Joseph and Colette Discuss Atsushi Onita vs. Hayabusa

At what point does a DDT become meaningless?

When Joseph watched this match on his Twitch channel (which you should subscribe to!), I predicted that. we would “come to violence” on where this eventually places on the BIG EGG MASTERLIST, our forthcoming effort to determine exactly in which order 46 wrestling matches are better than four Triple. H matches. I had to log out before he finished his review, so imagine my surprise when he rated it **** & 1/4! There is, I think, a lot of space in the half star’s difference between his review and mine, and I have a feeling that this match is going to fall in two very different places of our respective top 50s, but the guile and charm of this match is undeniable. Watch it, check out our essays, and pre-emptively side with me when I try to argue for its place in our combined top five with the MASTERLIST project kicks off!

Up Next: BIG EGG journeys to Philadelphia, the Land of Extreme, to the ECW Arena, the Home of Extreme, to take things to the extreme, as Raven and Stevie Richards take on The Pitbulls, members all of the Tribe of the Extreme, in a double dog collar match for the ECW World Tag Team Championships!

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Joseph Montecillo
This week's BIG EGG match is a fascinating one for me especially because I'm far from well versed with big FMW matches. Outside of a few highlights from the early 90s I got to in my year projects, and the famous Toyoda/Kudo match, I haven't seen much of the company at all. But whenever I do get the chance to dip my toes in, it's the kind of thing that feels so singular in pro wrestling history. Because of that, reading your piece was really enriching this week as a more experienced view of the workings of an FMW match. What would you say are the things new viewers should be looking out for when approaching FMW?

Onita, Hayabusa, and The Spectacle of FMW

Colette Arrand
Well, it depends on what you’re looking for in a wrestling promotion, as FMW gradually changes after this match to become something patterned more after Vince Russo’s WWF, which really narrows the scope of the promotion. I love FMW, obviously, but the further away it gets from Onita’s vision in the late 1990s, there’s less for me to really get into, and I think that’s true for fans of the time, too. When Onita leaves for good, followed (for different reasons) by Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka in 1999, this feeling, the emotion and epic scale leave with them. But if you dig into one of the figures of its glory years, be that Onita or Hayabusa or Funk or Mr. Pogo or Tarzan Goto or Megumi Kudo, you unlock a door into an entirely different universe of Japanese wrestling. The fact that it’s so well documented, both in terms of its coverage in the magazines of the time and fans who’ve taken pains to keep its history alive, is extremely helpful. It’s very easy to fall in love with and have your heart broken by FMW.

The Product of Compromise, Onita vs. Hayabusa Is Perfect FMW

Joseph Montecillo
Speaking of Onita then, what would you say are the key hallmarks of his main event style here in FMW? Are there particular keys to understanding the psychology of his work that you think might be illuminating for those less familiar with his work, like I am?