Kintaro Kanemura's Biography

Kouhiro Kanemura was born in Tsu, Mie Japan on August 9, 1970 to South Korean immigrant parents who also gave him the Korean name Kim Cheong Ho. Kanemura was born while a storm was going on in Tsu that day and was also premature and needed an incubator after being born.

Kanemura's father ran a Yakinuku Korean BBQ restaurant to support Kanemura and his eight year older sister and five year older brother. Kanemura grew up one of the smaller students in his class as his families heritage was always that of smaller individuals and never cut out for any type of athletic sports.

Kanemura at an early age always seemed to be mischievous as he and his older brother would end up sneaking out of the house to go to the beach together at night. Kanemura felt the rush of being dangerous at an early age.

Kanemura would become a wrestling fan in Junior High in 1982 after a friend would show him a video of the All Japan Real World Tag Team Tournament from December 1977 as he would fall in love with it with Terry Funk becoming his favorite wrestler. Although the Tiger Mask had become one of the most popular wrestlers at this time there was no interest from Kanemura in the masked wrestler as Terry Funk was his hero.

His love for pro-wrestling came out in his illustrations as he would make his own pro-wrestling comics during class with him playing the leading role in the comic with Kanemura completing 20 issues of this comic which not only other students would want to read, but some teachers as well.

Kanemura at this point just wanted to become a professional wrestler and did not even want to bother with high school, although the thought of Kanemura dropping out before high school had upset his mother to tears that Kanemura would agree as he felt like his mother figured it would be a phase and that by the time he graduated high school he would not want to become a pro-wrestler anymore.

Kanemura would attend high school at the Nagoya Aichi Korean High School where he he would play rugby for his school with coming home every day to his ankles and knees always hurting.

While still in high school he would attempt to try out for the All Japan Dojo, but because of his smaller stature he would be rejected right away by Masa Fuchi. Word would get out about Kanemura's failure to join the All Japan Dojo with his rugby coach knew Akira Maeda and got in touch with him to get Kanemura try out for the UWF promotion. However, Kanemura hated the UWF style and he refused to even try out for the shoot organization.

Kanemura would go on to graduate high school and move to Tokyo with the plan of joining Animal Hamaguchi's Gym in 1989 where he would train to become a pro-wrestler. After about a year, Hamaguchi would end up introducing Kanemura to Ryuma Go who had started up the very Japanese independent promotion called Pioner Senshi with Kanemura joining the promotion. Pioneer Senshi had a working relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the new Pioneer Senshi wrestlers would be sent to the New Japan Dojo to train which would be incredibly difficult for Kanemura though, as he would end up deciding to run away before coming back only to decide it was too tough again and once again leave.

Then one day Kanemura would be out shopping when he would come across Ryuma Go with Kanemura letting Go know he wanted to come back to Pioneer Senshi, as the dojo life had just been very difficult because he had also getting bullied while there. Ryuma Go would agree to take Kanemura back without passing the proper training at the New Japan Dojo and before he knew it, Kanemura was booked to make his pro-wrestling debut.

Kanemura would debut under his new ring name Yukihiro Kanemura against Akitoshi Saito who was also making his professional wrestling debut who had been apart of Masashi Aoyagi's World Karate Association promotion at the Aichi Handa City Hall in traditional blue tights on December 20, 1990. Kanemura would only be given a few minutes for his match because he had not passed the proper training to become a pro-wrestler although he would also compete in a Battle Royal on the show.

Atsushi Onita's FMW promotion would start to catch fire in 1990 as a hardcore wrestling promotion setting the standard of what independent promotions need to do compete against New Japan and All Japan. Pioneer Senshi because of having a working relationship with New Japan would never stray away from the traditional wrestling mindset and the promotion would end up only having enough funds to run a show every two months before eventually closing down with Go leaving to join the new independent promotion Oriental Pro.

Masashi Aoyagi who was a famous karate fighter out of Nagoya had began working for Pioneer Senshi because of their connections with New Japan hoping to get booked by them. Kanemura without a home promotion would begin training at Aoyagi's Seishin Kaikan karate dojo in Nagoya with no home promotion and having to find a part time job to make a living.

FMW would end up having office issues that would see Mickey Ibaragi and Kazuyoshi Osako both leave FMW and agree to start up their own promotion. They created the promotion "World Martial Arts Association Union W*ING" although Ibaragi wanted the promotion to be a hardcore promotion with Mr. Pogo as the top wrestler. Osako wanted the promotion to be a Martial Arts promotion and reached out to martial artists about coming in to join the promotion. Osaka connected with Aoyagi's karate school and brought in Yukihiro Kanemura and Akitoshi Saito to World Martial Arts W*ING with fellow Aoyagi karate student Mitsuhiro Matsunaga joining a month later due to his long friendship with Akitoshi Saito.

W*ING would not have a Dojo so Kanemura would get trained by fellow wrestlers Tom Pritchard, Danny Davis, and Ricky Santana before shows while on tour. Kanemura would appear on the first W*ING show on August 7, 1991 at Korakuen Hall where he would team up with former FMW preliminary wrestler Ryo Miyake to take on a new tag team in The Headhunters who had been brought in Mickey Ibaragi from Puerto Rico. The Headhunters were identical twin brothers who could do moonsaults and were pushed as the top tag team in the promotion as they defeated the team of Kanemura and Miyake after Headhunter B hit a moonsault on Miyake for the win.

The second W*ING show at Korakuen Hall would be on September 9, 1991 with Kanemura teaming up with Hideki Hosaka and Ryo Miyake to take on the top heel in the promotion in Mr. Pogo in a Gauntlet Match. Miyake would be the first to fall to Pogo then Kanemura would become the next and finally Hosaka would be the last one to Pogo as the younger wrestler just had no chance against at defeating Pogo who was being established as unstoppable.

Kanemura would get another crack at Pogo at the next Korakuen Hall show on October 25, 1991 as he would team up with Masaru Toi and Hideki Hosaka against Mr. Pogo again in a Handicap Match. Kanemura would get some good kicks in at Pogo and the three would triple Pogo but Kanemura would end up being the first one eliminated although Hosaka and Toi would fall quickly afterwards as Pogo once again was too much for the youngsters to be able to handle.

Internal conflict on the direction of the promotion would result in World Martial Arts Association W*ING closing down in November 1991. Ibaragi wanting the promotion to be a death match promotion around Mr. Pogo and Osako wanting the promotion to be based around Martial Arts resulting in them both not being able to work with one another anymore. The wrestlers would choose on what promotion they wanted to join with the pro-wrestlers joining Ibaragi's side and the martial artists joining Osako's side. The only two martial artists to declare they wanted to be on Ibaragi's side was Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and Yukihiro Kanemura who were both karate students from Masashi Aoyagi's school. Ibaragi would have both Matsunaga and Kanemura signing their allegiances to Ibaragi swearing they wanted nothing to do with Osako's Martial Arts promotion.

That would be the right career move for Matsunaga and Kanemura as Osako's World Martial Arts promotion would end up closing down before ever running a show after failing to come up with finances to start the promotion. Ibaragi would start up his new W*ING promotion which stood for Wrestling International New Generations.

The first New W*ING show would take place on December 10, 1991 at Korakuen Hall with Yukihiro Kanemura going up against former FMW wrestler Mitsuteru Tokuda and although Kanemura would lose he would earn the respect of Tokuda and Kanemura would form a partnership together.

W*ING through Victor Quinones would develop a partnership with Jim Cornett's Smoky Mountain Wrestling. W*ING would bring in SMW's Rip Rodgers to face off against Kanemura on March 8, 1992 with Kanemura getting his first win at Korakuen Hall on the show.

Kanemura would get two different chances at singles matches against Mr. Pogo with one taking place on March 11, 1992 at the building he made his debut in at the Aichi Handa City Hall and then again on March 13, 1992 at the Shizuoka Industrial Hall in a Bunkhouse Death Match with both matches Kanemura giving everything he had but coming away completely bloody and wrapped in barbed wire before being put away by Pogo.

The new team of Kanemura and Mitsuteru Tokuda would take on Mr. Pogo and Super Invader on April 5, 1992 at Korakuen Hall in a Caribbean Barbed wire Barricade Death Match with Super Invader with both Kanemura and Tokuda getting busted open during the match and bleeding everywhere. Super Invader would end up wrapping some of the barbed wire around his body and diving off the top rope on Kanemura to get the win. Matsunaga afterwards would come out to check on Kanemura and would form an alliance with them as well as Masaru Toi against Mr. Pogo as there now a unit in W*ING to go after Pogo and Quinones.

Kanemura would face off against the brand new foreigner that was making his first tour for W*ING in the Tazmaniac on April 6, 1992 in Osaka with Kanemura picking up the win.

Kanemura was given his first ever title shot of his career on May 5, 1992 at the Osaka Izumi-sano City Gym as he would face off against The Grappler Len Denton for the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion. Kanemura would ended up winning the title belt that had 35 years of history to it after defeating Denton. Although history does not show the title change as Denton was not the actual champion at the time in Portland but owned the physical belt and had been paid by W*ING to have Kanemura win the title and hold it.

Kanemura would defend his PNW Heavyweight Title for the first time on May 7, 1992 at Korakuen Hall against the Super Invader and would manage to successfully defend the title after Invader would end up being counted out of the ring. Portland Wrestling would end up shutting down in July 1992 and Kanemura would have to give back the title to Denton as a result ending his first ever championship reign of his short career.

The first show of W*ING's Climbing Up Tour would take place on June 4, 1992 at the Saitama Omiya Skate Center with Yukihiro Kanemura and Mitsuteru Tokuda teaming up against The Headhunters. Kanemura would end up getting injured in the match as Headhunter A would end up pinning him. Kanemura would end up missing two months as a result of the injury.

Kanemura would return after his two month injury for the biggest W*ING show of the year. It would be the one year anniversary show with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga challenging Mr. Pogo in a Fire Death Match and would take place on August 2, 1992 at the Chiba Funabashi-shi Auto Race Parking Lot and would draw such a good gate that it would be the reason that W*ING would manage to go on almost another two years due to the success of the show. Kanemura and Tokuda would team up to face off against the Super Invader and his partner The Masked Inferno in a Barbed wire Barricade Death Match with the loser of the fall either losing their mask or hair. Kanemura would get cut open from the barbed wire and bleed through out the match but he would end up getting the win over Inferno after diving off the top rope and getting the pin. Invader and Inferno would both attack Kanemura afterwards and grab the scissors and begin to cut his hair before Tokuda would make the save for his partner. The Masked Inferno would be force to take off the mask and it would reveal to be the future Road Block in WCW. Matsunaga would end up winning the match against Pogo and Victor Quinones and Pogo would split apart after the match causing Mr. Pogo to go babyface and side up with Kanemura and Matsunaga as Victor Quinones and his monsters along with the Headhunters would become the top heels.

Yukihiro Kanemura would return to Korakuen Hall on August 14, 1992 where he would go up against the Rochester Roadblock who would later go on to work for WCW as the two would end up going to the Double DQ finish.

Yukihiro Kanemura and Jason the Terrible would team up on August 21, 1992 against The Headhunters with Kanemura looking to get revenge on them for his injury two months prior due to them. It would be a Barbed wire Death Match and The Headhunters would end up wrapping barbed wire around Kanemura's throat before finishing Kanemura off for the pinfall as Kanemura could just not get by The Headhunters.

Yukihiro Kanemura would face off against Jason the Terrible on September 10, 1992 at Korakuen Hall with them both brawling on the outside to a double count. The match would get restarted and Jason would end up pinning Kanemura just two minutes later. Kanemura and Jason would meet later in the show in part of a 4 vs. 4 Elimination match between Kanemura, The Winger, Hiroshi Shimada, and Hirofumi Miura against Jason, Masaru Toi, Masayoshi Motegi, and Ryo Miyake. Kanemura would get a small bit of revenge as he would end up eliminating Jason first after tossing him over the top rope. Kanemura would then follow that up by eliminating Toi after pinning. Kanemura though would end up being the first man eliminated by his team after Motegi would end up tossing him over the top rope with Miyagi also getting the last elimination over Ryo Miyake for the win

Kanemura would challenge for his second title on September 27, 1992 at Korakuen Hall as he would go after the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title held by Miguel Perez, Jr. but would end up coming up short in his effort as Perez would manage to put Kanemura away to successfully defend the title.

Kanemura's next feud would begin as Shoji Nakamaki would appear in W*ING on November 1, 1992. Nakamaki who had been force to retire by FMW but was granted another shot at proving him against Onita in a match at the FMW Dojo the day before had no showed and decided to join W*ING instead. Nakamaki appeared and Kanemura attacked the outsider to set up a match between them at the end of the year.

Another shot at Miguel Perez, Jr.'s WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title would be given to Kanemura on December 18, 1992 at the Fukushima City Gym. Kanemura would not let this opportunity go to waste as he would manage to defeat Perez and capture the Puerto Rican title.

Kanemura would face off against Shoji Nakamaki on December 20, 1992 at the Saitama Shi Sports Center and would end up making quick work of the rookie and finish off Nakamaki in under five minutes with a Powerslam as Kanemura was finishing the year becoming one of the top guys in the promotion. Kanemura would start off 1993 by defending his WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title on January 2, 1993 at Korakuen Hall against Rick Patterson and successfully defending the title in the blood bath.

Yukihiro Kanemura would team up with Masaru Toi to face off against the Cuban Assassin and Mohammed Hussein on January 7, 1993 at Korakuen Hall with Assassin and Hussein picking up the win after the Assassin would finish off Toi. The main event of the show would be the retirement of Gypsy Joe with Kanemura attending in the ring for the send off of Joe who had been a fixture the past year with the promotion.

The next title defense would be against El Vigilante Korakuen Hall on February 3, 1993 as Kanemura would again successfully defend the title. W*ING would run again just two days later at Korakuen Hall on February 5, 1993 with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Mr. Pogo, Mitsuteru Tokuda, and Yukihiro Kanemura defeating the team of Jose Estrada, Kim Duk, Miguel Perez, Jr. and El Vigilante in a Single Elimination Match.

Kanemura would travel to the United States as a wrestler for the first time and compete for the Independent promotion ICWA at the Tampa Sportatorium on February 18, 1993 as he would defend his WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title against The Cuban Assassin with Kanemura managing to defend his title once again after getting the win. Kanemura would only bring 20 cents on this trip and have no idea where to stay. Victor Quinones would end up helping Kanemura financially including taking him to Toys R Us for the first time.

Kanemura would then appear for Jim Cornette's SMW promotion on March 1, 1993 in Sevierville, Tennessee for TV Tapings. Cornette was told that Kanemura was not much of a worker but was a very good bleeder so Cornette booked an angle where Kevin Sullivan would attack him with a spike and cut him open badly in a match. It would turn out to be a infamous angle for the promotion as Sullivan would attack Kanemura which would lead to a match and Sullivan would use a spike on Kanemura's arm causing so much blood to spill out that the TV show would have to censor it. Kanemura would have to go to the hospital afterwards where he would get 58 stitches to close the gash but then would have to catch a fly right afterwards and travel to Puerto Rico for a show the next day.

Although Kanemura had just received 58 stitches the day before he now found himself in another country for a match. Kanemura would compete for the WWC promotion as he would defend the title on March 2, 1993 against El Exotico with Kanemura again defending the title for the fourth time.

Kanemura would return to Japan to team with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga for the W*ING Tag Team Titles against the once again heel Mr. Pogo and his partner Crash the Terminator whose real name was Bill DeMott. Kanemura and Matsunaga would challenge for the W*ING Tag Team Titles on March 18, 1993 at the Tokyo Ota Ward Gym with Crash hitting a moonsault onto Kanemura to get the pin and defend their tag team titles.

The next day Kanemura would team up with a rookie for the first time on March 19, 1993 in Aichi, Shinshiro for the first time by the name of Hideo Takayama against Kazuhiko Matsuzaki and Nobutaka Araya with Matsuzaki getting the pin over the rookie. It would be the first of many times that Kanemura would end up teaming with the man that would just go by Hido for years to come.

Kanemura and Matsunaga would try again for the W*ING Tag Team Titles on April 3, 1993 at the Kagoshima Gym against the new champion monster team of Leatherface and Freddy Krueger with Matsunaga getting the win over Krueger to give Kanemura another title belt although the title reign would not last long as Matsunaga would vacate the titles shortly afterwards.

Kanemura would be put in a midcard match on one of W*ING's biggest shows on May 5, 1993 at the Odawara Stadium as he would team up with Jason the Terrible and Miguel Perez, Jr. to take on Crash the Terminator, Bash the Terminator who was better known as Carl Outlette/Jean Pierre Lafitte and Goliath El Gigante who would go on to become Kurrgan in the WWF. The foreigners would end up getting the win after Gigante would manage to put away Jason the Terrible for the win.

Kanemura would team up with Miguel Perez to try and win the vacant W*ING Tag Team Titles on May 9, 1993 at the Akita Honjo Gym against Kanemura's old nemesis The Headhunters in a Barbed wire Cage Match. Just like before Kanemura would still be no much for the bigger Headhunters who would bloody Kanemura up using the barbed wire and then deliver a moonsault to get the pin over Kanemura and win the W*ING Tag Team Titles.

Kanemura would get another shot at Kevin Sullivan after what he had done to him in States two months earlier on May 27, 1993 at Korakuen Hall but the match would end getting out of control after a bloody Kanemura and Sullivan would end up fighting all over the building as the referee would end up just throwing the match out.

Kanemura would defend his WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title on June 18, 1993 at Korakuen Hall against WWC wrestler Hurricane Castillo, Jr. with Kanemura successfully defending his title for the 5th time. Mr. Pogo would end up leaving the W*ING promotion for more money in FMW and although with Pogo gone it showed a bad sign for W*ING's financial future the group of wrestlers had never been closer with one another. Not only had Kanemura made many close friends while in W*ING he had also met his future wife in former All Japan Women's wrestler Shiho Tsubaki who had been touring for W*ING. The marriage would only end up lasting two years though.

Kanemura would then face off against Crash the Terminator on July 7, 1993 at Korakuen Hall and although Crash would end up getting the win and finishing Kanemura off with a Moonsault he would show respect towards Kanemura and turn babyface and join the W*ING side afterwards.

The W*ING roster would come out to start the August 25, 1993 show at Korakuen Hall with Kanemura grabbing the microphone. An emotional Kanemura began to cry as he announced to the crowd that Mitsuhiro Matsunaga had left the W*ING promotion to join FMW. Kanemura would get another shot at Kevin Sullivan and again the bloody brawl would result in Sullivan cutting open Kanemura's forehead and the match being ruled a no contest.

The new team to W*ING would come from the Universal Promotion would be brought in by Victor Quinones going under their new names of Jado and Gedo they would team up to take on Yukihiro Kanemura and Shoji Nakamaki on on August 26, 1993 in Aomori with Gedo getting the pinfall over Kanemura which would become a hate filled feud between Kanemura and the newcomers. Jado and Gedo would also add Hideo Takayama to their group to assist them.

Kanemura would defend his WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title on September 26, 1993 in Hachioje against Jado with lighting up a baseball bat on fire and hitting Kanemura in the stomach in it to get a TKO win for Kanemura's WWC Caribbean Title as the feud would continue as a level of hate would continue to build between Kanemura and Jado and Gedo.

Kanemura and Shoji Nakamaki would team up to take on Jado and Gedo in a Falls Count Anywhere on October 19, 1993 at Korakuen Hall and again Jado and Gedo would have Kanemura's number by pinning after brawling and bleeding all over the building including the elevator of Korakuen Hall to set up for a Fire Death Match at the Odawara Stadium.

Kanemura's most memorable match with W*ING would be teaming with Shoji Nakamaki to try and finally gain revenge on Jado and Gedo in a Scramble Fire Death Match on October 31, 1993 at the Odawara City Baseball Stadium. The match would not go long before Jado with the help of Hideo Takayama would pour gasoline on the mat, lit the mat on fire, and then powerbomb Kanemura onto the fire. Kanemura would catch on fire and roll out of the ring with the fire still all over Kanemura's back with wrestlers pouring water and trying to put the fire out off of Kanemura with the referee ending the match and rewarding Jado and Gedo the win as a result. 75% of Kanemura's back and shoulder skin tissue would be burned off. Screaming in agony and pain Kanemura would be showered with water, and put in several blankets while Kanemura continued to scream in incredible pain. Kanemura would take a stretcher to the back and be put in an ambulance and taken to the hospital due to the severity of the burns. Kanemura would be in so much pain from the burns that even his ears and hair would hurt from the fire. Kanemura would continue to cry in the hospital and ask to be given anesthesia so that he could sleep instead of deal with the pain.

Kanemura would return in front of the crowd for the first time since the injury on November 20, 1993 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center showing off his burns. Gedo and Hideo Takayama now going by Hido to be like his friends would come out and try antagonize Kanemura with Kanemura grabbing an umbrella to get them to back off as Gedo and Hido would continue to mock Kanemura before leaving.

Kanemura would end up making his return after 3 1/2 months off of due to the severity of his burned back. Kanemura would return with Jado and Gedo having already left W*ING to join WAR so the only one to get revenge on was Hido who had helped them powerbomb him into the fire and Kanemura would face off against Hido on February 15, 1994 at Korakuen Hall in a bloody match with Kanemura getting the win over Hido. Kanemura would shake Hido's hand afterwards as his issues with Hido would be over following the match. This would turn out to be W*ING's final show put on under Mickey Ibaragi and Victor Quinones.

Ibaragi had managed W*ING's finances horribly and as a result the promotion had run out of money and would end on March 21, 1994. Victor Quinones would get Tatsukuni Asano who was a very rich Japanese Restaurant owner in Shinjuku to create a new company called IWA Japan although it would take three months to start everything up. Kanemura with almost all the other W*ING wrestlers would end up joining the promotion.

Although not officially dead at the time, everybody in W*ING was free to take bookings elsewhere due to no more shows being booked. Kanemura would take a booking for another struggling promotion in PWC. Kanemura would team with fellow W*ING wrestler Kazuhiko Matsuzaki and Shunji Takano to take on the Cosmic Powers team of Uchu Power X which was former W*ING wrestler Koichiro Kimura under a mask as well as Uchu Power XX and Uchu Power XXX in a Captains Falls Match on February 17, 1994 at Korakuen Hall. The match would be a complete bloody brawl with the three masked wrestlers cutting up their opponents. Matsuzaki would end up being eliminated from his team but Kanemura would counter by eliminating Uchu Power XXX before Takano would finish off the captain Kimura and to get the win for the PWC team over the aliens.

Kanemura would wrestle on the first Korakuen Hall show on May 23, 1994 as he would battle against Shoji Nakamaki in a Scramble Bunkhouse Barbed wire Baseball Death Match with Kanemura getting the win once again over Nakamaki.

Kanemura would then wrestle in another Hair vs. Mask match against former W*ING wrestler The Winger on June 18, 1994 at the Seibu Baseball Stadium Parking Lot in Saitama in a Barbed wire Baseball Bat Death Match with Kanemura getting the win over The Winger as Kanemura would keep the mask as a trophy and The Winger would go by his real name Takashi Okano from then on in the promotion.

Kanemura would face off against Shoji Nakamaki on June 23, 1994 at Korakuen Hall in a Barbed wire Board Chain Death Match and the bloody Kanemura would once again show he was too much for Nakamaki and next would be entered into the IWA Heavyweight Tournament.

Kanemura would end up losing in the first round of the IWA Heavyweight Tournament on July 14, 1994 at Korakuen Hall after losing to Nobutaka Araya who would end up making it to the finals of the tournament before losing to Dick Slater.

Kanemura who had signed a two year contract with IWA Japan would have issues with IWA President Marty Asano and what he was getting paid. Kanemura who was making 1,000 dollars a month with W*ING although Victor Quinones was paying for all his meals would go with IWA Japan because of Quinones getting a booking position as well as many of the wrestlers that remained with W*ING jumped to the new promotion. Kanemura was promised $2,500 a month if he were to get over and become a top guy for the promotion. Kanemura felt he was the most over guy for the brand new promotion at that point and he was getting $1,400 a month instead. Kanemura would quit IWA Japan on August 31, 1994 and get in touch with Atsushi Onita about joining FMW.

Atsushi Onita would promise Kanemura $10,000 a month which would continue to be his salary through out FMW up until the very end. Onita told Kanemura some specific rules he wanted from him. Onita would want Kanemura to travel by taxi and not the subway train which was considerably more expensive in case someone from IWA Japan was upset over Kanemura just walking out on his contract they would hire someone from the Yakuza to make him pay. Kanemura would also have to move into a new place so that no one from IWA Japan would know where he was living any longer. Kanemura would also be told to tell Mitsuhiro Matsunaga that he was only making $5,000 a month as Matsunaga would have been very upset to find out that Kanemura who was not at the star level of Matsunaga were making the same a month.

Yukihiro Kanemura would make his first appearance in FMW on September 7, 1994 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center, and would come out and attack Atsushi Onita with a barbed wire bat after Onita had just defeated Mr. Pogo. Kanemura would get on the mic and bash Onita as well as FMW about how W*ING was the only real hardcore group and he would be joining Mr. Pogo's group consisting of The Gladiator and Hideki Hosaka as for the first time in his career Kanemura would now be a heel.

Kanemura would ask Mitsuhiro Matsunaga to leave the FMW Team and to return back to his roots although before Matsunaga could decide anything Kanemura would get jumped by Mr. Gannosuke backstage as the two would have to be separated from one another. Kanemura shortly after would begin to experience difficulties with his burnt back and shoulder skin tissue from the previous year and would need to check in to a hospital. Matsunaga due to his friendship with Kanemura back in W*ING would go visit him on September 13, 1994. Onita would find out about this and begin screaming at Matsunaga for going to see a rival in the hospital. Matsunaga would become very upset by this and announce that he was leaving the FMW group and joining Kanemura in the newly revised W*ING faction.

Yukohiro Kanemura's debut match in FMW would take place at the Tokyo Jingyu Pool Stadium on September 25, 1994 where he would team with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga to face off against Tarzan Goto and Hisakatsu Oya. Oya would end up turning on Tarzan Goto in the match to join the W*ING group and attack Tarzan Goto, until Atsushi Onita would come from the back and swim to the ring to make the save for Goto and slamming Kanemura into the pool.

Kanemura would team up with Mr. Pogo as well as The Gladiator to face Atsushi Onita, Mr. Gannosuke, and Katsutoshi Niiyama in a Barbed wire Penalty Box Elimination Death Match on November 23, 1994 at Korakuen Hall with the new W*ING team earning a clean sweep after The Gladiator eliminated both Niiyama and Gannosuke and Pogo would lastly eliminate Onita for the W*ING win.

Kanemura would team up with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and Masashi Aoyagi who had been feuding with Onita and aligned himself with the group as they would defeat the team of Katsutoshi Niiyama, Koji Nakagawa, and Masato Tanaka on December 1, 1994 at the Hiroshima Green Arena after Kanemura would pick up the win over Tanaka. Kanemura would then be a part of the main event on December 9, 1994 at Korakuen Hall as Kanemura would partner along with the W*ING team of Mr. Pogo, Hisakatsu Oya, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, and Hideki Hosaka as they would lose to the team of Atsushi Onita, Tarzan Goto, Katsutoshi Niiyama, Koji Nakagawa, and Masato Tanaka in a Falls Count Anywhere Street Fight when Niiyama would put away Hosaka for the FMW win.

The W*ING team of Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Yukihiro Kanemura, Hideki Hosaka, and Hido would team up to take on the the FMW team of Katsutoshi Niiyama, Koji Nakagawa, Masato Tanaka, and Gosaku Goshogawara on December 20, 1994 at the Nagoya Aichi Gym and W*ING would almost get a clean sweep of eliminations again as only Hido would end up being eliminated before Mitsuhiro Matsunaga would end up last eliminating Koji Nakagawa for the W*ING victory.

Kanemura would follow that win over the secondary FMW team with another W*ING win on December 23, 1994 at Korakuen Hall as he would team with Hisakatsu Oya and Mitsuhiro Matsunaga as they would defeat Tarzan Goto, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Gosaku Goshogawara when Oya would finish off Goshogawara for another W*ING win.

The W*ING team would score yet another victory over FMW on January 5, 1995 at Korakuen Hall as Yukihiro Kanemura along with Mr. Pogo, The Gladiator, and Hisakatsu Oya would defeat Tarzan Goto, Katsutoshi Niiyama, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda with Oya finishing off Kuroda for the win. The W*ING team of Kanemura, Mr. Pogo, The Gladiator, Hisakatsu Oya, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Yukihiro Kanemura, and Hideki Hosaka would defeat the team of Atsushi Onita, Tarzan Goto, Mr. Gannosuke, Katsutoshi Niiyama, Koji Nakagawa and Gosaku Goshogawara on January 6, 1995 at Korakuen Hall in a Scramble Bunkhouse Yen on a Pole Elimination Street Fight with Kanemura managing to climb up the pole and collect the Yen for the win.

The W*ING faction would promote their show on January 17, 1995 at the Honjyo City Gym and as a way to embarrass Onita they would book him in the opening match against Tetsuhiro Kuroda with Onita finishing off the youngster quite easily. W*ING would then main event the show against Onita as Kanemura, Mr. Pogo, The Gladiator, and Hideki Hosaka would face off against Onita, Mr. Gannosuke, Katsutoshi Niiyama, and Masato Tanaka in a No Ropes Barbed wire Street Fight Death Match with Onita hitting Hosaka with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb for the win.

Yukihiro Kanemura would team up with his W*ING partners of Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and Hideki Hosaka to take on the newly form Lethal Weapon faction consisting of Hisakatsu Oya who had broken away from the W*ING group along with Tarzan Goto and Ricky Fuji who had broken away from the FMW group to form the new Lethal Weapon group on February 24, 1995 at Korakuen Hall with Oya getting the pin over Hosaka with a Back Suplex

Kanemura would win his first FMW title in the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship on March 7, 1995 at the Iwate Morioka Gym teaming with Mr. Pogo to defeat Atsushi Onita and Mr. Gannosuke after Kanemura would pin Gannosuke to win the tag team titles for the W*ING faction which by the end of the month would have all the FMW titles.

The W*ING team of Mr. Pogo, The Gladiator, Yukihiro Kanemura, and Hideki Hosaka would suffer a set back as they would face against the FMW team of Atsushi Onita, Mr. Gannosuke, Katsutoshi Niiyama and Masato Tanaka in another Yen on a Pole Street Fight on March 19, 1995 at Korakuen Hall as Tanaka would end up managing to grab the yen this time to give the FMW team the win over W*ING as well as the money.

Yukihiro Kanemura would team up with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and The Gladiator on March 30, 1995 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym to defeat the young FMW team of Masato Tanaka, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Gosaku Goshogawara as The Gladiator would delivering an Awesome Bomb on Kuroda for the win and Mr. Pogo would go on to defeat Atsushi Onita in the main event of the show.

Yukihiro Kanemura and Hideki Hosaka would go on to lose to the Lethal Weapon faction of Hisakatsu Oya and Ricky Fuji on April 21, 1995 at Korakuen Hall to earn a shot Kanemura and Pogo's FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles on May 5, 1995 at Kawasaki Stadium. The Lethal Weapon would end up losing their Tarzan Goto just two days later on April 23rd as Goto along with Mr. Gannosuke would announce that they were leaving FMW over a dispute Goto had about jobbing in the main event to Onita at the Kawasaki Stadium show.

Kanemura would then wrestle in front of the largest crowd of his career ever of 58,250 at Kawasaki Stadium on May 5, 1995 for Atsushi Onita's Retirement show in the semi-main event by defending his FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles with Mr. Pogo against Hisakatsu Oya and Ricky Fuji. There would be a miscommunication between Pogo and Kanemura which would lead to Oya getting the pinfall over Kanemura after delivering a suplex on Kanemura to win the tag titles. Mr. Pogo afterwards would attack Kanemura by blowing a huge a fire ball at him for the loss and leave the W*ING with The Gladiator and Horace Boulder following Pogo to Oya and Ricky's Lethal Weapon group.. This would leave W*ING with now Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Yukihiro Kanemura, Hideki Hosaka, and Hido.

Kanemura after the show would change his ring name to "W*ING Kanemura" to show his love and passion for the W*ING group as he would take on Masato Tanaka in a singles match for the first time on May 17, 1995 would also change his ring name from Yukihiro Kanemura to W*ING Kanemura as he would wrestle Masato Tanaka for the on May 17, 1995 at the Saitama Fukaya City Gym with Kanemura picking up the win over Tanaka.

W*ING Kanemura would team up with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in the first "NEO-FMW" show at Korakuen Hall on May 28, 1995 as they would take on Lethal Weapon's Mr. Pogo and Horace Boulder with Kanemura getting the pinfall over Boulder with a diving bulldog off the top turnbuckle face first on to a barbed wire baseball bat in a Bunkhouse Street Fight.

Kanemura would get a chance at revenge at Mr. Pogo for turning on him at Kawasaki Stadium as he would face him in a Street Fight on June 25, 1995 at the Kyoto KBS Hall and although Kanemura would manage to get a hold of Pogo's sickle and cut open Pogo's forehead it would be the same result that Kanemura would have against Mr. Pogo in W*ING as Pogo would end up defeating Kanemura after KO'ing him and Kanemura would be unable to make it back to his feet for the ten count.

W*ING would add a new member to the group in Super Leather to the group on June 27, 1995 at Korakuen Hall as Super Leather would take Kanemura's place in the match to team with Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and Hido to defeat Mr. Pogo, The Gladiator, and Horace Boulder after Matsunaga would knock Pogo out. Kanemura who would have both shoulders bandaged would instead face off against Masato Tanaka on the show as the injured Kanemura would barely make it five minutes before Tanaka would get the win after slamming him down to the mat for Tanaka's first ever win over Kanemura.

Kanemura would then be entered into the FMW Young Lions Tournament that would consist of Hido, Hideki Hosaka, Masato Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda in a Round Robin Tournament. Kanemura's first match would take place on July 18, 1995 at Korakuen Hall against Hideki Hosaka with Hosaka scoring the early upset win over Kanemura. Kanemura would get wins over Tetsuhiro Kuroda on July 19th, Hido on July 22nd, Koji Nakagawa on July 23rd, and Masato Tanaka on July 28th to give him eight points and advance to the finals of the tournament.

The finals of the FMW Young Spirit Tournament would take place on July 30, 1995 at the Tokyo South Owasa Multipurpose Plaza against Masato Tanaka with Tanaka getting the win over Kanemura with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb to win the tournament. For getting to the finals both Tanaka and Kanemura would be selected for the FMW Grand Slam Tournament for the vacant Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Title the following month.

The Grand Slam Tournament would consist Hayabusa, The Gladiator, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Super Leather, Hisakatsu Oya, and Katsutoshi Niiyama. Kanemura's first match of the tournament would take place on August 22, 1995 in Yokosuka against The Gladiator being just too much for Kanemura to handle as The Gladiator would end up getting the win.

Kanemura would then face off against new FMW ace Hayabusa in a singles match for the first time on August 25, 1995 at Korakuen Hall with Hayabusa's highflying maneuvers being too much for Kanemura as Hayabusa would end up putting Kanemura with the Falcon Arrow as it looked like Kanemura was already going to have no chance at making the finals of the tournament.

Kanemura would all but be eliminated from the tournament after facing off against his friend Mitsuhiro Matsunaga for the first time on August 31, 1995 at the Osaka Prefectural Gym # 2 in a Bunkhouse Street Fight as Matsunaga would finish off Kanemura with a Liger Bomb onto a Barbed wire Board for the win as both would shake hands up and hold up the W*ING flag proudly afterwards. Kanemura would then follow that up by losing to Hisakatsu Oya on September 2, 1995 in Akita.

Kanemura's only win in the tournament would come on September 5, 1995 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center as he would go up against Masato Tanaka and manage to get his win back over Tanaka from the finals of the Young Spirit Tournament as Kanemura would finish Tanaka with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb for his first two points in the tournament.

Kanemura would end up losing out the rest of the way as he would lose to Super Leather on September 14, 1995 and suffer his final lost on September 19, 1995 in Okayama to Katsutoshi Niiyama as Kanemura would finish with two points and second to last place only ahead of Masato Tanaka who finished winless.

Kanemura would team up with W*ING members Hido and Hideki Hosaka to take on the FMW team of Masato Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda on September 26, 1995 at Korakuen Hall as Hido would end up turning on Kanemura and Tanaka would end up getting revenge for Sapporo on Kanemura by getting the pin. Hido would join the Lethal Weapon group which would turn the W*ING faction babyface for the first time in FMW.

The FMW and W*ING stables would align with one another as Kanemura and Tanaka would form a tag team in October 1995 to set up a match against Hayabusa and W*ING member Mitsuhiro Matsunaga who had also formed a bond after their tournament match. Kanemura and Tanaka would take on Hayabusa and Matsunaga on October 28, 1995 at Korakuen Hall as Tanaka and Kanemura would unmask Hayabusa during the match and bust him open as blood would be dripping all down Hayabusa's body but it still would not be enough for them to get the upset as Hayabusa would deliver the Falcon Arrow to get the win over Tanaka as all four would embrace afterwards. But Lethal Weapon members Hido and newest member Super Leather a would soon inject himself and insulting Kanemura and Matsunaga for siding with the FMW team.

The new alliance of W*ING Kanemura, Hayabusa, and Masato Tanaka would team up on November 11, 1995 at Korakuen Hall as they would take on the Lethal Weapon team of The Gladiator, Super Leather, and Hisakatsu Oya with Tanaka getting the pinfall for his team after getting the pinfall on Oya for the win.

The alliance between FMW and W*ING would not last long as on as Matsunaga and Kanemura would turn on Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka as well as Super Leather and Hido turning on Horace Boulder to reform the W*ING group and turn back heel on November 25, 1995 in Hyogo. W*ING would face off against Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Horace Boulder in a Street Fight on December 10, 1995 at Korakuen Hall, and defeat Team FMW after Kanemura would pin Kuroda.

W*ING would face off against each other in the type of Death Match that W*ING had been known for in a Caribbean Barbed wire Double Hell Glass Death Match on December 21, 1995 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym as Kanemura would team with Super Leather and Hido to face Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Hideki Hosaka, and the newest member of the group, Jason the Terrible. Kanemura would be thrown into the barbed wire glass outside of the ring, and tortured by forcing to lay in it while Hosaka and Jason the Terrible continue to kick his body around in the glass while Kanemura would begin screaming in pain. Jason the Terrible would manage to pin Hido for the victory, and all six members would unify as W*ING would continue to be the top heel faction in FMW although it would not last that much longer as someone from Kanemura and the rest of W*ING's past was about to return.

W*ING would continue dominating the FMW team on January 5, 1996 at Korakuen Hall, after Super Leather and Jason the Terrible would defeat Hisakatsu Oya and Horace Boulder for the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles and in the main the team of Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, W*ING Kanemura, and Hido would defeat Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, and Koji Nakagawa in a Street Fight after Kanemura would score the pinfall over Tanaka.

Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, W*ING Kanemura, and Hido would continue the W*ING domination over the FMW team of Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, and Koji Nakagawa in a Spider Net Double Hell Death Match on January 10, 1996 in Chiba, in which all three W*ING members would declare their easiest death match ever after throwing Hayabusa into a Spider Net full of barbed wire which would carve up his back greatly and cause him to to be taken to the hospital where he would be force to miss four months from the injuries as Matsunaga would get the pinfall over Hayabusa.

Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, W*ING Kanemura, and Hido would take on the new FMW team of Masato Tanaka, Ricky Fuji, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda in the first ever War Games match in FMW on February 23, 1996 at Korakuen Hall, which would be a losing effort for the W*ING team as Masato Tanaka would hit the roaring elbow on Kanemura to score the pinfall in the incredible brawl. Victor Quinones would then return to FMW along with The Headhunters making their FMW debut would appear afterwards and attack both sides as Victor would create a new group, called Team IWA after he and The Headhunters had quit Asano's promotion. The group would consist of former IWA wrestlers to face off against FMW. Although the actual person under the Super Leather had never wrestled for IWA the Leatherface gimmick had become very popular for IWA Japan and he would end up turning on the Jason the Terrible and the W*ING group to join the Puerto Rican Army on March 30, 1996 at Korakuen Hall to help The Headhunters win the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles.

W*ING Kanemura and Hideki Hosaka would team up on March 15, 1996 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center as they would defeat Horace Boulder and Ricky Fuji after Kanemura would finish off Ricky with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb for the win. The W*ING group would then defeat the FMW Army on March 30, 1996 at Korakuen Hall as Kanemura, Hido, and Hideki Hosaka would defeat Masato Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda when Hosaka would pin Nakagawa in a Street Fight. They would then defeat the new IWA Japan Army as Kanemura, Hido, and Hosaka would defeat Super Leather, Shoji Nakamaki, and Crypt Keeper in the main event on April 21, 1996 at Korakuen Hall when Kanemura finish off Crypt Keeper in a Street Fight.

The next big match for Kanemura would on May 5, 1996 at Kawasaki Stadium in front of 33,321 fans to take on Cactus Jack in a Caribbean Spider Net Glass Double Hell Death Match for the IWA King of the Death Match honor which Cactus Jack held. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga had been the original opponent for Cactus Jack but after giving his notice that he would be leaving the promotion due to his pay being lowered, FMW would decide to move Kanemura in the higher profile match on the show. Kanemura and Jack would put on one of the most brutal matches as both would be suplex and thrown into the barbwire glass many times before Cactus Jack would end up getting the pin on Kanemura. Matsunaga would leave afterwards, to join the new upstart Big Japan Pro Wrestling, as Jason the Terrible would also leave FMW as the W*ING faction would now consist of just Kanemura, Hido, and Hosaka.

The W*ING group would hold their first show under the W*ING banner on June 12, 1996 at Korakuen Hall, with FMW financing the show, but drawing all the old W*ING fans to the promotion to cheer on the old group. Kanemura along with Hido and Hosaka would wrestle in multiple matches, fighting each other as well Team IWA and Team FMW on the card with the main event of Kanemura, Hido, and Hosaka taking on Team FMW's Masato Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda in the main event. Team W*ING would get a majority of the cheers as much of the crowd would consist of the old W*ING promotions audience instead of the usual FMW crowd that he had been competing in front. While the crowd was very hot, and there would be a couple more shows under the W*ING name, the idea would ultimately fail, but it would not be the last W*ING start up.

W*ING Kanemura and Hido would team up on June 28, 1996 at Korakuen Hall to take on Mr. Pogo who had recently been kicked out of the IWA Army by Victor Quinones and the Headhunters and had just joined back with the FMW team as he would team up with Gosaku Goshogawara with Hido putting away Goshogawara for the win with a Moonsault.

FMW would then announce an 8 man single elimination tournament to crown a new champion called the FMW Independent Championship. The eight men in the tournament would be Kanemura, Tanaka, Super Leather, Hido, Mr. Pogo, Koji Nakagawa, Horace Boulder, and Hisakatsu Oya. Kanemura would go on to defeat Koji Nakagawa in the first round on June 27, 1996 and then Super Leather on July 21, 1996 at Korakuen Hall in the next round to set up a finals match against Masato Tanaka.

W*ING Kanemura would take on Masato Tanaka for the title on August 1, 1996 at Shiodome, as both wrestlers would work more of a mat based style match, proving to crowd and doubters that both wrestlers could wrestle a completely different style match and not just be Death Match wrestlers. There would be no blood during the match, or any weapons used. Tanaka would deliver a missile dropkick to Kanemura, followed by a Tornado DDT by Tanaka, as well as delivering hard elbows to Kanemura's face, and would attempt to finish Kanemura off with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb, but Kanemura would manage to kick out. Kanemura would make a come back as he would duck a Tanaka rolling elbow, and Kanemura would deliver his own rolling elbow on Tanaka, and nearly get the victory from it. Kanemura would follow up with a Liger Bomb, and a guillotine leg drop, and then manage to put away Tanaka with back to back Thunder Fire Powerbombs on Tanaka to win the match to become the first ever FMW Independent Heavyweight Champion.

The W*ING team of W*ING Kanemura, Hido, and Hideki Hosaka would take on the FMW team of Masato Tanaka, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Nanjyo Hayato on August 23, 1996 at Korakuen Hall in a No Ropes Barbed wire Death Match and although Nanjyo would be the star of the match getting the fans to be screaming for him as he would hit a Moonsault off a ladder he would still end up taking the pin after Kanemura would finish him off with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb for the win.

The next big match for W*ING would be on September 1, 1996 at the Nagoya Park where Kanemura would team with Hido and Hosaka to take on Tanaka, Nakagawa, and Kuroda in a Exploding Barbed wire Double Hell Death Match which would first see Koji Nakagawa take one of the biggest bumps in wrestling, followed by Kanemura taking an incredible bump by being pushed off the ring by Nakagawa sending Kanemura into the exploding barbed wire causing an injury to his ear as Tanaka would hit Hosaka with a Roaring Elbow for the win. Kanemura would have to be taken to the hospital by an ambulance afterwards due to burn issues resulting from the Exploding Barbed wire. Shoichi Arai would give Kanemura a $10,000 bonus after the match due to the injury. Hideki Hosaka would find out about the bonus and have an issue with the bonus as he was in the match and did not get any bonus. Kanemura would joke about how Exploding Barbed wire matches cause issues in friendship as a result.

The burn injury would force Kanemura out of action the rest of the month as he would have to stay in the hospital to recover causing him to miss the second W*ING promoted show on September 11, 1996 at Korakuen Hall as well as the rest of the September tour.

W*ING Kanemura would return to action the following month and successfully defend the FMW Independent Heavyweight Title would take place at Korakuen Hall on October 12, 1996 as he would defeat Hisakatsu Oya with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb to defend the title for the first time. Kanemura would be attacked afterwards by The Gladiator and laid out with an Awesome Bomb as The Gladiator who held the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Title would challenge Kanemura for the Independent Heavyweight Champion with the winner unifying the titles.

Yukihiro Kanemura would team with Hideki Hosaka and new member of the W*ING faction Dragon Winger who had been previously Mr. Pogo's lackey Toryu as they would take on the new Funk Masters of Wrestling group of The Gladiator, Super Leather, and The Crypt Keeper on November 26, 1996 at Korakuen Hall with Gladiator getting the win after getting the three count on Winger following an Awesome Bomb. Kanemura would then take on TAKA Michinoku for the first time in a singles match on December 10, 1996 with Kanemura putting away Michinoku with a Fire Thunder Powerbomb for the pin.

FMW Independent Heavyweight Champion Kanemura would face off against FMW Brass Knuckles Champion The Gladiator on December 11, 1996 at the Komazawa Olympic Gym, with the match almost turning into a disaster right away as The Gladiator would dive off the top rope and get his foot caught in the rope accidentally. Kanemura would begin working on the leg for the entire match as result, throwing a chair at it and attempting to make sure The Gladiator would no longer attempt at flying maneuvers during the match. The Gladiator would still make it up to the top rope at the same time as Kanemura, and deliver a Kamikaze Awesome Bomb on Kanemura, knocking him out. The Gladiator would finish Kanemura off with a sit out Awesome Bomb to score the pinfall victory over Kanemura to win Kanemura's Independent Heavyweight Title and merge the titles together to become the FMW Double Titles.

The biggest year of Kanemura's career of 1997 would start off with Kanemura teaming with Hideki Hosaka and The Dragon Winger in the main event at Korakuen Hall on January 5, 1997 against Masato Tanaka, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Nanjyo Hayato and despite getting smashed in the head several times by a hard time Kanemura would still come back and finish off Kuroda with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb for the W*ING win.

In a rematch of the previous Korakuen Hall show, Kanemura would team with Hideki Hosaka and Dragon Winger to face off against Masato Tanaka, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Nanjyo Hayato on February 17, 1997 at the Chiba Koen Park Gym with Kanemura this time getting the win over Nanjyo after hitting a Diving Guillotine Drop for the win. Kanemura would then get attacked after the match by the team of his past of Jado and Gedo. Jado and Gedo would rush the ring and attack Kanemura with a barbed wire baseball bat. Jado and Gedo would then throw a bunch of stacked chairs in the ring and begin to setup the infamous Kanemura being powerbombed into fire spot from W*ING from years earlier. As they began to set up for the fire to blaze Kanemura again, this time Kanemura would end up being saved by Hosaka and Winger to prevent Kanemura getting thrown into fire. Kanemura's hated enemies were now back into his life as he had some unfinished business to take care with them.

Kanemura would team up with Hideki Hosaka and The Dragon Winger to take on The Headhunters and The Crypt Keeper on February 18, 1997 at Korakuen Hall with Kanemura rolling up Crypt Keeper with a La Magistral for the win. It would then be revealed that Jado and Gedo along with their boss Kodo Fuyuki would now be competing in FMW as they would challenge Kanemura and the W*ING group to a match the next day. The W*ING team of Kanemura, Hideki Hosaka, and Dragon Winger would take on Kodo Fuyuki, Jado, and Gedo on February 19, 1997 with the Fuyuki Army getting the win after Fuyuki would hit his charging lariat on Winger to score the win.

The W*ING team of Kanemura, Hido, and Hideki Hosaka would fall to the Fuyuki Army of Kodo Fuyuki, Jado, and Gedo on March 14, 1997 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center as Fuyuki would hit his charging lariat once again to get the win over the W*ING team as Kanemura's success against Jado and Gedo remained the same it had in W*ING which was non existent.

Kanemura would face off against another group of wrestlers that he had no success with against in W*ING on March 28, 1997 at Korakuen Hall as the team of Kanemura, Hido, Hosaka, and Dragon Winger would face off against the Headhunters and their partners The Gladiator and Super Leather with the Gladiator hitting the Awesome Bomb on Dragon Winger to get the win. The following month Kanemura would manage to turn the corner on all his past demons that he had no such luck with before.

Kanemura would team up with Hideki Hosaka to take on the team of Jado and Gedo on April 18, 1997 at Korakuen Hall and for the first time in Kanemura's career he would finally get his revenge on Jado and Gedo's for all the abuse they had caused him in W*ING as Kanemura would pin the man that took his WWC Caribbean Title and then powerbombed him into fire in Jado with a Powerbomb to finally get the win he had been looking for over his hated rivals.

Just one week after being unable to defeat the team that he had so little success against in 1993 in W*ING it was now time to challenge the team that he had no success against in W*ING for both 1992 and 1993 in The Headhunters. Kanemura and Hido would team up to challenge The Headhunters for the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles on April 25, 1997 at the Osaka Prefectural Gym # 2 and just like the week earlier Kanemura was able to defeat a team that he was unable to do so many previous times in W*ING as Kanemura would hit a Diving Body Press to get the pinfall over Headhunter B to win the tag team titles with Hido.

Kanemura would then team up with Team FMW members Atsushi Onita and Masato Tanaka to take on The Funk Masters of Wrestling team Terry Funk, Cactus Jack, and The Gladiator on April 29, 1997 at the Yokohama Arena in a wild brawl which would end with Kanemura delivering the chair shot off the top rope to the head of The Gladiator and scoring the pinfall which would give Kanemura his first pinfall ever against The Gladiator in his career. After the match, Onita would announce that he would want to face off against either Kanemura or Tanaka in a Exploding Barbed wire Cage Death Match in his return to Kawasaki Stadium on September 28. 1997 as the two would have to battle for the right to main event the biggest show of the year.

Kanemura would team up with Onita revising his Great Nita gimmick to take on Kodo Fuyuki, Jado, and Gedo on May 8, 1997 at Korakuen Hall as Kanemura would end up getting his revenge on Gedo as well by defeating Gedo with the Thunder Fire Powerbomb and pinning him for the first time.

The W*ING team of Kanemura, Hido, and Dragon Winger would then team up on May 13, 1997 at Korakuen Hall against the team of Atsushi Onita, Masato Tanaka, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda with Onita hitting his Thunder Powerbomb on Winger to get the victory to set up a match later in the month with the winning side getting to face Onita at Kawasaki Stadium.

Atsushi Onita would announce that he would team up with W*ING Kanemura and Hido on May 25, 1997 at the Fukuoka Hakata Star Lanes against the team of Masato Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda in a No Ropes Barbed wire Death Match with the winning side getting a shot at Onita at Kawasaki Stadium. Onita would end scoring the pinfall over Tanaka after a Fire Thunder Powerbomb to give Kanemura the shot at Onita at Kawasaki Stadium. Backstage Tanaka would beg Onita and Kanemura for another chance to get the opportunity to face Onita at Kawasaki Stadium. Both Onita and Kanemura would act disgusted with Tanaka's begging, but Onita would give him one more chance in a winner to face Onita match on August 2, 1997 at Shiodome in a No Ropes Exploding Barbed wire Death Match.

Kanemura's W*ING and Tanaka's FMW factions would end up trading wins with one another for the rest of the Summer as Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda would defeat Kanemura, Hido, and Hosaka on June 13, 1997 at Korakuen Hall after Tanaka would hit a Roaring Elbow on Hosaka to get the win. Kanemura and Hido would then successfully defend their FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles on June 22, 1997 at the Tokyo South Owasa Multipurpose Plaza with Kanemura pinning Kuroda after a elbow drop with the ring bell gets the win to keep the Titles.

W*ING would then hold their last promoted show as a function on July 13, 1997 in Kanemura's home town in Tsu as Kanemura would end up facing Dragon Winger in the opening match and getting beaten in the huge upset by Dragon Winger. Kanemura would then come back and team with Hido and Hideki Hosaka against Masato Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda in a Barbed wire Double Hell Death Match as Tanaka would end up getting the win over Kanemura with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb to setup their Shiodome match.

After the disappointing outing by Kanemura at the W*ING show he would face off against partner Hido in a Barbed wire Street Fight Death Match on July 27, 1997 at Korakuen Hall that would see Kanemura take a facebuster into barbed wire. Kanemura would still manage to fight back and get the win over his friend and partner after hitting him with a Thunder Fire Power Bomb on a stack of barbed wire as the two would embrace afterwards.

After 366 days following their last singles match against one another in Shiodome that saw Kanemura walk away with the FMW Independent Heavyweight Title, this time it be a much different match for a different prize. This time the match would be an Exploding Barbed wire Death Match for the right to take on Onita at Kawasaki Stadium. Kanemura just like the previous year would get the victory over Tanaka after moving out of the way with Tanaka charging at him that would send him right into the exploding barbed wire which would follow with Kanemura hitting a Thunder Fire Powerbomb and the right to main event Atsushi Onita at Kawasaki in a Exploding Ring Death Match.

Kanemura and Hido's next defense of the FMW Tag Titles would be their last as the Funk Masters of Wrestling team of Mr. Gannosuke and Hisakatsu Oya would defeat them on August 21, 1997 at the Yokosuka City Gym as Gannosuke would score the pin on Hido after a Fire Thunder to win FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles.

Soon afterwards Kanemura would shatter his foot in a match to the point where it would become an incredibly hard for him to walk at all, and with his biggest match of his career coming up and Kanemura not being able to miss out on shows, he would suck it up and despite barely be able to walk he would continue to work every match he was scheduled for leading up to the biggest match of his career.

The W*ING team of W*ING Kanemura, Hido, and Hideki Hosaka would defeat the FMW team of Masato Tanaka, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Mr. Pogo # 2 on September 16, 1997 at Korakuen Hall despite Kanemura's fractured foot he would still manage to get the win after hitting Pogo # 2 with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb to win going into Kawasaki Stadium.

Kanemura would finally take on Atsushi Onita for the first time in a singles match on September 28, 1997 at Kawasaki Stadium which had been filled by 50,012 people to see the main event of a Exploding Barbed wire Bomb Cage Death Match with the explosions being the biggest ever. The stipulation to the match would be that either the W*ING group would end if Kanemura lost or Onita would have to retire for good this time if he lost. The match would turn out to be disappointing due to Onita's actual in ring ability and Kanemura not being able to do much with a shattered foot and having trouble being able to walk at all. Kanemura would take the first ever head first bump into the exploding barbed wire cage before the biggest explosion in all of Death Matches would take place after fifteen minutes, but in the end Onita would end up hitting a Thunder Fire Powerbomb on Kanemura to get the victory and end the W*ING group.

After the match, Onita would see Kanemura crying in the locker room with Hideki Hosaka and Hido as after 6 years the W*ING name would be coming to an end. Onita would see the passion that Kanemura had and begin to question the FMW wrestlers on why they did not have the type of passion that he was seeing Kanemura have. Onita would help Kanemura into the ambulance and travel with him to the hospital.

Two days later at a press conference on September 30, 1997 in Tokyo, Atsushi Onita would announce that he was leaving from FMW and wanted to be associated with wrestlers that had the type of passion that he had as the new group would consist of Onita, Kanemura, Hosaka, Hido, and FMW wrestler Kuroda with the new group being called ZEN.

Kanemura would return under the name Yukihiro Kanemura and would team up with Hideki Hosaka against The Gladiator and Super Leather on October 14, 1997 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center with Hosaka getting the win over Leather with a Frankensteiner.

Yukihiro Kanemura would then team up with Atsushi Onita as the group would start off strong on October 19, 1997 at the Sendai Miyagi Sports Center # 2 as they would defeat the team of Hisakatsu Oya and Mr. Gannosuke for the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles after Kanemura would pin Oya with a backslide to get the win for the title belts.

ZEN would appear at Korakuen Hall for the first time on October 21, 1997 as Kanemura would team with Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Hido, and Hideki Hosaka would take on Hayabusa, Jinsei Shinzaki, Masato Tanaka, and Koji Nakagawa and already friction between the group would take place as Hosaka would accidentally hit Kanemura during the match. ZEN would still end up getting the win as Kuroda would manage to get the upset victory with a lariat and pinning Tanaka. ZEN would continue beat down the FMW team as The Gladiator would come to the ring and Awesome Bomb Hayabusa and lay the ZEN flag over him as ZEN had its newest member. After the match in the locker room, Kanemura would begin to show his displeasure towards Hosaka for the miscommunication during the match leading to a screaming and pushing between the two former W*ING members as Hosaka would grab his bags in anger and walk out although Hosaka would remain a member of ZEN it would be the beginning of difficulties between Kanemura and the rest of the group. Mr. Gannosuke and Hisakatsu Oya would eventually end up following their former Funk Masters of Wrestling partner by joining ZEN a well soon after.

Onita and Kanemura would end up vacating the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles as Onita would be unable to defend the titles regularly. Kanemura would then team up with Mr. Gannosuke on November 28, 1997 at Korakuen Hall against Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka and would score the upset pinfall as Gannosuke would get the pin over Hayabusa with a Fire Thunder to win the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles. It would be Kanemura's 4th time winning the titles, all with different partners. It would also begin a close friendship between the two that had fought in the locker room on Kanemura's first day in FMW three years earlier. Kanemura and Gannosuke would have a common bond with one another as they both complimented each other very much. Both Kanemura and Gannosuke along with Hido would begin to branch away from the rest of ZEN as dissention between Kanemura, Gannosuke, and Hido would begin to occur with Atsushi Onita after Onita had moved his match with Masato Tanaka at the Komazawa Olympic Gym show to main event and bumped down Kanemura and Gannosuke's tag title defense against Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki to mid card upsetting Kanemura and especially Gannosuke greatly as they were getting sick of Onita's ego and leadership.

Yukihiro Kanemura would team up with ZEN partners Hido and Atsushi Onita's alter ego The Great Nita against Kodo Fuyuki, Jado, and Gedo on December 5, 1997 at Korakuen Hall which would turn into a brawl all over the building and despite Nita spitting mist at Gedo and Fuyuki it would still end up being Fuyuki nailing a Charging Lariat at Hido while Gedo would grab a hold of Kanemura as Fuyuki would get the pin.

Kanemura and Gannosuke would successfully defend their FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship against Hayabusa and Michinoku Pro's Jinsei Shinzaki on December 19, 1997 at the Komazawa Olympic Gym as Kanemura would score his first career pinfall victory over Hayabusa in the match after Hayabusa would come off the rope, with an awaiting Kanemura landing a knee in Hayabusa's injured ribs, and then rolling Hayabusa up for the victory as they would retain the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles. An argument after the match would occur between Gannosuke with Kanemura and Hido backing Gannosuke as he screamed at Onita for his ego putting himself in the main event of the show as ZEN was already beginning to have issues between members.

Kanemura would then take on Masato Tanaka on December 21, 1997 at the Nagoya Aichi Gym and challenge for the FMW Double Titles. Kanemura who in the past had Tanaka's number throughout their career together would be unable to take away Tanaka's titles as Tanaka would hit a Running Elbow Smash to score the pinfall over Kanemura to successfully defend both his FMW Brass Knuckles and Independent Titles.

Yukihiro Kanemura would team with ZEN members Mr. Gannosuke and Atsushi Onita against Hayabusa, Jinsei Shinzaki, and Masato Tanaka on December 22, 1997 at Korakuen Hall in a War Games Cage Match. Kanemura would come out first and battle with Hayabusa including hitting him with a Barbed wire Baseball Bat. Gannosuke and Tanaka would then come out next followed by Atsushi Onita and Jinsei Shinzaki. Gannosuke and Kanemura would end up locking Shinzaki with handcuffs to the cage to get the advantage but Tanaka would hit a Roaring Elbow on Kanemura sending him into the handcuffed Shinzaki to grab a hold of Kanemura. Hayabusa would end up climbing the cage and delivering a Moonsault off the cage onto Onita to give FMW its first big win over ZEN. It would be all Gannosuke and Kanemura could take of Onita as they would turn on him afterwards by attacking Onita and handcuffing him to the cage and showing disrespect to him by slapping him until Koji Nakagawa would come out with a chair and clear out Gannosuke, Kanemura, and Hido from the cage. Nakagawa would end up joining ZEN as the group would lose Gannosuke, Kanemura, and Hido who were now the biggest heels in the promotion.

The new year would begin for Kanemura on January 6, 1998 at Korakuen Hall as he would team Hido would take on and lose to the team of Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki with Hayabusa getting the win over Hido. But it would be the main event of Korakuen Hall that would mean a lot to their newly formed group as Mr. Gannosuke would score the victory over FMW Double Titles Champion Masato Tanaka with a Gannosuke Clutch to win the FMW Double Titles.

ZEN would run their first promoted show on January 7, 1998 and Kanemura would team with Gannosuke and Hido in a Street Fight against Atsushi Onita, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda with Nakagawa rolling up Hido with a Gannosuke Clutch for the win. Kanemura, Gannosuke, and Hido would not less the loss sit by them as they would continue to attack ZEN after the match with Kodo Fuyuki and Jado joining in on the attack. The group of Kanemura, Gannosuke, Hido, Fuyuki, Jado and Miss Mongol would sit backstage with Kanemura announcing that all five of them were now a team and hold up a paper with the groups new name in Team No Respect. The creation of Team No Respect would end the feud between Kanemura and Jado and Gedo with Gedo joining the group a month later.

Kanemura would team with Mr. Gannosuke and Jado on January 16, 1998 at the Yokkaichi Australian Mansion as they would challenge for the FMW 6 Man Street Fight Titles. Kanemura & Gannosuke would show their lack of respect towards Shoichi Arai, by tearing up Arai's paper to declare the match a title match. Kanemura, Gannosuke, and Jado would defeat the FMW 6 Man Street Fight Champions of Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, and Hisakatsu Oya when Jado would pin Oya with the Gedo Clutch to score the victory and the titles for Team No Respect.

Although Kanemura and Gannosuke still had much dislike for Onita and the rest of ZEN their arch rival would actually be Jinsei Shinzaki who was the opposite of Team No Respect in everyway. Gannosuke and Shinzaki who had been feuding for months prior to Team No Respect being created would continue their feud with Kanemura joining to help Gannosuke show up Shinzaki. Kanemura and Gannosuke would team up on February 6, 1998 at Korakuen Hall to defeat the team of Jinsei Shinzaki and Hisakatsu Oya after Gannosuke would loosen the bottom rope and apply Shinzaki's own Nirvana Strangle Hold with the rope to choke out Shinzaki forcing the referee to stop the match and give the win to Kanemura and Gannosuke.

Team No Respect would lose their first big match on February 13, 1998 at the Chiba Koen Park Gym for the second ZEN show as Kanemura, Mr. Gannosuke and Jado would lose to the ZEN team of Atsushi Onita, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda and lose their the FMW 6 Man Street Fight Tag Titles after Nakagawa would choke out an incredibly bloodied Kanemura for the win and the titles. Afterwards, Team No Respect would attack referee of the match Go Ito's knee and send him into the hospital as a result.

Due to Go Ito's knee injury he would come to the ring on February 19, 1998 to just read the document stating that the match between Kanemura and Mr. Gannosuke against Koji Nakagawa and Tetsuhiro Kuroda at Korakuen Hall would be for the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles. Kanemura would drop kick Go Ito's knee during the announcement to continue to show their disrespect for everyone and anyone with the crowd hating them. But it would turn out to be all a plan in the end as Go Ito would end up using his crutch and smashing Koji Nakagawa over the back with it to give Gannosuke the easy pinfall to retain their tag team titles.

Kanemura would then be one of the eight men entered into the FMW Double Titles Tournament with the winner of the single elimination tournament getting a title shot at Gannosuke on April 30th at the Yokohama Bunka Gym. Kanemura's first round opponent would be Koji Nakagawa and like he did two years earlier in the FMW Independent Title Tournament he would end up squeaking by Nakagawa on March 7, 1998 in Ishinomaki to advance to the semi-finals.

Yukihiro Kanemura and his Team No Respect partners Mr. Gannosuke and Hido would reveal a new member to group and their mystery partner for the match in the returning Horace Boulder as they would defeat the ZEN team of Atsushi Onita, Koji Nakagawa, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Hideki Hosaka on March 13, 1998 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center when Fuyuki would come to the ring to help interfere for Team No Respect and it would eventually lead to all the members of Team No Respect in the ring with just Onita as the group would Triple Powerbomb him and all stand over his chest with Gannosuke being awarded the pin over Onita for the win. Team No Respect would begin to dance while Go Ito would stand over Onita's body and do the TNR Dance on top of it although Onita would eventually get up and manage to clothesline Go Ito and powerbomb him as the rest of the group would escape.

Kanemura's next tournament opponent for the semi-finals would be on March 16, 1998 in Iwate and it would turn out to be way too difficult for Kanemura as The Gladiator would end up destroying Kanemura in just over three minutes after hitting him with back to back Awesome Bombs to get the win over Kanemura to move into the finals for a shot at the FMW Double Titles.

Kanemura would really begin to show his comedy side that only his personal friends had gotten to seen over the years. The Brief Brothers would announce that Hayabusa had agreed to join their group and Hayabusa's music would begin to play with it turning out to be Kanemura dressed up in Hayabusa's outfit on March 17, 1998 at Korakuen Hall. Kanemura would try to dive over the top rope like Hayabusa but only fall down as a result to everyone laughter. Kanemura would reveal his boxers after pulling down his pants and Gannosuke would mock Hayabusa's crying as Kanemura would pretend to cry much like Hayabusa. Kanemura would go on to team with Gannosuke, Jado, and the newest Team No Respect member Horace Boulder as they would defeat the team of Jinsei Shinzaki, Masato Tanaka, Hisakatsu Oya, and Ricky Fuji after Boulder would finish off Ricky Fuji with the feud between Gannosuke and Shinzaki reaching its boiling point.

Kanemura and Mr. Gannosuke would end up dropping their FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles on March 29, 1998 in Niigata to fellow Team No Respect members Kodo Fuyuki and Hido after Fuyuki would hit his charging lariat on Kanemura to win the titles although all four would shake hands afterwards to show no harm feelings towards the group.

Kanemura and Mr. Gannosuke would take on Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka on April 17, 1998 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center with the winner getting a shot at Kodo Fuyuki and Hido's FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles. Tanaka would end up finishing off Kanemura and getting the pin over him as they would go on to defeat Fuyuki and Hido for the titles taking the Tag Team Titles away from Team No Respect since the creation of the group.

Kanemura would team up with his former rivals Jado and Gedo on April 21, 1998 at Korakuen Hall in the main event against Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, and Ricky Fuji with Gedo hitting the Superfly Splash to get the pin over Ricky. Mr. Gannosuke would finally end up taking on Jinsei Shinzaki although Shinzaki would finally get his revenge over Gannosuke with Kanemura being next in line for Shinzaki.

Kanemura would take on Jinsei Shinzaki on April 30, 1998 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym. It would be Shinzaki's last match in FMW before rejoining his Michinoku Pro promotion. They would bring out a former WBA boxer to referee the match and although Kanemura would have Go Ito by his side doing everything he could as well Kanemura using his barbed wire baseball bat it would be Shinzaki who would get his revenge on Team No Respect one last time by putting Go Ito in the Nirvana Strangle, hitting Kanemura with the barbed wire baseball bat, the WBA boxer hitting Kanemura in the jaw for disrespecting him, and Shinzaki would hit his Praying Powerbomb on Kanemura for the win. Mr. Gannosuke would also end up having a horrible night as he would not only lose his FMW Double Titles to Hayabusa in the main event, but injure his knee that would require him to miss the next 6 months of action.

The one bright side of the night would be Kodo Fuyuki defeating Atsushi Onita on the show. Fuyuki would end up taking over as the leader of Team No Respect afterwards. Kanemura would team with Fuyuki and Hido to defeat Onita, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda for the FMW 6 Man Street Fight Tag Team Titles on May 5, 1998 in Wakayama in which afterwards Onita would declare the ZEN group over. Kanemura would then participate on Fuyuki's promoted show at Korakuen Hall on May 7, 1998 where Kanemura would face off against three fellow Team No Respect members on the show in singles matches as he would first defeat Gedo and follow that up by getting the win over Jado but would end up falling to Kodo Fuyuki in the main event of the show.

Yukihiro Kanemura would begin teaming with Kodo Fuyuki with Mr. Gannosuke's injury on May 19, 1998 at Korakuen Hall as they would defeat Koji Nakagawa and Tetsuhiro Kuroda after Fuyuki would finish off Kuroda with a Charging Lariat to earn themselves a shot at the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles against Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka.

Yukihiro Kanemura and Kodo Fuyuki would go on to defeat FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Champions Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka on May 27, 1998 at the Fukuoka Hakata Star Lanes after Kanemura would roll up Tanaka for the pinfall to become a five time FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Champion with each reign being with another partner.

Their first defense would be against Atsushi Onita and Koji Nakagawa in which Nakagawa would turn on Onita after being handed a crutch by Go Ito to smash it against Onita's back for Fuyuki to get the pin on Onita on May 31, 1998 in Ishikawa. The FMW 6 Man Street Fight Tag Titles had been declared vacant earlier in the month and the team of Kanemura, Kodo Fuyuki, and Koji Nakagawa would go on to defeat Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, and Hisakatsu Oya on June 1, 1998 in Osaka after Nakagawa would roll up Tanaka for the in.

Yukihiro Kanemura would team up with fellow Team No Respect members Kodo Fuyuki, Koji Nakagawa, and Gedo on June 19, 1998 at Korakuen Hall as they would take on the FMW team of Hayabusa, Hisakatsu Oya, Ricky Fuji, and their mystery partner Daisuke Ikeda with the FMW team getting the win after Ricky would put away Gedo with a Ghost Buster.

Yukihiro Kanemura would earn a shot against Hayabusa for the FMW Double Titles on June 26, 1998 at the Sendai Miyagi Sports Center, Kanemura would bring his barbed wire bat through out the match as well as sending Hayabusa through a table on the outside from the top turnbuckle. Kanemura would end up dropping the bat and Hayabusa would end up using it as a weapon before managing to put Kanemura away with the Falcon Arrow to successfully defend the Double Titles for the second time.

Yukihiro Kanemura would team up with Kodo Fuyuki and Koji Nakagawa on June 28, 1998 at the Tokyo South Osawa Multipurpose Plaza to defend their FMW 6 Man Street Fight Tag Team Titles against Hayabusa, Hisakatsu Oya, and Ricky Fuji as Fuyuki would end up hitting a Charging Lariat on Ricky for the Team No Respect to successfully defend their titles for the first time.

The New Footloose team of Yukihiro Kanemura and Kodo Fuyuki would then defend their FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles on July 2, 1998 at the Nagoya City Gym against Hayabusa and Daisuke Ikeda with Fuyuki delivering the Running Lariat to get the pin on Ikeda to successfully defend their tag team titles for the second time in just over a month.

Kanemura would then face The Gladiator in a singles match, for the what would turn out to be the last time on July 10, 1998 at Korakuen Hall and would end up getting Awesome Bomb not only off the apron through a table, but Awesome Bombed off the top rope landing right directly on his neck for the The Gladiator to get the victory.

Kanemura would team with Kodo Fuyuki, Koji Nakagawa, Go Ito against Atsushi Onita, Mr. Pogo # 2, Yoshinori Sasaki, and Shoichi Arai on August 11, 1998 at Korakuen Hall for the Onita promoted show. Team No Respect who had captured Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Hideki Hosaka earlier in the Summer and made them their slaves would put up their freedom for Shoichi Arai's Presidency job. Onita would end up hitting his Thunder Fire Powerbomb on Go Ito with Arai jumping on Ito to cover him for the pin to free Kuroda and Hosaka.

Yukihiro Kanemura and Kodo Fuyuki would team up to defend the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles against fellow Team No Respect members Jado and Gedo on August 22, 1998 at a Tokyo TV Studio with Kanemura and Fuyuki coming away with the win after Fuyuki would finish off Gedo with a Charging Lariat to successfully defend the tag team titles for the third time.

Yukihiro Kanemura would team up with Team No Respect members Kodo Fuyuki, Koji Nakagawa, and Hido on September 1, 1998 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center as they would put up their briefs that had become their trademark since the creation of the group earlier in the year against Atsushi Onita's Team Zero's kilts with Onita teaming up with Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Hideki Hosaka, and Hideki Hosaka with Onita getting the pinfall over Fuyuki with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb as Team Zero would take the briefs and place them on a cross and crucify them to symbolize the end of the underwear in FMW.

Kanemura would then lose a non title tag match with Fuyuki to Hayabusa and Battlarts' friend Daisuke Ikeda on September 8, 1998 at Korakuen Hall after Hayabusa would get the pinfall on Kanemura after hitting a Fire Bird Splash earning them a tag title shot in the future against the champions.

Kanemura would continue feel pain in his shoulders and have to bandage them up once again because of the fire incident in W*ING from almost 5 years earlier. Kanemura would take on Tetsuhiro Kuroda on October 6, 1998 at Korakuen Hall. Kanemura would bloody Kuroda but Kuroda would fight back and get the biggest singles win of his career after hitting Kanemura with a lariat to score the win.

Hayabusa and Daisuke Ikeda would end up winning the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles on October 26, 1998 from Kanemura and Kodo Fuyuki after Ikeda would knock out Kanemura with a kick to the head causing the referee to award the match to Hayabusa and Ikeda and the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles.

Yukihiro Kanemura along with Kodo Fuyuki and Koji Nakagawa would defend their FMW 6 Man Street Fight Tag Team Titles against Hayabusa, Daisuke Ikeda, and Ricky Fuji on November 6, 1998 at Korakuen Hall with TNR successfully defending the titles for the second time after Fuyuki would hit Ricky Fuji with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb for the win. It would be the last title defense for the team as Shoichi Arai would end up giving two of the titles to Atsushi Onita as a farewell present two weeks later. The only title that Onita would not get would be Kanemura's who would keep the title at his home to this day.

Kanemura would go on to wrestle ECW's Sabu and The One Man Gang and lose to Sabu in a Three Way Dance on FMW's biggest show of the year at the Yokohama Bunka Gym on November 20, 1998 after both Sabu and Kanemura would roll up the One Man Gang to eliminate him, and Sabu would manage to put away Kanemura with a flying leg drop to score the victory over the bloody Kanemura. But more importantly, it would also be the return to Mr. Gannosuke who would defeat Tetsuhiro Kuroda and made it very well clear he did not want anything to do with Kanemura and Team No Respect anymore. Fuyuki would also go on to win the FMW Double Titles defeating the Champion Hayabusa to give Team No Respect incredible power in FMW.

Kanemura would then be entered into the "Over the Top" Tournament to see who would get the next shot at Kodo Fuyuki's championship titles. A 16 man single elimination tournament in which Kanemura would advance to the second round of after defeating Hideki Hosaka on December 12, 1998 at Korakuen Hall and moving on to wrestle his former friend Mr. Gannosuke on December 13, 1998 at Korakuen Hall. Kanemura would jump Gannosuke before the match and the two would begin to brawl all around ringside, with both wrestlers being busted open, but Gannosuke would manage to deliver a Praying Powerbomb and then finish Kanemura off with the Nirvana Strangle forcing Kanemura to submit, eliminating Kanemura from the tournament. Gannosuke would go on to win the Tournament and earn a shot at the Double Titles on March 19, 1999 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center against Kodo Fuyuki.

Kanemura would take on Kodo Fuyuki in a friendly contest on January 5, 1999 at Korakuen Hall, and would eventually fall to Kodo Fuyuki's Charging Lariat. After the match, Kodo Fuyuki would announce that Team No Respect would no longer begin to attempt to takeover FMW. An injured Jado & Go Ito would disagree with the comments stated by Fuyuki and both would leave the group as a result.

Yukihiro Kanemura would get another crack at Mr. Gannosuke as he would team up with Koji Nakagawa on January 6, 1999 at Korakuen Hall as they would take on Gannosuke and Hideki Hosaka but again Kanemura would fail to get the win over Gannosuke as Gannosuke would manage to get the win over Kanemura with the Nirvana Strangle Hold.

Yukihiro Kanemura would once again square up against Masato Tanaka who had just returned the previous month as they would have a bloody battle on February 21, 1999 at the Fukuoka Hakata Star Lanes with both wrestlers getting busted open with bloody pouring out of both their heads at an alarming rate with Tanaka managing to put away Kanemura with a Rolling Bullet Elbow for the win.

Yukihiro Kanemura would team up with Koji Nakagawa and Hido on February 27, 1999 at Korakuen Hall against the Battlarts team of Daisuke Ikeda, Mohammed Yone, and Katsumi Usuda with the Battlarts team as this would become very heated as Yone would grab Kanemura's leg and place him in an Ankle Lock with Kanemura grabbing the rope. Yone would refuse to break the move and Ikeda would come over with Kanemura's hand still on the rope and deliver a hard kick to Kanemura's face. This would create a brawl between both teams with a pissed off Kanemura going over and grabbing a chair and smashing it over Yone's back. Kanemura and Ikeda would then get face to face as the teams would continue brawl until Usuda would slap on a Cross Armbreaker to make Hido submit. The brawl would continue with non Team No Respect members Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Hisakatsu Oya getting involved as other Battlarts wrestlers would hit the ring as well as an FMW vs. Battlarts feud had begun.

Although Atsushi Onita and FMW had split and Atsushi Onita had created his own promotion called Onita Pro, FMW would agree to let both Yukihiro Kanemura and Masato Tanaka wrestled in a Barbed wire Death Match in the main event of the show. Kanemura would team with former W*ING friend Shoji Nakamaki to take on the team of Atsushi Onita and Masato Tanaka on March 7, 1999 at Korakuen Hall in a No Ropes Barbed wire Death Match. Kanemura would be dropped into the barbed wire by his stomach by Tanaka and smashed over the head with a table by Onita before getting hit with the Roaring Elbow to get pinned by Tanaka. FMW would no longer send anymore talent for Onita after the show.

Yukihiro Kanemura and Team No Respect would continue their feud with Battlarts in the next month as Kanemura would lose to Daisuke Ikeda at the March 19, 1999 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center show after being knocked out by a kick to the head. Fuyuki would also go on to defend his Titles against Mr. Gannosuke after pinning Gannosuke after a table shot.

Yukihiro Kanemura and Hido would team up for the FMW Tag Team Tournament to decide the new FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Champions but it would not turn out well for the team. Kanemura and Hido would take their first loss on March 20, 1999 in Furukawa against Masato Tanaka and Hido after Tanaka would nail Hido with a Rolling Bullet Elbow. They would then lose to Mr. Gannosuke and Hisakatsu Oya on March 21, 1999 in Shizuoka after Oya would hit Hido with a Backdrop for the pin. The team would follow that up with another loss to the Battlarts team that there much hatred between of Daisuke Ikeda and Mohammed Yone on March 24, 1999 in Yokosuka with Yone making Hido tap out to the Wakigatame. They would then lose to the new team of Armageddon on March 29, 1999 at Korakuen Hall as Armageddon would finish off Hido with a Rolling Guillotine Drop for the win to end the tour.

Yukihiro Kanemura would take a break from the tournament at the start of the next tour on April 20, 1999 at Korakuen Hall against rival Mr. Gannosuke with Kanemura taking another loss to Gannosuke after getting hit with the Fire Thunder although there was not as much bad blood as the previous matches as Gannosuke and Kanemura would align themselves together as FMW wrestlers against the Battlarts team.

The Tag Team Tournament would continue for Yukihiro Kanemura and Hido on April 28, 1999 in Saku as they would continue their losing ways to Hayabusa and Kodo Fuyuki after Hayabusa would hit the Fire Bird Splash on Hido for the win. Kanemura and Hido would close out the tournament on April 30, 1999 in Ena against the only other team to not have a win in Super Leather and Hideki Hosaka but Kanemura and Hido would end up losing to them as well after Hosaka would hit Hido with a Garlic Powerbomb to close the tournament out with Kanemura and Hido failing to get any points and come in last place.

Yukihiro Kanemura would make his All Japan debut which would be symbolic for Kanemura after being rejected entry into the All Japan Dojo a decade earlier as well as his Tokyo Dome debut on May 2, 1999 teaming with Team No Respect members Koji Nakagawa and Gedo as they would lose to the All Japan team of Johnny Smith, Tamon Honda and Masa Fuchi after Honda would pin Gedo in front of over 30,000 fans.

Kanemura would then team with Team No Respect member Hido as well as Mr. Gannosuke, Hisakatsu Oya, and Hideki Hosaka to represent Team FMW against Team Battlarts on May 5, 1999 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym in which would end up Kanemura and Gannosuke being the last two men for their team, teaming once again against the last two members of Battlarts in Daisuke Ikeda and Mohammed Yone. Kanemura would eventually be eliminated after being knocked over the top rope and Gannosuke would end up putting up the fight of his life before being pinned by Ikeda for the lost but that wouldn't be the last seen of them on the show as before Kodo Fuyuki came out to defend his FMW Double Titles against Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Fuyuki came out to Come out and Play which was Kanemura's TNR song, and there along with Fuyuki was Kanemura, Mr. Gannosuke, Koji Nakagawa, Jado, Gedo, and Hido. Fuyuki would go on to defeat Kuroda after help from Team No Respect as the battle lines had been crossed and it would Team No Respect against Team FMW consisting of Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Hisakatsu Oya, Ricky Fuji, Hideki Hosaka, Flying Kid Ichihara, Yoshinori Sasaki, and Naohiko Yamazaki.

A Press conference would be on May 18, 1999 in Tokyo by Fuyuki to announce that he was separating the FMW Double Titles and giving the FMW Brass Knuckles Title to Kanemura and giving the FMW Independent Title to Mr. Gannosuke. Kodo Fuyuki would also announce that he was now the new commissioner of FMW and friends with owner Shoichi Arai, but the first bit of war on May 31, 1999 would not turn out to well for Team No Respect as Team FMW would defeat TNR in a Single Elimination without one member of Team FMW being eliminated. Kanemura would be knocked out by Hosaka and eliminated and Hido would be the last eliminated by a Hayabusa 450 Firebird Splash.

A Round Robin tournament of four 6 man teams would start on July 18, 1999 with Kanemura teaming with Gannosuke and Jado to try and win the brand new WEW 6 Man Tag Team Titles. Kanemura's team would go on to defeat the team of Super Leather and Armageddon, and go to a 30 minute time limit draw with the team of Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda, but lose to the team of Kodo Fuyuki, Koji Nakagawa, and Gedo. Then on July 31, 1999 at Korakuen Hall, Kanemura, Gannosuke, and Jado would go on to lose to Hayabusa, Tanaka, and Kuroda who would fall to the winning team of Fuyuki, Nakagawa, and Gedo.

With Hayabusa's last days under the gimmick for the time being taking place as he would soon take off the mask and become H, Kanemura would team with Nakagawa and Hido in a losing effort against Darkside Hayabusa, Kuroda, and Oya after Hayabusa pinned Hido on August 20, 1999 with a Fire Bird Splash.

Kanemura would then defend his FMW Brass Knuckles Title against Hayabusa on August 23, 1999 in Hayabusa's last Korakuen Hall match under the gimmick. Kanemura would bring Hayabusa into the crowd and set him on a table where he would dive off the entrance in the stands sending Hayabusa through the table. Hayabusa would make the come back though on Kanemura and win the FMW Brass Knuckles Title away from him with a Fire Bird Splash.

Yukihiro Kanemura would challenge Masato Tanaka who had won the FMW Independent Heavyweight Title earlier in the week from Mr. Gannosuke on August 25, 1999 at the Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center in what turn out to be the last ever FMW Independent Title match as both were the first two to fight to become the first champion three years earlier. This time there would be a different result despite Kanemura pushing Tanaka off a high balcony onto a table to the floor it would still not be enough as Tanaka as Tanaka would still finish off Kanemura with a Rolling Elbow Smash for the win. Hayabusa would also go on to defeat Mr. Gannosuke in the last FMW Brass Knuckles Title match as well as Hayabusa's last match under the gimmick but after the match the entire during the retirement ceremony of the gimmick the entire Team No Respect group would attack and unmask Hayabusa for what was suppose to be the last time. H would debut two days later beating five members of TNR including Kanemura all by himself. Mr. Gannosuke would end up countering by showing up on September 3, 1999 in a mask calling himself Hayabusa.

Kanemura would then change his ring name to Kintaro Kanemura which is what Shark Tsuchiya had actually been calling him for years due to his Korean heritage in Japan much like Kintaro Oki. Kodo Fuyuki would have him go by the name starting on September 20, 1999 as Kintaro would mean "Future Great King". Fuyuki would also create the WEW Hardcore Title and announce Kanemura as the first champion and would announce the creation of the WEW World Title that Fuyuki would give to himself.

Kintaro Kanemura would team up with Kodo Fuyuki and Jado on September 24, 1999 to take on Masato Tanaka in a Handicap Match with Tanaka being fired if he were to lose the match but Tanaka would end up surviving the match after nailing Kanemura with an Elbow Smash to the face to pick up the win. Earlier in the show, Kanemura along with the rest of Team No Respect would have thrown FMW owner Shoichi Arai in the ring and circled around him to make it look like they were urinating on him for leaving their group the previous match although it would later be revealed that they used water with ammonia in it to make it smell in the building.

Kintaro Kanemura would team up with Kodo Fuyuki, Koji Nakagawa, and Jado as they would defeat Masato Tanaka, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Hisakatsu Oya, and Ricky Fuji on October 29, 1999 at Korakuen Hall in a Iron Confinement Cage Match with Kanemura diving off the cage during the match as TNR would end up picking up the win after Fuyuki would put away Tanaka with a Charging Lariat.

Kanemura would defend his WEW Hardcore Title against ECW's Balls Mahoney on November 23, 1999 at the Yokohama Arena as Kanemura would to the ring with two Yakuza members. Kanemura and Mahoney would begin fighting inside parking lot, where the two would begin using a car as a weapon. Mahoney would attempt to use the broken glass of the windshield to cut Kanemura up, as well as the car doors. They would continue to brawl until reaching back to the crowd, and Kanemura would manage to chain Balls Mahoney to a chair next to the entry way. Kanemura would climb the top of the entrance ramp and jump off the top and dive to send Mahoney through a table to score the pin and defend his title. But after the match, Fuyuki would end up losing a loser leaves FMW match to Masato Tanaka and leave TNR and Mr. Gannosuke who had wrestled under Hayabusa left TNR as well and would begin to team with H leaving Kanemura as the new leader of Team No Respect along with Koji Nakagawa, Jado, and Gedo.

Kintaro Kanemura would defend his WEW Hardcore Title on December 11, 1999 at Korakuen Hall against Balls Mahoney's ECW partner Axl Rotten. The two would would brawl all around ringside, with Kanemura being busted open badly during the match. Kanemura would still manage to defeat Rotten after hitting the Baku YAMA Senton Special off the top of a ladder to score the pin over Rotten. Kintaro Kanemura would then team up with Team No Respect members Koji Nakagawa, Jado, and Gedo on December 12, 1999 at Korakuen Hall as they would take on the ECW team of Balls Mahoney, Axl Rotten, Yoshihiro Tajiri, and Super Crazy in a Street Fight with Kanemura once again getting the pinfall over Rotten with a Diving Senton for the TNR win.

Kanemura along with Jado and Gedo would then invade the Big Japan show on January 2, 2000 at Korakuen Hall in which Kanemura would challenge Big Japan's Ryuji Yamakawa to a WEW Hardcore Title match to decide who was more hardcore between the two. Yamakawa along with Great Kojika would invade the FMW January 5, 2000 show at Korakuen Hall by attacking Chocoball Mukai and accepting Kanemura's challenge to a WEW Hardcore Title match on February 22, 2000 at a Big Japan Korakuen Hall show. Kanemura would get permission from Kodo Fuyuki to make some extra money and begin working Big Japan shows although Fuyuki would tell Kanemura that if he were to ever miss an FMW show as a result he would be fired and his 10,000 dollar a month deal that he had signed back in 1994 would be terminated.

Yamakawa would go on to win the WEW Hardcore Title on February 22, 2000 at Korakuen Hall in a match in which they would both use fluorescent light tubes and smash them over each others head before it would become a regular thing in Big Japan. Yamakawa would go on to defeat Kanemura with a Reverse Tiger Driver to score the victory. Kanemura would end up being badly injured with a noticeable limp. Kanemura not being able to miss any FMW shows due to injury in Big Japan would be tested right away as Kanemura would wrestle on February 25, 2000 at Korakuen Hall show in a 4 way tag match with Jado in which Kanemura would have to do comedy throughout the match to get through it as they be the final two teams with Koji Nakagawa and Gedo before Nakagawa would get the pin over Jado to earn a shot at the WEW Tag Team Titles.

Kanemura would then fly to America and attend his first ever American PPV in ECW's Living Dangerously on March 12, 2000 in Danbury, Connecticut where he would be quickly defeated by Balls Mahoney after getting hit by Mahoney's Nutcracker Suite on a chair with Kanemura still limping from the injuries in the Yamakawa match.

Kintaro Kanemura would team up with fellow FMW wrestlers Hisakatsu Oa, Hideki Hosaka, and Hido now going by the name Willie Takayama as they would defeat the new Kodo Fuyuki group called ECW Japan which consisted of Balls Mahoney, Tracey Smothers, Crazy Boy, and Chocoball Mukai with Oya picking up the win for the FMW team with a Backdrop on Crazy Boy. Kanemura would then team up with Hideki Hosaka on April 11, 2000 at Korakuen Hall as they would defeat the ECW Japan team of Tracey Smothers and Crazy Boy when Kanemura would deliver a Diving Senton on Crazy for the win.

Kanemura would get another shot at Ryuji Yamakawa for the WEW Hardcore Title on April 24, 2000 at Korakuen Hall in Big Japan but Kanemura would still be unable to defeat the Big Japan ace at his own promotions show as Yamakawa would defeat Kanemura with the Reverse Tiger Driver to defend the title. Kanemura would then challenge Yamakawa that he put up the title one more time with the match taking place in FMW this time instead.

Kanemura would finally be able to get his revenge on Ryuji Yamakawa on May 5, 2000 at the Komazawa Indoor Gym as this match would take place in Kanemura's home instead. Kanemura and Yamakawa would brawl to the backstage where Yamakawa would pull out a fluorescent light tube out of a light and smash it over Kanemura's head. They would brawl in the crowd as Yamakawa would be placed on a table and held down by FMW wrestler Naohiko Yamazaki who also disliked Yamakawa and Kanemura would fly off the bleachers to send Yamakawa through the table. Not to be out done, Yamakawa would come back and place Kanemura on a table right in front of the FMW announcers and climb up to the bleachers and deliver a flip off the bleachers to send Kanemura through the table. Kanemura and Yamakawa would fight back into the ring where Kanemura would finally be able to defeat Yamakawa after nailing him with his Fire Thunder Powerbomb to get the win over Yamakawa and win back his WEW Hardcore Title.

Kodo Fuyuki would then form a new group on May 28, 2000 called Shin Fuyuki-gun along with Mr. Gannosuke, Shoichi Arai, Hideki Hosaka, Kyoko Inoue, Yoshinori Sasaki, Chocoball Mukai and Koji Nakagawa who had just turned on Jado and Gedo and Team No Respect to become GOEMON and join Fuyuki's new group.

Yukihiro Kanemura would then come out on June 16, 2000 at Korakuen Hall, and announce that he was officially ending Team No Respect and would join up with Fuyuki's new group as he would team to with the WEW Hardcore Tag Team Champions Hideki Hosaka and Yoshinori Sasaki to defeat the team of Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Hisakatsu Oya, and Flying Kid Ichihara after Kanemura would hit his Baku YAMA Senton Splash on Ichihara for the win.

Kanemura would then have a comedy feud with Hisakatsu Oya starting on June 21, 2000 at Korakuen Hall where he would have Shoichi Arai's niece give Oya a drink that had sleeping medicine in it. Kanemura would then come into Oya's locker room while he was all drugged out and begin to shave Oya's head leaving Oya with a horrible haircut. Oya would then go into the match all drugged up still and Kanemura would make quick work of him to get the win in under three minutes after smashing a piece of table over Oya's head. Oya would end up getting his revenge on July 23, 2000 at the Differ Ariake after defeating Kanemura in a Ladder Match.

Kanemura would then defend the WEW Hardcore Title on July 28, 2000 against former Big Japan wrestler Mike Samples in a bloody match with Kanemura cradling up Samples for the win in a very poor match that would result in Samples not being asked back by FMW after the tour as a result.

Kanemura would team with Mr. Gannosuke and GOEMON in 6 man match against Hayabusa, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Hisakatsu Oya on August 20, 2000 at the Tokyo Differ Ariake with losing team being smashed in the face with pies by the winning team. Kanemura would rip off Hayabusa's mask and put it on himself after GOEMON scored the pin on Kuroda and the three as well as the fans would begin to smash Hayabusa, Kuroda, and Oya in the face with pies.

The FMW team of Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, and Hisakatsu Oya would get pay back on August 26, 2000 in Sendai as they would defeat the team of Mr. Gannosuke, Kintaro Kanemura, and GOEMON after Hayabusa would get the pin on Kanemura meaning that Kanemura's team would get pies thrown in their face after the match this time. Kanemura would team with GOEMON on August 28, 2000 at Korakuen Hall and the two would beat Masato Tanaka and FMW newcomer Onryo in a tag match after Kanemura would pin Onryo with a Fire Thunder Powerbomb.

Kanemura would team up with Ryuji Yamakawa at the Sapporo Green Dome on September 21, 2000 in a 3 way hardcore match against Hosaka and Sasaki and Jado and Gedo for the WEW Hardcore Tag Titles but Kanemura would end up getting pinned by Gedo for Jado and Gedo to win the titles. Kanemura and his friendship with Hosaka and Sasaki who end five days later on September 26, 2000 at Korakuen Hall as they would walk out on Kanemura in a 6 man causing him to get pinned by Tanaka.

Kanemura would get his revenge on Masato Tanaka on November 12, 2000 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym, as Kanemura would attempt just about everything to beat Tanaka. Kanemura would tie Tanaka to a table, and climb up to the balcony and jump off the balcony and send Tanaka through the table. Tanaka would become busted up as the two would fight back to the ring. Tanaka would attempt to use a chair as a weapon, but Kanemura would follow with a Barbwire Baseball Bat, and would eventually score the pinfall victory over Masato Tanaka with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb on the baseball bat to defend the WEW Hardcore Title, and score his first pinfall victory over Tanaka since May 27, 1998 and his first singles victory since August 2, 1997.

Kanemura would return to Big Japan for the first time in seven months as he would team up with Ryuji Yamakawa for the first time on November 23, 2000 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym as they would take on the CZW team of The Wifebeater and Justice Pain as Yamakawa would hit a Reverse Tiger Driver to get the win over Pain as Kanemura would begin to work for Big Japan regularly as Kanemura would make Big Japan a second home to make extra money as well as his love of Death Match wrestling that he was not getting to do in FMW any longer.

Tetsuhiro Kuroda would end up turning on his long time partner Masato Tanaka and side with Kanemura and Kodo Fuyuki on November 28, 2000 at Korakuen Hall as they would team up and defeat Tanaka, Jado, and Gedo after Kuroda would get the pin over Tanaka after hitting him with a lariat for the win as Kuroda would join up with Kodo Fuyuki and Kintaro Kanemura.

The team of Kintaro Kanemura, Kodo Fuyuki, Tetsuhiro Kuroda would team up with Azusa Kudo to take on the the new Complete Players faction of Masato Tanaka, Jado, Gedo, and Kaori Nakayama on December 10, 2000 at Korakuen Hall as Nakayama would hit a Diamond Bust on Kudo to get the win over him for the Complete Players win.

Kanemura would then team up with Kodo Fuyuki and Tetsuhiro Kuroda to take on the Complete Players team of Masato Tanaka, Jado, and Gedo in the last ever Barbed wire Street Fight Scramble Bunkhouse Double Hell Death Match in FMW on December 20, 2000 at Korakuen Hall after Kuroda would hit his Technan Buster on Jado for the win.

Kanemura would start out 2001 in Big Japan teaming with Ryuji Yamakawa and Shadow WX on January 2, 2001 at Korakuen Hall to take on the team of John Zandig, Jun Kasai, and Rebel with Yamakawa hitting his Reverse Tiger Driver on Kasai to pick up the win in the main event of the show.

Kanemura would take on former AWA and WWF wrestler Pat Tanaka on January 7, 2001 at Korakuen Hall with Kanemura delivering his dive to send Tanaka through a table before getting the win over him. He would then team up with Big Japan wrestlers Ryuji Yamakawa and Men's Teioh to take on the Complete Players team of Masato Tanaka, Jado, and Gedo on January 16, 2001 at Korakuen Hall with Tanaka hitting his Roaring Elbow on Kanemura to get the win.

Kintaro Kanemura would team up with Big Japan friends Ryuji Yamakawa and Men's Teioh on January 16, 2001 at Korakuen Hall as they would take on the Complete Players of Masato Tanaka, Jado, and Gedo with the Complete Players scoring the win as Tanaka would once again put away Kanemura like so many times over the past several years with a Rolling Bullet Elbow for the win.

Kintaro Kanemura would take on Big Japan's Jun Kasai for the first time on January 28, 2001 at Korakuen Hall for Big Japan with Kanemura destroying the younger Kasi with his barbed wire bat that he would cut open Kasai with before rolling him up with a cradle for the win.

Kanemura and Ryuji Yamakawa would team up but lose in a WEW Tag Title Match against Masato Tanaka and Gedo on February 6, 2001 at Korakuen Hall after Tanaka would pin Yamakawa with a Complete Dust. Masato Tanaka, Jado, Gedo, and Hideki Hosaka would leave FMW the following week as the Tanaka vs. Kanemura rivalry would come to a stop for one year. Kanemura and Yamakawa would go on to defeat the team of GOEMON and Onryo for the WEW Hardcore Tag Titles on February 23, 2001 at Korakuen Hall after Yamakawa pinned Onryo in which would be another Kanemura tag team victory in FMW with a different partner.

New WEW Hardcore Tag Team Champions Kintaro Kanemura and Ryuji Yamakawa would team up in Big Japan on February 24, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in a CZW Philadelphia Banana Match against Jun Kasai and Johnny Kashmere with Yamakawa delivering his Reverse Tiger Driver to get the pin over Kashmere. Kanemura and Yamakawa would then defend the WEW Hardcore Tag Team Titles against Mammoth Sasaki and Azusa Kudo on March 5, 2001 at Korakuen Hall with Kanemura getting the win on Kudo after Backsliding him to defend the titles for the first time.

Kanemura would then be given a number one contendership match against Tetsuhiro Kuroda on March 13, 2001 at Korakuen Hall, and despite giving Kuroda deep gash in the forehead causing him to bleed all over, Kuroda would still pin Kanemura with a Technan Buster to get the win and earn the title shot.

The team of Kintaro Kanemura and Ryuji Yamakawa would be put on a hiatus following Yamakawa suffering a serious brain injury in a match with The Wifebeater on March 18, 2001. The Wifebeater would end up messing up a spot of trying to send Yamakawa through a table but instead shooting too far resulting in Yamakawa's head hitting the floor hard causing bruising of the brain as a result.

Kanemura would team up with the Big Japan team of Shadow WX, The Winger, and Men's Teioh against the CZW team of Zandig, Jun Kasai, The Wife Beater, and Mad Man Pondo on March 26, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in a Elimination Match. It would come down to Kanemura against Mad Man Pondo with Kanemura getting the last elimination after hitting Pondo on a Fluorescent Light Tube with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb to get the win for the Big Japan team.

Kanemura would then lose his WEW Hardcore Title again on April 1, 2001 at Korakuen Hall to Mammoth Sasaki after Mammoth would slam him on to a stack of chairs and get the upset win and Sasaki's first ever singles title in a poor match due to Kanemura being banged up from his Death Matches in Big Japan. Kanemura would be given an easier match on April 15, 2001 at Korakuen Hall as he would team up with Chocoball Mukai as they would defeat Azusa Kudo and Naohiko Yamazaki after Kanemura would hit Yamazaki with a chair to get the win.

Mickey Ibaragi would attempt to restart his W*ING promotion with the restart show taking place on April 22, 2001 at the Tokyo Differ Ariake as many of the former W*ING wrestlers would return. Kanemura would team up with Shoji Nakamaki to take on Jado and Gedo in a fire match which would be a rematch from their infamous October 31, 1993 match, and while Kanemura would not burn any tissue of his skin like the time before, he would get a pinfall over Jado as it would be the first time as it was W*ING's answer of finally having Kanemura get his revenge on Jado and Gedo for powerbombing through fire and then Jado and Gedo leaving before Kanemura could come back. It was also the first time that Kanemura would be facing off against his former Team No Respect friends since they had left FMW two months prior. Kanemura would also team up with Mr. Pogo, Mitsunobu Kikuzawa, and Freddy Krueger as they would defeat Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Hideki Hosaka, Ryo Miyake, and The Winger. The show would end up being a success but Mickey Ibaragi would end up mismanaging the promotion like he did the original W*ING.

Kanemura would be entered into Big Japan's Death Match Heavyweight Championship Tournament starting on April 29, 2001 at Korakuen Hall. Kanemura's first round opponent would be Abdullah Kobayashi in a Barbed wire Board and Barbed wire Strap Death Match with Kanemura advancing after hitting his Baku YAMA Senton Special to get the win. Kanemura would also manage to wrestle on a FMW show that same day in Saitama.

Kanemura's semi-finals opponent in the Death Match Tournament would be his former IWA rival The Winger on May 4, 2001 at the Sapporo Teisen Hall with Kanemura getting the win after cradling The Winger to advance to the finals where he would take on John Zandig for the title. Kanemura would face off against Zandig in a Caribbean Style Barbed wire Fluorescent Light Tubes Board Barbed wire Chess Board Death Match with Kanemura getting thrown through everything to try and carry Zandig to a good match before Zandig would finish off Kanemura putting him through a fluorescent light tube board to get the win. Kanemura and Zandig would shake hands afterwards and form a team in Big Japan but Kanemura's body would be a complete mess following the match.

With all the injuries from the day before he would still have to challenge Mammoth Sasaki on May 5, 2001 at Kawasaki Stadium for the WEW Hardcore Championship with the match being kept short because of Kanemura noticeable injuries causing Kanemura to limp through the entire match. Kanemura would still get the victory after pinning Mammoth with the Thunder Fire Powerbomb to win back his WEW Hardcore Title in a sluggish match.

Kintaro Kanemura and Kodo Fuyuki would team up on May 11, 2001 at Korakuen Hall to take on the WEW Tag Team Champions GOEMON and Onryo with both teams being unable to put each other away until they would hit the 30 minute mark with the time limit expiring with the match ending in a draw.

Kanemura would follow up with his first defense being against Big Japan's Jun Kasai on May 22, 2001 at the Sapporo Green Dome with match involving Kanemura being knocked off a ladder into the table and Jun Kasai delivering a splash off the ladder onto Kanemura, but it would not be enough as Kanemura would put away Jun Kasai with the Fire Thunder Powerbomb. Kanemura afterwards would announce that he was retiring the WEW Hardcore Championship Title.

Kintaro Kanemura and his new partner of John Zandig would team up for the first time on May 27, 2001 at Korakuen Hall as they would take on the CZW team of Mad Man Pondo and Jon Dahmer in a Barbed wire Board Death Match with Kanemura hitting the Baku YAMA Senton Special to get the win over Dahmer.

Kintaro Kanemura would then reunite with Mr. Gannosuke on June 8, 2001 at Korakuen Hall, with Kanemura siding with Kodo Fuyuki and Tokyo Pop's Stuart Levy along with Mammoth Sasaki, Shinjuku Shark, Chocoball Mukai, Flying Kid Ichihara, Tomokazu Morita, Yoshihito Sasaki, and Satoshi Makita against Team FMW of Shoichi Arai, Hayabusa, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, GOEMON, Onryo, Hisakatsu Oya, Ricky Fuji, Azusa Kudo, and Naohiko Yamazaki. As their first match back together Kanemura and Gannosuke would be successful and end up defeating Hayabusa and Kuroda after Gannosuke would pin Hayabusa with a Gannosuke Clutch.

Kanemura would take on Big Japan stand out in a singles match in Big Japan on June 25, 2001 at Korakuen Hall with Sekimoto showing off his power to Kanemura and Kanemura having to roll up Sekimoto with an inside cradle to pick up the win over Sekimoto.

Kintaro Kanemura team with Mr. Gannosuke and Shoichi Arai with Arai being forced to team with Kanemura and Gannosuke to punish him as they would abuse him during the match as they would take on Hayabusa, GOEMON, and Onryo on July 2, 2001 at Korakuen Hall with Kodo Fuyuki as the special referee and despite Fuyuki trying to make quick counts it would end up being Hayabusa pinning Gannosuke with a Fire Bird Splash for the win. The next Korakuen Hall show on July 20, 2001 for FMW would have Kanemura team with Kodo Fuyuki, Mr. Gannosuke, and FMW Vice President Senmu Yoshida defeat Hayabusa, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Azusa Kudo, and Shoichi Arai with Kanemura getting the win after hitting Kudo with a Baku YAMA Senton Special.

Kanemura would return to Big Japan on July 27, 2001 at Korakuen Hall teaming with John Zandig and Abdullah Kobayashi against The Wifebeater, Mad Man Pondo, and Trent Acid with Kanemura getting the win for his team after Kanemura would nail Acid with a German Suplex to pick up the win over the CZW team.

Kanemura would then score a pinfall victory over Hayabusa in a six man tag on August 3, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in a match with Mr. Gannosuke & Mammoth Sasaki against Hayabusa, GOEMON, and Onryo after Gannosuke would deliver a Fire Thunder Powerbomb to Hayabusa, and Kanemura would follow up with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb to score the pin over Hayabusa, which would be only Kanemura's second time ever pinning Hayabusa, and would set up a singles match for the main event at the Komazawa Olympic Gym on August 11, 2001 against Hayabusa for the WEW World Title.

Kanemura would get his biggest singles victory by beating Hayabusa for the first time after interference by Mammoth Sasaki who would choke slam Hayabusa and then multiple Powerbombs including moving out of the way of Hayabusa's Phoenix Splash and then delivering a Thunder Fire Powerbomb to Hayabusa off the top rope to knock out Hayabusa out get the pinfall victory on August 11, 2001 in Komazawa to win the WEW World Championship which would also give Tokyo Pop ownership of FMW and making Senmu Yoshida the new FMW President instead of Shoichi Arai. The entire faction would raise Kanemura over their shoulders for the win and would all do a Team No Respect dance in celebration of Kanemura winning it for the team as well as the WEW World Championship.

Kanemura would take on Shadow WX on August 25, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match with Kanemura finishing off Shadow WX with a Thunder Fire Powerbomb to get the win. Kanemura and Shadow WX would shake hands afterwards as Shadow WX would join up with Kanemura and Zandig and form a team in Big Japan together.

The WEW World Title reign for Kanemura would not last long as on September 5, 2001 at the Sapporo Green Dome, Hayabusa would get a rematch and defeat Kanemura cleanly with a 450 Fire Bird Splash to win back the WEW World Title. FMW President Yoshida would end up overturning the decision on September 9, 2001 at Korakuen Hall after Yoshida would reveal footage that due to Hayabusa during the match up using the lowblow during the match that Kanemura was being awarded back his WEW World Title. Kanemura along with Kodo Fuyuki and Mr. Gannosuke would defend their WEW 6 Man Tag Titles in the main event against Hayabusa, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and GOEMON with Hayabusa once again getting the win over Kanemura with the Fire Bird Splash once again.

Kanemura would return to Big Japan on September 23, 2001 at Korakuen Hall and would team with John Zandig and Shadow WX in the main event to take on former W*ING partner Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Jun Kasai, and Nick Gage in a Fluorescent Light Tubes Barbed wire Board Death Match with Zandig pinning his fellow CZW wrestler Nick Gage after hitting him with a Lariat to get the win. Kintaro Kanemura would team up with new FMW member NOSAWA along with Chocoball Mukai on October 9, 2001 at Korakuen Hall as they would defeat the team of GOEMON, Onryo, and Ricky Fuji after NOSAWA would hit a Michinoku Driver on Ricky to get the win.

FMW would be turned upside down on October 22, 2001 when Hayabusa would be paralyzed in a match against Mammoth Sasaki at Korakuen Hall, when he would slip off the middle rope and end up landing directly on his head. Mammoth, not knowing what to do would put Hayabusa in a headlock until FMW Referee Marty Asano would call for the match to end. Wrestlers from the FMW side would all gather in the ring, as Kanemura would come in the ring to escort Mammoth out of the ring, as a stretcher would be brought out, and soon medical assistance for Hayabusa. FMW would have to make big changes with Hayabusa out.

Kintaro Kanemura and NOSAWA would team up on November 5, 2001 at Korakuen Hall against The Great Sasuke and GOEMON with Sasuke putting away NOSAWA with a Diving Senton to setup Sasuke to challenge Kanemura for the WEW World Title later in the month at the Yokohama Bunka Gym.

FMW would have to change things for the November 23, 2001 show at the Yokohama Bunka Gym in which Kanemura would defend his WEW World Title against Michinoku Pro's The Great Sasuke, the match would turn into a brawl early with Kanemura tossing Sasuke off a balcony on to a table, as well as suplexing Sasuke head first onto a table. Kanemura would finish off Sasuke to remain his championship. But after the main event of the show, when Kodo Fuyuki would defeat Garuda who would be replacing Hayabusa in the main event of the show, Kanemura, Gannosuke, and Mammoth Sasaki would all come to the ring due to Kodo Fuyuki's recent alliance with WAR. Gannosuke and Mammoth Sasaki would begin screaming at Fuyuki for leaving FMW behind, when Kanemura would come to the ring, and would lead Fuyuki to believe that Kanemura was still aligning with him. Instead, Kanemura would turn around and attack Fuyuki and the rest of WAR with Gannosuke & Mammoth. After clearing the ring, Kanemura, Mammoth, Gannosuke, and Kuroda would all put their hands out to symbolize a new team to represent FMW.

Kanemura would then go on to wrestle at Big Japan's biggest show ever on December 2, 2001 at the Yokohama Arena as he would team up with Ryuji Yamakawa in Yamakawa's first match back since a bruised brain injury earlier in the year to defend their WEW Hardcore Tag Titles in the main event of the show against Men's Teioh and Daisuke Sekimoto as Kanemura would wrestle under the name Yukihiro Kanemura for the first time in over 2 years, and although Yamakawa would end up getting pinned by Sekimoto and they would lose their WEW Hardcore Tag Team Titles, a celebration afterwards would take place for Yamakawa for coming up back after such an horrendous injury with Kanemura being right there next to his friend.

Kanemura along with Team FMW would get their victory over Team WAR on December 9, 2001 as the four of them would attack leader Genichiro Tenryu and finally would be successful against him as the ending result would be Gannosuke pinning Fuyuki with a Gannosuke Clutch for the win. Kanemura would then team with Mammoth Sasaki in a eight team tournament for the vacant WEW Tag Titles on December 21, 2001 and end up making it to the finals of the tournament after defeating Horace Boulder and Balls Mahoney in the first round, and then Super Crazy and Crazy Boy, but would lose to Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Mr. Gannosuke in the finals in a bloody match after Kuroda would pin Mammoth with a Technan Buster.

The new year would start with Kanemura teaming with Yamakawa once again to try and recapture the WEW Hardcore Tag Titles against Sekimoto and Teioh on January 2, 2002 at Korakuen Hall, but Yamakawa would be pinned once again in a crazy brawl by Sekimoto for their first defense. Kanemura would then go on to lose the WEW World Title on January 6, 2002 at Korakuen Hall to Kodo Fuyuki who had just began to started up a new heel group of foreigners after Fuyuki would hit Kanemura with a Charging Lariat to win back the title.

Kanemura would then team up with GOEMON and Mammoth Sasaki to defeat Vic Grimes, Paul LeDuc, and Mitsunobu Kikuzawa on February 4, 2002 at Korakuen Hall after Mammoth would pin Kikuzawa with an Awesome Bomb. Kanemura would do the TNR Dance in celebration after the match, and it would turn out to be for the last time in FMW.

Kanemura would get a call from an acquaintance that did the finances of FMW as she would find out that FMW had gone bankrupt. Kanemura would be the first wrestler to find out about FMW closing down on February 15, 2002. Kanemura would call Mr. Gannosuke who was still in the hospital due to a broken leg and would begin to freak out over no longer being insured for his hospital stay. Gannosuke would tell Kanemura to tell everybody about this and not keep it a secret. Kanemura would start calling the other wrestlers as well as stop by the FMW Dojo in Saitama where he would inform all the wrestlers staying there that the FMW was over. Kanemura who had been making $120,000 a year since joining FMW had just made the most money he ever had in his career in 2001 in $150,000 due to working Big Japan as well was now without a home promotion and without a regular salary.

Click here for Kintaro Kanemura's Bio Part 2

Click here for Kintaro Kanemura's Bio Part 3