Mitsuhiro Matsunaga

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Mitsuhiro Matsunaga is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist who is best known for his work in promotions like FMW, W*ING and BJW.

1 Profile
2 Career
3 Trivia
4 Finishing and signature moves
5 Championships and Accomplishments

[edit] Profile

Nickname: Mr. Danger
Height: 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight: 230 lb (105 kg)
Birth Date: March 24, 1966
Hometown: Aichi, Japan
Notable Feuds: Mr. Pogo, Atsushi Onita, Freddy Kreuger (wrestler), Shoji Nakamaki, John Zandig, Jun Kasai, Kintaro Kanemura, BADBOY Hido, Leatherface

[edit] Career

[edit] Beginning

Matsunaga started his pro-wrestling career in early FMW where he was a student of Masashi Aoyagi in the martial arts side of early FMW. On December 12, 1989, Matsunaga teamed up with Gary Blayman to take on Atsushi Onita and Tarzan Goto in FMW's first ever barbwire match. Needless to say Matsunaga didn't bleed in the match, cause he wasn't hardcore then.

On February 9, 1992 in Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Matsunaga did his infamous balcony dive... though his knees were never the same after that. At the Tokyo Korakuen Hall on March 3, 1992, Matsunaga faced his greatest nemesis, Mr.Pogo, in a Scramble Bunkhouse Barbed Wire Baseball Bat Deathmatch which ended in referee stoppage after Pogo set Matsunaga's head on fire. Matsunaga went on the sidelines for several months after suffered a knee injury during his match with Pogo. Regardless, he sat on the front row during W*ING shows and often got attacked by Pogo. After his recovery, Matsunaga got his revenge against Mr.Pogo in one of W*ING's first ever Fire Deathmatches on August 2, 1992. After the match Pogo's manager, Victor Quiñones, slapped Pogo in disgust at his lost to which Pogo knocked him out, thus turning face and aligning himself with Matsunaga. On August 15, 1992, The Headhunters were the first to take on the team of Mr. Pogo and Mitsuhiro Matsunaga. However, the relationship eventually turned sour which resulted in Pogo turning on Matsunaga. On December 20, 1992, Matsunaga faced Leatherface in a Spike Nail Deathmatch where Matsunaga bled buckets before being dumped on the nails.

On June 18, 1993, Matsunaga faced Freddy Kreuger in the first ever Lights Out Deathmatch where Matsunaga was defeated after being hung by a chain from the ceiling. So on May 9, 1993, they had another Scramble Bunkhouse Barbed Wire Baseball Bat Deathmatch which Matsunaga won. On December 8, 1993 at the Tokyo International Trade Harumi Dome... Matsunaga was supposedly to face Atsushi Onita in a "Wonder Crush Death Match" which was a Glass Cage Death Match. But the idea was sanctioned not safe enough for the audience, so thus they faced off in a No-Rope Exploding Barbwire & Exploding Corners Death Match, which Matsunaga received the loss.

On August 1995, Matsunaga faced his former friend, W*ING Kanemura, in a Scramble Barbwire Baseball Bat & Barbwire Boards Deathmatch which Matsunaga came out the victor of. On September 1995, Matsunaga faced Mr.Pogo in a rematch from their Fire Deathmatch in W*ING several years ago... however this time they had torches around the ring inside of the gas burners. Matsunaga would beat Pogo after hitting a bulldog onto his gi bottoms which Pogo had set on fire. He would later leave FMW to enter Big Japan Pro Wrestling.

[edit] BJW Years

In Yokohama on August 16, 1996, Big Japan would sanction the infamous Piranha Deathmatch where Matsunaga would end up getting a chunk torn out of his stomach after being dumped in the tank by Kendo Nagasaki. After the match he argued with his then friend, Shoji Nakamaki, which would result in them requesting a match against each other. On September 30, 1996, Matsunaga and Shoji Nakamaki would face off in the match they requested on the day that Matsunaga lost against Nagasaki. It was another first ever in Big Japan, the No-Rope Barbwire Scramble Bunkhouse Electrified Light Bulb Deathmatch. Matsunaga won after a bulldog into a barbwire board filled with broken shards of glass from the light bulbs he'd taken off their screws. After the match Nakamaki would pled to the Great Kojika, the owner of Big Japan, for a rematch. On November 17, 1996, Matsunaga would partake in a shoot-fight against Dan Severn where he would end up losing after tapping out from an armlock. At the Korakuen Hall on November 20, 1996, Matsunaga would face Shoji Nakamaki in a rematch from their previous Deathmatch, except this one was the infamous Scorpion & Cactus Desert Deathmatch where Matsunaga would get dumped into the tank for a 10-count before being carted off to hospital after suffering from several stings by the scorpions to his midsection.

In January 1997, Matsunaga would come up with the Barbwire Circus Net Deathmatch idea... which was basically where there was a scaffold in the ring and a net made out of barbwire would be attached to the bottom rope. He faced Shoji Nakamaki and Seiji Yamakawa whilst teaming with Great Kojika to which he'd score a victory over Yamakawa in a very spotty contest. On 4/1/97 in BJW, Matsunaga faced off with former FMW and IWA Japan ace, Tarzan Goto, against Shoji Nakamaki and Seiji Yamakawa in yet another first ever 8000-volt Bug Zapper Deathmatch. Matsunaga won by pinning Yamakawa after a powerbomb into a board of bug zappers. On June 3, 1997, Matsunaga faced Seiji Yamakawa (later known as Ryuji Yamakawa) in a No-Rope Barbwire Double Hell Fire Stones Deathmatch where Matsunaga went over victorious.

On April 5, 1998 in BJW, Matsunaga, Nakamaki, Jason The Terrible and Masked GK would face off against Mr.Pogo's Shadow Army of himself, Shadow WX, Shadow W*INGER and Shadow VII in the infamous Thirteen Stipulation Deathmatch. The match had barbwire boards, a baseball bat wrapped in barbwire, cactus, beds of nails, light bulbs, scorpions, thumbtacks, a scaffold, a barbwire circus net, fire stones, dry ice and all of Pogo's weapons. The result was Matsunaga pinning Shadow W*INGER after a second- rope powerbomb onto a bed of nails with the cactus on it. On August 23, 1998 Matsunaga competed in the Big Japan Deathmatch Tournament to crowd the first ever BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Champion... he went threw Jason The Terrible in a Barbwire Bat & Barbwire Boards Deathmatch and Shadow Winger in a No-Rope Barbwire Deathmatch before being defeated by his biggest rival, Mr.Pogo, in a No-Rope Barbwire Fire, Glass & Coffin Deathmatch, which was to determine the BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Champion. In that matchup, he would set his elbowpad on fire to hit Pogo with it. But in the ending of the match, Pogo would place Matsunaga in the coffin and set it on fire. A month later, Matsunaga would defeat Pogo in a rematch to win his first title reign.

On August 2000, Matsunaga would team with Jun Kasai to face against John Zandig and Nick Gage in a Super Fire Road Deathmatch which quickly went out of control as the ring was set on fire by the invading CZW wrestlers. Zandig would end up pinning Matsunaga for the win. Surprisingly, Matsunaga appeared on a NOAH show facing Too Cold Scorpio on June 2001, which is probably his biggest mainstream appearance outside of FMW.

On June 18, 2001, Matsunaga would face against Jun Kasai in a true test of pain tolerance as they competed in the first ever Barefoot Thumbtacks Deathmatch where both men would take several feet-first spots in the thumbtacks. Matsunaga would end up the victor. On August 2001, Matsunaga would face Mad Man Pondo in a Thumbtacks Deathmatch, which was the result of a real-life friendship between the two eventually. Matsunaga even gave Pondo a pair of his trademark "W*ING" wristbands. During that month, Matsunaga faced John Zandig in a 200 Light Bulbs, Thumbtacks & Plate Glass Deathmatch where he would defeat Zandig to capture the BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship. On August 22, 2001 at the W*ING Reunion Show, Matsunaga would get his revenge on Freddy Kreuger from so many years back by hanging him on the ceiling in a carbon copy of the Lights Out Deathmatch which was named the Power Failure Darkness Deathmatch. On November 2001, Matsunaga faced John Zandig again in the first ever Tarantula Forrest Deathmatch which, in many fans' eyes, turned out to be a real disappointment as the match was declared no-contest after interference by Van Hammer and Jun Kasai. On December 4, 2001, Matsunaga would face John Zandig for the final time in a first ever for BJW... an Explosion-style Deathmatch. Their idea was to place glass sheets in the corner and rig them to explosives set outside. The match turned out into a one-sided affair as Zandig wouldn't allow Matsunaga much offense and eventually made him submit after a Camel Clutch with a light bulb to win back the BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship. Zandig would then announce that CZW would be taking the title back home and never returning.

[edit] Post-Independents and recent events

On March 2002, Matsunaga would make a surprise appearance on a Toryumon show where he would beat up Stalker Ichikawa and cut him open with a knife. At an OnitaFMW show on May 22, 2002, Matsunaga and Hido faced off in a 30,000 Thumbtack, Scorpions & Barbwire Boards Deathmatch which would end up being one of the best Deathmatches in wrestling history. Hido won by accident after Matsunaga quit after walking barefoot on a thumbtack-ridden barbwire board with Hido in an Argentine Backbreaker. In WWS on May 29, 2002, Matsunaga defeated Hido in a return match after he executed a splash off the top rope on to Hido, sending him through a thumbtack covered table. At an OnitaFMW show on July 30, 2002, Matsunaga would have a rematch against Hido in a Thumbtack Canvas, Rose Thorn Board & Barbwire Bat Deathmatch which would turn out to be a just as impressive match than their previous one. Matsunaga won by accident after Hido attempted a W*ING-style Sleeper but Matsunaga fell backwards and pinned Hido's shoulders to the mat. In WEW in August of 2002, Hido defeated Matsunaga in a brief 8 minute brawl at a house show. Matsunaga decided to join Hayabusa's WMF, briefly feuding with Mammoth Sasaki.

In Rainbow Promotions on January 25, 2003, Matsunaga teamed up with BADBOY Hido, Mr. Gannosuke, Kazuya Yuasa and Commando Bolshoi to defeat the team of Mr. Pogo, Shoichi Ichinomiya, Masao Orihara, GOEMON and Ofune. On May 5, 2003, Matsunaga teamed up with Jun Kasai to defeat BADBOY Hido and GOSAKU in an insane "Spidernet Barbed Wire Boards and Bed of Nails Deathmatch". Over the last few years, Matsunaga has really kept a low profile, until recently coming back as part of the Ogashawara's "Karate force's" in an angle very similair to the "Stop the shiek" angle called "Stop the Matsunaga" in the Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX promotion. As you can see, Matsunaga was an innovator of Deathmatch wrestling throughout his career and was actually the first quasi-shoot style wrestler to adopt a Deathmatch style.

[edit] Trivia

He teaches/taught Karate in his spare time.
Matsunaga is an avid arm wrestler. He is related to the infamous Matsunaga brothers who started AJW and W*ING.
Matsunaga is famous in Japan not only for his wrestling but him being the owner of his own steak house in Tokyo.