- From the FURY offices in Osaka, Kazuma Fujita finally addressed the Japanese media who have been in a crazed state since the indictment of FURY President Hiroshi Nishida on criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
The Japanese wrestling scene has been ramped with speculation since 10/06, where the charges against Nishida were officially announced. FURY was expected to comment publicly on the situation the following day, but have remained quiet since, asking both the media and the fans to have patients while officials concluded their investigation. The future of the organization was further shadowed in doubt with the company canceled its "GO NORTH!" tour through out Northern Japan. However, FURY has been adamant that the company would go ahead with its 7th anniversary celebration on 10/25 from the Namihaya Dome. Despite this however, ticket sales for the event came to a sudden halt, with many fans waiting to hear whether or not the company would carry out the event.
The following is a complete transcript of the press conference, provided by Fujio Nomura of Yahoo! Japan:
Kazuma Fujita: "Before we begin, I would like to thank both the media and the fans for allowing us to resolve this difficult situation... First, I would like to reiterate exactly what has transpired here over the course of the last month... On September 03, I was contacted by Hironobu Ito of the Tokyo Police department and informed of their investigation. I was asked by officials to cooperate, and I did so. Nishida, who was the President of FURY was informed of the charges the following day, and was effectively removed as President that day after tendering his resignation. In order to cooperate with the investigation, we were forced to cancel our October series. We did so without giving a proper reason. And for that, we deeply apologize to our loyal fans, who deserved to know the truth. But for reasons beyond our control, we were unable to give full disclosure. We have refunded all tickets for those events, and will reschedule our "GO NORTH!" tour within the coming months. However, with their investigation completed, we are now able to resume operations, and will do so with FURY's 7th anniversary event on 10/25 in Osaka. I will address this event later on.
In addition to Mr. Nishida, we were also informed that three other individuals were being investigation in regards to the charges. Tuesday night, we were informed that charges had been brought against Kenji Ishimura and Hiroki Mitsuishi, both of which handled the company's finances. However, to my shock, Minoru Miyazaki who served as the assistant head trainer for the FURY dojo has been indicted on charges. Of course, all three individuals are no longer part of the company. It's hard to find the words at the moment, as Miyazaki has been a friend of mine since I became a pro-wrestler.
I would like to publicly state that all of the individuals who were investigated and had charges brought upon them have been removed from the company, and will no longer have any affiliation with Pro-Wrestling FURY. Frankly, all of us have been personally hurt by these individuals, as we now must pay for their alleged crimes. As expected, we have lost several sponsors since the charges were publicly announced. In addiction, we lost out on a lucrative national television contract of which we were in the final stages of negotiation. In addition, the stigma created by this has also affected other organizations within BATTLE FUSION. For this, we deeply and humbly apologize to our allies, and will offer to help and aid these organizations in anyway possible.
As for where we go from here... We will put forth our best effort in an attempt to win back the faith and trust from our fans lost by this unfortunate incident. We will attempt to present the best shows and most exciting matches possible, just as we have always done... The entire roster have agreed to take a 25% reduction in salary. We will be donating these proceeds to several charities across Kansai... And while I had no involvement in these allegations, as the public face of Pro-Wrestling FURY, I will take full responsibility for the incident. While the wrestlers will take the 25% reduction in pay, I will be forfeiting 100% of my wrestler salary for the next year, and will be donating it to charity. As far as the vacancy left by Hiroshi Nishida, we are currently looking for a proper replacement as President of our company. In the mean time however, I will step up and serve as President in the interim. Our goal is to find a permanent President by the end of the year. However, just as I will forfeit my wrestler salary, I too will forfeit my administrative salary while I serve as temporary President."
After addressing several questions from the reporters, Fujita revealed the full card for the 10/25 event.
Fujita explained that the original card for the event was not going to be as big as it ended up being. But given the situation, the company put all of its resources together to present a "big match" card.
In the main event, F-MAX Unified Heavyweight Champion Otsuo Kayusa will V3 defense of his title. Fujita explained that many challengers were examined. And in the end, Kayusa's fellow Ooinaru Waza member Chikao Kessin was named the #1 contender, given his performance in recent months. Fujita explained that it was a delicate situation between the two partners, who will put aside their friendship in order to give the fans the best match possible.
Arguably however, more eyes may be on the night's semi final, as four of the most popular wrestlers in the modern era of pro-wrestling will collide in an incredible all-star "Super Dream" tag match. On one side, Kazuma Fujita will team with friend and ally "The Superstar" Jason Ramsey. Together, the two will battle two of the most controversial wrestlers in the history of pro-wrestling, "The Terrorist" Ryo Inoue, and the man who inherited Inoue's "rebel" title at earlier this decade, Keiji Takano! Fujita explained that this match was put together in hopes of restoring some of the faith lost on the fans. He thanked all three for their cooperation.
Jet Jaguar will also make his long awaited first defense of his F-MAX Jr. Heavyweight title against FURY Jr. Heavyweight pioneer Yoshihiro Shimoda. Many fans will remember that ATSUKA was originally slated to face Jaguar for the title earlier this month. Fujita stated that both Jaguar and Shimoda wanted this match. Naturally, ATSUKA protested the match, citing his right as #1 contender. This however was resolved when ATSUKA's former protege, Kotaro Ota stepped forward, and demanded to face his former mentor one-on-one on 10/25! In order to entice ATSUKA, Ota offered to put up his All Pacific Jr. Heavyweight title. After talking with officials from Nansei Nihon Pro-Wrestling, Kazuma Fujita announced that they had been given the green light on signing the match, making it official for the event!
If that wasn't enough, a fourth title match has been signed, as Akira Takayoshi and Naoyuki Watanabe will make their V2 defense of the F-MAX Tag Team titles against the #1 contenders, Jun Kobayashi and Kenichiro Hujikawa! "KobaKen" had scored several victories in August, earning their right to challenge for the titles.
Finally, the boiling rivalry between Tetsuhisa NAKAI and Norihiro Akashi will finally come to a head as the two will meet one-on-one on 10/25!
The Japanese wrestling scene has been ramped with speculation since 10/06, where the charges against Nishida were officially announced. FURY was expected to comment publicly on the situation the following day, but have remained quiet since, asking both the media and the fans to have patients while officials concluded their investigation. The future of the organization was further shadowed in doubt with the company canceled its "GO NORTH!" tour through out Northern Japan. However, FURY has been adamant that the company would go ahead with its 7th anniversary celebration on 10/25 from the Namihaya Dome. Despite this however, ticket sales for the event came to a sudden halt, with many fans waiting to hear whether or not the company would carry out the event.
The following is a complete transcript of the press conference, provided by Fujio Nomura of Yahoo! Japan:
Kazuma Fujita: "Before we begin, I would like to thank both the media and the fans for allowing us to resolve this difficult situation... First, I would like to reiterate exactly what has transpired here over the course of the last month... On September 03, I was contacted by Hironobu Ito of the Tokyo Police department and informed of their investigation. I was asked by officials to cooperate, and I did so. Nishida, who was the President of FURY was informed of the charges the following day, and was effectively removed as President that day after tendering his resignation. In order to cooperate with the investigation, we were forced to cancel our October series. We did so without giving a proper reason. And for that, we deeply apologize to our loyal fans, who deserved to know the truth. But for reasons beyond our control, we were unable to give full disclosure. We have refunded all tickets for those events, and will reschedule our "GO NORTH!" tour within the coming months. However, with their investigation completed, we are now able to resume operations, and will do so with FURY's 7th anniversary event on 10/25 in Osaka. I will address this event later on.
In addition to Mr. Nishida, we were also informed that three other individuals were being investigation in regards to the charges. Tuesday night, we were informed that charges had been brought against Kenji Ishimura and Hiroki Mitsuishi, both of which handled the company's finances. However, to my shock, Minoru Miyazaki who served as the assistant head trainer for the FURY dojo has been indicted on charges. Of course, all three individuals are no longer part of the company. It's hard to find the words at the moment, as Miyazaki has been a friend of mine since I became a pro-wrestler.
I would like to publicly state that all of the individuals who were investigated and had charges brought upon them have been removed from the company, and will no longer have any affiliation with Pro-Wrestling FURY. Frankly, all of us have been personally hurt by these individuals, as we now must pay for their alleged crimes. As expected, we have lost several sponsors since the charges were publicly announced. In addiction, we lost out on a lucrative national television contract of which we were in the final stages of negotiation. In addition, the stigma created by this has also affected other organizations within BATTLE FUSION. For this, we deeply and humbly apologize to our allies, and will offer to help and aid these organizations in anyway possible.
As for where we go from here... We will put forth our best effort in an attempt to win back the faith and trust from our fans lost by this unfortunate incident. We will attempt to present the best shows and most exciting matches possible, just as we have always done... The entire roster have agreed to take a 25% reduction in salary. We will be donating these proceeds to several charities across Kansai... And while I had no involvement in these allegations, as the public face of Pro-Wrestling FURY, I will take full responsibility for the incident. While the wrestlers will take the 25% reduction in pay, I will be forfeiting 100% of my wrestler salary for the next year, and will be donating it to charity. As far as the vacancy left by Hiroshi Nishida, we are currently looking for a proper replacement as President of our company. In the mean time however, I will step up and serve as President in the interim. Our goal is to find a permanent President by the end of the year. However, just as I will forfeit my wrestler salary, I too will forfeit my administrative salary while I serve as temporary President."
After addressing several questions from the reporters, Fujita revealed the full card for the 10/25 event.
Fujita explained that the original card for the event was not going to be as big as it ended up being. But given the situation, the company put all of its resources together to present a "big match" card.
In the main event, F-MAX Unified Heavyweight Champion Otsuo Kayusa will V3 defense of his title. Fujita explained that many challengers were examined. And in the end, Kayusa's fellow Ooinaru Waza member Chikao Kessin was named the #1 contender, given his performance in recent months. Fujita explained that it was a delicate situation between the two partners, who will put aside their friendship in order to give the fans the best match possible.
Arguably however, more eyes may be on the night's semi final, as four of the most popular wrestlers in the modern era of pro-wrestling will collide in an incredible all-star "Super Dream" tag match. On one side, Kazuma Fujita will team with friend and ally "The Superstar" Jason Ramsey. Together, the two will battle two of the most controversial wrestlers in the history of pro-wrestling, "The Terrorist" Ryo Inoue, and the man who inherited Inoue's "rebel" title at earlier this decade, Keiji Takano! Fujita explained that this match was put together in hopes of restoring some of the faith lost on the fans. He thanked all three for their cooperation.
Jet Jaguar will also make his long awaited first defense of his F-MAX Jr. Heavyweight title against FURY Jr. Heavyweight pioneer Yoshihiro Shimoda. Many fans will remember that ATSUKA was originally slated to face Jaguar for the title earlier this month. Fujita stated that both Jaguar and Shimoda wanted this match. Naturally, ATSUKA protested the match, citing his right as #1 contender. This however was resolved when ATSUKA's former protege, Kotaro Ota stepped forward, and demanded to face his former mentor one-on-one on 10/25! In order to entice ATSUKA, Ota offered to put up his All Pacific Jr. Heavyweight title. After talking with officials from Nansei Nihon Pro-Wrestling, Kazuma Fujita announced that they had been given the green light on signing the match, making it official for the event!
If that wasn't enough, a fourth title match has been signed, as Akira Takayoshi and Naoyuki Watanabe will make their V2 defense of the F-MAX Tag Team titles against the #1 contenders, Jun Kobayashi and Kenichiro Hujikawa! "KobaKen" had scored several victories in August, earning their right to challenge for the titles.
Finally, the boiling rivalry between Tetsuhisa NAKAI and Norihiro Akashi will finally come to a head as the two will meet one-on-one on 10/25!
"FURY Anniversary Special ~ FURY TURNS07!!"
October 25, 2009
Osaka - Osaka Namihaya Dome (6,800)
1. Etsuya Kawachi, Hidaka Kamon & Kazuki Sendo vs. Masafuji Yoshida, Tetsujin & Fumihiko Shirai
2. Tetsuhisa NAKAI vs. Norihiro Akashi
3. Hiroaki Nakata, Masato Osagawa, & Mamoru Sekishima vs. YAKUTA, RYUJI & Manabe Tsuji
4. All Pacific Jr. Heavyweight Title: Kotaro Ota (c) vs. ATSUKA
5. Naoki Fukuda, Go Taniguchi & Shigeru Iwasaki vs. TAKU, Daisuke Iwata & Kyoto Okazaki
6. F-MAX Tag Team Titles: Akira Takayoshi & Naoyuki Watanabe (c) vs. Jun Kobayashi & Kenichiro Hujikawa
7. F-MAX Jr. Heavyweight Title: Jet Jaguar (c) vs. Yoshihiro Shimoda
8. Super Dream Tag Match: "Mr. 300%" Kazuma Fujita & "The Superstar" Jason Ramsey [S-PRO] vs. Ryo Inoue [T.A.P.] & Keiji Takano [FREE]
9. F-MAX Unified Heavyweight Title: Otsuo Kayusa (c) vs. Chikao Kessin
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