――The other day, Mr. Kazuhiro Kojima, a former FMW reporter for “Weekly Pro-Wrestling”, published a book called “The Men Who Made FMW”.  I wanted Ricky to talk about the early days of FMW.

Ricky Fuji: I also caught a glimpse of the contents of that book, but I thought, "Why did you choose these people?" There was a staff member named Taiho (Takuji) who didn't seem to have been there for a year in the real early days. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga was also there, but was he even there in the early days?

――He only appeared for the first two months. He immediately went to Pioneer Senshi with Director (Masashi) Aoyagi.

Ricky Fuji: So, he was there for a while shortly after the company was started. When you say "the men who made FMW", I think you should have had a role in actually making FMW, from my point of view (laughs).

――It's about "the men who were involved in the early days of FMW" (laughs).

Ricky Fuji: I was with FMW the longest. Longer than Onita (Atsushi) and Hayabusa. I was there from May 1990, the first year of the company's launch, to the end of 2002, when it went bankrupt. That's why I'm really "the man who created FMW". Hahahaha!

――Before joining FMW, Ricky made his debut in Canada, and was a rare “reverse import wrestler” at the time.

Ricky Fuji: At first, I was a New Japan trainee, and through the introduction of Shunji Takano, who took care of me at that time, I went to Katsuji Adachi (Mr. Hito) in Calgary, Canada, and made my debut there. However, we weren't able to organize shows regularly, so we started a small group together with the manager who was with me at the time.

――You were actually in a death match indie before FMW.

Ricky Fuji: So when I was in Canada, I was sent pro wrestling magazines from Japan regularly, and it was where I learned about the start of FMW. The promotion I used to be apart of in Canada started doing things like barbed wire death matches as a result (laughs). You also had a young Chris Benoit and Johnny Smith doing those types of matches

――Now that I think about it, it’s really gorgeous. However, there were many hardcore groups that ripped off FMW later in Japan and overseas, but Ricky's group may have been the first to do so (laughs).

Ricky Fuji: I might be (laughs). After that, by some kind of strange fate, I got a call from someone who took care of me in Japan, and said, "Since we've established an organization called FMW, why don't you come back?", I returned to Japan for the first time in several years.

――So you entered FMW right away?

Ricky Fuji: No, he said I was going to meet Mr. Onita first, so he let me come to a Korakuen Hall show to watch. Then, by chance, three former All Japan Women girls Megumi Kudo, Reibun Amada, and Combat Toyoda burst in the ring, and everyone was beating up the FMW girls who were only newcomers, so I said, ``What a great group this was haha.

――In the early days, FMW had a casual customer base, right?

Ricky Fuji: There were a lot of customers who really got to know each other. There were quite a few fans who seemed to be buying tickets just to be jerk offs to the wrestlers.

――So you're setting it up completely obliquely.

Ricky Fuji: That's why when I first appeared at FMW's Korakuen, I was jeered by the crowd. At that time, there were no Japanese wrestlers who were dressed like this when they were fighting. However, at that time, only Mr. Onita told me, "Keep your style as it is" and "It's okay to be more flashy. That's your charisma."

―In the early days of FMW, there were many shady “fighters” who called themselves “mixed martial arts fighters”.

Ricky Fuji: In the early days, there were karate, sambo, tae-kwon-do, and so on, so I thought, "There aren't many professional wrestling groups like this." If I remember correctly, my second match back home was against Tae-kwon-do's Lee Gak Soo.

――Suddenly, there would be a Tae-kwon-do vs. Calgary-style martial arts match (laughs).

Ricky Fuji: But I was able to handle it because I was trained at New Japan Dojo and Adachi's dojo in Calgary, and I was recognized by Mr. Onita. During my time as a trainee in New Japan, I was sparring with Liger-san (Jushin Thunder) almost every day, and my two ears were crushed by Liger-san. haha.

――A lot of unique foreign wrestlers came to FMW in the early days,  was that through Kiyoshi Ibaragi, who would later become the W★ING representative?

Ricky Fuji: Yes, him and Despina Montagas who was the wife of Tarzan Goto were the ones making the calls.  At that time, you couldn't check videos on the internet like you do now, so you had to see it for yourself. That's why there were a lot of people who were forced to deal with who they brought in haha.

――Such as Soul King, a black man who appeared as a karate practitioner (laughs).

Ricky Fuji: Soul King was so scary looking that I thought he was actually could kill people, but he was helpless when he got into the ring haha. But the most amazing were Cody Templeton and Ray Barrera.

――They were a legendary duo with the name of “the weakest karate fighters” (laughs).

Ricky Fuji: Before they came in, it was said that "a great guy is coming", so the card was treated as they were main characters of the tour. Even for the big match at the Tsukisamu Green Dome in Sapporo, a match was scheduled against Onita and Goto. However, after the opening show, when they stepped into the ring, they were was a karate fighters who were thin and wobbly. Onita's complexion changed when he opened the door of the locker room and saw Ray Barrera for the first time said, "Hey! You're an old man!" haha.

――Even the top leader of FMW, Mr. Onita, would say, “I don’t know who is going to appear” haha. On the other hand, you also invited wonderful foreigners such as The Gladiator and Big Titan, who were as good as regulars for All Japan and New Japan.

Ricky Fuji: Gladiator and Horace Boulder were originally in Florida and booked by Despina. The wrestlers Despina calls have a lot of hits and misses, but Guraji was a big hit.

――What about Titan?

Ricky Fuji: I called Titan from Canada

――There were quite a few people from Canada you brought in.

Ricky Fuji: That's right. Titan then later Dr. Luther, Dr. Hannibal. I also called Chris Jericho.

――Was Chris Jericho also booked by Ricky?

Ricky Fuji: That's right. He has become such a superstar now haha.

――Then there was Ricky's strongest foreign unit, "Team Canada", was in a sense really "Ricky's Army".

Ricky Fuji: That's right. It wasn't the companies intention, it was a group that I created by persuading everyone and acting on my own will. I talk directly to Titan, Luther, and Hannibal. At first, Jericho was supposed to participate, but an offer came from WCW, a major US organization, and it didn't happen. Also, persuading Gladiator was difficult. He had an American obsession, he is like "Why would I join Team Canada?"

――He didn't like the name he said haha.

Ricky Fuji: But I thought the combination of Gladiator and Titan was absolutely necessary. "If you team up with Titan, you can aim to be the strongest in the world. I'm the leader of the group, so it's called "Team Canada", but don't worry about the name. I just want to make the strongest group. I said something like that, and then I persuaded and begged him, and finally Graji shook my hand.

――A foreign heel unite, where Japanese wrestlers act as the manager, that is currently what New Japan is doing with Mr. Gedo with the Bullet Club, but Ricky's Team Canada seems to be the first

Ricky Fuji: FMW if often the first in history or is doing something ahead. I think that's because Mr. Onita let us work freely and he accepted our various ideas. When Mr. Onita heard that I was also working on the Team Canada concept, he said something like "Well that's fine. Let them do what they want."

――That is such a good atmosphere. Maybe that's why, even though FMW was Onita's one man show, a lot of different personalities blossomed.

Ricky Fuji: We didn't have to force ourselves to fit in, and I think it was an interesting group of people of completely different types.

――The Sheik and former world heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks, who defeated Muhammad Ali were there as well.

Ricky Fuji: That's amazing too. For some reason, Leon Spinks was subordinate to The Sheik. I don't know why, he always acted like he owed The Sheik something haha.

――Something happened in Detroit, The Sheik's home town haha.

Ricky Fuji: The Sheik was really the big boss of the foreign group. At that time, Titan and Gladiator, who were both hot blooded and fearless, couldn't even raise their heads to The Sheik.

――This is going to spread imagination rumors of The Sheik

Ricky Fuji: I think Onita-san did an excellent job of assigning strengths and weaknesses to the members. There are professional wrestling legends like Sheik, world boxing champions, and a Russian judo king in Grigori Verichev. You also have costume wrestlers Pandita and Ultraman who were also there.

――Did you call Pandita and Ultraman from Mexico?

Ricky Fuji: Yes, also Onita-san also did an expedition in Mexico a long time ago when he was in All Japan. Also, Damian has been taking bookings since he was Ultraman.

――Come to think of it, Damian originally Amigo Ultra as well haha.

Ricky Fuji: That's right. Originally, the name was "The Return of Ultraman", but we didn't get permission from Tsuburaya Productions, so he became Amigo Ultra as it would have been dangerous to continue using Ultraman. He didn't want to keep wrestling in the same costume as Ultraman, so he became Damian. In fact the Damian character was Mr. Onita's haha.

――Is that so?

Ricky Fuji: Damian was in the locker room of the Japanese side and was joking around a lot. Then Onita-san said something like, "Hey, you. I'm the one who thought of Damian so you should thank me" haha.

――After FMW got on track and became a popular group, W*ING was formed mainly be people who were front men of FMW in the early days. When I read "The Men who made FMW", it was written that they were trying to recruit Ricky, but was there such a story?

Ricky Fuji:  I don't know about that story.

――So there no specifics to that story?

Ricky Fuji: I don't remember myself being contacted.

――Mr. Taiho said, "There was a story about trying to bring Ricky Fuji and Megumi Kudo to W*ING"

Ricky Fuji: Oh that reminds me. It's true Takuji Taiho did talk to me haha. The person that started W*ING was Kazuyoshi Osako, who was the first president of FMW. Osako-san could be persuasive and said something like, "Actually, if you wanted to go to WCW in America, you're very good, I have the contacts to get you to go there whenever you want." I remember now haha. Now that you mention it, Taiho did ask to see about if I would withdraw from FMW.

――In fact, at the first W*ING launch press conference, Mr. Osako said that he would call Mike Tyson in the future haha. Does that mean Taiho believed in Osako's boastful words?

Ricky Fuji: I don't know if he believed him or not, but I remember Taiho saying something like, "Osako-san is someone with that kind of power, so what do you think? haha.

――Well the first W*ING show didn't have Mike Tyson, you didn't get involved with WCW, and he disappeared in the blink of an eye haha.

Ricky Fuji: Speaking of plucking, I forgot about W*ING, but I remember I was approached by an SWS employee.

――Really?? That is new to me.

Ricky Fuji: I can say this now, but in the early days of FMW, shortly after I returned from Canada, I was approached by Mr. Shunji Takano. Shunji-san contacted me with a feeling like "You've done well since you've came home. Lets go have a drink." So we met and talked about various things, and then he said "Come to SWS. I've already talked to the President of Megane Super about it." He told me how much I would be making, but I asked if the offer could be put on hold and I would get back to him. I didn't have a lot of money when I came back from Canada, but I had a strong desire to do professional wrestling, which I wanted to do, and I felt a sense of obligation to Mr. Onita, who picked me up after I returned from Canada.

――That would be at a time that FMW had not really gotten on track yet.

Ricky Fuji: So, later, I called Shunji-san and said "I'm really grateful for the invitation, but I can't betray Onita-san, so i'm sorry for wasting your time." so Shunji said "I see. Got it! Do your best there." Such a story actually happened.

――At the time, the professional wrestling world was moving in a big way. It was a great time, wasn't it?

Ricky Fuji: SWS had a huge amount of money, didn't they? So this is a story that Onita-leaked, but it seems like there was talks of SWS of trying to buy FMW.

――It would be the same way that the Fujiwara group was also affiliated with Megane Super. It's possible that FMW would have become become SWS 'Onita room' haha. 

Ricky Fuji: There was a time that I talked about that kind of thing actually happening. However, if it would happened the history of pro-wrestling would have changed. Looking back now, it was a turbulent time.