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Fighting Club G-EGGS was formed in March, 2000, by Yuji Nagata, who wanted to form a group of wrestlers with sporting backgrounds. Nagata's first recruit was his close friend and former amaresu star, Manabu Nakanishi, who co-held the IWGP Tag Team Title with Nagata at the time. Young lion, Masakazu Fukuda, was also recruited as an understudy and prospect, but his membership would be brief for tragic reasons. Later in March, the 27th to be precise, Nagata met the returning Yutaka Yoshie at the airport. Yoshie, with a background in judo, had been on a learning excursion to Germany's CWA promotion, and while there had studied sumo techniques. The fifth and final member of G-EGGS was former UFC fighter, Brian Johnston, who had an extensive background in many combat types. Johnston was a less frequent member than the others though, as he only wrestled part-time in New Japan prior to a stroke that would cause his untimely retirement from wrestling. Before the group really got off the ground, it would lose a member. During his match with Katsuyori Shibata on 4/14/00, Fukuda was hit by a flying elbow smash. His movement became sluggish, and he eventually collapsed on to the mat in a serious condition. He was rushed to Kessunuma General Hospital, where it was determined that he had internal bleeding of the brain. For days New Japan and it's fans prayed, with many wrestlers, including Shinya Hashimoto, travelling to the hospital to see him. On 4/19/00 at 3:28am, Masakazu Fukuda passed away, the official cause an acute hard membrane lower bloody tumor in his brain. He was 27 years of age, and was planning to announce his engagement in May. On 4/20/00, Hidekazu Tanaka wept as he announced to the fans that Fukuda had passed away, and Yoshie stood in the ring with a picture of him, while Nagata rang the bell ten times in his memory. On 4/21/00, six hundred people attended the funeral of Fukuda, which was funded by New Japan. Fukuda was laid to rest in his New Japan t-shirt, a lasting reminder of his love for wrestling. On 9/9/00, New Japan ran a tribute show for him in his home town of Kurobane. The semi final saw two of his G-EGGS friends, Nakanishi and Yoshie, wrestle each other, and in the main event, Kensuke Sasaki, Takashi Iizuka & G-EGGS leader Nagata defeated Team 2000's Masahiro Chono, Don Frye & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. G-EGGS assisted New Japan's thin roster of home team stars, opposing Team 2000 and later, Bad Ass Translate Trading. There was often dissension between Yoshie and the group, who struggled to settle, but that later settled. Nagata and Nakanishi ended their successful tag team after failing to win back the IWGP Tag Team Title from Team 2000's Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima on the 10/9/00 Tokyo Dome show. With many of the problems settled, Nakanishi and Yoshie formed a regular tag team, while Nagata formed his own with Takashi Iizuka. G-EGGS continued to team together and with fellow friends from New Japan, and although they were a select group, they never really gained individuality as a faction as they were key members of New Japan's fight against opposing factions. Yoshie suffered an abrupt singles match losing streak in mid-2001, falling to a range of opponents, including Nagata, Nakanishi and Kojima. He was also pinned when he and Nakanishi challenged Tenzan & Kojima for the IWGP Tag Team Title on 6/29/01. The losing streak, more specifically a loss when teaming with Nagata against Tenzan & Kojima on 7/16/01, was a key factor into the reason behind Nagata disbanding G-EGGS at the end of the tour. From that day, he, Nakanishi, Yoshie and Johnston would work independently, but remained close and teamed often, just not under the G-EGGS banner. Although not the most memorable group, Fighting Club G-EGGS was instrumental in New Japan's efforts to thwart attacks from Team 2000 for over one year, and also helped Nagata and Nakanishi approach the top of New Japan.
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