| Ricky Fuji | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Ricky Fuji[1][2] |
| Billed height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1][2] |
| Billed weight | 95 kg (210 lb)[1] |
| Born | September 27, 1965 [1][2][3] Chiba, Japan[1][2] |
| 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] is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Ricky Fuji (リッキー フジ).
Contents |
Morimura started training in the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo in 1984.[3] He then left Japan in January 1987 for a training expedition in Canada, where he was trained in the Dungeon by Stu Hart and his right-hand man, Mr. Hito.
On June 28, 1988, Morimura made his professional wrestling debut in Stampede Wrestling against Hart's son, Ross.[1][3] In September 1988, Morimura left Stampede for the North Western Wrestling Federation and later won the promotion's Junior Heavyweight Championship, his first title, after defeating Steve Gillespie.
In March 1989, Morimura left the NWWF for the Canadian Independent Wrestling Federation. It was in the CIWF, where he started wrestling under the ring name Ricky Fuji and adopted a rock star gimmick. During his time in the CIWF, he was scouted by the World Wrestling Federation, but no deal was ever finalized, as they didn't know how to bring him in.[4] Later that year, he would become the promotion's final Junior Heavyweight Champion. In January 1990, Fuji returned to Japan and was offered a spot in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling by Atsushi Onita, which he accepted.[3]
Upon debuting for FMW in May 1990, Fuji became over with the fans, particularly among female fans, due to his gimmick and promo skills.[3] In October 1990, Fuji participated in Japan's first intergender tag team match, teaming with Megumi Kudo in a loss to Tarzan Goto and his wife Despina Montagas. In May 1991, he won the AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship from Jimmy Backlund, which he held for several months before losing it to Mark Starr in August. In 1993, he formed the stable Team Canada with The Gladiator, Big Titan, and Dr. Luther, which feuded with Onita, Tarzan Goto, and Mr. Gannosuke, among others, until disbanding in 1994.
In April 1994, he took part in the Super J Cup tournament, where he defeated Negro Casas in the first round, but lost to Jushin Liger in the quarterfinals. On December 20, 1994, he defeated The Great Sasuke to win his only Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship, which he held for a couple of months before losing it to Hideki Hosaka on February 6, 1995.[5]
Soon after the title loss, Fuji formed a new faction called Lethal Weapon with Tarzan Goto and Hisakatsu Oya, although Goto would soon after leave FMW in April 1995. Fuji and Oya would later recruit The Gladiator, Mr. Pogo, and Horace Boulder into Lethal Weapon. Fuji then began teaming with Oya as The Love Guns, Lethal Weapon's resident tag team. With Oya, Fuji would go on to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship on May 5, 1995.[5] They lost the title four months later to Daisuke Ikeda and Yoshiaki Fujiwara on September 5.[5]
Following Lethal Weapon's disbandment in September 1996, Fuji aligned himself with Hayabusa, helping in his feuds with Mr. Gannosuke and Kodo Fuyuki. He also began competing in singles and six-man tag team matches, eventually winning the WEW 6-Man Tag Team Championship twice between November 1999 and May 2001, one reign of which came about after reuniting with Oya.
In April 2000, Fuji participated in his second Super J Cup tournament. After defeating Sasuke The Great in the first round, he lost to Gran Hamada in the quarterfinals. He was also one of the few that helped Hayabusa when he suffered a career-ending neck injury in October 2001. He remained with FMW until its closure in February 2002, making him the longest tenured wrestler in the promotion's history.
Since FMW's closing, Fuji has been wrestling as a freelancer for various Japanese independent promotions, including Wrestling Marvelous Future, Apache Pro-Wrestling, and FREEDOMS.[3][6][7][8]
On September 17, 2011, Fuji teamed with Bambi and Yuji Hino to win the Chiba Six Man Tag Team Championship after defeating Little Galaxy (Hiro Tonai, Shiori Asahi and Yuki Sato).[8] The championship is Fuji's first since May 2001. On October 2, Fuji, Bambi and Hino were successful in their first title defense after defeating Daigoro Kashiwa, Marines Mask II and Tigers Mask.[8]