Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) is a Japanese

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

founded on July 28, 1989, by

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 the hardcore wrestling, deathmatch style of professional wrestling t ...

as (FMW). The promotion specializes in

hardcore 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, inc ...

involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their first show on October 6, 1989. In the late 1990s, FMW had a brief working agreement with

Extreme Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

, and as well had 14 DVDs released in the U.S. by

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...

. On March 4, 2015, FMW was resurrected under the name . With the resurrected FMW not holding any events since 2018, Onita announced in 2021 that he would be starting Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) in which the promotion would specialize in exploding death matches. The promotion was highlighted in the third season of the

Vice TV Vice TV (also known as Vice on TV, or simply Vice, and formerly known as Viceland) is an American basic cable television channel that launched on February 29, 2016. It is a part of the Viceland family of television channels programmed by Vice Me ...

's pro wrestling docuseries ''

Dark Side of the Ring ''Dark Side of the Ring'' is a Canadian documentary television series produced by Vice Studios Canada. It premiered on April 10, 2019 on Vice TV in the United States, and it airs in Canada on Crave's streaming and TV network. The show focuses p ...

'' in September 2021.

History

FMW under Atsushi Onita (1989–1995)

The

era of

FMW Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) 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 fi ...

originally consisted of a promotion that featured not only

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

but the best

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

fighters in the world. Onita would bring in American talent that were known in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

like Jos LeDuc and

Dick Murdoch Hoyt Richard Murdoch (August 16, 1946 – June 15, 1996) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring names "Dirty" Dick Murdoch and "Captain Redneck". He was best known for his time in the NWA, WWE, Wo ...

, as well female talent and midget wrestlers. As the years progressed with FMW, Onita decided to phase out the

aspect of the company and focus strictly on

. Onita would go on to have violent and bloody matches like the first ever

barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...

match in the company where he would team with

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

as they took on the team of Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and

Jerry Flynn William Brenneman (born November 21, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, better known by his ring name Jerry Flynn. Flynn is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling between 1996 a ...

. Onita would use real

which resulted in him receiving a nasty gash on his arm. Onita would take it one step further as he would go on to have the first ever exploding

match in August of 1990, as he challenged his rival,

. As the years would progress further, we would see an influx of American & Foreign talent begin to appear in FMW with talent ranging from

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) , where he ...

Lance Storm Lance Timothy Evers (; born April 3, 1969), known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadians, Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he works as a producer. He is best known ...

, The Original Sheik, Sabu,

Damián 666 Leonardo Carrera Gómez (born July 9, 1961) is a Mexican professional wrestler best known under the name Damián 666. He has worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ( ...

, Dr. Luther,

Leon Spinks Leon Spinks (July 11, 1953 – February 5, 2021) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1995. In only his eighth professional fight, he won the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1978 after defeating Muhammad Ali in a s ...

Tiger Jeet Singh Jagjeet Singh Hans (born April 3, 1944) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as a heel. He wrestled in Japan and was the ...

and so forth. During these years, the young

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 througho ...

started to slowly work his way through the ranks. He was known as a prodigy in the world of wrestling and like a-lot of promotions in

do, send him on excursion away from the company as they will learn and develop. Ezaki would go on excursion to Mexico and wrestle for a couple of different promotions and developed the character of

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 ...

. Hayabusa became a fan favorite in the promotion for his high flying style and it was known that Hayabusa was the "ace" of FMW. Onita was fixing to retire once again from

and his retirement match was held at the annual May 5th,

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. ...

show. This was FMW's biggest show of the year and Onita would take on Hayabusa in an exploding

cage, timebomb deathmatch. This match now signified a changing of the guard as Onita would retire and Hayabusa would step up and be the face of FMW. Onita would go on and sell the company to FMW ring announcer, Shoichi Arai.

FMW under Shoichi Arai and Hiromichi Fuyuki (1995–2002)

The Shoichi Arai era of FMW would end up issuing changes to the promotion and gave the promotion a new look and feel. Arai would slowly phase out the deathmatches that

would help popularize and what put the company on the map and would bring in a more "sports entertainment" look and feel for the promotion that would be almost similar to that of the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

. In a nod to the WWE, the old Brass Knuckles and Independent championships were abandoned and replaced with new titles, the World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW) championships. Arai would enlist the help of

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, Kodo Fuyuki as both men would usher in this new era. Having Fuyuki as the booker, he would put forth his vision on how FMW should be run as Arai would sign the checks and book the arenas for the promotion. During this time, Onita would return to

and start a faction that would rival FMW and they were known simply as

ZEN Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

. This group was loosely based on

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

's group known as The New World Order. Onita would run shows under the ZEN label and these shows would feature FMW talent. Hayabusa would continue to be featured as the ace of FMW and would go on to feud with the likes of Mr. Gannosuke,

Kintaro Kanemura , better known by his ring name , is a Zainichi Korean retired professional wrestler. He also wrestled under the ring name (stylized as W*ING Kanemura). He is best known for his death matches in Apache Army, Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Ext ...

, 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 c ...

. As the booker of FMW, Kodo Fuyuki also continued to wrestle and he would go on to help form the top

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 exerted ...

faction known as Team No Respect. In 2000, FMW would sign a distribution deal with

which would help get their product out to a Western audience as FMW could now be seen officially on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. They would go on to release 12 programs which were old FMW cards shortened down to feature the best matches or they were compilations of specific talent like Hayabusa. They also featured dubbed commentary from Eric Gellar and John Watanabe. Later releases would feature Dan Lovranski replacing Eric Gellar. As the years progressed, the audiences for the live shows began to decrease and Arai would slowly sink further and further into debt. Tragedy struck the promotion on October 22, 2001, during a match with Hayabusa and Mammoth Sasaki. Hayabusa attempted a springboard moonsault—one of his signature moves—but he accidentally slipped on the ropes and fell directly on his neck, breaking it and paralyzing him. As the crowds continued to decrease, the amount of debt became too much for Arai, as he finally decided to announce that he has filed for bankruptcy and FMW would go on to have their final show on February 4, 2002. As 2001 came to a close, it was stated that Arai owed the sum of what would be the equivalent of one million US dollars to

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

due to the money he would constantly borrow but never pay back. Running out of options, on May 16, 2002, Shoichi Arai would commit suicide so his family could collect the life insurance to pay back the money owed to the yakuza.

Closure and aftermath

The talent divided into two promotions: Kodo Fuyuki's World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW), the name of FMW's title governing body since 1999, and Mr. Gannosuke's Wrestlings Marvelous Future (WMF). Some of the talent also made appearances on Onita's special shows. Following Fuyuki's death in 2003, most of the WEW talent under Kintaro Kanemura formed a successor promotion,

Apache Pro-Wrestling Army was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 2004 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2016. History Following the closure of Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in 2002, FMW booker Hiromichi Fuyuki formed his own promotion, which ra ...

, which continued the WEW championships until 2016 when Kanemura retired and closed the promotion. Since 2017, the WEW championships have been administered by

Tomohiko Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler and former judoka and mixed martial artist, best known for his time with Dramatic Dream Team (DDT), where he competed as a mainstay from 2000 to 2006. After working as a freelancer on the Japanese independent ...

's Pro-Wrestling A-Team promotion.

Chō Sentō Puroresu FMW (revival, 2015–2018)

On April 3, 2015, Hideki Takahashi, Hayabusa and Choden Senshi Battle Ranger held a press conference, announcing they were reviving FMW under the new name "Chō Sentō Puroresu FMW". Takahashi would serve as the president and Hayabusa as the executive producer of the promotion, which would also feature participation from Atsushi Onita. The promotion held its first event on April 21. On October 30, 2015, they announced that they were reviving 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. It was initially active from May 1996 until May 1999. The title was abandoned by Shoichi Arai on November 20, 1998 and presented to the ...

, as they set a match to determine new champions on December 22. In 2016, two tragedies had befallen FMW. On February 17, 2016, Ray would announce that she had inoperable stage three brain cancer after being diagnosed with a tumor in December 2015. She would succumb to the disease in 2018, she was 36 years old. On March 3, 2016, Haybusa would pass away at his home from a brain aneurysm, he was 47 years old. On October 31, 2017, FMW founder Atsushi Onita retired after 43 years in the ring. The promotion held its most recent event as Chō Sentō Puroresu FMW in 2018. Although not officially closing once again the revival seemed to have been forgotten about.

FMW-E (second revival, 2021–present)

In 2018, Onita would come out of retirement at a Pro-Wrestling A-Tean (Apache Army's successor promotion) event. After this he would come back as a wrestler having matches with

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion founded in 1999 by John Zandig. Commonly associated with the 2000s hardcore wrestling genre, early CZW shows showcased a brand of wrestling dubbed by the p ...

, Big Japan Pro-Wrestling,

World Wonder Ring Stardom , is a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. Stardom was founded in September 2010 by former All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) co-producer Ross ...

and

DDT Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name is an initialism of Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's original name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the p ...

. In 2021, Onita announced that he would be starting Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion, a promotion under the FMW name that specialized in exploding death matches, a match type in which Onita became famous for. The new promotion will have Hidetaka Kajiki serving as president. Onita stated he got the idea for the promotion after

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

's 2021

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

PPV in which the event held an exploding barbed wire death match and seeing that there was still a market for these types of matches internationally in the pro wrestling world and with the popularity of online media streaming the new promotion was formed. The promotion, however, held its last card to date on December 19, 2021, after which Onita went freelance yet again. In October 2022, FMW-E started back up promoting cards.

Personnel

Current FMW-E roster

*Andreza Giant Panda *

* Gabai Jai-chan *Hasegawa *Hiro Takita *Kyoya Okazaki *Maku Donaruto *Mejiro Kid *Miss Mongol *Monster Leather *Naoshi Sano *Nene Mugen Dai *Noriyuki Yoshida * Onryo *Pandita * Mr. Pogo #3 *Raijin Yaguchi *

Ricky Fuji (born September 27, 1965) better known under his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Action Advance Pro Wrestling, where he also runs the day-to-day operations. He is perhaps best known for his time with Frontier M ...

*Shooter * Skull Reaper A-ji *Takumi Sakurai *Umanosuke Ueda #2 *Yuichi Taniguchi

FMW alumni

Deceased individuals are indicated with a dagger (†). *

Aja Kong is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She currently makes appearances on the Japanese independent circuit and for Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW). She is the founder of the Arsion all-women professional wrestli ...

* Akira Hokuto * Alex Pourteau *

Alexander Otsuka , better known by his ring name Alexander Otsuka and Otoko Sakari, is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. Having competed for multiple pro wrestling organizations in his career, most recently with Antonio Inoki's In ...

* The American Dragon *

Axl Rotten Brian Knighton (April 21, 1971 – February 4, 2016), better known by the ring name Axl Rotten, was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. In the early 1990s, he was a part of the tag team The Bad Breed with Ian Rotten. He had ...

† *

Ayako Hamada is a Japanese Mexican professional wrestler. During her 20-year career, Hamada wrestled for various promotions, including All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, Gaea Japan and Pro Wrestling Wave in Japan, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and L ...

* Badboy Hido † *

Bad Nurse Nakamura is a retired Japanese professional wrestler known as . She worked most of her career for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. Career After dropping out of high school, Rie Nakamura joined the Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling Dojo, where she was train ...

Balls Mahoney Jonathan Rechner (April 11, 1972 – April 12, 2016), better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and WWE, W ...

† *

Bam Bam Bigelow Scott Charles Bigelow (September 1, 1961 – January 19, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow. Recognizable by his close-to-400-pound frame and the distinctive flame tattoo that spanned mo ...

† *

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

* Big Titan † *

Big Van Vader Leon Allen White (May 14, 1955 – June 18, 2018), better known by his ring names Big Van Vader or simply Vader, was an American professional wrestler and professional American football, football player. During his career, he performed for New J ...

† * Bill Alfonso *

Bull Nakano is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and professional golfer better known as . She began competing in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) as a teenager under the ring name Bull Nakano. As a wrestler she was a villain, who often team ...

* Cactus Jack * Captain Jack † *

Chigusa Nagayo is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for her mainstream popularity in the 1980s as a member of the Crush Gals with long-time tag team partner Lioness Asuka. In 1995 she founded GAEA Japan and in 2014 created its successor Marvelous ...

Chocoball Mukai is a Japanese pornographic actor and a former professional wrestler better known as . Beginning his career in 1990s, Mukai became one of the more well known JAV stars in all of Japan, and holds the record for being the highest paid AV actor e ...

Chris Candido Christopher Barrett Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Candito is best remembered for his tenures with professional wrestling promotion, promotions such as World Championship ...

† * Chris Chetti *

* Chris Youngblood † * Combat Toyoda * Crazy Boy * Crusher Dennis * Crypt the Keeper *

Daisuke Ikeda is a Japanese professional wrestler who is currently wrestling in the Independent circuit in Japan. Since debuting in 1993, Ikeda has worked for a number of promotions in Japan, including Battlarts, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah a ...

* Despina Montagas *

† * Dory Funk Jr. * The Dragon Master † * Dragon Winger *

Dudley Boyz The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team who consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley. The team was also joined by various Dudley family members, notably Spike Dudley and ...

Francine :''This is a disambiguation page for the common name Francine.'' Francine is a female given name. The name is of French origin. The name Francine was most popular in France itself during the 1940s (Besnard & Desplanques, 2003), and was well used ...

* Mr. Gannosuke *

Gedo Gedo (, , , or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. The region was formed during 1974 and is bordered by the Ogaden in Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province ...

Gekko ''Gekko'' is a genus of Southeast Asian geckos, Common name, commonly known as true geckos or calling geckos, in the Family (biology), family Gekkonidae. Although species such as ''Gekko gecko'' (tokay gecko) are very widespread and common, some ...

Genichiro Tenryu , better known as is a Japanese retired 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 h ...

* Giant Steele * The Gladiator † * The Great Kabuki *

The Great Sasuke , best known under his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, professional wrestling promoter and politician. He is the founder of Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW). Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural ...

Grigory Verichev Grigory Vladimirovich Verichev (; 4 April 1957 – 25 May 2006) was a Russian judoka who competed for the Soviet Union at the 1988 Summer Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in the heavyweight class. From 1990 to 1993 Verichev competed for ...

† * Dr. Hannibal *

† *

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

Hideki Hosaka (August 5, 1971 – August 2, 2021) was a Japanese professional wrestler, who is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Zero-One. Career Early career (1991–1993) An amateur wrest ...

† *

Hisakatsu Oya is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler. Although he started out for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, he is well known for his stint in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling. Career New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1986–1989) Kenichi Oya trained at th ...

* Horace Boulder *

Jado (born September 28, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler, manager and booker 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 care ...

* Jerry Blayman * Jimmy Backlund † *

Jimmy Snuka James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian and American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010s ...

† *

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 sign ...

* Jos LeDuc † * John Kronus † *

John Tolos John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", (April 5, 1931 – May 28, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager. Professional wrestling career Tolos was born on April 5, 1931, in Hamilton, Ontario to G ...

† * Jun Kasai * Kaori Nakayama * Katsuji Ueda † * Keisuke Yamada *

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock ( né Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Ken Shamrock. He is best known ...

Kenta Kobashi (born, March 27, 1967) is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired wrestler. Broadly referred to by the nickname , he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. He is best known for his two run ...

* Kevin Sullivan * Kevin Wacholz *

Kikutaro , better known as his wrestling persona and , is a Japanese professional wrestler who works as a freelancer. Though best known for wrestling under a mask, he also regularly works unmasked under the ring name Kikuzawa (stylized in all capital ...

Killer Kowalski Wladek Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008) was a Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ring name Killer Kowalski. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, including the ...

† *

* Kodo 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 B ...

* Konnan the Great *

Kyoko Inoue is a Japanese female professional wrestler currently signed to World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana. She has held the WWWA World Single Championship three times, and is the first woman to win a men's title in Japan. Inoue is the founder of NEO J ...

Lance Cade Lance Kurtis McNaught (March 2, 1981 – August 13, 2010) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where he performed under the ring names Garrison Cade and Lance Cade. After be ...

† *

Lioness Asuka is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She was one half of the Crush Gals professional wrestling tag team, along with Chigusa Nagayo, who are known for their mainstream popularity in the 1980s, and for be ...

* Lola González * Dr. Luther *

Magnificent Mimi Mimi Diane Lesseos (born February 25, 1964) is an American female professional wrestler, actress, model and stuntwoman also known by the ring name Magnificent Mimi. Early life Lesseos was raised in Hollywood, California. She is the youngest of f ...

* Mammoth Sasaki *

Manami Toyota is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, best known for her work with All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW). She is widely considered to be one of the greatest female professional wrestlers of all time. Following AJW's closure, Toyota conti ...

Mark Starr Mark Ashford-Smith (26 December 1962 – 7 June 2013), best known by his ring name Mark Starr, was an English professional wrestler. Early life Mark Ashford-Smith was born in Staffordshire on 26 December 1962. His older brother Chris was also a ...

† * Masashi Aoyagi † *

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship#Title History, one-time FMW Brass Knuckle ...

Mascarita Dorada Mascarita Dorada (Spanish: ''Little Golden Mask''; born February 19, 1982), is the ring name of a Mexican ''Lucha libre, Luchador wrestling mask, enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestling, professional wrestler, who works in the ''Mini-Est ...

* Maunakea Mossman *

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

Men's Teioh (born December 16, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, (also written MEN's Teioh). Another of his ring names, Terry Boy, is a homage to American professional wrestler Terry Funk. Men's Teioh is a longtime ...

* Mercenario #2 * Miguel Pérez Jr. * Mitsuhiro Matsunaga * Miwa Sato *

Muhammad Yone , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a multi-time GHC Tag Team Champion, a one time GHC Openweight Hardcore Champion and winner of the Global Tag League in ...

Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. Marufuji is a four-time GHC Heavyweight Champion, as well as the first of two men to win Junior Heavyweight Championships in all three major Japanese ...

* Neftali * Nosawa *

One Man Gang George Gray (born February 12, 1960) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name (The) One Man Gang. For three years in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The Africa ...

* Onryo *

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Pirata Morgan Pedro Ortiz Villanueva (born July 29, 1962) is a Mexican professional wrestler, or luchador, and wrestling trainer who is best known under the ring name Pirata Morgan. Ortiz made his professional wrestling debut in 1979 and has in the last 20 ye ...

* Pitbull #1 * Mr. Pogo † *

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

* Ray † * Rey Bucanero Jr. *

Reggie Bennett Reggie Bennett (born January 24, 1961) is an American former professional wrestler. She is best known for her work in ''joshi puroresu'' organizations such as All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. Professional wrestling career Early career (1986� ...

* Rey Misterio * Rhonda Sing † *

Ricky Banderas Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky, a municipality and village in the Czech Republic *Říčky, a village and part of Orlické Podhůří in the Czech Republic * Říčky v Orlických horách, a municipality and village in the Czech Republic *R ...

Rob Van Dam Robert Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD) is an American professional wrestler. Known for his unique ring style—which includes his variety of kicks, acrobatic movemen ...

Rock 'n' Roll Express The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson (wrestler), Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by Universal Wrest ...

* Sabu † * The Samoans † * The Sandman *

Shane Douglas Troy Allan Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler, manager, and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship ...

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 ...

Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of th ...

* The Sheik † * Shinobu Kandori * Shocker * Shoichi Arai † * Shoichi Funaki *

Super Crazy Francisco Islas Rueda (born December 3, 1973), better known by his ring name Super Crazy, is a Mexican '' luchador'' (or professional wrestler). In Mexico, Islas has worked for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and made appearances ...

Super Delfin is a Japanese people, Japanese professional wrestler and politician who currently runs and wrestles for Kaisen Puroresu. He is better known by his stage name . He has been a member of the Izumi, Osaka, Izumi City Council since 2012. Professi ...

* Super Leather † * Super Nova * Supreme * Svetlana Goundarenko * Sweet Georgia Brown *

Taka Michinoku (born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (stylized as TAKA Michinoku), is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He primarily appears for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a me ...

Tamon Honda (born August 15, 1963) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and former Olympic amateur wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah. Championships held by Honda include the All Asia Ta ...

† *

Terry Funk Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...

† *

* Tiger Ali Singh * Tiger Jackson *

Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and professional wrestling promotion, promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestli ...

Tracy Smothers Tracy Stanton Smothers (September 2, 1962 – October 28, 2020) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the WWE, World Wrestling ...

† *

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 ...

Último Dragón , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler signed to Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate, where he acts as an in-ring talent, trainer and senior advisor. In addition to having trained in Japan, ...

* Vic Grimes * Víctor Quiñones † *

White African White Africans of European ancestry refers to citizens or residents in Africa who can trace full or partial ancestry to Europe. In 1989, there were an estimated 4.6 million white people with European ancestry on the African continent. Most are ...

† * Willie Williams † * Yone Genjin *

Yoshiaki Fujiwara is a Japanese professional wrestler, trainer and wrestling promoter. He is famous for his long career in wrestling, having worked in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (ZERO-ONE), and the two incarnations of shoot style pro ...

Yoshihiro Tajiri is a Japanese professional wrestler and Professional wrestling promotion, promoter primarily known under the ring name Tajiri (sometimes stylized as "TAJIRI"), he has also competed under his real name as well as under the names Aquarius and Ki ...

Yoshinobu Kanemaru is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a member of House of Torture and a former member of Bullet Club. He also works as a backstage producer for NJPW. Professional wrestling career ...

Championships and accomplishments

Defunct championships

Tournaments

Events

Primary events

* FMW Anniversary Show * Summer Spectacular * Fall Spectacular * Year End Spectacular

Interpromotional events

ECW/FMW Supershow The ECW/FMW Supershow was a professional wrestling event jointly promoted by the Japan promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and the United States–based promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japa ...

(with ECW) *FMW/WWA in Los Angeles (with WWA) *FMW/MPW (with MPW) *FMW/LLPW/AJW (with LLPW and AJW) * Super Extreme Wrestling War (with ECW)

References

External links

Official FMW-E websiteWrestling-Titles.com: FMWFMW English language fansite: includes history, wrestler profiles, and title records
{{Professional wrestling in Japan Japanese professional wrestling promotions Organizations established in 1989 Organizations disestablished in 2002 Organizations established in 2015 1989 establishments in Japan 2002 disestablishments in Japan 2015 establishments in Japan