Like Sabu, Hayabusa initially made his reputation in notorious Japanese garbage wrestling promotion Frontier Martial Arts Wresting (FMW). He was a lot like Sabu, actually, with his baggy pants, battle-scarred body and penchant for doing things most wrestlers wouldn't ever dream of. Unlike Sabu, however, Hayabusa never stepped foot inside a WWE ring. Which is a damn shame, because The Phoenix would have been a hell of an acquisition for WWE's half-hearted Light Heavyweight Title scene in the late 90s. Not only that, but he would have fit right in with the company's hardcore division, too. One of the major reasons why Hayabusa never made the jump to WWE is probably due to his loyalty to FMW, as he was one of the top stars in the company. Business was hot back then, too, with FMW regularly putting on shows before packed houses. Hayabusa did wrestle one match for a major North American promotion, though, in ECW (who had a working relationship with FMW at the time). Teaming up with Jinsei 'Hakushi' Shinzaki he took on Rob Van Dam and Sabu at the incredible Heatwave 1998 pay-per-view. Although he never appeared for WWE, he did have a lot of friends in the promotion (including Van Dam, Sabu and Rey Mysterio), whom he visited with backstage at SummerSlam 2006. Hayabusa recently passed away, at the age of 47.
