, putting his participation in Fire Puroresu's inaugural event at risk. On November 27, 2016, Onita returned to All Japan, where he and fellow first class graduate Masanobu Fuchi defeated Atsushi Aoki and Hikaru Sato to become the 100th All Asia Tag Team Champions. Two days later, Onita announced he was planning to retire from professional wrestling at a special event at Kawasaki Stadium in October 2017. On May 10, 2017, Onita announced his retirement tour, which would conclude with his final match on October 31. Onita's plans for Kawasaki Stadium had fallen through and his final match would instead take place at
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 a c ...
in Tokyo. Onita claimed that this, his seventh retirement, would be his "true" retirement. On June 20, Onita and Fuchi lost the All Asia Tag Team Championship back to Aoki and Sato. Onita's retirement tour also took him to the United States, where he worked for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) on August 5. Prior to his actual retirement, Onita retired the Great Nita character on August 27. On October 31, Onita's retirement took place in a six-man barbed wire match, where he teamed with Kai and
Shingo Takagi , known by his ring name Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, ''Takagi Shingo''), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former bodybuilder, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the provisional KOPW 2022 champion in his first ...
to defeat Nosawa Rongai,
Kazuyuki Fujita is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a one-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has most recently fought in Road FC, but is also known fo ...
and Kendo Kashin by pinning Rongai. However, Onita came out of retirement, the following year, on October 28, 2018 for Pro Wrestling A-Team. Onita fought Matt Tremont to a no-contest. Later, the latter wanted him to be his tag team partner against Masada and DJ Hyde. On May 6, 2021, Onita announced the formation of a new promotion that would focus on Explosion Matches. The promotion is called FMWE, and they plan to have events shown online for fans to see all over the world. Onita also hopes to finally bring real Explosion Matches to the United States. At the press conference for FMWE it was also announced that the first show would be held on July 4, 2021 at Tsurumi Fruit and Vegetable Market in Yokohama City. On October 31, 2021 in Trenton, NJ at the Trenton Thunder Ballpark, Onita will step into the ring again with Matt Tremont to have a No Rope Explosion Ring Match. The match will be promoted by FMWE and Tremont's .


Political career

Though he originally dropped out of high school, Onita returned to finish his education when he was in his late thirties. In 2001, he won the 19th House of Councilors election as a representative of the Liberal Democratic Party, following
Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homage ...
and Hiroshi Hase to a seat in the
Japanese Diet The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a par ...
. One of his first major acts in office was to launch a post-
9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...
humanitarian mission to
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
, where he performed
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 or ...
matches in crudely constructed rings made of sticks and rope, to benefit the children. This was all documented on film. Like fellow professional wrestler,
Scott Steiner Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championshi ...
, Onita has also claimed to have broken Wilt Chamberlain's record of sleeping with 20,000 women. Coincidentally, his exit from politics was forced by a
sex scandal Public scandals involving allegations or information about possibly immoral sexual activities are often associated with the sexual affairs of film stars, politicians, famous athletes, or others in the public eye. Sex scandals receive attenti ...
in which he was alleged to have used government accommodations to host a
threesome In human sexuality, a threesome is commonly understood as "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". Though ''threesome'' most commonly refers to sexu ...
with a
pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotic ...
actress and a female employee of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation. After retirement from politics, he lent his name and image to a
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in t ...
game, ''Atsushi Onita's Political Quiz''.


Championships and accomplishments

*
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 ...
**
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 ...
( 1 time) – with Masanobu Fuchi ** NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *
Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually re ...
**
AWA Southern Tag Team Championship The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ...
( 3 times) – with Masanobu Fuchi * Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre ** NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *
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 Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship ( 7 times)Onita's first reign was as WWA Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion. His second, third, and fourth reigns were as WWA World Martial Arts Heavyweight Champion. His final three reigns were as FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion. ** FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship ( 4 times) – with Tarzan Goto (1), Mitsuhiro Matsunaga (1),
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 ...
(1), 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 ...
(1) ** FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship ( 4 times) – with Tetsuhiro Kuroda 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 ...
(1), Koji Nakagawa and Tetsuhiro Kuroda (1),
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 Ex ...
and Hideki Hosaka (1), and Hideki Hosaka and Sean Guinness (1) ** Barbed Wire Deathmatch Tournament (1991) ** World's Strongest Tag Team Tournament (1992) – with Tarzan Goto ** Street Fight Tag Team Tournament (1992) – with
Grigory Verichev Grigory Vladimirovich Verichev (russian: Григорий владимирович Веричев; April 4, 1957 – May 25, 2006) was a Russian judoka who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1988 Summer Olympics. In 1988 he won the bronze ...
** Six Man Tag Team Tournament (1994) – with Tarzan Goto and Sambo Asako * Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling ** NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Onita Pro **Barbed-Wire Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Shigeo Okumura and Mitsunobu Kikuzawa *''
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 ...
'' **PWI ranked him #43 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999 **PWI ranked him #123 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003 * Pro Wrestling Zero1 **Blast King Championship (3 times) **Blast King Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with
Chigusa Nagayo is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for her mainstream popularity in the 1980s as a member of the tag team ''Crush Gals'' with long-time partner Lioness Asuka. She was the founder of the GAEA Women's Professional Wrestling organization ...
*'' Tokyo Sports'' ** Best Tag Team Award (2015) with Chigusa Nagayo ** Effort Award (1979) **
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 ...
(2014) ** Match of the Year (1990) vs. Tarzan Goto on August 4 **Match of the Year (1994) with Tarzan Goto vs.
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 ...
and Ashura Hara on March 2
** Outstanding Performance Award (1991) ** Special Award (1989) ** Topic Award (1991) ** Wrestler of the Year (1990) * Wrestle Association "R" ** Six Man Tag Team Tournament (1994) – with Genichiro Tenryu and Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow * Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards ** Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (1990) Stabbing of José González storyline ** Best Babyface (1993, 1994) ** Most Charismatic (1994) ** Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ( Class of 1996)


Video games

*'' Onita Atsushi FMW'', a
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining atta ...
released in 1993 by
Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affi ...
for the
Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South ...
*''Itsu Demo Doko Demo: Onita Atsushi no Seiji Quiz DS'', a
political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...
quiz game released by
Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...
in 2007 for the
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in t ...


Footnotes


References


External links

* * *
Official Blog

puroresu.com: Atsushi Ōnita
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Onita, Atsushi 1957 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Living people Japanese actor-politicians Japanese male professional wrestlers Japanese male voice actors Japanese sportsperson-politicians Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) People from Nagasaki Professional wrestling executives Japanese male YouTubers Japanese YouTubers All Asia Tag Team Champions NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champions FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champions FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Champions FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Champions