 Fuji in 2010 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Masanori Morimura (1965-09-27)September 27, 1965 (age 60)[1][2][3] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Ricky Fuji[1][2] Black Tomcat Calgary Tiger |
| Billed height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1][2] |
| Billed weight | 96 kg (212 lb)[1] |
| Billed from | Calgary,Alberta,Canada |
| Trained by | NJPW Dojo[2] Mr. Hito[2] Stu Hart[3] |
| Debut | June 28, 1988[1][2][3] |
Masanori Morimura (森村 方則,Morimura Masanori)[1][2] (born September 27, 1965) better known under hisring nameRicky Fuji (リッキー・フジ,Rikkī Fuji) is a Japaneseprofessional wrestler currently signed toAction Advance Pro Wrestling, where he also runs the day-to-day operations. He is perhaps best known for his time withFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where he wrestled between thepromotion's early days in 1990 until the promotion's closure in 2002, making him the longest-tenured wrestler in the company's history.
Fuji initially joined FMW as a mid-carder, who initially teamed and feuded with the promotion's founderAtsushi Onita on several occasions. He was a part of many groups including Team Canada and Lethal Weapon during the mid-1990s while also achieving success in the company'sjunior heavyweight division, winning theAWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and theIndependent World Junior Heavyweight Championship once each.
Masanori Morimura started training in theNJPW Dojo in 1984, but left the dojo because he was "young and dumb".[3] While at the NJPW Dojo, he wanted to be aUWF fighter instead. When he failed to join UWF, he realized he ruined his chances at beginning his career in Japan. He then left Japan in January 1987 for a training expedition inCanada, where he was trained in theDungeon byStu Hart and his right-hand man,Mr. Hito. During his time training in Calgary, he would befriend other Japanese stars likeHiroshi Hase and his former NJPW Dojo matesKeiichi Yamada andShinya Hashimoto.[4]
In March 1987, he was set to debut as Hase's new partner in theViet Cong Express, due to his original partner,Fumihiro Niikura, leaving the territory and taking a hiatus, due to a heart attack in December 1986. However, a twist of bad luck befallen Morimura, as just days before his official debut, he suffered acerebral hemorrhage and was hospitalized; his role in the Viet Cong Express was taken over by Shinji Sasazaki. Morimura would fully recover and by August 1987, he would resume his training in the Dungeon.
On June 28, 1988, Morimura made his professional wrestling debut inStampede Wrestling against Hart's son,Ross, under the name Tiger Mask (not the same asSatoru Sayama), at a show in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.[1][3] After a couple of matches, he evolved into Black Tomcat. In August 1988, Black Tomcat was one of many wrestlers cut from Stampede, and joined the North Western Wrestling Federation and later won the promotion's Junior Heavyweight Championship, his first title, after defeating Steve Gillespie.[4]
In March 1989, Black Tomcat left the NWWF for the Canadian Independent Wrestling Federation, ran byLes Thornton. After losing a loser leaves town match to Kid Chaos in June 1989, he unmasked and started wrestling under thering name Ricky Fuji and adopted arock stargimmick. During his time in the CIWF, he was scouted by theWorld Wrestling Federation afterBruce Hart introduced him to his brotherBret, but no deal was ever finalized, as they didn't know how to bring him in.[5] Later that year, he would become the promotion's final Junior Heavyweight Champion, before the promotion folded by the end of 1989. In January 1990, Fuji returned to Japan and trained with former NJPW star Masanobu Kurisu and was offered a spot in the upstart promotionFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling byAtsushi Onita, which he accepted.[3][4]
Upon debuting for FMW in May 1990, Fuji quickly becameover with the fans, particularly among female fans, due to hisShawn Michaels-inspired gimmick andpromo skills.[3] He debuted for FMW by defeating The Shooter on May 12, 1990. He quickly established himself as an arrogantvillain and entered arivalry with FMW ownerAtsushi Onita, as Fuji and Masanobu Kurisu lost to the team of Onita andTarzan Goto in a match, a day later on May 13, marking Fuji competing in a FMWmain event, just in his second match with the company. On June 2, Fuji competed in his firstdeathmatch, astretcherstreet fight against Tarzan Goto, which Fuji lost. On June 6, Fuji received his first title shot in FMW as he unsuccessfully challenged Lee Gak Soo for theAWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. Tarzan Goto would soon enter a feud with Onita and Fuji formed an alliance with Onita's rivals Tarzan Goto andMr. Pogo in the summer of 1990. On July 22, Fuji participated in a thirteen-manbattle royal, which took place in a ring placed in theMiyazaki Nichinan Sea. Fuji went on to win the battle royal by last eliminating Kim Hyun Hwan.
AtSummer Spectacular, Fuji was paired with Mr. Pogo andKatsuji Ueda as the trio defeated Kim Hyun Han, Lee Gak Soo and Sambo Asako in asix-man tag team match. Fuji received another shot against Lee Gak Soo for the World Light Heavyweight Championship on August 18 but failed to win the title. On August 20, Fuji and Pogo lost a street fight to Atsushi Onita and Sambo Asako, after which Fujiturned into afan favorite for the first time in his career as he teamed with Onita on the following day against Pogo and Gran Mendoza in a losing effort. In September, Fuji entered atournament for the vacant World Light Heavyweight Championship, defeating Jang Yong Wow in the quarter-final before losing to eventual winner Katsuji Ueda in the semi-final. On October 26, Fuji participated in Japan's firstintergender tag team match, teaming withMegumi Kudo in a loss to Tarzan Goto and his wifeDespina Montagas. At the promotion's1st Anniversary Show in November, Fuji teamed with Akihito Ichihara against The Shooter and Billy Mack in a losing effort.
In January 1991, Fuji teamed withTarzan Goto to participate in atag team tournament, in which the team qualified for theknockout stage by scoring three points in theround-robin stage. They were eliminated from the knockout stage by losing toAtsushi Onita and Sambo Asako in the quarter-final on January 15. He continued to team with Goto and Onita to wrestleMr. Pogo and his allies in several matches. On May 29, Fuji wasbooked to win his firsttitle in FMW by defeatingJimmy Backlund to capture theWorld Light Heavyweight Championship. He began feuding withMark Starr after successfully defending the title against Starr in his first title defense on June 21. On August 17, Fuji entered theBarbed Wire Deathmatch Tournament, in which he defeated Starr in the quarter-final round before losing to eventual winner Atsushi Onita via forfeit in the semi-final. Fujidropped the World Light Heavyweight Championship to Starr on August 24.
At the2nd Anniversary Show in September, Fuji was paired with Sambo Asako againstBig Titan andThe Gladiator in astreet fight, which Fuji's team lost. In the fall of 1991, Fuji and Asako participated in theWorld's Strongest Tag Team Tournament for the newly createdWWA World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship. They qualified for the play-off by scoring seven points in the round-robin stage and lost to the eventual winners Atsushi Onita andTarzan Goto in the play-off. At3rd Anniversary Show, Fuji teamed with Sambo Asako and The Great Punk against Big Titan, The Gladiator andHorace Boulder in astretcher street fight in a losing effort.
On January 12, 1993, Ricky Fujiturned on his teammates The Great Punk,Mr. Gannosuke andTarzan Goto in anelimination tag team match against the team ofBig Titan,Dr. Luther,The Gladiator andThe Sheik, which led to Fuji turning into avillain. He formed afaction with Titan, Luther and Gladiator called Team Canada, based on Fuji's own time in Canada in the past. Sheik would eventually depart the group to form an alliance withAtsushi Onita. Team Canada quickly became FMW's top villainous group and feuded with the likes of Onita, Tarzan Goto,Mr. Gannosuke, The Sheik andSabu among others.
At4th Anniversary Show, Fuji teamed with his Team Canada stablemates Big Titan and The Gladiator, defeatingKatsuji Ueda, The Great Punk and Tarzan Goto in a Captain's FallLosing Captain Leaves TownNo Rope Barbed Wire Tornado Street Fight Deathmatch. Fuji then defeated Mercurio in his next major match atSummer Spectacular. In September, Fuji entered atournament for the newIndependent World Junior Heavyweight Championship, in which he lost to Atsushi Onita, Jr. in the opening round. AtYear End Spectacular, the team of Fuji, Titan and Gladiator defeated Sambo Asako, Katsuji Ueda andGrigory Verichev in a street fight.
In early 1994, Fuji participated in atournament for the newBrass Knuckles Tag Team Championship, in which he was paired with Terry Simms, losing toJinsei Shinzaki and Masaru Toi in a barbed wire street fight in the first round, leading to Fuji and Simms being demoted to Loser's Block B, where they ended up losing toHideki Hosaka andHisakatsu Oya in a barbed wire deathmatch. In April, Fuji entered theinaugural Super J-Cup tournament, where he defeatedNegro Casas in the first round, but lost toJushin Thunder Liger in the quarter-final round. The following month, in May, Fuji teamed with his Team Canada stablemates Big Titan and The Gladiator to take onWAR'sFuyuki-Gun (Hiromichi Fuyuki,Jado andGedo) in an interpromotionalsix-man tag team match at5th Anniversary Show. During the match, a miscommunication took place between Titan and Gladiator. Gladiator won the match for his team but then abandoned Fuji and Titan after the match.
Fuji toured a few events forMichinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) in June, where he won the vacant Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling's (CRMW) North American Mid-Heavyweight Championship by defeatingTerry Boy on June 16. Fuji then returned to FMW, defeating Mach Hayato atSummer Spectacular. Shortly after, Team Canada disbanded after the departure of Big Titan from FMW in December.
On December 20, 1994, Fuji defeatedThe Great Sasuke to win theIndependent World Junior Heavyweight Championship. He successfully defended the title against Battle Ranger Z in his first title defense on January 6, 1995. He lost the title toHideki Hosaka in his second title defense on February 6.[6] Soon after the title loss, Fuji formed a newfaction calledLethal Weapon withTarzan Goto andHisakatsu Oya, although Goto would soon after leave FMW in April 1995.
At6th Anniversary Show, Fuji and Oya defeatedMr. Pogo andYukihiro Kanemura of theW*ING Alliance to capture theBrass Knuckles Tag Team Championship and their tag team was named Love Guns, Lethal Weapon's resident tag team. Following the departure of Tarzan Goto, Fuji and Oya would later recruitThe Gladiator,Mr. Pogo andHorace Boulder into Lethal Weapon. The group would briefly takeover W*ING Alliance as the top villainous faction in FMW. Fuji and Oya lost the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship four months later toDaisuke Ikeda andYoshiaki Fujiwara on September 5.[6] During the fall of 1995, Lethal Weapon began transitioning intofan favorites after W*ING Alliance betrayed both FMW and Lethal Weapon during a tag team match. Lethal Weapon would then side with FMW to feud with W*ING. Fuji headlined December'sYear End Spectacularevent by teaming withSuper Delfin andTaka Michinoku against the team ofHayabusa, The Great Sasuke andKoji Nakagawa in a losing effort.
Fuji participated in the firstWarGames match in FMW history on February 23, 1996, by teaming withMasato Tanaka andTetsuhiro Kuroda to defeat W*ING Alliance membersHido, W*ING Kanemura andMitsuhiro Matsunaga, thus ending the feud of FMW and Lethal Weapon against W*ING. The match was followed by the debut of the new group Puerto Rican Army, which took over as FMW's new villainous group by luring away several key members of W*ING and Lethal Weapon. At7th Anniversary Show, Fuji teamed withThe Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton andRobert Gibson) to defeat the team of Crypt Keeper, Boogie Man and Freddy Krueger. On July 31, Fuji, Oya and Gladiator unsuccessfully challenged Koji Nakagawa, Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda for theWorld Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On September 15, Fuji's tag team partners Horace Boulder and The Gladiator turned on Fuji after the trio lost a match to Hideki Hosaka, Hido and Taka Michinoku. The entire Lethal Weapon group turned on Fuji to join Puerto Rican Army, thus forcing Lethal Weapon to disband.
Following Lethal Weapon's disbandment, Fuji aligned himself withHayabusa and began competing as a mid-card wrestler on the FMW side, often assisting him in his rivalries withMr. Gannosuke andKodo Fuyuki. Fuji competed in the opening match of the8th Anniversary Show, teaming withRicky Morton to defeatHido andDragon Winger. AtShiodome Legend, Fuji successfully defended the CRMW North American Middleweight Championship against Hayato Nanjyo. He lost the title toGedo on August 31. AtFall Spectacular, Fuji participated in a twelve-manRoyal Rumble match, where he lasted until the final two when he was eliminated byTetsuhiro Kuroda. His success dwindled in FMW and was relegated to mid-card matches. He balanced competing in singles, tag team, and six-man tag team matches.
On January 7, 1998, Fuji wrestled a special match under thering name Morimura on aZEN-produced show, defeating Sunao Gosaku and El Pandita in athree-way dance. Fuji competed at FMW's firstpay-per-view event9th Anniversary Show, where he teamed withJohn Kronus in a loss toJado and Gedo on April 30. On August 15, he resurrected his masked Black Tomcat persona from his days in Canada, for one night only on aMichinoku Pro Wrestling card, in which he lost toSuper Delfin. Later that year, he joined Hayabusa's Team Phoenix to feud withTeam No Respect. In the fall of 1998, Fuji participated in anOver the Top Tournament to determine the #1 contender for the FMW Double Championship (theunifiedBrass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship and theIndependent Heavyweight Championship), where he lost toMasao Orihara in the opening round atECW/FMW Supershow I.
On May 5, 1999, Fuji took onMinoru Tanaka in a match for the vacantIndependent World Junior Heavyweight Championship, which Tanaka won. In the summer of 1999, Fuji began feuding with the FMW PresidentShoichi Arai after Arai turned on FMW to join Team No Respect, leading to a match between the two atHaunted House, which Arai won after Giant Steele made his FMW debut and attacked Fuji. Fuji would eventually gain revenge by teaming withMasato Tanaka to defeat Kodo Fuyuki and Shoichi Arai atHayabusa Graduation Ceremony on August 23. At theLast Match pay-per-view on August 25, Fuji teamed with Naohiko Yamazaki in a loss toSuper Leather andChris Youngblood.
At10th Anniversary Show on November 23, Fuji teamed withChocoball Mukai and Flying Kid Ichihara to defeat Team No Respect membersKoji Nakagawa,Jado and Gedo in aladder match to win the vacantWEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Nakagawa, Jado and Gedo on December 11, ending their reign at eighteen days. In April 2000, Fuji entered the2000 Super J-Cup, where he defeatedSasuke the Great in the first round, but lost toGran Hamada in the quarterfinals. The following month, Fuji defeatedCrazy Boy in the opening match of the11th Anniversary Show. Later that year, Fuji gained a victory over former tag team partner Chocoball Mukai in the opening match of theDeep Throat pay-per-view.
At12th Anniversary Show, Fuji teamed with Makita to defeat Morita and Yoshihito Sasaki in a tag team match. On May 22, 2001, Fuji reunited with former Lethal Weapon memberHisakatsu Oya and Flying Kid Ichihara to defeat Azusa Kudo, Shinjuku Shark and Naohiko Yamazaki for the vacant WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship, winning the title for a second time. They held the title for two months until losing to Kodo Fuyuki, Mr. Gannosuke andKintaro Kanemura on July 30. On February 3, 2002, Fuji wrestled his last FMW match, in which he teamed with Shinjuku Shark againstGOEMON and Hisakatsu Oya in a losing effort. A day later, on February 4, FMW held its last event and Shoichi Arai closed the company due tobankruptcy on February 15.
Since FMW's closing, Fuji has been wrestling as afreelancer for various Japaneseindependent promotions, including Wrestling Marvelous Future,Apache Pro-Wrestling, andFREEDOMS.[3][7][8][9]
On September 17, 2011, Fuji teamed with Bambi andYuji Hino to win the Chiba Six Man Tag Team Championship after defeating Little Galaxy (Hiro Tonai,Shiori Asahi and Yuki Sato).[9] The championship is Fuji's first in a major promotion since May 2001. On October 2, Fuji, Bambi and Hino were successful in their first title defense after defeating Daigoro Kashiwa,Marines Mask II andTigers Mask.[9]
On January 4, 2012,Kaientai Dojo confirmed that they signed Ricky Fuji for one year; he has remained with the promotion ever since.
On February 5, 2012, Fuji had a chance to win the Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship at a Freedoms show againstHiroki, but failed. After the match, he got on the microphone and announced his goal of winning the belt by the end of the year, after looking at the "FMW" letters still engraved on the belt.
On January 26, 2013, after nearly a year after his announced his intentions, Fuji finally won the Independent World Junior Heavyweight title from Hiroki, ending his nearly 15-month reign. He would hold onto the title for nearly four months, before losing the title to Nanjyo Hayato. On June 16, Fuji andDaigoro Kashiwa defeated Hiroki and Yuji Hino to win the vacantStrongest-K Tag Team Championship. They lost the title toKazma Sakamoto andKengo Mashimo on September 16.
Upon Taka Michinoku's departure and the renaming of the company to Action-Advance Pro Wrestling (2AW) in 2019, Fuji was chosen to run the day-to-day operations, as well as being in the active roster. In January 2020, Fuji announced that 2AW is now the Japanese affiliate for Allied Independent Wrestling Federations.
On March 4, 2015, it was confirmed by Flying Kid Ichihara and Choden Senshi Battle Ranger that Ricky Fuji is confirmed as one of the seven FMW originals to rejoin FMW. On April 21, 2015, Fuji defeated Battle Ranger in the opening match of the promotion's first show in 13 years.
Outside of wrestling, Fuji runs his own gym in Chiba called Endo's Gym, and also plays in two rock bands, Crazy Crew (which includesThe Great Sasuke andKen45°) and The Heavyweighters.
On September 7, 2022, Fuji collapsed at his home in Chiba. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where it was revealed that he had suffered a stroke. He underwent a successful cerebral angiography, placing a cerebrovascular catheter in his brain. Fuji's condition is stable, but the left side of his body is currently paralyzed.[10] He has since made a speedy recovery and was released from the hospital on November 29.