Atsushi Onita celebrated his 69th birthday by detonating ten times the usual gunpowder and not even a torrential downpour could stop it. At the FMWE event over the weekend, Onita beat The Great Sasuke by blast pinfall. It was their first Current Blast meeting since the No-Rope Barbed-Wire Death Match in September 2003. For the birthday, the rules were stripped back: roughly ten times the normal gunpowder, no countouts outside the ring and fouls permitted. Onita wasted no time. He dragged Sasuke into the crowd, smashed him around the seats and doused him with a bucket of water. Back in the ring, Sasuke hit the switch and struck him with a Current Blast bat, then worked him over with a sleeper hold and a barrage of kicks. Onita answered with a mist spray, set up the barbed-wire board and went for a Thunder Fire Powerbomb, only for Sasuke to reverse it and leave him blasting himself. Sasuke’s Senton Atomico missed and he crashed and burned. Onita then smashed a Current Blast steel chair onto his head to trigger a massive explosion and finished with a bodyslam onto the barbed-wire board. Afterwards, Onita praised his opponent. “You’re tough as nails. Thank you.” Sasuke was just as vivid. “Today, I thought I was going to die. But I’m alive!” The fans watched in rain ponchos, and Onita summed it up. “You’re crazy. But come to think of it, we’re crazy too!” The night ended with the crowd shouting “1, 2, 3, FIRE!” @onitafire123 @the_greatsasuke

Mayu Iwatani won three titles at once and used the moment to announce who she believes Marigold’s top wrestler is. The 33-year-old won the Triple Crown Match, taking the World, United National and Super Flyweight Championships. Marigold has faced harsh criticism and plenty of empty seats lately, but Iwatani thanked the crowd for turning up regardless. She also addressed the generational shift head-on. With so many young wrestlers giving their all, she admitted to worries about her stamina and physical shape, but “Mayu Iwatani is still doing just fine!” She also made time for the woman she had just beaten. She called Miku Aono back to the ring, thanked her for protecting the promotion without missing a show in three years and named her Marigold’s number one ace. Then she offered a one-on-one World Championship match. Aono, trembling with frustration, took it. “I want to stand in this ring as Marigold’s ace!” The match is set for 3 January. Backstage, Iwatani carried the weight of three belts and three trophies and described it as the heaviest and happiest moment of her career. She admitted she had spent much of her time in Marigold focused on developing young talent and building the foundation instead of becoming the top herself. That has now changed. “I can proudly say from now on that the true top of Marigold is Mayu Iwatani.” As champion, she will take on anyone, from young talent to veterans to challengers from other organisations. @MayuIwatani #pw_mg