The wrestling community was deeply saddened by the loss of Eiji Ezaki, who wrestled as Hayabusa in 2016. His untimely passing at the age of 47 left behind two daughters and a void that seemed impossible to fill. And while he had influenced a whole generation of new talents, including Will Ospreay and PAC, his legacy appeared over.
Yet it now seems that might not be the case, as Zero One General manager Megumi Kudo has announced via a press conference that a yet-to-be-named wrestler will perform as the masked character in a match against Masato Tanaka at their Lucha Fest Specials show on April 27.
“If Hayabusa was here and I consulted him, I’m sure he would want to spread the word about Hayabusa to many people rather than just keep it to himself.”
Megumi KudoFor those unfamiliar with the original Hayabusa, he was a death match wrestler in FMW who transcended the genre due to his amazing high flying and charisma. Additionally, he became a cult favorite in the United States, having wrestled for ECW on their Heat Wave show in 1998, teaming with Jinsei Shinzaki against Rob Van Dam and Sabu.
However, he tragically broke his neck in 2001 when attempting a springboard moonsault off the middle rope during a match and was paralyzed. Sadly, this not only directly affected the wrestler but also FMW, as the promotion ended up going out of business in part due to losing their biggest star, and subsequently, their owner, Shoichi Arai, took his own life in an attempt to clear his debts.
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