[1995-05-05-FMW-6th Anniversary Show] Atsushi Onita vs Hayabusa (Explosive Barbed Wire Steel Cage Death)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[FLIK]

Exploding Barbed Wire Cage Match and Atsushi Onita's original retirememnt match.

 

The match itself is really good but more important historically as a definitive ending of an era.

 

Hayabusa had only been in FMW as Hayabusa 1 time previously and that was 9 months earlier. He hadn't been a regular in FMW as Ezaki since 93 and he only got put into this match on 2 weeks notice after Tarzan Goto quit the company and a few other ppl turned down the slot.

 

After that the only draw they had left was Megumi Kudo and on many of the early post Onita era shows a lot of the fans would just up and leave after her match not sticking around to watch Hayabusa or the others in the main. Dunno how well it'll come across on the yearbook but the big story of the year is them having to nearly start the company over from scratch and build it up again around Hayabusa as the new ace. That they actually managed to pull it off eventually (I wouldn't say until 97 that he was firmly established in the slot) is a big testimant to all involved.

[Loss]

If they were trying to rebuild with Hayabusa as the new ace, why didn't he win this match? I was expecting him to win based on your comments. At the same time, while Onita did win, this match wasn't about him, and all the post-match stuff had Hayabusa as the focus with Onita there to get him over as a tough guy. So maybe that's the point, but it still surprised me that he didn't win the match.

 

I liked the siren/countdown part better in Funk/Onita, but this was a better wrestling match and nearly as good as a spectacle too. The image of them slapping each other while in a figure four with the siren going off and the powerbomb from Onita a few moments later are both iconic visuals. Hayabusa kicking out of the powerbomb after the explosion seemed to get him over in a big way with the crowd. The post-match selling is always my favorite part of any death match and it was excellent here.

[FLIK]

If they were trying to rebuild with Hayabusa as the new ace, why didn't he win this match?

They weren't. The point I was trying to make was that Hayabusa was a last minute choice who had all the odds against him working in the role as new top guy coming out of this and FMW wasn't exspected to last a year post Onita.

 

Onita was a big ego maniac who didn't really care what happened to the promotion after he left and sold it to Shoichi Arai a few weeks before his retirement match. Tarzan Goto who was in the #2 spot behind him hadn't ever been a major success on his own the few times they tried to headline with him previously and he saw that he'd be set up to fail by losing this match (Onita refused to put him over too) and then being exspected to carry the company afterwards so he quit instead taking Mr Gannosuke & Flying Kid Ichihara with him to IWA (Goto was the main FMW trainer at the time so they were loyal to him)

[Tim Evans]

Hayabusa should have won this but at least he lost after about 5 powerbombs. Match wasn't that great but it was an awesome spectacle. From the ref in a bio hazard suit, to the awesome post match with Onita's promo.

[PeteF3]

I've said it before, but this FMW ring announcer is just the worst.

 

This definitely got Hayabusa over big in defeat--both with the crowd and myself. His kickout of the power bomb after the big ring explosion was huge, one of the better near-falls ever, and the crowd reacted accordingly. It was also fun for this Hayabusa novice to see him in a gritty fight rather than a high-flying stunt show. There's only one big high-flying spot in the match, and it's built to organically with Hayabusa having to resort to desperate measures with the moonsault off the cage. In an ideal world Onita would have put him over here, but it was still basically Onita's company and he was the one with all the leverage, so we get what we got. But it still did wonders for Hayabusa. One of the better and more emotional FMW deathmatches.

[Zenjo]

There may be others, but your first retirement match is always the most special. One of those occasions where a veteran goes out of their way to put over a youngster before beating them.

 

They were confined to the ring by explosive barbed wire ropes. I liked how they milked the tension before the first explosion. There were lacerations yet it didn't turn into a bloodbath. Very much Onita formula with him controlling everything. After 15m the ring blew up with debris and smoke everywhere. Hayabusa survived a surprising amount of punishment before finally falling. Emotional scenes in the aftermath. Onita had to be the #1 man for promos in Japan. The fans worshipped him. He was responsible for so many of FMW's finest moments and this was a fitting way to bow out.

[cactus]

Enjoyable enough, but pales in comparison to the Funk/Onita match that I watched last week. They do a great job building up to the first bump into the cage. Hayabusa loses after taking multiple powerbombs, ends up losing but he looks strong in defeat. 

★★★

[El McKell]

After being horribly disappointed with Onita's deathmatches against Tenryu & Great Sasuke this match being awesome came as a welcome surprise. I legit thought we were getting a time limit draw after the ring exploded but we continue with a new ref and just trade bombs. The tension before/build to the first explosion didn't come across as formulaic but actually built it for me emotionally. I cannot figure out why Hayabusa would try to reach for the exploding barbed wire cage like he was looking for the ropes when he was in the half crab though.

****