Added: 12/31

Hayabusa would team up with The Great Sasuke and Tiger Mask IV on December 4, 2025 at Korakuen Hall for the Strong Style promotion. This would be Hayabusa's first time competing for the promotion and the first time a Hayabusa would be teaming up with both The Great Sasuke and Tiger Mask IV since the three teamed up on May 2, 1999 for the All Japan Tokyo Dome show as they went to a thirty minute time limit draw against Yoshinari Ogawa, Manukea Mossman, and Masahito Kakihara.

This match would be against Ikuto Hidaka, Masamune, and Fuminori Abe. Hayabusa would come in against Abe with Hayabusa hitting a drop kick followed by a thrust kick to Masamune and then a spinning heel kick to Hidaka. Hayabusa would slam Abe hit the swan dive/quebrada combo and then go up to the top and dive over Abe who would deliver a spinning kick and then kick Hayabusa in the back as he would tag in Masamune who place Hayabusa in an ankle lock with Hayabusa having to get to his feet and hit Masamune with an enziguri and tag in Tiger Mask. Hayabusa would come back in as Tiger would send Masamune into a Hayabusa spinning heel kick followed by hitting a tope con hilo onto Abe to the outside as Tiger would get the win over Masamune at 9 minutes, 42 seconds with a Sakauchi.

Hayabusa afterwards stated "Strictly speaking, I didn't stand in the ring at that Tokyo Dome. But I want to perform in my own style, in my Hayabusa style, so that people will think I'm no different from back then. I want to win and put on a match that Sayama-sensei would be proud of."

Sasuke stated "This is the best since the Tokyo Dome in 1999. This is a big deal!" as well as tried to convince Tiger Mask to change his mind about retiring in July 2026 with Tiger not responding to Sasuke before Sasuke would walk. Tiger then stated he wanted to team up with Hayabusa in New Japan with Hayabusa stating he would. Click here for highlights of Hayabusa/Great Sasuke/Tiger Mask IV vs. Ikuto Hidaka/Masamune/Fuminori Abe 12/4/25

Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki would team up for the first time since May 7, 2025 at Kawasaki Stadium as they would enter into the ZERO1 Furinkazan Tag Team Tournament. The first round match would take place on December 5, 2025 at the Shinjuku FACE. Hayabusa would be wearing a dark blue outfit for the first time which is a darker shade of blue than the original Hayabusa had ever worn. Hayabusa and Shinzaki's opponents would be Masato Tanaka and his mystery partner Van Vert Jack who would do his own Hayabusa impression on Hayabusa and attack him right away sending him to the outside and deliver a tope con hilo. Jack would come back and begin delivering kicks to Hayabusa with his robe still on before delivering a sky twisting press off the middle rope before tagging in Tanaka.

Tanaka and Jack would send Hayabusa into the ropes and deliver a shoulder tackle before Tanaka would finally remove Hayabusa's robe and begin choking him with it. Hayabusa would then try fighting back with strikes with Tanaka delivering a strike that would knock Hayabusa down. Jack would come back in and deliver a running drop kick before Hayabusa would get up and strike Jack right in the mid section and slam him before tagging in Shinzaki. Hayabusa would come back in and they would double shoulder tackle Shinzaki with Hayabusa and Jack squaring off and Hayabusa slapping Jack and then striking him with an elbow. Hayabusa eventually would end up placing Jack in a figure four leglock before Hayabusa and Shinzaki would deliver the double bulldog face plant. Jack would come back with a flying drop kick onto both Hayabusa and Shinzaki and tag in Tanaka who would nail Hayabusa with a clothesline and then hit the Stunner/DDT combo on both of them before hitting a swinging DDT on Hayabusa. Tanaka would go to the ropes but Hayabusa would hit with a spinning heel kick and Shinzaki would come in and do his prayer walk on the ropes to Tanaka this time successfully doing it well.

Shinzaki would then try for the Prayer Powerbomb but Tanaka would flip him over and tag in Jack. Jack would then run the ropes and hit a springing flying body onto Shinzaki before trying to kick him and Shinzaki would catch his leg and deliver the Dragon Screw Leg Whip followed by Hayabusa delivering a drop kick that would send Jack to the outside as Hayabusa would hit him with an Asai Moonsault. Hayabusa would deliver his swanton/quebrada to Jack but Jack would get back to his feet and hit a 619 and then a Canadian Destroyer with Tanaka coming in and hitting a suplex off the top followed by Jack hitting a tilt-a-whirl spinning DDT followed by Jack going to the top and trying for a Shooting Star Press but Hayabusa would get his knees up.

Hayabusa would then go up to the top and hit the Fire Bird Splash with Jack getting his knees up and Tanaka would come out of nowhere and hit a Sliding D as Jack would go up to the top and hit his own 450 with Hayabusa kicking out. Jack would go back up to the top but Shinzaki would grab a hold of him as Hayabusa would go up to the top and hit a Falcon Arrow off the top with followed by another Falcon Arrow with Tanaka making the save. Shinzaki would then hit a Prayer Powerbomb followed by Hayabusa hitting the Fire Bird Splash to get the win over Jack at 16 minutes, 24 seconds to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament. This was a good match as it was mostly Hayabusa and Van Vert Jack who worked really together.

Hayabusa would then take the microphone and praise Jack, saying, "I've never heard of that name, but he's an incredible guy. If he comes up to ZERO1 again, I'd love to fight him, or even team up with him, wouldn't it be fun?" He then declared, "Shinzaki, let's go for the win." with Jack afterwards saying he would want to wrestle Hayabusa again but the next time he wants to wrestle him as his alter ego Jack the Respect Hayabusa which they will compete again on January 18th for the Hiroshima Pro-Wrestling Festival. Click here for highlights of Hayabusa/Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Masato Tanaka/Van Vert Jack 12/5/25

Hayabusa and Yuko Miyamoto would team up on December 13, 2025 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring as they would take on the team of Masato Tanaka and UK wrestler JJ Gale. Hayabusa and Gale would square off as Gale would nail Hayabusa would do a bunch of sprinting with one another before Gale would hit Hayabusa with a drop kick and tag in Tanaka. Hayabusa would get Tanaka on the mat and deliver a low level drop kick to his back with Miyamoto coming in and Tanaka hitting the stunner/DDT combo on both of them as he would tag Gale in. Gale would come off the top with a flip on both Hayabusa and Miyamoto with Hayabusa charging at Gale but he would lead frog and Hayabusa would go into Miyamoto as Gale would deliver a German to Hayabusa sending him out of the ring and then deliver a tope con hilo onto both Hayabusa.

They would get back in the ring with Hayabusa hitting Gale with a Fisherman's Suplex followed by dropkicking him sending him out of the ring as Hayabusa would hit an Asai Moonsault onto him followed by his swanton although he would miss the quebrada with Gale hitting a dropkick to Hayabusa's knee. Tanaka would come in and begin working on Hayabusa's knee before quickly tagging in Gale who would do the same thing before tagging Tanaka back in who would deliver a hard elbow to Hayabusa in the face but as Tanaka would go to the ropes he would be met with a spinning heel kick as Hayabusa would tag in Miyamoto.

Miyamoto and Gale would face off before they would tag Hayabusa and Tanaka in with Hayabusa hitting Tanaka with a dropkick followed by a moonsault as Hayabusa would try for the Falcon Arrow it would get blocked and Tanaka would lift him up and hit a brainbuster instead. Tanaka would lift Hayabusa up and deliver a brainbuster off the top with Hayabusa no selling it and hitting Tanaka with a Falcon Arrow who would no sell that and get up and hit Hayabusa with a Sliding D.

Gale would come in and deliver a superkick to Hayabusa followed by Tanaka hitting a Frog Splash and trying for a Sliding D but Hayabusa would catch him and hit the H Edge but Gale would again nail Hayabusa with a superkick knocking him out. Tanaka would pick Hayabusa up and they would begin exchanging strikes with Tanaka hitting Hayabusa with another hard one but Hayabusa following that up with a high kick to the head and then a Tiger Driver and a Fire Bird Splash with Gale making the save.

Hayabusa would then slam Tanaka and try for a Phoenix Splash but Tanaka would get up and suplex Hayabusa off the turnbuckle and cover him with Hayabusa kicking out. Tanaka and Hayabusa would begin exchanging strikes before Tanaka would knock Hayabusa down with an elbow but Hayabusa would flip over on Tanaka as the bell would ring and the twenty minute time limit had expired. This was another good match although not at the level of the Hayabusa/Tanaka August singles match. Hayabusa would put his hand out for Tanaka to shake it and Tanaka would would swat it away as the two would get in one another's face before leaving.

Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki would compete in the semi-finals of the Furinkazan Tag Team Tournament on December 20, 2025 at the Yokohama Radiant Hall against Big Japan's Daichi Hashimoto and Yuya Aoki. Hayabusa and Hashimoto would square off to star the match with Hashimoto going for a kick and Hayabusa bringing him to the ground as Hashimoto would definitely begin playing a dick heel to Hayabusa including no selling Hayabusa's strikes to the head. Aoki would come in with the same mentality with kicks before placing him in a crab with Hashimoto coming over and also placing Hayabusa in a Camel Clutch. Hayabusa would eventually manage to make it to the ropes as Aoki would charge at Hayabusa but be met a spinning heel kick as Hayabusa would tag out to Shinzaki who would come in and do the prayer rope walk on Aoki.

Hashimoto would come in and work over Shinzaki who would tag in Hayabusa and nail Hashimoto with a running drop kick sending him to the outside as Aoki would charge at Hayabusa and be sent over the top rope as well with Hayabusa hitting a tope con hilo on both of them. Hashimoto would be thrown in the ring with Hayabusa hitting the swanton/quebrada combo on him followed by Shinzaki trying for a Prayer Powerbomb but Hashimoto would flip Shinzaki over and then see Hayabusa climbing to the top and hit a really impressive looking brainbuster off the top on Hayabusa. Aoki would come in and begin chopping Hayabusa in the chest as Hashimoto would then come in and begin delivering kicks to Hayabusa in the chest at the same time as Aoki's chops followed by them both suplexing Hayabusa.

Aoki would then climb up the top and deliver a flying dropkick and then hitting Hayabusa with an exploder and then a lariat with Hayabusa kicking out at two. Aoki would then charge at Hayabusa but Hayabusa would counter by grabbing Aoki and flipping him over and then hitting a Falcon Arrow. Shinzaki would then hit a Prayer Powerbomb followed by Hayabusa hitting a Fire Bird Splash to get the win over Aoki at 17 minutes, 6 seconds to advance to the finals of the Furinkazan Tag Team Tournament. Click here for highlights of Hayabusa/Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Daichi Hashimoto/Yuya Aoki 12/20/25

The finals of the Furinkazan Tag Team Tournament would take place on December 27, 2025 at the Chiba Uraysu Oriental Hotel Tokyo Bay with Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki taking on Junya Matsunaga and Tsugataka Sato in the main event of the show. Hayabusa would wear his brown outfit to the ring for the third time this year but for the first time it would be Matsunaga that would finally get his first win over his rival Hayabusa at 20 minutes, 24 seconds with the Bee Sting (a modified spinning driver). After the match, Hayabusa would bow to Shinzaki backstage and apologize for taking the loss. Hayabusa would state 'Since Hayabusa and Shinzaki were competing as a team, I thought it was our mission to win. I'm sorry that I wasn't good enough. On the other hand, today's defeat will serve as an opportunity to take a new step forward next year. With that in mind, I'll just push forward in 2026 as the Reiwa Hayabusa."

Hayabusa's first match in 2026 will be on January 17, 2026 for the ZERO1 One Night Tournament at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. The first round matches were picked at random with Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka being picked for their first round match. It's a way to have the best drawing match announced for the first round, but also make it seem random as I mentioned after their August 3rd time limit draw with neither Tanaka's ZERO1 career ending or Hayabusa losing his mask you could not really do that match again anytime, but this way it can come off as random while also not being the main focus of the entire show.

Hayabusa would then compete the next day at the Hiroshima Pro-Wrestling Festival on January 18, 2026 with Hayabusa teaming up with Minoru Tanaka who teamed up with the original Hayabusa once on December 17, 1998 in a 5 vs. 5 Come out and Play match. Their opponents will be Takato Nakano and Van Vert Jack with Jack having stated the next time he compete against Hayabusa he wanted to be his Jack the Respect Hayabusa gimmick. This show will also have Atsushi Onita on it which will be the first time that Onita and this Hayabusa will be on the same card, but it looks like they will have no interaction with one another being in two separate matches entirely.

I am going to start writing a script to create a video here soon on Hayabusa's 2025 going over everything that I know about including how the gimmick came to be, who is under the mask, and a review of his first year of his most notable matches.

FMW-E's last show of the year would take place on December 7, 2025 at the Yokohama Tsurumi Fruit and Vegetables Market with Atsushi Onita teaming up with Raijin Yaguchi and Takumi Sakurai against Mr. Pogo, Masashi Takeda, and Hayato Mashita in a Barbed wire Square Jungle Death Match as this show would be the first FMW-E show to not have explosives in the main event. Barbed wire Boards would be placed behind the first row seats as everyone would begin brawling all over the building. Onita would end up taking a guitar and smashing it over Pogo's head before facing off against Takeda with Onita throwing Takeda face first into a barbed wire board outside the ring. Onita and Mashita would start facing off against one another in the apron with Takeda charging at both both sending them falling into the barbed wire square outside the ring. They would get back in the ring with Takeda sending Onita into a barbed wire board with Onita getting tangled into the barbed wire board as they would press Onita up against another barbed wire board on the mat sandwiching Onita with them as Mashita would place his hand over the board covering Onita's body with the referee counting three as Mashita would be awarded the pinfall over Onita.

Onita afterwards would state "If I lose, I just win next time. Regarding Mashita, I will train you to be an all around wrestler who can do everything including death matches." Mashita would respond with "I've been wrestling with Onita all year, and with the help of Pogo and Takeda, it was a big deal that I finally won directly. I'd like to wrestle Onita again both in FMW-E and Strong Style Pro-Wrestling." Click here for FMW-E 12/7/25 highlights

Atsushi Onita would then wrestle for the NK Co., Ltd sponsored event on December 24, 2025 at the Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square and while the crowd would look pretty empty, the fans did show would be greeted with Atsushi Onita coming to the ring with a barbed wire Christmas tree and hand out gifts to the fans before the match. Onita would team up with Naoshi Sano and Mototsugu Shimizu against Raijin Yaguchi, Kazutaka Hasegawa, and Hiroki Sakai in a No Ropes Barbed wire Street Fight Death Match. The match would start off with a brawl all around ringside with the wrestlers using the fan's umbrella as weapons. Hasegawa would end up getting thrown into the barbed wire followed by Sakai getting hit in the head with a guitar before Onita would pin Sakai at 14 minutes, 23 seconds with a Face Crusher ont the barbed wire board.

Atsushi Onita appeared on the Fuji TV program "Super Investigation: From People on the Street to Big-Name Comedians... How Much is Everyone's Pension?" which aired on December 29, 2025 with Onita revealing the pension he receives from Giant Baba's All Japan Pro-Wrestling..

Onita would talk about being an apprentice to Giant Baba at the age of 15. During his apprenticeship, his allowance was 30,000 yen ($300) per month, given to him directly by Giant Baba. He made his ring debut a year after joining, and his money per match was 5,000 yen ($50).

Later, he became a popular wrestler, and his peak annual income exceeded 20 million yen ($200,000). Regarding how he spent his money, Onita would be asked how he spent his money with stating "Cars because Giant Baba drove a Cadillac, so I also bought a Cadillac." He also bought a Volvo and a G-Class (Mercedes-Benz). There was a time when he owned about three cars. He never thought about saving money or preparing for retirement. He seemed to have spent lavishly.

When asked about his pension amount, Onita replied, "It's about 250,000 to 260,000 yen (every two months) with the exact amount coming out to 258,240 yen ($2,582 dollars) gross income. All Japan Pro Wrestling had social insurance though as Giant Baba was very strict about that and made sure that everyone who made their debut would receive social insurance as well as employee pension as Onita clears 129,120 ($1,291) every other month to include having health insurance. It was noted that Onita does not receive a pension for being a member of the Japanese Parliament as he was only a member from 2001 to 2007 and you needed to be a member for 10 years before you started collecting a pension for that.

Onita expressed his gratitude, saying, "At that time, I was a child, so I didn't understand. You might think professional wrestlers are rough, but Giant Baba was a sensitive person, and he told me, 'Hey, make sure you live a good life in the future.'" with Onita concluding that he was happy he joined All Japan Pro-Wrestling. Click here to watch the Onita segment with subtitles

FREEDOMS would run at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on December 12, 2025 and announce a crowd of 141 fans for the show. The main event would be Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito against Violento Jack and Crazy King in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match. Jack and Takeda would end up facing off against one another and trading exploders and suplexs to one another on the glass. Crazy King would come over light tubes with Takeda breaking them across Crazy followed by Takeda delivering a dive breaking light tubes over Crazy King and then finish him off at 15 minutes, 18 seconds with a Reverse U Crash on the light tubes. Takeda and Jack would begin fighting afterwards to setup their Korakuen Hall main event match.

The semi-main event would be a Hardcore Match with Jun Kasai, Toru Sugiura, and Mizuki Watase defeating the ERE team of Takayuki Ueki, Toshiyuki Sakuda, and Kyu Mogami as Watase and Sugiura would deliver dives over the top to the outside leaving Kasai and Ueki alone in the ring with Kasai hitting Ueki with a Cross Arm Stimulation Driver for the win at 13 minutes, 13 seconds with Kasai calling out Shingo Takagi afterwards or the Korakuen Hall tag match.

Mammoth Sasaki and Tomoya Hirata would defeat Kenji Fukimoto and Konaka Pale One at 7 minutes, 53 seconds when Mammoth would get the win at 7 minutes, 53 seconds with a inside cradle over Konaka. Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox would defeat Yuya Susumu and Dragon Libre when Masaoka would pin Libre at 9 minutes, 37 seconds with a F-Drive II. Kengo, GENTARO, and Kapii would defeat Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Kota Sekifuda, and Rekka when Kengo would pin Rekka at 8 minutes, 3 seconds with an Aussie Suplex. Takashi Sasaki would open the show defeating Reiya Igarashi at 9 minutes, 42 seconds with a STF. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 12/12/25 show

The annual Jun Kasai BLOOD X'MAS show would take place on December 25, 2025 at Korakuen Hall with an announced crowd of 1217 fans. This beats out last years number of 1188 fans for the show although I would still think it's a disappointed in comparison to only do 30 more fans when this years show had Kasai in a tag match against Shingo Takagi compared to last year where he teamed with Jun Masaoka against Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito. It still is the biggest number since December 25, 2022 when Kasai vs. Drew Parker drew 1,236 fans for the show.

The main event would see Violento Jack defend his King of Freedom World Championship against Masashi Takeda in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Glass Boards Weapons Death Match. Jack would charge in the ring but Takeda would grab a stack of light tubes as Jack would end up running right into them to start the match. Takeda and Jack would then begin striking one another before they would end up taking turns sending one another into the light tubes setup in the ropes. Takeda would then pull out his scissors and begin stabbing Jack in the head with them before using them to slice his forehead.

Takeda would then setup Jack up against the corner and charge at him with a dive with Jack moving out of the way and Takeda going through the glass board. Jack would then pick up Takeda and send him back first into the light tubes. Jack would then pull out toothpicks all tied up together but Takeda would headbutt Jack and hit him with a uranage with the toothpicks sticking into Jack's back as Takeda would hit Jack over the head with a chair and then grab light tubes and charge into Jack with them breaking them across Jack's body.

Takeda would then pull out a fork board with Jack picking him up and sending Takeda back first into the forks. Jack would then take a piece of paper and staple it to Takeda's cheek and follow that up with a senton and go to the top but Takeda would meet him but it would be Jack that would hit Takeda with the superplex and take the other glass board and set it outside the ring on a stack of chairs. Jack would then try and pick Takeda up on the apron but he would escape but Jack would deliver a high kick to Takeda's head and grab a stack of light tubes with Takeda delivering a running kick breaking the light tubes across Jack.

Takeda would then setup Jack outside the ring underneath the glass board and deliver a dive off the top turnbuckle to the outside on the glass board but the glass board would not break. Takeda would go up to the top again but Jack would get up and grab Takeda and deliver a Kamikaze off the apron sending Takeda through the glass board. They would get back in the ring and Jack would hit Takeda with a Mammoth Home Run and then place a stack of light tubes over Takeda's body and go up to the top and deliver a swanton drive breaking the light tubes over Takeda but Takeda would get up instantly and hit Jack with a German Suplex.

They would both grab stack of light tubes and run into one another breaking the light tubes over one another as Takeda would deliver a one arm Dragon Suplex to Jack and then jump at Jack but would end up getting caught only to manage to deliver a hurricanrana and then follow that up with a lariat. Jack would get up and try and pull out some more light tubes but would fall down from exhaustion as they would take turns smashing light tubes over each others heads before Takeda would grab Jack and place in a Armbreaker with Jack managing to slam Takeda with one arm to break the hold. Takeda would then setup a stack of light tubes and break them with his knee and then take another stack and just punch them breaking them over Jack's body.

Takeda would then pull back out the fork board and hit the Reverse U Crash on them and only get two. Takeda would then try for an Olympic Slam that Jack would escape out of and then hit Takeda with a Powerbomb and then pull out a stack of light tubes and just toss them at Takeda's back and then hit Takeda with the Jack Pack on the fork board to get the win at 23 minutes, 16 seconds to successfully defend his title for the third time. Although it would be cut out of the Samurai TV broadcast Jack would end up pulling out his phone afterwards and calling his mother and wishing her a Merry Christmas. This was probably the best FREEDOMS Korakuen Hall main event of the year although I have not seen the August match between Sugiura and Jack. They really gave everything they had for over twenty minutes and you could tell Jack was absolutely exhausted towards the end with how intense they were going at it the entire time.

The semi-main event would be a FREEDOMS vs. New Japan Hardcore Match between Jun Kasai and Toru Sugiura against New Japan's Shingo Takagi and Gedo which was the biggest selling match on the card.

The match would start with all four swinging chairs at one another which would knock Gedo out of the ring as Sugiura would go up to the top and deliver a drop kick off the top to Takagi. Kasai and Sugiura would look to do a double team move when Gedo would come in with a fork and begin stabbing both Kasai and Sugiura in the forehead. Gedo would continue to use the fork to cut open Sugiura as Takagi would take a barbed wire bat and begin to cut open Kasai with it. Takagi and Gedo would take turns working over Sugiura until bringing Sugiura up to the top rope and superplexing him followed by a sliding lariat and then setup a ladder in the corner and toss Sugiura into with Sugiura jumping onto the corner and delivering a body press on Takagi before making the tag to Kasai. Kasai would come in with a lariat on Takagi as Sugiura would come in with a bag of key boards and hit Takagi and Gedo over the head with them with Takagi and Gedo escaping to the outside.

Sugiura would then setup the ladder and place it on the ropes and climb it and deliver a flip off the ladder onto Takagi and Gedo. Kasai would then pull out a table and place Takagi on it and climb up to the top and dive off of it to the outside sending Takagi through it. Kasai and Takagi would get back in the ring with Kasai taking the broken table piece and smash it over Takagi's head repeated until he would lariat Kasai before they would begin exchanging strikes and headbutts before they would both fall to the mat. Gedo would come in and stab Kasai with the fork as Sugiura would come in and grab the fork from Gedo and begin stabbing him with it causing Gedo to bleed as Kasai and Sugiura would hit a double brainbuster on Gedo with Takagi making the save. Takagi would then hit a double lariat on both Kasai and Sugiura and setup the table against the ropes and and lift Sugiura on his shoulders and run him into the table. Takagi would then take a barbed wire chair over Kasai as Gedo would hit the chair with a barbed wire bat and follow that up with a Gedo Clutch with Sugiura having to make the save. Takagi would then bring in a guitar and swing it at Sugiura with Sugiura moving out of the way and grabbing it and smashing it over Takagi's head.

Gedo would then come over and hit Sugiura with the barbed wire bat but Kasai would nail Gedo with a punch and hit him with a Reverse Tiger Driver and then climb the ladder and deliver a Pearl Harbor Splash off the ladder and cover with Takagi kicking out. Sugiura would then take Gedo and hit him with a Swift Driver with Gedo kicking out followed by Kasai hitting Gedo with a Stimulation Driver to get the pin at 18 minutes, 7 seconds for the FREEDOMS win. The match had a pretty slow start as Takagi and Gedo working over Sugiura at the beginning for 5 minutes seemed to take forever, but once Kasai finally tagged in it seemed the match really got started and they packed in a lot of good stuff for 13 minutes in a 18 minute match. Seeing Gedo at 54 in that kind of match was fun as well especially with him bringing in the barbed wire bat which was a W*ING creation. Kasai would request a singles match against  Takagi with Takagi responding that he doesn't mind having a singles match as he's not running away, but he's currently too busy for that match right now, but he will let New Japan know about the request.

Yusaku Ito would take on Mizuki Watase in a Barbed wire Board Knives Board Death Match which would see Ito throw Watase into the barbed wire board with Ito throwing Watase into the barbed wire board early on. Ito would the take one of the knives out of the knives board and begin cutting Watase's forehead with it as he would start leaking blood. Watase would fight back and hit a Russian Legsweep on Ito causing him fall backwards on the knives board. Watase would then setup a stack of chairs and delivering a diving foot stomp on Ito. Ito would come back and head butt Watase and then place the broken barbed wire board over Watase in the corner and run head first into the board although it would hurt Ito more than push the barbed wire into Watase.

Ito would then setup chairs in the in the ring and bring Watase up to the top but Watase would end up sending Ito flying into the chairs. Watase would then put on a helmet with branched antlers on it as Ito would grab a knife and go for the head with Watase's helmet protecting him and Watase hitting Ito over the head with the branch antler and then hitting Ito with a brainbuster on the stack of chairs with Ito kicking out. Watase would then charge at Ito but he would throw the referee at Ito to stop his momentum and then Ito would follow that by spitting black mist in Watase's face and hit him with a Pilediver and then begin choking him with a chain before finishing Watase with a Mad Octopus Destroyer on a stack of chairs for the win at 13 minutes, 56 seconds as Watase continues to having to pay his dues in the death match world.

Takayuki Ueki would defend his Barefoot King Championship against Daisuke Masaoka in a Toy Block Death Match which would include a board with Christmas glass ornaments being brought in with Ueki dropping Masaoka feet first onto them. Masaoka would try for the Rokkurai Kai but Ueki would move out of the way and Masaoka would end up landing on the toy blocks. Ueki would try for a diving headbutt but miss and Masaoka would try for a foot stomp and miss as well. Ueki would end up picking up Masaoka and hitting him with a Death Valley Bomb with Masaoka managing to kick out. Ueki would go for a powerbomb but Masaoka would manage to lift Ueki up and drop him feet first on the blocks before picking Ueki up with a Fire Thunder and then finishing him with the Rokkura Kai for the win at 10 minutes, 17 seconds to win the Barefoot King Title.

Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox would take on Kengo and Yuya Susumu with Susumu getting Gaia in the Crossface but Gaia managing to get out and hit Susumu with a brainbuster and follow that up with the Butterfly Effect for the win at 10 minutes, 2 seconds as it looks like Susumu is being pushed down the card. Kengo would end up shaking Masaoka's hand as it would look like they are setting up Kengo taking on Gaia for the title at the next Korakuen Hall show.

Takashi Sasaki and Mammoth Sasaki would defeat Tomoya Hirata and Reiya Igarashi with Mammoth nailing Igarashi with a lariat followed by placing him in a Crab Hold to get Igarashi to tap out at 8 minutes, 29 seconds for the win. Takashi Sasaki afterwards would end up tossing Igarashi a FREEDOMS t-shirt that he would put on as Igarashi joins the FREEDOMS roster in 2026.

The opening match would see GENTARO, Kenji Fukimoto, Konaka Pale One, Dragon Libre, and Rekka defeat Brahman Shu, Brahman Kei, Toshiyuki Sakuda, Kyu Mogami, and Crazy King in a Tokyo Desert Man on the verge of homelessness Death Match with Fukimoto getting the inside cradle at 8 minutes, 6 seconds for the win over Kei. Fukimoto announced that he would wrestle on the January 3rd Shin-Kiba 1st Ring which will be the final ERE match as the group is disbanding and their facing their three former members and then Fukimoto will be taking a long absence to try and heal his body that has been breaking down.

Jun Kasai would take on Hideyoshi Kamitani in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Razor Cross Board Ladder Death Match for Big Japan's New Years Eve show on December 31, 2025 at Korakuen Hall. Kasai would end up using the razor cross board to cut open Kasai early on before Kamitani would end up superplexing Kasai off the top of the ladder with Kasai getting up right away and hitting Kamitani with a lariat but Kamitani would follow that up by picking up a stack of light tubes and just running them into Kasai. Kamitani would then try for a brainbuster but Kasai would manage to shift his weight and fall on Kamitani instead and then punch Kamitani in the jaw and then place a stack of light tubes over Kamitani and hit the Pearl Harbor Splash breaking the light tube over Kamitani but Kamitani would manage to kick out at one.

Kasai would then hit the Stimulation Driver which has been protected very well but Kamitani would still manage to kick out. Kasai would then try again but Kamitani would fight back with a lariat and then nail Kasai with a brainbuster and cover Kasai but Kasai would kick out at one followed by Kamitani hitting Kasai with a Back Drop for the win at 21 minutes, 39 seconds for probably Kamitani's biggest singles win despite being a two time Death Match champion and two time Strong Heavyweight Champion. Kasai would act like he would shake Kamitani's hand but as soon as Kamitani would go to shake it he would pull it away and give Kamitani the middle finger before leaving. Kasai afterwards would state he still considers Kamitani a young boy despite the win. This was Kasai's first pinfall loss in Big Japan since February 8, 2013 when he was pinned by Jaki Numazawa in a tag match and his first singles lost in Big Japan since March 27, 2011 against Yuko Miyamoto in the Death Match Survivor tournament.

Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and Megumi Kudo held a talk show on December 19, 2025 to celebrate the release of Mitsuhiro Matsunaga's about him running his steak house in the Reiwa era. held a talk show with ZERO1 GM Megumi Kudo to celebrate the release of his book. Matsunaga talked to the crowd about his death matches that involved piranhas, scorpions, and thumbtacks as well as having to compete in the restaurant business. Kudo ended up joining Matsunaga as the two talked about some "behind the scenes" talk that fans were told not to talk about on social media afterward so nothing that they talked about was reported. Kudo did ask Matsunaga if he could join and become a "executive committee member" which means help Jaguar Yokota book the Megumi Kudo 40th Anniversary show with Matsunaga agreeing to join and help. Matsunaga a week later though, would end up announcing that after some time of thinking about it he had decided to step down as an executive committee member for the October 17, 2026 event. Matsunaga would cite that the show would be held the Yoyogi National Stadium Gym # 2 which seats 4,000 fans and the building does not allow death matches so he would not be able to help out with the show like he would want to and stated there were other people that would do a better job at it than him.

Megumi Kudo would then attend a W*ING promoted talk show event by Mickey Ibaragi on December 28, 2025 in Shinjuku which would end up being a two and a half hour event. Kudo still has a very hardcore loyal fan base that will attend these shows, so Ibaragi is able to make money off these with her and thus has held one every year the last couple of years as a result. There was a Kudo trivia contest between the fans based off her 1997 autobiography that came out prior to her April 29th retirement match. Kudo has also announced that she will be releasing another autobiography that will coincide with the 40th anniversary event so expect an October 2026 release date.

I completed the 4th install of translating all the documented Hayabusa information from from April 1997 to April 1998 going over all his key matches through out his one year feud with Mr. Gannosuke as well as all his All Japan matches including every All Japan Real World Tag Team Tournament match in November 1997. This was a very busy time for Hayabusa as it was definitely the most focused on match content as I could only find one interview he did in September 1997 where interestingly enough he talked about the possibility of someone else taking over the Hayabusa gimmick in the future. I will try and bunch all of them together that you can find the past ones on one page next time but for now you can check out this one at http://fmwwrestling.us/Hayabusa9798.html and find the others if you're interested father down on this page from previous updates.

Added: 11/30

The new Hayabusa has done a pretty good and keeping the connection that Eiji Ezaki's Hayabusa had. Going up against Masato Tanaka and Mammoth Sasaki as well as his own The Gladiator type rival in Chris Vice. Teaming up with Jinsei Shinzaki and then later The Great Sasuke but for the big ZERO1 Korakuen Hall show he would go up against someone of his generation that was way too young to have any connection with Ezaki and that was NOAH's Kaito Kiyomiya. Kiyomiya would come away with the win having Hayabusa lose his first match since the return as Hayabusa looks to create new rivalries and a history of his own and that goes with feuding with fellow young wrestler from Junya Matsunaga as their rivalry if kept up with and booked correctly could be something like Hayabusa vs. Mr. Gannosuke in FMW. Hayabusa will also reunite with the past once again on December 4, 2025 for the Strong Style promotion as he will team up not only with The Great Sasuke but also Tiger Mask IV to reform their tag team from the May 2, 1999 Tokyo Dome show as they will go up against Ikuto Hidaka, Masamune, and Fuminori Abe. Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki will then reunite as a team the next day on December 5, 2025 for the Furinkazan Tag Team Tournament as they will go up against Masato Tanaka and a Mystery Partner. It's unlikely and it wouldn't be anywhere the level their 1999 matches were but I am personally hoping Tanaka's partner ends up being Tetsuhiro Kuroda for old times sake.

The first show of the ZERO1 series in October would take place on October 10, 2025 at the Nagoya Sportiva Arena as  Hayabusa and Chris Vice would take on Masato Tanaka and Junya Matsunaga. Hayabusa and Matsunaga would square off with Matsunaga slapping Hayabusa in the chest disrespectfully with Hayabusa getting right in Matsunaga's face as Matsunaga would manage to grab Hayabusa by the arm and try and make him submit with Hayabusa getting his foot on the rope. Hayabusa would get up and with his good arm would strike Matsunaga but be met with a strike from Matsunaga that would send him to the mat. Tanaka would get tagged in and he would begin chopping Hayabusa as Hayabusa would try to elbow Tanaka but be met with an elbow from Tanaka instead.

Tanaka would go for a running elbow but Hayabusa would manage to turn that into a hurricanrana followed by a drop kick as he would tag out. Hayabusa would come back in at the same as Matsunaga and Matsunaga would once again the upper hand hitting Hayabusa with a Fisherman Suplex as Tanaka would come in and suplex Hayabusa off the top followed by Matsunaga hitting a running knee to Hayabusa's face. Matsunaga would go to pick Hayabusa up but he would manage to hit Matsunaga with a Canadian Destroyer followed by a Tiger Driver and then finish Matsunaga with a Fire Bird Splash to get the win at 9 minutes, 22 seconds for the win. This match saw Hayabusa pretty much get beaten up the entire time and then at the end hit the Canadian Destroyer which I am not the biggest fan of that being apart of this Hayabusa's offense and grab the win.

Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka would then team up on October 11, 2025 at the Osaka Azeria Taisho with Hayabusa and Matsunaga starting off against one another again with Matsunaga nailing Hayabusa with a drop kick allowing Kubota to come in to help him double team before Hayabusa would kick them both sending them out of th ering and hit a tope con hilo onto both of them. Hayabusa would get back in the ring and try for a Falcon Arrow but Matsunaga would block it and hit Hayabusa with a back suplex. Kubota would come in and get Hayabusa in the corner and hit a running dropkick. Kubota would then place Hayabusa in the Crossface with Hayabusa making it to the rope to escape. Kubota would then go up to the top but Tanaka would come over and suplex Kubota off the top turnbuckle followed by a moonsault from Hayabusa.

Hayabusa would try for a Tiger Driver but Kubota would nail Hayabusa with a clotheslines and then hit a reverse DDT on him. Kubota would go for another clothesline but Hayabusa would catch him and hit him with a Tiger Driver and then a Falcon Arrow and cover him with Matsunaga making the save. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and hit Kubota with a Fire Bird Splash and get the win at 14 minutes, 5 seconds for the win. Kubota and Matsunaga would shake hands with Tanaka but when Hayabusa would go to shake Kubota's hand he would get a middle finger from him as Hayabusa would begin talking to Matsunaga as they would get face to face with Matsunaga shoving Hayabusa before leaving the ring.

Hayabusa would go up against Junya Matsunaga on October 13, 2025 at the Tokyo Shinjuku FACE. ZERO1 usually does not release their announced numbers to the public, but they tend to release the number on their Neo Base app but this show would do so bad that they would not announce the number.

Hayabusa and Matsunaga would start with a lock up before Matsunaga would slap Hayabusa in the face with Hayabusa slapping him back harder. They would go to the outside with Matsunaga tossing Hayabusa into the empty chairs and then throwing him into the turnbuckle. Hayabusa would get up and strike Matusnaga with Matsunaga striking him back and knocking him down. Matsunaga would then DDT onto the mat on the outside befor getting back in the ring with Hayabusa hitting a dropkick on Matsunaga sending him to the outside the ring with Hayabusa hitting an Asai Moonsault onto him. Hayabusa would then suplex Matsunaga on the outside as they would get back in the ring with Hayabusa trying for a Tiger Driver but Matsunaga would turn it into a hurricanrana and then hit a uranage with Hayabusa getting up right away and hitting a German Suplex with Matsunaga getting up right away and Hayabusa hitting a savant kick. They would again being exchanging strikes before Matsunaga would go for a clothesline but be met with a Tiger Driver followed by a Falcon Arrow.

Hayabusa would then go to the top for a Fire Bird Splash but Matsunaga would move out of the way and hit Hayabusa with a lariat and cover him for two. Matsunaga would then hit a running knee and pick Hayabusa up but Hayabusa would turn that into a Canadian Destroyer followed by a hurricanrana to get the win at 9 minutes, 38 seconds as the win came kind of nowhere as a way to try and keep Hayabusa/Matsunaga as somewhat equals even though Hayabusa is never going to lose to him. Matsunaga would throw something at Hayabusa and Hayabusa would knee him before rolling him out of the ring.

Even though he is suppose to be Hayabusa from FMW this feud with Matsunaga definitely makes him come off as a 28 year old who has a natural rival with Matsunaga due to them coming up together more so than this being someone that grew up teaming and going against Masato Tanaka 25-30 years ago.

Hayabusa and The Great Sasuke would team up on October 17, 2025 at the Tokyo Shinjuku FACE for the first time since June 17, 2001 when Hayabusa, Sasuke, and Alexander Otsuka would team up in Michinoku Pro against Dick Togo, Men's Teioh, and Ricky Fuji at the Sapporo Green Dome. The last time that Hayabusa and The Great Sasuke teamed up just together was the more well known match against Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Mr. Gannosuke on May 5, 2001 at Kawasaki Stadium. The match would see Hayabusa and Sasuke teaming up to take on Chris Vice and Junya Matsunaga. This match was made after Hayabusa vs. Daisuke Sekimoto once again had to be scratched due to Sekimoto fracturing his foot on September 29th.

Hayabusa and Matsunaga would face off early on with Hayabusa dropkicking Matsunaga out of the ring and delivering a tope con hilo and then suplex Matsunaga on the floor before they would get back in the ring and begin exchanging strikes to one another with Hayabusa knocking Matsunaga down. Matsunaga would fight back knee to Hayabusa's chin and then a dropkick to tag Vice in who would look to hit a Package Piledriver but Sasuke would come in and make the save as they would double suplex Vice. Hayabusa and Matsunaga would then go back to exchanging strikes with one another at a fast pace with Matsunaga hitting an Olympic Slam on Hayabusa and Hayabusa would get up right away and hit a German Suplex followed by a Tiger Driver and then try for a Falcon Arrow but get picked up by Matsunaga for a Brainbuster instead followed by a Uranage which would result in Hayabusa to roll out of the ring. Sasuke would try for a Thunder Fire Powerbomb but get backflipped and then hit with a lariat and finally finished with a Package Piledriver at 12 minutes, 58 seconds as it would mark the first time that a team with Hayabusa and The Great Sasuke on it would being on the losing end. Hayabusa and Matsunaga would not be finished as they would continue to fighting outside the ring with Matsunaga leaving Hayabusa laid out. This was really a nothing match.

Hayabusa would face off against the Tenka-Ichi Jr. Heavyweight Tournament winner VENY on November 3, 2025 at the Chiba Uraysu Oriental Hotel Tokyo Bay. VENY would grab Hayabusa by his hair and shove him to the mat early on and then deliver a drop kick to him sending Hayabusa out of the ring. VENY would mock Hayabusa by getting on the ropes and doing a back flip followd by a drop kick to the face. VENY would then charge at Hayabusa but be met with a drop kick and exit the ring as Hayabusa would tease diving after he ronly to deliver a tope con hilo out onto her out of nowhere in a really good spot. Hayabusa would get back in the ring and deliver a German Suplex with VENY landing on her feet and delivering a superkick followed by climbing up to the top and hitting Hayabusa with a flying dropkick. VENY would then go up to the second turnbuckle and try for a moonsault but Hayabusa would move out of the way.

Hayabusa would then nail her with a strike followed by the Swanton/Asai Moonsault combo. Hayabusa would then charge at VENY but be met with more kicks to the face and then VENY would hit Hayabusa with a Michinoku Driver for a two count. VENY would try for a German Suplex but Hayabusa would block it and when she would go for a round house kick she would miss and Hayabusa would grab her and deliver a released German Suplex followed by a Tiger Driver for two. Hayabusa would then slam VENY and go to the top but VENY would climb up as well with Hayabusa giving her multiple strikes knocking her off followd by a flying dropkick and then a Falcon Arrow with VENY kicking out. Hayabusa would then go for the finish as he would nail her with an H Thunder to get the win at 11 minutes, 30 seconds as Hayabusa would help her up and raise her hand out of respect and then go to shake her hand as VENY would kiss him on the side of the mask in a fun basic match. Hayabusa would then deliver a moonsault off the second rope in celebration before leaving. This was a basic, but fun match.

ZERO1 would run their big Korakuen Hall show on November 10, 2025 announcing a crowd of 1,245 fans for the show. The number is a good number especially considering how bad some of the shows have been this year. They have proven though with the help of NOAH that they can put on a WrestleMania like show at Korakuen Hall where if they only run it once a year they can draw a very healthy number in the building. The sign of growth though is being able to run Korakuen multiple times and still be able to pull a good number each and every time which that might take awhile.

The main event of the show saw Hayabusa take on NOAH's Kaito Kiyomiya. Hayabusa would come to the ring in his brown jacket and outfit for the second time as a symbol that this was a big match. Hayabusa and Kiyomiya would start off by exchanging handspring drop kicks one another until Hayabusa's would land on Kiyomiya knocking him out of the ring with Hayabusa hitting Kiyomiya with a tope cone hilo. Hayabusa on the outside would try for a running elbow with Kiyomiya moving out of the way and Hayabusa hitting the turnbuckle instead. Kiyomiya would then go up to the apron and hit a running Shining Wizard on Hayabusa. They would get back in the ring with Kiyomiya kicking Hayabusa in the head and Hayabusa fighting back before Kiyomiya would grab Hayabusa's leg and deliver a Dragon Screw to Hayabusa.

Kiyomiya would then hit an awkward Shining Wizard that Hayabusa would just pretend didn't happen as he would act not phased by it followed by Hayabusa sending Kiyomiya into the ropes and delivering a spinning heel kick and a swanton dive/quebrada combo and then go for a Fisherman's Suplex with Kiyomiya kicking out at two. Hayabusa would then send Kiyomiya into the ropes and he would come back with a clothesline and then a dropkick. Kiyomiya would come off the top with a flying dropkick and then try for a Tiger Suplex with Hayabusa landing on his feet and deliver a high kick to the head but then Hayabusa would come off the ropes and be met with a dropkick that he would no sell and deliver an enziugiri as both would collapse. Hayabusa would get up and hit Kiyomiya with a Tiger Driver and then a Falcon Arrow and get a two count. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and hit a Fire Bird Splash and get another two count.

Hayabusa would then act like he was going to go for the Phoenix Splash and go up to the top but Kiyomiya would meet him there with an upper cut and deliver a hurricanrana off the top onto Hayabusa. Kiyomiya would then hit another Shining Wizard followed by a Tiger Suplex for another two count. Kiyomiya would then go up to the top and dive off but be met with a dropkick from Hayabusa and then hit with another Falcon Arrow as Kiyomiya would kick out. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and try for a Phoenix Splash with Kiyomiya moving out of the way. Kiyomiya would then come from behind and hit a Shining Wizard to the back of the head followed by one to the front for another two count.

Kiyomiya would then try for a Tiger Suplex but Hayabusa would begin fighting back with elbows with Hayabusa breaking free and charging at the ropes but be met with another Shining Wizard from Kiyomiya followed by a running knee to the face with an Overthrow for a two count which was the spot of the match before Kiyomiya would hit the Skywalk Elbow for the win at 19 minutes, 47 seconds for Hayabusa's first loss since the return of the gimmick.

They would shake hands with Kiyomiya raising Hayabusa's hand afterwards. Hayabusa would get on the mic and say he knows it's not too cool to get on the mic after losing a match, but he would bring the wrestlers and lead the 3-2-1-01 chant that he had explain to fans how to do since it had been so long they had done one at Korakuen Hall. This match was good, but nothing special. It was completely different than the Tanaka match as there was no slow points, but while Korakuen Hall had a good turn out, it lacked the electricity from the crowd in Shin-Kiba that the Tanaka match had. It just never hit a peak that the Tanaka match did as for being a top elite wrestler I personally just was not a fan of Kiyomiya's offense and Hayabusa is okay/good, but is not regularly going to have high level matches on a constant basis. Click here for highlights of Hayabusa vs. Kaito Kiyomiya 11/10/25

Hayabusa made his first televised public appearance on November 24, 2025 that aired on November 28, 2025 for Samurai TV's News Suplex highlight show. This was a 30 minute segment where they have a wrestler interview to promote a upcoming show or tournament. Hayabusa appeared to promote ZERO1's upcoming Furinkazan Tag Team Tournament that will go on through out December. Hayabusa was first asked about his waterfall challenge which was part of losing a 3 vs. 3 elimination match against Masato Tanaka's team back in September with Yuki Toki who was part of his team joining him. He was then asked if he knew about Eiji Ezaki's Hayabusa which he stated of course he was a superhero to him but that he never met him or saw him in person. They talked about the Masato Tanaka match back in April and using the tope con hilo at the Ryogoku Sumo Hall like Ezaki's Hayabusa did for his debut in the same building. They watched highlights of Hayabusa vs. Jinsei Shinzaki from October 10, 1996 in Ryogoku and with Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Hisakatsu Oya and Mr. Gannosuke from August 2, 1997 in Shiodome.

They showed clips of the Kawasaki Stadium match from May 7th with Hayabusa and Shinzaki teaming up against Tanaka and Mammoth with Hayabusa mentioning that while researching Hayabusa's history he learned the history of FMW and it's connection to Kawasaki Stadium and it meant a lot to him to have Hayabusa's music play at Kawasaki Stadium once again. They showed clips of his match against Chris Vice with Hayabusa for the Finals of the Fire Festival with Hayabusa comparing it to Hayabusa vs. The Gladiator. They showed clips of the 30 minute time limit match against Masato Tanaka and then the FREEDOMS match against Mammoth Sasaki as a continuation of the Hayabusa vs. Mammoth match from 2001.

They talked about teaming up with The Great Sasuke with Hayabusa mentioning Sasuke was tough to read with Hayabusa stating he thinks Sasuke accepted him as Hayabusa. They then talked about the match against Kaito Kiyomiya and how this opponent was kind of the first time that it was a new match since Kiyomiya came from another generation. Hayabusa mentioned wrestling in Korakuen Hall was a big thing for him since Hayabusa had not wrestled there since the accident back in 2001. They then talked about the tag team tournament and brought up Violento Jack with Hayabusa not knowing much about him other than he worked for FREEDOMS and had seen him a couple of times in ZERO-ONE. Jack was described as a hybrid death match lucha libre wrestler and Hayabusa was asked if he would want to do any hardcore matches which he stated no. They concluded with Hayabusa mentioning that many people come up to him to tell him they came to see Hayabusa. Click here to watch the  broadcast of Hayabusa on News Suplex with subtitles

FMW-E returned to the Osaka Sakai City Ohamo Sumo Arena on November 3, 2025 with Atsushi Onita teaming up with Raijin Yaguchi and Naoshi Sano against Mr. Pogo, Hideaki Sumi, and Ryoji Sai in a Exploding Barbed wire Net Exploding Barbed wire Baseball Bat Death Match with Sumi hitting Sano with the exploding bat to get the win at 12 minutes, 27 seconds for the Pogo team. This show was actually filmed and released on DVD which would be the first stand alone show by FMW-E to get a DVD release.

Atsushi Onita and The Great Sasuke teamed on November 23, 2025 for the BBQ and Humanitarian Pro-Wrestling event at the Fukuda Yamato City Ginza Cruise Central Kitchen Special Ring. This was the first time they had teamed up since January 14, 2016 for the Apple Star promotion at Korakuen when they defeated Jun Kasai and MIKAMI in a Street Fight. This event would be put together by the Hakuai Project which provides disaster relief. The main event saw Onita and Sasuke against Mr. Pogo and Naoshi Sano with Onita speaking saying "It's like the origins of FMW, Michinoku Pro, and indie wrestling. Sasuke and I have done a lot together, like the exploding ring match in Morioka. It's very moving."

The match would begin with Sasuke hitting Sano with a diving press but then Pogo would blow a flame at Sasuke while Onita would get slammed by Sano into a barbed wire board. Onita would come back and spray mist in Sano's face and then hit Sano with a chair as Sasuke would roll up Sano at 11 minutes, 46 seconds for the Onita/Sasuke team win. Onita and Sasuke would shake hands afterwards reaffirming their strong bond reminiscent of their days in FMW and Michinoku Pro together.

The final FMW-E show of the year will take place on December 7, 2025 at the Yokohama Tsurumi Fruit and Vegetables Market with the main event having Atsushi Onita team up with Raijin Yaguchi and Takumi Sakurai against Mr. Pogo, Masashi Takeda, and Hayato Mashita. This match will have no explosions in it and instead will be a Barbed wire Jungle Death Match with barbed wire being set up all over ringside including in the crowd as well.

FREEDOMS would run their 16th Anniversary show on October 3, 2025 at Korakuen Hall and announce a crowd of 435 fans for the show. Although a couple of other Korakuen shows this year have been in the 400s this show was the lowest since last November's Korakuen show that saw Sugiura defeat Minoru Fujita.

The main event would see Violento Jack take on Takashi Sasaki in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Kenzan Board Death Match. Takashi Sasaki had made note that it had been 4,172 days since he last held the King of Freedom World Championship when he lost it to Yuji Hino on May 2, 2014.

Sasaki's weapon that he would bring to the ring would be a Kenzan Board and Jack's board would be a Empty Can Board. Jack would send Sasaki out of the ring and cut him in the forehead with a broken light tube early on before Sasaki would fight back and send Jack's hand into the turnbuckle. Sasaki would bring Jack back in and begin smashing light tubes over Jack's head before trying to slam Jack on a stack of light tubes but instead Jack would send Sasaki into the light tubes against the ropes and then slam Sasaki on the stack of light tubes. Jack would place a board of empty cans against Sasaki's back and then step on it before delivering a senton.

Jack would pick Sasaki up and he would turn it into a swinging DDT and then kicking light tubes to break across Jack. Sasaki would superplex Jack but he would immediately turn it into a Brainbuster and the two would get up and charge at one another before exchanging kicks to the head with Sasaki knocking Jack down. Sasaki would then lay the kenzan board down and flip Jack with his back landing into the kenzans before hitting a DDT Jack head first into them. Sasaki would then try to Jack up but Jack would overpower Sasaki and send him into the kenzans. Jack would lay the board of broken cans on Sasaki and deliver a Swanton followed by an Amatlan on Sasaki and cover but Sasaki would kick out. Jack would try for the Jack Pack Package Piledriver, but Sasaki would manage to escape and deliver a right leg kick breaking a light tube over Jack and then deliver repeated kicks to Jack's head before rolling him up with a La Magisterial before Jack would grab a hold of Sasaki's arm with Sasaki having to grab a light tube and break it over Jack's head to get him to let go.

Jack would start breaking light tubes over Sasaki's head and go up to the top but Sasaki would get up and deliver a D-Geist and then place a stack of light tubes next to Jack's head and deliver a right leg kick breaking the light tubes across Jack's head and cover him for a two count. Sasaki would then knee a light tube into Jack which would immediately cause Jack to slam Sasaki and then deliver an Awesome Bomb Sasaki. Both men would make it back to their feet as they would begin exchanging strikes to one another before Sasaki would grab Jack's bad hand and Jack would headbutt Sasaki as a result. Jack would then setup a stack of light tubes and deliver a right leg kick breaking it across Sasaki followed by jamming a kenzan in Sasaki's head and then finishing Sasaki with the Jack Pack Package Piledriver at 23 minutes to successfully defend the King of Freedom World Championship. Jack would then nominate his former tag team partner Mammoth Sasaki as the next challenger for the King of Freedom World Championship with Mammoth accepting for the next Korakuen Hall show.

The semi-main event would see Jun Kasai and Mizuki Watase take on Toru Sugiura and Daisuke Masaoka in a Weapons Death Match. Sugiura would hit a tope con hilo on Watase at the same time Masaoka would hit an Asai Moonsault on Kasai. Watase and Masaoka would get in the ring where Watase would deliver a russian legsweep into thumbtacks with both Masaoka and Watase going into the thumbtacks. Watase would then deliver a dropkick to Sugiura sending him out of the ring as Watase would deliver a flip off the top to the outside on Sugiura as Kasai would hit Masaoka with the Stimulation Piledriver to get the win at 22 minutes, 15 seconds with Kasai wanting to team with Watase to challenge for the King of Freedom Tag Team Titles.

Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito would defend their King of Freedom Tag Team Titles against Yuko Miyamoto taking the place of the injured Daisuke Sekimoto and Takayuki Ueki in a Strong Style Death Match with Ito hitting the Octopus Destroyer on Ueki on a chair and barbed wire to pick up the win at 11 minutes, 42 seconds to defend the tag team titles for the fifth time. Kengo would end up defeating Jun Masaoka at 12 minutes, 33 seconds with a Frog Splash to defend his King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title for the first time. Yuya Susumu and Gaia Hox would get the win over Dragon Libre and Kapii when Susumu would make Libre tap at 9 minutes, 54 seconds with a Cross Face. Mammoth Sasaki, Tomoya Hirata, and Kenji Fukimoto would defeat Toshiyuki Sakuda, Kyu Mogami, and Brahman Shu when Mammoth would pin Mogami at 7 minutes, 10 seconds with the Mammoth Home Run. Click here for highlights of the FREEDOMS 10/3/25 Korakuen Hall show

FREEDOMS and Ganbare Pro would co-promote (Takashi Sasaki would book the show with Ganbare Pro paying him half the booking fee to rent the building) a Shin-Kiba 1st Ring show on October 16, 2025 for a competition between the two promotions. Each side would have a dedicated fan base section with 58 fans sitting in the FREEDOMS section and 118 sitting in the Ganbare section equaling out to 176 fans for the show.

The main event would see Jun Kasai and Tomoya Hirata take on Ganbare's Ken Ohka and Mizuki Watase in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match. The Ganbare team would jump in and attack Kasai setting Ohka to hit a Kamikaze while Watase would come off the top with a diving foot stomp on him as well. Ohka would then charge at Kasai but run into the turnbuckle sending him into the turnbuckle as all the FREEDOMS wrestlers would then hit the ring and attack Ohka. Hirata would then stick skewers in Ohka's head and Kasai would hit a Pearl Harbor Splash on light tubes followed by a Stimulation Driver on light tubes to get the win at 18 minutes, 7 seconds over Ohka for the FREEDOMS win.

The semi-main event would see Ganbare's Yumehito Imanari and Yuna Manase defeating Takashi Sasaki and Toru Sugiura when Manase would get the win over Sasaki at 12 minutes, 7 seconds after hitting him with a lariat. Mammoth Sasaki, Daisuke Masaoka, and Kenji Fukimoto would take on Keisuke Ishii, Takuya Wada, and YuuRI with YuuRI hitting Mammoth with a 619 followed by her trying for a flying dropkick but that would not phase Mammoth at all as Mammoth would eventually put YuuRI away at 13 minutes, 17 seconds for the FREEDOMS win. Violento Jack would defeat Munetatsu Nakamura at 8 minutes, 55 seconds with a Charro Negro. Shuichiro Katsumura would get GENTARO to tap out at 10 minutes, 22 seconds to a Nagata Lock III. The opening match would see Dragon Libre and Reiya Igarashi defeating Shota Kawakami and Sentaro Motoshima when Libre would pi n Motoshima at 11 minutes, 34 seconds with a Tiger Suplex. FREEDOMS would win the overall battle 4-2 over Ganbare but Takashi Sasaki would admit that the Ganbare fan section doubling the FREEDOMS section made it seem like Ganbare was the overall winner of the night. Click here to watch highlights of FREEDOMS/Ganbare Pro 10/16/25

Kamui would promote his annual Jun Kasai Bloody Halloween event on October 19, 2025 at the Osaka Active Square Daito drawing an announced 274 fans for the show. The main event would see a Osaka Death Match Expo Fluorescent Light Tubes Pavilion Death Match with a light tubes setup in a circle around the ring as Mammoth Sasaki and Tomoya Hirata would defeat Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto at 15 minutes, 13 seconds when Mammoth would hit Fukimoto with a 29 Years Old on a chair at 15 minutes, 13 seconds to get the win.

Takashi Sasaki and Yuko Miyamoto would reform their tag team and defeat Masashi Takeda and Daisuke Masaoka in a Barbed wire Board Death Match in the sem-main event when Miyamoto would get the win at 13 minutes when he would hit a Moonsault on a barbed wire board to get the pin over Masaoka. Jun Kasai and Toru Sugiura would get the win over ERE's Toshiyuki Sakuda and Takayuki Ueki when Kasai would pin Ueki at 14 minutes, 52 seconds with a Pearl Harbor Splash in a Hardcore Match. Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would defeat Brahman Shu, Brahman Kei, and Dyna Mido as Brahman Mido when Hox would get the win at 7 minutes, 32 seconds over Mido. GENTARO and Osaka talent Shoichi Uchida would defeat Osaka talents Donguri Fujie and Shinji Kamakura when Uchida would get the win over Kamakura at 10 minutes, 8 seconds with a Diving Headbutt. The opening match would see Dragon Libre defeat Osaka talent Tetsuya Goto at 9 minutes, 10 seconds with a Throwing Dragon Suplex.

FREEDOMS returned to Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on October 23, 2025 and announced a crowd of 105 fans which was the lowest Shin-Kiba attended show for the promotion since May 2022.

The main event would see Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto taking on Takashi Sasaki and Mammoth Sasaki in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match in the main event. Jack and Fukimoto would send Mammoth into the ropes and grab a hold of a light tube with Mammoth going through the light tube and double clotheslining them. Takashi would superplex Jack off the top with assistance from Mammoth before Mammoth would chokeslam on Jack on a stack of ligh tubes. Mammoth would then go for an Awesome Bomb on a stack of light tubes but Jack would flip Mammoth over onto them instead. Mammoth would get up and throw a stack of light tubes at Jack and nail him with the Mammoth Home Run and cover Jack for two and when Jack would kick out he would roll up Mammoth with a Crucifix Hold for the win. Mammoth would become enrage and go after Jack and pull Jack's off mask to setup their Korakuen Hall match.

The semi-main event would be a Barbed wire Board Death Match with Masashi Takeda, Yusaku Ito, and Takumi Tsukamoto defeating Jun Kasai, Mizuki Watase, and Daiju Wakamatsu when Takeda would hit Watase with a chair with a Reverse U Crash at 14 minutes, 19 seconds for the win. Kasai backstage would tell Watase now that he has some death match experience he was ready to team with him and challenge Takeda and Ito for the tag team titles. Toru Sugiura and Tomoya Hirata would defeat Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kyu Mogami when Sugiura would pin Mogami at 12 minutes, 10 seconds with a Swift Driver. Kengo, Dragon Libre, and Rekka would defeat F-SWAG's Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox when Kengo would roll up Susumu at 9 minutes, 18 seconds with a Crucifix. Takayuki Ueki and Kota Sekifuda would defeat GENTARO and Kapii when Sekifuda would get the win at 8 minutes, 46 seconds with a Pinfall Turnover. The opening match would see Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeat Reiya Igarashi at 9 minutes, 20 seconds with a single leg crab. Click here for highlights of the FREEDOMS 10/23/25 show

FREEDOMS would run another co-promotion show this time with the Taiwan promotion Puzzle on November 1, 2025 at the Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square drawing an announced 94 fans for the show. The main event would see the Top of Puzzle Tag Team Champions Touyu and War Bear defend their tag team titles against Jun Kasai and Kenji Fukimoto when Touyu would pin Fukimoto at 15 minutes, 26 seconds after hitting him with the Heavens Gate to defend their tag titles for the second time. Violento Jack and Tomoya Hirata would win the semi-main event defeating KJ Woo and Bowser Chen when Jack would pin Chen at 11 minutes, 19 seconds with a Swanton Bomb. Takashi Sasaki, Mammoth Sasaki, and Reiya Igarashi would defeat Jet Wei, Kaixa Zheng, and Princess Pistachio when Mammoth would pin Zheng at 13 minutes, 23 seconds with the 29 Years Old. GENTARO would defeat former Big Japan regular Mari Hana at 9 minutes, 35 seconds with an Abdominal Hold. Gaia Hox who is originally from the Puzzle promotion would team up with Axe Wang to defeat Daisuke Masaoka and Dragon Libre at 10 minutes, 22 seconds with Wang would get the win over Libre with the AOT. The opening match would see Toru Sugiura defeat Willy at 9 minutes, 26 seconds with a Dragon Sleeper Style Camel Clutch.

This would setup a show on November 29th where FREEDOMS would go to Taiwan to wrestle at the Puzzle Dojo. The only results to come out are that Takashi Sasaki and Jun Kasai won the Top of Puzzle Tag Team Titles defeating Touyu and War Bear.

FREEDOMS would book a show at the Saitama Tokorozawa Sakura Town Pavilion A on November 6, 2025 with an announced crowd of 385 fans with the booking of Hiroshi Tanahashi for that day and that location. Tanahashi would team up with Jun Kasai against Toru Sugiura and Tomoya Hirata. Hirata would end up picking Tanahashi up and slamming him followed by Sugiura picking up Hirata on his shoulders and dropping him. Sugiura would then take a guitar and swing at Tanahashi with Tanahashi moving out of the way and smashing Sugiura in the head with it. Kasai would then hit Sugiura with a Pearl Harbor Splash and then give Tanahashi his goggles as Tanahashi would hit a Pearl Harbor Splash to get the win at 13 minutes, 55 seconds for the Tanahashi in his first and final FREEDOMS appearance.

Mammoth Sasaki, Takahashi Sasaki, and GENTARO would defeat Violento Jack, Masashi Takeda, and Yusaku Ito when Mammoth would get revenge and roll up Jack with a La Magisterial at 11 minutes, 41 seconds for the win. Takayuki Ueki would defeat Kenji Fukimoto in a Barefoot Toy Block Death Match at 9 minutes, 32 seconds via Accident. Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would defeat Dragon Libre, Kapii, and Rekka when Susumu would make Rekka tap out at 10 minutes, 40 seconds to the Crossface. The opening match would see Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kota Sekifuda defeating Kengo and Reiya Igarashi when Sekifuda would get the win at 9 minutes, 1 seconds over Igarashi with the Frog Splash. Click here for the highlights of the FREEDOMS 11/6/25 show

FREEDOMS would return to Korakuen Hall on November 13, 2025 as they would announce a crowd of 448 fans which I have to say did slightly better than I expected as it did better than the previous months Korakuen with Jack vs. Takashi. This show did not air on Samurai TV and will not be released on DVD as it looks to be the second FREEDOMS Korakuen Hall show ever (the other being 11/16/23 with Sugiura vs. Mogami) to not be released in full anywhere. This show was not expected to do well and it didn't do well, but it did just as well as any other FREEDOMS Korakuen Hall show that doesn't either have Jun Kasai's name on it or him in the main event.

This was also Mammoth Sasaki's first Korakuen Hall singles main event match since October 22, 2007 when he defended his WEW Heavyweight Title defeating Jun Kasai for the Apache Army promotion. This also is the very first time that Mammoth Sasaki would be challenging for the King of Freedom World Championship as the only other time he had a chance to win it was when he was entered into the tournament to become the first ever champion back in 2013 and lost in the first round to Minoru Fujita.

The main event of Violento Jack vs. Mammoth Sasaki in a Fluorescent Light Tubes TLC Death Match would take place because Jack had been wanting to face Mammoth for awhile after the two had teamed and been tag champions from 2019 to 2021 before Jack turned on Mammoth.

Mammoth would fight with Jack on the apron eventually leading to him to choke slam Jack through a table. They would get back in the ring and Mammoth would hit a Falcon Arrow on Jack followed by a Mammoth Home Run on Jack. Jack would take a stack of light tubes but Mammoth would grab a chair and swing and break the light tubes across Jack. Mammoth would go for a 29 Years Old but Jack would counter with a Brainbuster and then hit Mammoth with a Mammoth Home Run and then finish Mammoth with the Jack Pack Package Piledriver on a set of light tubes to get the win at 20 minutes, 45 seconds to defend the title for the second time. Mammoth and Jack would shake hands afterwards as Jack would tell Mammoth that he has been so kind to him in and out of the ring even so over drinks since he has came to Japan. Masashi Takeda would come out and challenge Jack for the title for the Christmas Death Match show.

The semi-main event would see Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito defend their King of Freedom Tag Team Titles against Jun Kasai and Mizuki Watase in a Weapons Death Match. Watase would be bloody early on but fight back and headbutt Ito on top of the turnbuckle and deliver a top rope Russian Leg sweep dropping back of the head against a set of chairs. Kasai would then hit a Pearl Harbor Splash on Ito followed by Watase hitting a diving footstomp on Ito. Ito would counter by spitting indian ink in Watase's face and then begin choking Watase with a rope as the referee would call for the match and reward the match to the champions at 17 minutes, 43 seconds for their six tag team titles defense. Ito would challenge Mizuki Watase to a death match for the Christmas Death Match show afterwards.

Kengo would defend his King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Championship against Kota Sekifuda who left being a full time Big Japan wrestler six months ago and was full of energy right away as Sekifuda would hit a tope con hilo on Kengo right at the start. Sekifuda would manage to hit a RKO and then nail a splash on Kengo for a two count. Kengo would end up nailing Sekifuda with a lariat and then a German Suplex before hitting a Vertical Brainbuster to get the win at 16 minutes, 13 seconds to defend the title for the second time.

Toru Sugiura, Daisuke Masaoka, and Tomoya Hirata would team up to take on the ERE team of Toshiyuki Sakuda, Takayuki Ueki, and Kyu Mogami in a Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match. Ueki early on would demand a horse riding match saying that a standard Scramble Bunkhouse Match isn't any fun. ERE used their second 296 as the jockey, while the FREEDOMS teamed used Michio Kageyama who was in the stands at a spectator as their jockey for the comedy spot. Ueki would end up removing his boots before helping Masaoka remove his boots as well with Masaoka being dropped feet first on the barbed wire bat by Ueki but also having dropping Ueki feet first on the barbed wire bat as well before quickly rolling up Ueki afterwards with a Tornado Clutch for the FREEDOMS win at 4 minutes, 44 seconds as the horseback riding part of the match took up most of the match.

The F-SWAG team of Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would take on the team of Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, and Kapii with Masaoka superkicking Kapii in the face and Susumu would kick Kapii in the face allowing Susumu to place the Crossface on Kapii to get the win at 10 minutes, 31 seconds for F-SWAG. After the match, Masaoka would end up kicking Susumu in the face which would confuse Gaia Hox who would attack like he was going to attack Masaoka but instead attack Susumu as they would beat down Susumu as he would officially be kicked out of the group with Kengo having to make the save. Masaoka would state that Susumu had been acting like a jerk after losing the title.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Kenji Fukimoto won the opening match against Brahman Shu and Rekka when Fukimoto would hit the Package Piledriver at 7 minutes, 15 seconds on Shu for the win. Dragon Libre who is going into his 10th year as a pro-wrestler won a dark match against Reiya Igarashi at 7 minutes, 25 seconds with a Crab Hold. Click here for highlights of the FREEDOMS 11/13/25 Korakuen Hall show

Jun Kasai would announce following his Korakuen Hall match on November 13, 2025 about his desire to have a Hardcore Match with New Japan's Shingo Takagi on Christmas which would get a big pop from the crowd. It would just be assumed that Kasai vs. Takagi would take place at Korakuen Hall on December 25, 2025 but then Kasai would announce that he had not actually heard back from Takagi in regards to having the match. Toru Sugiura would then make mention that he wanted to face Takagi as well which Kasai stating that he wants Sugiura to stay out of his business. Kasai and Sugiura would both get tired of waiting for Takagi's response so they would end up appearing backstage at New Japan's Korakuen Hall show on November 20, 2025 and begin demanding that Takagi accept one of their challenges to a Hardcore Match for Bloody XMas. Gedo would end up coming up to try and mediate the situation with it leading to a match being made with Jun Kasai and Toru Sugiura teaming up to take on both Shingo Takagi and Gedo in a Hardcore Match. This very much looks like they wanted Takagi to be the big draw for the show when facing off against Kasai, but they also didn't just want Kasai straight up losing to him and thus bringing in Gedo for the match and making it a tag. Kasai did state it would be a great privilege to face off against Gedo since he was one of the early independent wrestling pioneers in Japan that eventually made his way up to New Japan.

Toru Sugiura would promote the next FREEDOMS show on November 24, 2025 at the Aichi Kariya City Industrial Promotion Center Aioi Hall and announce a crowd of 340 fans for the show. The main event would be a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match with Jun Kasai and Ryuji Ito teaming up to defeat Toru Sugiura and Yusaku Ito when Kasai would get the pin at 21 minutes, 55 seconds with a Cross Arm Stimulation for the win. The semi-main event would be Bring your own Weapons Death Match with Masashi Takeda, Daisuke Masaoka, and Tomoya Hirata defeating Violento Jack, Minoru Fujita, and Kenji Fukimoto when Takeda would pin Fukimoto at 12 minutes, 59 seconds with the Reverse U Crash.

Mammoth Sasaki and Michio Kageyama would defeat Takayuki Ueki and Toshiyuki Sakuda when Mammoth would roll up Ueki for the win at 11 minutes, 45 seconds in a Hardcore Match. The two member F-SWAG team of Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox would defeat Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei when Masaoka would pin Kei at 9 minutes, 59 seconds with a roll up. Takashi Sasaki would go as Sasaki Pale One as he would take on Konaka Pale One that would go down as a No Contest at 4 minutes, 41 seconds due to outside interference. This would lead to Sasaki Pale One and Konaka Pale One defeating Kenta Kosugi, HIROYA, and Dyna Mido when Konaka would pin Mido at 1 minute, 23 seconds with a Zazen Tone. The opening match would see the Nagoya team of Kengo Takai, Takaya Shibayama, and Ali Najima defeat GENTARO, Dragon Libre, and Reiya Igarashi when Takai would pin Igarashi at 10 minutes, 45 seconds with a Hungry Buster. The dark match would see Captain Grace, Kenta Kosugi, and HIROYA defeat Tomoya Hirata, Daiki Shimomura, and Dyna Mido when Kosugi would pin Dyna Mido at 6 minutes, 4 seconds with the Perfect Combat.

Taiji Ishimori would promote his own show for New Japan on November 12, 2025 at the Shinjuku FACE. Every match would include Ishimori in it although the semi-main event would consist of a 10 Person Respect Royal Rumble. The match would turn out to be a 2000-2001 FMW reunion. Ishimori having already wrestled three matches would be the first to enter as Mammoth Sasaki would be the second to enter. Former FMW referee Marty Asami would referee the match. Masato Tanaka would come out at number 3 and eliminate Ishimori. Tanaka and Mammoth would brawl around ringside when Gedo would come out as number 4. Former WEW Tag Team Champions Tanaka and Gedo would team up to work on Mammoth when Jado would be the 5th entry. Jado would have Tanaka and Gedo get together and do the Complete Players pose before Gedo would begin raking Jado's eyes. TAKA Michinoku would be the 6th entry and the only one that worked more 1996 FMW than the end of the promotion as everyone would gang up to go after Gedo. Yasu Urano would be the 7th entry as Urano was a rookie in FMW at the end of 2001 after TAKA had sent him to train at the FMW Dojo. Everyone would then gang up and begin attacking TAKA as Onryo would come out at number 8 with everyone attacking him so Onryo would just spread his dust all over them to get them off of him. Ricky Fuji would be the 9th entry would go after his rival Gedo and punch him in the face as Gedo would call him a motherfucker and Ricky would call him a sonofabitch.

The final entry would be Dump Matsumoto who would need help getting to the ring. She would hit everyone with her cain when she would get in the ring and then begin doing mic work as the eliminations would begin with Urano rolling up TAKA for the elimination and then roll up Gedo for the elimination. Jado would then place Urano in the Crossface of JADO with Onryo taking Urano and rolling him over Jado for the pinfall elimination as it seems like everyone only agreed to be pinned by Urano here. Matsumoto would then just walk out of the match as Onryo would throw dust in Jado's face with Urano rolling him up for the elimination. Ricky would hit Onryo with a Kamikaze but then when Ricky would try to do a sunset flip Onryo would end up pulling his pants down and roll him up for the elimination. Mammoth and Tanaka would then have Urano roll up Onryo to eliminate him. Tanaka and Urnao would agree to work on Mammoth before Urano would turn on Tanaka and roll him up but only get a two count upsetting Tanaka. Mammoth would then choke slam as Tanaka would deliver a Superfly Splash to cover and eliminate Urano. This would allow Mammoth to pick up Tanaka to deliver a 29 Years Old and then hit Tanaka with an Awesome Bomb. Tanaka would then try for a choke slam but Tanaka would roll out of that and then clothesline Mammoth over the top rope for the elimination and the win at 25 minutes, 15 seconds for the win in the Respect Royal Rumble. Ricky, Mammoth, Tanaka, Urano, Onryo, and Jado would take a picture backstage for the mini FMW reunion.

Megumi Kudo announced her 40th Anniversary show will take place on October 17, 2026 at the Yoyogi National Stadium # 2 which is about a 4,000 seat building so it will be one of the larger independent shows of the year if not the largest. Kudo mentioned that since she retired she had not even been keeping up with the years since she made her debut until a fan mentioned it to her. It got her thinking about holding her one and only anniversary show of her career as a way to get more attention on the joshi scene. She contacted her trainer Jaguar Yokota about booking the show for her. Kudo has said it will be difficult for her to actually step back and wrestle in the ring but to expect some big surprises.

The VIP tickets for front row that were $1,000 dollars have already sold out as fans are promised two photos in the ring with Megumi Kudo in her wrestling attire before the show with one picture being on your phone and the other being a professional picture that will come back framed for you. Those tickets sold out at the ZERO1 Korakuen Hall show before they were put out for the public so one fan who had to buy a second row $800 dollar seat asked Kudo if he paid $200 more could he be included in the pictures with Kudo letting him know she would get back to him about it.

A newly released book called That Day, That Time, Death Match! by Irie as he recollects of the death matches he witnessed in person through out the 90s from barbed wire, to five inch nails, to explosion matches, landmines, scorpions, and vipers. He also interviews Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and Poison Sawada in the book. I have purchased the book and will work on getting translated for the book section of my site. You can check the 120 (+2) matches that he covers in the book by clicking http://fmwwrestling.us/DeathMatch120.html

I did not end up having time to work on the next install of translating the 1997-1998 year of Hayabusa's career through magazines. I will try to get that done by the next update at the end of the year. I did end up translating a section on Hayabusa in the book Living in the Ring - The 23 Wrestlers Who Perished - The Truth of their Deaths - Requiem - A Song of Mourning. You can check it out at http://fmwwrestling.us/HayabusaRequiem.html

This month marks the 27th anniversary of the website. I was able to find my second main banner that was created in 1999 right after Hayabusa became H as I think my original banner has been lost to time. The story of this website's creation is always an interesting one to me. I actually already had a VHS section of FMW tapes for sale but it was not until The Ringer's Bill Simmons created his own AOL message board that the idea of me covering FMW became a thing. Simmons who I was very critical of after he did not know Masato Tanaka's name and just called "the crazy Asian" following his Heatwave 1998 review.

Me being a 14 year old know it all was critical of Simmons' lack of wrestling knowledge as he felt because he had watched wrestling in the 1980s that he knew more than most. Eventually our online squabbles eventually lead to him creating a FMW message board and putting me in control of it. That's when I went from just watching it to collecting information and going back and collecting the history that I could to post content. The FMW message board did not last long as Simmons' ended up shutting down his entire network of message boards on AOL, but at that point I was already addicted to learning as much information I could on Hayabusa's career as there really was not that much information on the internet back in 1998 about FMW.

So I created BAHU's (my AOL nickname) FMW World on an AOL server (a server that had so little space I was deleting old stories to add new ones so I would stay under the allotted space I was allowed) before eventually moving to a half way decent server in 2000. I actually ended up creating my message board for the site for a couple of months, but people on the internet are weird and FMW during its Entertainment era was hated by almost everyone based off what they read so one guy ended up putting a virus on the message board which actually killed my computer at the time, so I did away with it for good after that. Now here I am in my 40's still working on this site, still spending incredible amount of time doing something I love and hopefully people have learned more about FMW as a result of all this.

Added: 9/30

ZERO1 after an unsuccessful Fire Festival tournament would look to change the course of the promotion by putting up a stipulation that would seem to look like a dire act from the company. For their August 3, 2025 show at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring they would have the stipulation for the main event match of Hayabusa vs. Masato Tanaka with if Tanaka lost he would leave ZERO1 and if Hayabusa lost he would unmask and no longer go by the Hayabusa character after just three months of returning. This would result in the company of announcing 284 fans which they would announce a sell out crowd. Actual sell out crowds at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring can be determined different ways. It was usually considered 365 fans was a sell out for the show, but because you can add so many chairs and have standing room I feel like Mr. Gannosuke's 2008 retirement show in the building showed that 480 fans was the absolute max that could fit in the building for an event. 284 might symbolize just every seat that they made available was sold out as the building did look pack so regardless it was a financial success show.

Coming off a Fire Festival that Hayabusa criticized that there were many empty seats and the crowd was silent for many of the matches, they knew they could not just run Hayabusa vs. Masato Tanaka which was done back in April as a way to show case the new Hayabusa at Sumo Hall and had Hayabusa soundly defeat Tanaka before doing it again a couple of weeks later in a tag match at Kawasaki Stadium so they would have to add the stipulation and it brought in a fan base that just had not shown up for this new ZERO1 as they were so loud and passionate it was like watching Hayabusa vs. Tanaka in FMW.

This match would start with both of them on mat early, but things would pick up almost immediately as Hayabusa would go for a drop kick and Tanaka would move out of the way and go for a Sliding D with Hayabusa also moving out of the way. Hayabusa would then successfully manage to dropkick Tanaka which would knock him out of the ring as Hayabusa would deliver a baseball slide and try for an Asai Moonsault, but Tanaka would move out of the way. Tanaka would take a fan's water ball and nail Hayabusa over the head with it and then deliver a chop to him with Hayabusa coming back with a forearm strike, but Tanaka would deliver another chop and then throw him against the ring post and charge at Hayabusa with an elbow with Hayabusa moving out of the way and Tanaka running into the turnbuckle as Hayabusa would then slam Tanaka's shoulder into the turnbuckle. They would get back in the ring with Hayabusa working on Tanaka's cross armlock for awhile before throwing Tanaka into the turnbuckle with Tanaka delivering a boot to Hayabusa and then a DDT. Tanaka would then hit a Tornado DDT and a hard elbow to the face but as Tanaka would go for a running elbow, he would be met with a hurricanrana sending him out of the ring followed by a Hayabusa Tope Con Hilo outside the ring.

Hayabusa would then throw Tanaka in the ring and hit an Asai Moonsault and spinning heel kick before going up to the top as he would be met with a Tanaka forearm and suplex off the turnbuckle but Hayabusa would grab Tanaka and nail him with brainbuster followed by a Tiger Driver which Tanaka would get up immediately and hit a Sliding D but as he would go to pick up Hayabusa up, he would be picked up by Hayabusa instead and be hit with a Falcon Arrow. Hayabusa would then go up to the top but Tanaka would manage to cut him off and place him on the turnbuckle and hit a clothesline sending Hayabusa off the apron to the outside. Tanaka would then setup a table and place Hayabusa on it and go up and dive off the top sending Hayabusa through the table with one fan chanting ECW and then take a piece of the broken table and smash it over Hayabusa's leg. Tanaka would then crotch Hayabusa against the turnbuckle and repeatedly smash the table against Hayabusa's knee against the turnbuckle. Tanaka would then begin working on Hayabusa's leg before Hayabusa would manage to get back on his feet and they would again begin exchanging strikes before Tanaka would charge and be met with a German suplex from Hayabusa. Hayabusa would then deliver another hurricanrana and moonsault off the top to get a two count as the fans would begin to chant loudly for Tanaka. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and go for a Fire Bird Splash with Tanaka moving out of the way.

Tanaka would then go up to the top and try for a frog splash with Hayabusa getting his knees up. Hayabusa would then charge at Tanaka and be met with a clothesline and then a brainbuster followed by a hard elbow to the face. Tanaka would go up to the top and successfully hit a frog splash with Hayabusa kicking out as then fans would then begin to loudly chant for Hayabusa. Tanaka would then hit a Sliding D with the elbow hitting the side of Hayabusa's head and cover but once again Hayabusa would kick out. Tanaka would go for another Sliding D but this time Hayabusa would catch him and deliver an H Edge. Hayabusa would deliver a high leg kick to Tanaka's head followed by a Falcon Arrow and cover with again Tanaka kicking out. Hayabusa would go up to the top and hit a Phoenix Senton followed by a Fire Bird Splash that he would hit successfully and Tanaka would kick out which would get a huge pop from the crowd and another loud Tanaka chant. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and try for a Phoenix Splash with Tanaka moving out of the way. Tanaka would then nail Hayabusa with another Sliding D and cover with Hayabusa getting his foot on the ropes. Tanaka and Hayabusa would then begin exchanging strikes with Tanaka getting a elbow that would knock Hayabusa down and cover him with Hayabusa kicking out. Hayabusa would get up and deliver a kick to Tanaka and then nail him with the H Thunder and Tanaka would kick out. Tanaka would then nail Hayabusa with a rolling elbow and cover him with Hayabusa kicking out. It would be announced one minute left and the two would try and roll up one another repeatedly before the bell would ring and the thirty minute limit would expire.

Tanaka afterwards would get on the mic and state he had been going through a lot of emotions with how bold Hayabusa was with his words towards Tanaka. Tanaka stated he was never interested in Hayabusa taking the mask off. He mentioned how a lot of things have happened with him in ZERO1 and how he had thought about quitting but he had came this far together, and he couldn't just leave, but if Hayabusa was willing to put up the mask, he would put up his career.

Afterwards, Junya Matsunaga and Yuki Toki who had defeated Mammoth Sasaki and Yuko Miyamoto earlier in the show came up and with Matsunaga getting on the mic and stating he wanted to be on top of ZERO1 with Tanaka and if neither of them were going to be gone after this match they wanted a tag match against them in Itabashi on August 31st. Hayabusa would speak backstage that he went to a thirty minute draw with Tanaka and to everyone who watch today, neither Tanaka is leaving ZERO1 nor is he taking off the mask because of the result and asked if anyone had any complaints about this? He mentioned that if anyone has any issue this he wanted them to come up to them and tell them that directly. He vowed to revive ZERO1 and that as a member of ZERO1 that has been recognized by Masato Tanaka, he would like to once again ZERO1 in his own way from now on. Click here to watch highlights of Hayabusa vs. Masato Tanaka 8/3/25

I wanted to go over the good and the bad that came from this. First off the positive is that this was by far the best match that the new Hayabusa had been in and the best Tanaka had looked all year. I don't usually like to give ratings but this was a very solid four star match and actually if the match was booked to go 22 and instead of 30 it would have been even better because there was some lag with long holds to get them to thirty. ZERO1 thought so highly of the match themselves they put it up on YouTube for everyone to see hoping that people would think this is what ZERO1 in 2025 typically looks and sounds like. Like I mentioned the crowd also helped it as they were so loud for it as I don't know where this crowd has been as it has not been like this.

The negatives now. It's still just Shin-Kiba 1st Ring and it was still just 284 fans at the end of the day. They put a pretty big stipulation (Hayabusa's mask/Tanaka's career) that they can not do again anytime soon for a building that FREEDOMS books for just transitional shows to get to where they want to go for a bigger show. If this was Korakuen and it created a similar crowd and a similar atmosphere than that's one thing, but the fact that you are putting a lot and can't afford to risk having another financially disappointing show in Tokyo just shows the level of where ZERO1 currently is.

Mr. Gannosuke who was originally very positive about the new Hayabusa gimmick as he trusted Tanaka was very against the booking of the match before and afterwards. Feeling that bringing Hayabusa back and then putting up the stipulation of him losing the mask right away cheapened the Hayabusa gimmick and he has soured on the new Hayabusa with ZERO1 as a result and does not really care about it anymore. I also didn't like Hayabusa telling people to come up to him and Tanaka if they have a problem with neither of them going through with the stipulation due to the draw. You got fans in the door with that stipulation and just because they were treated to a great match, does not void that some paid money to see one of the stips follow happen and it's one thing to have that opinion and say it, but when your gimmick is you are supposed to be the original Hayabusa than you need to make sure you sound like who you are suppose to be, and the Hayabusa gimmick just simply would not have not have gone down the road as it was not something that needed to be brought up if you're going to get out of the stipulation that way.

I also wanted to mention that ring announcer Fuyuki Mikata who was a big FMW fan made note that Hayabusa's face paint had came off and how even though paint material has evolved to be more resistant to peeling, that he had a true battle with Tanaka to the death. He felt a sense of nostalgia thinking about how the original Hayabusa often had his paint come off after the match, and there was a coolness to that as well.

Mammoth Sasaki did a interview in August 2025 with Pro Wrestling Weekly magazine about his upcoming match against Hayabusa on August 17, 2025 at the Yokohama Budokan. Mammoth would go over about singles match with Hayabusa on October 22, 2001 and how he has never watched the match back, how he stayed in WMF for Hayabusa but after Hayabusa left he waited another year of not getting paid what he was promise and decided to leave, the passing of Eiji Ezaki, and his thoughts on the new Hayabusa that I was able to translate below.         

Meeting Eiji Ezaki

I think the first time I met Ezaki was when he was my entrance exam examiner. I joined FMW the year after Atsushi Onita retired. He was a completely different character from Onita, a very flamboyant ace. I can't even say I remember my last match with Hayabusa. I have flashbacks, and as long as I've continued wrestling, I've never forgotten it. It ended in a way that neither of us wanted.

I was up close to the moment he slipped off the ropes and his neck bent at a horrible angle. It was like a bad dream, like, "There's no way Hayabusa would end up like this..." I've never seen any footage of that match. At the time, I couldn't have predicted that he would become completely paralyzed and unable to move, but Hayabusa told me, "Don't retire until I return," and I think those words are what kept me going for so long.

After a while, FMW also disbanded, but since I was a homegrown wrestler, it felt like a hole had been opened in my heart. As a young wrestler, only four years into my career, watching the promotion disintegrate was an indescribable feeling. I then chose WMF because of Ezaki, and because I felt that Hayabusa needed a place to return to. His doctor told him it was impossible, but he stood on his own two feet and greeted the crowd at the inaugural event. I thought, "This guy, Hayabusa, is truly a hero," and it gave hope to the viewers.

The company was struggling financially and I wasn't getting paid, so I thought, "I'll just put up with it for three years and then quit," but Hayabusa left, and I thought, "There's no point in me staying here anymore."

The Death and Resurrection of Hayabusa

After that, I went to a few shows with him, we talked on the phone, and we even went out for drinks when I was in the city, but then I got a call from someone saying he had suddenly passed away at home. I thought, "I'll never believe that!" and headed straight for Ezaki's house, but of course they wouldn't let me in. I went to a nearby Italian restaurant I often frequented, and sure enough, several people were gathered there. I went to the police station and asked if I could meet him, and they asked me, "What kind of relationship are you?" I replied, "I'm like a younger brother," but they said they had to be relatives. Ezaki was really like an older brother to me. A while later, a hearse came to pick him up, and after the match at Nigiwaiza, I said I wanted to go see him, so I went to the funeral home. His wife and daughters were with me, and I was so pathetic that I could only cry.

I still often have dreams about the past, and sometimes I have dreams where they tell me, "The come back has been decided," but when I heard that Hayabusa would be making a comeback in the Reiwa era, I thought, "Whoever took on this must either be really ignorant, or really crazy." There were mixed opinions, including some who said, "If the opponent hadn't been Masato Tanaka, I wouldn't have wanted to be involved either," but I think he overturned that. But when I actually saw Hayabusa enter the ring at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on April 27th, I was shocked. It was like he was completely possessed; even the rope work was Hayabusa.

After the match, I said on the microphone, "I'm so excited!" and it felt completely natural. I didn't know what kind of Hayabusa it was until I saw the match, but when Ezaki won, the audience was in tears. That's how much people loved Hayabusa, and everyone accepted the "resurrection of Hayabusa." Before the match, when we faced each other at Kawasaki Stadium on May 7th, I had mixed feelings, but seeing Tanaka and Jinsei Shinzaki in the same ring, I wondered, "Is this really happening in the modern world?" That's the feeling I got after fighting. Towards a fight to "overcome"...I don't know if "overcoming" is the right word, but...if Hayabusa is making a comeback, I feel a renewed sense of need to overcome it in a singles match.

Rather than my past, the person who means the most to me is Eiji Ezaki. I can't fight Ezaki anymore, but if Hayabusa, the organization he truly risked his life to build, is back, I feel like I should go all out for it. ZERO1 also had Megumi Kudo as GM, and she was like an eldest daughter to FMW. I thought I might as well be selfish here. Kudo sees Hayabusa as someone who understands me, and I felt Ezaki in my heart when we watched the match at the Yokohama Budokan. The excitement and sense of working towards something that I'd forgotten has returned, and I'm in a great state now, with my fighting spirit burning brightly.

When I was younger, my biggest goal was to "beat Hayabusa in a singles match." I was a mammoth heel back then, but I think that was also because I wanted to beat Hayabusa. After all, we're inseparable. So I wanted to bring back that feeling and give him his first loss. This is a match that both those who know me back in the day and those who don't should watch. There's no need to think about complicated things. I hope that everyone will watch the fight between me and Hayabusa with an open mind.

The match that never ended on October 22, 2001 would pick back up on August 17, 2025 at the Yokohama Budokan for the FREEDOMS promotion. The referee would even have the FMW logo emblem on his back to acknowledge the match continuing on from FMW.  Hayabusa vs. Mammoth Sasaki would have them both the outside early in the match as Mammoth would begin striking Hayabusa down as Mammoth would grab a chair, but be met with a kick and then a DDT on the floor. Hayabusa would then get on the apron and try for an Asai Moonsault, but Mammoth would end up picking up the chair and tossing it at Hayabusa's back. Mammoth would then place the chair over his head and hit Hayabusa with the Mammoth Home Run. Mammoth would then look to power Hayabusa, but instead be met with a hurricanrana. They would get back in the ring and begin exchanging chops with one another with Hayabusa dropkicking Mammoth out of the ring and hitting a tope con hilo onto him. Hayabusa would throw Mammoth back in the ring and get back in by hitting a springboard plancha and then taking a second and pausing to acknowledge the spot from 2001 before hitting an Asai Moonsault in the ring successfully on Mammoth as he would cover for a two count.

Hayabusa would then deliver a spinning heel kick but as he would try to pick Mammoth up, but instead would be met with a Falcon Arrow by Mammoth who would call out Hayabusa's name. Mammoth would then look to pick Hayabusa up for the 29 Years Old, but instead Hayabusa would hit Mammoth a Falcon Arrow and then deliver a hurricanrana and a moonsualt on Mammoth before going up to the top but Mammoth would grab Hayabusa by the throat and send him flying off the top turnbuckle and hit Hayabusa with an Awesome Bomb for a two count.

Mammoth would then charge at Hayabusa and be met with another hurricanrana followed by a thrust kick and a Falcon Arrow for a two count on Mammoth. Hayabusa would then go up to the top, but Mammoth would get up and hit a Razors Edge on Hayabusa. Mammoth would then charge at Hayabusa and be hit with a high kick to the head followed by a H Thunder and then Hayabusa would go to the top and hit the Fire Bird Splash for the win over Mammoth at 15 minutes, 55 seconds to finally put a conclusion to their October 22, 2001 match after 23 years and 9 months. Hayabusa and Mammoth would shake hands afterwards and hug as the FMW theme song would begin to play in what might actually end up being the last true FMW history moment.

Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka would return as a tag team to take on the young ZERO1 team of Junya Matsunaga and Yuki Toki on August 31, 2025 at the Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square. Hayabusa and Matsunaga would start by doing mat work which would lead to Hayabusa sending Matsunaga to the ropes for a drop kick, but Matsunaga would grab a hold of the ropes. They would exchange strikes with Matsunaga getting the harder strike knocking Hayabusa down against the turnbuckle.

Toki would come in and he would be met with a drop kick by Hayabusa as he would escape to the outside he would be met with a tope con hilo from Hayabusa. They would get back in the ring and Tanaka would come in and begin working on Toki's arm before Toki would start fighting back, but Tanaka would overpower him and again work on his arm before tagging in Hayabusa. Toki with one bad arm would try and strike Hayabusa but it would do nothing as Hayabusa would just knock Toki down  to the mat.

Hayabusa would then go for a kick and miss with Toki knocking him down as Toki would tag in Matsunaga who would come in with fire against Hayabusa who would have to retreat and tag in Tanaka. Tanaka would come in and nail Matsunaga with a clothesline and then a brainbuster, but Matsunaga would grab a hold of Tanaka and deliver a backdrop to him. Toki would then get tagged in and hit a facebuster on Tanaka but his offense would not last long before Tanaka would nail Toki with a DDT and tag in Hayabusa who would get hit with a spear by Toki. Toki would tag Matsunaga back in and he and Hayabusa would again begin exchanging strikes with one another with Hayabusa nailing Matsunaga in the head with a kick, but as he would look to go to the ropes and he would get pulled back by Matsunaga who would nail him with a German suplex.

Tanaka would come in to help Hayabusa and hit Matsunaga and Toki with the DDT Stunner as Tanaka would suplerplex Matsunaga off the turnbuckle followed by a moonsault from Hayabusa. Hayabusa would then nail Matsunaga with a Tiger Driver and then charge at Matsunaga with and be met with a spear. Matsunaga would then look to pick up Hayabusa but Hayabusa out of nowhere would hit a Canadian Destroyer and t hen a Falcon Arrow followed by hitting Matsunaga with the Fire Bird Splash to get the win at 19 minutes, 59 seconds over Matsunaga.

The next show would take place on September 13, 2025 at the Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square with the main event of the Hayabusa Army consisting of Hayabusa, Mammoth Sasaki, and Yuko Miyamoto against the Tanaka Army team of Masato Tanaka, Daisuke Sekimoto, and Chris Vice in a Single Elimination Match meaning over the top rope eliminations would be allowed.

Miyamoto and Tanaka would start with some mat work before Tanaka would end up delivering a shoulder tackle to Miyamoto and they would tag out and Mammoth and Sekimoto would face off and begin running into one another before exchanging chops and strikes as Mammoth would charge at Sekimoto who would hold the top rope down as Mammoth would go over, but manage to save himself from falling off the apron. Mammoth would get back in the ring and try and throw Sekimoto over the top rope with Tanaka making the save. Hayabusa and Vice would tag in with Vice sending Hayabusa to the turnbuckle but as Vice would charge he would be knocked to the apron by Hayabusa, but would come back with a missile shoulder tackle. Vice would then go up to the top but Hayabusa would deliver a drop kick sending Vice to the floor at 7 minutes, 16 seconds for the first elimination.

Hayabusa and Mammoth would then take turns holding onto Tanaka on the outside and chopping him before Mammoth would bring Tanaka back in the ring and slam him as Hayabusa would hit an Asai Moonsault as Mammoth would pick up Tanaka and try to Awesome Bomb him over the rope to the floor with Tanaka managing to escape and hit both Hayabusa and Miyamoto with the combo stunner DDT on them as Mammoth would try to choke slam Tanaka, but Tanaka would manage to send Mammoth flying to the rope with Sekimoto coming over and knocking Mammoth over the top rope to the floor for the elimination at 10 minutes, 41 seconds to even things back up.

Tanaka would slam Hayabusa and go up to the top for a frog splash with Hayabusa getting his knees up as Miyamoto would hit a handspring elbow on Tanaka followed by Hayabusa nailing Tanaka with a Falcon Arrow with Sekimoto making the save. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and try for a Fire Bird Splash but Tanaka would move out of the way as Sekimoto would nail Hayabusa with a lariat as Tanaka would setup Hayabusa on the top and try for a suplex with Hayabusa fighting back and grabbing Tanaka by his legs and bringing him with him as they would both would end up going over the top rope together for the double elimination at 13 minutes, 19 seconds which would leave just Miyamoto and Sekimoto.

Miyamoto would send Sekimoto over the top rope to the apron and try for the elimination but Sekimoto would fight back and use his power to hurt Miyamoto allowing him time to go up to the top and hit a flying drop kick and finish Miyamoto with the Big Bang Castrophe to get the win at 14 minutes, 41 seconds for the Tanaka Army. Sekimoto would get on the mic and announce that since he missed the Fire Festival Tournament that he would want to have his own Fire Festival and would wrestle in three matches that he would have had in the tournament and that would include facing off against Hayabusa on October 17th at the Shinjuku FACE. Click here to watch highlights of the Hayabusa Army vs. Tanaka Army match from 9/13/25

In a match that got very little media attention as I had to do a deep dive to even find any details about it, Hayabusa appeared for the Masakatsu Funaki 40th Anniversary show on September 21, 2025 at the Osaka Umeda Sky Building. The original main event was going to be Masakatsu Funaki facing off against Hayabusa, Ren Ayabe, and Kuroshio Tokyo Japan in three five minute singles match with it pretty much being a lock that the Funaki vs. Hayabusa match would have been booked as a draw. Funaki ended up being diagnosed with a rotator cuff injury at the Strong Style Pro-Wrestling show on September 11th at Korakuen Hall and was told he needed a month off to recover. Due to the whole show being based around Funaki it was decided to change the main event to Funaki and Hayabusa teaming up against Kuroshio Tokyo Japan and Ren Ayabe. The match would also have Jushin Thunder Liger as the special referee. Funaki would end up getting Kuroshio in a body lock sleeper and at 9 minutes, 47 seconds Liger would be forced to stop the match and award the victory to Funaki and Hayabusa.

The main event of the upcoming ZERO1 Korakuen Hall show on November 10, 2025 has been announced as it will be Hayabusa facing off against NOAH's Kaito Kiyomiya. This match will be interesting as Kiyomiya is pretty much NOAH's young ace although not current champion. I can't see him losing to the smaller ZERO1 which would mean it would be the first defeat that Hayabusa would suffer. This is the biggest show of the year so you can't do anything besides a clean finish after doing the thirty minute time limit match in August with Tanaka to get out of either losing. I was thinking that they were going to do Hayabusa vs. Go Shiozaki for the World Heavyweight Title as I would have expected NOAH being okay with Shiozaki (although it doesn't matter with Shiozaki announcing he was leaving NOAH today) dropping the ZERO1 title as he's only going to drop it to either a Hayabusa or Tanaka at this point. Hayabusa vs. Kiyomiya is going to help draw the show better though, which is the number one priority for a struggling company over the happy ending of Hayabusa winning back the dormant title for ZERO1. I imagine this match will also produce the better quality match and hopefully the fans that were there for the Shin-Kiba match against Tanaka show back up for this and help bring energy to Korakuen Hall. The Samurai TV schedule does not come out until mid October to see if this will air on Samurai TV. This version of ZERO1 has not aired on Samurai TV, but Samurai is only going to possibly air something from them at Korakuen Hall at this point. ZERO1 has also stopped airing on Wrestle Universe as that was the old Real ZERO1 group that morphed into this current 2025 ZERO1 promotion and as a result all their shows have just been airing on their Zero1 Neo Base phone app as a result.

Megumi Kudo also announced that ZERO1 next year will promote her 40th Anniversary show on October 17, 2026 in Tokyo although the location has not been determined yet. Kudo stated that this will be her one and only anniversary show as it will mark 40 years since she made her debut in All Japan Women's back on August 8, 1986.

Atsushi Onita would appear for the Strong Style Pro-Wrestling promotion on September 11, 2025 at Korakuen Hall in a Jado Army vs. Strong Style Pro-Wrestling match.. Onita would team up with Raijin Yaguchi and Ricky Fuji against Hayato Mashita, Hideki Shrek Sekine, and Yoshihiro Horaguchi in a Texas Tornado Lumberjack Barbed wire Board Death Match. Onita and Yaguchi would both blow green mist in Mashita's face before placing a garbage can over his head and hitting it with a barbed wire bat. Mashita would get his revenge by smashing a guitar over Onita's head. Mashita and Sekine would then suplex Onita into the barbed wire board before Mashita would hit his FSR suplex on Ricky on the barbed wire board and pin him to get the win at 13 minutes, 52 seconds for the Strong Style win. Mashita would then spit water in Onita's face as Onita would announce a Jado Army vs. Strong Style tag explosion death match at the next FMW-E show on September 28th. Onita would state he also wanted Satoru Sayama to attend the show in person to witness the death match. Click here to watch highlights of the Jado Army vs. Strong Style Pro-Wrestling from 9/11/25.

The Jado Army team of Atsushi Onita and Raijin Yaguchi would face off against the Strong Style Pro-Wrestling team of Hayato Mashita and Hideki Shrek Sekine on September 28, 2025 for the return of the FMW-E promotion at the Yokohama Fruit and Vegetables Market. The match would a Barbed wire, Exploding Barbed wire Barricade, and Exploding Barbed wire Baseball Bats Death Match. Satoru Sayama who Onita had requested watch the match at ringside did not show up due to illness and Strong Style Pro-Wrestling's President Hirai Takemasa was unable to attend as well due to personal commitments. So in their place was Department Director Teddy Pelc. The match started with Mashita hitting Onita with an exploding bat before he and Onita fell outside the ring into the landmine. Onita and Yaguchi would both hit Mashita with exploding bats then smash Mashita's head with a guitar busting him open. He would then be back dropped onto a chair before Onita and Yaguchi would hit a double brainbuster onto chairs to get the three count for the FMW-E win.

After the match, Onita would go up to Director Pelc asking why didn't Tiger Mask show up for the show with Pelc telling Onita to ask him himself. Onita would then put on his Jado jacket over Mashita asking him to join the Jado Army as it's free and fun. Mashita would leave the ring in silence with Onita screaming at him "I'm waiting!" with Mashita doing an interview afterwards staying that strong style and explosion matches are the same in a sense. He would then be asked about Onita's invitation to join his group with Mashita responding "no comment". Click here for highlights of the FMW-E 9/28/25 show

The Jun Kasai Death Match Carnival would continue on August 7, 2025 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring where they would announce a crowd of 162 fans for the show. The main event would see Jun Kasai, Masashi Takeda, and Yusaku Ito take on Violento Jack, Kenji Fukimoto, and Minoru Fujita in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match. Jack would lift both Kasai and Takeda up and deliver a back flip to both of them and then go for a swanton bomb with Kasai moving out of the way. Kasai would then grab a stack of light tubes and run right into Jack breaking them across his body. Kasai would then headbutt Jack and hit him with a Cross Arm Stimulation twice to get the win at 17 minutes, 10 seconds as Kasai would earn a little bit of a revenge after losing their singles match back in July. Kasai and Jack would then declare that Kasai or Jack would earn a King of Freedom World Championship shot at Korakuen on August 28th depending on if their team wins the upcoming tag match at the Yokohama Budokan.

The semi-main event would see Toru Sugiura and Tatsuhito Takaiwa take on Mammoth Sasaki and Tomoya Hirata. Takaiwa would try to pick Hirata up but Mammoth would come over and help Hirata suplex Takaiwa allowing Hirata to hit Takaiwa with a lariat and finish Takaiwa at 17 minutes, 6 seconds with a Towerhacker Bomb for the win to continue building him for the title match against Sugiura at the Yokohama Budokan.

Kapii would end up taking the turnbuckle pad off as Aero Boy would charge at him and run into the exposed turnbuckle although Kapii would charge at Aero Boy and get a drop toe hold face first into the exposed turnbuckle himself. Aero Boy would then pick up Kapii and slam him into two chairs and then just toss one of the chairs at Kapii's head which would bust him open. The bloody Kapii would fight back and deliver a flying drop kick and setup a ladder in the ring. Kapii would toss Aero Boy back first into the ladder, but as he would charge at him, he would get grabbed and hit an exploder on Kapii sending him into the ladder. Aero Boy would then go up to the top and hit Swanton Bomb and then hit Kapii with a Tiger Bomb at 11 minutes, 38 seconds to pick up the victory in his Japanese return.

Unchain's Takayuki Ueki, Kentaro Hachisu, and their newest member Kota Sekifuda would defeat Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, and Dragon Libre when Sekifuda would cut back a hurricanrana by Libre to get the win at 12 minutes, 16 seconds for ERE. Yuya Susumu and Jun Masaoka would defeat Kengo and Rekka at 9 minutes, 59 seconds when Susumu would make Rekka tap out at 9 minutes, 59 seconds for the F-SWAG victory. Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kyu Mogami would defeat Gaia Hox, Brahman Shu, and Brahman Kei when Mogami would roll up Kei for the win at 7 minutes, 24 seconds in the opener. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 8/7/25 show.

FREEDOMS next show would take place at the Yokohama Budokan on August 17, 2025 where they would announce a crowd of 532 fans for the show. This would be the lowest attendance for the building as the Sugiura vs. Hirata continuation from their match in the building two years ago ended early and undecided and be able to give a conclusion to it, but drawing wise it was a mistake as Hirata is nowhere near the level he was as champion following his one year hiatus due to his broken leg and even while he was champion he wasn't drawing that well. It also not being a death match did no favors as well. The Hayabusa vs. Mammoth Sasaki match and Aero Boy teaming up with Violento Jack also did not help out much either as this number is down 200 fans from last years show which did not do that much to make it that establish even though it was the 15th anniversary show. They will probably run it again next year for Takashi Sasaki's 30th Anniversary, but they are going to have to do something else to bring in the fans to try and make the show seem more special.

The main event would be Toru Sugiura vs. Tomoya Hirata for the King of Freedom World Championship in a continuation of their match that ended after Hirata broke his leg. Hirata also had been injured the year previous at the Yokohama Budokan against Shuji Ishikawa. Sugiura would focus mostly on Hirata's heavily taped up leg for the early beginning with Hirata managing to fight back and deliver a German Suplex with Sugiura landing right on his head. Hirata would go for a a lariat but be met with a drop kick and then nail Hirata with a Swift Driver. They would both get up and begin striking at one another Sugiura getting the better end of it and knocking Hirata down. Sugiura would then pick up Hirata and nail him with another Swift Driver and then nail Hirata with a right elbow knocking him out as Sugiura would pin him at 26 minutes, 12 seconds to defend the title for the 4th time. Sugiura would tell Hirata to express his feelings over the past two years he has gone through with the fans as Sugiura would get the fans to chant for Hirata. Hirata would state he did not come this far to lose but he will continue to work on growing to take the title back one day. Violento Jack would come to the ring stating afterwards stating he was drunk and tired and officially challenge Sugiura for the title on August 28th at Korakuen Hall.

They would start with all four of them fighting before Aero Boy and Masaoka would be left in the ring although Aero would instead hit a tope on Kasai and Masaoka would jump off the apron and deliver a hurricanrana to Jack. Jack and Aero Boy would bring in a empty can board in and send Masaoka's into back first. Jack would continue attacking Masaoka until Masaoka would fight back and pick up Jack and drop him on the empty can board and make the tag to Kasai. Kasai would come in and grab a guitar and smash it over Jack's head alhough the guitar would not break so Kasai would just it at Aero Boy's head. Kasai would then climb up the rail setup in the turnbuckle but as he was climbing it, he would be met with Jack throwing the empty can board at him allowing for Jack to climb up the rail as well but Kasai would manage to suplex Jack off of it. Kasai and Jack would then headbutting and striking one another before going back up to the rail where Jack would hit Kasai with a Kamikaze off of it and then nail Kasai with a lariat before hitting him with an Amatalan on the empty can board and then hitting Kasai with the Jack Pack to get the win at 15 minutes, 52 seconds to make Jack the number one contender for the title.

Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito would defend their King of Freedom Tag Team Titles against Minoru Fujita and Kenji Fukimoto in a Hell Boards Death Match. Fukimoto would go for a Package Piledriver but Ito would come over and smash a fork board across Fukimoto to make the save and place Fukimoto in the corner with a barbed wire board placed over him with Takeda dropkicking his partner Ito sending him flying into the barbed wire board and he would crash into it against Fukimoto. They would then take the broken barbed wire board pieces and place it over Fukimoto with Ito sending Takeda off the top onto the board over Fukimoto followed by Ito hitting a Octopus Destroyer on the broken barbed wire board for the pin over Fukimoto to get the win at 15 minutes, 36 seconds to defend the titles for the third time.

Yuya Susumu would defend the King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title with Susumu having won the title 11 months earlier at the previous Yokohama Budokan show. The finishing sequence would see both of them striking one another with Susumu hitting a Superman Punch and then nailing a Front Crash with Kengo kicking out. Susumu would then go for another Front Crash but Kengo would elbow and Kengo would rush at him with Susumu hitting a hurricanrana on him, but as Susumu would look to go for a Front Crash it instead would turn into Kengo hitting Susumu with a Brainbuster and then delivering a Frankensteiner off the top followed by a Brainbuster and then a Frog Splash to get the win over Susumu at 14 minutes, 39 seconds and win the King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title. Susumu would end up grabbing the title and placing it around his waist and raising his arm up and hug Kengo out of respect. F-SWAGs Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox would be upset at how much respect Susumu had shown while losing with Susumu not acting like he cared as he would walk out of the building the opposite way of his group.

Takayuki Ueki and Kentaro Hachisu would defend their Barefoot King Tag Team Titles against Takashi Sasaki and Sayaka Unagi with toy blocks being spread out all over the mat and everyone fighting in their bare feet. Ueki would slam Unagi on the toy blocks and then go for a diving head butt with Unagi moving out of the way. Unagi would try for a foot stomp and miss as Ueki would hit the diving headbutt on Unagi and cover her with Unagi managing to kick out. Ueki would then go up to the top but Sasaki would throw some of the toy blocks at Ueki and deliver a suplex off the top onto the blocks as Hachisu would nail Sasaki with a flying drop kick. Ueki would then grab Unaki and go for a piledriver as Sasaki would clothesline him as both Sasaki and Unagi would place many blocks on Ueki as Sasaki would hit a right leg kick and Unagi would hit him with a Sliding D and cover Ueki at 10 minutes, 26 seconds to win the Barefoot King Tag Team Titles.

The early stages of the FREEDOMS vs. Ganbare Pro feud would take place as Ganbare Pro's Yumehito Imanari, Shuichiro Katsumura, and Munetatsu Nakamura would defeat Tatsuhito Takaiwa, GENTARO, and Dragon Libre when Katsumura would get the win at 10 minutes, 4 seconds after TKO'ing GENTARO for the win. The opening match would be 4 Way Tag Team match as Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kyu Mogami would defeat Kapii and Rekka, Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei, and Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox when Sakuda would roll up Masaoka at 6 minutes, 25 seconds for the ERE victory. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 8/17/25 Yokohama Budokan show.

The Jun Kasai Death Match Carnival would take place on August 28, 2025 at Korakuen Hall where they would announce a crowd of 781 fans. This show would not air on Samurai TV due to the Yokohama Budokan show from 11 days before already airing on the network and they would decide to not air it despite the August Korakuen Hall show usually being one of the more popular shows of the year. This is similar to 10 years earlier when the August Korakuen Hall show did not air on Samurai TV and the only video release came from the commercial DVD which is the case here as FREEDOMS has already released the DVD of the show, but it is so much more difficult than it was 10 years ago to be able to order FREEDOMS DVDs from outside Japan.

The main event would see Toru Sugiura take on Violento Jack in a King of Freedom World Championship Fluorescent Light Tubes Tower Death Match. Sugiura and Jack would end up sending each other into the light tubes against the ropes followed by Jack placing light tubes over Sugiura's body and going up to the top and hitting a swanton but not managing to break any of the light tubes as Sugiura would get up right away and hit a German Suplex and then hit a right elbow breaking a light tube across Jack's body but Sugiura would be in obvious pain with his hand as he would cover Jack when Jack would end up placing Sugiura in a Mexican Stretch and then hitting a spinning Amatalan onto light tubes laid out on the mat and finally a Jack Pack to get the win over Sugiura at 23 minutes, 10 seconds to win back the King of Freedom for the 5th time. This is also the second time that Jack has won the title from Sugiura as he had ended Sugiura's 20 month title run that went from October 2019 to July 2021.

The semi-main event would see Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito defend their King of Freedom Tag Team Titles against Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kyu Mogami in a TLC Death Match as Sakuda and Mogami would look to suplex Ito off the turnbuckle into a table before Takeda would come over and make the save by lifting Mogami and sending him him through a barbed wire table as Ito and would hit Mogami with the Octopus Destroyer on the barbed wire board to get the win at 16 minutes, 5 seconds to defend the titles for the fourth time.

Jun Kasai would take on Aero Boy in a Barbed wire Board Razor Cross Board Death Match as Kasai would place skewers through Aero Boy's mask and then place the razor cross board over his body and go up for a Pearl Harbor Splash with Aero turning the razor board over and then placing a barbed wire board over Kasai and hitting a swanton bomb over Kasai. Kasai would come back and punch Aero Boy in the face and then him with the Cross Arm Stimulation on the razor cross board to get the win at 13 minutes, 15 seconds as Kasai would kiss Aero Boy and fist pump and raise each others arms up in respect.

Takashi Sasaki, Mammoth Sasaki, and Daisuke Masaoka would defeat Minoru Fujita, Kenji Fukimoto, and Ganbare Pro's Mizuki Watase in a Hardcore Match as Mammoth would end up hitting Watase with the 29 Years Old on a chair to get the win at 12 minutes, 53 seconds as Watase looks to venture out more into the death match with a match on September 12th booked against Masashi Takeda.

Kengo, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, and GENTARO would defeat Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox as Susumu would go to help Masaoka but Kengo would move out of the way and Susumu would accidentally strike Masaoka allowing Kengo to hit Masaoka with a brainbuster at 10 minutes, 5 seconds for the win. Masaoka and Susumu would get into a shoving fight afterwards to continue teasing F-SWAG breaking up.

The opening match would see Takayuki Ueki and Kota Sekifuda defeat Kapii and Dragon Libre as well as Brahman Shu and Brhaman Kei in a Tokyo Desert Man on the verge of homelessness Three Way Death Match after Sekifuda would pin Libre, Kapii, Shu, and Kei at 7 minutes, 28 seconds as Sekifuda continues to earn his stride in ERE. Rekka would win the dark match against Reiya Igarashi at 7 minutes, 56 seconds with a Rekka Daizantou. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 8/28/25 Korakuen Hall show.

The final Jun Kasai Death Match Carnival show would be a bought show that would take place on September 7, 2025 at the Sendai Miyagi Dream Messe where they would announce a crowd of 287 fans for the show. The main event would see Jun Kasai, Toru Sugiura, and Takashi Sasaki defeat Violento Jack, Kenji Fukimoto, and Mizuki Watase in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match with Sasaki breaking a light tube with a right leg kick over Fukimoto to get the win at 14 minutes, 49 seconds as Sasaki would challenge Jack for the next shot at the King of Freedom World Championship. Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito would win a hardcore non-title match against Mammoth Sasaki and Aisawa # 1 when Takeda would get the win over Aisawa at 15 minutes, 57 seconds with a Reverse U Crash on a chair for the win. Takayuki Ueki would defeat Kapii in a Tables Crash Match at 7 minutes, 43 seconds after sending him through the table with a Death Valley Bomb. Kengo and Dragon Libre would defeat Yuya Susumu and Gaia Hox at 9 minutes, 40 seconds when Kengo would pin Hox. GENTARO would defeat Rekka at 7 minutes, 7 seconds after making him tap out to a Ground Cobra Twist. The opening match would see Makoto Oishi and Jun Masaoka defeat Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei at 7 minutes, 2 seconds when Oishi would pin Kei with a Jikiden Tornado Clutch in a Tokyo Desert Man on the verge of homelessness Death Match.

FREEDOMS would return to the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on September 12, 2025 where they would announce a crowd of 154 fans for the show. The main event would see Jun Kasai and Takashi Sasaki taking on Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match. Jack would end up picking up Sasaki and hitting him with an Amatalan followed by trying to hit Sasaki with a right leg kick across a fluorescent light tube but Sasaki would move out of the way and toss the light tube at Jack and deliver a right leg kick breaking the light tube against Jack followed by a right leg kick to the head and then Sasaki would roll up Jack at 14 minutes, 27 seconds with a Shonan no Kaze for the win. Sasaki would get on the mic and state that he was the first King of Freedom World Champion and he has not held the title in over 11 years since and he wants to win back the title for the FREEDOMS 16th Anniversary show on October 3rd at Korakuen Hall.

Masashi Takeda would take on Mizuki Watase in a Barbed wire Board Death Match with Takeda dropkicking Watase head first into one of the barbed wire boards and then look to hit Watase with a chair but instead Watase would strike the chair into Takeda's head and then send him flying into the other barbed wire board. Watase would then go up top with Takeda and they both would go crashing down into the barbed wire board. Takeda would then deliver a German Suplex onto the barbed wire board and then hit Watase with the U Crash on the barbed wire board to get the win at 14 minutes, 36 seconds as the two would begin slapping each other across the face with Takeda smiling during it.

Yusaku Ito would end up defeating Takayuki Ueki at 10 minutes, 53 seconds in a Table Crash Match as Ueki has began looking at focusing on table matches instead of barefeet death matches. F-SWAG of Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would defeat Kengo, Kapii, and Kota Sekifuda as Masaoka would get the win at 10 minutes, 48 seconds over Kapii with his Ambitions finisher to set himself up as the first challenger for Kengo's Jr. Heavyweight Title.

The FREEDOMS vs. Ganbare feud would continue as Mammoth Sasaki and Dragon Libre would take on Ken Ohka and Munetatsu Nakamura with Mammoth and Ohka head butting on another before Mammoth would begin chopping Ohka before Libre and Nakamura would face off with Libre getting the pin at 9 minutes, 37 second swith a Corbata Style Inside Cradle for the FREEDOMS victory. The opening match would see Toshiyuki Sakuda, Kyu Mogami, Brahman Shu, and Brahman Kei defeating Toru Sugiura, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, GENTARO, and Rekka when Mogami would pin Rekka at 5 minutes, 23 seconds with the EX Wolf Wrath for the win. Click here for highlights of the FREEDOMS 9/12/25 show

FREEDOMS would run a show at the Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square on September 20, 2025 where they would announce a crowd of 137 fans. All the matches besides one would be decided by a random lottery so the main event would see Violento Jack and Masashi Takeda defeat Takashi Sasaki and Kyu Mogami when Jack would make Mogami tap out at 16 minutes, 52 seconds to a Cross Armbreaker. Mammoth Sasaki and Toshiyuki Sakuda would defeat Daisuke Masaoka and Dragon Libre when Mammoth would pin Libre at 14 minutes, 33 seconds with the 29 Years Old. The one announced match prior to the show would be a Toru Sugiura 16th Anniversary match as he would make his debut on September 20, 2009 and everyone else in the match would make their debut in 2009. Kengo and DDT's Soma Takao would defeat Sugiura and Takumi Tsukamoto at 12 minutes, 52 seconds when Kengo would hit Sugiura with the Frog Splash for the win. Tomoya Hirata, Brahman Shu, and Brhaman Kei would defeat Yuya Susumu, Takayuki Ueki, and Rekka when Kei would roll Rekka up at 10 minutes, 28 seconds with Nobody's Perfect. Kapii would win a Three Way Match against GENTARO and Kenji Fukimoto at 7 minutes, 16 seconds with a Double Pinfall. Jun Kasai would defeat Gaia Hox at 11 minutes, 8 seconds in the opening match.

Tomohiko Hashimoto passed away at the age of 47 on August 5, 2025 at 7:55 am. Hashimoto began feeling unwell in February 2024 and an abnormality was discovered in his liver. He still competed in matches but was diagnosed with stage 2 liver cancer in September 2024 and underwent treatment. Hashimoto underwent radiofrequency ablation at a hospital in Tokyo in November 2024 and was able to make a return to the ring in December 2024. However, in May 2025, it was discovered that the cancer had recurred and he would continue his battle with the disease. He was told by his doctor that western medicine, such as chemotherapy would be difficult to fix the issue and even all the other doctor opinions he looked for gave him the same answer so he went the oriental medicine route of hot spring therapy and dietary therapy.

He wrestled on the A-Team show at the Oriental Hotel Bay in Chiba on June 22nd with the announcement that he would be taking a break rom wrestling to fight his battle but he planned on coming back to the ring after that.

Hashimoto was born on August 16, 1977 in Nara City and made his pro-wrestling debut on April 14, 2000 for the JPWA promotion which was ran by Koichiro Kimura as he would defeat Tom Burton at Korakuen Hall. Kimura would help Hashimoto get booked for the DDT promotion as he would make his on May 28, 2000. Hashimoto would remain in JPWA and defeat Tomohiro Ishii on June 15, 2000 at Korakuen Hall, but it would be DDT that he would become a regular for as he would begin working full time for them in August 2000 where he would be Koichiro Kimura's tag team partner. He would become a regular contracted wrestler for DDT starting in DDT as they had grown to a point of being able to run Korakuen Hall for the first time in their five year history as Hashimoto would defeat Thanomsak Toba on May 3, 2002 at the first Korakuen Hall show. The DDT connection is where he would get to work with WEW's Kintaro Kanemura who had began working with DDT that year after FMW's closure.

Hashimoto would end up winning his first title on January 31, 2003 when he and Sanshiro Takagi would defeat Takashi Sasaki and GENTARO for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. A month later he would work Budokan Hall for the first time for All Japan on February 23, 2003 as he along with Takagi, Kazushi Miyamoto, and Tomoaki Honma would defeat Yuto Aijima, Shigeo Okumura, Ryuji Hijikata, and Hideki Hosaka. Hashimoto would continue to work for both DDT and All Japan through out 2003.

He would begin a feud with Mammoth Sasaki in 2004 that would see Hashimoto along with DDT's Seiya Morohashi defeat Mammoth and Mineo Fujita for the final WMF Korakuen Hall show on February 11, 2004 that would setup Mammoth defeating him on May 3, 2004 at Korakuen Hall in a Hardcore Match.

In 2005 he would form a business relationship with Vader and help bring in Vader for DDT's Korakuen Hall show on July 25, 2005 as they would defeat Riki Senshu a Riki Choshu inspired wrestler and Kenshin a Kensuke Sasaki inspired wrestler. Hashimoto's run for DDT would end on January 29, 2006 at Korakuen Hall as HARASHIMA and Shogo Takagi would defeat Hashimoto and Thanmsak Toba as Hashimoto would begin working for the Kings Road promotion before entering into Kintaro Kanemura's Apache Army on May 5, 2006 as he would lose yo GENTARO in his first match. He would join Takashi Sasaki's heel group that was feuding with the Kanemura Apache Army team.

He would continue to work for Apache Army regularly while also starting up his own promotion MAKEHEN with the first show being held on September 30, 2006 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring that would include DDT and Apache Army talent and the main event seeing Kazunari Murakami defeating Hashimoto.

The fifth MAKEHEN show on March 4, 2007 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring would see the debut of two women that Hashimoto had helped train and bring into wrestling and that was Mio and Io Shirai.

The connection through Vader would have Hashimoto begin promoting a group called "Team Vader" on January 5, 2008 at the Differ Ariake with the Vader Cup Tournament being held on the show although Vader would start to feel ill at a meet and greet the day before and would end up missing the Team Vader, but it would be Hashimoto that would end up winning the Vader Cup by defeating Angel Williams in the finals.

The next month a sexual harassment scandal would take place with Kintaro Kanemura and the Apache Army under his leadership would end shortly after. Takashi Sasaki would start back up his version of the Apache Army, but Hashimoto would no longer work for Sasaki's Apache Army and continue promoting his MAKEHEN promotion.

Hashimoto would then get arrested on July 4, 2009 due to an incident in June 2009 in Shibuya, after Hashimoto along with four others on suspicion of extortion after they barged into a restaurant and extorted approximately 300,000 yen in cash from the president of the restaurant through intimidation.

Charges on Hashimoto and the others would be dropped in December 2009 citing the fact that the extorted cash had been returned to the president. The victim's company president had filed a request for review, dissatisfied with the decision of letting Hashimoto and the others go just because he got his money back.

Hashimoto's MAKEHEN would suffer though as already the small coverage the independent promotion would get would become almost nothing after the arrest and Hashimoto would end up having to close the promotion down in December 2009. He would take off almost the entire year of 2010 before joining up with Kintaro Kanemura and financial backer Kazuataka Hasegawa to restart up the Apache Army in December 2010. Hashimoto would end up bringing in Vader as they would team along with Vader's son Jesse White on March 25, 2011 at Shin-Kiba to defeat the Apache Army team of Kanemura, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Tomohiro Waki.

Hashimoto would end up forming the heel group Apache Demolition along with Shoichi Ichimiya, Kengo Nishimura, Takeshi Minamino, and Manjimaru. Hashimoto would end up winning the WEW Tag Team Titles with Kengo Nishimura for the first time on May 31, 2012 before getting to face off against Atsushi Onita for the first time on June 16, 2012 in Shizuoka.

A new promotion called Super Battle FMW would then start up in April 2015 with Tomohiko Hashimoto being booked in the main event of every show as the character Monster Freddy as he would face off against Onita in six man matches every show along with Monster Leather who was Ichiro Yaguchi and NOSAWA Rongai along with Kanemura to create the W*ING Monster Army.

Hashimoto and Yaguchi would end up dropping the gimmicks as Hashimoto would work under his name and Yaguchi would create the new name Raijin Yaguchi in August 2015. They would continue to fight in tag matches in almost every main event along with NOSAWA who would take the pin against Onita every time.

Kintaro Kanemura's Apache Army promotion would end up closing down to Kanemura's retirement with the final show taking place on December 25, 2016 at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring which would lead to Hashimoto and Kazuataka Hasegawa starting up their own promotion called the A-Team which would their first show on April 16, 2017 with Hashimoto and Masashi Takeda winning the WEW Tag Team Titles against Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Tatsuhito Takaiwa.

Hashimoto's run in Super Battle FMW would come to a close in October 2017 shortly before Atsushi Onita's seventh retirement at the end of the month as Hashimoto would mostly focus on the A-Team promotion while working small indies every so often. He would end up winning the WEW Heavyweight Title for the first time on December 15, 2019 defeating Gajo before losing it on November 22, 2020 against Super Tiger. He would win back the title from Super Tiger on July 31, 2022 in Shin-Kiba before losing it to Dylan James on October 23, 2022. His last match would be on June 22, 2025 as he would team up with A-Team's Takumi Sakurai, Raiden, and Masahiro Sase as they would lose to the DDT team of Shuji Ishikawa, MIKAMI, Thanomsak Toba, and Masato Shibata in a two out of three falls match with Ishikawa pinning Hashimoto for the second fall before Hashimoto would celebrate with everyone.

The A-Team would announce a Tomohiko Hashimoto AID show on August 24, 2025 with the money going to Hashimoto's medical expenses but after his passing the show would become a Hashimoto Memorial show with the money being donated to Hashimoto's family. The main event would see the FREEDOMS team of Takashi Sasaki and GENTARO defeat the A-Team of Kazutaka Hasegawa and Daisaku Shimoda when Sasaki would pin Hasegawa.

A week afterwards on August 31, 2025 it would be announced that several wrestlers would be leaving the A-Team promotion including Daisaku Shimoda, Takumi Sakurai (who looks to be finding a home in Big Japan), Bryan Ishizaka, referee Akira Dash, and ring announcer Tetsuya Machida. Machida leaving is the big surprise as he was pretty much Hasegawa's right hand man. Hasegawa posted after the announcement that he was really upset to find out about everyone leaving the promotion through the media and that none of them had reached out to him first about leaving. Hasegawa will co-promote with Hiroki Sasaki for a re-start of the A-Team promotion on November 16, 2025 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring.

I was able to purchase a DVD a couple of months ago of a Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and Mr. Pogo sit down interview in 2009. This was right as Mr. Pogo's book was released so he actually did not want to give away too much of what was in his book, but Matsunaga did a great job here like always speaking his mind and did some interviewing of Pogo himself.

Matsunaga told a story about Mickey Ibaragi had sued FMW W*ING group for using the name without permission, so that would seem like Ibaragi was suing Matsunaga and Pogo for using the name other than Onita and FMW itself. Matsunaga said he met up with Ibaragi around the time that Ibaragi was filing all different type of lawsuits for different things so Matsunaga went to meet up with a lawyer then he found a contract between Pogo and FMW (don't know how him going to his lawyer would get him access to FMW's contract with Pogo in 1997) but he saw that Pogo was making 500,000 yen a month for six months until he could return back to working after his December 11, 1996 retirement that Onita forced upon him. Matsunaga asked Pogo what did he do during that six month break with all his free time. Pogo mentions that he had just gotten married, he ate a lot of Oshizushi, he thought about becoming a nurse because he was "popular" with a woman that had just became a nurse after he had just bought some Nike Air Maxs that he thought he would be able to dominate with them which got an even bigger laugh from the crowd, but then he realized how that would be difficult so he gave up and joined Big Japan.

Matsunaga then brought up their two fire death matches in Big Japan. The first one was the tournament finals with glass, fire, and a coffin which was a tournament final and then the next one (that was never filmed) was the same stipulation for the title. Pogo mentioned while in FMW that Onita's step father who owned part of FMW asked if Onita could set Pogo on fire since Pogo was always the one blowing fire at Onita and Pogo refused stating that fire will always be on his side.

Matsunaga would bring up Pogo's health issues as Pogo mentioned that he been losing weight for two years and had gotten down to 92 kgs (202 pounds) and people were asking him if he had cancer but then he became addicted to food again and began putting on the weight with Kanemura wondering if Pogo was on steroids.

Matsunaga asked Pogo about training as the idea of him training goes against the Mr. Pogo character. Pogo mentioned that he wakes up every morning and drinks black coffee and does some sit ups which he stated if he did not do that his face would look swollen with Matsunaga masking the joke that is because he eats two bowls of ramen every day. Pogo mentioned he felt healthier now than he had in a long time.

Fans were then given the chance to ask questions with the first one stating that it seemed like they got along, but did not get along with Onita and what they thought of Onita. Matsunaga stated they were pretty close in the early days of FMW when Onita was still poor. But he started to really dislike him when he came back to FMW with the fan asking about Matsunaga being the successor to Onita after he retired. Matsunaga stated that's a lie. Just about it. He went to the Osaka Castle Hall with Pogo with it being that he would have been booked for the main event at Kawasaki Stadium for Onita eight months before the show which is something that did not happen so it was a lie that he was ever going to be in the match and the successor of FMW. Matsunaga mentioned that FMW was just about staying out of the way and making as much money as you could. He formed a friendship with Sambo Asako as the two would see who could the easier matches because as long as they didn't stand out more than Onita, they wouldn't get in trouble so they would slack off.

The fan asked if it was written in their contracts that they are not allowed to stand out more than Onita. Matsunaga mentioned that's not written in the contract, but you start to understand as you start working there. You can tell by looking around and sensing the atmosphere. Matsunaga mentioned even when you are teaming up with Onita in the main event and shaking the fans hands at the end of the show, the general feeling is you stayed in the middle of the ring as Onita was spraying fans with water and fans are asking for Matsunaga and other wrestlers to go over and shake their hand, but you knew you couldn't do it. You gradually start to read the atmosphere.

Pogo mentioned that it was different for him because he was rival with Onita with Matsunaga stating that he wasn't allowed to be a rival to Onita. Pogo mentioned that his feelings are written about Onita in the book.

Matsunaga mentioned about being recruited by Atsushi Onita to be brought in as the two promotions were similar death matches as essentially he was bought and killed. Matsunaga had began talking to IWA Japan and there was a brief moment he thought Onita would let him do as he pleased and so a match between Pogo and Matsunaga was made for the Osaka Castle Hall. The two ended up stealing the show and being put on the cover of Weekly Pro and Matsunaga ended up getting scolded by Tarzan Goto for using too much fire in the match in the semi-main event right before the main event which Matsunaga pointed out was not the case as they went on before the main event and it was Goto vs. Hisakatsu Oya in a straight match as the semi-main event. Matsunaga realized he would not be able to have the kind of matches he wanted in FMW especially since the "blue character" was the director which got a laugh from the crowd.

Matsunaga then mentioned about his altercation with Pogo on the W*ING bus in March 1993 after Mitsuteru Tokuda was fired after no showing two events with Pogo going to the public and stating that Tokuda will be brought back to W*ING. Matsunaga went up to Pogo on the bus for making public comments like that asking why he didn't support Matsunaga or Kanemura like he does Tokuda with Pogo getting angry and the two getting in a fight as the bus was moving. Matsunaga would blame Pogo for W*ING having fallen the way it had. Pogo felt he was being manipulated by Tokuda to side with him.

They concluded by Pogo bringing up wanting to do an ultimate death match one more time with Matsunaga although he would not want Mickey Ibaragi to promote the match.

I have finished the third installment of going through and translating all the media published of Hayabusa through books and magazines. This covers the 1996 to 1997 period following Hayabusa returning to FMW for Kawasaki Stadium, but not being ready and him vanishing from FMW after that and the depression he went through while vanishing for several months including taking a trip to Florida to see Jushin Liger at a WCW Pro tapings. It goes through Hayabusa's return as a Junior Heavyweight but his body still not fully recovered before getting into the Mr. Gannosuke feud in 1997 as well as beginning to work All Japan. This includes all the interviews he conducted during this time as well as all the important matches that were written about. It was a memorable time for Hayabusa's career. You can find it at http://fmwwrestling.us/Hayabusa9697.html

Added: 7/30

Hayabusa ended up capturing his first Fire Festival sword on July 4, 2025 at the Shinjuku FACE after winning the 2025 Fire Festival Tournament. I will go over all the tournament matches in detail in this update. Hayabusa was presented the Fire Festival sword by Megumi Kudo following his 4-0-1 record in Block B that advanced him to the finals where he would defeat Chris Vice.

ZERO1 would then hold a press conference on July 7, 2025 with Hayabusa, Megumi Kudo, and Masato Tanaka with Kudo announcing Hayabusa as an official member of ZERO1. Hayabusa would get on the mic by first stating that he is not the 2nd Generation Hayabusa (Mr. Gannosuke was) nor is he the Reiwa era, but Hayabusa he is the same Hayabusa that wrestled in FMW before disappearing in 2016 and now he is back. He is not stating he is Eiji Ezaki, but more of that the linage of Hayabusa will always remain the same no matter who the actual person is under the mask.

Hayabusa then brought up the current situation with ZERO1 and stated that currently is in decline and asked Tanaka is he agreed. Hayabusa would mention that the Fire Festival had many empty seats and few cheers and asked Tanaka when did ZERO1 become such a quiet promotion. Tanaka exploded with anger at Hayabusa's comments stating that he had no right to tell him that. Hayabusa asked Tanaka who is he trying to protect with Tanaka responding ZERO1 of course. Hayabusa then asked what value does ZERO1 have if no one was watching it. Tanaka responded stating that Hayabusa was at these shows that were empty and quiet as well and that shouldn't be so cocky just because he won his first Fire Festival (Tanaka has won it 5 times) before Tanaka would walk out angrily and Hayabusa's disrespect to him. Hayabusa then concluded the press conference by stating that he feels the way for ZERO1 to be able to change and get out of the current decline that they are in is by focusing on the younger wrestlers pointing out that Yuki Toki got the pin over veteran Takuya Sugawara on the July 4th show and he that wants a youth movement to carry ZERO1 going forward.

Hayabusa would then meet with Masato Tanaka one on one on July 15, 2025 with Hayabusa apologizing to Tanaka for being rude at the July 7th press conference. Tanaka would state if he wanted to apologize, he should not have said it in the first place. Hayabusa stated that's how he really felt though but told Tanaka he came here to take responsibility with Tanaka asking him responsibility for what? Hayabusa would ask Tanaka for a singles match on August 3, 2025 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. Tanaka would response would be asking Hayabusa that he could just say "yeah, sure" to his request after he said all that crap to him and Tanaka would state he wanted Hayabusa to put something on the line. Tanaka would then bring up Hayabusa putting his mask on the line in the match. Hayabusa would ask Tanaka what would he put on the line. Tanaka would respond that if he loses he will quit ZERO1 with Hayabusa agreeing to the stipulation.

There is some kind of sadness that a match that a Hayabusa vs. Masato Tanaka singles match with such stakes of mask vs. leaving the promotion is only headlining Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, but that's the current situation ZERO1 is in right now and I am going to guess it does not even end up drawing 300 at Shin-Kiba either. ZERO1 is returning to Korakuen Hall for the first time this year on November 10th, but they also probably want to put Hayabusa in a match that they know will try and draw the show (I am guessing against an outsider for another bigger promotion) and between Hayabusa vs. Tanaka just would not sell the show regardless of the stipulations because of just how much ZERO1 is in such a bad spot right now with nothing being able to really draw for them. I would have liked to see Hayabusa vs. Mammoth Sasaki at Korakuen Hall personally, but again I am guessing they know that would not draw what they would want out of their one and only Korakuen Hall show for the year.

Mr. Gannosuke upon hearing the stipulation of Hayabusa putting up his mask already was very upset. Gannosuke did not like that ZERO1 could bring Hayabusa and already less than four months later be putting the mask up and that is very disrespectful to Hayabusa to being using a gimmick that was not something they created, they just have started using it, and they are already trying to draw money simply based on the possibility of the new Hayabusa losing his mask and dropping the gimmick completely. Gannosuke stated that this is a sign that this Hayabusa will probably not be a long term gimmick. I did bring up to him that most likely he would be winning since he already has an important match booked against Mammoth Sasaki on August 17th for FREEDOMS at the Yokohama Budokan with Gannosuke responding that's not the point he was making, as he's more upset over them already rushing into the stipulation before really establishing the Hayabusa character for any real amount of time with Gannosuke stating he has now lost interest in this ZERO1 Hayabusa.

This leads to the most likely situation of Masato Tanaka leaving ZERO1 after August 3rd. Tanaka who has been a fixture since 2001 for ZERO1 leaving would be a big loss to a small company that already really can't afford to lose anymore name value wrestlers. It's almost like when FMW lost Tanaka in 2001. Although he was not the star of the promotion and FMW had not really focused on Tanaka that much after his return in July 2000 until asking him to leave in February 2001 because they could not afford him anymore, now Tanaka has kind of been phased out as the top star of the promotion for Hayabusa, it still will greatly hurt the quality of the shows that are already struggling especially with a Korakuen Hall show coming up in November as well as the fact that Tanaka has been become the President of ZERO1 since Shinjiro Otani's career ending injury. 

Hayabusa's first match in the Fire Festival would take place on June 6, 2025 at the Shinjuku FACE against Junya Matsunaga in the main event. They would announce 197 fans for the 600 seat room (that can go up to 650 with standing room). Hayabusa would manage to send Matsunaga out of the ring early on and deliver an Asai Moonsault to the outside. Hayabusa would then charge while outside the ring at Matsunaga, but he would be picked up and dropped face first on the apron and then nailed with a DDT. Matsunaga would then send Hayabusa flying into a group of chairs where the crowd would be. Matsunaga would get Hayabusa back in the ring and charge at him, but be met with a hurricanrana sending Matsunaga out of the ring as Hayabusa would hit him with a Tope Con Hilo on the outside.

Hayabusa would throw Matsunaga back in the ring and try for a Falcon Arrow with Matsunaga blocking it and delivering a brainbuster instead on Hayabusa instead. Matsunaga would then deliver a backdrop suplex, but Hayabusa would get up and deliver a German Suplex with Matsunaga getting up right away, so Hayabusa would attempt a poisonrana although that would end up being botched. Matsunaga would get up and hit Hayabusa with a hard lariat as the two would get begin exchanging strikes with one another before Matsunaga would nail another lariat followed by a knee to the face, but as he would charge at Hayabusa he would be met with a kick as Hayabusa would then hit him with a Tiger Driver and a Falcon Arrow with Matsunaga kicking out followed by Hayabusa going to the top and hitting a Fire Bird Splash to get the win on Matsunaga at 13 minutes, 1 second to earn Hayabusa five points in the Fire Festival tournament. This was considered a really good match by the company and Hayabusa would even reference it as a really fun well received match during the press conference after the tournament was over.

The semi-final of the show would see Masato Tanaka and Mammoth Sasaki against one another in a Fire Festival match. The history between these two in the ring goes back to March 10, 1998 when Tanaka defeated rookie Yoshinori Sasaki in a singles match for the first time while the two were in FMW. Sasaki would eventually change his ring name to Mammoth Sasaki on September 15, 2000 with his first opponent being Tanaka with Tanaka once again winning. The two would then main event Korakuen Hall for the WMF promotion that Mammoth had become the ace for at the time on April 11, 2003 with Tanaka once again defeating Mammoth. That would be the last time the two had fought in a singles match at this point. Mammoth had requested a match with Tanaka in FREEDOMS on May 3, 2022 at the Yokohama Budokan but it eventually was turned into a tag match to fit more people on the show.

During the match Tanaka would end up sending Mammoth out of the ring and although Mammoth would grab a chair and hit Tanaka with it, Tanaka would fight back and manage to send Mammoth into the turnbuckle outside the ring. Tanaka would then get Mammoth back in the ring and begin working on his knee with Mammoth managing to get back to his his feet, but Tanaka would knock him back down with some elbows. Tanaka would then get Mammoth into the ropes and go for a running elbow, but Mammoth would catch him and deliver a choke slam to Tanaka. Both would be on the mat as they would begin giving each other headbutts with Tanaka sending Mammoth into the corner and delivering a Tornado DDT. Mammoth would get up right away from it and charge at Tanaka, but this time he would be met with a Diamond Dust from Tanaka. Tanaka would then get up and try for a Superfly Splash, but after coming off the top Mammoth would get his knees up as Tanaka would come down on him.

Mammoth would then place Tanaka on the turnbuckle and deliver a suplex off of it with Tanaka getting up right away but Mammoth would grab Tanaka and deliver an Awesome Bomb with Tanaka no selling that and getting up right away and hitting Mammoth with a Sliding D. Both would begin to get up as they would exchange chops and elbows with one another with Tanaka getting the better end of it and hitting Mammoth with an elbow to the neck knocking him down. Tanaka would go for another Sliding D, but Mammoth would catch Tanaka this time by the throat and deliver a choke slam followed by a running powerbomb and then finally hit Tanaka with a 29 Years Old to get the win at 12 minutes, 47 seconds for Mammoth's first singles win over Tanaka in their seventh match against one another as Mammoth would earn 5 points in the Fire Festival tournament.

Hayabusa's next Fire Festival opponent would be Jack Kennedy on June 14, 2025 at the Sportiva Arena in Nagoya. Hayabusa would work on Kennedy's leg during the match with submission moves before Kennedy would fight back with strikes as Hayabusa would fight back and deliver a spinning heel kick followed by a moonsault but he would get grabbed and slammed by Kennedy and as Kennedy would go for a lariat, Hayabusa would duck it and hit a handspring elbow and then finish Kennedy off with a Fire Bird Splash to get the win at 8 minutes, 12 seconds to move up to 10 points in the tournament.

Hayabusa would then face off against Yasu Kubota the next day on June 15, 2025 at the Sportiva Arena. Kubota would have control early before Hayabusa would get on the offense and hit a flying bulldog followed by a Moonsault onto him with Kubota kicking out. Kubota would begin striking Hayabusa, but be met with a spinning heel kick followed by an attempt at an Asai Moonsault but Kubota would grab Hayabusa and send him face first against the apron. Kubota would then place Hayabusa in a Crossface and deliver a Reverse DDT followed by a cover with Hayabusa kicking out. Kubota would then try for a Swan Dive but Hayabusa would move out of the way and then hit him with a Tiger Driver and a Falcon Arrow with Kubota kicking out. Hayabusa would then go for the Fire Bird Splash but Kubota would move out of the way and kick Hayabusa outside. Kubota would wrap the outside mat over Hayabusa and flip off the apron onto Hayabusa and he would try to get back in the ring. Hayabusa would grab his leg and pull Kubota back out the ring as the referee would count both men out at 11 minutes, 20 minutes as Hayabusa would only earn three points for his first match he would have that he would not be on the winning side.

Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka would team up on June 17, 2025 at the Itabashi Tokyo Square in what would be the first time that the team of Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka would team up in a 2 vs. 2 match since October 24, 2000 when Hayabusa and Tanaka defeated Kodo Fuyuki and GOEMON in FMW.

Hayabusa and Tanaka would team up to take on Junya Matsunaga and Takuya Sugawara with Hayabusa knocking Matsunaga out of the ring and jumping on the middle rope and doing a backflip like the original would do, but Sugawara would be waiting and would send Hayabusa out of the ring. Matsunaga would grab Hayabusa and throw him into the seats while Sugawara would throw Tanaka against the turnbuckle outside. Matsunaga and Hayabusa would get back in the ring with Matsunaga having control including delivering a running drop kick to the back of Hayabusa's head until Hayabusa would fight back with a kick and make the tag to Tanaka. Tanaka would come in with a house of fire and deliver a running clothesline followed by a DDT to Matsunaga. Hayabusa would come back against Sugawara and deliver a flying drop kick and charge at Sugawara in the corner with Sugawara moving out of the way and delivering a superkick to Hayabusa. Sugawara would then go for a clothesline but Hayabusa would duck and deliver a kick with Tanaka nailing Sugawara with an elbow as Hayabusa would hit a Tiger Driver followed by a Falcon Arrow with Matsunaga making the save. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and finish off Sugawara with a Fire Bird Splash to get the win at 10 minutes, 21 seconds for the Hayabusa and Tanaka win in what looks like to be the only time that the two will end up teaming up together.

Hayabusa's next Fire Festival Tournament match would take place on June 21, 2025 at the Itabashi Tokyo Square as he would take on last years winner Tsugataka Sato.  Hayabusa would try his new handspring elbow move, but Sato would catch him and attempt a backdrop with Hayabusa managing to escape and then deliver a hurricanrana with Sato escaping to the outside as Hayabusa would try for an Asai Moonsault, but Sato would grab his leg and then slam him on the outside. They would get back in the ring with Hayabusa delivering forearms that would not phase Sato and he would deliver one that would knock Hayabusa right out. Sato would then charge at Hayabusa but be met with a spinning heel kick as Sato would again escape to the outside as Hayabusa would nail him with a tope con hilo.

Hayabusa would come back in with a somersault senton and an Asai Moonsault before the two would begin exchanging strikes with one another with Sato trying for a rolling elbow with Hayabusa meeting him with a shotei, but as Hayabusa would go to the top he would be met with strikes and a headbutt as Sato would would deliver a brainbuster off the top followed by a German Suplex and a lariat and a cover with Hayabusa kicking out at two. Sato would then deliver another German Suplex but Hayabusa would get up right up right away and deliver a German Suplex , but this time Sato would get up right away and look to pick up Hayabusa, but Hayabusa would counter with picking Sato up instead and nailing him with a Falcon Arrow. Hayabusa would then place Sato on the top and deliver a hurricanrana and then charge at Sato who would pick Hayabusa up with a slam and a brainbuster and cover for a two count. Sato would then go for another lariat but be met with a high kick and then a savant kick before Hayabusa would go up to the top and hit the Fire Bird Splash to get the win over Sato at 14 minutes, 42 seconds to move up to 18 points in the Fire Festival Tournament.

Hayabusa's final Fire Festival Tournament Block B Match would take place on June 28, 2025 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring against Yuko Miyamoto with them announcing a crowd of 166 fans for the show. Miyamoto would tell reporters that this match had a lot of meaning for him as he had help Eiji Ezaki out after his injury while Miyamoto was starting up in WMF in 2003. The match would start with Miyamoto delivering a drop kick to Hayabusa and then delivering a tope con hilo onto Hayabusa to the outside. They would get back in the ring and Miyamoto would charge at Hayabusa and be met with a hurricarana as Miyamoto would escape to the outside and Hayabusa would hit him with an Asai Moonsault. They would get back in the ring and Hayabusa would charge at Miyamoto who would grab him and deliver a belly to belly suplex. Hayabusa would then send Miyamoto to the ropes who would hit him with a lariat and then a back flip with his knees landing on Hayabusa and then Miyamoto would try to get Hayabusa to submit to an abdominal stretch. Miyamoto would then try for a powerbomb, but Hayabusa would escape and deliver a Tiger Driver and then set Miyamoto up to the top and hit a hurricanrana with Miyamoto managing to roll Hayabusa up for a two count.

Miyamoto would then charge at Hayabusa and be hit a savant kick to the head. They would both get up and begin exchanging strikes to one another before Hayabusa would try and lay a kick to Miyamoto who would catch him and pick Hayabusa up for a powerbomb followed by a moonsault with Hayabusa kicking out. Miyamoto would then charge at Hayabusa with Hayabusa catching him and hitting an H Edge and then a Falcon Arrow and cover Miyamoto with hi m kicking out. Hayabusa would then charge at Miyamoto and Miyamoto would catch Hayabusa and hit him with the Fire Thunder followed by Miyamoto rolling him up with a Gannosuke Clutch and again Hayabusa would manage to kick out of Hayabusa's number one rivals signature moves. Miyamoto would then look to pick Hayabusa up, but Hayabusa would instead manage to lift Miyamoto and hit him with a Falcon Arrow followed by a Phoenix Senton and then finally a Fire Bird Splash to get the win over Miyamoto at 13 minutes, 51 seconds to earn 23 points and advance to the finals of the Fire Festival.

Mammoth's road through the Fire Festival would not be as dominant as Hayabusa following his victory over Tanaka. He would defeat Yuki Toki on June 14th to get to 10 points but then he would end up losing the next day to Takuya Sugawara. Mammoth would get back on track on June 21st after defeating Kentaro Hachisu but that loss to Sugawara would mean that to have any chance at advancing to the finals he would have to defeat Chris Vice in the semi-main event of the June 28th show. Both Mammoth and Vice would fight to the outside early on as Mammoth would grab a ladder, but that ladder would never come into play during the match as Vice would end up back suplexing Mammoth on the apron instead. Both of them would then begin exchanging slaps on the apron before Mammoth would get back in the ring and Vice would hit a spring shoulder tackle followed  by delivering a brainbuster to Mammoth and cover him with Mammoth kicking out. Vice would then setup for a package piledriver with Mammoth flipping him over. They would exchange chops in the corner before Mammoth would go for a chokeslam but Vice would elbow Mammoth in the head and charge at him, but Mammoth would catch him and hit a choke bomb. Mammoth would then go for an Awesome Bomb with Vice flipping Mammoth over and they would then they would exchange clotheslines with one another with would lead to both of them knocking one another out. They would get up with Mammoth trying for a chokeslam but Vice would roll him up for a two count followed by Mammoth hitting his Awesome Bomb and covering him, but Vice would manage to kick out. Mammoth would then try for the 29 Years Old but Vice would manage to slam him instead as Vice would hit a lariat and then finish Mammoth with the Package Piledriver to get the win at 11 minutes, 37 seconds which would eliminate Mammoth from advancing in the Fire Festival tournament as he would finish with 15 points.

Mammoth's loss would then mean that the main event of the June 29, 2025 show with Masato Tanaka and Chris Vice would have the winner advance out of the A Bracket into the finals. The show would only draw 92 fans for the show which would not be a good number as they would over 70 less fans from the day before show. Tanaka would manage to knock Vice off to the apron, but he would come back with a springing shoulder tackle and then take Tanaka to the outside where the two would begin chopping and striking one another before Vice would pick Tanaka up and send him to the apron before smashing his knee against the turnbuckle. Vice would get Tanaka back in the ring and begin working on his knee trying to make him submit with Tanaka managing to make the rope. Vice would pick up Tanaka and hit him with a brainbuster and make the cover with Tanaka kicking out at two. Vice would send Tanaka to the corner and charge at him with Tanaka getting his boot up and hitting Vice with a Tornado DDT that Vice would no sell and try to suplex Tanaka, but Tanaka would counter and suplex Vice instead and then hit him with a clothesline. Tanaka would then take Vice to the top and suplex him off and make the cover but Vice would kick out at two. Tanaka would deliver strikes to Vice but as he would rush at him, he would get caught by Vice who would slam him and then roll him up with a La Magistral for a two count.

Vice would then deliver a back drop to Tanaka but as he would go for a clothesline, Tanaka would chop his knee and go up to the top and hit a Superfly Splash and cover with Vice kicking out at one. Tanaka would smash Vice in the face with an elbow and make another cover and this time get a two count. Tanaka and Vice would again exchange strikes to one another before it would turn into exchanging headbutts to one another as Vice would hit Tanaka with a clothesline followed by a Jackhammer and cover with Tanaka kicking out at two. Vice would then pick Tanaka up and hit him with the Package Piledriver and get the win at 11 minutes, 49 seconds as blood would begin to run down Vice's head from the head butting as Vice would finish with 20 points and advance to the finals of the Fire Festival. Hayabusa would then come to the ring and get on the mic and just as he was about to finish with "Lets have some fun" closing line, Vice would grab the mic and say it for him instead in a menacing tone before the two would shake hands.

Mammoth Sasaki and Yuko Miyamoto's losses the week previously in Shin-Kiba would prevent both of them from reaching the finals of the tournament and as a result they would be booked against one another on July 4, 2025 at the Shinjuku FACE where they would announce a crowd of 372 fans for the show. Miyamoto would start off by knocking Mammoth out of the ring and as he looked to go for a tope, he would be met with Mammoth tossing a chair at his head instead.

Mammoth and Miyamoto would begin fighting on the apron with chops with Mammoth looking to powerbomb Miyamoto off the apron, but he would manage to reverse it and flip Mammoth to the outside instead. Miyamoto would take Mammoth into the crowd and they would begin brawling there with Mammoth hitting Miyamoto with a chair. They would get back to ringside where Mammoth would again try and powerbomb Miyamoto but Miyamoto would turn it into a hurricanrana instead. They would get back in the ring with Miyamoto putting Mammoth in a figure four with Mammoth managing to reverse it and Miyamoto would have to to grab the rope to break. Mammoth would then charge at Miyamoto, but he would move out of the way as Mammoth would go flying outside the ring with Miyamoto hitting a tope con hilo onto Mammoth. They would get back in the ring and begin exchanging chops with one another before Mammoth again would try and powerbomb Miyamoto, but again he would manage to prevent it and flip Mammoth over.

Miyamoto would then pick Mammoth up looking for a Fire Thunder, but Mammoth would escape that and deliver a chokeslam to Miyamoto instead. Mammoth would then throw Miyamoto into the corner, but he would come back with a lariat on Mammoth followed by a standing moonsault with Mammoth getting up right away and delivering a 29 Years Old on Miyamoto, but the referee would only manage to count one before the twenty minute time limit would expire. Mammoth and Miyamoto would shake hands afterwards with Mammoth raising Miyamoto's arm to show respect to Miyamoto who he had a hand in training 22 years ago in the WMF Dojo as the two would agree to team up on the August 3rd Shin-Kiba show against Junya Matsunaga and Yuki Toki.

Hayabusa would debut the brown outfit for the first time in the main event of the Fire Festival Tournament against Chris Vice. The brown outfit has always been the color that signified a big match. He was also able to debut a new  brown jacket to wear as the original brown jacket that Hayabusa wore for all his big matches is currently hanging on my closet right now. This would be the first time that a Hayabusa match would include brown attire since the original end of the Hayabusa gimmick on August 25, 1999 as he took on Mr. Gannosuke before switching over to H. After returning back as Hayabusa on April 11, 2000 he only wore white or red before the end of his career in October 2001. The vibe of this match was definitely trying to replicate the finals of the Grand Slam 1995 tournament finals match between Hayabusa and The Gladiator. 

 Crowd chants started right away for Chris Vice but they would eventually be drowned out by Hayabusa chants. Hayabusa would manage to dropkick Vice out of the ring and deliver a tope con hilo to the outside, but his hands would end up grabbing the ropes and end up doing more of a flip as a result onto Vice outside. Hayabusa would then throw Vice into the crowd before getting him back in the ring with Vice launching himself with a shoulder tackle on Hayabusa. Vice would then lift Hayabusa up and deliver a brain buster and go for a lariat with Hayabusa countering with a spinning heel kick and then for the first time deliver the tope moonsault that Hayabusa invented on May 17, 1995 followed by the somersault senton and Asai Moonsault and then look for a Falcon Arrow but Vice would block it and manage to suplex Hayabusa.

Vice would then go for a clothesline but Hayabusa would catch him and hit the Tiger Driver and then begin forearm smashing Vice but Vice would counter with a headbutt and then go for a lariat, but be met with a savant kick. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and deliver a Fire Bird Splash but Vice would manage to kick out at two. Vice would then get up and be met with a kick to the the head as Hayabusa would go up to the top, but Vice would pick him up and hit a running piledriver on Hayabusa with Hayabusa managing to kick out at two. The crowd did start to get loud for Hayabusa here as Vice would nail Hayabusa with a lariat with Hayabusa kicking out at two again.

Vice would then look to hit Hayabusa with a Package Piledriver with Hayabusa reversing it into a hurricanrana followed by an H Edge for a two count. Hayabusa would then go up to the top but Vice would climb it up and hit a suplex on Vice with Hayabusa getting up right away and hitting a Falcon Arrow with Vice kicking out at two. Hayabusa would then slam Vice in the middle of the ring and go up to the top and hit the Phoenix Splash but Vice would be too close as he would only hit Vice's side for his second messed up Phoenix Splash in as many attempts to get the win at 15 minutes, 39 seconds to win the Fire Festival tournament. Hayabusa and Vice would shake hands afterwards with Vice raising Hayabusa's arm up for the victory. This was a good match that was able to get the crowd involved towards the end, although the two Hayabusa botches including the finish did stand out. Megumi Kudo would then arrive and reward Hayabusa the 25th Fire Festival winner the Fire Festival sword for his tournament victory. Click here to watch highlights of Hayabusa vs. Chris Vice 7/4/25

Masato Tanaka, Megumi Kudo, and Mammoth Sasaki participated in a talk event on July 12, 2025 at Toudoukan in Sugamo, Tokyo called "Hayabusa White Paper" where the three talked about their memories of Eiji Ezaki as well as the ZERO1 Hayabusa. There were not that many reports of the event as the only thing I heard about that was discussed was they were in agreement that Hayabusa's best feud was against The Gladiator in 1995, they talked about Kudo's Happy Share With event back on June 22, 2013 that had Hayabusa, Tanaka, and Kudo talk with one another, and both Mammoth and Tanaka's discussion made Kudo laugh hysterically through out. They did a raffle with one fan winning a new Hayabusa mask and one fan winning a drawing of Megumi Kudo that Eiji Ezaki drew in the 1990s.

Mammoth Sasaki ended up asking Kudo for permission to have a singles match with Hayabusa in FREEDOMS with Kudo letting him know she would think about it. The decision would be made to have Hayabusa vs. Mammoth Sasaki at the Yokohama Budokan for FREEDOMS on August 17, 2025 with Kudo stating that it will be a continuation of their October 22, 2001 match that never ended up having an ending.

Atsushi Onita participated in the Kiyokuru Festival on June 22, 2025 in Kiyose City, Tokyo in an event that would draw over 5,000 people to the show. The show was promoted by Kiyose City that featured musicians and dancers as well as an explosion match with Atsushi Onita.

The match would see Atsushi Onita team with Raijin Yaguchi and Naoshi Sano with a local masked wrestler in their corner against Onryo, Kikujiro Umezawa, and Yoshihiro Horaguchi with Monster Leather in their corner.

Onita would make his entrance wearing armor and riding, reminiscent of his appearance in a historical drama with the crowd erupting when Onita came out in a horse. Onita's team would dominate early on before the local masked wrestler would get caught and the heels would try to hit him with the exploding bat with Onita getting in the way to guard him and take the explosion shot instead. Onita and Yaguchi would then get thrown into barbed wire boards, but it would be Yaguchi that would turn the tide by hitting Umezawa with a lariat and then both Onita and Yaguchi would hit him exploding barbed wire bats as Onita would pin Umezawa at 11 minutes, 42 seconds for the win. Onita would get on the mic and shout "There are a lot of unpleasant things in the world! But we are alive, so let's fight and live!"

Onita has lightened his schedule lately due to age and all the injuries. He will be wrestling for the big HEAT-UP show on August 17th and then FMW-E will make its return on September 28th at the Yokohama Tsurumi Fruit and Vegetables Market followed by a sponsored FMW-E show returning to Osaka on November 3rd.

Onita has stated that although he will not retire again and he does want to do an explosion match when he is 70 which would be in October 2027, he is going to continue to slow down to the point where he does not think he will be wrestling anymore matches in 5 years by the time he is 72 due his age at that point as well as all the injuries and pain he goes through on a daily basis continuing to get in the ring and do what does.

FREEDOMS would run at the Sapporo E-One Stadium announcing a crowd of 275 fans for the show. The main event would see Toru Sugiura, Jun Kasai, and Mammoth Sasaki defeat Violento Jack, Masashi Takeda, and Kenji Fukimoto when Kasai would pin Fukimoto in a Weapons Tornado Death Match at 15 minutes, 16 seconds with a Cross Arm Stimulation Driver for the win. Yuya Susumu would defend his King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title at 17 minutes, 6 seconds after making Rekka tap out to the Crossface for his 5th title defense. Takashi Sasaki and Tomoya Adachi would defeat Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kota Sekifuda when Sasaki would pin Sakuda at 10 minutes, 30 seconds with a D-Geist. Tomoya Hirata and GENTARO would defeat Noriyuki Yoshida and Koshi Seto when Hirata would pin Seto at 10 minutes, 22 seconds with a Towerhacker Bomb. Minoru Fujita would defeat Ryuto at 10 minutes, 49 seconds with a Samson Clutch. The opening match would see Kengo and Dragon Libre defeat Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox when Kengo would make Hox tap out at 8 minutes, 35 seconds to the STF.

FREEDOMS would return to Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on June 20, 2025 and draw an announced crowd of 213 fans for the show. The main event would see Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito defend the King of Freedom Tag Team Titles against Toru Sugiura and Jun Kasai in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match with Ito getting the win over Sugiura at 19 minutes, 59 seconds with the Crazy Octopus Driver to setup his title match against Sugiura at Korakuen Hall and to successfully defend their tag team titles for the second time.

The semi-main event would be a FREEDOMS vs. ICW Weapons Death Match with Tomoya Hirata, Kenji Fukimoto, and Rina Yamashita defeating the ICW team of Danny Demanto, John Wayne Murdoch, and Tommy Vendetta with Hirata getting the win at 7 minutes, 20 seconds when Tomoya would get the win with the Towerhacker Bomb over Vendetta. Violento Jack would be scheduled to take on Brahman Shu with Jack getting the DQ win at 1 minutes, 37 seconds after Kei would interfere. The match would turn into a handicap match with Jack taking on Shu and Kei with Jack getting the win at 7 minutes, 43 seconds when Jack would pin Kei with the Camel Clutch.

F-SWAG's Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would defeat ERE's Toshiyuki Sakuda, Kyu Mogami, and Kota Sekifuda when the ERE team would get DQ'd at 10 minutes, 25 seconds with Sakuda taking the DQ loss. Kengo would defeat Dragon Libre at 9 minutes, 34 seconds with a Frog Splash. The opening match would see Takashi Sasaki, Mammoth Sasaki, and Takahiro Katori defeating Tatsuhito Takaiwa, GENTARO, and Rekka when Mammoth would pick up the win at 9 minutes, 31 seconds over Rekka with the 29 Years Old.

Jun Kasai would challenge El Desperado for his IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship in a Fluorescent Light Tubes, Glass Boards, Barbed wire Board Death Match on June 24, 2025 at Korakuen Hall for a New Japan promoted show. Kasai and Desperado would start off with both olidng light tubes with Kasai managing to grab a hold of Desperados and smash it over his head and throw Desperado into the barbed wire board. Kasai would then take a broken light tube and begin stabbing Desperado's forehead behind his mask with it, before looking to throw him into the glass board in the corner, but Desperado would instead back drop Kasai and then begin using a light tube across his forehead before throwing him outside the ring.

They would brawl near the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight belt and Hiroshi Tanahashi on commentary. They would get back in the ring with Kasai delivering a Russian leg sweep sending both of them in back first into the glass board in the corner. Kasai would take some of the glass and begin rubbing it across Desperado's head. Kasai would then setup a stack of light tubes in the mat and charge at Desperado who would pick Kasai up and deliver a spine buster breaking the light tube across his back. Desperado would then deliver a brainbuster on another stack of light tubes before bringing in a chair with light tubes attached to it with Kasai delivering a headbutt to Desperado and then charge at Desperado who would pick up the chair with light tubes with Kasai running head first into it.

Desperado would then place a stack of light tubes over Kasai and go up to the top with Kasai moving out of the way and grabbing the light tubes and running into Desperado with them. Kasai would then take the other glass board and place it on a stack of chairs and go up to the top and hit a Reverse Tiger Destroyer off the top through the other glass board. Loud Kasai chants would take place in the crowd as Kasai would hit a running lariat and cover with Desperado kicking out at two, followed by a Reverse Tiger Driver and then pull out a large ladder and begin climbing it, but Desperado would get up and begin climbing it as well. Kasai would pull out skewers but would end up getting headbutt by Desperado, who would grab the skewers stick them through Kasai's head and then toss Kasai off the ladder into a table with light tubes set up on the outside.

Kasai would make it back in the ring but get with a spear and be hit with a Pinchie Loco but Kasai would manage to fight back with a punch to the face and hit his Reverse Tiger Driver and then give Desperado a kiss of death before hitting him the Stimulation Driver with Desperado still kicking out at two. Kasai would then place a stack of light tubes over Desperado and climb the ladder and deliver a Pearl Harbor Splash off the large ladder and cover but Desperado would still manage to kick out at two. They both would get up and begin striking one another before exchanging headbutts to one another with Desperado falling to his knees as Kasai would hit multiple Stimulation Drivers with Desperado still managing to kick out. Kasai would go for the kill by going for another stimulation driver on light tubes, but Desperado would block it and drop Kasai head first on the light tubes and cover him but Kasai would kick out at one. They would begin exchanging strikes to one another with Desperado knocking Kasai out and delivering a Reverse Tiger Driver and then a Pinche Loco and covering with Kasai kicking out by giving the middle finger as Desperado would grab Kasai by his finger and follow that up by another Reverse Tiger Driver and then finally finishing Kasai off with the with Pinchie Loco for the win at 29 minutes, 31 seconds to defend the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title for the sixth time.

Tanahashi would present Desperado afterwards with the belt with Desperado wanting to hug Tanahashi with him declining to boo's from the crowd until he was peer pressured to give Desperado the hug and get his outfit covered in blood. Desperado would raise Kasai's hand afterwards as Kasai would end up kissing Desperado before leaving with Kasai stepping out of the ring awkwardly as he would need assistance walking out.

FREEDOMS would run at the Shizuoka Shimizu Marine Building on June 29, 2025 announcing a crowd of 205 fans for the show. The main event of the show would be Toru Sugiura, Jun Kasai, and Tomoya Hirata defeating Violento Jack, Masashi Takeda, and Yusaku Ito in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match when Sugiura would pin Ito at 13 minutes, 31 seconds with a right elbow breaking a fluorescent light against Ito for the win. The semi-main event would see Hideki "Shrek" Sekine and Takayuki Ueki defeat Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei when Sekine would make Kei tap out at 9 minutes, 58 seconds to the Canadian Backbreaker. Minoru Fujita and Kenji Fukimoto would defeat Mammoth Sasaki and Ali Najima when Fujita would get the win over Najima at 11 minutes, 35 seconds after hitting him with the Sayanora Tombstone Piledriver. Takashi Sasaki as Takashi Torigan and Dragon Libre as Libre Torigan would defeat Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kyu Mogami when Takashi would pimn Mogami at 10 minutes, 33 seconds with a Torigan Clutch. The opening match would see F-SWAG's Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox defeat Tatsuhito Takaiwa, GENTARO, and Rekka when Masaoka would pin Rekka at 10 minutes, 53 seconds with a Thrust Kick.

FREEDOMS would run their their Jun Kasai Death Match Carnival on July 10, 2025 at Korakuen Hall announcing a crowd of 653 fans. The main event would be Toru Sugiura defending his King of Freedom World Championship against Yusaku Ito in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Glass Boards Death Match. Sugiura early on would smash a light tube over Ito's head and toss him into the light tubes against the ropes with that giving Ito a bolt of electricity as he would attack Sugiura with light tubes and then setup one of the glass boards in the corner and try to deliver a headscissors with Sugiura blocking that and delivering a spinebuster to Ito in the glass board instead.

Sugiura would then take a giant hammer with thumbtacks attacks and headbutt it into Ito's head. Sugiura would then place light tubes over a chair but Ito would manage to overpower him and slam Sugiura onto it instead. Ito would then take the chair and just toss it right at Sugiura's head, but Sugiura would come back and smash a light tube over Ito's head as he would escape to the outside with Sugiura hitting him with tope con hilo. Sugiura would then get into an argument with Ito's partner Masashi Takeda as Sugiura would smash him over the head with a light tube allowing Ito time to hit a tope to the outside. Ito would then pull in a bunch of chairs and place them against Sugiura and deliver a dropkick to them.

Ito would then throw Sugiura into the corner as he would jump to the top and hit a flying body press and then hit Ito with a Swift Driver and cover Ito for a two count. Sugiura would then place the other glass board on a stack of chairs over Ito's body, but as he would go up to the top he would be met with a headbutt from Ito who would then smash a stack of light tubes over Sugiura's head as he would suplex Sugiura off the turnbuckle into the glass board. Ito would get up and hit a piledriver and then slam Sugiura on a stack of light tubes and cover for a two count. They would both get up and begin exchanging strikes to one another with Ito hitting a headbutt and then hitting Sugiura with a Crazy Octopus Destroyer for a two count.

Ito would then place light tubes over Sugiura and go up to the top, but Sugiura would get up and smash a light tube over Ito's head and hit him with a Swift Driver off the top followed by going for a right elbow breaking a light tube across Ito, but Ito would hit Octopus Trap and then grab a stack of light tubes and toss them at Sugiura's head and go for another Crazy Octopus Destroyer but Sugiura would counter and hit Ito with a Swift Driver followed hitting a running elbow breaking the light tube across Ito's with Ito grabbing Sugiura by his arm and headbutting him, but Sugiura would deliver a Ito with a headbutt himself and lift Ito up with a choke slam and hit Ito with a Soul Driver and then finish him off with a running elbow breaking two stacks of light tubes to get the win at 27 minutes, 3 seconds to successfully defend the title for the third time. Tomoya Hirata would then come in the ring afterwards and challenge Sugiura to a title match in a rematch from two years ago when Hirata broke his leg at the Yokohama Budokan for August 17th with Sugiura accepting.

Jun Kasai and Violento Jack would renew their nearly 13 year old rivalry in a Razor Cross Board Empty Can Barbed wire Board Death Match in the semi-main event as Kasai would throw Jack into the Razor Cross Board and then hit a Pearl Harbor Splash on him with Jack getting up and hitting a brainbuster on Kasai. Jack would then pull out a glass tequila bottle and break it over Kasai's head followed by slamming Kasai on a broken can barbed wire board and then finishing Kasai off with the Package Piledriver now called the Jack Pack to get the win at 15 minutes, 48 seconds as it looks like the Kasai vs. Jack renewed feud will continue through out the summer.

The team of Tomoya Hirata, Daisuke Masaoka, and Mizuki Watase would defeat the team of Masashi Takeda, Kenji Fukimoto, and Minoru Fujitra in a Hardcore Match when Hirata would end up getting the win at 15 minutes, 48 seconds with a Tower Hacker Bomb over Fukimoto.

Jun Masaoka would challenge Takayuki Ueki for the Barefoot King Title with Ueki attacking Masaoka's legs and then try tin to slam Masaoka on toy blocks covered over the ring, but Masaoka would get Ueki to land feet first on the the toy blocks and then hit Ueki with the Ambitions on the toy blocks to get the win 11 minutes, 6 seconds with Masaoka taking the Barefoot King Title and tearing it up into two as it looks like it will go back to Ueki and as a tag team title now that it's split in two again.

The ERE team of Toshiyuki Sakuda, Kyu Mogami, Kentaro Hachisu, and Kota Sekifuda would defeat the team of Takashi Sasaki, Mammoth Sasaki, Dragon Libre, and Choi Dueok when Sekifuda would pin Dueok at 6 minutes, 43 seconds with a Diving Body Press with a Barbed wire bat for the win in a Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match.

The opening match would be a in a Tokyo Desert Homelessness On the Verge of Quitting Human Business Death Match with Tatsuhito Takaiwa, GENTARO, Kengo, and Rekka defeating Yuya Susumu, Gaia Hox, Brahman Shu, and Brahman Kei when Kengo would get the win at 5 minutes, 24 seconds over Kei with a Diving Foot Stomp. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 7/10/25 Korakuen Hall show

The Jun Kasai Death Match Carnival would continue on July 25, 2025 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring where they would announce a crowd of 158 fans for the show. The main event would see Toru Sugiura and Jun Kasai team up again like last month this time to take on Tomoya Hirata and Violento Jack in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match.

Kasai and Jack would start by both grabbing light tubes and running into one another breaking the light tubes against each other. Kasai would try for a dive off the top but be caught by Jack who would break another light tube over Kasai and begin cutting him open. Hirata would come in but Kasai would manage to grab a stack of light tubes and smash them over Hirata's head and then try to suplex Hirata on another stack of light tubes with Hirata overpowering Kasai and suplexing him instead.

Jack would then come in and place a chair over Kasai's back and slam him on it before placing Kasai in the Mexican Stretch and turn it into a cover with Kasai kicking out. Jack would then grab a stack of light tubes with Kasai clotheslining the light tubes breaking them across Jack with some of the glass getting stuck in Kasai's arm with him having to pull out in obvious pain. Sugiura would come in and begin breaking light tubes over Jack and place a stack of light tubes on Jack in the corner with him charging at Jack who would move out of the way and break the light tubes over Sugiura. Jack would tag in Hirata who would hit a flying drop kick on Sugiura and pull out more light tubes and slam Sugiura on them. Hirata would grab another stack of light tubes but be met with a right arm by Sugiura breaking them across Hirata's body.

Sugiura would charge at Hirata but be met with a lariat. They would tag out with Kasai and Jack charging at one another with Kasai knocking Jack down. Sugiura and Kasai would then both hit Jack with a Fishermans Buster as Sugiura would place a stack of light tubes over Jack's body while Kasai would hit him with a Pearl Harbor Splash and cover with Jack kicking out at two. Hirata would come in and hit Kasai with a lariat as Jack would nail him with a Powerbomb and then hit Kasai with the Jack Pack on a stack of light tubes to get the win over Kasai at 18 minutes, 57 seconds with Jack announcing that his old friend Aero Boy would be returning to FREEDOMS for the Yokohama Budokan show against Kasai in a tag match.

The semi-main event would see Minoru Fujita and Kenji Fukimoto defeat Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito in a Tornado Rules Hardcore Match with Fukimoto reversing the pin over Takeda to get the win at 10 minutes, 21 seconds in a non-title match. Yusaku Ito would demand a title match the next time against Fujita and Fukimoto with the match being made for August 17th at the Yokohama Budokan. Mammoth Sasaki would defeat Takahiro Katori now going by Kapyi at 12 minutes, 49 seconds with the 29 Years Old.

Takayuki Ueki, Kentaro Hachisu, and Kyu Mogai would defeat the team of Takashi Sasaki, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, and Dragon Libre when Ueki would pin Takashi at 6 minutes, 50 seconds with a Chest Hair Body Body Choke Drop. Sayaka Unagi would come to the ring after the match and nominate her as Takashi Sasaki's partner to challenge Ueki and Hachisu's Barefoot King Tag Team Titles for the August 17th Yokohama Budokan show.

GENTARO, Kengo, and Reiya Igarashi would defeat F-SWAG's Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox when Kengo would pin Hox at 10 minutes, 44 seconds with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster as Kengo would challenge Susumu for the King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title at the Yokohama Budokan show with Susumu stating he will beat Kengo and make it to his second year as champion as he would most likely make the one year mark after winning the title last year on September 15th at the Yokohama Budokan. The opening match would see Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kota Sekifuda defeat Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei when Sekifuda would pin Kei after Sakuda would try to attack Sekifud but end up hitting Kei with Sekifuda getting the pin at 7 minutes, 41 seconds over Kei.

The Jun Kasai Death Match Carnival would continue on July 27, 2025 at the Osaka Active Square Daito announcing a crowd of 318 fans. The main event would see Toru Sugiura, Jun Kasai, and Minoru Fujita defeat Violento Jack, Masashi Takeda, and Yusaku Ito when Kasai would pin Jack with a Pearl Harbor Splash at 17 minutes, 3 seconds in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Tornado Death Match. Daisuke Masaoka would defeat Takayuki Ueki at 17 minutes, 34 seconds with a Tornado Clutch in a Concrete Block Death Match. Tomoya Hirata and Kenji Fukimoto would defeat Mammoth Sasaki and Kapyi when Hirata would pin Kapyi at 12 minutes, 52 seconds with a Tower Hacker Bomb in a Hardcore Match. Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei would defeat Takashi Sasaki and Dyna Mido in a On the Verge of Receiving Welfare Death Match qhen Shu would pin Mido at 13 minutes, 10 seconds with a All Limbs Unsatisfied. Toshiyuki Sakuda and GUnso would defeat Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox when Sakuda would pin Hox at 10 minutes, 22 seconds with a Rumando Bomb. The opening match would have GENTARO and Dragon Libre defeat Yuya Susumu and Shoichi Uchida when GENTARO would roll Uchida at 10 minutes, 19 seconds with a small package for the win.

Mickey Ibaragi who is no longer able to promote wrestling events still will regularly hold talk events. He ended up scheduling an event with Masashi Takeda followed by announcing that Kintaro Kanemura would appear for the second half of the event. The event would take place on June 14, 2025 at the Shinjuku Fantasy Hall with Ken Suzuki as the MC. The event would be live streamed so I was able to watch it and took notes of what Takeda and Kanemura talked about. Before the show started Ibaragi kept making references to more fans in the back of the room, but from the camera angle and during the fans get to ask a question segment it looked like there were only 3 fans in attendance. I was able to translate the event.

Masashi Takeda was not the biggest Kanemura fan but Kanemura was active in Big Japan when he was a huge fan of the promotion growing up and he respected him as a death match legend mentioning that he was in attendance for Kanemura's retirement show on December 27, 2016 at Korakuen Hall. Takeda was asked about traveling to America for Death Matches with him stating it's difficult to travel to other countries due to him being the sole guardian of his daughter and her traveling. Even in Japan, Takeda is at a point where he is only doing spot shows and can't do tours because of taking care of his daughter.

Kanemura would end up appearing for the second half of the event with Kanemura mentioning that he is acquaintances with Takeda's older brother as he works at Ippudo a ramen restaurant in Roppongi that Kanemura visited. Kanemura mentioned he was eating there and some staff came up to him and mentioned that an employee was the brother of a death match wrestler as well and called him over in the small store and they talked with Takeda confirming that his brother told him about talking with Kanemura when they were together during New Years. Takeda mentioned that his older brother is the one that suggested he get into wrestling as Takeda watched wrestling because his brother did.

Kanemura mentioned that he met Takeda at an Apache Army event which Takeda did not start working for Apache in 2008 after Kanemura had been expelled from the promotion and Takashi Sasaki had taken over. Kanemura was asked his thoughts on the type of death matches happening right now with his feeling that it is excessive with Takeda stating that there is a feeling that it has to continue to escalate or it would become boring and fans would lose interest.

Suzuki compared Japanese Death Matches and American Death Matches feeling American Death Matches does not have as much thought involved and it can become quite messy. Kanemura mentioned that he planned on doing a diving balcony spot at Korakuen Hall but when he went upstairs before the show and realized how far he was going to have to jump to make it, he decided not to after all. It was during W*ING after Matsunaga had left to establish Kanemura as the new ace of W*ING.

Suzuki asked Kanemura his thoughts on Takeda's big scissors as a weapon with Kanemura stating Takeda's daughter is going to be influenced by his evil with Takeda stating that she thinks it's cute and she's happy right now, but there are certain things in the current death matches that he feels different when he's watching than he's actually participating in it.

Kanemura mentioned that he thinks death match wrestling should be eliminated as he does not want to see anymore injuries with Takeda responding that he wishes there were less death matches although he still likes doing them. Takeda mentioned that fewer young wrestlers are wanting to do them, but now more women are wanting to do them instead. Suzuki asked Kanemura why did he do death matches when he wasn't really a fan of doing them, with Kanemura responding he got too hot to not continue doing them and he had a passion for it. Kanemura said he saw others doing it in W*ING and felt he needed to do it as well.

Suzuki mentioned that there were no fluorescent light tubes back then with Kanemura mentioning he was the first one to use a light tube as Yamakawa had brought one in during a match that Kanemura ended up using and smashing over Yamakawa's head. (first fluorescent light tube spot in Big Japan was Honma vs. Shadow WX on October 31, 1998 before Kanemura had worked for  Big Japan) with Takeda stating he thinks someone from CZW used it first (first documentation of it was Sabu using one in 1995).

Kanemura brought up how crazy Matsunaga was when it came to death matches that Matsunaga wanted to possibly have beams come out of his opponents eyes and shoot them at him which got a laugh with Takeda stating that is a brilliant idea. Takeda mentioned when he was in high school he wanted to make his own barbed wire bat and bought the bat and barbed wire but did not know how to roll the barbed wire on the bat correctly. Kanemura mentioned he fixed the very edge and rotating it, and then winding it. The topic of setting the barbed wire bat on fire with Kanemura mentioning if he made one mistake, it would be all over with Suzuki adding in the wind direction also played a factor. Fire Matches were then brought up with Takeda stating they are the hardest type of match because you can't read or calculate the fire. Suzuki asked Takeda about his thoughts on what he thought of Kanemura's death matches with Takeda stating he liked how Kanemura was able to wrestle a match while it also being a death match as well.

The audience was then allowed to ask questions with one woman asking Kanemura where he got the large scar on his arm with Kanemura stating it's one of his newer scars that he got in Shinjuku (his first Super Battle FMW match on May 20, 2015 at the Shinjuku FACE) with Kanemura mentioning that he went drinking with a friend afterwards and he was still bleeding all over his arm after the match when he went out with Suzuki asking why didn't he get it taken care of before he went out with Kanemura responding he hated getting stitches without anesthesia. Kanemura getting powerbombed into the fire on October 31, 1993 was brought up with Kanemura saying even though he closed his eyes he could still see it happening and he remembers the smell of his hair burning. Suzuki then asked about memories of his most significant injury with Takeda bringing up his July 28, 2020 match against Toru Sugiura when Sugiura elbowed a light tube and the glass ended up flying into Takeda unexpectedly and flesh out of his body came out with the match stopping right there as he was losing blood at an alarming rate. Suzuki would then bring Takeda getting stabbed by a knife on February 3, 2020 against Orin Veidt. Takeda mentioned that it was a GCW show and that the owner said that he was leaving a knives board under the ring to use but he didn't know how sharp the knives were going to be. Takeda mentioned he had used the knives board in America before and it went fine, so he trusted that these knives would go well, and it did not.

Another member in the audience asked Kanemura about the May 5, 2003 match against Shinya Hashimoto with Kanemura stating he does not remember the match as he would like to have the positive memory everyone else has about the match, but he just doesn't remember it with Takeda making mention it was probably from Hashimoto punching him in the face with Kanemura responding "true" and asking him how he could lose his memory from that with Takeda laughing and saying he didn't know. Another fan asked Kanemura the most memorable death match spot he could recall and that was Pogo blowing a fireball at Matsunaga's head. Takeda would state his most unpleasant death match spot is being the one to stick a needle through someone's cheeks because of how hard it can be with Takeda stating those in the U.S. will stick it in their noses. One of the fans asked Takeda about his comedy group that he is apart of. Takeda would state it was called Dandy Park with three of his other friends with Takeda getting asked the origin of the name with him stating it was just a random thought.

One fan asked about the next generation of death match wrestlers with Takeda bringing up Yusaku Ito stating he has put his life into it the most. They would ask Ibaragi if he had any questions and he would not as the photo session would begin with the three fans taking pictures with Kanemura and Takeda to end the show.

I have finished the second installment of documenting the translating Hayabusa's first year back in FMW through his top matches as well as all the the interviews he conducted for the weekly magazines. This page his first year in FMW from 1995 and the first year of him as the ace of the New FMW up to the point of his severe injuries in 1996. This is something I hope to continue to work on through out the next couple of months covering Hayabusa's documented career. You can find it at http://fmwwrestling.us/Hayabusa9596.html

Added: 6/2

Hayabusa would make his debut under the mask on April 27, 2025 at the Ryogoku Sumo Hall for the Lucha Fiesta Especial show against Masato Tanaka. Hayabusa's theme song would be the revised Hayabusa theme song that was released in 2012 for a Hayabusa released CD. There were reports of fans crying during Hayabusa's entrance. Eiji Ezaki's daughter Ayane was also in attendance for the show. They would do the sudden attack that Eiji Ezaki had done against Jushin Thunder Liger at the Super J Cup on April 16, 1994 at Ryogoku Sumo Hall, but because of Hayabusa coming out last unlike the J Cup match, he would have to do it while Tanaka was being introduced before attacking and hitting his tope con hilo.

Hayabusa would deliver a flying leg drop and then try for the inside the ring Asai Moonsault with Tanaka moving out of the way and Hayabusa landing on his feet. Tanaka would then dropkick Hayabusa's knee and then begin focusing on it before delivering an elbow knocking Hayabusa down. Tanaka would then continue to work on Hayabusa's knee with Hayabusa having to grab the rope for the break. Hayabusa would try strikes of his own but Tanaka would again knock him to the mat with an elbow before placing him in a figure four leglock with Hayabusa again managing to grab the ropes. Tanaka would hit Hayabusa with a running elbow although when going for it again he would be met with a hurricanrana and kicked out of the ring as Hayabusa would hit an Asai Moonsault on Tanaka.

Hayabusa would then successfully hit the Asai Moonsault in the ring. Hayabusa would go for a Falcon Arrow, but Tanaka would counter and try for a brainbuster, but Hayabusa would land on his feet and be met with a Tanaka DDT. Tanaka would then hit Hayabusa with a Diamond Dust with Hayabusa managing to stay on his feet followed by a suplex off the top with Hayabusa getting up immediately and suplexing Tanaka followed by a Falcon Arrow which Tanaka would get up immediately from and hit Hayabusa with a Sliding D.

Tanaka would go for another elbow, but Hayabusa would duck and hit Tanaka with a Shotei although when he would charge back at Tanaka he would be met with a lariat. Tanaka would hit Hayabusa with a Brainbuster and then go for another Sliding D but Hayabusa would move out of the way and deliver a kick to the head followed by a Tiger Suplex and another Falcon Arrow for a two count. Hayabusa would then lay Tanaka in the corner and hit a Fire Bird Splash and get the pinfall at 10 minutes, 36 seconds with Hayabusa walking out of the ring, Mammoth Sasaki would enter and get on the mic and state for Hayabusa to announce his partner for the upcoming Kawasaki Stadium match when Jinsei Shinzaki's theme would begin to play as he would come out and the two would shake hands and do their pose together as the FMW theme song would begin to play as they would exit together. Click here to watch Hayabusa vs. Masato Tanaka from 4/27/25

Jinsei Shinzaki would speak to the media afterwards and state that of course there are things lacking with the new Hayabusa but he is not Eiji Ezaki. He is the second Hayabusa and he was looking forward to watching him grow from now on. It had been many years since Shinzaki had teamed up with Hayabusa and he hopes he can have an exciting match with him. Of course there is going to be pros and cons. He knows that there are some that think Eiji Ezaki's Hayabusa should be the end of it. However, during his lifetime, Ezaki had stated that a new Hayabusa should appear. Shinzaki would begin to show tears while speaking about that the truth is, after Ezaki was injured he waited for him for many years to recover and return to the ring but now Ezaki is no longer with us and he is happy with the resurrected form of Hayabusa.

Masato Tanaka would then speak with the media and state he learned that it's not easy to beat someone who carries the name Hayabusa. He was never able to beat Ezaki's Hayabusa in a singles match (0-4) and he couldn't beat this Hayabusa this day either. Tanaka would bring up this being the beginning of the second chapter of the story of Tanaka vs. Hayabusa. He found out that Hayabusa's partner for Kawasaki Stadium would be Jinsei Shinzaki, and he had worked with Kuroda against Hayabusa & Jinsei in a tag match matches and he never worn those either (Kuroda did pin Hayabusa on May 5, 1999 but Tanaka never got a pin). He will conclude this story with a victory someday."

Regarding the second Hayabusa, Tanaka said, "I think the big name was a bit of a pressure for him. He has several more matches scheduled from now on, so if he can show a new Hayabusa there, I think he will become an even tougher person to beat. There is no one who can easily copy that guy. I think he should continue to create original Hayabusa, and if he can do that, I think he will become an increasingly stronger person. That he should just write or say what he felt honestly about the performance up to him to change the negative parts."

Mr. Gannosuke would give his opinion based on what he had seen of the new Hayabusa online. He graded him a 90%. He took off 10% because of all the Hayabusa moves seemed like he was just copying but he understand it's his first match and has time to grow into himself. He could tell he was a fan of Hayabusa growing up with how he portrayed himself. He's shorter than Ezaki who was 6'0 and this person is closer to Gannosuke's height of 5'9.

I have been asked a lot about my thoughts and while I am fine with with someone else using the Hayabusa gimmick, I think maybe I have just watched so much Hayabusa over my life because while the overwhelming opinion online is that the new Hayabusa is the mirror image of Hayabusa which I don't see that at all other than he obviously isn't someone like Gannosuke or Tenryu dawning the mask with very different looks to notice a very distinct difference. I think the height thing is a big thing for me because like Gannosuke stated Hayabusa was 6'0 but also ranged from 220-230 pounds through out his career to stay at a heavyweight status to be considered the ace of FMW. Obviously this person can not help his height, but he is very much a Jr. Heavyweight with his body and does not have the body that Hayabusa had so when I see him, I see him closer to being Rasse as Hayabusa-cito in 2006-2007 than I do Eiji Ezaki which is not an insult.

Now to the identity part. It is very clear that ZERO1 does not want who is under the mask to get out. It was never a secret that Eiji Ezaki was under the mask. It was always known by everyone. This is not the case as that information seems like it will continue to be private and that they don't want anyone to know. ZERO1 GM Megumi Kudo even stated she wished people would stop trying to guess who is under the mask and just enjoy the new Hayabusa. So with that said, I am going to guess who it is and guess that it is Genta Hiriki. He comes from the ZERO1 system and became the masked Super Astro and then Astro in 2022-2023. They seemed very high with him back then as they made him Jr. Heavyweight champion in his first match as Super Astro on April 10, 2022 at Ryogoku Sumo Hall. He vanished after the July 29, 2023 Korakuen Hall show for ZERO1 and has not wrestled a match since. He is also 5'9 so he fits the height of this version of Hayabusa. That is my guess, and I could easily be wrong.

Hayabusa's debut in ZERO1 would take place on May 3, 2025 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring where he would make quick work of Yuki Toki at 5 minutes, 47 seconds after pinning him with a Fire Bird Splash. The next match would be on May 4, 2025 at the Kanda Shrine Kagura Hall in Tokyo with Hayabusa teaming up with Chris Vice and Calvin Tankman against Masato Tanaka, Shane Mercer, and Junya Matsunaga. Hayabusa and Tanaka would square off with Hayabusa getting the chants from the crowd. Tanaka would shoulder tackle Hayabusa with Hayabusa trying and somewhat succeeding at a kip up before drop kicking Tanaka followed by trying an inside Asai Moonsault with Tanaka moving out of the way and clotheslining Hayabusa.

Tanaka would then take Hayabusa into the crowd and the two would begin brawling with Tanaka choking Hayabusa with a street pole before getting back in the ring with Tanaka delivering a elbow knocking Hayabusa down. Tanaka would charge at Hayabusa but be met with a hurricanrana as he would tag out. Hayabusa would get tagged back in and kick Matsunaga out of the ring and deliver an Asai Moonsault on Matsunaga on the outside. Hayabusa would bring Matsunaga back in the ring and hit him with an inside the ring Asai Moonsault, but then be met with a backdrop from Matsunaga as Tanaka and Matsunaga would throw Hayabusa at Mercer who would pick him up and bench press him before dropping him down on the mat. Matsunaga would then pick up Hayabusa and hit him with a uranage followed by charging at Hayabusa who would move out of the way and Matsunaga would be met with a backhand fist from Tankman as Hayabusa would then hit Matsunaga with a Tiger Suplex followed by a Fire Bird Splash and get the pin at 17 minutes, 27 seconds over Matsunaga in a overall good showing as there were many fans in attendance during the outside event and the match had a lively atmosphere as a result.

The final show of the tour would place on May 7, 2025 at Kawasaki Stadium entitled "Kawasaki Legend 2025". I mentioned last update how the Kawasaki Stadium show was announced on March 30th with very little follow up or buzz about the show. It stayed that awhile for a couple more weeks until it got a little attention with the announcement of Hayabusa and Shinzaki teaming up and the announcement of Risa Sera vs. Sayaka Unagi in a women's exploding barbed wire death match as the main event. They did not announce an attendance. I would guess that the crowd was around 800 with 1,000 being the absolute max. The show was sponsored by Bunkyo Broadcasting a radio station so I would imagine any financial hit that the show did, it was felt more by them than ZERO1 itself.

The Hayabusa gimmick would make its fifth appearance at Kawasaki Stadium (5/5/95, 5/5/96, 9/28/97, and 5/5/01) teaming up with Jinsei Shinzaki making his second appearance (9/28/97) in the area as he had teamed up with Hayabusa to take on Kenta Kobashi and Manukea Mossman in a match never officially released. They would take on the team of Masato Tanaka making his seventh appearance at the stadium (5/5/94, 5/5/95, 5/5/96, 9/28/97, 5/5/03, and 5/5/04) and Mammoth Sasaki making his third appearance (5/5/01 and 5/5/04) at Kawasaki. I know you probably don't get Shinzaki if you make it this, but I do wish this match had been an exploding barbed wire match and in hindsight Shinzaki probably does a lot better with no ropes in this match.

Tanaka and Shinzaki would square off with Shinzaki grabbing Tanaka's arm and look to climb up the turnbuckle to do his prayer walk right away, but in what would be the theme of this match for Shinzaki he would slip and take to long to get his balance right away that Tanaka would pull away as waiting any longer would look bad with him just standing there waiting. Hayabusa would come in and Tanaka would drop kick his knee and tag in Mammoth who would chop Hayabusa across the chest multiple times and then kick the back of his knee and place Hayabusa in a single leg crab. Shinzaki would come in and hit Mammoth in the throat as Mammoth would tag in Tanaka. Tanaka would charge at Hayabusa but he would be met with a hurricanrana and a spinning heel kick. Shinzaki would get tagged in and again go for the prayer walk although he would make it to the top rope this time, he would end up slipping again before completing the rope walk and chopping Tanaka across the face. Shinzaki would then deliver a missile shoulder tackle off the top and go for a Praying Powerbomb with Tanaka managing to flip him over. Mammoth would tag in and chop Shinzaki across the chest before going for a chokeslam that Shinzaki would counter and grab Mammoth's leg and deliver a reverse dragon screw legwhip.

Hayabusa would get tagged in and they would deliver a double bulldog to Mammoth and then a double dropkick to him out sending Mammoth out of the ring as Hayabusa would hit a tope con hilo onto him. Shinzaki would then slam Mammoth and they would try to do the Hayabusa/Shinzaki signature coming off the rope spot but Shinzaki would again trip off the rope with this being the worst looking one as he would just hold down Mammoth as Hayabusa would *successfully* hit Mammoth with the inside the ring Asai Moonsault. Hayabusa would look for a Falcon Arrow but instead be met with a Mammoth choke slam as Tanaka would suplex Hayabusa off the top followed by an Awesome Bomb by Mammoth and then a brainbuster by Tanaka with Shinzaki making the save. Tanaka would go up to the top for a Superfly Frog Splash with Hayabusa getting his knees up and going for a moonsault with Tanaka move out of the way and hitting a Sliding D for a two count. Tanaka would then go for another Sliding D but Hayabusa would move out of the way as Shinzaki would come off the top and deliver a chop to Tanaka's head as Hayabusa would hit him with a Shotei and then a Falcon Arrow with Mammoth making the save. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and hit a Fire Bird Splash with Tanaka kicking out.

Shinzaki would then a Praying Powerbomb on Tanaka as Hayabusa would go up to the top and deliver a Phoenix Splash for the first time although the landing would not be pretty as Hayabusa would smash his knee against Tanaka's face upon coming down on it. Shinzaki would then come over and strike Tanaka as Hayabusa would get up and hit the H Thunder which put Tanaka away on May 5, 2000 (a match where Tanaka knocked Ezaki's front teeth out and had paralyzed him for a couple of seconds when dropping him on his head so maybe that face plant Phoenix Splash was a secret Hayabusa revenge) as Hayabusa would once again pin Tanaka at 13 minutes, 33 seconds as the team of Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki would get their first win together since March 19, 1999 when defending their All Asian Tag Team Titles against Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda. Mammoth and referee Nikkan Lee would check on Tanaka's face following the Phoenix Splash as he would be given a pack of ice.

Shinzaki would get on the mic and state that 25 years ago, Hayabusa was injured in an accident and he waited for him and stayed healthy for him so that he could come home whenever he wanted, but sadly Eiji Ezaki is no longer around and he gave up on ever teaming with Hayabusa again. Now in the Reiwa era, a new Hayabusa has been born and he is really happy that they can team up in the ring like this and thanked Hayabusa and shook his hand. Mammoth would then get on the mic and state "Hey Hayabusa! I've been waiting for you to come back to the ring for years and years. Don't worry, the real Eiji Ezaki was also clumsy!" in reference to the messed up Phoenix Splash. Hayabusa would then grab the mic and a recorded voice over the speakers would play a voice Hayabusa's signature catchphrase "The fun is just beginning!" Click here to watch highlights of Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Masato Tanaka & Mammoth Sasaki 5/7/25

Hayabusa would be the final wrestler announced for the Fire Festival Tournament that will begin on June 6th. Hayabusa will enter into the B Block with his first tournament match taking place on June 6th at the Shinjuku FACE against the 2024 Fire Festival winner Junya Matsunaga. He will then take on Jack Kennedy on June 14th and Yasu Kubota on June 15th in Nagoya. He face off against Tsugataka Sato on June 21st in the Itabashi Tokyo Square followed by his final two tournament matches against Yuko Miyamoto on June 28th and then Yoshikazu Yokoyama on June 29th both at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. The finals of the tournament will take place on July 4th at the Shinjuku FACE.

Hayabusa vs. Daisuke Sekimoto was originally scheduled to main event the June 28th Shin-Kiba 1st Ring show but Sekimoto would be taken out  on stretcher during his tag match at Korakuen Hall on May 29, 2025 as his body would be unable to move suddenly. He would be taken to an ambulance and rushed to a hospital for plastic and neurological surgeries while he was conscious the whole time. CT and MRI scans would show no abnormalities and there was thankfully no suspicion of damage to his spinal cord. He would return home and be told he would need to visit a hospital near his home in Yokohama to discuss future treatments. He would be told that he would need to take the month of June off and see if July was a possibility based off his progress. This would take him out of the Fire Festival Tournament with all the matches besides the finals taking place in June.

Hayabusa attended a press conference at the ZERO1 Dojo on June 2, 2025 where he spoke his actual first words to the public on the mic stating "It has been decided that I will take part in the historic Fire Festival for the first time. Since I am taking part, of course I will win." Hayabusa sat next to Yuko Miyamoto who would be Daisuke Sekimoto's replacement and he would say "Even though Sekimoto can not participate, I want to put on a show for the tournament that will not shame Sekimoto." with Miyamoto adding that when he was a trainee in WMF he helped look after Hayabusa who was recovering from his injury and then stated "The memories are immeasurable. By the time I enter professional wrestling Hayabusa had already been injured, so it feels strange to be fighting him in the tournament."

Masato Tanaka and Mammoth Sasaki will also be entering in the Fire Festival Tournament with this being Mammoth's first Fire Festival as they both would be placed in the A Block. They will start off against each other on June 6th at the Shinjuku FACE which will be their first singles match against one another since Masato Tanaka defeated Mammoth Sasaki on April 11, 2003 at WMF's second Korakuen Hall show.

FMW-E ran its first show of the year on April 29, 2025 at the Osaka Ohama Sumo Arena with Atsushi Onita, Raijin Yaguchi, and Takumi Sakurai taking on Mr. Pogo, Onryo, and Ryoji Sai in a Exploding Barbed wire Baseball Bat Exploding Barbed wire Jado Rocket Death Match with Onita arriving to the ring on a motorcycle.

This show was a sponsored show by the same person Masahiko Ito as the show in November and he was going to get every bit out of paying for this show as a brawl would start out right away and Pogo would end up grabbing Ito and bringing him in the ring and throwing him into the exploding barbed wire early on. Pogo would then grab a hold of Onita as Onryo would end up hitting Onita with the exploding bat. Sai would then take the exploding bat and hit Sakurai in the back with it followed by Mr. Pogo spitting a fireball at Sakurai's back. Pogo would then grab Onita as Onryo would look to swing the bat but would against green mist spit in his face and then nailing him over the head with a guitar.

Onita and Yaguchi would then both turn on the exploding barbed wire bats and hit Onryo with them at the same time as Onita would pin Onryo at 13 minutes, 35 seconds for the Onita victory. The promoter Ito who would be bleeding from the Pogo attack during the match would end up being apart of the Onita Theater to end the show as he would get on the mic and mention that shows like this help bring back energy in the Sakai region of Osaka that were lost during COVID and he hopes to continue to help bring back this type of frenzy and liven up the city again.

A dark match on the show would see the return of The Gtreat Nita as he would take on Dory Funk Mikiya who is Mikiya Sasaki from Dotonbori Pro with Nita using a sickle, barbed wire, bamboo sword, and other weapons and when Mikiya would end up placing Nita in the Spinning Toe Hold he would get mist spit in his face and be hit with a DDT on a barbed wire board for the Nita win. There is no FMW-E show announced for the foreseeable future.

Atsushi Onita would then wrestle on May 5, 2025 for the HERO promotion at the Yokohama Tsurumi Fruit and Vegetables Market. This would be the first explosion death match that Onita would be participating in since his May 5, 1995 retirement match against Hayabusa in a exploding cage. This show would be a memorial show for HERO founder Yumiki as well as Hideki Hosaka and Wild Seven who both worked for the HERO promotion. The main event would be a memorial for both Hosaka and Seven as Wild Seven who worked a bunch of Super Battle FMW shows on the undercard from 2015 to 2017 would end up passing away on May 5, 2019. The start of the show Onita, Raijin Yaguchi, Ricky Fuji, Construction Site Dad, HERO representative Takyoshi Sato, Dory Funk Jr. representative Yoshio Osumi all held pictures in the ring of Osamu Nishimura, Hisahi Shinma, Hideki Hosaka, Wild Seven, and Yamiki (I couldn't make out who Ricky Fuji was holding a picture of).

The match would see Atsushi Onita, and Raijin Yaguchi, Ricky Fuji, and Construction Site Dad against Wild Bear, Wild Zero, Guts Ishijima, and Shoji "Wild" Ohno in a Exploding Barbed wire Exploding Barbed wire Baseball Bat Death Match. The explosion were increased three times by the suggestion of Onita. The match would start off as a brawl with Wild Bear putting Onita on a chair and hitting him with the exploding bat. Onita would accidentally end up spitting mist in his partner Construction Site Dad allowing Wild Zero to hit the Construction Site Dad with an exploding bat. Onita would end up throwing Ishijima in the exploding barbed wire and then spraying mist in Wild Bear's face and hitting him over the head with a guitar. Onita and Yaguchi would then turn on the exploding bats and both hit Wild Bear with it with Yaguchi covering him to get the pinfall over Bear at 13 minutes, 49 seconds for the Onita team victory. Onita then got on the mic and commended Construction Site Dad for taking an explosion at over 60 with Onita pointing out that he is also a construction site man (a job he did between All Japan and FMW) and he is also over 60 year but he's an idiot to his best to live life his own way.

Hisashi Shinma passed away on April 21, 2025 at the age of 90 at his home after developing pneumonia. Shinma started out in New Japan where he would partner up with the WWF and become known as their President before leaving to help form the UWF promotion before having a falling out and leaving the promotion and joining the women's JWP promotion. Shinma would call former All Japan wrestler and offer him a job as a trainer for the JWP promotion. Onita would end up aligning himself with Shinma, Pro-Wrestling Gong magazine editor Kosuke Takeuchi, former sales manager of New Japan Naoki Otsuka, and Gran Hamada as they would call themselves "The Martial Arts Union".

They would send Onita to go to a UWF show on December 22, 1988 in Osaka with a note that the Martial Arts Union was declaring war on UWF. Onita would meet with UWF President Shinji Kami who would ask Onita for a ticket to attend the show and would be forced to leave making Onita look like a clown for not knowing how to properly declare war on UWF.

This would anger Onita as he with the backing of the Martial Arts Union would start his own promotion to show that professional wrestling could beat shoot fighters. Shinma would suggest the name of the new promotion be called World Pro-Wrestling although Kosuke Takeuchi's idea of "Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling" would be the one decided upon. Shinma's official alliance with FMW would only last a day though as he would book the ANA Hotel in Tokyo as the site of the press conference to announce the creation of FMW on July 28, 1989.

Onita who had challenged karate fighter Masashi Aoyagi to the main event of the first FMW show on October 6, 1989 and to get more attention Aoyagi would end up attacking Onita at the press conference and Onita using a blood capsule to sell the attack from Aoyagi by spitting blood out of his mouth. Someone from the hotel would see Onita bleeding and would call 119 for an ambulance to take him to the hospital. This would result in the ANA Hotel being furious at Shinma for booking the press conference as their big golden door s to the ball room of the press conference would end up getting damaged after all the commotion. This would upset Shinma who felt he couldn't trust Onita and would end up backing out. Shinma would originally agree to the person that would book the foreign wrestlers a job that would end up going to Mickey Ibaragi instead.

Shinma would eventually end up helping his son start up a Lucha Libre promotion called Universal Wrestling Federation with Gran Hamada in March 1990 instead. Shinma would end up becoming the chairman of the nostalgia promotion Real Japan which has turned into the Strong Style Pro-Wrestling promotion. Onita who worked on the last show for the promotion in March asked to be apart of their next show on June 12, 2025 which will be a Hisashi Shinma Memorial show as Onita and Raijin Yaguchi will take on Hideki "Shrek" Sekine and Hayato Mashita in a Hardcore Match.

FREEDOMS would return to the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on April 10, 2025 and announce a crowd of 121 fans for the show. The main event would be King of Freedom Tag Team Champions Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito defending their titles against Tomoya Hirata and HAKKA in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match. HAKKA would end up hitting Ito with a running powerbomb against the turnbuckle that would see him fly over it to the outside but Ito would come back and end up spitting octopus fountain pen ink in HAKKA's face and hit him with a Northern Light Bomb on a light tube to get the win at 18 minutes, 39 seconds to defend the titles for the first time.

The semi-main event would be Toru Sugiura, Jun Kasai, and Rina Yamashita defeating Toshiyuki Sakuda, Takayuki Ueki, and Kyu Mogami in a Hardcore Match with Yamashita hitting Ueki with Splash Mountain as Kasai would hit Ueki with a Pearl Harbor Splash to get the win over Ueki at 14 minutes, 42 seconds to send a message to El Desperado as it would be announced the main event for the next Korakuen Hall show would be Sugiura/Kasai vs. Desperado/Jack.

F-SWAG's Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would defeat the FREEDOMS team of Takashi Sasaki, Mammoth Sasaki, and GENTARO after Hox would lowblow Takashi and Susumu would roll up Takashi at 9 minutes, 27 seconds with a Figure Four Jackknife for the win. Dragon Libre would come out afterwards and challenge Susumu for the title with Susumu responding that he would have to show him that he's the strongest he has been in his 10 year career before earning a shot as a non-title match would be made between the two at Korakuen Hall. Violento Jack would defeat Tatsuhito Takaiwa at 11 minutes, 42 seconds with the Charo Negro. Kenji Fukimoto and Kengo would defeat Rekka and Lucifer when Kengo would make Lucifer tap out at 11 minutes, 21 seconds to the STF. Takahiro Katori and Dragon Libre would defeat Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei when Libre would pin Kei at 9 minutes, 37 seconds with a Flying Front Cradle. Click here to watch highlights of FREEDOMS 4/10/25.

FREEDOMS would then return to the Hiroshima Industrial Hall East Building and announce a crowd of 267 fans for the show. The main event would be a Fluorescent Light Tubes Tornado Death Match with Toru Sugiura, Tomoya Hirata, and Rina Yamashita would defeat the team of Jun Kasai, Violento Jack, and Kenji Fukimoto with Hirata picking up the win at 16 minutes, 17 seconds with a Towerhack Bomb on Fukimoto. Mammoth Sasaki and Daisuke Masaoka would team up to defeat Takashi Sasaki and Prominence's Risa Sera in a Weapons Death Match as Masaoka would get the win over Sera at 13 minutes, 47 seconds with a Tornado Clutch. Yuya Susumu would defend his King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title against Rey Paloma at 12 minutes, 14 seconds after making him tap out to the Crossface for his fourth title defense. Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox would defeat Minoru Fujita and Takahiro Katori when Hox would pin Katori at 9 minutes, 2 seconds with the F-DRIVE II. GENTARO would defeat Lucifer at 7 minutes, 54 seconds with a Throwing Dragon Suplex. Kenshin Chikano, Rekka, and Dragon Libre would defeat Brahman Shu, Brahman Kei, and Dyna Mido at 8 minutes, 22 seconds when Libre would pin Kei with the Cazadora.

FREEDOMS would return to the Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square on April 29, 2025 and draw an announced crowd of 132 fans for the show. The main event would see Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Ladder Death Match. Ueki would end up grabbing Takeda and running him head first into a fluorescent light tube but unable to get the win and then lay out more light tubes on the mat and pick up Takeda but Takeda would escape and deliver a kick breaking the light tubes across Ueki with Sakuda making the save. Ito would then light tubes and chairs over Ueki as Takeda would climb the ladder and deliver a dive onto Ueki with Ueki managing to kick out. Takeda would then finish Ueki with a Kokutai Olympic Slam on the light tubes to get the pin over Ueki at 17 minutes, 41 seconds for the Takeda and Ito victory.

Tomoya Hirata would defeat Takahiro Katori at 11 minutes, 57 seconds with a Towerhacker Bomb in the semi-main event of the show. Toru Sugiura, Jun Kasai, and Rina Yamashita would defeat Mammoth Sasaki, Violento Jack, and Kenji Fukimoto at 13 minutes, 41 seconds when Sugiura would hit Fukimoto with the Swift Driver. Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Kengo would defeat Lucifer and Rekka when Kengo would pin Lucifer at 9 minutes, 23 seconds with a Second Rope Diving Footsomp. The opening match would see Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, and Dragon Libre defeating F-SWAG's Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gox when Libre would pin Hox at 9 minutes, 9 seco nds with a Headscissors Hold.

FREEDOMS would return to Korakuen Hall on May 2, 2025 announcing a crowd of 1,169 fans for the show. El Desperado participating in a tag match against Jun Kasai was obviously a big draw for this show as it drew almost as much as last years Christmas Death Match for the biggest Korakuen Hall number of the year and did over twice as month as last years May 2nd Korakuen event.

The main event would be a Fluorescent Light Tubes Tower Razor Cross Board Death Match with Toru Sugiura and Jun Kasai taking on IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion El Desperado and Violento Jack. Desperado would present roses to both Kasai and Sugiura during his introduction as Sugiura and Desperado would have words with another before the start of the match as they would press their belts against one another with them both starting the match and locking up and doing some chain wrestling before Kasai and Jack would come in the ring with everyone taking a light tube and Kasai and Sugiura smashing their light tube over Desperado and Jack's head and sending them into the light tubes against the ropes.

Kasai would then try to send Jack into the razor cross board in the corner, but he would stop himself just short with Kasai running at him and Jack moving out of the way with Kasai going head first into the razor cross board. Jack would continue breaking light tubes over Kasai's head and tag in Desperado who would begin working on Kasai's arm before slamming him on a stack of light tubes and placing him in a Crab Hold. Sugiura would come in and make the save by hitting Desperado with the roses he had presented Sugiura during the introductions. Jack would come in and he and Desperado would try to send Sugiura in the corner the light tube tower but Sugiura would jump on the turnbuckle to avoid it as Kasai would grab the light tube tower and run into both Desperado and Jack with it. Kasai would take Desperado and hit him with a piledriver on the light tubes and Sugiura would get on the mat and tell Desperado to strike him with them both exchanging strikes with Sugiura headbutting the glass on the mat which would give him an immediate deep cut as blood would immediately begin dripping down his face with Desperado doing the same but doing it multiple times due to wearing a mask.

Kasai would then rush in with a stack of light tubes and headbutt them across Desperado's head. Kasai would then bring in the razor cross board but Desperado would Russian leg sweep Kasai's back into the razor board. Jack and Sugiura now with a bandage due to the deep would come in as Sugiura would hit Jack with a dropkick and then hit a flying elbow breaking a light tube across Jack, but Jack out of nowhere would grab Sugiura with the Mexican Stretch with Kasai having to make the save. Jack would then press Sugiura up in the air and hit him with the Violento Breaker. Jack would go up to the top, but Sugiura would smash a light tube over Jack's head and hit him with the Spanish Fly off the top. Sugiura and Jack would tag in Kasai and Jack as Kasai would knock Desperado out to the apron and hit a flying lariat followed by a running lariat in the ring. Kasai would then charge at Desperado in the corner with Desperado moving out of the way and Jack coming in and hitting a running lariat immediately at Kasai followed by a Jack senton with Desperado making the cover and Sugiura making the save.

Jack would toss Sugiura out of the ring and hit a tope through the middle ropes onto him followed by a Swanton from Jack onto Kasai and then Desperado would hit Kasai with a Frog Splash with Kasai kicking out. Desperado would then setup a barbed wire board on a stack of chairs and look to superplex him together off the top with Sugiura coming in and making the save and slamming both Jack and Desperado on the barbed wire board. Sugiura would hit Desperado with a Swift Driver and set up a stack of light tubes with Kasai hitting a Pearl Harbor Splash and looking for a Reverse Tiger Driver when Jack would would come out of nowhere and lariat him instead. Desperado would then hit Sugiura with a Spine Buster as Kasai would then hit Desperado with the Reverse Tiger Driver and then Jack would hit Kasai with his Package Piledriver. Sugiura and Jack would then begin striking one another with Sugiura lifting Jack up and slamming him and then taking a light tube and smashing it with his elbow across Desperado.

Desperado would lay down selling like he had nothing left as Kasai would lift up Desperado and Sugiura would hit him with an elbow as Kasai would hit another Reverse Tiger Driver and cover him with Desperado kicking out. Sugiura would hit a somersault plancha on Jack on the outside as Kasai would finish Desperado with a Cross Arm Stimulation with Desperado kicking out so Kasai would lay a bunch of light tubes on the mat and hit another Cross Arm Stimulation to finally get the win at 27 minutes, 10 seconds over Desperado. This would be Kasai's second time pinning Desperado in under two months.

Kasai would get on the mic and tell Desperado that he respected him for being able to have a match like they just had. Desperado would get on the mic and state that he wants Kasai to fight him in a singles match for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title or in the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament with Kasai responding he wants to fight Desperado again but not for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title or in a Best of Super Juniors Tournament Match. All four would then begin bumping into the glass all in the ring on their back with Desperado getting a fresh new set of light tubes for his back bump into them with Kasai helping him up as the two would embrace to end the show

The semi-main event would see Masashi Takeda defending his ICW American Death Match Title in a Double Board TLC Death Match against Tomoya Hirata. Hirata would grab Takeda right as he would enter the ring and run him into a barbed wire board in the corner. Takeda would go to the outside and Hirata would hit him with a tope. They would get back in the ring and Takeda out of nowhere would pull out his long long scissors and begin stabbing Hirata in the forehead with them and take him with him as they both would go into the knives board in the corner. Hirata would then place the barbed wire board over Hirata and begin smashing it with a chair. Takeda would then setup a table against the ropes and charge at Hirata, but would be picked up and hit with a spinebuster followed by Hirata hitting a flying dropkick on Takeda. Hirata would then place the barbed wire board on Takeda and hit a Vader Bomb coming down on Takeda. Hirata would pick up a piece of the barbed wire board but

Takeda would get up and quickly hit a flying dropkick and then place a chair over Hirata's head and come off the top with a chair smashing it over him. Takeda would then place Hirata on a stack of chairs and go up to the top of a ladder with Hirata getting up and suplexing Takeda off the ladder onto the stack of chairs with Takeda getting up right away and exchanging strikes with Hirata followed by delivering a German Suplex to him. Takeda would pull out a board with needles and go to knee them into Hirata, but Hirata would move out of the way and toss Takeda stomach first into them. Hirata would then slam Takeda head first into a stack of chairs followed by going for a moonsault that Hirata would miss. Takeda would deliver a knee to Hirata and then throw barbed wire board and dive off a ladder onto Hirata but only get a one count. Takeda would then knee the needle board into Hirata and then deliver an Olympic Slam and finish Hirata with a Reverse U Crash at 16 minutes, 54 seconds to defend the title for the first time I saw people online very complimentary towards this match and while very good, I personally liked the main event more although Hirata did a great job of taking a beating here.

Takashi Sasaki, Daisuke Masaoka working his first Korakuen Hall match since Christmas, and Rina Yamashita would defeat the ERE team of Toshiyuki Sakuda, Takayuki Ueki, and Kyu Mogami at 10 minutes, 18 seconds when Masaoka would pin Mogami with a Tornado Clutch in a Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match. Yuya Susumu would defeat Dragon Libre in a non-title match with Dragon coming close on getting the win with a Dragon Suplex but Susumu would get Dragon down on the mat and make him tap out at 12 minutes, 51 second with a Crossface. Susumu would help Dragon up afterwards but then walk away from him celebrating his win.

F-SWAG would win earlier in the show as Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox would defeat the Ganbare team of Yumehito Imanari and Munetatsu Nakamura when Hox would get the win at 10 minutes, 7 seconds with the Vanishing Shift over Nakamura. The opening match would see Mammoth Sasaki, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, GENTARO, and Kenji Fukimoto defeating Kengo, Takahiro Katori, Rekka, and Lucifer when Mammoth would pick up the win over Rekka at 7 minutes, 30 seconds with the 29 Years Old. The dark match on the show would see Toru Sugiura defeat Reiya Igarashi at 7 minutes, 28 seconds with a Crab Hold. Click here for highlights of the FREEDOMS 5/2/25 Korakuen Hall show

FREEDOMS would return to Okinawa on May 11, 2025 at the Okinawa Nishihara Town Sawafuji Mirai Hall and announce a crowd of 125 fans for the show. The main event would be Jun Kasai and Takashi Sasaki defeating Takayuki Ueki and Ryukyu Dragon's Shuri Joe when Kasai would get the win over Ueki at 17 minutes, 34 seconds with a Pearl Harbor Splash. Toshiyuki Sakuda would get the upset win over Violento Jack at 14 minutes, 6 seconds with a Sakauchi in the semi-main event. Toru Sugiura and Tomoya Hirata would defeat Dragon Libre and Ryukyu Dragon's Tearan Shisa when Hirata would pick up the win at 15 minutes, 17 seconds with a Meat Press. Mammoth Sasaki would defeat Ryukyu Dragon's Misaki Maeda at 8 minutes, 24 seconds with a 29 Years Old. The opening match would see Guruken Mask and Churaumi Saver defeat GENTARO and Kenji Fukimoto when Guruken would roll up Fukimoto at 10 minutes, 5 seconds with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch for the win.

FREEDOMS would then run at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on May 16, 2025 with the main event of Toru Sugiura and Jun Kasai taking on Minoru Fujita and Rina Yamashita in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Tornado Death Match. Kasai would setup a stack of light tubes on the turnbuckle corner and pick up Fujita but Fujita would manage to escape and send Kasai head first into the light tubes instead. Yamashita would then dive off the top on Sugiura with Fujita coming down on him as well with a stack of light tubes. Fujita and Yamashita would then send Sugiura towards the corner with a fluorescent light tube tower but Sugiura would jump off the turnbuckle onto them instead. Kasai would then take the light tube tower and run it into both Fujita and Yamashita. Sugiura would then take a light tube and break it across Fujita's chest as Kasai would hit him with a Stimulation Driver to get the win at 17 minutes, 53 seconds over Fujita. Sugiura would then ask Kasai to team up with him and challenge for the King of Freedom Tag Team Titles with Takeda and Ito coming into the ring and accepting their challenge for June 20th at the next Shin-Kiba 1st Ring show.

Masashi Takeda, Violento Jack, and Yusaku Ito would defeat the team of Toshiyuki Sakuda, Kyu Mogami, and Kyu Mogami in a Weapons Death Match with Ito getting the win at 18 minutes, 16 seconds with a Diving Headbutt on a Ueki's headgear covered in thumbtacks to get the win over Ueki.

Tomoya Hirata would continue to come along and build himself back up since his returning from his injury as he would defeat Kenji Fukimoto at 11 minutes, 14 seconds with a Towerhacker Bomb in a Hardcore Match. F-SWAG's Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would take on Takashi Sasaki, Kengo, and Rekka with Masaoka hitting Rekka in the back with a cleaning sign with the referee not seeing. Masaoka would then get hit again by Masaoka with the sign with the referee not looking and would take the sign and begin hitting Masaoka in front of the referee. The referee would tell Rekka to stop it and he would still hit Masaoka with the cleaning sign earning him a DQ at 10 minutes, 30 seconds for the F-SWAG win with Rekka challenging Susumu for the King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title on June 8th. Mammoth Sasaki and Tatsuhito Takaiwa would defeat GENTARO and Takahiro Katori when Mammoth would pin Katori at 10 minutes, 37 seconds with a 29 Years Old. Dragon Libre would defeat Lucifer at 7 minutes, 38 seconds with a Konin Yoshitonic in the opening match. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 5/16/25 show

FREEDOMS would return to Osaka at the Hirano Ward Citizen Hall and announce a crowd of 223 fans for the show on May 18, 2025. The main event would see Toru Sugiura, Tomoya Hirata, and Rina Yamashita defeat Jun Kasai, Masashi Takeda, and Yusaku Ito in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Tornado Death Match with Kamui getting pulled into the match for his first interaction in the ring in two years following his neck injury before Sugiura would end up getting the win at 13 minutes, 2 seconds with a Right Elbow against a light tube over Ito for the win. Toshiyuki Sakuda and Takayuki Ueki would defeat the team of Mammoth Sasaki and Daisuke Masaoka in a Barbed wire Board Weapons Death Match when Ueki would get the win over Masaoka at 17 minutes, 11 seconds with Death Valley Bomb. Violento Jack would defeat Takahiro Katori at 10 minutes, 41 seconds after making him submit to the Mexican Stretch. Minoru Fujita and Kenji Fukimoto would defeat Takashi Sasaki and Dyna Mido when Fujita would roll up Mido for the win at 10 minutes,38 seconds with a Samson Clutch in a Hardcore Match. Yuya Susumu and Jun Masaoka would defeat GENTARO and Dragon Libre at 10 minutes, 49 seconds when Masaoka would roll up Libre with a Inside Cradle for the win. The opening match would see Gaia Hox defeat Lucifer at 10 minutes, 59 seconds with a Hoxtage Negotiator.

Jun Kasai would appear at the New Japan show on June 1, 2025 at the Tokyo Ota Ward Gym. Kasai would state that he was going to give a pep talk to his friend El Desperado who had been frustrated that he didn't advance to the finals of the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament. Kasai would receive an invite from Desperado to a a one on one death match in New Japan for a show called "Death Pain Invitational" on June 24th at Korakuen Hall. Kasai stated he would be happy to ignite Desperado's fighting spirit as if they are going to kill each other, they should both be in perfect physical and mental health.

A-Team's Tomohiko Hashimoto announced he will be taking a break from wrestling after the A-Team show on June 22nd at the Tokyo Bay Oriental Hotel in Chiba to focus on treatment due to a recurrence of cancer. Hashimoto felt something wrong with his physical condition in February 2024 and an abnormality was found in his liver. He still continued to wrestle, but after a detailed examination, he was told on September 9, 2024 that he has stage 2 liver cancer. He still was able to have a one on one match with Kazuyuki Fujita on October 13, 2024 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. Hashimoto afterwards underwent radiofrequency ablation treatment on November 19, 2024 at a Tokyo hospital which lead to the cancer disappearing. He did another check up in mid-May 2025 and it was discovered the the cancer had recurred in a difficult part of the liver. His doctor suggested that he would need chemotherapy. He went to several doctors but everyone gave him the same opinion. Hashimoto as of right now is going to try and treat himself with oriental medicine, diet therapy, and hot spring therapy. A-Team is asking for any information on oriental medicine from any experts on the subject. After hearing about Hashimoto's condition three of his former DDT friends in Shuji Ishikawa, MIKAMI, and Thanomsak Toba have asked to compete against him in a 6 man match on June 22nd for his final match for the time being.

Terry Brunk better known as Sabu passed away in the early morning of May 11, 2025. He was 61 years old. Sabu got his big break with FMW starting as his uncle The Sheik's partner for the FMW Tag Team Tournament with Sabu having his first match in FMW on November 20, 1991. He would become a regular for FMW where he would make a name for himself with his daredevil moves that had helped get him over. Paul Heyman would see the FMW tapes and bring in Sabu for ECW on October 1, 1993 and he would split time between the promotions as well as working his own NWA territory NWA Sabu until leaving FMW for a bigger paying job in New Japan in December 1994. Sabu would end up returning to FMW as part of an ECW alliance that he helped with on December 22, 1997. He would continue to work sporadically for FMW whenever he was needed including working the final FMW match on February 4, 2002 at Korakuen Hall where he would give tribute to Hayabusa by coming to the ring and wearing his mask and having Hayabusa's chest tattoo marked on him. I wrote a piece on Sabu's time in Japan that you can find at http://fmwwrestling.us/Sabu.html

Last update I mentioned that I was looking to translate and document everything of Hayabusa or other main FMW wrestlers spotlighted by the Japanese media for prosperity purposes. I ended up translating almost all of everything that was covered of Eiji Ezaki's sabbatical to Mexico and America from October 1993 to his return to Japan in April 1995 prior to his match against Atsushi Onita at Kawasaki Stadium. There are a couple of articles I know I am missing that I will add to it when I receive the magazines this month and then I will look to begin working on Hayabusa's first year as the ace in 1995 to 1996 in FMW. You can find it at http://fmwwrestling.us/Hayabusa9395.html

Added: 4/4

Osamu Nishimura passed away on February 28, 2025 at 7:56 am at a hospital in Tokyo due to esophageal cancer at the age of 53 years old.

As mentioned in the previous update Nishimura had returned to the hospital after his health had declined in January which resulted in him having to cancel teaming up with Atsushi Onita on January 26th for the New Year Hiroshima Pro-Wrestling Festival.

Nishimura once again began to feel horrible and ended up writing this message on February 16th on his Facebook account which would be his final post on social media: "This past week has been so hard that I don't know if I'm alive or dead. I'm still alive. The stamina I developed through wrestling is still sharp. I can't go any lower, so I can only go higher. My head is still bald, but I can only grow more. The muscles I've lost can only be built back up. If a person gives up, it's over. I'll be returning to parliament in a few days."

According to Nishimura's wife he had actually began to feel better after that post and wanted to be discharged to attend his son's elementary school entrance ceremony that was scheduled for April as he was scheduled to be discharged from the hospital on March 4th.

The morning of February 28th though, he got up to go to the bathroom at 4 am, but then his condition suddenly worsened around 6 am, and by the time his family rushed to his side, he had already stopped breathing. 1,500 would end up attending his wake that would take place on March 7th including Tatsumi Fujinami, Kensuke Sasaki, Masahiro Chono, and Onita.

Although Nishimura will be remembered for his runs in New Japan and then All Japan and had little interaction with FMW through out his career, he did end up having a conversation that was recorded by Weekly Gong on February 14, 1995 in a Florida hotel hot tub with Hayabusa prior to Hayabusa coming back to FMW as the ace that I have translated that you can find at http://fmwwrestling.us/HayabusaNishimura.html

Nishimura's partnership with Atsushi Onita would then start on April 30, 2022 for the Fire Pro promotion as he would team up with Onita in his first explosion death match with Nishimura doing his best to avoid getting hit with any explosion as one of his opponents Mr. Pogo would try to hit Nishimura with an exploding bat but Nishimura would duck in the corner and Pogo would end up hitting the turnbuckle with the exploding bat instead. Nishimura would then help Onita out by standard wrestling tag moves like a double suplex before helping setup an exploding table that Onita would end up piledriving PSYCHO through to get the win for the Onita/Nishimura team. Click here for highlights of the main event of the Fire Pro 4/30/22 show

The next day the Onita/Nishimura team would fall apart as Onita would end up accidentally spitting red mist in Nishimura's face during the match followed by Nishimura taking the exploding barbed bat and accidentally hitting Onita over the head with it. This would setup Nishimura splitting up and Nishimura teaming up with the late Yutaka Yoshie against Atsushi Onita and Raijin Yaguchi on July 17, 2022 for the Fire Pro promotion with Nishimura getting the win over Yaguchi after hitting him with a exploding bat. Click here for highlights of the Fire Pro 7/17/22 show

Fire Pro would then change its name to Fire Blast Wrestling for the next show on September 23, 2022 that would see the Onita team which would include Masakatsu Funaki against the Osamu Nishimura team in a 10 Exploding Barbed wire Bats and Double Missile Death Match with Nishimura getting hit with the exploding bat by Funaki, but Nishimura along with his partners Mr. Pogo and Masked Fire would all get together and hit Onita with exploding bats allowing Nishimura to get the pinfall over Onita. Click here for highlights of the Fire Blast Wrestling 9/23/22 main event

Fire Blast Wrestling would begin to fade out and the Onita vs. Nishimura feud would move onto FMW-E on December 11, 2022 with Nishimura placing Onita in a figure four leglock but in the process would leave himself unprotected allowing Yaguchi to hit with him the exploding bat. Nishimura would place Onita in the figure four again, but this time they would roll out of the ring and fall into the exploding barbed wire barricade outside as Nishimura would continue to get more willing to take the explosions. Click here to watch highlights of the FMW-E 12/11/22 show

The Onita/Nishimura feud would cool off there as Nishimura would stop working the death matches and mostly work with All Japan until getting diagnosed with his stage four cancer in March 2024. Then Osamu Nishimura would be called to team up with his mentor Dory Funk, Jr. against Atsushi Onita and Raijin Yaguchi on August 24, 2024 at Kawasaki Stadium in honor for what would most likely and should be 83 year old Funk's final match.

Nishimura would sign a self-responsibility document to his hospital with his main doctor stating he couldn't allow Nishimura to wrestle in the match, but he couldn't stop him either. He would have multiple doctors at ringside there watching over him at ringside with Nishimura stating he had to be apart of the match. Nishimura would show that he was still in good shape during the match and sacrifice his body to take a exploding bat shot instead of Dory, but would end up hitting Yaguchi in the knee with the exploding bat and then place Yaguchi in the Spinning Toe Hold with Yaguchi giving up in a match that would be considered a success in that everybody came away okay after the match. Click here for highlights of the FMW-E 8/24/24 Kawasaki Stadium main event

Osamu Nishimura's final match would take place on December 8, 2024 for the FMW-E show as he would team up with Katsushi Takemura and Shinya Aoki against Onita, Yaguchi, and Mammoth Sasaki in a No Ropes Barbed wire, Exploding Barbed wire Baseball Bat Death Match with Nishimura getting a shot in at Onita with the exploding bat, but Takemura would take the pin after Onita and Yaguchi would hit him with an exploding bat. Onita and Nishimura would embrace after the match with them agreeing to team together for the Devil Magician retirement match on January 26th before Nishimura would begin to feel too ill and the reunited team of Onita and Nishimura would end up not happening. Click here to watch highlights of the FMW-E 12/8/24 show

Onita stated that he was hoping that Nishimura's health would improve to where they could form their team again for the FMW-E show on April 29th in Osaka. Onita then would state with the approval of Nishimura's he will hold a memorial ceremony at this show with the slogan of "Lets End Bullying!" and that he wants to convey to adults and children alike the importance of living life to the fullest, surviving, and the resilience of beings.

Atsushi Onita would appear for the HERO promotion on February 23, 2025 for their 15th Anniversary show at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. HERO was a promotion started by Yamiki who trained in the early days of New Japan, but was unable to make his debut due to his hearing impairment. He ended starting his own promotion in February 2010 to be able to fulfill his dream and as a place for deaf wrestlers to be able to compete. Yamiki would pass away on April 8, 2016 and the promotion has continued promoting for fans of any handicap as fans in wheel chairs, hearing impaired, and visually impaired the opportunity to attend wrestling events for free.

Onita would participate in a Weapons Street Fight Tornado Death Match teaming up with Rajin Yaguchi and Pandita to face Guts Ishijima, Yoshihiro Horaguchi, and Akira Takizawa all of who were successors of Tarzan Goto's spirit. Bamboo swords, guitars, tables, boards and other weapons were in the ring as the official weapons. The match devolved into a big fight outside the ring from the start. Onita and Ishijima engaged in a headbutt battle and then hit Takizawa with a piledriver through the table. Horaguchi would swing a barbed wire bat at Onita, but would get green mist spit in his face as a result allowing Onita to hit a Takizawa with a guitar over the head followed by a DDT for the win.

Onita got on the mic and stated that he does not know how much longer he can continue to compete, but he would like to be able to do this for three more years as his goal now is now to have an explosion death match at the age of 70 years old.

Ishijima would then announce after the show that Atsushi Onita would be participating for the HERO show on May 5, 2025 show at the Yokohama Tsurumi Fruit and Vegetables Market in a explosion death match. The match will see Onita teaming up with Raijin Yaguchi, Ricky Fuji, The Construction Site Dad who Shuji Toshima taking on Guts Ishijima, Wild Bear, Wild ZERO, and Shoji Ohno in a Hideki Hosaka and Wild Seven Memorial No Ropes Exploding Barbed wire Death Match.

The day of the show will mark the 30th anniversary of May 5, 1995 which was Onita's big retirement show at Kawasaki Stadium against Hayabusa. It also would be the 15th Anniversary of another lesser known Onita retirement as he teamed up with Tarzan Goto on May 5, 2010 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring show for Goto's Shin-FMW promotion where Onita would state while doing his Onita Theater after the match that he knew he would not be staying retired although he would end up going 6 months before coming back to wrestle in November 2010. This will actually be Onita's first death match of any kind on May 5th since the 1995 Kawasaki Stadium retirement match.

FREEDOMS would return to the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on February 16, 2025 and announce a crowd of 134 fans for the show. The main event would Tomoya Hirata vs. Yusaku Ito in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match with Ito grabbing light tubes and just tossing them at Hirata, but Hirata would come back with a clothesline breaking another stack of light tubes across Ito's body that he was holding looking to use. Hirata grabbing Ito and hitting him with a Spinebuster on a stack of light tubes before slamming him Ito multiples on more stacks of light tubes but when making the cover would get black Indian ink spit in his face by Ito followed by a head butt and the Octopus Trap for the pinfall at 15 minutes, 5 seconds for the Ito win. This was another very good match between the two. Ito would get on the mic and challenge Hirata to a tougher death match before calling Takeda to the ring and announce that they would look to begin contending for the tag team titles.

Rina Yamashita would end up teaming up with Takashi Sasaki instead of her original partner Mammoth Sasaki after Mammoth had gotten ill right before the show with a infectious enteritis so they would team up against Toru Sugiura and Jun Kasai in a Weapons No DQ Tornado Death Match. Sugiura and Yamashita would face off with Sugiura dropping Yamashita on a stack of chairs, but Yamashita would manage to kick out and when Sugiura slowly went over to Yamashita, when he least expected it he would be rolled up by Yamashita while holding the ropes and she would manage to get the win at 13 minutes, 50 seconds with a Samson Clutch for the surprise victory. Yamashita would get on the mic and state that she knew that after defeating Ito at Korakuen the previous week, he would take this match lightly and would act like an idiot and she would challenge Sugiura for the next shot at the King of Freedom World Championship.

Masashi Takeda would team up with Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Kengo to defeat Violento Jack, Kenji Fukimoto and GENTARO when Takeda would pin Fukimoto at 14 minutes, 11 seconds with a TAMU*GENE*Clutch for the victory. Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kyu Mogami would defeat the team of Takayuki Ueki and Kentaro Hachisu in a Barbed wire Board Death Match when Sakuda would pin Hachisu at 13 minutes, 17 seconds with a Ressentiment on the barbed wire board with Hachisu being declared a member of the ERE afterwards.

Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would defeat Dragon Libre, Brahman Shu, and Brahman Kei when Susumu would pin Kei at 7 minutes, 42 seconds when he would reverse Kei's La Magistral. Takahiro Katori would pin Rekka at 5 minutes, 14 seconds with his Gro in the opening match. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 2/16/25 show

FREEDOMS would return to the Yokohama Radiant Hall on February 22, 2025 and would announce a crowd of 119 fans for the show. The main event would be Toru Sugiura and Jun Kasai against Tomoya Hirata and Rina Yamashita with Sugiura working on Yamashita until she would kick Sugiura low and then give him a head butt but be met with a running elbow. Sugiura would then charge at Hirata but be met by Hirata diving at him which would then allow Yamashita to once again roll Sugiura up for the win at 18 minutes, 46 seconds with a Samson Clutch. Yamashita would then challenge Sugiura for the King of Freedom World Championship on March 19th at Korakuen Hall with Sugiura accepting.

Daisuke Masaoka would make his return to the ring for the first time since the Christmas Death Match as it looks like Masaoka will tend to work mostly Yokohama and Osaka based shows and will take a break from working Tokyo due to family responsibilities. Masaoka would team up with Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto as they would take on Masashi Takeda, Yusaku Ito, and Kengo with Takeda picking up the win over Masaoka at 15 minutes, 43 seconds with a Reverse U Crash for the win. Takeda and Ito would announce themselves as the Hellbringers and would challenge Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto for the King of Freedom Tag Team Titles on March 19th at Korakuen Hall.

In a ERE vs. F-SWAG match the team of Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would take on Toshiyuki Sakuda, Takayuki Ueki, and Kyu Mogami with the match getting out of hand and ending at 10 minutes, 29 seconds by being ruled a No Contest. Tatsuhito Takaiwa and GENTARO would defeat Takahiro Katori and Rekka when GETNARO would would pick up the win over Rekka at 9 minutes, 1 second with a cradle. Takashi Sasaki and Dragon Libre would defeat Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei when Sasaki would get the win at 9 minutes, 26 seconds after pinning Kei. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 2/22/25 show

Kamui would then promote the FREEDOMS March 2, 2025 show at the Osaka Active Square Daito where they would announce a crowd of 230 fans for the show. Masashi Takeda would defeat Daisuke Masaoka in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Thumbtacks Death Match after once again hitting Masaoka with the Reverse U Crash at 17 minutes, 36 seconds for the win. Toru Sugiura and Yusaku Ito would defeat Jun Kasai and Rina Yamashita in a Barbed wire Board Death Match at 17 minutes, 15 seconds with the Swift Diver to get some recent revenge on Yamashita. Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto would defeat Toshiyuki Sakuda and Takayuki Ueki when Fukimoto would get the win at 15 minutes, 24 seconds with a Package Piledriver over Fukimoto in a Hardcore Match.

HAKKA would return back to Japan to team up with Mammoth Sasaki also returning from his illness along with Gunso as they would defeat Takashi Sasaki, Tomoya Hirata, and Dyna Mido when Mammoth would pin Mido at 12 minutes, 41 seconds with the C4BOMB. Yuya Susumu and Maori Kawashima would defeat Donguri Fujie and Tetsuya oto when Susumu would get the win at 11 minutes, 44 seconds after hitting Goto with the Front Crash. The opening match would see GENTARO and Takahiro Katori defeating Dragon Libre and Idea when Katori would get the win at 8 minutes, 56 seconds with a Hurricanrana.

The joint FREEDOMS vs. MYWAY show would take place on March 15, 2025 at the Fukuoka MYWAY Auto Studio and announce a crowd of 53 fans in the small building. The main event would be Violento Jack taking on the young star Vent Vert Jack with Jack getting the win at 17 minutes, 35 seconds with the Amtulan. Toru Sugiura and Van Vert Negro would team up to defeat Jun Kasai and El Falco when Sugiura would pin Falco at 14 minutes, 46 seconds with a Diving Senton. Takashi Sasaki would defeat Van Vert Jack's very talented 14 year old sister CoCo with Sasaki pinning CoCo at 14 minutes, 25 seconds with the D-Geist. The opening match would see Tomoya Hirata defeat Hurrican Marino at 11 minutes, 2 seconds with the Tower Hacker Bomb for the win.

FREEDOMS would run the next day on March 16, 2025 at the Kumamoto Castle Hall where they would announce a crowd of 253 fans for the show. Every match would be sponsored with the main event of Masashi Takeda and Rina Yamashita taking on Toru Sugiura and Tomoya Hirata being sponsored by Beer Hall MAN which is ran by 91 year old Yoshinori Murata who Hayabusa and Mr. Gannosuke use to attend his restaurant all the time back while they were in college. Murata who is best known for creating clay statues of wrestlers most notably his Antonio Inoki statue would reward both Takeda and Yamashita an Inoki statue for winning their match after Takeda would pin Hirata at 15 minutes, 9 seconds with his Reverse U Crash.

Jun Kasai and Takashi Sasaki would defeat Toshiyuki Sakuda and Takayuki Ueki when Kasai would pin Ueki at 15 minutes, 13 seconds with a Pearl Harbor Splash. Mammoth Sasaki and GENTARO would defeat Aso-san and HIROYA when Mammoth would pin HIROYA at 8 minutes, 59 seconds with the 29 Years Old. Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto would defeat Van Vert Jack and Van Vert Negro when Jack would pin Jack with the Amaturan. Gamushara Pro would sponsor their own match on the show as Tetsuo would defeat YASU at 5 minutes, 25 seconds when Tetsuo would use the Tetsunage. The opening match would see Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox defeating Dragon Libre, RANMA, and CoCo when Susumu would make Libre tap out at 9 minutes, 31 seconds to the Crossface.

FREEDOMS would return to Korakuen Hall on March 19, 2025 and announce a crowd of 452 fans which would be nearly 100 down from last years March Korakuen show and 30 down from the February Korakuen show.

The main event would be Toru Sugiura defending his King of Freedom World Championship against Rina Yamashita in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Glass Board Death Match. They would fight using light tubes at first with Yamashita using a light tube to cut open Sugiura's forehead. She would then try to send Sugiura into the corner glass board, but he would counter and send Yamashita into it instead. Sugiura would then use the broken glass to cut open Yamashita with it. Sugiura would then pull out a table and look to Kamikaze Awesome Bomb her through it the outside, but Yamashita would manage to escape and deliver a suplex to Sugiura.

They would brawl on the apron with Yamashita knocking Sugiura outside before laying him over two tables and bringing in a ladder, but Sugiura would get up and climb up the ladder as well and suplex her off the ladder through two tables on the outside. Sugiura would bring Yamashita back in the ring and hit a Swift Driver on a light tube and cover but Yamashita would kick out. Sugiura would then bring over the other glass board and set it on a stack of chairs and look to suplex Yamashita off the turnbuckle, but Yamashita would headbutt Sugiura and then hit him with Splash Mountain sending Sugiura into the second glass board.

Yamashita would get so intense that she would put glass in her own mouth and slap herself in the face with the glass still in her mouth before striking Sugiura and throwing the ladder at him. Sugiura would get up and strike Yamashita knocking her straight down although when he would go for a rolling elbow, he would be met by an elbow from Yamashita who would deliver two superkicks to Sugiura. Yamashita would then grab a light tube and try and break it over Sugiura, but as he would grab the light tube from her he would be met with a lowblow as Yamashita would break the light tube over his head and hit him with a German Suplex with Sugiura kicking out.

Yamashita would go for another Splash Mountain, but Suigura would get out and hit Yamashita with a stack of light tubes and then nail her with a rolling elbow and then deliver a drop kick to her, but out of nowhere Yamashita would roll up Sugiura with a Samson Clutch, but Sugiura would kick out at two this time. Sugiura would then pick Yamashita up and hit her with a Swift Driver and cover her for a two count as Sugiura would place a stack of light tubes on her and hitting a running elbow breaking the light tubes across her body and he would cover her to get the win at 28 minutes, 40 seconds for his second successful title defense for his fourth title reign as champion. Sugiura would get on the mic afterwards and state it doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl, it's being world champion that means you're the best.

The semi-main event would see Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto defending their King of Freedom Tag Team Titles in a Double Hell Board Weapons Death Match against Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito. Jack and Takeda would face off with Jack delivering a drop toe told to Takeda with Takeda stopping himself before going face first in a needle board but Jack would then hit him with a Senton so his whole body would go into the board instead. Jack and Fukimoto would go for Package Piledrivers but Takeda and Ito would both counter and spit black Indian ink in their faces as Takeda would get rid of Jack out of the ring and Ito would go for his Octopus Trap with Fukimoto kicking out. Takeda and Ito would then both deliver knees to Ito and Ito would hit Fukimoto with a Northern Light Bomb on needles on top of a concrete block and cover Fukimoto to get the win 16 minutes, 22 seconds to win the King of Freedom Tag Team Titles for the Hellbringers.

Yuya Susumu would defend his King of Freedom World Championship against Ganbare Pro's Munetatsu Nakamura who would come out with several members of his promotion as backup. Susumu would end up throwing the referee at Nakamura that would knock the referee out that would allow Masaoka and Hox to interfere when Ganbare's Yuna Manase would come in to make the save and double clothesline both Masaoka and Hox to get the match back to one on one. Nakamura would then charge at Susumu would grab his arm and place Nakamura in the Crossface with Nakamura tapping out at 12 minutes, 23 seconds to give Susumu his third successful title defense.

Jun Kasai, Takashi Sasaki, Mammoth Sasaki, and Tomoya Hirata would team up to take on Toshiyuki Sakuda, Takayuki Ueki, Kyu Mogami, and Kentaro Hachisu in a FREEDOMS vs. ERE Hardcore Match. The FREEDOMS would team focus on the newest ERE member Hachisu including suplexing him off the turnbuckle on a stack of chairs followed by Kasai hitting him with a Pearl Harbor Splash to get the win at 11 minutes, 19 seconds for the FREEDOMS victory.

While the FREEDOMS team would be raising their hands in victory the theme music of El Desperado would begin to play as Desperado fresh off getting pinned by Kasai on March 10th at Barb Sasaki's promoted Korakuen Hall show that included Masashi Takeda in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Glass Board Death Match. Desperado would get on the mic and want another match with Kasai. Kasai would agree but it would be a tag team death match at the next FREEDOMS Korakuen Hall show on May 2nd in the main event. Desperado would accept and the two would fist bump before Kasai's music would begin to play. The match would later be announced as Toru Sugiura and Jun Kasai against El Desperado and Violento Jack in the main event of the May 2nd Korakuen Hall show.

Kengo, Takahiro Katori, and HAKKA would team up to defeat the team of Tatsuhito Takaiwa, GENTARO, and Dragon Libre when HAKKA would pin Libre at 11 minutes, 29 seconds with a Lariat. Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox would defeat Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei when Masaoka would get the win at 7 minutes, 43 seconds over Kei with the F-DRIVE II. The opening match would be a dark match between Rekka and a fellow Taiwanese wrestler Lucifer with Rekka getting the win at 6 minutes, 1 second with the Rekka Dizantou. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 3/19/25 Korakuen Hall show

FREEDOMS would return to the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on March 28, 2025 and announce a crowd of 124 fans for the show. The main event would see Toru Sugiura, Tomoya Hirata, and HAKKA team up to taken on Jun Kasai, Masashi Takeda, and Yusaku Ito in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match.

HAKKA would grab one of the light tubes, but he would miss Takeda and Takeda would grab the light tube and break it across his mouth instead. Takeda would then place a stack of light tubes as Kasai would deliver a Pearl Harbor Splash breaking them across his body, but HAKKA would manage to kick out. Kasai would then to go for the Stimulation Driver but Hirata would come over and clothesline Kasai and then eventually HAKKA would give Ito some of his own medicine by spitting black Indian ink in his face as Hirata would nail Ito with a clothesline. Hirata would then pick up Ito and hit him with the Tower Hackabomb on the fluorescent light tubes to get the win at 16 minutes, 9 seconds with Hirata nominating HAKKA as his partner to challenge Takeda and Ito for the tag team titles at the next Shin-Kiba 1st Ring show on April 10th.

The semi-main event would see Mammoth Sasaki and Rina Yamashita take on Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto in a Hardcore Match. Jack would end up picking up and throwing Yamashita and Fukimoto's knee followed by Fukimoto hitting her with a clothesline. Fukimoto would then try to package piledrive on Yamashita, but she would counter and drop Fukimoto head first on the chairs. Mammoth would then come in and and they would double suplex Fukimoto on a stack of chairs and then Mammoth would hit the 29 Years Old on the chair to get the pin at 12 minutes, 53 seconds as Mammoth and Yamashita would get their revenge on Jack and Fukimoto for their loss back in February to them at Korakuen Hall.

Toshiyuki Sakuda, Takayuki Ueki, and Kyu Mogami would have a revenge match against F-SWAG's Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox this time with ERE getting the win as Mogami would pin Hox at 14 minutes, 20 seconds with the X Fu Okami Ika. Takashi Sasaki would make Dragon Libre tap out at 13 minutes, 2 seconds with the Chickenwing. Tatsuhito Takaiwa and GENTARO would defeat Kengo and Takahiro Katori when Takaiwa would pin Katori at 11 minutes, 17 seconds with a Death Valley Bomb. The opening match would see Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei defeat Rekka and Lucifer at 8 minutes, 10 seconds when Shu would pin Lucifer with the Gotai Fu Manzoku. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 3/28/25 show

This past March 3rd marked 9 years since the passing of Eiji Ezaki. The KUSHI-ZARU yakitori restaurant that Hayabusa monthly would hold concerts at has began once again holding Hayabusa concerts monthly as his guitarists would perform the songs while playing a recording of Ezaki singing the songs would play. Their March concert would be held on March 3rd to acknowledge the anniversary of Ezaki's passing with a sold out concert event. Masato Tanaka, Megumi Kudo, and Ricky Fuji would all attend the concert as well to listen to the songs sang by their old friend. After the concert was over, Masato Tanaka, Megumi Kudo, and Ezaki's oldest daughter Ayane would meet up to talk and talk with this being the first time that Kudo would be meeting Ayane.

There has been no update in regards to the new Hayabusa appearing as ZERO1 will hold one more show on April 6th at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring before the Lucha Fiesta Especial show at the Ryogoku Sumo Hall event on April 27th. This would be their last chance to debut the Hayabusa gimmick in front of their fan base before he wrestles Tanaka although nothing has been advertised of any sorts of the new Hayabusa appearing on that show, so it looks like the Hayabusa gimmick will appear for the first time while making its debut in the ring. Megumi Kudo did an interview stating that instead of trying to collect information on who the new Hayabusa is, she wants people to just look forward to April 27th when Hayabusa vs. Masato Tanaka takes place.

An update on ZERO1 is that currently the re-start of the promotion is continuing to struggle. They held two shows on March 28th and March 30th at the Shinjuku FACE and having seen video of the first show, the building looked empty with less than 100 fans attending in a place that can hold around 650 fans. The second event would be the 24th Anniversary show at least be able to fill the front row around ringside, but the rest of the building would still not look like a healthy promotion.

Megumi Kudo did make an announcement on the March 30th show that ZERO1 will running Kawasaki Stadium on May 7th. The scary part is this announcement got zero buzz. I have only seen two people that were at the Shinjuku FACE show referencing Kudo's announcement with only one including the date of the show, which sounds crazy that they would announce a show like that only a little over a month away. I have seen no actual media story announcement about the event while trying to look for anything online, and ZERO1 itself still has not updated their website since the March 30th show. Hikaru Sato has been holding events yearly at Kawasaki Stadium where it's usually only about a hundred people or so sitting on the football field around ringside, so I have to imagine they were able to come up with a similar deal financially like that to work at the stadium, as it does not seem like they are going to actually promote this show as anything special and it's just to allow Masato Tanaka the chance to get to work at Kawasaki Stadium again for the first time in 21 years.

Weekly Pro magazine conducted a special feature on Hayabusa back in August 2015 about 7 months prior to his passing. They conducted interviews with Hayabusa himself along with Atsushi Onita, Jinsei Shinzaki, Masato Tanaka, Kota Ibushi, Dragon Kid, and Ken Suzuki who was the main reporter for FMW for the magazine for the Hayabusa era. My goal is to try and get anything and everything of Hayabusa or other main FMW wrestlers spotlighted by the Japanese media translated and documented for prosperity purposes. I have translated all the interviews in the magazine piece that you can find at http://fmwwrestling.us/Hayabusa2015.html

Added: 2/13

Atsushi Onita would wrestle his first match of the year on January 26, 2025 for the The New Year Hiroshima Pro-Wrestling Festival which would be sponsored by the Hiroshima Pro-Wrestling Executive Committee would at the Hiroshima Prefectural Gym and announce a crowd of 1,758 fans for the show.

The main event would be Atsushi Onita, Raijin Yaguchi, and Tsuyoshi Okada replacing Osamu Nishimura for the match against Devil the Magician who would team up with Jun Kasai and Mammoth Sasaki in a Exploding Barbed wire and Exploding Barbed wire Baseball Bat Death Match for Devil the Magician's retirement match. Onita would charge at Magician who would move out of the way as Onita would go into the exploding barbed wire. Kasai and Mammoth would then place on Onita on a chair as Magician would turn on the exploding bat and smash it across Onita's chest.

Yaguchi would then use a chair into Magician's ribs as Okada and Onita would place Magician on a chair with Yaguchi turning on the exploding bat with Kasai rushing in the last second to make the save with Yaguchi hitting Kasai in the back with the exploding barbed wire bat. Yaguchi would then turn on the bat again and with Onita and Okada holding Magician this time he would successfully hit Magician with the exploding bat. Onita and Yaguchi would then suplex him as Okada would cover him with Magician kicking out. Onita and Yaguchi would then turn on both exploding bats and hit Magician from the back and front at the same time as Onita would cover Magician for the win at 14 minutes, 4 seconds with Magician shaking Onita's hand and hugging him afterwards. Click here for highlights of the Hiroshima Pro-Wrestling Festival 1/26/25 show

Osamu Nishimura who was originally booked to team up with Onita on the show would end up having to cancel after his health would begin to get worse in the middle of January. Nishimura who is now completely bald stated that he got test results and his brain cancer that had spread from his esophagus had continued to grow and he ended up having another seizure at home the previous week, so although he is currently feeling better at the moment he is going to remain staying at the hospital for the time being.

Atsushi Onita would then face off against Jun Kasai once again this time on January 31, 2025 at Korakuen Hall for the Giant Baba Memorial show in a Street Fight Tornado Bunkhouse Barbed wire Board Death Match. Onita would also bring back the Great Nita gimmick as he would team up with Ryuchi Kawakami, Raijin Yaguchi, and Yuko Miyamoto against Jun Kasai, Shuji Ishikawa, Masashi Takeda, and Black Menso~re. Nita would pull his mask off and spit green mist in Kasai's face immediately as the match would begin with everyone brawling outside the ring. Nita would begin carving Kasai's forehead with a sickle right in the crowd. Takeda and Kawakami would square off in the ring with Kawakami slamming Takeda with that waking up Takeda who would place a chair over Kawakami's head and smashing the chair over his head with another one. Miyamoto and Menso would face off with Menso walking on the ropes but would hit with a cane by Yaguchi as Yaguchi would continue to hit Menso out of the ring.

Yaguchi and Ishikawa would then get in the ring and square off with Ishikawa shoulder tackling Yaguchi out of the ring. Nita would then get in the ring and be picked up by Ishikawa as Nita would spit green mist in Ishikawa's face. Kasai would then throw in the barbed wire board to the ring but as he would get in the ring he would be attacked by Kawakami. Kawakami and Yaguchi would setup the barbed wire on a stack of chairs and try to suplex Kasai on with Takeda coming in to make the save and the two would barely manage to suplex Yaguchi through the barbed wire board. Kasai and Kawakami would then face off with lariats with Kawakami managing to knock down Kasai followed by Kasai going low on him. Kasai would then bring out the skewers and shove them in Kawakami's forehead and hit him with a Reverse Tiger Driver and a Pearl Harbor Splash with Miyamoto coming off the top with a drop kick to make the save. Takeda would then come in and hit Miyamoto with a spear and then grab a barbed wire bat and begin attacking Nita with it. Takeda would then bring in his scissors and look to stab Nita with them but he also would end up getting green mist spit in his face.

Nita would then take the barbed wire bat and hit Takeda with it followed by smashing a guitar over Takeda's head. Nita would then grab another guitar and smash it over Menso's head and then piledrive him through a table followed by Yaguchi hitting him with an Olympic Slam and then Nita would hit Menso with a sickle and then finish Menso with a Kawazu Drop to get the win at 8 minutes, 43 seconds for the Nita team. Nita would then go over after Kasai with his sickle and choke him with the chain before Kasai would manage to escape. Kasai afterwards would state he felt a stimulation in the match that he wanted to feel again, but it wasn't with Onita it was with Kawakami and that he hopes to have another match with him in the future.

The next FMW-E show will take place on April 29th as they will return to the Osaka Sakai City Ohama Sumo Arena. It will be a sponsored event by Masaya LLC and Great Nita is scheduled to appear on the show as well.

FREEDOMS would run their first show of the year on January 3, 2025 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring announcing 213 fans for the show which for a show with no death matches, is a good number but has more to do with the time of the year than the actual card. The main event would be a New Year match between Toru Sugiura, Tomoya Hirata, and Dragon Libre against Jun Kasai, Takashi Sasaki, and Mammoth Sasaki. Kasai and Libre would face off with Kasai headbutting and hitting a Reverse Tiger Driver on him. Kasai would then go up to the top and go for a Pearl Harbor Splash with Libre getting his knees up. Sugiura and Hirata would then come in and hit rolling disc punches at Kasai as Sugiura would hit Kasai with a Soul Driver for the win at 18 minutes, 15 seconds for the new generation to defeat the veteran team.

Masashi Takeda would take on Jun Masaoka with them going to the outside and Takeda bringing out a chair and smashing it over Masaoka's head. Takeda would then bring Masaoka to the mat and work on his arm with Masaoka getting up and managing to fight back with some kicks and slaps that would lead to Takeda delivering Masaoka a headbutt followed by a Mega Lover with Masaoka tapping out at 12 minutes, 55 seconds which would kind of kill any momentum that Masaoka had following the Christmas Death Match show as someone interjecting himself in the Kasai/Takeda hardcore style of match and Masaoka since has been booked back to the undercard with his F-SWAG partners.

Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto would take on the F-SWAG team of Yuya Susumu and Gaia Hox. Gaia would get on the mic and ask the champions to make it a title match instead with Jack and Fukimoto accepting. Jack and Susumu would face off with Susumu getting Jack in a Just Facelock before Hox would come in and work on Jack before going up to the top with Susumu grabbing a hold of him. Jack would end up shoving Susumu into the corner and then picking both up on his back before dropping them both to the math before hitting Hox with the Amatalan to get the win at 12 minutes, 41 seconds to defend the titles for the 1st time. Tatsuhito Takaiwa and GENTARO would defeat Kengo and Takahiro Katori when Takaiwa would hit a Death Valley Bomb at 11 minutes, 43 seconds on Katori for the win.

The opening match would be a 9 Person Barefoot King Royal Rumble that would consist of that would consist of Kentaro Hachisu, Rina Yamashita, Toshiyuki Sakuda, Brahman Shu, Brahman Kei, Yusaku Ito, Rekka, Takayuki Ueki, and Kyu Mogami which would come down to Rekka and Mogami with Rekka winning the title after last eliminating Kyu Mogami at 12 minutes, 33 seconds by biting Mogami's injured foot for the victory of the prestigious championship. Click here for highlights of the FREEDOMS 1/3/25 show.

FREEDOMS would then return to Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on January 15, 2025 and draw more of their standard attendance of an announced 132 fans for the show. The main event would see Toru Sugiura and Tomoya Hirata team up to take on the Big Japan team of Ryuji Ito and Masaya Takahashi in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match. Sugiura and Ito would brawl outside with them grabbing the light tubes out of a box and smashing them over one another's head. Sugiura would place a light tube on Ito and go for a running elbow, but would be met with a light tube over the head by Takahashi followed by a Dragon Splash on a stack of light tubes to get the pin over Sugiura at 13 minutes, 2 seconds to build to their title match at Korakuen Hall in February.

The semi-main event would see Mammoth Sasaki and Rina Yamashita take on Masashi Takeda and Yusaku Ito in a Hardcore Match. Yamashita would smash a chair over Takeda's head and then deliver a German Suplex to him, with Takeda countering and delivering a German Suplex to her. Mammoth would then come in and place a chair over the bloody Ito's head and hit him with a Mammoth Home Run to get the win at 15 minutes, 19 seconds as Yamashita would ask Mammoth to be her partner to challenge for the tag team titles on February 7th at Korakuen Hall.

Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto would take on the team of the Akrangers which would consist of Takashi Sasaki and GENTARO as this would be Sasaki's final match before turning 50 the next day and Jack would get on the mic and state that since this is Takashi Sasaki's Birthday match the titles should be on the line with Sasaki and GENTARO accepting.. GENTARO would get close to rolling up Jack, but then Jack would place GENTARO in a ankle lock kneeler for the submission win at 13 minutes, 50 seconds to successfully defend the titles for the second time.

Jun Kasai and Takahiro Katori would team up to take on Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kyu Mogami in a Street Fight Death Match as Kasai would adopt Katori's attire for the match as his partner. Kasai would look to setup a Stimulation when Sakuda would come up from behind and place a paper bag over Kasai's head and roll him up with a cross arm for the win at 13 minutes, 47 seconds to setup another Kasai vs. Sakuda match for the February Korakuen Hall show.

F-SWAG of Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would defeat Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Kengo, and Dragon Libre when Susumu would pin Libre at 6 minutes, 50 seconds with a Front Crash. The opening match would see Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei defeat Rekka and Takayuki Ueki when Shu would pin Ueki at 8 minutes, 11 seconds with a limbs impaired for the win. Click here for highlights of the FREEDOMS 1/15/25 show

FREEDOMS would run their first show ever at the brand Tokyo Square in Itabashi on February 1, 2025 where they would announce a crowd of 155 fans for the show. This would be the first of a back to back running at the brand new building. This building is smaller than Shin-Kiba (which can hold up to 350 usually) as about the 155 is close to the max that this building will hold. Their return to the building won't be until April so it seems like this show will more than likely replace them running at the 2AW Square in Chiba every couple of months.

The main event would see Toru Sugiura and Jun Kasai against Takashi Sasaki and Tomoya Hirata in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match. Kasai would place light tubes over Hirata's body and deliver a Pearl Harbor Splash breaking the tubes across Hirata's body followed by trying for a Reverse Tiger Driver, but Hirata would use his power and pick up Kasai for a brainbuster and then nail Kasai with a lariat. Sugiura and Sasaki would then come in the ring and fight over a stack of light tubes with Sugiura hitting a right elbow breaking the stack tubes across Sasaki and then bring in another stack of light tubes and hit a running right elbow breaking the light tubes across Sasaki to get the win at 20 minutes, 13 seconds as Ito would come to the ring with a mic and state that he wants to do something crazy for their Korakuen main event match the next week.

The semi-main event would see Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto defeat Toshiyuki Sakuda and Kyu Mogami when Jack would pick up the win at 17 minutes, 18 seconds with a Cross Armrest in a TLC Death Match. Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox would defeat Yuya Susumu and Tatsuhito Takaiwa when Masaoka would pin Takaiwa at 11 minutes, 32 seconds with his Ambitions finisher.

Rekka would defend his Barefoot King Championship against Takayuki Ueki with Ueki looking to powerbomb Rekka but Rekka would avoid it and Ueki would end up accidentally stepping on on bird spikes as Rekka would hit feet with a flower stick and roll Ueki up with a small package for the win at 11 minutes 23 seconds to successfully defend his Barefoot King Title. The opening match would see Mammoth Sasaki, Takahiro Katori, and Dragon Libre defeat GENTARO, Brahman Shu, and Brahman when Libre would pin Kei at 12 minutes, 25 seconds with his Momo*Latch for the win.

FREEDOMS would return to the Tokyo Square in Itabashi the next day on February 2, 2025 and draw an announced 151 fans for the show. The main event would have Jun Kasai take on Tomoya Hirata in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match. Kasai and Hirata would battle over a light tube with Hirata headbutting the light tube breaking it across Kasai's head leading to a huge gash in Kasai's head as blood would begin to pour from his head right away. Referee Barb Sasaki would wrap a bandage around Kasai's head to try and control the bleeding to allow Kasai to continue the match. Kasai and Hirata would then both grab light tubes and run into one another with them with Hirata swinging wildly at Kasai's head followed by a lariat. Hirata would then go up to the top after placing a light tube over Kasai's body but he would miss the moonsault. Hirata would then go for a clothesline but Kasai would move out of the way and strike him with forearms and then hit a Reverse Tiger Driver and then hit his Stimulation Driver to put Hirata away at 19 minutes, 48 seconds for the win. Despite the loss, this was Hirata's best performance his coming back from his horrible leg injury back in September and the first sign of him of building himself back into one day coming back into the main event scene.

The semi-main event would be a Weapons Death Match between Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto against Masashi Takeda and Rina Yamashita with Fukimoto and Yamashita going at it with one another with slaps followed by Yamashita hitting him with a lariat. Yamashita would then go up against Jack and manage to pick him up and back drop him onto a stack of chairs followed by Takeda diving off a ladder onto a stack of chairs placed on Jack. Yamashita would then go for a suplex on Jack with Takeda coming over and smashing Jack with a chair but also managing to hit Yamashita as well followed by Fukimoto coming over and hitting Takeda with a bat with cans on it. Jack would then pick up Yamashita and hit her with the Amatlan and finish her off with the Cross Armbreaker for the submission win at 16 minutes, 54 seconds going into their title match against her and Mammoth.

Yuya Susumu and Jun Masaoka would defeat the team of GENTARO and Kengo as Susumu would pin GENTARO at 11 minutes, 58 seconds with a Cross Arm DDT. Toru Sugiura would defeat Dragon Libre at 12 minutes, 32 seconds when Sugiura would pin Libre with a Right Elbow. The opening match would see Takashi Sasaki, Mammoth Sasaki, and Takahiro Katori defeating Rekka, Brahman Shu, and Brahman Kei when Mammoth would pin Kei at 11 minutes, 8 seconds with the Tono Daimanzoku. Click here for highlights of the FREEDOMS 2/1/25 & 2/2/25 shows

FREEDOMS would run their first Korakuen Hall show of the year on February 7, 2025 and announce a crowd of 482 fans for the show. I would have to imagine that this would be considered a disappointment as it did a little bit less than last years February Korakuen Hall with Takeda vs. Ueki. Although Ryuji Ito is not the name he was 10-15 years ago, not hitting 500 fans I would consider a disappointment, but since they started running Korakuen in February it seems that is destined to never draw over 500 again ever since the pandemic.

The main event would see Toru Sugiura defend the King of Freedom World Championship against Big Japan's Ryuji Ito in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Glass Board Death Match. Sugiura would try to send Ito in the corner, but he would reverse it and send Sugiura flying into the glass board. Ito would then take a stack of light tubes and smash them over Sugiura and then go up to the top and hit a Dragon Splash with Sugiura kicking out at two. Ito would then grab more light tubes and miss swinging them with Sugiura hitting a right elbow breaking the light tubes across Ito. Sugiura would then pick up Ito and hit him with a Soul Driver and then hit a running right elbow breaking another light tube across Ito to get the win at 16 minutes, 40 seconds to defend the King of Freedom World Championship for the first time.

The semi-main event would be Violento Jack and Kenji Fukimoto defending their King of Freedom Tag Team Titles against Mammoth Sasaki and Rina Yamashita in a Double Board Death Match. Fukimoto and Yamashita would face off with Fukimoto grabbing a empty can board and running it into Yamashita. Jack and Mammoth would then face off with Jack hitting Mammoth with a Swanton Bomb and cover him but Yamashita would make the save by diving off the top onto Jack. Mammoth would then try and put away Jack with a La Magisterial but Jack would end up reversing it to get the pin over Mammoth at 18 minutes, 59 seconds to successfully defend the titles.

Jun Kasai would take on Toshiyuki Sakuda in a Razor Cross Board Death Match which would see Kasai powerbomb Sakuda on the Razor Cross Board before hitting a Tiger Destroyer off the top rope followed by a Stimulation Driver to get the pin at 17 minutes, 5 seconds to get another win over Sakuda. Kasai would then call Barb Sasaki to the ring that would announce that for his promoted show on March 10th the main event will be a Fluorescent Light Tubes Glass Board Three Way Death Match between Kasai, Masashi Takeda, and El Desperado which would get a big pop from the crowd.

Masashi Takeda, Yusaku Ito, and Kengo would defeat the team of Takashi Sasaki, Tomoya Hirata, and Takahiro Katori in a Hardcore Match when Ito would pin Katori at 13 minutes, 21 seconds with the Takowana. Yuya Susumu, Jun Masaoka, and Gaia Hox would defeat Tatsuhito Takaiwa, GENTARO, and Dragon Libre when Hox would pin Libre at 10 minutes, 12 seconds with the F-Drive II. The opening match would be a Barefoot King Title 6 Way Match with the champion Rekka defending the title against Brahman Shu, Brahman Kei, Takayuki Ueki, Kyu Mogami, and Kentaro Hachisu with Hachisu getting the win at 6 minutes, 51 seconds by making Rekka submit to a Front Neck Lock to become the new champion. Click here for highlights of the FREEDOMS 2/7/25 Korakuen Hall show

Megumi Kudo and Masato Tanaka announced on January 7, 2025 that the "Hayabusa" gimmick would be returning to take on Tanaka on April 27, 2025 at the Ryogoku Sumo Hall for the Lucha Fiesta Especial show. The show will be sponsored by the Mexican Tourism Board and is working with CMLL that will be bringing in their wrestlers for the show. Jushin Thunder Liger has also been announced as being in attendance for the show. The Hayabusa vs. Masato Tanaka match was announced as being booked by ZERO1 for the show which will be one week shy of the 25th anniversary between Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka's final match against one another that took place on May 5, 2000.

The topic of a new Hayabusa made the rounds on the internet with most people having an issue with not knowing if Ezaki's family would be okay with it. It was announced right away that Mr. Gannosuke was okay with it, which to me personally is a bigger deal than the Ezaki family as Gannosuke was much closer to Hayabusa when it came to to wrestling than anyone in his family. Gannosuke stated that he was okay with it once he heard Masato Tanaka was involved as he trusted Tanaka and knew that the match would be good  between the two. Gannosuke stated he had no idea who the person under the match would be. He had stated that he wanted NOAH's GHC Champion OZAWA to become the next Hayabusa as his Phoenix Splash is performed better than Ezaki was able to do it.

Project Hayabusa which is ran by Hayabusa's brother Takanori then announced on January 29, 2025 that they were giving their support to the new Hayabusa gimmick and promoted the Lucha Fiesta Especial show on their website.

ZERO1 would then run their first show under new management on February 9, 2025 with the show entitled "Keep on Running" named after Megumi Kudo's catch phrase. All five matches on the show would see the ZERO1 team lose.

Kudo would state afterwards that ZERO1 lost all their matches, and they were shown the harsh reality right from the start, but she vowed that they will all work hard, grit their teeth, so they won't lose like this again. She also stated "Now that we have been shown the reality, I want to put Hayabusa in the ZERO1 ring starting in May."

The new Hayabusa will be make his ZERO1 debut on May 3rd at the Shin-Kiba 1st a week after his match against Tanaka. The new Hayabusa becoming a full time ZERO1 wrestler pretty much eliminates any chance of it being OZAWA or any wrestler that is already contracted with another promotion. It most likely opens it up to someone that is contracted with ZERO1, but I feel like the two requirements for the Hayabusa gimmick will need to be that they have height and the ability to do Hayabusa's signature moves and I don't know if anyone associated with ZERO1 currently would be able to pull that off.

Kudo stated that she once heard Hayabusa say, "I want to see a new Hayabusa" so she wants to make his wish a reality, and the new Hayabusa will also wrestle for other independent promotions outside ZERO1, but it looks like the push for this Hayabusa no matter who is under the mask, ready or not, will be the official ace of ZERO1.

I recently added to the site a new section where I will be translated Japanese books into English on PDFs for $12 dollars each. These are books I personally translated and made sure they are easy to read as possible. These all took a very long time, but I am looking to continue update these as often as I can. The first eight books I have for sale currently are Atsushi Onita's book about his 50 year career in wrestling that came out last year, Sad Genius' book about his lawsuit against Atsushi Onita from 2006, Kodo Fuyuki's book a bout his career up until that point which includes him interviewing Jado and Gedo that came out in 1998, Kodo Fuyuki's widow Kaoru that talks about the last year of her husband's life and dealing with him and his cancer, Toshiaki Kawada's book about his career up until the book that came out in 2003, Kawada's second book about starting up a ramen store after his career ended that came out in 2019, Akira Taue's book about his career that came out in 2023, and Daisuke Sekimoto's book about his career that came out in 2017. Hopefully this can be a way of being able to archive history of Japanese wrestling for the English readers. You can check out the book page at http://fmwwrestling.us/Books.html

One of the advantages of having a house to myself now means the extra room that is has allowed for me including this closet where I have been able to put up my VHS collection. I know due to the collection I am not able to really get a clear shot of all the VHS tapes. One section is my All Japan, All Japan Women's, NOAH, and Michinoku Pro VHS tapes. The other side is my FMW, W*ING, IWA Japan, Big Japan, WAR, Toryumon, and Misc. collection as well. I am planning on doing a YouTube video where I go through and show all the videos individually as I work on turning this closet into a 1990s Japanese Wrestling merchandise store.

FREEDOMS/FMW-E/FMW Misc./Production Shows News 2024 (January - December 2024)

FREEDOMS/A-Team/FMW-E/Production Shows News 2023 (January - December 2023)

FREEDOMS/A-Team/FMW-E/Production Shows News 2022 (January - December 2022)

FREEDOMS/A-Team/FMW-E/Production Shows News 2021 (January - December 2021)

FREEDOMS/A-Team/FMW Misc./Production Shows News 2020 (January - December 2020)

FREEDOMS/A-Team/FMW Misc./Production Shows News 2019 (January - December 2019)

FREEDOMS/A-Team/FMW Misc./Production Shows News 2018 (January - December 2018)

FREEDOMS/Super Battle FMW/Onita & Production Shows News 2017 (January - December 2017)

Apache Army/FREEDOMS/Super Battle FMW & Production Shows News 2016 (January - December 2016)

Apache Army/FREEDOMS/Super Battle FMW & Production Shows News 2015 (January - December 2015)

Apache Army/FREEDOMS/Onita & Production Shows News 2014 (January - December 2014)

Apache Army/FREEDOMS & Production Shows News 2013 (January - December 2013)

Apache Army/FREEDOMS & Production Shows News 2012 (January - December 2012)

Apache Army/FREEDOMS & Production Shows News 2011 (January - December 2011)

FREEDOMS& Production Shows News 2010 (January - December 2010)

Apache Army/FREEDOMS & Production Show News 2009 (January - December 2009)

WMF & Apache Army News 2008 (January - December 2008)

WMF & Apache Army News 2007 (January - December 2007)

WMF & Apache Army News 2006 (January - December 2006)