Shinya Hashimoto in ZERO1

   

Shinya Hashimoto vs Hirotaka Yokoi, Z1 6/5/2003

This was pretty freaking awesome. It’s Hashimoto vs an aggressive hard hitting shooter in a Korakuen Hall main event, so that shouldn’t come as a huge surprise… still, this a gem. Opening establishes the story of the match nicely as Yokoi came at Hashimoto with a barrage of wild punches but get knocked back by a karate chop. Hashimoto was a total killer here, basically every single thing he did was awesome. Cutting through Yokoi with extremely well timed strikes, trying to break his leg with punches, catching him with a Fujiwaraish leg hook… really had the feel of a wily veteran putting a faster younger fighter through the wringer using experience. So Hashimoto is not just a monster, he is an intelligent monster. Even basic things like a kneedrop looked insanely violent. Yokoi was swinging his fists fast and hard at Hash but kept getting caught by Hashimotos counter kicks and occasionally a shoot heabdutt to the face. At the same time, it seemed Yokoi could beat Hashimoto anytime if he just punched him hard enough or locked in a submission. As such the whole match was intense. Another chapter in the book of Why Shinya Hashimoto is the Greatest Wrestler of All Time.

Shinya Hashimoto & Kohei Sato vs Katsuhiko Ogasawara & Akio Kobayashi, Z1 3/27/2003

Fuck yeah Pro Wrestling vs Karate! Ogasawara breaks a baseball bat with a spin kick before the match to establish dominance. This is really the dream match of every 8 year old kid who loves pro wrestling and karate (now you can guess what I was like at 8). Just 4 men leveling gritty beatdowns on each other for 13 minutes with hardly a breather. The first Hashimoto vs Ogasawara exchange is so awesome as you really get the feeling that Ogasawara was pushing Hashimoto to break out faster and more agile strikes than he usually does. It’s rare Hashimoto faces someone who matches him when it comes to killer strikes but fuck Ogasawara was destroying people here. He looked insanely precise and killer here just stabbing through people with his axe kicks and piercing gut punches. And Hashimoto would always time his strikes and put people down with a big swing. Kobayashi feels very sleazy with his oily hair and colour mismatched taped hands. You look at him and you immediately want to see Hashimoto stomping his guts out and and that’s pretty much what happens. Kohei Sato is kind of the red headed step child here – he’s outmatched against the striking expert. When Hashimoto tags him in, Sato would gleefully take the chance to lay some hard kicks into an exposed Ogasawara. Later we see him going for a running move only to crotch himself in the ropes like a goof ball. One big Ogasawara punch to the gut sent Kohei crawling to the floor clutching himself like he just got his intestines rearranged. Though to his credit Sato fights hard dropping karatekas with some hard suplexes that looked like they had minimal cooperation. It all builds to Ogasawara taking a huge beatdown as Hashimoto just decides to punch him in the face until he starts bleeding. That is actually what happens – Hashimoto nails his signature double stomp, landing on Ogasawara like a fat cartoon dog would land on Tom from Tom & Jerry, then taking a look at Ogasawara and deciding he wants this old man to bleed, and a couple measured knuckle punches to Ogasawaras face later he is indeed covered in blood. The finish is Sato putting the pressure on a seemingly dead Ogasawara only to get knocked out by a lucky hit like the goofball that he is and then crawling all over the referee in confusion. It’s a sudden ending but it makes sense given the build, Ogasawara can just KO anyone with one precise blow. I would’ve hoped this would set up some kind of epic Hashimoto/Ogasawara bloodfeud but instead they only tagged together for the rest of the year because japanese wrestling is like that. I wrote a lot of words about this one but to sum it up they hit each other with lots of really hard punches and kicks and it was great.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Shinjiro Otani, Z1 12/24/2003

I don’t think I’ve seen this match before, and it’s not something that’s brought up much, which is a bit odd because it’s two of the greatest Japanese wrestlers stiffing the daylights out of each other in a big match. Undoubtedly the action here was simplistic, but rather great. These guys really know how to get the most out of everything. During the opening grappling, which was classic New Japan style, simple but believable, they really made basic things like going for an armbar feel meaningful and putting some grit and struggle into it. Of course, Hashimoto is this really towering presence and everyone is thinking if Otani can somehow overcome the king. Everybody knows Otani will probably not tap out to a kimura from Hashimoto 3 minutes into the match but just the way Hashimoto would really crank would let everyone know that he was putting Otani in trouble. Otani knows this so he goes and slaps the shit out of Hashimoto. They stiff the hell out of each other, spirited Otani gets the advantage, he facewashes Hashimoto, and to top it off puts a kimura on Hashimoto for some nice mirroring. Hashimoto would in turn increase the viciousness again, kicking Otani all over the ring, until Otani is the one crumbled in the corner. Otani stopping Hashimotos beastly onslaught with a messy headbutt to the shoulder is so great because it’s simple, believable and Hashimotos selling immediately lets you know that he’s in trouble. Not just because he’s in pain and screaming, but also because he stops using the arm and instead opts for his spinning legsweep in a great spot. This is why Hashimotos just the fucking best, whole match was done in a fairly simple fashion but just oozing with aura and everything meaning something. I could see some people being unhappy with the finish but I thought it was just fine since I am tired of 2.9 ending runs anyways. In a way that would have gone against the story they were telling. Tall that and they absolutely stiffed the daylights out of each other, goodness gracious.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Alexander Otsuka, Z1 7/13/2001

This was kinda like the pro wrestling version of those PRIDE fights with an insane size mismatch. We don’t really think of Otsuka as ‘small’ because usually he works like he’s such a beast, but he does look quite small next to Hashimoto here. This is close to a squash but it’s memorable. Basically Otsuka tries to get something in on Hashimoto and just gets mauled. Hashimoto would shrug off Otsukas early attempts at takedowns and then proceed to try and pulverize him with vicious kicks. Just destroying his shoulders and arms with bone breaking kicks and karate chops. Otsuka looks really tough not backing down against the beast and he gets a few cool hope spots but is quickly destroyed. Highlight was clearly Hashimotos gritty crowbar shoulderblock that blew Otsuka away, and the finishing submission which looked like a killing. Still you want it to be a bit more epic considering it’s Hashimoto vs Alexander freaking Otsuka but sometimes you can’t have it all.

The Call of the Underground #2: Underground Wrestling EXIT 9/12/2010

 Watch

 

 Kazuhiko Ogasawara vs. Kenji Takeshima

Pretty cool opening match due to both guys not holding back. Ogasawara has really violent punches and kicks, and Takeshima would eat them, take him down and pepper him with stiff elbows of his own. It's a super simple match formula but they make it work by waffling the hell out of each other and working some cool Lawler/Mantell exhausted exchanges from their knees. Dug how Ogasawara would kick Takeshima in the face to break out of submissions. Almost felt too epic for an opener.

Knight King Jully & Bomber Iwata vs. Johta & Nichiryu

Bomber Iwata has boxing gloves and I goes does a thaiboxing thing. Jully is another thick guy with MMA shorts. Nichiryu is lumpy and balding. This was pretty fun when Jota was in the ring as he was energetically trading beatings with the two guys on the opposite team. The parts where Nichiryu were okay but nothing memorable. Unfortunately he ended up being in for most of the match. Still decent amount of stiffness and no stupid ideas in their wrestling.

Mohan Dragon vs. Nyudo

Mohan Dragon is a foreigner with boxing gloves. Nyudo is a pudgy guy who wears a Fugofugo style singlet. I wonder if he has Fugos boy? This was 3 minutes of guys doing stand up and hitting each other. Dragon clearly had the feel of a guy who couldn't make his punches and kicks look all that good as he wasn't used to throwing them in worked matches. Nothing to see here really.

Toshiya Kurenai vs. Sanshu Tsubakichi

Apparently Kurenai is the EXIT Underground champion. He has MMA gloves and seems to be doing an aggressive striker thing. Aside from some fun moments of said aggressive striking this was also forgettable. Things got a bit more intense towards the end but mediocre old Tsubakichi, after falling out of the ring which could have heated the match up just fizzled out.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Kana

Fun discovery. This was worked extremely logical, basically a near squash with Takaiwa dominating most of the way and Kana only getting in desperation stuff. Some really good matwork, and Kana is really good at working this kind of match as she knows exactly how to pick her spots. Takaiwa was devastating her, even something like an elbow drop he did looked super violent, and her one big comeback where she teed off with kicks and a big punch was cool before she got her lights put out.

Fugofugo Yumeji & Jaguar Rogovski vs. Kikujiro Umezawa & Onryo

It‘s pretty cool to see Onryo in this environment. He gave a really good performance, blowing radiation dust at people and then really laying in kicks and elbows. Rogovski was a fun guy in a mask with MMA gloves who liked to throw hard punches and spin kicks, kind of working like a Toba and stand in. And Umezawa and Yumeji mauled each other something fierce once again. Goodness gracious. EXIT Umezawa continues to impress me, as he is really credible as a tough monster and he also had some fun Sumo vs. MMA feeling exchanges against Rogovski. But the thing that will stay in your mind is that horrifying headbutt Fugo lands on Umezawa. Fun main event all around.

The Library

2002 MOTY List Update #8

Shinya Hashimoto vs Masato Tanaka (ZERO1 3/2/2002)

Tanaka disrespects the belt, and Hashimoto makes an example of him. This is among the greatest squash matches of all time, as Hashimoto looks like an unstoppable killing machine, and Tanaka looks like the gutsiest dude on earth for surviving. Tanaka is „deathmatch tough“ so you buy him surviving all the punishing blows and maybe decking Hashimoto with a potatoe of his own. Him being unable to hold on to a sleeper simply because he took a beating to every part of his body was pretty great aswell. Still this was all about Hashimoto destroying a poor fella. He may be the best ever at utilizing a basic karate chop to look like a badass. 

Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka vs. Wataru Sakata & Hirotaka Yokoi (ZERO1 7/7/2002)

Two shooters demolish a pair of established stars. Really fun uncooperative stiff battle. Tanaka potatoeing shooters is certainly way more interesting than what he is usually doing. Really good babyface performance from him as he absorbed a nasty nasty assbeating, all his throws were really well timed. And Sakata is basically a violent killing machine in 2002. His high knee has become one of my favourite strikes in pro wrestling ever. Yokoi was pretty game as a guy with gloves pounding on dudes. Otani outgrappling Yokoi repeatedly was really fun. Also, that out of nowhere missile dropkick was just amazing and one of the best spots of the year. Yokoi being able to hang with Otani for a bit by beating him silly during the finishing during the finishing section was really cool. The finish itself has Otani rolling out the Dragon Suplex and while a Dragon Suplex is pretty much a transition move now here it felt like you were watching the poor guy get killed.

Shinya Hashimoto & Katsuhiko Ogasawara vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (ZERO1 8/2/2002)

Plenty brutal match that was characterized by Hashimoto looking great and and Ogasawara having an absolute meltdown, resulting in some gritty highly uncooperative exchanges. Ogasawara seemed too concerned with protecting himself so Takaiwa at one point just starts decking him for real. To make up for the chaos surrounding the karateka, there were some damn good exchanges between Takaiwa and Hashimoto. Hashimoto looked peak level sharp, including busting out some awesome submission counters dropping his full weight on Takaiwas shoulder, and Takaiwa looked great as a gutsy underdog trying to cut through him with lariats. There were some choice Fujiwara/Hash exchanges too altough Fujiwara went to his comedy later.

Ryouji Sai vs. Hirotaka Yokoi (ZERO1 6/27/2002)

Another fun, scrappy, hate filled bout. Both guys were spitting venom and fighting like maniacs. Sai was pretty lively here, way better than the duller Nagata I've seen him be in other matches, he was throwing fists at Yokoi and putting up a major fight. His suplexes ruled. Yokoi aside from being a glove wearing shooter who will batter opponents with punches and chokes has really fun mugging facial expressions here. I loved all the non-clean hit strikes. Best 5 minute match of the year?

 Shinjiro Ohtani & Masato Tanaka vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Katsuhiko Ogasawara (ZERO1 9/16/2002)

This was pretty much 4 guys potatoeing each other hard to great entertainment value. I am digging Ogasawara, as anytime he's in the ring guys crank up the intensity and really crowbar him across the ring. Ohtani is especially nasty in this. Ogasawara also dishes out some pretty great looking kicks here. Tanaka looked damn good here, as his exchanges with Hashimoto were reminescent of their singles match. Tanaka tried working the leg, and he is quite good at basic things like shooting in for a takedown to get a leg, and then Hashimoto would feel disrespected and just maul him. The sports entertainment moment with Tanaka turning on Otani and leaving the match was stupid and prevents this from being higher on the list, although the nasty 2 on 1 thrashing Otani ate after that was one of the more harrowing pay offs to such an angle I can remember.

 

2002 MOTY Master List

Exploring the YouTube Channel of ISAMI Part 2

 

GAJO & TB vs. ISAMI & Akira Tei(?), ?? 10/28/2018

I am pretty sure TB is Takahiro Tababa, but he is even announced as “TB”. ISAMI was rocking a karate gi and MMA gloves look. This may have been the best ISAMI has looked, as he was punching and kicking people hard. Entertaining match where everyone beats on each other hard, especially liked all the exchanges between ISAMI and TB. Akira Something is an ultra scummy looking dude who doesn’t do martial arts stuff but is able to work a no nonsense match working over GAJOs leg. I thought it was gonna build to another hot tag but instead Akira went to town with a chair and got a surprise tap via kneebar leading to a post match pull apart with a bunch of ISAMIs karate gi wearing seconds jumping into the fray. That kind of stuff is among my favourite things about Japanese wrestling and it’s good to see that at least one low level indy somewhere is still doing pull aparts with gi wearing dudes jumping on eachother.

ISAMI & Tatsuhiko Nakagawa vs. MAX Yoshida & Mitsuyoshi Nakai, ??, ?/?/??

Lord help me, there’s not even a date for this. It’s probably the best match of these so far, though. This was two guys in karate gis vs two guys in kickpads and MMA gloves, kicking and punching each other hard. Clearly Nakai and Yoshida didn’t think much of their opponents early and were taunting them. This lead to Nakagawa blowing a gasked, clocking Yoshida with a chair, bloodying him and then trying to hang him with his karate belt in a crazy ending. Really liked MAX Yoshida here, just a dickish looking dude swinging punches, he felt like he would make a decent Goro Tsurumi level Kazunari Murakami stand in. Just give me more stiff brawls with crazy endings like these.

Yuki Ishikawa & Zeronosu vs. ISAMI & Tatsuhiko Nakagawa, ?? 9/23/2018

It’s Yuki Ishikawa teaming up with a tubby masked guy against two karatekas in a small Japanese community theater hall, what a legend. This was alll about Ishikawas grappling with ISAMI and Nakagawa occasionally teeing off on him with kicks. Zeronosu wasn’t in the match much but did decent when he was in. Great moment where Ishikawa put a gi choke on ISAMI and he sold it like he was really getting strangled to death. Cool finish where Ishikawa was getting pulverized 2 on 1 by karate kicks only for him to catch another blow and lock in the Octopus Hold for the tap.

ISAMI vs. Katsuhiko Ogasawara, ?, ?/?/??

Katsuhiko Ogasawara, baby. He was pretty old in Zero1, so for him to be still going 15 years later is pretty legendary. He still has good form on all his high kicks and hits hard. This was just a short exhibition of two guys tagging eachother with punches and kicks but I liked it. Dug all the karate punch combos to the upper body especially Ogaswaras nasty sternum punch that left ISAMI gasping.