Added: 4/12

Hayabusa would appear in the semi-main event of the ZERO1 February 28, 2026 at the Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square as he would team up with Tatsumi Fujinami's son LEONA as they would lose to the Strong Style Pro-Wrestling's Super Tiger and Hayato Mashita when Tiger would end up knocking LEONA out at 13 minutes, 11 seconds with a high kick for the win. The main event would see Katsuhiko Nakajima defeat Junya Matsunaga with Hayabusa coming out afterwards and a singles match between Nakajima and Hayabusa being made for March 20th at Shin-Kiba. Nakajima would leave with Hayabusa staying in the ring to do the 3-2-ZERO1 chant with the crowd when BUSHI's music would begin playing and out would come BUSHI in a Hayabusa style mask with one eye glowing out of it. BUSHI would ask for a match with Hayabusa but before Hayabusa could respond he would end up getting black mist spit in eyes with a very upset Hayabusa afterwards accepting BUSHI's request and a singles match would be made for April 3rd for ZERO1's 25th Anniversary show for the Shinjuku FACE. Click here to watch highlights of Hayabusa/LEONA vs. Super Tiger/Hayato Mashita 2/28/26

Hayabusa would face off against Junya Matsunaga on March 6, 2026 at the Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square with the winner of the match becoming the number one contender to face off against Masato Tanaka for the World Heavyweight Title so with Hayabusa already lined up against BUSHI for the show the end result was already pretty well known going into the match.

Matsunaga would send Hayabusa into the ropes and nail him with a shoulder tackle, but Hayabusa would end up kipping up and delivering a drop kick sending Matsunaga out of the ring with Hayabusa looking to hit a tope con hilo but Matsunaga would move out of the way, so Hayabusa would catch himself on the ropes. Matsunaga would try to come back in the ring but be met with a dropkick to the outside and then Hayabusa would take Matsunaga to the entrance of the building and smash his head against a table as they would back to ringside and begin striking one another with Hayabusa going in the crowd and climb on one of the railings for fans standing to use and dive off of it onto Matsunaga.

They would get back in the ring with Hayabusa applying an arm bar to Matsunaga with Matsunaga grabbing the ropes for the break. Hayabusa would head to the ropes but be met with a boot to the face and a Northern Lights Suplex from Matsunaga. Matsunaga would then hit the ropes and be hit with a spinning heel kick sending Matsunaga out of the ring as Hayabusa would hit him with a Tope Con Hilo. Hayabusa would bring Matsunaga in the ring and hit the Swan Dive/Asai Moonsault combo and then try for a Tiger Driver with Matsunaga turning it into a hurricanrana and follow that up with a Uranage. They would both get up and exchange strikes with one another before it would turn into elbows and then them exchanging suplexs before Hayabusa would hit Matsunaga with the Tiger Driver although when he would try for a Falcon Arrow it would see Matsunaga turn it into a brainbuster.

Matsunaga would try for a lariat but Hayabusa would duck it and hit a lariat of his own. Hayabusa would go up to the top and hit a moonsault and then follow that up with a Falcon Arrow. Hayabusa would go up to the top and try for the Firebird Splash but Matsunaga would move out of the way and deliver a knee to the back of Hayabusa's head. Matsunaga would then try for a knee to the face but Matsunaga would block it. Hayabusa would then look to hit the H Thunder but Matsunaga would escape and hit a flying forearm and then a knee to the face and then finish Hayabusa off at 20 minutes, 9 seconds with the Bee Sting.

This was good, better than the Ishikawa match with Hayabusa the month prior but the losing streak for Hayabusa in singles match continues as to put Matsunaga over for his title match against Masato Tanaka at the Shinjuku FACE in April. Hayabusa afterwards would state that he didn't think he would lose a singles match to Matsunaga this early, but since Matsunaga lost to Nakajima previously that if he beats Nakajima on March 20th that would set him up for a World Heavyweight Title match soon. Click here for highlights of Hayabusa vs. Junya Matsunaga 3/6/26

Junya Matsunaga afterwards would do a interview with Pro-Wrestling Weekly magazine to promote the ZERO1 25th anniversary show with the main event against Masato Tanaka for the World Heavyweight Title which he would end up winning from Tanaka on the show. I translated the interview that you can find at http://fmwwrestling.us/Matsunaga26.html

Hayabusa returned to NOAH for the Universe Cup Tournament on March 9, 2026, at Shinjuku FACE. His first round opponent would be Ganbare Pro's Yumehito Imanari. Imanari got the better of an early shoulder tackle exchange, but when he charged at Hayabusa again, he would be met with a dropkick that sent him to the outside. Hayabusa would attempt an Asai Moonsault, but Imanari moved out of the way, causing Hayabusa to crash onto a chair. Hayabusa would make his way back onto the apron, but Imanari would knock him down again and followed up by jumping off the apron onto him.

Back in the ring, Imanari would attempt to slam Hayabusa, but Hayabusa overpowered him and hit a slam of his own. Hayabusa would send Imanari into the ropes, but Imanari would come back with a flying body press, followed by chops to the chest, a face crusher, a running senton, and then a Vader Splash for a two count. Imanari then locked in an STF, forcing Hayabusa to reach the ropes for a break. Imanari would send Hayabusa into the ropes again, but Hayabusa countered with a dropkick to the knees, sending Imanari to the outside. Hayabusa followed with a Tope Con Hilo before throwing Imanari back into the ring. Hayabusa would then go for a swanton, but would land hard on Imanari and taking a moment to recover. Hayabusa would then get up and go for an Asai Moonsault, but then look to either slip or miss the middle rope altogether, but manage to quickly regain his footing and execute the Asai Moonsault successfully.

Hayabusa attempted a Tiger Driver, but Imanari broke free, leading to a striking exchange. Hayabusa connected with a rolling elbow, but Imanari responded with a lariat and then hit a Tiger Driver of his own. Imanari would attempt a suplex, but Hayabusa reverse it into a brainbuster. Hayabusa would then go to the top rope, but Imanari would follow and hit a suplex off the top on Hayabusa. Imanari then would deliver a powerbomb and another lariat for a two count. He attempted another lariat, but Hayabusa would catch him and execute a Spanish Fly followed by climbing to the top rope and hitting a moonsault, and then a Tiger Driver for another near fall. Hayabusa would then charge at him, but Imanari would counter with a Lou Thesz Press for a two count before Hayabusa would kick out. Hayabusa would get back to his feet, and deliver a high kick to Imanari’s head, and follow that up with a Falcon Arrow for another two count. Hayabusa would then go up to the top rope again and hit the Fire Bird Splash, and get the victory at 14 minutes and 16 seconds to advance to the semi-finals of the Universe Cup tournament. This was really nothing much of a match, and will just end up being remember for the Hayabusa struggling with the Asai Moonsault to scare everyone.

Hayabusa would then take on Katsuhiko Nakajima for the first time on March 20, 2026 for ZERO1 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. They would start off on the mat, before it would turn into an exchange with strikes, before Hayabusa would end up dropkicking Nakajima and sending him out of the ring. Hayabusa would look to deliver the tope con hilo, but Nakajima would rush back in the ring and boot Hayabusa right in the face. Nakajima would go for a strike, but Hayabusa would grab Nakajima and bring him to the mat with a triangle choke, with Nakajima making it to the ropes for the break. Hayabusa would then place Nakajima in an armbar, with Nakajima once again making it to the ropes for another break. Nakajima would manage block a high kick from Hayabusa and turn it into a dragon screw that would then lead Nakajima begin focusing on Hayabusa's ankle, and place him in a leglock, before focusing on his neck.

Hayabusa would try and fight back with strikes, but would miss and get kicked in the chest by Nakajima, but as Nakajima would try for a suplex, Hayabusa would land on his feet and deliver a spinning heel kick, sending Nakajima out of the ring, as Hayabusa would hit the tope con hilo. Hayabusa would come back in the ring with the Swanton Dive/Asai Moonsault in the ring, followed by going to the top, but Nakajima would meet him with a spinning heel kick and try for a suplex off the top, but Hayabusa would land on his feet and deliver an enziguri, but then Nakajima would counter with a superkick and deliver a backdrop that Hayabusa would get up right away and deliver a German Suplex, with Nakajima getting right up and delivering a kick to Hayabusa, as both would fall to the mat.

Nakajima would get up first, but be met with a hurricarana, followed by Hayabusa delivering a kick and then a Thunder Fire Powerbomb on Nakajima. Hayabusa would charge at Nakajima, but be knocked down into the corner, as Nakajima would begin delivering kicks and try and set up for a Vertical Spike, but instead Hayabusa would turn it into a Falcon Arrow, before going to the top and trying for a Firebird Splash, with Nakajima getting his knees up and then hitting Hayabusa with the Vertical Spike, with Hayabusa kicking out at two. Nakajima would then lift Hayabusa and hit him with the Northern Lights Bomb to get the win.

This was okay. I had saw several people speak highly of it before seeing it, so I would say I was disappointed overall They did a lot of the no selling counters, and the peak of the match never really had a great flow. Nakajima would get on the mic and state the history of Hayabusa was incredibly rich and is incredibly complex, that he can't begin to understand, but Katsuhiko Nakajima's history has unfolded in its own way, but the match they had turned out great, and thanked Hayabusa by shaking his hand. Nakajima would then ask Hayabusa to participate on his independent show in Osaka on May 31st. Hayabusa would accept the invite, as they would shake hands and left Hayabusa close the show out doing the 3-2-1 chant.

Nakajima does have a history with the original Hayabusa as he actually spent some time with Eiji Ezaki back in 2012, as when he was apart of the Kensuke Family and along with Kensuke Sasaki, Akira Hokuto, and Kento Miyahara, they all went to Mexico in May 2012 with Ezaki for several days. Click here for highlights of Hayabusa vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima 3/20/26

Hayabusa would make his Australia debut in Success at the Cockburn Youth Centre on March 28, 2026 at the New Horizon Pro-Wrestling show where the night before it would be announced that Hayabusa would be facing off against Low Ki. This was Low Ki's first match since wrestling for the promotion back in November when he faced off against Dragon Kid. This was a hard hitting match that went close to 15 minutes with the crowd very into everything they were doing before Hayabusa would end up getting the win over Low Ki with the Firebird Splash. The two would shake and raise their arms out of respect afterwards.

Hayabusa would take on BUSHI for the ZERO1 25th Anniversary show on April 3, 2026 at the Tokyo Shinjuku FACE. Hayabusa and BUSHI had gotten into words with one another on X with BUSHI referencing Hayabusa's weight with Hayabusa responding back that BUSHI was going to be the one wearing a t-shirt during the match. There was also a section dedicated to BUSHI fans in the crowd although BUSHI would state that the ticket sales for his section were not doing well so everyone that would buy a ticket in his section would get a free BUSHI pen. BUSHI would go over to his section during his entrance and the section would look full. BUSHI would end up charging into Hayabusa and he would deliver the kip up and drop kick to BUSHI and deliver a rolling senton onto BUSHI.

They would trade strikes before BUSHI would deliver a dropkick as they would both go in the crowd which would see BUSHI taking Hayabusa throughout Shinjuku FACE and slamming him head first into a table before bringing him back to ringside where Hayabusa would strike back at BUSHI with BUSHI knocking him down and bringing back in the ring. Samurai TV would cut out almost the entire outside in the crowd sequence on their version. Hayabusa would come back and deliver a spinning leg kick sending BUSHI out of the ring again this time followed by Hayabusa hitting a tope con hilo and bring him back in the ring and deliver the Swanton/Asai Moonsault and get a two count. Hayabusa would then deliver a Tiger Driver and get another two count before sending BUSHING into the turnbuckle but BUSHI would climb up to the top and deliver a flying dropkick and go up to the top again but be met with a Hayabusa dropkick on his way down. Hayabusa would deliver a Thunder Fire Powerbomb and then a moonsault for a two count. Hayabusa would then nail BUSHI with a Falcon Arrow and go up to the top and miss the Firebird Splash.

Both would crawl and face each other mask to mask as they would begin striking one another with BUSHI landing a kick to the face followed by Hayabusa hitting a spinning heel kick and then going for another Falcon Arrow but BUSHI would escape and shove Hayabusa into referee Nikkan Lee and then spit black mist in his eyes and go up to the top and hit his MX finisher to get the win at 12 minutes, 15 seconds for another Hayabusa loss. There was not much down time here so it wasn't bad, but Hayabusa pretty much was in control the whole match and BUSHI really barely did anything until the finish. BUSHI would sarcastically ask to form a team with Hayabusa with Hayabusa taking the request serious and rejecting the offer. Click here for highlights of Hayabusa vs. BUSHI 4/3/26

Hayabusa would return to NOAH for the semi-finals of the Universal Cup on April 6, 2026, at the Shinjuku FACE. His opponent would be Naomichi Marufuji, who would knock Hayabusa down with a shoulder tackle early on, with Hayabusa kipping up and delivering a dropkick, sending Marufuji out of the ring, as Hayabusa would nail him with a tope con hilo to the outside.

They would get back in the ring, with Hayabusa delivering a dropkick, sending Marufuji back to the outside, but Marufuji would grab Hayabusa's legs as he would try for an Asai Moonsault, and then deliver a brainbuster on the outside. They would get back in the ring, with Marufuji working over Hayabusa's neck, before Hayabusa would come back with a spinning heel kick, and then hit the Swanton Dive/Asai Moonsault, and then place Marufuji in the Texas Cloverleaf, with Marufuji making it to the ropes.

Hayabusa would look for a Tiger Driver, but Marufuji would escape that and deliver a dropkick, and nail Hayabusa with a lariat. Marufuji would then look to set up a brainbuster, but Hayabusa would manage to turn it into a suplex of his own, but Marufuji would manage to lift his shoulders up for a cover, with Hayabusa kicking out at two in a creative spot by Marufuji.

They would both get up, with Hayabusa delivering a kick to Marufuji and another spinning heel kick, before successfully hitting the Tiger Driver for the two count. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and try for a moonsault, with Marufuji getting his knees up. Marufuji would then try for the Shiranui, but Hayabusa would counter that and turn it into a Falcon Arrow, followed by a traditional Falcon Arrow, for a two count. Hayabusa would then go up to the top and try for a Firebird Splash, with Marufuji moving out of the way. Marufuji would then nail Hayabusa with a kick and a knee to the face for a two count. Marufuji would then nail Hayabusa with the Shiranui, with Hayabusa kicking out.

They would get up and begin exchanging chops and strikes, with Marufuji nailing Hayabusa with several high kicks and covering, with Hayabusa kicking out, before placing Hayabusa in a neck lock, with Hayabusa tapping out at 14 minutes, 52 seconds for Marufuji to advance.

This was the first time that anyone under the Hayabusa gimmick had tapped out or submitted, which I hated, as that didn't need to be the finish, but the match overall was really good and the best of the series of Hayabusa losses this year. Hayabusa and Marufuji would shake hands, as Marufuji would raise up Hayabusa's hand. Marufuji would go on to defeat Sanshiro Takagi in the finals of the tournament to win the Universal Cup. Hayabusa afterwards would state this loss to him mean he needs to move away from Ezaki's Hayabusa and focus on him being his own Hayabusa.

It's completely different as Hayabusa when starting in FMW in 1995 was suppose to be the unquestioned ace of the promotion the first year and ended up getting injured and missing four months of his first year due to injury. Just comparing the losses in their first years Hayabusa in FMW lost in singles matches to Atsushi Onita, The Gladiator twice, Super Leather, and then to Gladiator in a tag, Hisakatsu Oya in a tag, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in a tag, and Terry Funk in a tag. That's 4 single losses and four tag losses so eight overall. This Hayabusa has now lost to Kaito Kiyomiya, Masato Tanaka, Junya Matsunaga, Katsuhiko Nakajima, BUSHI, and Naomichi Marufuji with one tag pinfall loss to Junya Matsunaga which is 6 single losses and 1 tag loss so seven overall which considering he didn't lose the first 6 months at all, he has made up some ground recently with all the losses and it doesn't look likely he will end up defeating Atticus Cogar for the GCW Heavyweight Title in Las Vegas either.

ZERO1 and 2AW would co-promote a show on April 11, 2026 at the Chiba 2AW Square with the final four matches being ZERO1 vs. 2AW with Hayabusa teaming up with Chris Vice to take on the 2AW team of Ayato Yoshida and Kotaro Yoshino. Hayabusa and Yoshida had gone back and forth on X with Yoshida before the match and during the match it would be Hayabusa pin Yoshino at 11 minutes, 51 seconds with a Firebird Splash. Hayabusa afterwards would talk about Ayato Yoshida being nosier than expected but would typo his first name with Yoshida coming back and calling him an idiot for misspelling his name. Hayabusa would apologize with Yoshida stating that Hayabusa was the one that was naggy and noisy. Ricky Fuji was not on this show due to wrestling on the WUW Mexico show that day, but I do hope one of these 2AW shows leads to Hayabusa against Ricky as I would like for Hayabusa to face off against the active FMW wrestlers at least one time including Ricky, Kuroda, and Onryo.

ZERO1 announced their Fire Festival participants as the tournament will start on June 13th at Shin-Kiba and finish at Korakuen Hall on August 7th as they continue to just be in a state where they can book Korakuen Hall once a year and have decided that the finals of the tournament where it will be this year compared to last year where they did a stand alone show in November. They are also choosing to do it instead of their 25th Anniversary, but I would imagine they felt that November to April was too close to run it again. The participants will be Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, Junya Matsunaga, Chris Vice, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Shuji Ishikawa, Kuroshio Tokyo Japan, Tsugataka Sato, Daichi Hashimoto, Koji Doi, Kuma Arashi, and Ryunosuke Nagai. The blocks have not been determined yet.

Atsushi Onita would participate for the IMPACT promotion on March 29, 2026 at the Chiba Kimitsu City Citizens Gym as the show would be put together by Hiroshi Yamato who is a council member in Kimitsu City, in collaboration with Takahiro Tamaba with the aim of revitalizing Kimitsu City. The main event would see Atsushi Onita, Naoshi Sano, and Monster Leather against Hiroshi Yamato, Gajo, and Takahiro Tamaba in a Barbed wire Board Guitar Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match.

Onita would be thrown into the barbed wire board by Gajo in the early portions of the match. This ignited Onita as he would smash a guitar over Gajo's head which would bust open Gajo. Onita would continue the rampage by grabbing Yamato and delivering a double-arm suplex to him followed by a figure-four leglock. The ending sequence would see Yamato deliver a missile kick from the top rope to Monster Leather, followed by a fisherman's suplex for the three count on him to get the win at 9 minutes, 53 seconds for the Yamato team win.

After the match, Tamaba and Yamato pleaded with Onita stating, "In 2030, the Chiba Lotte Marines' farm team is scheduled to be built here in Kimitsu. Onita-san! Please take advantage of this and hold a exploding barbed wire match in Kimitsu!" as Onita at first would give a dismissive reply, but by the end, Onita would declare, "In 2030, we will hold a exploding barbed wire match here in Kimitsu!" which would get a big pop from the crowd to end the show. Onita would be 72 years old at the start of 2030.

Atsushi Onita will compete in an explosion death match in back to back May 5ths for the first time in his career since May 5, 1994 and May 5, 1995. This is actually a Dream Project show but will be using the FMW-E name as it will take place at the Osaka Sakai City Ohama Sumo Arena with the main event of Atsushi Onita, JADE, and Hiroaki Taniguchi against Raijin Yaguchi, Hideaki Sumi, and Knadai Koyama in a "explosion" match which at the very least means it will be an exploding barbed wire baseball bat death match. I would have to say that it is disappointing that CIMA will not be in the main event after he approached Onita about being on this show back in February. CIMA will instead be in a Jr. Heavyweight Mach on the show. This show will be released on DVD.

FMW-E will then run outside right outside Kawasaki Stadium in a nearby park called Fujimi Park on May 30, 2026 as 312 seats will be setup for the show. The Great Sasuke will also be appearing on this show but no card has been announced yet.

FREEDOMS would return to the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on March 12, 2026 drawing an announced 133 fans for the show. The main event would be the finals of a four team Next Challenger Tag Team Tournament going back to February 21st as Takashi Sasaki and Daiju Wakamatsu would take on Hyakuroku Mogami and Kyu Mogami in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match as Hyakuroku would end up going to the top rope to get Sasaki with a Tornado DDT with Kyu picking up Sasaki, but Sasaki managing to escape and suplex Kyu on the stack of light tubes.

Both Hyakuroku and Kyu would be on the outside when Wakamatsu would hit a dive over the top onto both of them. Hyakuroku would get back in the ring with Sasaki and setup a stack of light tubes and go for a right kick, but Sasaki would move out of the way and grab the light tubes and toss them at Hyakuroku and kick them breaking the light tubes over him. Wakamatsu would then grab Kyu as Sasaki would hit a lariat and Wakamatsu would hit a Dragon Suplex and Mogami would go up to the top rope and hit a Diving Bakachinga Elbow Drop to get the win over Kyu at 18 minutes, 7 seconds to the win the Next Challenger Tag Team Tournament and earn a match against the champions Jun Kasai and Mizuki Watase for March 26th at Korakuen Hall. Kasai and Wakamatsu would come to the ring after the match and state that they could decide any kind of format of a match that they want for their Korakuen Hall match.

The semi-main event would see Violento Jack, Jun Kasai, and Mizuki Watase taking on Masashi Takeda, Toshiyuki Sakuda, and PURE-J's Crea in a Hardcore Match with the Takeda team jumping the Kasai to start the match. Takeda would slam Kasai and toss him a chair as they would do a swinging duel chair with Kasai knocking Takeda's chair away but Takeda would spear Kasai and bring out his scissors that he would use to slice Kasai.

Crea would face off against Violento Jack as it looks like she will be FREEDOMS replacement for Rina Yamashita who is now working full time for STARDOM as she would knock Jack down but Jack would get up and chop her and push the ladder against her but each members team would help the other with the Kasai pushing the Takeda into the corner with Sakuda coming off the top rope and drop kicking the Kasai team while landing on the ladder. Kasai would end up facing off against Crea and getting her into the corner and biting her forehead and placing the ladder over her head and smashing the ladder with a chair followed by suplexing her on a chair. Kasai would charge at Crea in the corner but she would move out of the way and give Kasai a boot to the face and tag in Takeda who would deliver a running dropkick to Kasai and then spear both Jack and Watase followed by an exploder on Jack. Kasai and Takeda would face off with Takeda giving Kasai a headbutt but when going for a kick, Kasai would grab Takeda and suplex him and tag in Watase.

Watase would place the ladder over Takeda and dive onto it and then smash Takeda in the back with a chair. Kasai and Crea would get back in with Kasai delivering a lariat to Crea and then hitting her with a suplex and climb up the ladder but Takeda would come over and climb the ladder and suplex Kasai off of it with Crea covering him and then hitting him with a German Suplex with Jack making the save. Crea would then try to German Suplex Kasai but he would counter and punch her and then nail her with a Reverse Tiger Driver with Takeda and Sakuda making the save. Kasai and Watase would then suplex Crea on the ladder and cover her with Crea managing to kick out. Kasai would then place chairs on Crea as Watase would hit a diving foot stomp on her and Kasai would hit a Pearl Harbor Splash to get the pin at 18 minutes, 44 seconds for the win.

Mammoth Sasaki and Tomoya Hirata would team up to take on the team of Daisuke Sekimoto and Takayuki Ueki with Sekimoto trying to deliver a brainbuster to Hirata but Hirata would counter and deliver it to Sekimoto instead. Ueki would come in to help Sekimoto as he would spear Hirata while Sekimoto would deliver a lariat to Hirata followed by a Sekimoto splash and a Ueki diving headbutt to cover with Mammoth making the save. Mammoth would come at both Sekimoto and Ueki with a lariat but would not phase either one of them, but Hirata would then also come in with a lariat and knock both of them down as Hirata would hit Ueki with a German Suplex to get the win at 13 minutes, 17 seconds as a singles match between Sekimoto and Hirata would be made for Korakuen Hall between the two.

Gaia Hox and Rekka would team up against Kengo and Yuya Susumu with Hox going for a knee to Hox, but it getting blocked and Kengo nailing Hox with a lariat. Susumu would tag in and deliver a DDT to Hox with Hox jumping right up and nailing him with a spinning leg kick. Kengo and Rekka would come in with Kengo delivering a kick to Rekka's chest and nailing Rekka with a Brianbuster for the win at 8 minutes, 57 seconds as Kengo would nominate Gaia Hox as the next challenger for the King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title for Korakuen Hall on March 26th.

Brahman Shu would defeat Kota Sekifuda and Brahman Kei in a Three Way Match with Shu would get the win at 7 minutes, 52 seconds with a Zombie Kick over his brother Kei. Ali Najima would defeat Reiya Igarashi at 8 minutes, 47 seconds with the Crab Hold to get the win in the opening match. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 3/12/26 show

FREEDOMS would return to Korakuen Hall on March 26, 2026 and announce a crowd of 525 fans. I would say that although I can't consider that a good number, it would be way better than what was expected as it seemed like the ICW group being on the show helped create a vibe for this show the early in the year Korakuen Hall shows especially this past February show lacked. Last years March show drew 452 fans for the show so this one outdid it. This one though has the misfortune though of not being carried by Samurai TV as it I think it's more of a result of the lack of interest in the February show that drew 363 fans and was carried by Samurai. I asked the commercial video company that produces FREEDOMS DVDs and they stated they would not be releasing a DVD of this show either meaning it will be the third Korakuen Hall show not to air anywhere as the previous two shows were in November 2023 and November 2025. I could write a whole piece on Samurai TV's decline over these last couple of years, but their decline has resulted in them being way pickier when it comes to choosing what they bother to air and they probably do not want to deal with lower end shows from a smaller promotion like FREEDOMS anymore. The DVD company is even pickier in what they air as it seems like they are only going to produce DVDs for the July, August, and December Korakuen Hall shows and the Yokohama Budokan show going forward.

The main event would be King of Freedom Tag Team Titles Fluorescent Light Tubes Knives and Light Tubes Boards Death Match. Kasai would end up going to the for a Pearl Harbor Splash but Wakamatsu would end up superplexing him off the top followed by Sasaki hitting Kasai with a lariat as Wakamatsu would deliver a German Suplex for a two count. Wakamatsu would then then for another suplex but Wakamatsu would smash a stack of light tubes across Wakamatsu's head as Kasai wold hit a Reverse Tiger Driver followed by a Watase diving foot stomp and a Pearl Harbor Splash from Kasai but as he would try to cover him, it would be Wakamatsu that would roll him up for a two count. Watase would then smash a stack of light tubes over Wakamatsu's head and then deliver a dive to the outside on Sasaki as Kasai would hit two Cross Arm Stimulation Drivers on Wakamatsu to get the pin at 21 minutes, 54 seconds to defend the titles for the third time. Kasai and Takashi would end up inviting Wakamatsu who has been working Big Japan Death Matches to begin working death matches in FREEDOMS.

Daisuke Sekimoto would take on Tomoya Hirata in the semi-main event with Hirata missing a lariat and Sekimoto hitting him with a German Suplex with Hirata getting up and nailing Sekimoto with a clothesline. Hirata would then nail Sekimoto with a German Suplex for a two count as they would exchange clotheslines before Sekimoto would charge at Hirata and he would deliver a hurricanrana to Sekimoto with Sekimoto getting up and nailing Hirata with a lariat and then finish Hirata at 20 minutes, 1 second with the Big Bang Catastrophe in a match that was well received by the audience and a shame it will most likely not be aired anywhere. Hirata would state he wants a rematch with Sekimoto afterwards.

Violento Jack and Masashi Takeda would team up to take on Bear Bronson and Eric Ryan in a Scramble Tornado Weapons Death Match in Bronson's Korakuen Hall debut. They would start by breaking a flowerpot with Ryan slamming Takeda down onto it followed by Bronson picking up Takeda but Takeda would counter by pulling out his scissors and stabbing Bronson with them. Ryan would come in and send Takeda outside the ring as Bear would lift Ryan up and throw him onto Takeda outside the ring as Bronson would then hit a tope onto both Jack and Takeda on the outside. Bear would continue to use Ryan as a weapon as he would powerbomb him onto Takeda and then deliver a diving elbow to Takeda. Bronson would then bring an gusset board but Takeda would end up delivering an Olympic Slam to him on it and tag in Jack. Jack would come in and hit a tope con hilo and then a Swanton Bomb followed by Takeda delivering an Atomico onto the gusset board. Both Takeda and Bronson would be covered in blood as Bronson would catch Takeda and deliver a chokebomb to Takeda but Jack would come in and deliver a suplex to Bronson and then finish Ryan off with a Jack Pack on a barbed wire board and get the win over Ryan at 12 minutes, 15 seconds in a match considered short but very impressive.

Kengo would defend the King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Jr. Heavyweight Title against Gaia Hox as Kengo would nail Hox with a diving footstomp and then a brainbuster followed by strikes to Hox with Hox coming back with a strike of his own and then a superkick and then follow that up with Susumu's Front Crash and Jun Masaoka's Ambitions before getting the win at 12 minutes, 36 seconds with the Vanishing Shift to win the King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title.

Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei would defeat the team of Hyakuroku Mogami and Kyu Mogami when Kei would pin Hyakuroku at 7 minutes, 42 seconds with the Nobody's Perfect in a booking decision that would not make sense with where they would decide go next with. FREEDOMS would take on ICW in a Tornado Hardcore Match with John Wayne Murdoch, Danny Demento, Neil Diamond Cutter, and Vixsin would defeat Mammoth Sasaki, Daisuke Masaoka, Toshiyuki Sakuda, and Crea when Murdoch would pin Crea at 8 minutes, 22 seconds with a Brainbuster. The opening match would see Yuya Susumu, Gabby Forza, and Rekka defeat Takayuki Ueki, Yusaku Ito, and Kota Sekifuda when Forza would pin Ito at 6 minutes, 51 seconds with a Fire Thunder on a chair as 2026 has been a very rough year for Yusaku Ito after being the Big Japan Death Match Heavyweight Champion last year. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 3/26/26 Korakuen Hall show

The semi-main event would see Kamui make his return to the ring for the first time in nearly three years as his last match was on May 25, 2023 while recovering from a neck injury. Kamui would come out with a new look, new mask, and new theme replacing his old WMF theme music. Kamui would team up with Daisuke Masaoka against Mammoth Sasaki and Kengo in a Hardcore Match.

Kamui would square off against Mammoth to a loud Kamui chants with Mammoth wanting the fans to chant his name as well. Mammoth and Kamui would start off with chopping and striking one another with Mammoth trying to choke slam Mammoth but Kamui would manage to send Mammoth out of the ring and hit a triangle jump moonsault off the turnbuckle to the outside. Kamui would setup a table and foolishly try to pick up Mammoth who would be too big and instead choke slam Kamui sending him flying into the table. Mammoth and Kamui would get back in the ring with Mammoth place a ladder against Kamui's crotch and acting like he was going to smash it with a ladder but instead just kicking it. Kengo would come in and try to suplex Kamui, but he would manage to reverse it and tag in Masaoka.

Masaoka would nail Kengo with a Tornado DDT followed by a Moonsault as Masaoka would grab a chair but Kengo would come up from behind and deliver a German Suplex to him and tag back in Mammoth who would place chair down and try for a powerbomb but Masaoka would manage to flip him over onto the chairs instead and tag in Kamui. Kamui would grab a chair and throw it at Mammoth's head and then deliver a drop toe hold sending Mammoth face first into the chair before dropkicking the chair against Mammoth's face. Masaoka would then drop down with the ladder on Mammoth and both Masaoka and Kamui would send Mammoth into the ropes who would come back and clothesline both of them and then place the ladder over his head and smash it against both Kamui and Masaoka before looking to suplex Kamui into the ladder with Kamui escaping and then place a chair over Mammoth's head and sending the ladder flying into the ladder across Mammoth's neck. Kamui would then climb up the ladder and deliver a Swanton Bomb and cover with Kengo making the save.

Kamui would then go up to the top but Kengo would come over and grab him allowing Mammoth to send Kamui flying off the top as Kengo would deliver a diving foot stomp and Mammoth and Kengo would hit Kamui with a Mammoth Home Run with Masaoka making the save. Mammoth would then send Kamui into the ropes and he would try for a Gannosuke Clutch but Mammoth would actually get Kamui's shoulders down on the mat instead and then hit a lariat and then hit Kamui with a Falcon Arrow and finish him off with a 29 Years Old on a stack of chairs for the win at 19 minutes, 24 seconds with Mammoth and Kamui hugging and then all four raising each others arms afterwards.

Kamui would promote his return to the ring on April 5, 2026 at the Osaka Hirano Wad Citizen Hall drawing an announced 291 fans for the show. The main event would see Jun Kasai, Toru Sugiura, and Tomoya Hirata taking on Violento Jack, Masashi Takeda, and Toshiyuki Sakuda in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match.

Sugiura would grab a stack of light tubes and swing them at Sakuda but Sakuda would knock them out of his hands and set them up in a chair in the corner and try to send Sugiura in it but instead he would end up hitting a hurricanrana on Sugiura sending him out of the ring as all six men would begin brawling around ringside with Kasai taking the light tube in the chair and headbutting it against Jack. Hirata and Takeda would get in the ring and smash a light tubes over each others head. Takeda would grab another stack of them but Hirata would shoulder tackle them into Takeda and grab another stack with Takeda coming over and delivering a running dropkick breaking them across Hirata. Takeda would then begin stabbing Hirata with the broken light tube before pulling out his scissors and slice Hirata's forehead with them. Jack would come in and he and Hirata would exchange chops before Jack would slam Hirata on another set of light tubes before Takeda would come back and place a light tube across Hirata's mouth and break it with Jack coming back in and placing Hirata in the Mexican Stretch into a cover with Hirata kicking out.

Sakuda would come in and just toss a chair at Hirata's head before throwing a chair with multiple light tubes at his head as well. Sakuda would then charge at Hirata and Hirata would apparently not be phased by all the light tubes as he would catch Sakuda and slam him and tag in Sugiura who would drop kick both Takeda and Jack as everyone would go to the outside and Sugiura would hit a tope con hilo onto everyone. Kasai would come in and nail Sakuda with a lariat and then place a stack of light tubes and place Sakuda on his shoulders but Sakuda would escape and then send Kasai into the light tubes and tag in Takeda. Takeda would grab a light tube and rush into Kasai with it before taking a stack of light tubes and faceplant Kasai into the light tubes and place a chair over his head and smash it with another chair. Kasai would get up and begin exchanging headbutts with Kasai knocking Takeda down and hitting him with a Reverse Tiger Driver and tag in Hirata who would charge at Takeda with a stack of light tubes and then place a stack of light tubes over him and deliver a Vader Bomb on the stack of light tubes and get a two count.

Hirata would then place another stack of light tubes on the mat and look to powerslam Takeda, but Takeda would escape and drop Hirata onto the light tubes but as he would charge at Hirata he would be met with a German Suplex that he would get up right away and deliver a knee to Hirata. Both Takeda and Hirata would grab a stack of light tubes and run into each other as they would tag in Jack and Sugiura who would begin exchanging strikes with one another with Jack grabbing a stack of light tubes and swinging them at Sugiura with him breaking them across Jack with an elbow and then deliver a swinging DDT to Jack. Sugiura and Hirata would then suplex Jack as Kasai would come off the top with a Pearl Harbor Splash as Sugiura would come in and hit the Swift Driver on Jack. Sugiura would then look to hit a running elbow against a light tube to Jack but instead Jack would catch him and slam him onto the light tube as Sakuda would deliver a Swanton, Takeda would hit a frog splash, and Jack would hit another Swanton before Jack would hit a powerbomb on a stack of light tubes followed by a Jack Pack on another stack of light tubes to get the win at 18 minutes, 42 seconds in a good match.

Afterwards Kamui would come to the ring to thank the fans for coming with Sugiura attacking him and slamming him on the glass in the ring, followed by Hirata, Jack, Takeda, Sakuda and finally Kasai would grab a stack of light tubes and slam Kamui on it with his back bleeding with the crowd chanting Kamui's name. Kamui would end up having to pull out of his scheduled April 10th show after feeling soreness and to be on the safe side.

Other matches on the show would see Yuko Miyamoto and Takayuki Ueki defeat Gunso and Dyna Mido in a Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match when Ueki would pin Mido at 12 minutes, 16 seconds with a Facebuster on a barbed wire bat. Shigehiro Irie, Captain Grace, and Kazuaki Mihara would defeat Yuya Susumu, HIROYA, and Reiya Igarashi when Irie would pin Igarashi at 9 minutes, 44 seconds with a Muscle Buster. Gaia Hox and Tsuyoshi Michibata would defeat Donguri Fujie and Shinji Kamakura when Hox would pin Kamaura at 11 minutes, 17 seconds with the F-DRIVE. The opening match would see Takashi Sasaki and Idea defeat Brahman Shu and Brhaman Kei when Idea would pin Kei at 9 minutes, 37 seconds with the Placenta.

FREEDOMS would return to the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring and announce a crowd of 111 fans for the show which is their lowest in the building since November 2025 as the main event would see Takashi Sasaki, Tomoya Hirata, and Daiju Wakamatsu take on Violento Jack, Masashi Takeda, and Takayuki Ueki in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match.

Wakamatsu would face off against Takeda and smash a light tube over his head with Takeda coming back and smashing a light tube over his head. Wakamatsu would grab a stack of light tubes but Takeda would charge and dropkick Wakamatsu breaking the light tubes and then begin stabbing Wakamatsu with his scissors. Hirata would end up coming in and deliver a German Suplex to Takeda and grab a stack of light tubes with both of them headbutting the light tubes as they would both tag out. Wakamatsu would face off against Jack with Jack grabbing a stack of light tubes and Wakamatsu delivering a dropkick breaking them across Jack's body. Sasaki would try to clothesline Jack but Jack would duck and Sasaki would accidentally hit Wakamatsu instead as both Takeda and then Jack would hit dives on Wakamatsu followed by them tossing Ueki on Wakamatsu's body.

Wakamatsu would fight back and deliver a low blow to Jack and then headbutt a stack of light tubes across Jack although he would try to deliver a hurricanrana to Jack and be met with a sit down powerbomb on a stack of light tubes. Ueki would attack Wakamatsu with a fluorescent light tube and then a salute headbutt with Wakamatsu fighting back and delivering a headbutt, a lariat, and then a German Suplex to Ueki. Sasaki would then come hit and hit Ueki with a lariat as Wakamatsu would hit him with a German Suplex as Hirata would come in and hit a tope onto both Jack and Takeda keeping them out of the match. Wakamatsu would then toss a stack of light tubes at Ueki and then finish Ueki with the Backchinga Elbow Drop to get the win at 17 minutes, 13 seconds with Wakamatsu hugging Sasaki in celebration. Hirata would seem conflicted with how affection Sasaki was showing Wakamatsu. Jack would then nominate Wakamatsu for the King of Freedom World Championship for the FREEDOMS May 1st Korakuen Hall show.

The semi-main event would see Daisuke Sekimoto take on Yuya Susumu with Susumu focusing on Sekimoto's arm at first before Sekimoto would end up nailing Susumu with a neckbreaker followed by a camel clutch. Sekimoto would look to hit Susumu with a Northern Lights Suplex, but it would turn into a neck chancery before Susumu would counter a lariat and put Sekimoto into a crossface before trying to roll him up for a pinfall with Sekimoto counting out. Sekimoto would then lift Susumu up and place him on his shoulder and slam him face down before hitting Susumu with a German Suplex for the win at 16 minutes, 14 seconds as afterwards Susumu would call out Takashi Sasaki and ask to become a member of FREEDOMS once again with Sasaki accepting.

The whole thing with Susumu seemed weird as he found his home with FREEDOMS 2015 while also continuing to work tons of indies until he would begin working NOAH as well in 2020 and by 2021 it was obvious that NOAH was his main focus that I remember making the prediction that he would end up leaving FREEDOMS to go to NOAH full time which he in fact would do in March 2022 as he would have his last match with FREEDOMS and receive his goodbyes to go work full time which he would do until suffering a cervical sprain in September 2022. He would never work for NOAH again after that injury as something happened behind the scenes and he would end up coming back to FREEDOMS in February 2023 this time as a heel with Jun Masaoka and Gaia Hox and forming F-SWAG. He pretty much has gone back to his original schedule he working with FREEDOMS but also working other promotions including getting a stint recently with All Japan but this makes it official that he is back for good with FREEDOMS.

Jun Kasai and Mizuki Watase would defeat Toshiyuki Sakuda and Crea in a non-title Hardcore Match with Watase hitting Crea with a Vertical Brainbuster off the top on a chair for the win at 15 minutes, 8 seconds but instead of Watase's music playing it would be Kyu and Hyukuroku Mogami's theme playing as it would be revealed that Kyu and Hyakuroku were up in the sound stage of Shin-Kiba playing their music instead as Kasai and Watase would offer a title match to them for the King of Freedom Tag Team Titles for May 1st at Korakuen Hall with them accepting.

Hyakuroku Mogami and Kyu Mogami would defeat Mammoth Sasaki and Tatsuhito Takaiwa who was replacing Kamui on this show as Kyu would get the win over Takaiwa at 10 minutes, 5 seconds with a Kikane Clutch for the win. Gaia Hox and Rekka would defeat Kengo and Kota Sekifuda when Hox would get the win at 12 minutes, 11 seconds with the Butterfly Effect on Sekifuda. The opening match would see JTO's Takobutsu defeat Reiya Igarashi at 5 minutes, 27 seconds with a brainbuster.

It would be announced that Jun Kasai would be participating for the New Japan Best of the Super Juniors Tournament starting on May 14, 2026 at Korakuen Hall and finishing on June 7, 2026 at the Ota City General Gym. This would be Kasai's first time wrestling on a non sub-brand New Japan as he has been entered into the A Block where he will face off against DOUKO, Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Francesco Akira, Robbie X, Nick Wayne, Titan, Valiente Jr., and Koseui Fujita.

The WUW Mexico group would run a show on April 11, 2026 at the Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square. This was a Mexican version of an underground pro-wrestling show to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Fugofugo Yumeji. This was announced as a sell out although no attendance was announced so most likely a little over 100 people were in attendance.

This was Koji Nakawa's first match since December 17, 2023 for FMW-E and the first time he had wrestled as GOEMON and teamed with Onryo since May 8, 2021 for the TTT promotion. GOEMON and Onryo would team up with the Mexican wrestler Kaien as they would defeat Nanjyo Hayato going by his Miracle Man gimmick, Akechi, and Aurion when Onryo would pin Aurion with the Onryo Clutch. Also, on the show would be Hayabustico who I believe is a Mexican wrestler but have not heard of him before this other than I know he has been in Japan for at least the last month. He has a Hayabusa based mask and the E wing tattoo that Eiji Ezaki had on his chest although it was noted that he did not do any Hayabusa spots during the match as he would also team with Dr. Karonte, Super Crazy and Ricky Marvin as this was Marvin's first time in Japan since August 2018 as Marvin would get the win for his team with the Santa Maria.

It was announced on March 10, 2026 that the Shinjuku FACE would be closing down after September 30, 2026. It was announced that their fixed-term building lease was up after September 30th and it was decided that the Humax Pavilion Shinjuku building complex would be closing permanently due to its aging infrastructure.

Although it was a building that did not become a full time venue to hold wrestling events until 2005 it still was able to have some FMW history take place in it.

The building was completed in October 1971 and then in 1994 the 7th floor would open up as a concert hall called the Shinjuku Liquid Room. That concert hall would decide to rent out to a wrestling promotion for the first time on June 16, 1997 for the FMW promotion. The show would be broadcasted on Samurai TV with the main event of Hayabusa, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda defeating the Funk Masters of Wrestling team of Hisakatsu Oya, Mr. Gannosuke, and Flying Kid Ichihara followed by a Battle Royal.

The building was smaller both size wise and height wise than the promotion was use to as Hayabusa would even state he felt like he was about to touch the ceiling when he climbed the top rope in the ring. JWP would end up running one show in the Liquid Hall as well on January 25, 1998 but those are the only two documented shows to take place in the Liquid Room.

The Liquid Room would get renovated and re-launched as Shinjuku FACE in 2005 with the first show taking place on July 29, 2005 as it would become the first building for shows that were expected to be lesser than a Korakuen Hall level show, but bigger than a Shin-Kiba 1st Ring level show which was also a brand new building having just opened up a year earlier.

The Apache Army promotion would hold their first and only show at the Shinjuku FACE on November 5, 2005 with the original Apache Army veterans of Kintaro Kanemura, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Mammoth Sasaki, and Hido defeating the newer Apache Army team of Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, Hi69, Daisuke Sekimoto, and MIYAWAKI in a Two out of Three Falls Match.

The next show with FMW connections for the building would take place on May 5, 2006 with an FMW main event of Tarzan Goto and Mr. Gannosuke against Masato Tanaka and Gosaku in a Street Fight which would see Gannosuke brawl outside and get thrown into a wall that would end up smashing. Shinjuku FACE would end up billing Gannosuke $1,000 dollars for smashing through their wall. It was also the building where Gannosuke would take on Masato Tanaka in a singles match for ZERO1 on December 17, 2008 although sadly the match would not be taped. Gannosuke would also end up having his final match in the building on April 15, 2018 as he would team up with Michio Kageyama before losing to Tatsumi Fujinami and Hiro Saito with Gannosuke tapping out to the Dragon Sleeper.

Chocoball Mukai would also have his retirement match there on December 17, 2006 as Mukai would team up with fellow former FMW wrestler Mammoth Sasaki as they would lose to the Battlarts team of Yuki Ishikawa and Ryuji Walter when Ishikawa would KO Mukai for the final time. Hayabusa would come out afterwards and congratulate Mukai on the career he had managed to have.

Hayabusa would also end up promoting his one and only show on January 24, 2009 as the team of Hayabusa Kid (Dragon Kid), H (BxB Hulk), and Darkside Hayabusa (PAC) would defeat NOSAWA Rongai, MAZADA, and Toryu in the main event in a show.

Atsushi Onita's popular resurgence would begin at the Shinjuku FACE as he would start promoting his own shows on February 24, 2012 with Onita putting on a Tiger Mask on and challenging his long time Jr. Heavyweight from the 80s rival Satoru Sayama with the match taking place on May 11, 2012 at the Shinjuku FACE with the team of Onita, Ichiro Yaguchi, and Hideki Hosaka defeating The Original Tiger Mask, The Great Sasuke, and Gran Hamada with Onita pinning Sayama in a Barbed wire Board Street Fight Death Match.

Onita would then begin feuds with Akebono and Yoshihiro Takayama where he would hold 6 man street fights at the Shinjuku FACE before the Super Battle FMW promotion would be created in 2015 with the Shinjuku FACE being used as the home building for the promotion every month starting in May 2015 until it would move up to running Korakuen Hall shows in 2016. The promotion would run one last show in the building on June 8, 2017 with Onita teaming up with Kendo Kashin and Hideki Hosaka against the team of Suwama, Atsushi Aoki, and Super Tiger in a Falls Counts Anywhere Street Fight Tornado Bunkhouse Death Match.

Kintaro Kanemura would also promote his one and only show after retiring at the Shinjuku FACE for his new upstart ING promotion on July 20, 2018 with the main event of Jun Kasai and Yuji Hino defeating Mammoth Sasaki and Hideki Hosaka in a Hardcore Match. The final connection between Shinjuku FACE and FMW would take place on November 12, 2025 when Taiji Ishimori would promote his own show and bring in many of the former FMW wrestlers including Ricky Fuji, Jado, Gedo, Masato Tanaka, TAKA Michinoku, Mammoth Sasaki, Onryo, and Yasu Urano in a Royal Rumble with Tanaka getting the win.

I have been to the building several times although it was mostly for TAJIRI's promotions first the SMASH promotion where I got to see Syuri defeat Kana in the main event for my first show at the building and then later seeing WNC promotion where Ryuji Ito and Shinya Ishikawa defeated Ryuji Yamakawa and TAJIRI with AKIRA turning heel on TAJIRI afterwards. I also went to the Onita promoted show on June 21, 2013 which had Onita, Tanaka, and Ichiro Yaguchi defeat Akebono, Ryota Hama, and Takuya Sugawara in a Scramble Bunkhouse Tornado Death Match which was a fun brawl.

Yuka Ogawa the manager of Shinjuku FACE has indicated she wants to start up a new venue as a successor to the Shinjuku FACE after it closes. Ogawa stated it was just not possible to continue running in that building any longer. She did stated there is a critical need for a building that holds about 500 people and that she is appealing to the company about a new building feeling it's a necessity. She stated that although nothing is official, she wants to start looking into reopening as soon as possible after the closure at the end of September. She stated she wants the new building in somewhere like Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, or Shibuya and if they were to find a building in Shinjuku she would like for it to be called Shinjuku FACE again.

I have completed documenting with translations through the magazines for Hayabusa's career from May 1999 to May 2000 which includes his time as H. This covers all the noteworthy matches of his time during the year as well as his interviews from the start of the angle where Fuyuki forces him to drop the Hayabusa mask and he is upset about it talking about possibly leaving FMW to then just two months later admitting that he was going to need to stop being Hayabusa or his body was going to break down to the point that he didn't know if he could wrestle anymore after two years (sadly it was two years later) because of the Hayabusa gimmick taking such a toll on his body. Then he does an interview as H where he kind of bashes the Hayabusa gimmick for not really accomplishing that much as he already knew in real life he was going to have to switch back to Hayabusa because H wasn't drawing well and the reporters mentioned that him wrestling as Hayabusa for the May 5, 2000 show seemed more like something that was pushed upon than something he actually wanted to do. You can check everything out at http://fmwwrestling.us/Hayabusa9900.html as I have two more of this project after this.

Megumi Kudo and Junya Matsunaga appeared on Samurai TV's News Suplex to promote the ZERO1 show with Samurai showing clips of Kudo's early AJW days. They asked her about her upcoming 40th anniversary Yoyogi National Stadium # 2 show on October 17, 2026. Kudo stated it would be a mixed gender show as she wants this show to represent her 40 years. She would be asked if she would be competing on the show and she would state that she would not be but she wants to do something during the show. It was also announced that Kudo would be appearing in Las Vegas for the MDK Fight Club show on April 16th where she will be introduced for the Death Match Hall of Fame. She will also be appearing at Wrestle Con from April 16th to the 18th. This is Kudo's first time in America since May 1992 with FMW. I will be going to both MDK Fight Club on April 16th and Spring Break on April 18th that will have Hayabusa on the shows as well as attending WrestleCon to see Kudo and Tanaka as well as meet Hayabusa for the first time. Click here to watch Megumi Kudo's segment on News Suplex with English subtitles

GCW Death Vegas 4/16/26
Las Vegas Nevada Horseshoe Casino

Jun Kasai & El Desperado vs. Masashi Takeda & Rina Yamashita vs. Nick Gage & Matt Tremont *Three Way Tag Team Death Match*

GCW MDK Fight Club 4/16/26
Las Vegas Nevada Horseshoe Casino

Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka vs. Bear Bronson & Mr. Danger

GCW Spring Break 4/17/26
Las Vegas Nevada Horseshoe Casino

Atticus Cogar vs. Hayabusa *GCW World Title Match*

FREEDOMS 4/26/26
Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square

Big Japan 4/29/26
Yokohama Budokan

Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Minoru Fujita *BJW Death Match Heavyweight Title Death Match*
So Daimonji vs. Kazumasa Yoshida *BJW Strong Heavyweight Title Match*
Toru Sugiura & Kazumi Kikuta vs. Yuko Miyamoto & Isami Kodaka *BJW Tag Team Titles Match*
Kosuke Sato vs. Satsuki Nagao *BJW Jr. Heavyweight Title Match*

FREEDOMS 5/1/26
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Violento Jack vs. Daiju Wakamatsu *King of Freedom World Championship Death Match*
Jun Kasai & Mizuki Watase vs. Hyakuroku Mogami & Kyu Mogami *King of Freedom Tag Team Titles Match*

ZERO1 5/2/26
Chiba Uraysu Oriental Hotel Tokyo Bay

Yuki Toki & Van Vert Jack vs. The Great Sasuke & Fuminori Abe *International Light Heavyweight Tag Team Titles Match*
Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka vs. Junya Matsunaga & Katsuhiko Nakajima
Takuya Sugawara vs. LEONA
Chris Vice & Ryunosuke Nagai vs. Daichi Hashimoto & Koji Doi
Yasu Kubota vs. Tsugataka Sato
Hide Kubota vs. Bryan Ishizaka

FMW-E 5/5/26
Osaka Sakai City Ohama Sumo Arena

Atsushi Onita & JADE & Hiroaki Taniguchi vs. Raijin Yaguchi & Hideaki Sumi & Kandai Koyama *Exploding Barbed wire Baseball Bat Death Match*
Yuko Sakurai vs. An-chan
CIMA & Yuto Kikuchi & Gaia Hox vs. Donguri Fujie & Tetsuya Goto & Hiroto Okubo
Seiji Ikemoto vs. Takaki Iwasaki
Bomber Okuno & Ayato Horiuchi vs. Magnitude Kishiwada & Hiroaki Moriya
Rumia Fujii & Megumi Ninami vs. Blanky Maho & Pandita

ZERO1 5/9/26
Tokyo Shin-Kiba 1st Ring

Junya Matsunaga & Tsugataka Sato vs. Daichi Hashimoto & Yuya Aoki *Intercontinental Tag Team Titles Match*
Chris Vice vs. Yuko Miyamoto *Hardcore Match*
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Yuki Sato
Masato Tanaka & Van Vert Jack vs. Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi
Hayabusa vs. Bryan Ishizaka vs. Fuminori Abe *Three Way Match*
Takuya Sugawara & Ryunosuke Nagai vs. Yasu Kubota & Hide Kubota

FREEDOMS 5/14/26
Tokyo Shin-Kiba 1st Ring

FMW-E 5/30/26
Kawasaki Fujimi Park

FREEDOMS 5/30/26
Fukuoka Kitakyushu City Moji Akarenga Place

FREEDOMS 5/31/26
Kumamoto Grand Messe

Katsuhiko Nakajima Productions 5/31/26
Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall

FREEDOMS 6/12/26
Tokyo Shin-Kiba 1st Ring

ZERO1 6/13/26
Tokyo Shin-Kiba 1st Ring

ZERO1 6/21/26
Gifu Jyuroka Plaza

FREEDOMS 6/21/26
Hokkaido Sapporo E-One Stadium

FREEDOMS 6/28/26
Shizuoka Marine Building Shimizu

ZERO1 6/28/26
Tokyo Shin-Kiba 1st Ring

ZERO1 7/5/26
Kyoko KBS Hall

Jun Kasai Productions 7/5/26
Osaka Active Square Daito

Jun Kasai Productions 7/9/26
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

ZERO1 7/18/26
Tokyo Shin-Kiba 1st Ring

ZERO1 7/25/26
Yokohama Radiant Hall

ZERO1 7/26/26
Chiba Uraysu Oriental Hotel Tokyo Bay

Jun Kasai Productions 7/30/26
Tokyo Shin-Kiba 1st Ring

ZERO1 8/7/26
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

I have gathered all the results of shows from Big Japan/ZERO1/666 shows in 2026 as well as matches from FREEDOMS/former FMW wrestlers working on shows and will continue to update it for the rest of the year. It can be found at http://fmwwrestling.us/MiscResults26.html (Last updated: 4/14)

Added: 2/24

Hayabusa would enter into ZERO1's Strongest One Day Tournament on January 17, 2026 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring where they would announce 201 fans for the show. It would be a random drawing with Hayabusa getting Tanaka in another rematch between the two. Hayabusa would start off on the mat for the first couple of minutes with Tanaka putting Hayabusa in a headlock before Hayabusa would send Tanaka to the ropes and he would come back with a shoulder tackle. Hayabusa though would do a kip up and deliver a dropkick to Tanaka sending him to the outside as Hayabusa would deliver a tope con hilo onto him. Hayabusa would charge at Tanaka with Tanaka moving out of the way and Hayabusa coming just short of the turnbuckle as Tanaka would go for a clothesline with Hayabusa moving out of the way and Tanaka hitting the turnbuckle followed by ramming Tanaka's shoulder into the turnbuckle. Hayabusa would bring Tanaka back in the ring and work on his shoulder with Tanaka in pain delivering a hard elbow to Hayabusa's face which in return would get a kick to his shoulder.

Hayabusa would send Tanaka into the corner but get kicked in the face and Tanaka would deliver a Tornado DDT and then follow with a DDT planting Hayabusa's head right into the mat. Tanaka would then deliver a lariat to Hayabusa and Hayabusa would get up and the two would begin exchanging strikes until Tanaka would level up and nail Hayabusa with an elbow knocking him straight out. Tanaka would then for another clothesline but this time Hayabusa would duck it and drop kick him out of the ring and deliver an Asai Moonsault with Tanaka moving out of the way as Hayabusa would land right into some empty chairs looking like it hurt a lot. Tanaka would show no mercy and begin hitting Hayabusa's knee with one of the chairs as Tanaka would continue to work on Hayabusa's knee. Tanaka would then place Hayabusa's legs against the turnbuckle and then grab his stick and smash it across Hayabusa's knee.

Tanaka would bring Hayabusa back in the ring and put Hayabusa in a figure four with Hayabusa expressing great pain before managing to grab the rope. Hayabusa would try striking Tanaka but there would not be much to it with Tanaka striking Hayabusa with him falling back in the corner as Tanaka would charge at him with Hayabusa moving out of the way and delivering a spinning heel kick to Tanaka. Hayabusa would then hit a Fisherman's Suplex with Tanaka kicking out before hitting a Swanton/Asai Moonsault combo with Tanaka kicking out again as Hayabusa would be holding his knee in pain. Hayabusa would go up to the top but Tanaka would go up as well and superplex Hayabusa and then charge at him but Hayabusa would deliver a hurricanrana and then take Tanaka to the top and hit another hurricanrana off the top followed by a Tiger Driver that Tanaka would get up right away from and hit Hayabusa with a Sliding D. Tanaka would then try to pick Hayabusa up for a brainbuster but Hayabusa would turn it into a Falcon Arrow as the fans would be chanting Hayabusa's name.

Hayabusa would then go up to the top and try for a Fire Bird Splash but Tanaka would move out of the way. Tanaka would then go up to the top himself and go for a Frog Splash with Hayabusa getting his knees up. Hayabusa would charge at Tanaka but Tanaka would roll him to the ground and hit Hayabusa with another Sliding D with Hayabusa grabbing the rope as Tanaka would cover him. Tanaka would go up to the top again and hit a splash on Hayabusa and cover him for two. Tanaka would then try for another Sliding D with Hayabusa ducking it and hitting Tanaka with two Falcon Arrows but Tanaka would still manage to kick out.

Hayabusa would then go up to the top and this time hit the Fire Bird Splash with Tanaka again kicking out. Hayabusa would then try for a Phoenix Splash but Tanaka would move out of the way and hit a Sliding D from the back with Hayabusa kicking out. Tanaka would then nail Hayabusa with an elbow knocking him down hard. Tanaka would setup for another Sliding D but Hayabusa would jump at him looking to hurricanrana him when Tanaka would counter and hit him with a powerbomb and then hit another Sliding D with Hayabusa again kicking out. Tanaka would then go for the kill and hit another Sliding D and finally put Hayabusa away at 21 minutes, 11 seconds for the win and advance to the semi-finals of the one day tournament. This was a good match, although it did not get to the level of their thirty minute limit draw back in August although it looked more brutal for Hayabusa with the elbow shots he took the face as well as missing the Asai Moonsault and landing on the chairs in the crowd. This would be the first time in 7 matches that Tanaka would finally put Hayabusa after previously going 0-5 against Eiji Ezaki's Hayabusa and 0-1-1 against this Hayabusa.

Tanaka's second round opponent would be Junya Matsunaga who would be much fresher than Tanaka as he would make short work of Tanaka and hit him with the Bee Sting and get the win in just 1 minutes, 59 seconds before defeating Chris Vice in the finals of the tournament to win the ZERO1 Strongest One Day Tournament. Click here to watch highlights of Hayabusa vs. Masato Tanaka from 1/17/26

Hayabusa would make his NOAH debut as a surprise for NOAH's Monday Magic show on January 26, 2026 at the Shinjuku FACE. Hayabusa would team up with Dragon Kid and Alejandro against HAYATA, MAZADA, and Shuji Kondo. This would be the first time that Hayabusa and Dragon Kid would team up with Eiji Ezaki and Yoshiyuki Nakamura had a close friendship that saw Dragon Kid actually come in and referee and count the pinfall for the Onita vs. Hayabusa match on May 5, 1995 at Kawasaki Stadium. Hayabusa and Dragon Kid would reconnect again after Hayabusa's injury with Hayabusa working a lot for Dragon Gate and even doing a collaboration CD with Dragon Kid in 2007 for Dragon Gate Records.

Hayabusa would face off against HAYATA with HAYATA knocking Hayabusa down and Hayabusa doing a kip up and dropkick HAYATA before tagging out and eventually coming to help Dragon Kid with MAZADA before HAYATA would come back in as they would charge at Hayabusa and Dragon Kid and be met with double dropkicks from them sending them out of the ring before Hayabusa would hit the Swanton Bomb/Asai Moonsault combo on HAYATA before hitting him with a Tiger Driver for a two count. Hayabusa would then place HAYATA in a Texas Cloverleaf before Kondo would make the save and delivering a clothesline to Hayabusa. HAYATA would then deliver a dropkick from behind to Hayabusa sending him flying into a MAZADA DDT followed by a MAZADA clothesline. Alejandro would end up hitting MAZADA with a DDT allowing Hayabusa to hit him with a Falcon Arrow before dropkicking Kondo out of the ring and delivering a tope con hilo on both Dragon Kid and Kondo before Alejandro would hit MAZADA with a Sky Twisting Press he called Zero Gravity to get the win at 17 minutes, 18 seconds as the mask men would would pose together before leaving. Click here to watch highlights of Hayabusa/Dragon Kid/Alejandro vs. HAYATA/MAZADA/Shuji Kondo from 1/26/26

Hayabusa took on former All Japan Triple Crown Champion Shuji Ishikawa on February 7, 2026 at the Tokyo Itabashi Tokyo Square. They would do the early spot of Ishikawa doing a shoulder tackle and Hayabusa doing a kip up and delivering a drop kick but Ishikawa would no sell the kick and just shoulder tackle Hayabusa again and Hayabusa would go to the outside. Ishikawa would chop Hayabusa knocking him down and then go up to the apron and doing a diving footstomp on Hayabusa's chest and then just stand on Hayabusa's chest. They would get back in the ring and Ishikawa would continue to dominate Hayabusa including doing another footstomp on Hayabusa's chest followed by another one coming off the turnbuckle. Ishikawa would throw Hayabusa to the ropes and he would finally get something in by dropkicking Ishikawa's knee and then delivering kicks to Ishikawa's knee before another dropkick to it that would see Ishikawa go to the outside and Hayabusa hit a tope con hilo onto him. Hayabusa would throw him back in the ring with Hayabusa delivering the swanton and the Asai Moonsault specifically focusing on landing on Ishikawa's knees before placing Ishikawa in a knee lock.

Hayabusa would dive at Ishikawa but get caught and placed against the turnbuckle where Ishikawa would hit Hayabusa with a running knee. Ishikawa would then go for the Splash Mountain but Hayabusa would escape and deliver a spinning heel kick as both would fall to the mat. They would both get up and begin striking one another with Ishikawa getting the bigger strike. Ishikawa would then tease an Awesome Bomb off the turnbuckle but Hayabusa would fight back and suplex Ishikawa off the turnbuckle. Hayabusa would then look for a Falcon Arrow but instead get met with an Ishikawa Fire Thunder. Ishikawa would then deliver a German Suplex and then a running knee to Hayabusa with Hayabusa kicking out. Ishikawa would go for a kick but Hayabusa would move out of the way and deliver a high kick to Ishikawa's head and cover for two before hitting Ishikawa with a Falcon Arrow for two.

Hayabusa would then go up to the top and miss a Fire Bird Splash as Ishikawa would knee Hayabusa in the chest before another running knee and pick up Hayabusa for the Splash Mountain with Hayabusa reversing it into a hurricanrana for a two count. Hayabusa would again dive at Ishikawa but get caught for an awkward looking Fire Thunder for two. Ishikawa would then pick up Hayabusa again and this time successfully hit him with a Splash Mountain to get the win at 14 minutes, 21 seconds over Hayabusa. This match was okay although there were some clunky moments and it never did seem like Hayabusa really ever had a chance in it. They worked a match that was at the Itabashi Tokyo Square and the atmosphere of the crowd reflected that. Ishikawa got on the mic and stated he loved FMW growing up and that he was the "Japanese Gladiator" and called  out Masato Tanaka wanting a shot at the World Heavyweight Title. A match would be made for Tanaka vs. Ishikawa on March 20th at  Shin-Kiba but as of right now it's not for the World Heavyweight Title. Click here to watch highlights of Hayabusa vs. Shuji Ishikawa 2/7/26

Hayabusa would make a comment through ZERO1's X account stating that he had heard about Katsuhiko Nakajima holding his own promoted show in Osaka and that Nakajima was looking for an opponent for the main event and that Hayabusa wanted to have the match as he has been wanting a singles match with Nakajima who has won numerous titles through out many promotions since his debut as Hayabusa last year. He finished by stating he was interesting in facing Nakajima and looking forward to his reaction. The next day on February 10th, Nakajima would visit the ZERO1 Dojo asking if he wanted to face him on May 31st at his promoted show with Hayabusa stating of course he did. This would cause Junya Matsunaga who was also there to get in Nakajima's face and state he won the strongest tournament he should face against Nakajima. Nakajima would respond he wanted the match with Hayabusa with Matsunaga stating that he wanted to have a singles match with Nakajima on February 28th at the Itabashi Tokyo Square. This would upset Hayabusa who would begin shoving with Matsunaga. Nakajima would tell Hayabusa "Lets do it" before looking at Matsunaga and going "Who the hell are you?" to Junya Mastunaga before walking off. It will probably be made official after the Nakajima vs. Matsunaga match on February 28th but it's almost a lock that it will be Nakajima vs. Hayabusa for Nakajima's promoted show on May 31, 2026 in Osaka. Click here to watch the Hayabusa/Katsuhiko Nakajima/Junya Matsunaga interaction from 2/10/26 with English subtitles

ZERO1 would then hold a show on February 15, 2026 at the Kumamoto Castle Hall Civic Hall and would get in contact with Mr. Gannosuke to appear on the show. Gannosuke would come out with Megumi Kudo and talk with the crowd before watching the main event of the show in person. Hayabusa and Junya Matsunaga would team up against Masato Tanaka and Van Vert Jack revising his Jack the Respect Hayabusa gimmick for the show. Hayabusa and Jack would both enter the ring at the same time doing Hayabusa's signature jump over the rope. Hayabusa and Jack who worked well together back in December due to Jack's speed and lightness worked well with another again before Hayabusa would end up defeating Jack at 18 minutes, 49 seconds with the Fire Bird Splash for the win. Afterwards, Mr. Gannosuke would enter the ring and end up shaking Hayabusa's hand as a way of publicly endorsing Hayabusa. Mr. Gannosuke would do a video talking about the show and stating he met with Hayabusa prior to the show for the first time. Gannosuke who had been critical of Hayabusa over the summer after putting up the Hayabusa mask after just having it for three months when it wasn't something he had earned the right to do, it was Eiji Ezaki that had made that mask mean something so for him to just put it up right away was a slap in the face to Eiji Ezaki's Hayabusa according to Gannosuke. Gannosuke stated that Hayabusa stated he understood and apologized to Gannosuke and Gannosuke came off thinking very highly of him after feeling very negative about him previously.

Gannosuke felt that the current Hayabusa has a soft demeanor and is a kind, good guy and feels he's a good fit for Hayabusa. He did state he's shorter than Hayabusa, and he's a bit more muscular, but that he looks similar and has similar movements. Gannosuke felt it actually did remind him of Hayabusa in FMW back then. Hayabusa stayed in Kumamoto after the show and went to the Kumamoto Beer MAN Hall which is the pub that Eiji Ezaki and Masashi Honda went to as college students all the time since the owner was a big wrestling fan. Hayabusa had a beer with Mr. Gannosuke out of respect, but Gannosuke found out that this Hayabusa was not a drinker. Click here to watch the entire Mr. Gannosuke video segment about meeting Hayabusa and attending the ZERO1 2/15/26 Kumamoto show with English subtitles

Hayabusa and Megumi Kudo stayed over in Kumamoto along with Mr. Gannosuke and Eiji Ezaki's brother Takanori went to the grave of Eiji Ezaki where both Megumi Kudo and Hayabusa prayed for Eiji Ezaki's soul. This was the first time I have been made aware that Ezaki had a grave as when I asked Gannosuke about it years ago, he told me there was no grave as Ezaki's mother had his urn in her inn where she lived and had a shrine to Ezaki and that was the only thing at that time. Since then though Ezaki's mother had developed health issues that resulted in her having to move out and live in assisted living and since then it seems that Ezaki's brother Takanori has taken over all the responsibilities and I would be lead to believe that's when it was decided to create a grave for Eiji Ezaki after several years.

Hayabusa has also entered into NOAH's Universe Cup Tournament with his first round match taking placing on March 9, 2026 at the Shinjuku FACE as he will face off against Yumehito Imanari. The winner of that will move on to the semi-finals of the tournament which will be held on April 6, 2026 at the Shinjuku FACE where the winner will face the winner of Naomichi Marufuji and Kuroshio Tokyo Japan. Logic booking would state that Hayabusa will defeat Imanari and then face off against Marufuji and then lose there. The only thing is although this is a NOAH tournament and Marufuji is the only NOAH wrestler in the tournament, he's 46 years old, and him winning this tournament will be just very status quo where as Hayabusa winning would at least create something different but I would still guess it ends up being Marufuji winning it.

Hayabusa has also been booked to appear in the US for the first time as he will appear at Joey Janela's Spring Break show in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Horse Shoe Casino on April 17, 2026. Masato Tanaka will also be appearing in Las Vegas as well for other shows. Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka have both been booked for the WrestleCon convention although the dates have not  been made official of when they will be appearing just yet. I will be in Las Vegas from the night of April 16th to April 18th so I will be attending the Spring Break show and going to one of the WrestleCon conventions. There will also be a Death Match show promoted by El Desperado on April 16th the night I get in which will include Jun Kasai and Masashi Takeda although I would be getting into Las Vegas while that show is going on, so if I were to make thatit would probably only be for the main event.

Atsushi Onita wrestled his first match of the year on January 11, 2026 at the Ice Ribbon Dojo in Warabi City, Saitama for the SEVEN TWO Pro-Wrestling promotion which is ran by the SEVEN TWO bar in Saitama. Onita has declared with this year being the year that he will turn 69 years old he was declaring his aim to have an explosion death match when he turns 70 years old in August 2027.

Onita would team up with former ZEN disciple Tetsuhiro Kuroda as they would face off against Mr. Pogo and Keizo Matsuda in a Street Fight which would be the main event of the show. Onita and Pogo would brawl early before getting back in the ring with Pogo would bring in a barbed wire board and place it in the corner and throw Onita into it. Pogo would then break a broomstick and begin stabbing Onita's back with it before both Pogo and Matsuda would strangle Kuroda with a chain. Onita would manage to fight back and hit Pogo and Matsuda with a sign. Pogo would end up grabbing a hold of Onita but he would end up spitting green mist in Matsuda's face and then hit him over the head with a guitar before Onita and Kuroda would hit a double lariat on Matsuda with Onita covering Matsuda for the win at 9 minutes, 54 seconds for the Onita victory.

Onita would get on the mic and say Happy New Year to the fans and mention that he was invited to Las Vegas this April, but he was already booked for a match in Yamaguchi during that time so he could no but he wanted the fans to know that hardcore wrestling still exists all over the world. Onita would conclude with chanting Happy New Year, everyone! 1,2,3, fire!

The Hiroshima Pro Wrestling Festival would be held on January 18, 2026 at the Hiroshima Industrial Hall East Hall with the main event of Atsushi Onita, Raijin Yaguchi, and Kazutaka Hasegawa against Mr. Pogo, Tsuyoshi Okada, and Onryo in a Scramble Bunkhouse Barbed wire Hell Death Match. Barbed wire boards would be setup in the aisles of the arena and filled with weapons all around as all six wrestlers would start the match by brawling. Onita would throw Pogo in a barbed wire board propped up against a ladder with Pogo throwing Onita in a barbed wire board in return causing the barbed wire to break all over the place.

Midway through the match, Devil Magician who retired last year at this event came to Onita's aid, but he would end up getting attacked by the heels and he along with Onita would end up getting thrown into the barbed wire spiderweb outside the ring. Onita would manage to get out of the barbed wire and then grab Onryo and go to setup a piledriver through the table, but the table legs would end up bending diagonally and Onita would end up falling headfirst and was unable to move for awhile, holding his head, causing a brief uproar among the crowd. Onita would manage to get up and slam a guitar over Pogo's head and then he and Devil the Magician would both spray mist at Onryo and Okada followed by Onita and Yaguchi both slamming Okada onto the barbed wire board with Yaguchi covering Okada and getting the win at 17 minutes, 44 seconds as Onita would apologize saying "I'm sorry I fell headfirst and was unable to move for awhile." before mentioning that he was not going to quit wrestling as long as he has fans like this supporting him to make everyone forget that he had retired seven times already before doing the Fire chant with the crowd.

After the match, Onita's neck pain would worsened and he would go to the hospital the next day where he would be diagnosed with a cervical spine injury. He was told he would expect a recovery in two weeks which worked out as he did not have another match booked for over a month after this anyway. Onita posted on X afterwards with the hashtag "#SorryForWorrying" and would state "I screwed up! I stepped on the table and it was slippery, and I slipped." Onita mentioned that when he fell he lost consciousness and panicked, thinking, "This is bad!" but nothing ended up being broken but he could not turn his neck and would be resting for awhile and apologized again for causing any concern.

Atsushi Onita would hold a talk event on February 22, 2026 at the Nagoya Hirokoji Fushimi Nakakoma Building with the theme of the event talking about the Terry Funk Kawasaki Stadium match as well as the 2024 Kawasaki Stadium match against Dory Funk, Jr. and Osamu Nishimura. The event would actually show pictures of Onita's more famous matches including against Masashi Aoyagi from October 10, 1989 at Korakuen, against Terry at Kawasaki Stadium on May 5, 1993, against Mr. Pogo in Nagoya on May 4, 1995, against Hayabusa at Kawasaki Stadium on May 5, 1995, against Kensuke Sasaki at the Tokyo Dome on January 4, 1999, and teaming with Raijin Yaguchi against Dory Funk, Jr. and Osamu Nishimura at Kawasaki Stadium on August 24, 2024 with Onita making comments about all the matches.

Atsushi Onita would return to the ring on February 23, 2026 for Dream Project's Sakai Pro-Wrestling event at the Osaka Sun Square Sakai. They did not announce a crowd number, but they did announce that all seats were sold out and the event was considered a huge success. The main event would be called "the longest barbed wire in history match" as the barbed wire would stretch out 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) as barbed wire was used both inside and outside the ring. CIMA who is from Osaka would appear and state he had rode his bike here to the show and he wanted to fight Onita in a an explosion match at the next FMW-E show on May 5th in Osaka. CIMA who has been out since November with a shoulder injury was told by Onita stating he would heal his shoulder injury with an explosion to it.

The main event would see Raijin Yaguchi, Hideaki Sumi, and Hirakata-san defeat Atsushi Onita, BADMAX Fujinaga, and Naoki Tanizaki when Sumi pinning Fujinaga at 17 minutes, 38 seconds with a Barbed wire Buzzsaw kick. Sumi who was doing a Sandman gimmick for the match with the same t-shirt and cain would agree to fight against one another as well on May 5th.

FREEDOMS would run their first show of the year on January 3, 2026 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring where they would announce a crowd of 241 fans for the show. The main event would see Jun Kasai and Mizuki Watase take on Toru Sugiura and Yusaku Ito in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Tornado Death Match.

The teams would fight over light tubes to start the match with Kasai and Watase smashing the light tubes across Ito and Sugiura. Sugiura and Kasai would face off with Sugiura placing light tubes over Kasai in the corner, but Kasai would grab the light tubes and charge at Kasai with Sugiura breaking them across him with an elbow. Sugiura would go up to the top and dive at Kasai who would move out of the way with Sugiura landing across Ito followed by Watase hitting a flying dropkick on Sugiura sending him outside the ring. Ito and Watase would face off with Watase hitting Ito with a German Suplex as Watase would try for a chair shot, but Ito would block it and smash it over Watase's head who would no sell it and headbutt and hit Ito with a brain buster for a two count. Watase would grab a stack of light tubes but Ito would head butt him and deliver a flying dropkick but Ito would end up breaking the light tubes across his back.

Watase would grab a stack of light tubes with Ito spitting black ink at Watase's face as he would try his best to block it with the light tubes but still get it covered all over his face before breaking the light tubes across Ito's head and Kasai would nail Ito with a lariat as Watase would deliver a tope con hilo to the outside on Sugiura and Kasai would nail Ito with a Reverse Tiger Driver with Ito kicking out as Kasai would then hit him with a Stimulation Driver on a stack of light tubes to get the win at 17 minutes, 11 seconds over Ito while giving Takeda who was ringside the finger. Kasai would then challenge Takeda and Ito for the King of Freedom Tag Team Titles for the next Shin-Kiba show with Takeda accepting.

The semi-main event would see Jun Masaoka defeat fellow F-SWAG team member Gaia Hox at 13 minutes, 3 seconds with his Ambitions finisher which as of right now has been Jun Masaoka's final match in FREEDOMS as he become a regular for NOAH since. Daisuke Masaoka would defeat the departing Crazy King at 6 minutes, 9 seconds after rolling him up with a Tornado Clutch.

The official ERE disbanding match would place as Violento Jack, Masashi Takeda, and Kenji Fukimoto would take on Takayuki Ueki, Toshiyuki Sakuda, and Kyu Mogami in a former ERE vs. current ERE match. ERE was done as a result of Jun Kasai's Unchain group pretty much becoming a stale babyface group over the years and to spice things up Masashi Takeda would leave Unchain and form ERE on January 21, 2021 along with Toshiyuki Sakuda and Takayuki Ueki. Violento Jack would turn on Mammoth Sasaki on March 4, 2021 and join the group and a year later Kenji Fukimoto as Brown Rat Fukki would join in May 2022 followed by Drew Parker in June 2022. Parker would be brought in to replace Masashi Takeda as the leader as Takeda would have to take a leave in January 2022 due to his wife's sudden passing and when coming back in June 2022 he could not be a heel anymore. The new ERE really didn't click and Parker became his own person more than the leader of ERE before leaving FREEDOMS in June 2023. Jack and Fukimoto would end up leaving ERE in March 2024 and the group would mostly just be Toshiyuki Sakuda's group along with Ueki and Kyu Mogami as midcarders before finally doing away with the group to create more fresh teams.

This would be a Barbed wire Board Death Match with both teams brawling around ringside with Takeda stabbing Ueki with scissors. Fukimoto and Sakuda would square off with chairs with Fukimoto getting the better end of it and smashing a chair over Sakuda's back but Mogami would come over and he and Sakuda would throw Fukimoto into the barbed wire board. Ueki would come in and deliver a diving headbutt into the barbed wire while Takeda would end up suplexing both Sakuda and Mogami followed by Jack and Fukimoto both hitting Package Piledrivers as Takeda would place barbed wire over Ueki and Jack and Takeda would both hit Swanton Bombs on Ueki followed by Fukimoto smashing the board across Ueki and Jack hitting the Jack Pack to get the win at 12 minutes, 38 seconds over Ueki with the barbed wire all around Jack for the win. Sakuda, Ueki, and Mogami would throw their ERE shirts in the middle of the ring to symbolize the end of the group.

This would be the last match for awhile for Kenji Fukimoto who is taking time off to heal his body as it has started to break down over the last couple of years due to the hardcore style he has been doing since 1998.

Kengo, Yuya Susumu, and Dragon Libre would defeat Takashi Sasaki, Mammoth Sasaki, and GENTARO when Kengo would pin GENTARO at 8 minutes, 4 seconds with an Aussie Suplex. The opening match would see Tomoya Hirata defeat the newest member of FREEDOMS in Reiya Igarashi at 11 minutes, 10 seconds with a Crab Hold.

FREEDOMS would return to the Nagoya Tsuyuhashi Sports Center on January 11, 2026 announcing a crowd of 188 fans for the show. The main event would see a Weapons Death Match with the Big Japan Tag Team Champions Toru Sugiura and Kazumi Kikuta teaming up with Tomoya Hirata as they would defeat former Big Japan Death Match Heavyweight Champion Yusaku Ito along with Masashi Takeda and Daisuke Masaoka as Sugiura would get the win at 18 minutes, 19 seconds with a Soul Driver over Masaoka. Jun Kasai and Mizuki Watase would defeat Violento Jack and Takayuki Ueki in a Hardcore Match as Kasai would pin Ueki at 14 minutes, 3 seconds following a Watase Diving Double Stomp. Gaia Hox would pin Takashi Sasaki at 8 minutes, 17 seconds with a cradle as they look to push Hox more going forward. The Nagoya team of Michio Kageyama, Takaya Shibayam, and Konaka Pale One would defeat the FREEDOMS team of Mammoth Sasaki, GENTARO, and Dragon Libre when Konaka would pin GENTARO at 8 minutes, 28 seconds with a European Clutch. Toru Sugiura and Kengo Takai would defeat Ali Najima and Reiya Igarashi when Takai would make Igarashi tap at 10 minutes, 14 seconds with a Crab Hold. The opening dark match would see Captain Grace, Shigehiro Irie, and Princess Pistachio defeat Yuya Susumu, Basara's Masato Kamino, and HIROYA when Irie would pin HIROYA at 8 minutes with a cradle for the win.

FREEDOMS would return to Shin-Kiba 1st Ring on January 23, 2026 and announce a crowd of 148 fans for the show. The 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 Hellbridge Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match.

Takeda and Ito would go after Watase with Ito headbutting him and throwing him down into the fluorescent light tubes on the mat followed by Takeda taking a light tube placing it over Watase's head and smashing it with a chair with Ito bringing Watase up on the hellbridge but Kasai would come over and both he and Watase would end up legsweeping Ito off the hellbridge onto a stack of light tubes on the mat. Kasai would then place light tubes over Ito and hit a Pearl Harbor Splash followed by Watase hitting a foot stomp off the hellbridge. Ito would end up spitting black ink in Watase's face and hitting him over the head with a stack of light tubes and hit a Code Destroyer on a chair but Watase would then roll up Ito with a Jack knife to get the win at 21 minutes, 24 seconds to win the King of Freedom Tag Team Titles.

The semi-main event would be a Barbed wire Board Death Match between Tomoya Hirata and Kyu Mogami which would see Mogami throw Hirata into the barbed wire board but he would charge at Hirata and get caught with a German and then hit with another German Suplex to get the win at 11 minutes, 15 seconds with Hirata getting on the mic talking about being extremely frustrated and would call out Jack to the ring and challenge him to a King of Freedom World Championship Match at the February 12th Korakuen Hall show with Jack accepting.

Toru Sugiura, Kazumi Kikuta, and Toshiyuki Sakuda would defeat Violento Jack, Takashi Sasaki, and Mammoth Sasaki when Sugiura would end up pinning Takashi at 13 minutes, 7 seconds with a Swift Driver. Gaia Hox would end up defeating Dragon Libre at 8 minutes, 31 seconds after getting the pin on him. Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei would defeat Kengo and Yuya Susumu when Shu would pin Kengo at 8 minutes, 22 seconds with a Zombie King to setup a King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title Match at Korakuen. The opening match would see GENTARO defeat Reiya Igarashi at 8 minutes, 28 seconds after making him submit to the Achilles Tendon Hold. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 1/23/26 show

FREEDOMS would return to the Itabashi Tokyo Square on February 1, 2026 announcing a crowd of 89 fans for the show. The main event would see Violento Jack would teaming up with Takashi Sasaki and Mammoth Sasaki against Jun Kasai, Mizuki Watase, and Tomoya Hirata in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Weapons Death Match.

Hirata and Jack would face off while Mammoth and Kasai would begin fighting on the outside with Mammoth grabbing a light tube and smashing it over Kasai's head. The glass would end up creating a massive cut to Kasai's temple as he would have to get his head bandaged because of the amount of blood he was losing. Mammoth would begin working over Hirata by breaking light tubes over him. Hirata would eventually make the tag to Kasai who would come in all bandaged up. Kasai and Mammoth would begin squaring off before Mammoth would hit him with a choke bomb followed by Jack coming in with light tubes but Kasai would grab them from him and smash them over Jack's head.

Watase would get tagged in and go up to the top but Jack would get up and throw a chair at him. Hirata would come in and Jack would begin exchanging strikes to one another with Hirata hitting a clothesline as Takashi would come in and begin clotheslining Hirata and place a stack of light tubes against Hirata and kick them breaking across Hirata before trying to slam him but Hirata would overpower Takashi and powerslam him followed by Kasai hitting a Pearl Harbor Splash, Watase hitting a Diving Footstomp on a stack of chairs followed by Hirata hitting Takashi with a running clothesline before Hirata would hit Takashi with a German Suplex to get the win at 18 minutes, 21 seconds to setup his Korakuen match against Jack. Afterwards, Daisuke Masaoka would hit the ring and challenge Kasai and Watase for the King of Freedom Tag Team Titles with Mammoth as his partner with Kasai accepting.

The semi-main event would see Daisuke Masaoka defeat Dragon Libre at 12 minutes, 5 seconds with a Fire Thunder, Masashi Takeda and Toshiyuki Sakuda would defeat Toru Sugiura and Reiya Igarashi when Takeda would make Igarashi tap out at 12 minutes, 41 seconds with an Ankle Hold. Yasu Urano would show up out of nowhere and get the win over Takayuki Ueki at 12 minutes, 19 seconds after getting a pin on him and the opening match would see Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei defeat Gaia Hox and Rekka when Shu would pin Rekka at 7 minutes, 29 seconds with a Lariat.

FREEDOMS would hold their first Korakuen Hall show of the year on February 12, 2026 announcing a crowd of 363 fans for the show. February is usually one of the lowest attended Korakuen shows of the year but this is the first show to dip below 400 since November 16, 2023 (which they had just done a bigger show in Nagoya earlier that month) and it is the lowest Korakuen number since May 25, 2023 which was Hirata vs. Sakuda that did 328 fans which that was the second Korakuen Hall show they had held that month.

The main event would see Violento Jack defending his King of Freedom World Championship in a Octagonal Fluorescent Light Tubes Ring Death Match. This was a call back to March 23, 2023 where Tomoya Hirata defeated Violento Jack for the King of Freedom World Championship. Hirata's reign did not really do that well and was ended due a catastrophic leg injury that caused him to be out of action for a year. It has finally took him awhile to get better in the ring again, but the interest in him has not been recaptured since his injury.

Jack early on would grab a stack of light tubes with Hirata shoulder tackling himself into them breaking them across Jack. Hirata would try to send Jack into the turnbuckles against the ropes but Jack would reverse it and send Hirata into them instead. Jack would then start to cut open Hirata with a broken light tube before trying to suplex Hirata with Hirata turning into a brainbuster on a stack of light tubes. Hirata would then knock Jack out of the ring and deliver a tope to him before getting back in the ring and delivering a flying dropkick. Hirata would then run into Jack with a stack of light tubes before delivering a Vader Bomb on him another stack of light tubes. Jack would fight back and staple a piece of paper to Hirata's cheek and forehead followed by a Swanton Bomb.

Jack would just take a stack of light tubes and just toss them down on Hirata's body and go up to the top but Hirata would get up and smash a light tube over Jack's head and go up to the top and slam Jack down onto another stack of light tubes. They would then begin striking one another on the apron before Jack would deliver a Kamikaze off the apron onto a stack of light tubes. Jack would bring Hirata back in the ring and try rolling him up with Hirata kicking out. They would both get up and charge at one another with clotheslines before Hirata would deliver a Frankensteiner to Jack. Hirata would go for a German Suplex but Jack would pull out his stapler and staple Hirata's hand then place him in the Mexican Stretch and begin stapling Hirata before Jack would roll Hirata up with Hirata kicking out.

Hirata would get up and nail Jack with a clothesline and then bring out a bucket of salt where he would dump most of it over Jack's bloody back and then dump the rest over his own head before nailing Jack with a lariat. Hirata would then nail Jack with a German Suplex and try to lift him up but Jack would counter and slam Hirata on a stack of light tubes before powerbombing him on more light tubes. Jack would then bring out the tequila bottle and smash it over Hirata's head followed by a chair shot to the head and then light tubes across the back before slamming him on more light tubes and then finishing him with the Jack Pack on a stack light tubes to get the win at 24 minutes, 12 seconds to defend the title for the fourth time. The match suffered from a lack from crowd heat due to just being so empty but also too much emphasis on the light tubes was not a positive here. 

The semi-main event would see Jun Kasai and Mizuki Watase defend the King of Freedom Tag Team Titles against Mammoth Sasaki and Daisuke Masaoka in a TLC Extreme Hardcore Style Barbed wire Board Death Match as Kasai and Mammoth would face off with Mammoth superplexing Kasai and then shoving Kasai right into the barbed wire board in the corner. Mammoth would take some of the barbed wire and begin cutting open Kasai with it followed by using a barbed wire bat to get the cut deeper. Masaoka would come in the ring and deliver a reverse splash senton on the barbed wire board on Kasai before Mammoth would come back in and smash the ladder against Kasai's crotch and smash the ladder with a chair. Masaoka would then take a ladder and drop it on Kasai. Mammoth would then look to piledrive Kasai on a stack of chairs but Kasai would reverse and be handed a guitar and smash it over Mammoth's head.

Kasai would tag in Watase who would put on a glove and then grab some barbed wire and scrape it across Mammoth's forehead. Watase would look to slam Mammoth but he would be overpowered and Mammoth would slam Watase instead on a stack of chairs and tag in Masaoka. Masaoka would bring in a table and go up to the top but Watase would fight back and stand on the table and deliver a Fire Thunder sending Masaoka through the table. Kasai would come in and deliver a lariat to Masaoka and then both would grab Mammoth but Mammoth would instead suplex both Kasai and Watase. Mammoth would then place a chair over Kasai's head and both Mammoth and Masaoka would hit a Mammoth Home Run on Kasai.

Masaoka would then take some of the barbed wire and begin choking Kasai with it before placing him in a Crossface and again wrapping the barbed wire around Kasai's throat with Watase making the save. Masaoka would then go up to the top try for a Rokkura Kai but Kasai would move out of the way and Watase would hit a flying legdrop as Kasai would smash a guitar over Masaoka's head. Mammoth would come in and be met with a double suplex as Kasai would go up to the top of the ladder and deliver a Pearl Harbor Splash followed by Watase hitting a double foot stomp off the ladder with Mammoth making the save.

Watase would try for a chair shot to Mammoth but he would just grab the chair and smash it over Watase's head and try for a choke bomb but Watase would reverse it and send Mammoth out of the ring and try for a tope con hilo on Mammoth mostly missing Mammoth. Masaoka would then deliver a headbutt and roll up Kasai with a Tornado Clutch and a La Magistral with Kasai kicking out and hitting Masaoka with a Reverse Tiger Driver before delivering a Cross Arm Stimulation Driver on the guitar to get the win over Masaoka at 16 minutes, 13 seconds to defend the titles for the first time. This was a better match than the main event as everyone seem motivated, but the lack of crowd just would not allow the match to go up to another level.

Kengo would defend his King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Championship against Brahman Shu and would come prepared as he would wear a rain coat and goggles so when Shu would try to spit water in his face right away it would have no effect on him and Kengo would have the early adva ntage in the match but he would take the goggles off and get water spit in his face by Kei standing on ringside. They would place Kengo outside the ring as Shu would end up rolling his bowling ball in Kengo's groin but as they would get back in the ring Shu would look to spit his Indian ink in Kengo with Kengo hitting him causing the ink to be swallowed by Shu. Kei would then try and spit his ink in Kengo's face but Kengo would move out of the way and Shu would get sprayed instead. Kengo would then throw powder in Shu's face and hit Shu with a Brainbuster to get the win at 12 minutes, 15 seconds to defend the title for the third time.

Toru Sugiura, Kazumi Kikuta, and Daiju Wakamatsu would defeat Masashi Takeda, Toshiyuki Sakuda, and Kyu Mogami when Wakamatsu would pin Mogami at 11 minutes, 53 seconds with a Death Valley Bomb in a Weapons Death Match.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Gaia Hox would defeat Yuya Susumu and Dragon Libre when Hox would pin Libre at 10 minutes, 47 seconds with the Butterfly Effect. Dragon Libre would announce that he was taking a break from wrestling after this match due to recently getting divorced and him getting custody of his special needs son that he will need to take care. Libre promised he would come back though.

FREEDOMS vs. Ganbare Pro would see Takashi Sasaki and Reiya Igarashi defeat Shuichiro Katsumura and Sentaro Motojima when Sasaki would make Motojima tap out at 11 minutes, 18 seconds with a Crab Hold for the win.

The Barefoot King Championship Match would be the opening dark match as Kota Sekifuda would end up defeating Takayuki Ueki at 7 minutes, 39 seconds in a Barefoot Toy Block Death Match with his Iron Man to get the win over Ueki to become the new Barefoot King Champion. Click here to watch highlights of the FREEDOMS 2/12/26 Korakuen Hall show

FREEDOMS would return to the Yokohama Radiant Hall on February 21, 2026 and announce a crowd of 158 fans for the show. The top two matches would be tournament matches to see the next challengers for the King of Freedom Tag Team Championship. The main event would see Takashi Sasaki and 2AW's Daiju Wakamatsu defeat Daisuke Sekimoto and Takayuki Ueki when Sasaki would pin Ueki at 17 minutes, 22 seconds with a Right Leg Kick to advance to the finals. The semi-main event would also be a tournament match as Kyu Mogami's mystery partner would be Toru Sugiura having the exact same hair style as Mogami and his mannerisms going by Hyakuroku Mogami as they would defeat Toshiyuki Sakuda and Crea when Kyu would pin Crea at 12 minutes, 55 seconds to advance to the tournament finals.

Non-tournament matches would see Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei originally defeat the tag team champions of Jun Kasai and Mizuki Watase when Kasai would end up getting counted at 2 minutes, 9 seconds. Kasai and Watase would ask for a rematch and put up their King of Freedom Tag Team Titles on the line with the Brahman Brothers accepting as Watase would end up pinning Kei at 11 minutes, 11 seconds with an elbow for the win. Daisuke Masaoka, Gaia Hox, and Kota Sekifuda would defeat Masashi Takeda, Kengo, and Yuya Susumu when Hox would pin Susumu with a Jackknife roll up at 11 minutes, 19 seconds for the win as he would challenge Kengo for the King of Freedom Jr. Heavyweight Title. Mammoth Sasaki would defeat Reiya Igarashi at 9 minutes, 36 seconds with a Camel Clutch and the opening match would see Violento Jack and Tomoya Hirata defeat Toru Sugiura and HIROYA when Hirata would pin HIROYA at 12 minutes, 13 seconds with a Lariat for the win.

Masayoshi Takeuchi, known as the "God of Barbed Wire," who supported the professional wrestling world behind the scenes, passed away on February 22, 2026 at the age of 77 years old due to a cerebral infarction.

Takeuchi was born in 1948 in Okutama, Tokyo after his father returned home from the war. Takeuchi grew up always buildings thing to play with as a kid such bow and arrows, bamboo dragonflies, and chanbara (swords) so he could play with his friends and one day would day work on creating a small knife and cut his hand in the process and learn the pain of working with sharp objects. He would end up getting a job as a bus driver for a swimming school before the school would end up closing down and he was looking for a new job in May 1993. By chance he would hear that a person in his apartment complex was in need of a new bus driver for the bus transportation company he owned. Takeuchi would meet with the man and be offered the job to start the next day on May 30, 1993 to begin driving the heel bus for FMW.

Takeuchi did not know anything about FMW so he was told to drive to the hotel where the wrestlers were staying at and meet with a man named Go Ito who would explain to him everything he needed to know. Takeuchi would walk into the hotel not knowing who anyone was and would walk up to the first wrestler he saw and ask him if he was Go Ito. That man was actually Ricky Fuji who would explain he was not Go Ito and be able to joke with Takeuchi years later with one another about the mix up.

Takeuchi after dropping off the heels on the bus to the venue would have to just sit around and wait for the end of the show to end so he would just sit around and watch the shows at the venue that's where he noticed the ring crew needing help setting up the ring for the No Ropes Barbed wire Death Matches and would begin helping the crew remove the barbed wire after the show. FMW staff members would notice Takeuchi helping the crew removing the barbed wire at a faster pace and would assign him another job which was to handle the barbed wire death matches starting on June 15, 1993 in Hyogo. Takeuchi would learn the faster more efficient wave of woving the barbed wire for the main death matches and eventually he would begin creating weapons using barbed wires. He would wrap the barbed wire around bats, helmets and shin guards. Onita would be very impressed with Takeuchi's work and the two would develop a friendship due to seeing how much passion that they were showing with Takeuchi's work with the weapons and Onita's passion in the ring. Takeuchi called Onita the "General of FMW" and always wanted to impress him.

It probably helped that Takeuchi was driving the FMW heel bus and so he never was driving Onita around for their friendship. Ricky "I'm not Go Ito" Fuji told a story about how Takeuchi was driving on the Osaka highway and took the wrong exit and pulled over to the shoulder and then got back on the highway and stated reversing the bus which freaked the wrestlers out including The Sheik who began praying to Allah. Hideki Hosaka told a story about he woke up one night on the bus with all the wrestlers sleeping and saw Takeuchi hitting himself with a club he brought and went over and asked why he was doing it with Takeuchi saying he was doing it to keep himself away. Sabu told a story that the bus did not have a restroom but whenever The Sheik would ask Takeuchi if he could stop to use the rest room, he would agree and find the nearest place to stop so he could go to the restroom. Sabu whenever he would ask Takeuchi if he could stop to go to the restroom would just get a "NO" response. Sabu would joke that he thought Takeuchi was a piece of shit for that, but would state that he used the best and most expensive barbed wire although that meant the barbed wire hurt the most.

Takeuchi would end up leaving FMW following Onita's retirement in 1995 and go back to working as a taxi driver before becoming the All Japan foreign bus driver in 2000 with Motoko Baba in charge. He would end up attending a Atsushi Onita promoted show in May 2012 at the Shinjuku FACE and would see Onita after the show. Onita would ask if he could go back to setting up the barbed wire for his August 2012 match against Akebono with Takeuchi agreeing. Takeuchi would then end up being hired in 2015 by the Super Battle FMW promotion that he would do until 2017.  Takeuchi would end up writing a book in 2016 entitled "The 'God' Entangled in Barbed Wire." and following his passing Onita made the statement "He understood my passion for the ring and used his ingenuity to create all kinds of lethal weapons. Takeuchi was an indispensable member of FMW. I'm truly grateful for all he's done for me."

I did not know who he was at the time, but I actually got to meet Takeuchi in 2013. I attended a Happy Share With event ran by Megumi Kudo which included Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka. Following the show, as most people were leaving, I saw an older couple as well about two others staying by outside the building just waiting around so I figured I would go back and stay around with them and see what would happen. The older couple was Takeuchi and his wife and we tried to small talk as much as you could (I believe I was showing them my FMW 1997 program that I had in hand) while knowing two different languages. Then Megumi Kudo came out and took pictures with those that had stayed around after and so Takeuchi was one of the reasons I got to take one of my favorite pictures along with Megumi Kudo. Three years later at Korakuen Hall, I saw him setting up the barbed wire for the Super Battle FMW show I was at recognizing him as the older man that I had waited out with before learning exactly who he was and what role he played in FMW back in the early 90s.

I finished the next installment of documenting Hayabusa's career year by year as this installment covers his April 1998 and winning the FMW Double Titles against Mr. Gannosuke to May 3, 1999 with him and Kodo Fuyuki losing the finals of the FMW Tag Team Tournament. This includes talk about Atsushi Onita wanting to team up with him before leaving FMW, his starting up his own faction Phoenix, winning the All Asian Tag Team Titles, and several interviews he conducted during this one year span. You can find it at http://fmwwrestling.us/Hayabusa9899.html - I have three more of these to do before this part is completed. 1999-2000, 2000-2001, and 2001-2016.

I recently finished translating Death Matches of that day and time! - 120 indie death matches from the 90s by Irie Irie (I think he only wants to go by his last name and just added his last name twice) and it was a really good read as Irie puts you in the perspective of a fan in the early 1990s pre-internet and gives you a perspective of attending all these death match shows life and has a really good memory of his teenage years and early adult hood when death matches were at their peak. You can tell there's a shift for the later end of the 90s as he gets older as 1996 alone gets the same amount of pages as 1997 through 1999 combined. I very much recommended getting this book. Another enjoyable book I recently finished translating was The Men who created FMW which was written by Kazuhiro Kojima back in 2022. He goes over the early FMW days from the creation of it to the first Kawasaki Stadium show on September 23, 1991 as he interviewed everyone still alive that had a hand in helping out the early years of FMW other than Atsushi Onita. Kojima is a great writer and another book I recommend reading if you are a fan of the early years of FMW. I will try and translate more books here soon as I got out of doing them for the second half of the year, they just are very long projects that take up a lot of time, but I do feel these are great documents of history for Japanese that not too many people are willing to do for so many books. You can find out more about purchasing the books at my book page by clicking http://fmwwrestling.us/Books.html

Speaking of things I have taken a break from I also recently completed FMW Stories Episode 7 going over the New Hayabusa. This was the first episode I have done in over two and a half years as doing another project like this was just something I could not put my heart into for the longest time after a bunch of stuff happened in my personal life. I was able to complete it and go over everything related to ZERO1 and having to start over and coming up with the return of the Hayabusa gimmick and how it has gone so far up to January 2026. I have gotten positive reviews for it as I also want to get back into making these as I look to start on making a Atsushi Onita vs. Sad Genius episode next. Click here to watch the New Hayabusa episode

Every first update of the year I try to include something of my collection that I would like to show off. These two Hayabusa Naughty Boys are some of the best quality Hayabusa masks ever made by the person that made the Hayabusa masks personally for Eiji Ezaki after his accident. I will probably end up getting some more down the line but for now I have these two. Last year I mentioned about doing a video showing off my VHS collection for my YouTube channel and I still want to do something like that, maybe more show off the entire collection of stuff I have across the house. I would just need to get the house cleaned up as all my stuff is spaced out across the house as it's slowly turning into an FMW museum.

FREEDOMS/FMW-E/FMW Misc./Production Shows News 2025 (January - December 2025)

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)