>>8643845In the 80s, Giant Baba was grooming Onita to be pretty much what Misawa turned out to be for AJPW. But Onita got injured and shit just wasn't the same, so he left All Japan to go heal up, do coke, try to be an actor and whatever the fuck else.
All he knew wrestling though, and he learned how to be a carny from the top carny in the country (or second top, because Inoki also managed to work the governemnts of other countries). So he started FMW to show how better wrestling was than real martial arts (early shows had Onita vs real karate champions, for instance). Really he was showcasing how great Onita was, and as a spit in the face to the UWF, but it got people talking.
Even before Onita had left All Japan, he'd started incorporating more violent aspects he'd seen in Memphis. By the time FMW was finding his feet, he'd turned it into a full on Jackie Chan or Bruce Willis style "the hero looks dead, how the fuck is he gonna win this?" thing, imagine Hogan matches where instead of hulking up he loses three pints of blood. He'd win, because he was the booker and the shows could've just been called Look How Great Onita Is #XX, but after that he'd walk round the whole building while shouting passionately about, well, probably how great he is, because he's Onita, but this shit would go on for 20-30 mins so everyone got to see the motherfucker up close, and that's why they cared so much.
