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Atsushi Onita
Atsushi Onita (大仁田 厚, Ōnita Atsushi; born October 25, 1957) 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 deathmatch style of professional wrestling to Japan. He is a former 7-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and 3-time All Asia Tag Team Champion alongside partners Masanobu Fuchi, Yoshitatsu, and Toy Kojima.
Onita founded FMW in 1989, defeating martial artist Masashi Aoyagi under his own martial arts rules in the main event of the second night of the promotion's inaugural event. FMW later emerged as a full-fledged touring organization, moving away from martial arts-inspired shoot style matches and moving toward the rasslin'-inspired deathmatch style – which became popular with Japanese fans. He was the promotion's top star, wrestling in main event matches at sold-out events, making FMW a financially successful company, particularly for a Japanese independent promotion. Onita sold FMW to Shoichi Arai and retired from wrestling in 1995 to pursue an acting career, which was unsuccessful, forcing him to return as a wrestler in 1996. After returning to FMW, he led stables ZEN and Team Zero but departed the company in 1998 after disagreements over his position in the company.
He held the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship a record seven times and headlined the first six editions of FMW's premier Anniversary Show event from 1989 to 1995.
Onita was the first true graduate of the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) dojo (Jumbo Tsuruta had debuted first, but he had trained in Amarillo, Texas, with Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk), debuting on April 14, 1974. 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 AJPW promoter Giant Baba, who had accepted him into the dojo despite not having graduated from high school. In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, he and Fuchi toured Memphis, Tennessee, winning the AWA Southern Tag Team titles three times.
When the junior heavyweight wrestling boom started in Japan, originally in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under Tatsumi Fujinami and the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama, Onita was picked as the ace of AJPW's makeshift junior heavyweight division. Baba was able to get Chavo Guerrero, who had been an early rival of Fujinami, to jump 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, and Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre), and, while not as spectacular as NJPW's junior heavyweight division, provided a solid alternative to heavyweight-style wrestling for AJPW fans.
Onita took a hiatus from wrestling due to injury in April 1983. He attempted a comeback in May 1984. His last match prior to his retirement occurred on December 2, 1984, against Mighty Inoue. He would be replaced by his former tag team partner Masanobu Fuchi as the new junior heavyweight ace of AJPW. On January 3, 1985, Onita retired for the first time due to accumulated injuries.
After over three years recuperating from his injuries, Onita returned to the ring in December 1988 for Pioneer Senshi, an independent promotion, losing a martial arts–inspired bout to Ryuma Go.
Following his return to the ring, Onita issued a challenge to the wrestlers of the shoot style promotion Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) but his challenge was rejected and he responded by taking on martial artist Masashi Aoyagi in a (worked) martial arts fight for the World Karate Association (WKA) on July 2, 1989, during which Onita was disqualified for using wrestling moves on Aoyagi. In the aftermath of his fight for the WKA, Onita personally promoted two wrestling shows under the Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (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 shortly after developed FMW into a full-time promotion, originally basing it around shoot style matches before transitioning the company into being Japan's first death match promotion – taking inspiration from the style of matches he had seen during his earlier stay in Memphis. Even as the deathmatch wrestling style become the main trademark of FMW, the promotion would continue to hold shoot style matches. Onita would bring in numerous karate and martial arts fighters to be part of the FMW roster in the early years of the promotion.
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Atsushi Onita
Atsushi Onita (大仁田 厚, Ōnita Atsushi; born October 25, 1957) 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 deathmatch style of professional wrestling to Japan. He is a former 7-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and 3-time All Asia Tag Team Champion alongside partners Masanobu Fuchi, Yoshitatsu, and Toy Kojima.
Onita founded FMW in 1989, defeating martial artist Masashi Aoyagi under his own martial arts rules in the main event of the second night of the promotion's inaugural event. FMW later emerged as a full-fledged touring organization, moving away from martial arts-inspired shoot style matches and moving toward the rasslin'-inspired deathmatch style – which became popular with Japanese fans. He was the promotion's top star, wrestling in main event matches at sold-out events, making FMW a financially successful company, particularly for a Japanese independent promotion. Onita sold FMW to Shoichi Arai and retired from wrestling in 1995 to pursue an acting career, which was unsuccessful, forcing him to return as a wrestler in 1996. After returning to FMW, he led stables ZEN and Team Zero but departed the company in 1998 after disagreements over his position in the company.
He held the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship a record seven times and headlined the first six editions of FMW's premier Anniversary Show event from 1989 to 1995.
Onita was the first true graduate of the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) dojo (Jumbo Tsuruta had debuted first, but he had trained in Amarillo, Texas, with Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk), debuting on April 14, 1974. 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 AJPW promoter Giant Baba, who had accepted him into the dojo despite not having graduated from high school. In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, he and Fuchi toured Memphis, Tennessee, winning the AWA Southern Tag Team titles three times.
When the junior heavyweight wrestling boom started in Japan, originally in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under Tatsumi Fujinami and the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama, Onita was picked as the ace of AJPW's makeshift junior heavyweight division. Baba was able to get Chavo Guerrero, who had been an early rival of Fujinami, to jump 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, and Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre), and, while not as spectacular as NJPW's junior heavyweight division, provided a solid alternative to heavyweight-style wrestling for AJPW fans.
Onita took a hiatus from wrestling due to injury in April 1983. He attempted a comeback in May 1984. His last match prior to his retirement occurred on December 2, 1984, against Mighty Inoue. He would be replaced by his former tag team partner Masanobu Fuchi as the new junior heavyweight ace of AJPW. On January 3, 1985, Onita retired for the first time due to accumulated injuries.
After over three years recuperating from his injuries, Onita returned to the ring in December 1988 for Pioneer Senshi, an independent promotion, losing a martial arts–inspired bout to Ryuma Go.
Following his return to the ring, Onita issued a challenge to the wrestlers of the shoot style promotion Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) but his challenge was rejected and he responded by taking on martial artist Masashi Aoyagi in a (worked) martial arts fight for the World Karate Association (WKA) on July 2, 1989, during which Onita was disqualified for using wrestling moves on Aoyagi. In the aftermath of his fight for the WKA, Onita personally promoted two wrestling shows under the Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (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 shortly after developed FMW into a full-time promotion, originally basing it around shoot style matches before transitioning the company into being Japan's first death match promotion – taking inspiration from the style of matches he had seen during his earlier stay in Memphis. Even as the deathmatch wrestling style become the main trademark of FMW, the promotion would continue to hold shoot style matches. Onita would bring in numerous karate and martial arts fighters to be part of the FMW roster in the early years of the promotion.