All language subtitles for Dark Side Of The Ring s03e10 Blood & Wire.eng

- [Grunting]
- [Cheering]

With death defying stunts
and relentless bloodshed,

Japan's Frontier Martial
Arts Wrestling burst into

life in 1989, led by
revolutionary pioneer,

Atsushi Onita.

Onita and his promotion,
they were pioneers.

In the late 1980s, the WWE
was relatively homogenized.

WCW could get a little wild,

but FMW took it to a
whole different level.

You get Onita,
will bleed to death.

Every night,
he bleeds to death.

By putting himself and
his roster of wrestlers

in increasingly
dangerous situations,

Onita filled stadiums
with diehard fans,

and became a global icon
of hardcore wrestling.

As much as they were
known for the brutality,

it was really the imagination
that made that company click.

A no rope barbed wire match.

And then they go to the
exploding barb wire,

then they go to
the exploding ring.

And then the
electrified pool.

It just got crazier,
and crazier, and crazier.

♪

You've gotta be just nuttier
than a fruitcake

to get into one
of those matches.

It got too hot,
everybody ran to the middle.

And everybody's saying,
"Get out of here,

get out of here,
get out of here!"

The promotion's meteoric rise
was followed by an equally

spectacular crash that left
its top star paralyzed and

its new CEO dead.

Some place the blame for
FMW's tragic downfall on

its founder,
who sacrificed everything

for fame and fortune.

Some of my dad's fans say
that he killed my father.

Did he run over some people?

I'm sure he did.

But, it was necessary
to be Atsushi Onita.

Superstar.

♪

I am Atsushi Onita.

Yeah. Oh...

[Speaking Japanese]

Japan's vibrant wrestling
culture was popularized by

Giant Baba's
All Japan Pro Wrestling,

and Antonio Inoki's New
Japan Pro Wrestling.

Both championed
an authentic,

hard-hitting style.

When Texan brawlers Terry
and Dory Funk came over

to perform, their over the top
western personas

instantly captivated
Japanese audiences.

For some reason,

the people took
to me in Japan.

♪

Meaner than a rattlesnake,
tougher than shoe leather.

More dangerous than a
hollowed eye scorpion.

Middle aged and crazy.

Crazy like a fox.

Do you know who that is?

That is me.
The best there ever was.

[Announcer]
Oh, my god!

And the best
there ever will be.

[Announcer]
We've got a new champion!

Terry Funk. Alright, ask me
some questions.

Terry Funk is one of the
most universally loved

performers in
Japanese history.

And he worked All Japan,
he worked New Japan.

He'd be known as
an all-time great.

My name is
Chris Jericho and,

I worked for
two tours in FMW.

Onita was a guy
that started out in,

I think it was All Japan,
and he was kind of a high flyer.

A young disciple
of Giant Baba,

Onita rose through the ranks
of All Japan's dojo system

before being sent to America
to further his craft and

learn from the
styles of the west.

Japanese wrestlers would
be sent to the different

wrestling territories to
further learn their trade.

It was almost like
an apprenticeship.

My name is Mick Foley.

I'm known as the king
of the death match.

[Cheering & screaming]

For a few years, I was
the American Onita.

And that was a
huge, huge compliment.

Well, Terry told me that
Onita was sent to Amarillo.

Onita was very
drawn to Terry's style.

He'd watch me in
barbed wire matches.

And, he really idolized me.

That's why he
came to Amarillo,

be like Terry Funk,
you know, and...

what a horrible
thing to want to be.

He wanted to be
an idiot too.

A mighty fine
tractor ride here

out on the
Double Cross Ranch.

When Onita
arrived in Amarillo,

he was recovering from
recent injuries suffered in

the Dominican Republic.

After refusing to lose to an
opponent he deemed inferior,

Onita was taught a painful
lesson by the promoter.

He didn't agree with what
they wanted to do with him

and they beat him up.
But it wasn't one guy.

It was all of 'em.
Rat Packed him.

Nuts.

♪

I spoke Japanese like
he spoke English.

He spoke English
like I spoke Japanese.

We both were lost.
[Chuckling]

But we got along.

I was there for him,
I really was.

And, I bought him
a used car.

And I got him a job and
sent him on the road.

The Japanese team of Mr.
Onita and Masa Fuchi...

After Onita recovers
from his injuries,

he and fellow protégé,
Masa Fuchi,

travel to Memphis Tennessee
to battle in the infamous

Tupelo Concession
Stand Brawl.

Into the concession stand after
tearing down a partition!

- [Fans screaming]
- Slams Onita!

Totally covered
there by that big fan!

Onita, pulling himself
over the counter.

♪

With an improved skillset
and a willingness to inject

thrilling violence
into his matches,

Onita makes a return to
All Japan Pro Wrestling.

On the cusp of
main event stardom,

a freak accident results
in a devastating injury.

[Cheering]

The injury permanently hinders
Onita's athleticism,

instantly ending his dreams
of becoming a high flying star.

He was limited,
as an athlete.

He realized that his future
in wrestling lay in the

powers of perseverance
and imagination.

What do you do
when you're in your,

you know, late 20s,
early 30s,

and your whole
career is gone?

Well, he created something that
had never been done before.

After years of
working odd jobs,

Onita's thirst for stardom
drives him

to devise a bold stunt.

He publicly challenges
real-life karate champion,

Masahi Aoyagi, to compete in
a ground breaking series of

brutal matches, pitting
wrestler against martial artist.

[Bell ringing]

[Cheering]

[Cheering]

Building upon the
violence Onita was

exposed to in America...

Their rivalry
makes headlines,

and draws massive crowds.

[Cheering]

By the time Onita claims
victory in their final bout,

his Frontier MartialArts
Wrestling promotion

is officially born.

FMW had a really good
thing going because

they gave you a
full course meal.

You know, you got your
technical wrestling,

flying wrestling,
incredible women.

But the hallmark was
always the blood and guts.

Ah, it was like a
buffet of brutality.

The thinking that goes
behind replacing ring ropes

with barbed wire is the
audience comes first.

We care about them far
more than the safety of

the people doing this.

And, real injuries
are not a bad thing.

They're encouraged.

And they are
impossible to avoid.

A lot of guys that would
go to no end...

to self-annihilation

of their bodies...

to have a better match
than what

the opposition did.

[Bell ringing]

Okay, the barbed
wire isn't enough.

We're gonna have
to rig up, like,

electrical shocks to it.

Like, this was, this was,
this was insane!

In Onita's pursuit
to compete with Japan's

two major promotions,

his matches feature
increasingly dangerous

stunts that result in
legitimate bloodshed.

I was at an FMW show when
one of the female wrestlers

got hit with a fireball.

And, her outfit, it burned
the fabric into her skin.

And, I'm getting ready to
do my match and I just hear

these almost other
worldly sounds of suffering.

Tears streaming
down her face,

sobs like I have
never heard before.

And it's like,
we talk about a price,

that's really, really steep.

And I had to block that out
of my mind and go about with

my main event match.

Onita's FMW roster includes
like-minded performers

Tarzan Goto, Mr. Pogo,
Masado Tanaka,

The Gladiator
aka Mike Awesome,

as well as up and
coming talent with

North American experience.

Hi, this is Ricky Fuji from FMW.

We had a connection with a
guy called Ricky Fuji,

who had spent
time in Calgary,

that was able to bring
some guys over to FMW.

My first match ever at
FMW was the main event,

which is hilarious when you
think about a 20-year-old

Chris Jericho in the
main event against a

karate expert who was just
beating the shit out of me.

They would be in there
kicking you as hard as

they could 'cause that's
all they knew how to do.

I was like, what the
hell am I doing here?

So, I was never invited.
I was never invited.

It was completely luck.

I'm Sabu.
I was in FMW for 3 years.

New Japan for a year,

and an independent the
rest of my life.

There goes Sabu!
Oh, did you see that?

- For the love of God!
- Oh!

[Indistinct shouting]

My uncle was
The Sheik, and...

He was a great guy.

He was a mean guy,
and he was a nice guy, ha.

Onita and Tarzan Goto,
they were young boys when

The Sheik and Abdullah the
Butcher was in Japan

in the early 70s and 80s.

Every time they
came to town,

they took care of
those two guys.

So, 20 years later,
Onita starts a company,

and he calls up
The Sheik and says,

"We're gonna have a
tag team tournament.

You can come there.

Come and bring
anybody you want."

He goes,
"I'll bring my nephew."

And he could've
chose anybody,

but he chose me.

Oh, it sucks, it sucks.

My first barbed wire match,
I got hurt.

They took me to
the hospital.

I was in there all night
long getting stitches.

After that, I never
went to the hospital.

It took too long.

So, I started crazy gluing
my cuts and then taping 'em.

I basically taped and
glued up all the boys, too.

♪

A single barb can do a
lot of damage in a hurry,

and it has.

There are some
gaping wounds.

I mean, Sabu
really paid the price,

you know, with a
roadmap of scars.

Makes me look like,
you know, like a...

like a preschooler.

FMW's wrestlers sacrificed
their bodies on

a nightly basis,
but none can connect with

the audience quite
like the promotion's

founder and star,
Atsushi Onita.

Onita had an ability to
allow people to feel his pain.

And, see themselves in him.

Some people can't
connect with

a larger than life superhero.

They can connect with
somebody who looks like they do.

Who is limited, physically,

but not limited of will.

[Bang]!

[Cheering]

You know, there's man against
man, man against himself,

and now you enter
man against the wire,

man against flames.

Where,
you're making a living,

you're putting on a show,
you're doing what you love,

but you're also facing
fear on a nightly basis.

And you have to tackle it.

And you have to
earn their respect,

and you have to
embrace it wholeheartedly.

The whole end of
his match would be,

basically,
crying in front of the fans.

The meaning was he
had given it his all,

and he was crying...

because the fans
had stood behind him.

And they played Joan Jett's
version of 'Wild Thing'.

And everybody would get up
out of their seats and

crowd around the ringside

as he poured water on
his head and cried.

And dude,
it got over so huge.

♪ WILD THING!

Wee-ah, wee-ah, wee-ah!

[Bang]!

So, if he could think it,
he was going to do it.

And, I think there was a
reasonably good chance that

he was going to
die in that ring.

♪

In Onita's pursuit to
consistently top himself,

a tag team match with Tarzan
Goto versus Sabu and

his 65-year-old uncle,
The Sheik,

goes terribly wrong.

I don't know.

I assume Puerto Rico
'cause they had one before,

and Onita wanted to top it.

I didn't care.

I figured, they know
what they're doing.

They know...

it would be safe.

Wow, that's taking things
outside of your own hands

and trusting the environment
someone else

has created for you.

I'm not comfortable
with that,

and I've seen a lot of
people get burned, literally.

It got too hot way too fast.

If it was a building,
I would have jumped off it.

There was an FMW logo
in the middle.

It melted in our hands.

It melted in our elbows,
hands and knees.

You couldn't hear nothing,
you couldn't breathe.

It was a roar.

[Indistinct shouting]

I jumped out, and
immediately turned around,

threw a bucket of water.

He went out the other side.
I didn't see that.

He got burned by
the fire pretty bad.

My uncle carried on wrestling
Onita outside of the ring.

And I was trying to throw
water on my uncle because

he had his back burned up.

I threw a bucket of water
on him and

the skin on his back came off.

[Shouting & bells ringing]

I wasn't
angry at anybody.

I was just angry
that it was bad.

You know, and
the plan was bad.

I can't be angry at Onita.
He gave me life.

Riding high with an
expanding fan base and

sold out shows, Onita revels
in the trappings

of his newfound stardom.

He may have started
as a scrappy underdog,

and he became...

the king.

And was treated as such.

And he had sticky fingers.

He took all the money.

♪

Onita's fortune is not only
gained from the violence

he presents in the ring,
but from ties with

the nefarious underworld.

They were in control
of the arenas.

♪

So, the Yakuza were,
they were definitely there.

It's kind of almost like a
money laundering scheme,

holding shows that the mafia
will kind of sponsor and put on.

We would go out to dinner
sometimes with sponsors,

and I would just
check out their pinkies.

And, by and large, a lot of
the sponsors were missing

their pinkies because of the
line of business they were

in where, sections of the
pinkies would be eliminated.

I wasn't
comfortable with it,

but I accepted that
that was part of

what made the scene possible.

Well, they told us to stay
away from a certain section,

and I go, there's not
many people in that section,

who cares?

It was because that was
the mafia section and like,

they had like 10 people
there with 50 chairs empty

'cause nobody was-- they
were scared to sit by 'em.

I started fighting
over there anyways,

and they
wouldn't move for us.

Usually people move.

He's a mafia boss,
we don't know that.

But then, later on,
we're in the dressing room

getting bang, bang,
bang on the door.

They're looking for us.

I run down this
hallway and I got trapped.

And a bunch of these
Japanese guys

are knocking me down.

♪

And, when I was down,

I was getting boot fucked,
kicked.

♪

And then all of a sudden,
Mike Awesome was there.

Mike Awesome, you know,
the huge, monster heel.

Guys started
getting flung off.

Mike Awesome starts
throwing guys off and,

saved my life.
I loved him after that.

♪

In 4 short years,
Onita overcame his injury

to build a promotion to
rival his competitors.

To celebrate, Onita invites
his mentor from America to

participate in FMW's most
spectacular stunt to date.

So, they had an exploding
ring death match.

And they were really smart
in bringing in Terry Funk.

For him to come to FMW,

it changed the perception
of this company.

"Terry's here?"

It was stadium full.
About 30, 40,000.

And, they don't charge
50 cents a ticket

over there either.

There's the idiots,
it's the front row people.

"We're gonna have an
exploding ring match tonight."

"Oh, I want a
front row ticket!"

Bullshit.

Oh, hell no.
I had no idea.

[Bell ringing]

[Cheering]

I just went out
to the damn ring.

I'm a glutton for a crowd being
into a match, you know.

I was just out there
ready to capture that crowd.

And we did.

[Screaming & cheering]

♪

[Cheering]

[Cheering]

[Siren]

So, the siren
starts going off.

Wee-ooh, wee-ooh, wee-ooh.

[Cheering]

And at the end of
this time clock,

the ring would explode.

And finally,
Onita gets the win,

and he leaves the ring.

And this thing is
going down:

45 seconds, 30 seconds.

And Onita
realizes that his hero,

almost the God of Japanese
pro wrestling is going to be

exploded in this ring.

So, he goes back inside the
ring and he tries to wake

Funker up, and he
can't wake him up.

And now it's 10 seconds.

He can't wake him up,
so what does he do?

He shields Terry Funk
with his body.

- [Bang!]
- [Shouting]

And it's a bunch of like,
boom, boom, boom,

concussion bombs
and fireworks and just,

by the time it's done,
you can't see anything.

It was the greatest babyface
thing I've ever seen in my life.

He covered Terry Funk
to save him from

the explosion after
he pinned him.

That's Onita.

What FMW did the best
was create a spectacle.

You know, Funk
survived thanks to Onita,

and they were kind of like
carrying each other out.

Crying, once again.

And Funk was
great at it, too,

crying, crying, crying.

To me, it's a five-star
match because it had

the drama and
hooked you into it,

to where you cared.

And, that's the real secret
of what wrestling is.

That's what Onita
really knew how to do.

He was a genius at it.

Well, hell no,
I wasn't satisfied.

I never, never saw Onita
after a match either

until I came back the next time.
I think he ran and hid.

♪

FMW was at least the number
3 promotion in the country,

if not number two, depending
on what was going on with

the two big
ones at the time.

He legit was one of the
most popular performers

in the country, and not
just in wrestling.

He was doing gameshows.

He'd become such a
big part of the culture.

I think Onita
had bigger plans.

In just five short
years after creating FMW,

Onita announces
his retirement,

which comes as a
shock to his fans.

He didn't want
to do it anymore.

He'd had enough.

And you can fail and not
have any money at all.

Or you can go out
like he did with

several million dollars,
I'm sure.

Onita continues to headline
shows for another full year,

while the promotion grooms a
young wrestler to become

his future headlining
successor.

Hayabusa!

Hayabusa was the
heir apparent to Onita.

He was...

ah, the word that's
coming is elegant.

But he was also willing
to do the extreme stuff.

Eiji Ezaki is his name,
who later became Hayabusa.

We worked
together quite a bit.

My second tour at Kawasaki
Stadium was against Ezaki.

And at the time,
the big move that

he did was Moonsault,
which nobody did.

At FMW's
6th anniversary show,

Onita's retirement match
features the special effects

and extreme gore
that made him an icon.

But his opponent is
out of his element.

[Cheering]

[Screaming & shouting]

[Cheering]

[Cheering]

[Bell ringing]

[Cheering]

Onita leaving FMW,

that would create a huge
hole that I think would be

next to impossible to fill,
just because of how,

how synonymous with
that company he was.

And vice versa.

It'd be hard to see
Onita anywhere else

other than thinking FMW.

They're one and the same.

An unlikely successor
emerges to take the reins

of FMW, the promotion's
ring announcer,

Shoichi Arai.

- [Japanese announcement]
- [Cheering]

"Sudden Impact, Lance Storm,
Chris Jericho-ah!"

And he's kind of like,
kind of a chubby guy,

but kind of wore a tuxedo
that was a little bit

too small for him.

But then you
hear like Arai's the

new like general manager.

- [Bang]!
- Oh!

Like, really? Like, wow.
Like, well, why not?

He was probably
at every show.

[Cheering]

My dad was really nice person.

He was really pure.

So, I didn't know why
he was trying to

get into that company.
I still don't understand.

My name is Shell.
And, Shoichi Arai is my dad.

Onita suddenly
says that, "Okay,

I'm gonna give
this company to you.

You can do
whatever you want."

But he has no
knowledge at all.

Excuse my language,
but he gave jack shit

to the ring announcer.
He didn't give nothing to him.

I'll promise you that,
I'll swear to it.

Without Onita's star power,

FMW struggles to
hold its audience.

After just one
starring film role,

Onita realizes his appeal is

limited when
he's not wrestling.

In less than a year
after his retirement,

he unexpectedly returns
to FMW to work

for his former ring announcer.

[Cheering]

Ah, yes, because
they would air our stuff

only on specials
because it was too violent.

To take FMW in a
new direction,

Arai hires veteran Japanese
star Hiromichi Fuyuki to

handle the company's
creative direction.

He had a belt called World
Entertainment Wrestling,

like WWE, but World
Entertainment Wrestling.

And they stopped
having death matches.

The tug of war between
Onita's vision for FMW and

Fuyuki's new direction,
forces Arai to arrange

a meeting with his top talent.

♪

♪

While Hayabusa is unable
to pack stadiums like

his predecessor, his athletic
style was winning

new fans and realizing
success for FMW.

♪

Until tragedy struck
on October 22, 2001.

He did a second rope
Moonsault and

his foot slipped, and he went
backwards and

landed on his forehead.

Hayabusa...
[Speaking Japanese]

Hayabusa? Hayabusa?

Hayabusa?!

[Bell ringing]

He didn't die.

It was worse,
he was paralyzed.

I'd rather have died.

Just terrible. Terrible injury
to happen to just

a great guy, a great,
great performer,

and a legit kind
of future legend.

All the boxes that
needed to be checked,

he had it.

His career was cut
short in his prime.

And I think with his career
went the future of FMW.

They never really found somebody
to replace Hayabusa.

Beyond being a serious
emotional blow to FMW and

its fans, Hayabusa's
injury also sets in motion

a financial disaster.

Without their
star attraction,

Arai struggles to keep his
fledgling company afloat.

I remember that
my mom say,

"Don't steal house money,"
or something.

Oh, yes.

He owed money from the Yakuza
and he couldn't pay them back.

His phone was
ringing all the time.

My mom was like panicked,
and she screamed.

So, I thought it's
not a good thing.

My mom and dad,
like, they divorced.

I think he was
really suffering.

And, I didn't realize
'cause I was too young.

And then my
last match there,

we didn't get paid.
He said he'd send it to me.

And then he killed
himself the next day.

♪

Hung himself in
a school yard.

When you borrow money
from the Japanese mafia,

even if you kill yourself,
they're gonna get their

money from your family.

So, that wasn't the
end of the story.

They were saying he was
selfish for doing that,

a coward, because now his
family owes that money.

You know, and
they'll get it.

Arai's death triggers a
life insurance payment,

but it's sadly not enough
to cover his family's

newly inherited debt.

They came my home, suddenly,
and they changed the key and

they changed everything,

and we couldn't get in
our house anymore.

My picture, my video,
my memories

was all in that house,
but it's all gone.

That's why I
don't have anything.

Hm... I feel a little bit that

Onita used my dad.

A lot of people say
that he was too kind.

And too pure.
That's why he's gone.

♪

[Japanese announcer]

Over a decade later, FMW
briefly rises from the ashes

with Onita back in the ring
and Hayabusa acting

as an executive producer.

But less than a year later,
tragedy strikes again when

Hayabusa collapses in
his home and dies

at the age of 47.

♪

He did walk again.

I mean, it's one of the most
gut wrenching things you see

when he's surrounded by
members of wrestling royalty

from several
different promotions.

And, it's one of the most
emotional moments

you will ever see when
Hayabusa walks to the ring.

[Applause]

[Japanese commentary]

♪

FMW was the wild wild west
of professional wrestling.

And I mean, it was in
the east, geographically,

but it was this lawless,
wild frontier.

If you could think it,
you could do it.

The spectacle
always came first.

And, it was a big part
of wrestling history,

and something that's
still borrowed from,

to this day.

[Fans screaming]

What I learned in FMW,
of course,

I took it to ECW.
ECW was formed from FMW.

Onita, basically, built a
promotion around himself.

An undersized,
under dog wrestler,

and made it a huge success.

♪

[Laughing]

No, hell, no.
I love him.

♪

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