R.I.P. Hayabusa

[NikoBaltimore]

I remember seeing the FMW tapes that had all kinds of hardcore stuff going on, but what always stood out was Hayabusa.  Loved his feud with Mr. Ganosuke from the matches they had to the match with Shawn Michaels refereeing and all was swell afterwards.  That was really the first time I saw a bunch of one Japanese promotion and the wrestlers involved and just loving it.  Was sad when I found out about his injury and was so happy when he made that walk last year.  This death really came out of nowhere, amazing how quickly things can change for somebody.  Damn.  RIP, Hayabusa.

[rzombie1988]

Story time

 

I'd read bits about Japanese pro wrestling for years through PWI mags. Always wanted to see it but I didn't know about the internet in the 90's. I'd read about Misawa and Kobashi and wondered what these guys were about but didn't know where to see them.

 

My interest in wrestling waned for a big until I caught Rock/Hogan having a confrontation a few weeks before Mania 18. My interest in wrestling then returned and exploded. I started watching indys on local tv and came across XPW. I found their DVD's in the store and one day spotted a new promotion - FMW. King of the Deathmatch? Explosion matches with fire and a cool Sabu looking wrestler? I'm in.

 

As I watched, I was an instant fan of Hayabusa and Megumi Kudo. Through puroresufan, dvdvr and bahufmw, I was able to enter the world of puroresu fandom around 2002. I started looking for videos and came across highspots and Ebay, which sold FMW COOPS. I bought tons of FMW videos, with them becoming my favorite promotion.

 

I went to a local indy show and ran into a guy who did wrestling tours to Japan. I was only 13 or so, but for over 3 years, my goal was to get there. I worked for 3 summers and was able to afford it. Along the way, I picked up Hayabusa shirts and figures and he was an immediate hero for me.

 

I was able to take my first japanese wrestling tour in 2008. Going to Japan to see shows was pretty awesome, but the icing on the cake was even sweeter - a Q&A with HAYABUSA. I couldn't believe it, I was going to get to meet him. I saved up my money working two summers to afford the trip, and it was worth it.

 

Hayabusa was an amazing guest. Even though he was in a wheel chair, he signed well over 200 items while answering every stupid question we could come up with. He was extremely nice to us and wasn't a big shot celebrity. Although he was in pain, he smiled and was graceful. I had him sign a suitcase full of programs. At the end, he put on the mask and we all took photos with him. Of course, others noticed him too and he attracted quite the crowd. He ended up posting about the experience which made us feel even better.

 

I will never forget Hayabusa's kindness that day and I will never forget him. I ended up running into him again years later at a Dragon Gate show and he was still as king as could be. He's always been my hero and his toughness and love for wrestling is unrivaled. He changed my life and had I not discovered him or Muta, I may have never even went to Japan.

 

A good man was taken today and remember - The Phoenix never dies. We love you Hayabusa.

 

Pics: http://imgur.com/a/PwOIk

 

BahuFMW did a nice summary of the meeting here - http://fmwwrestling.us/Japan.html

[MADCAP]

His comp tape was the first one I ever brought during the tape trading days and I always used him and Shinzaki as a tag team in WCW vs The World on my N64.

Sad...

[Curt McGirt]

I guess February's following us into March. Mo-ther-fucker. 

 

One of my favorite Hayabusa moments was in that six-man barbed wire match on a Schneider comp where he loses but then does this long, teary speech that has the entire crowd surround the ring and beat on it with their hands in support. Then he gets jumped by I think the Headhunters, Jason and Quinones, but that doesn't ruin the moment. 

 

RIP

[zev]

I think there are going to be friends of mine who will ask me who Hayabusa was because they see his name trending on Facebook.

I really should direct them to this thread, so they will realize that he was a big deal, and that people genuinely cared about him.

[Death From Above]

I don't even know what to say. This one really sideswiped me for some reason and has hit me much harder than any wrestling death in years.

 

Hayabusa was absolutely one of my favourites during my formative and biggest years as a Japanese wrestling fan. He was a top tier talent, became ace of a company, and could work any way you wanted to work. Also tremendously charismatic, easy to get behind. He had everything. It was tragic the way his career ended and his life changed, and he deserved a better life.

 

Hayabusa/Liger was a real dream match to me.

 

I don't know what to say. This one hurts.

[GOTNW]

 

I'm out of words. May he RIP.

[RIPPA]

wwe.com story

[Matt788]

I remember seeing the FMW tapes that had all kinds of hardcore stuff going on, but what always stood out was Hayabusa.

 

this times a million! Hayabusa tapes were my first exposure to wrestling that was not WWE, WCW or  ECW. The Gladiator feud was epic.

[NikoBaltimore]

Yep, lot of cool shit happened in that one.  That was cool as hell seeing those at FYE/Suncoast and just easily buying them without having to go online.  Even the shitty english commentary (it was fucking awful, guys) couldn't ruin it for me.  Got his compilation and a few shows  Also bought one for Megumi Kudo who was A. Fantastic and lovely and B. A fucking crazy woman.  There was one match where she was .9 Muta/full Muta and my then-girlfriend, now wife just couldn't take it and had to leave.  Gruesome stuff.

 

Aw, man, now I want to dust off those tapes and give them a watch.  So much fun was had seeing those.

 

EDIT:  I haven't seen the video today of him walking, but all of a sudden I'm remembering in my mind certain moments.  While in noticeable pain he was so determined and you could see the happiness he was feeling when he got in that ring.  I'm now thinking about his peers noticeably weeping cheering him on.  Damn they were so happy for him.  I was looking forward to see what he'd do next.  Fully walk again?  Probably not, but just walk at all and be happy?  Yeah, that would have been grand.  It's really sad and a shame that he was only 46.

[odessasteps]

If I remember right, he was at the first Dragon Gate show in los angeles (before DGUSA). I want to say i met him just to say best wishes or such, but i cant be sure anymore.

That Heatwave match on ECW PPV was really a huge deal at the time.

[The Unholy Dragon]

If it weren't for Hayabusa, I don't know that I'd have thought to check out Japanese or indy wrestling the way I have. Watched a comp with his matches against Gannosuke and Mike Awesome over and over. Just such an amazing talent.

RIP

[Ace]

If I remember right, he was at the first Dragon Gate show in los angeles (before DGUSA). I want to say i met him just to say best wishes or such, but i cant be sure anymore.

That Heatwave match on ECW PPV was really a huge deal at the time.

 

Yep. He did the art for the event and did signings.

[jaedmc]

The first tape me and my cousin ever got was a Hayabusa Comp. We got it because we saw him wrestle at Heatwave 98. I was a huge Hakushi fan, because there' weren't any Japanese wrestlers in the WWF, so I was like "Who's this cool motherfucker rolling with Hakushi? He must be badass." And he was. So we got the tape.

 

Up until that point I'd never gotten to see much of anything from Japan. PWI would list Mitsuharu Misawa as one of the best wrestlers in the world and I'd be like "WHY CAN'T I SEE THIS GUY?" It was on this comp tape that I got to see Misawa for the first time. Same for a ton of dudes. It was the fucking gateway drug into one of my favorite periods as a wrestling fan. 

 

I remember rewatching his match with Taka Michinoku about a billion times. Eventually we wore that tape out until it broke and we had to splice it together with scotch tape. 

 

I remember hacking our Playstation to play Fire Pro G and me and my cousin playing as Jinsei and Hayabusa for hours. 

 

I don't think it's crazy to say that my entire wrestling fandom changed after Hayabusa. He helped introduce me to a new outlet of wrestling that I could crawl into when the American stuff was shit - a practice I still utilize to this very day. All the time.

 

He's was the coolest motherfucker and he was even cooler when he's on a team with Ricky Fuji and Ricky Morton.

 

[Super Ape]

I don't think I can say anything that hasn't already been said on here, but Hayabusa was a real-life comic book superhero in an ECW-esque world of anti-heroes. The man just oozed cool and not only did things that people in the 90's thought were impossible in the ring, but he made them look easy. Onita might have been the brains behind FMW, but Hayabusa was its heart and soul. RIP, legend. I'm sure you're teaching God how to do a proper Phoenix Splash as we speak.

[Jiji]

His comp tape was the first one I ever brought during the tape trading days and I always used him and Shinzaki as a tag team in WCW vs The World on my N64.

Sad...

Samesies. Hayabusa is the wrestler I and my friends wanted to be, wished we could be in high school. Just crazy flying and the coolest look out there.

 

He will be missed.  

[Curt McGirt]

Goddamn. I just watched that 6-man Double Hell match with the full end on the Schneider comp and it just killed me. Busa is bleeding horribly, crying on the mic, says a couple words, checks on his injured mates, then goes around the crowd and EVERY SINGLE PERSON WANTS TO TOUCH HIM. It's like a Beatles reaction. He goes around the entire ring just kind of sticking his arms into the crowd and slapping hands. Then before he leaves he yells something about FMW without the mic and the whole crowd erups with yelling and slapping the mat again. I broke down in tears. 

[ohtani's jacket]

According to the newspaper reports, he was supposed to play a gig the night he died and when he didn't show up the owner of the place he was supposed to play at went to check on him. Hayabusa was living by himself and the owner found him dead in bed. That was at 2:00 a.m. on the 4th and he had died at noon on the 3rd. His agency said he showed no symptoms of ill health and there hadn't been any warning signs. 

[Brian Fowler]

I've spent a few days trying to figure out what to say...

All I've got is this sucks and sometimes life goes beyond unfair and into evil.

[Travis Sheldon]

A very unique character that gave his all every time I saw him. 

R.I.P.

[Michael Sweetser]

The 5/5/95 Hayabusa vs. Atsushi Onita exploding death match was one of the very first Japanese matches I ever saw, and it sold me on Hayabusa. 

[The Great ML]

My intro to the legend was on some old bootleg RF comp mix from the late 90s...I believe it was the Death Match with Funk and Pogo against Tanaka and "Hiya-boosee" (as the Funker referred to him as)...I saw the fire, the barb wire and explosions. Made quite the first impression.

[The Natural]

NSFW:

 

[Curt McGirt]

My intro to the legend was on some old bootleg RF comp mix from the late 90s...I believe it was the Death Match with Funk and Pogo against Tanaka and "Hiya-boosee" (as the Funker referred to him as)...I saw the fire, the barb wire and explosions. Made quite the first impression.

 

 

They all deserve an 'A' for effort. I mean Pogo, who looks visibly lost (he actually stops and just stares at Hayabusa for a beat or two like he's thinking of what to do next) actually busts out some armbars! Of course they also deserve an 'A' for destroying themselves physically. Those bombs are pretty gnarly.

[Super Ape]

The 5/5/95 Hayabusa vs. Atsushi Onita exploding death match was one of the very first Japanese matches I ever saw, and it sold me on Hayabusa. 

 

Name me two people in the modern age who probably could have drawn a WrestleMania-like crowd into a baseball stadium with no TV.

 

That match is amazing for so many reasons, and probably gave a lot of people the wrong idea of what all Japanese wrestling is like.