Ricky Fuji
Jado and Gedo left WAR, which was declining, and headed to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, one of Japan's top independent promotions. Gedo, with Jado and Kodo Fuyuki, won the FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, defeating the Headhunters and Hisakatsu Oya on March 21, 1997. It was also in 1997 that Gedo toured North America, appearing at the 1997 WCW Halloween Havoc show wrestling Chris Jericho, and winning the CRMW North American Mid-Heavyweight Championship defeating Ricky Fuji on August 31, 1997. During the Halloween Havoc show, Mike Tenay called Gedo the Dusty Rhodes of Japan. He further said that Gedo was a fan of 1970s U.S. Southern style brawling.