To answer the rumors of Zero-One's (JAPAN) existence, Steve Corino posted the following, on the new Zero-One website which is available at http://www.zerooneusa.com/message.html
The message reads as follows:

To all Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE fans worldwide,
Over the last few days there have been many stories about the status and future of Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE. With the offical opening of www.ZEROONEUSA.com coming today we thought that we would set the record straight about what is going on. These are the facts that have been emailed to me from Yoshiyuki Nakamura and if there are any changes or devolpments we will update the site.

1. The Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE Fighting Athletes Company is dead. That is true. Shinya Hashimoto, the President of the ZERO-ONE Company, has decided to stop operations officially as of November 30, 2004. Hashimoto, who was the founder and owner of ZERO-ONE since the start of the company in 2001, told the press that due to financial problems he has decided to step away from the company. Reports have him returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling after his surgery and we wish him the best of luck in his future.

2. Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE the brand name is no where near dead. Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE will continue without any delays, stoppage or cancellations. The new parent company name is First On Stage. The brand name will not be changed. All of the fighters and staff agree that the Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE name was made up of the fighters and staff that dedicated their lives to this company and there was no reason to change the name because of Mr. Hashimoto's departure.

3. The "Fighting Athletes" name that was attached to the ZERO-ONE brand name will not be retained though.

4. First On Stage now own all the assets of Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE.

5. Shinjiro Otani and Yoshiyuki Nakamura are now the official matchmakers for Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE. Steve Corino will remain the Gaijin Agent and ZERO-ONE will continue their working agreements with both the AWA, WORLD-1 (which ZERO-ONE owns) and UPW.

6. All wrestlers contracts will be honored and even re-written for 2005.1

We hope that this solves any confusion or misinformation that we have been on the Internet over the past few days. Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE is very much alive and everyone from the fighters, the staff, and the fans of Japan are looking forward to this new chapter of ZERO-ONE.

If anyone has any questions please feel free to email us at info@zerooneusa.com or you can post on our Message Board at www.ZEROONEUSA.com.

3-2-1- ZERO-ONE!!
Thank you,
Steven Corino
Gaijin Agent, Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE
corino@zerooneusa.com

Steve Corino also posted the following message on his official website, which can be accessed by going to http://www.stevecorino.com

Now I am sure a lot of fans want to know about what the heck is going on in Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE right now and if you go over to www.ZEROONEUSA.com there is an official explanation of all the happenings. If I was better at the computer I probably could have copy and pasted what we are posting but I suck.

To say it has been a stressful few months with what has been happening in ZERO-ONE would be an understatement Luckily for the wrestlers and staff we had all been kept up to date with everything that had been going on and I personally am more than happy that everything is going to work out. After watching ECW slowly close four years ago the last thing I wanted to do was watch ZERO-ONE close.

I actually saw on the ROH Message Board that someone mentioned the “Steve Corino Jinx”. As in whenever I get a big role in a company that company goes down. To that person “SHHHHHH!”, they haven’t figured out I am a company killer yet so stop mentioning it!! Haha.

This is obviously big news for all puroresu fans, as well for American indy fans, as alot of indy wrestlers from the northeast area have worked for Zero-One. Among the names who have worked for Zero-One are Low Ki, Homicide, Da Hit Squad, The Christopher Street Connection, Steve Corino and many others. I also found it personally, funny, that Steve Corino showed a sense of humor when mentioning that whenever he has a big role in a company, that the company goes down. Just look at NWA NJ, ECW, MLW, World 1, PWF, and now Zero-One as examples. While I wouldn't blame Steve Corino for whatever reasons a promotion closed, it is ironic.

The DOI will post updates on this story as it becomes available.

For more news on Zero-One, check out their website at http://www.zerooneusa.com/index.html
For more on Corino, check out http://www.stevecorino.com

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com