Snitsky's back acne Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 Found some old FMW videos today. Had a watch - great memories. Â Atsushi Onita, Mr Pogo, Hayabusa, The Gladiator, Sabu and The Sheik, Kanemura, Masato Tanaka, Taka Michinoku, Megumi Kudo...... Â FMW had some great talent and some compelling, original matches in its day. Â Originators of the Land Mines Match, the No-Ropes Exploding Barbed Wire (Double Hell) Match, the No-Rope Exploding Cage match, the Time Bomb match, the Jungle Death Match and, of course, the Exploding Swimming Pool Match. Â So, figured I'd start a 'lets all remember FMW' thread and see how it goes.....
Merzbow Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 I'm getting in before the Deathmatch/Garbage hate starts, i loved FMW's older stuff and during the early to mid 2000's bought a ton of VHS tapes from traders. Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda is probably my all time favorite womens match and Deathmatch combined, so much drama and such emotion blew me away when i first saw it.
Paid Members JNLister Posted June 17, 2011 Paid Members Posted June 17, 2011 Stealing a line from somebody on some board somewhere: John Zandig matches are about him taking crazy bumps. Atsushi Onita matches are about him trying not to take the crazy bump.
Snitsky's back acne Posted June 17, 2011 Author Posted June 17, 2011 Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda is probably my all time favorite womens match and Deathmatch combined, so much drama and such emotion blew me away when i first saw it. Â I personally preferred Kudo vs Tsuchiya as it was a more violent match and, with it being Kudo's retirement, I felt it had more emotion to it. Â Also the undercard of the Kudo/Tsuchiya match had a great 6 man with Terry Funk, Cactus 'Mankind' Jack and Mike Awesome if I remember rightly.
Reznor Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 FMW, along with Michinoku Pro was the first Japanese fed I got into, thanks to finding a site with loads of coverage when i first found the internet around 1998 (Quebrada). Bought a lot of tapes from the current stuff at the time, and also going back to around 1995. Â Loved it, but there was a lot of shite too. If something was really good, it usually involved Hayabusa in one way or another. There were some entertaining supporting players, like Mr Gannosuke, Ooya, and some fun stables in ZEN, funk masters and Team No Respect. But once Onita began to wind down, FMW became about as close to a one man promotion as you're going to get. Â I have to admit though, the later PPVS around 00-01 when it did become a bit absurd tended to be a guilty pleasure for me. You had ECW guys, other US indy guys, Onryo, others from Big Japan and even some luchadors on the midcard but with the usual old favourites at the top - it usually ended up being a pretty fun, if weird, show - like the backdraft ppv for example. Â Fave matches are probably Hayabusa vs Gannosuke from the first Brainbuster PPV in 1998, and vs Masato Tanaka from the next one. There were a couple of crackers vs Oya from a bit earlier too.
Reznor Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda is probably my all time favorite womens match and Deathmatch combined, so much drama and such emotion blew me away when i first saw it. Â I personally preferred Kudo vs Tsuchiya as it was a more violent match and, with it being Kudo's retirement, I felt it had more emotion to it. Â Also the undercard of the Kudo/Tsuchiya match had a great 6 man with Terry Funk, Cactus 'Mankind' Jack and Mike Awesome if I remember rightly. I always thought it a bit weird that the WWF allowed Foley to work dates there, were they completely oblivious to the fact it was a pretty violent fed?
Merzbow Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda is probably my all time favorite womens match and Deathmatch combined, so much drama and such emotion blew me away when i first saw it. Â I personally preferred Kudo vs Tsuchiya as it was a more violent match and, with it being Kudo's retirement, I felt it had more emotion to it. Â Also the undercard of the Kudo/Tsuchiya match had a great 6 man with Terry Funk, Cactus 'Mankind' Jack and Mike Awesome if I remember rightly. I always thought it a bit weird that the WWF allowed Foley to work dates there, were they completely oblivious to the fact it was a pretty violent fed? Â Well, they had mentioned during his time in WWF that he had been in such deathmatches didn't they? But i think that was more about the IWA Japan time.
Paid Members PunkStep Posted June 17, 2011 Paid Members Posted June 17, 2011 Stealing a line from somebody on some board somewhere: John Zandig matches are about him taking crazy bumps. Atsushi Onita matches are about him trying not to take the crazy bump. Exactly. And, if you like that sort of thing, think how much of a better story can be told with the likes of Onita in these death matches- rather than these glorified stuntmen in CZW who 'do this shit for fun'. Â I had just one video of FMW, but it had two cracking matches Hayabusa VS Gladiator and even better- Hayabusa VS Masato Tanaka. And plus there was Team No Respect- now this was a good example where a language barrier cannot prevent good comedy. I couldn't understand a word of their promos, but they way they carried themselves was funny. From sitting around in the ring, smoking fags, to doing their strange little dance in their pants. Surreal.
Snitsky's back acne Posted June 17, 2011 Author Posted June 17, 2011 FMW does its bits for sexual equality. Â Highlights from only the 2nd ever womens Exploding Barbed Wire death match - Shark Tsuchiya v Megumi Kudo. Â - In-fuckin'-sane! Kudo takes some MEAN explosions and gets the hair burnt off her head.
The King Of Swing Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 Problem with that match for me was I watched in Tokyo Pop release which has one of the worst commentary teams I have ever heard which completly took me out of the match. Â EDIT Â Though not as violent Megumi Kudo Vs Mayumi Ozaki in a no rope barbed wire barricade double hell death match is worth a watch. Â http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKzj7AFZnj0 (2 part) Â Also Kudo Vs Kandori in a standard no rope barbed wire match. Â http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moX24W1tt3w...feature=related (4 parts)
Snitsky's back acne Posted June 17, 2011 Author Posted June 17, 2011 http://youtu.be/qsrBGGbHsHQ - the Fire match.  Who could forget this insanity. I remember seeing photos of this match in PWI magazine and never knew such a match existed. My 11 year old self was awestruck with the insanity of it all.  - Pogo v Matsunaga Fire Coffin match. Unlike when Kane and The Undertaker did it, Matsunaga IS actually in the coffin when Pogo sets it on fire! - the infamous moment where Pogo sets Matsunagas head on fire!!!
mikey Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 You know what? I've tried. I didn't have the stomach for it then and I don't have the stomach for it now.
Snitsky's back acne Posted June 17, 2011 Author Posted June 17, 2011 You know what? I've tried. I didn't have the stomach for it then and I don't have the stomach for it now. Â Fair enough. FMW was just more than insane death matches. Â How about Hayabusa v The Gladiator Mike Awesome? Â http://youtu.be/RhEne2dBc44
rubbafish Posted June 18, 2011 Posted June 18, 2011 Glad this thread hasn't just been torn to bits by non fans. I am Team TNR for life and one of their shirts is one of the few pieces of merch I really want. Like most, I was a heavy Hayabusa mark but also love Kanemura, Bad Boy Hido & 'Mr Danger' himself, Matsunaga! The one person I didn't like then and find ipossible to watch now, Mr Pogo. He had no wrestling ability AT ALL and some of the shots and cuts with that sickle I find hard to watch even now.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.