Ricky Fuji

Masanori Morimura (森村 方則) (born September 27, 1965) better known under his ring name Ricky Fuji (リッキー・フジ) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Action Advance Pro Wrestling, where he also runs the day-to-day operations.

Masanori Morimura started training in the NJPW Dojo in 1984, but left the dojo because he was "young and dumb".

While at the NJPW Dojo, he wanted to be a UWF fighter instead.

When he failed to join UWF, he realized he ruined his chances at beginning his career in Japan.

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.

During his time training in Calgary, he suffered a couple major injuries, including a brain hemorrhage, which he fully recovered from.

During his training, he would befriend other Japanese stars like Hiroshi Hase and his former NJPW Dojo mates Keiichi Yamada and Shinya Hashimoto.

On June 28, 1988, Morimura made his professional wrestling debut in Stampede Wrestling against Hart's son, Ross, under the name Tiger Mask (not the same as Satoru Sayama), at a show in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.

After a couple of matches, he evolved into Black Tomcat.

In August 1988, Black Tomcat was one of many wrestlers cut from Stampede, and joined the North Western Wrestling Federation and later won the promotion's Junior Heavyweight Championship, his first title, after defeating Steve Gillespie.

In March 1989, Black Tomcat left the NWWF for the Canadian Independent Wrestling Federation, ran by Les Thornton.

After losing a loser leaves town match to Kid Chaos in June 1989, he unmasked and 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 after Bruce Hart introduced him to his brother Bret, but no deal was ever finalized, as they didn't know how to bring him in.

Later that year, he would become the promotion's final Junior Heavyweight Champion, before the promotion folded by the end of 1989.

He is perhaps best known for his time with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where he wrestled between the promotion's early days in 1990 until the promotion's closure in 2002, making him the longest-tenured wrestler in the company's history.

Fuji initially joined FMW as a mid-carder, who initially teamed and feuded with the promotion's founder Atsushi Onita on several occasions.

He was a part of many groups including Team Canada and Lethal Weapon during the mid-1990s while also achieving success in the company's junior heavyweight division, winning the AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and the Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship once each.

In January 1990, Fuji returned to Japan and trained with former NJPW star Masanobu Kurisu and was offered a spot in the upstart promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling by Atsushi Onita, which he accepted.

Upon debuting for FMW in May 1990, Fuji quickly became over with the fans, particularly among female fans, due to his Shawn Michaels-inspired gimmick and promo skills.

He debuted for FMW by defeating The Shooter on May 12, 1990.

He quickly established himself as an arrogant villain and entered a rivalry with FMW owner Atsushi Onita, as Fuji and Masanobu Kurisu lost to the team of Onita and Tarzan Goto in a match, a day later on May 13, marking Fuji competing in a FMW main event, just in his second match with the company.

On June 2, Fuji competed in his first deathmatch, a stretcher street fight against Tarzan Goto, which Fuji lost.

On June 6, Fuji received his first title shot in FMW as he unsuccessfully challenged Lee Gak Soo for the AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship.

Tarzan Goto would soon enter a feud with Onita and Fuji formed an alliance with Onita's rivals Tarzan Goto and Mr. Pogo in the summer of 1990.

On July 22, Fuji participated in a thirteen-man battle royal, which took place in a ring placed in the Miyazaki Nichinan Sea.

Fuji went on to win the battle royal by last eliminating Kim Hyun Hwan.

At Summer Spectacular, Fuji was paired with Mr. Pogo and Katsuji Ueda as the trio defeated Kim Hyun Han, Lee Gak Soo and Sambo Asako in a six-man tag team match.

Fuji received another shot against Lee Gak Soo for the World Light Heavyweight Championship on August 18 but failed to win the title.

On August 20, Fuji and Pogo lost a street fight to Atsushi Onita and Sambo Asako, after which Fuji turned into a fan favorite for the first time in his career as he teamed with Onita on the following day against Pogo and Gran Mendoza in a losing effort.

In September, Fuji entered a tournament for the vacant World Light Heavyweight Championship, defeating Jang Yong Wow in the quarter-final before losing to eventual winner Katsuji Ueda in the semi-final.

On October 26, 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.

At the promotion's 1st Anniversary Show in November, Fuji teamed with Akihito Ichihara against The Shooter and Billy Mack in a losing effort.

In January 1991, Fuji teamed with Tarzan Goto to participate in a tag team tournament, in which the team qualified for the knockout stage by scoring three points in the round-robin stage.

They were eliminated from the knockout stage by losing to Atsushi Onita and Sambo Asako in the quarter-final on January 15.

He continued to team with Goto and Onita to wrestle Mr. Pogo and his allies in several matches.

On May 29, Fuji was booked to win his first title in FMW by defeating Jimmy Backlund to capture the World Light Heavyweight Championship.

He began feuding with Mark Starr after successfully defending the title against Starr in his first title defense on June 21.

On August 17, Fuji entered the Barbed Wire Deathmatch Tournament, in which he defeated Starr in the quarter-final round before losing to eventual winner Atsushi Onita via forfeit in the semi-final.

Fuji dropped the World Light Heavyweight Championship to Starr on August 24.

At the 2nd Anniversary Show in September, Fuji was paired with Sambo Asako against Big Titan and The Gladiator in a street fight, which Fuji's team lost.