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INTRODUCTION: I downloaded this entire match (in an .asx file) offline from XPWTV.com's Discussion (Message Board). This match is one of the most historic in the history of Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, whose debut show was presented on October 6, 1989 and whose last show ever occurred on February 4, 2002 (it had gone bankrupt). The bout was an Exploding Ring Barbed-Wire Steel Cage Death Match (this is the first of those kind of matches that I've ever seen), and it pitted the legendary Atsushi Onita against FMW's newest phenom (at the time), Hayabusa (real name: Eiji Ezaki). Hayabusa was still very green (young) in the business at the time that this match took place.
A press conference was held on April 30, 1995, FMW had a press conference pertaining to who Atsushi Onita's opponent would be for his 5/5 retirement match now that Goto had left the company. Onita was at the meeting, and Hayabusa barged in midway through it and asked the legendary hardcore icon if he could be the man to wrestle him in the greatly hyped 5/5 match. Onita was angered that the young grappler had interfered in such an important meeting, but he soon allowed the youngster to be his opponent. The match was set.
On May 5, FMW would hold an Exploding Ring Barbed-Wire Steel Cage Death Match that would pit Onita against Hayabusa. The match would be Onita's last, or so it was hyped to be (he would return). It would also be arguably the most important match of Hayabusa's career, and probably the one match that really helped to catapult him into main event status in FMW. Not only would it be an exploding ring death match, but Onita's FMW Brass Knuckles Championship would be on the line.
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Show
May 5, 1995
Kawasaki Stadium
Sold Out (58,000 fans)
Exploding Ring Barbed-Wire Steel Cage Death Match for the FMW Brass Knuckles Championhip: HAYABUSA vs. ATSUSHI ONITA (C)
Please note that all times, except for the final match time, are approximations.
They circle around again, squaring off, and eventually lock up around 37 or so seconds in. Each tries to push the other into the wire, but each hold their ground, circling the ring with the grappling position still applied. Onita eventually pushes Hayabusa down, but the challenger holds on, and they're now rolling around on the mat, still with the grappling position in place. We're about 50 seconds in. They roll around and try to force one another into the wire, which they're only a foot or so away from at most points. Onita eventually forces Hayabusa off, and then gets up. They again circle one another, squaring off. Another tieup leads to a second test of strength. Hayabusa is able to force Onita a few inches from the wire-covered cage, but he's shoved off, and stumbles back several feet. "They again square off.
They tieup at about 2:00 (in). Another fight for power occurs, with Onita gaining the edge this time with a side headlock. Hayabusa tries to whip him into the cage, but the champion baseball slides down at about 2:10 and holds his grasp on, now holding the challenger in a grounded side headlock. He keeps it applied for awhile, adjusting his grip every few seconds. Hayabusa beings to rise at about 2:33. Once he makes it to his feet, he again tries to whip Onita into the exploding steel mesh. His foe, though, slides down for a second time and holds on the grounded side headlock. At about 2:55, Onita releases the hold and climbs to his feet. He helps up Hayabusa and gives him a hard gutkick and four chops. Hayabusa, though, fights back with a forearm, giving him a few seconds to recover. Hayabusa then nails a spinning roundhouse kick, sending Onita down to the mat at about 3:10.
Onita, though, gets up pretty quickly and delivers two more gutkicks to Hayabusa. He then whips his foe toward the steel ring wall, but Hayabusa saves his ass by baseball sliding on the ring mat, which slows his run down. He climbs back to his feet, and they again circle around one another and square off. Hayabusa tries a (non-jumping) spinkick at about 2:35, but makes no contact. He immediately, though, grabs Onita and whips him toward the steel wall. Once again, Onita, like Hayabusa the last time, baseball-slides down and avoids the dangerous wall. He takes a few seconds to stand up, as he glares at his foe. They again circle around eachother and square off, eventually locking up at 4:00. Hayabusa applies a side headlock. He brings Onita down to one knee for awhile before he's forced to start rising back up at about 4:18.
Still in the hold, Onita hammers Hayabusa three times before trying to whip him into the cage wall. Hayabusa holds on and brings his foe with him, but they both stop their run just inches from the barbed-wire covered cage wall at about 4:30. Onita pulls him back down to the mat at about 4:32, but Hayabusa keeps the hold applied, and now has the side headlock on while lying on the mat on his back. Hayabusa eventually ends up on top of Onita for a few seconds before Onita starts to gradually rise up at about 4:50. Hayabusa still has the side headlock applied when Onita reaches his feet at about 4:57. He escapes the hold by hitting Hayabusa with a side suplex at around 5:04! Both are now down on the mat. Hayabusa still has his hands basically in the position of a side headlock, and Onita, with the hold still being applied, is in the midst of climbing back up by about 5:27.
Onita, still in the hold, hammers Hayabusa three times, before whipping him toward the cage. Hayabusa hangs on, though, and they both crash into the cage at 5:46, and the side that felt the impact instantly exploded in a cloud of light, flames, smoke, etc. The referee, wearing the protective gear (as mentioned above) is sent down to the mat upon the impact. The two participants make impact with the cage at 5:38, and quickly bounce back into the middle of the ring (still with the hold applied), and then fall down to the ring mat at 5:42. The one side of the ring is now a massive cloud of smoke. Onita is shown laying chest-down on the mat for a split second before we cut to some shots of the fans, some of whom are pretty scared. We get a shot of the huge digital clock in the arena, which is at 9:47. If you didn't know, when that reaches :00, the whole damn cage explodes.
We get a shot of Onita climbing to his feet, which he eventually successfully does at 6:29, but the most noticable feature is the nasty-looking scar that extends about a foot down his lower right arm. Hayabusa is still climbing to his feet, so Onita nails him around the chin with a kick, and then delivers a stomp. Hayabusa is down on the mat, so Onita lifts him up and delivers a second side suplex, this time at 6:46. He covers (no leg grapevine), but Hayabusa actually pushes him off at 2. We get a pretty clear view of the cut on Onita's arm, and a fair amount of blood is now sliding down his arm. He picks up Hayabusa and looks to be about to throw him towards the cage wall again, but instead decides to deliver a punch, followed by a jumping DDT, spiking Hayabusa at 7:18. Onita sits up and covers Hayabusa, who again pushes him off at 2.
Onita picks Hayabusa up and nails two gutkicks, and then lifts Hayabusa back up (he was on his knees) and spikes him with another Jumping DDT at 7:53. Onita stands back up, lifts up Hayabusa, and whips him into the cage wall (Hayabusa makes contact at 8:04), causing a spark of light, followed by tons of smoke, to emerge. Hayabusa ends up lying on his back as the ref makes it back to his feet (he had landed on the mat upon the blast) and the ring announcer makes some announcement in Japanese. Onita has stayed on his feet through all of this. The ref is checking on Hayabusa as Onita delivers two kicks to his foe's head, the first one at 8:36 and the second at 8:40. A bloody Onita then picks up Hayabusa and drops him with a vertical suplex at 8:53. Onita then uses a jumping leg drop at 9:08, and then covers, but Hayabusa escapes at 2. Onita lifts Hayabusa back up, uses a double-leg takedown, and then applies a Sharpshooter submission hold. Hayabusa screams out in pain as Onita cinches the hold tighter. He really has Hayabusa folded up good right now.
Onita finally releases the hold at 10:07, about 35 seconds after he first applied it. Onita now stands over Hayabusa, waiting for him to get up. Once he's on his feet, Onita delivers a kick to his back (at 10:17), sending the masked one back down onto his knees. Onita lifts him back up and, from behind, grabs his left foot, turns him around, and single-leg takedowns him back down to the mat. Still holding onto the leg, Onita steps over and applies a single-leg non-elevatad crab hold. Onita really cinches abck on it as the referee checks on Hayabusa, making sure that he's not going to quit. Hayabusa, though, shakes his head and hands, signaling that it's not over yet. Hayabusa, although not tapping, is clearly in agony. Onita continues to cinch back as Hayabusa tries to grab at the wire-covered cage bars, but he's not close enough. The referee continues to check on Hayabusa. At 11:29, about 1:05 after Onita first applied the hold, Hayabusa finally escapes the hold by kicking Onita off.
Onita is still in control, though, as he lifts Hayabusa up and applies a side headlock hold at 11:44. Hayabusa pulls him around, trying to escape the hold. He also tries to whip Onita into the exploding cage, but Onita has the hold tied on tight and just won't go. Finally, at 12:00, Hayabusa manages to whip Onita towards the cage wall, but Onita drags him along, too, and both make contact with the steel mesh at 12:02. They're immediately engulfed in an explosion. Hayabusa goes down to the mat first, and then Onita. The referee was also caught by some of the fire, and he's also down. We get a shot of the clock, and there's 3:00, now 2:56, left until the big explosion will go off. The ring announcer says some Japanese stuff over the P.A. as the referee and Hayabusa finally start to get up. The ring is really smoky right now.
The referee is now standing, and Hayabusa finally climbs up to his feet (he was on his knees) and lifts Onita up and drops him with a backdrop suplex, with the hardcore legend making contact with the mat at 12:39. We now get a shot of the arena, which is basically fully dark except for the lights showing on the ring. Back to the action now, Hayabusa hits a standing moonsault splash (backflip splash) and grapevines the leg for a pin, but Onita escapes at 2. Onita sits up and Hayabusa lifts him back up onto his feet. Onita, though, is one step ahead of him, and tries to apply a front facelock, and when Hayabusa starts trying to pull away (which is immediately), Onita applies another side headlock. Hayabusa, though, quickly counters with a kneebreaker (atomic drop on Onita's left knee) at 13:18, and Onita again goes down to the mat. Hayabusa then looks to try to apply a figure four leglock, but instead settles for a standard (regular) leglock submission.
Both are in pain, and when Hayabusa sits up high enough, Onita slaps him across the face with his right hand. They then have an exchange of several slaps across the face, and in the end, Onita scratches Hayabusa's face (or maybe eyes) to momentarily gain the advantage. The hold is released at 14:14, and Onita is now in control. He rolls Hayabusa over, and then picks him up and drops him with a folding powerbomb (at 14:22), but Hayabusa kicks out at 2. Onita slowly gets back up, and he then lifts Hayabusa up again and drops him with a jumping DDT at 14:43. Onita drapes himself over Hayabusa, but the masked one again kicks out at 2. Both men eventually climb back up onto their feet, and Hayabusa surprises Onita with a leaping spinning heelkick at 15:01, sending the legend down to the mat.
Both men immediately get back up, and Hayabusa backs up before charging [the viewer can hear the ring announcer counting down over the P.A. the mere seconds until the mega explosion]. Onita ducks the attempted lariat and Hayabusa, unable to stop his run in mid-stride, crashes into the steel mesh at 15:07. An explosion immediately goes off, followed by three more far larger ones within within a total of five seconds. We get a very brief shot of the crowd in between the second and third big one, and most are covering their heads in order to block the smoke and fire that's coming within only inches of them (some it's even hitting). The ring now is absultely engulfed in smoke, and nobody can see anything.
1...2...3 (18:11)!!!