Atsushi Onita
Atsushi Onita (大仁田 厚, Ōnita Atsushi, born October 25, 1957) is a Japanese actor, politician, and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and is credited with introducing the deathmatch style of professional wrestling to Japan. He is a former All Asia Tag Team Champions alongside Yoshitatsu.
| Atsushi Onita | |
|---|---|
Onita in August 2023 | |
| Born | October 25, 1957 Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Japan |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Atsushi Onita Mr. Onita The Great Nita |
| Billed height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Billed weight | 99 kg (218 lb) |
| Trained by | Masio Koma Giant Baba Dick Beyer Terry Funk |
| Debut | April 14, 1974 |
| Part of a series on |
| Professional wrestling |
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Onita founded FMW in 1989, defeating martial artist Masashi Aoyagi under his own martial arts rules in the main event of the second night of the promotion's inaugural event. FMW later emerged as a full-fledged touring organization, moving away from martial arts-inspired shoot style matches and moving toward the rasslin'-inspired deathmatch style – which became popular with Japanese fans. He was the promotion's top star, wrestling in main event matches at sold-out events, making FMW a financially successful company, particularly for a Japanese independent promotion. Onita sold FMW to Shoichi Arai and retired from wrestling in 1995 to pursue an acting career, which was unsuccessful, forcing him to return as a wrestler in 1996. After returning to FMW, he led stables ZEN and Team Zero but departed the company in 1998 after disagreements over his position in the company.
He held the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship a record seven times and headlined the first six editions of FMW's premier Anniversary Show event from 1989 to 1995.