was a Japanese professional wrestler, stage actor, musician and professional wrestling promoter, better known under the ring name . He was best known for his time with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where he primarily wrestled throughout his career and was the franchise player of the company between 1995 and 2001.
Ezaki initially competed for FMW as a low-carder between 1991 and 1993 before travelling to Mexico where he developed the "Hayabusa" character and his signature wrestling style during his time with lucha libre organizations. He returned to FMW in 1995 and received a significant push as the face of the company, winning his first Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship later that year. He spent much of 1996 on the sidelines due to injury and lost the majority of his high-profile matches upon his return. He started gaining popularity and championship success in 1997 and won the Double Championship in 1998 and held the title for most of the year. He developed alter egos such as "The Darkside of Hayabusa" in 1996 and the unmasked "H" in 1999. His career ended in late 2001 after a botched moonsault left him paralysed during a match with Mammoth Sasaki.
He was a five-time world champion in FMW as he won the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship three times, Independent Heavyweight Championship one time and the WEW Heavyweight Championship one time. He also became a two time Brass Knuckles Tag Team Champion, a two time WEW World Tag Team Champion, a two time World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Champion and a two time WEW 6-Man Tag Team Champion. He also won All Japan Pro Wrestling's All Asia Tag Team Championship once.
He headlined many pay-per-view events for FMW including the company's premier show Anniversary Show a record six times, consecutively for four years between the 9th and 12th editions of the event. In his post-retirement years, Ezaki promoted the Wrestling Marvelous Future (WMF) promotion, which spun off from FMW, but the promotion was a failure and ended in 2008.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1987–1991) Trained by former All Japan Pro Wrestling star and sumo wrestler Takashi Ishikawa, Eiji Ezaki made his professional wrestling debut at an independent show on November 2, 1987, teaming with Masashi Honda against three upper classmen. He and Honda would struggle in the very small indy circuit for four years before joining Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling's dojo, headed by another former AJPW alumnus Tarzan Goto.
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (1991-2001)
Early years (1991–1993) Ezaki made his FMW debut on May 5, 1991, where he teamed up with Amigo Ultra to defeat El Pandita and Yukihide Ueno in a tag team match. As is customary for rookies to lose matches in professional wrestling, especially puroresu, Ezaki lost the majority of his matches throughout the year. Ezaki got his first win in FMW against fellow rookie Masashi Honda on June 29. The two competed in many matches including the opening match of FMW's 2nd Anniversary Show on September 23, which Ezaki won. His next major show appearance was at a FMW and World Wrestling Association co-promoted interpromotional event on May 16, 1992, where Ezaki represented FMW with Mr. Gannosuke and Ultra Taro against WWA's Los Mercenarios Americanos (Mercenario I, Mercenario II and Mercenario III) in a six-man tag team match, which Ezaki lost after being pinned by Spicolli. At September's 3rd Anniversary Show, Ezaki and Gannosuke lost to Chris Jericho and Kevin Faule. Ezaki participated in the company's 4th Anniversary Show on May 5, 1993, where he defeated Koji Nakagawa in the opening match. In September 1993, Ezaki participated in a tournament for the inaugural Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship, where he lost both matches in his block against Koji Nakagawa and Battle Ranger Z. His last match in FMW during this tenure was a win against Masato Tanaka on September 27, before Atsushi Onita sent Ezaki overseas to learn the lucha libre style in Mexico.