Hiromichi Fuyuki (冬木 弘道 Fuyuki Hiromichi) (May 11, 1960 – March 19, 2003) was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter who competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Wrestle Association R and other Japanese and international promotions during the 1980s and 1990s as the leader of 6-man tag team Fuyuki-Gun with Gedo and Jado.
He is best known as a mainstay of Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, as a founding member of the stable Fuyuki-Gun included Yukihiro Kanemura, Hideki Hosaka, Masao Orihara, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Mr. Gannosuke, Koji Nakagawa, Horace Boulder, Super Leather, Hido, Gedo and Jado, and Chris Jericho.
Career
International Pro Wrestling / International Wrestling Enterprise (1980)
Trained by Isao Yoshihara, Hiromichi Fuyuki made his professional wrestling debut in International Pro Wrestling on May 4, 1980, one week before his 20th birthday. Three months later, IWE folded, and Fuyuki applied to the All Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1981-1990)
In August 1981, after spending a year training in the dojo, he made his debut in All Japan Pro Wrestling. In November 1984, he went on an excursion of North America, where he made stops in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and San Antonio, Texas, where he wrestled under the name Ricky Fuyuki, in honor of his childhood idol, Riki Choshu.
In December 1985, he returned to AJPW, under the name Samson Fuyuki, and began teaming with Toshiaki Kawada, under the team name "Footloose". As members of Genichiro Tenryu's Revolution Army, Footloose captured the All Asia Tag Team Championship three times between March 9, 1988 and October 20, 1989.
Footloose would disband in April 1990, as Kawada teamed with Tiger Mask II, who would later unmask, revealing himself as Mitsuharu Misawa, during a match on May 14, where Fuyuki teamed with Yoshiaki Yatsu.
Super World of Sports (1990-1992)
One of several wrestlers to leave AJPW with Genichiro Tenryu in July 1990, Fuyuki competed in Tenryu's rival promotion Super World of Sports under his real name, also appearing on interpromotional shows for the World Wrestling Federation, with little to no impact.
Wrestle And Romance / Wrestle Association R (1992-1996)
Following the closing of SWS in June 1992, Fuyuki followed Tenryu to WAR. While there, he became one of the top wrestlers and was the main heel.
In August 1993, Fuyuki was invited by New Japan Pro Wrestling to participate in the G1 Climax tournament; he defeated Takayuki Iizuka in the first round, but lost to Masahiro Chono in the quarterfinals. In 1994, he would make a brief stint in EMLL in Mexico, once again under the name Samson Fuyuki, feuding with Vampiro.
In early 1994, he started teaming with Jado and Gedo as Fuyuki-Gun, with whom he held the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship five times between June 1994 and June 1996, as well as a single reign with UWFI's Yoji Anjo and ECW's Bam Bam Bigelow in October 1996. Lionheart also became a member of Fuyuki-Gun, during their stint in WAR.
Freelance (1996-1997)
Upon leaving WAR in October 1996, he wrestled briefly as a freelancer, wrestling in various promotions such as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, Big Japan Pro Wrestling, and International Wrestling Association of Japan. Around this time, he started using a shorter variation of his real name, Kodo Fuyuki.
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (1997-2002)
After spending over four months freelancing, Fuyuki found a new home in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in February 1997. In 1998, Fuyuki formed "Fuyuki-gun with several of FMW's leading wrestlers which remained the dominant "heel" stable until its disbandment in June 2000. From there, he formed multiple stables, which didn't last as long.
He faced Terry Funk in a high-profile match at Kawasaki Stadium in September 1997, and became the head "booker" of the promotion in 1999. Attempting to distance the promotion from its earlier reputation for "garbage wrestling" style, he instead focused more on a "sports entertainment" approach based heavily on comedic storylines and characters similar to American promotions such as World Wrestling Entertainment.
These changes proved unpopular with hardcore FMW fans and within months the promotion began to experience financial problems. The mix of the company's financial problems and Fuyuki's booking caused many people to leave the promotion (Atsushi Onita and Masato Tanaka, among others).
The beginning of the end for FMW was realized after its top star Hayabusa suffered a career-ending injury in October 2001; to make matters worse, Mr. Gannosuke injured both his ankles in January 2002. With Hayabusa and Gannosuke gone, Fuyuki was finally forced to close the promotion in March 2002, one month after it filed for bankruptcy.
World Entertainment Wrestling (2002)
Soon after the close of FMW, Fuyuki opened his own promotion, World Entertainment Wrestling, and briefly appeared in WEW before announcing his retirement after being diagnosed with cancer.
Wrestling his last match at a retirement show held by Pro Wrestling Noah, Fuyuki teamed with Yoshinari Ogawa & Mitsuharu Misawa to defeat Tamon Honda, Masao Inoue & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi on April 14, 2002.
Death
Although continuing to promote events for WEW during the next year, he planned to come out of retirement and had been scheduled to face Shinya Hashimoto before his death on March 19, 2003.[1]
Fuyuki was survived by his wife Kaoru, whom he married in November 1986, and his two daughters. Under his associate Kintaro Kanemura, the promotion reorganized in 2004 as Apache Pro-Wrestling Army, but continued the WEW titles.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Fuyuki Special (Modified dragon sleeper)
- Fuyuki Special II (Single leg Boston crab, while sitting on the folded leg)[2]
- Fuyuki Special III / Samson Clutch (Wheelbarrow bodyscissors victory roll)
- Samson Striker (Muscle buster)
- Signature moves
- Belly to back suplex
- Boston crab
- Diving seated senton
- Fisherman buster
- German suplex
- Leg hook suplex
- Lariat
- Macho Body Bomb (Spin-out powerbomb)
- Powerbomb
- Spinkick
- With Toshiaki Kawada and Yukihiro Kanemura
- Doomsday seated senton
- Double spinning heel kick
- Nicknames
- "Macho Body"
- Entrance themes
- "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins – (AJPW, Used while teaming with Toshiaki Kawada)
- "Suzuka Durable 4H Start" (AJPW/SWS, 1990–1991)
- "Shoot It" by David Lee Roth (SWS/WAR/NJPW, 1991–1995, January 4, 1996)
- "Shoot It '95" (1995–2002)
Championships and accomplishments
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling - World Entertainment Wrestling
- FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[4]
- FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Hido and Yukihiro Kanemura[5]
- FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[6]
- FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Gedo and Jado (1), Hido and Yukihiro Kanemura (1), and Koji Nakagawa and Yukihiro Kanemura (1)[7]
- WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Koji Nakagawa and Gedo (1), Kyoko Inoue and Chocoball Mukai (2), and Mr. Gannosuke and Shinjuku-zame (2)[8]
- WEW World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[9]
- WEW World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Kyoko Inoue, Tetsuhiro Kuroda and The Sandman[10]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him # 119 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2000
- Wrestle Association R
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- 5 Star Match (1989) with Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Yoshiaki Yatsu & Masanobu Fuchi on January 28
References
- ↑ Japanese Star Hiromichi "Kodo" Fuyuki Dies At 42 From Cancer . Wrestling-News.com (2003-03-19).
- ↑ Other arena's finishing movelist .
- ↑ A.J.P.W. All Asia Tag Team Title . Puroresu Dojo (2003).
- ↑ F.M.W. Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Title . Puroresu Dojo (2003).
- ↑ F.M.W. Brass Knuckles Tag Team Title . Puroresu Dojo (2003).
- ↑ Independent World Heavyweight Title . Puroresu Dojo (2003).
- ↑ F.M.W. World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Title . Puroresu Dojo (2003).
- ↑ W.E.W. 6-Man Tag Team Title . Puroresu Dojo (2003).
- ↑ W.E.W. Heavyweight Title . Puroresu Dojo (2003).
- ↑ W.E.W. World Tag Team Title . Puroresu Dojo (2003).
- ↑ W.A.R. World 6-Man Tag Team Title . Puroresu Dojo (2003).