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.

RIP Tadao Yasuda

 

Tadao Yasuda vs Tatsumi Fujinami, NJPW 8/13/1999

Great little sprint from the G1 Climax. I love how it immediately establishes the tone of the G1, everything matters. That is felt very strongly here just from the way Fujinami would move about the ring before locking up, really putting over Yasudas massive size and lumbering danger. They don’t waste a second in letting you know what they are all about, Yasuda rushing with sumo palm strikes, Fujinami always trying to grab a leg and twist it off. I love how Yasuda started pounding away whenever Fujinami tried for the dragon screw, and his own modified dragon screw ruled. Nifty finish. More pro wrestling should be like this.

Tadao Yasuda vs Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW 8/10/1999

Kensuke Sasaki in 1999, already a former IWGP champion. Tadao Yasuda, middle aged, late starter at wrestling, and rocking a sleazy mustache. But fuck all that, this match is all about Yasuda being an explosive surprise. Sasaki goes down for a Yasuda shoulderblock, proving Yasuda is indeed bigger and more massive, and then Yasuda proceeds to stomp a mudhole in him. Really dug Yasudas of the sumo palm strikes in this, even getting the better of Kensuke during a strike exchange, and of course the big one that he caught Sasaki right to the mush with. Sasaki looks really contemptful like he is pissed that this old sumo fart just gave him a beating. Even picking him up for a torture rack just to overcompensate. The crowd is all there rallying behind Yasuda for a possible upset and while it’s not anything deep it’s really fun big boy pro wrestling.

Tadao Yasuda vs Keiji Muto, NJPW 8/14/1999

More Yasuda G1 magic. Normally there is no way Yasuda stands a chance in hell against Muto, but it’s the G1, and Muto is super banged up and barely gets a thing going. This allows Yasuda to really give Muto a stomping further banging on his leg, with an enthusiastic crowd willing him all along the way. Yasudas facial expressions are so great, he’s like a man praying to god when he locks in those boston crabs, like he really wants that shit to work. Yasudas jumping elbow drop where it looks like a fridge was dropped on Mutohs leg is really great. I also love them teasing Yasuda losing in the same way he did to Fujinami earlier, and Mutoh does pull off a really really choice finish. Can’t ask for much more from a 5 minute match.

Tadao Yasuda vs Satoshi Kojima, NJPW 8/13/1999

The biggest match for Yasuda in this G1, because Kojima is about the one guy in his block that he has a chance of beating. As such the match is less about Yasuda the Underdog and more Yasuda standing tall and beating the dogshit out of Kojima with his awesome straight sumo palm thrusts, with Kojima selling in amazing fashion. Kojima had a bit more of a punk heel vibe here, snarling at the audience and trying to do damage to Yasudas limbs, which I think suits him very well. While the build of the match is not mind-blowing greatness it’s a lot of fun, serious pro wrestling enhanced by their eccentrics. Yasuda totally makes the second half of the match with his awesome selling and mannerisms, and the crowd gets behind him in a big way. Kojima slipping behind and struggling for a german suplex is a good example of why slowing down can sometimes make things a lot more epic. Kojima trying to damage Yasudas shoulder, with Yasuda trying to hang on and somehow get the win felt pretty epic, almost like a Hashimoto match. It made sense and paid off the story of the match. Loved Kojimas unique arm submission and his cluster attack at Yasudas shoulder felt like some of the best work he’s done, and Yasudas fire and trying to gut it out was just pro wrestling perfection, felt so raw and real. Yasuda brings such a fun vibe, while his Inokification was good stuff it would have been really interesting to see had he kept up what he was doing here into the 2000s.

Tadao Yasuda vs El Gigante, NJPW 5/1/1994

Not many match ups spark my interest anymore these days. But Tadao Yasuda vs El Gigante? Fuck yeah I’m watching Tadao Yasuda vs El Gigante. Yasuda is very at the beginning of his late blooming career. He has black trunks and lacks his signature mustache and looks a bit like an illegitimate son of Takashi Ishikawa and Osamu Kido. But boy he already has something to him. Enough that this massive crowd breaks out in a big ‘Yasuda’ chant to will him into taking on the Gigante, and popping big when Yasuda just goes into a sumo stance that the giant promptly mocks. Gigante looks comically huge – even next to the very large Yasuda. His build is just that of a fairytale giant. Not much happens here, but you get Yasuda sumo palm rushing Gigante to the crowds delight. Gigante takes some shoulder blocks from Yasuda – in a way that made me think he had no idea how to take shoulderblocks. Yasuda eye rakes to get on offense and goes for another sumo rush in the corner but Gigante stops him with a big boot and calls him a ‘fucking sumo’. The brain claw seals the deal. Guess they were really trying to do something with El Gigante here, but Yasudas triumph would come later.

Tadao Yasuda vs Tatsumi Fujinami, NJPW 2001/8/5

Yasuda lost miserably as an underdog just 2 years before, but now he got the Inoki power upgrade and is a dangerous shooter type, so the dynamic is completely reversed. Fujinami looks very aged but has grown out his curls to mid length just to flex on everyone with his hair genetics. Yasuda throws Fujinami and works him over with some pretty hard knees on the ground and pounding on his head with punches, but Fujinami can always hit a dragon screw and turn the tide. They even reference the finish from the 1999 match in a cool spot. Similiar affair as before but with vastly different roles and it’s cool.

Tadao Yasuda vs Kazunari Murakami, NJPW 2001/8/10

Inokiist dream match! Man these G1s just used to be packed with awesome matches. This is more about Murakami than Yasuda, though Yasuda makes for a cool elder tough guy to the rabid pitbull that is Murakami. Murakami may be the greatest ever at these evil glares and sudden violent explosions. It feels almost a bit like a Wahoo vs Johnny Valentine match. Murakami is so aggressive and unhinged that Yasuda becomes the underdog and has to try and surprise him with something, though I loved how he just threw Murakami over the guardrail.

Tadao Yasuda vs Yuji Nagata, NJPW 6/4/2001

By 2001 Inokiism was fully there, and they both have MMA gloves for this. Much like all your best Tadao Yasuda matches, this is short and sweet. It’s basically nearly full blown shootstyle. Yasuda is big and hard to takedown but tenacious Nagata manages to do it anyways. Nagata bitch slaps Yasuda in the ropes and this triggers an angry sumo rush and signature long legged stomping from Yasuda. However, the more energetic Nagata is able to suplex Yasuda on his neck and then quickly put him to pasture with a series of kicks. Impressive showing for Nagata.

Tadao Yasuda vs Manabu Nakanishi, NJPW 8/6/2001

Killer monster battle with a quick pace. Nakanishi is a total caveman here and he is mauling Yasuda with angry palm strikes and throwing him around. Yasuda can always catch someone with a punch though or choke them out. He is a bit of a weird guy to book as a submission artist but it kind of works. Early 2000s NJPW ‘anything can finish’ factor makes this really compelling and I loved the nifty details, such as the way Nakanishi would use a lariat to the leg to set up his stretch muffler, or hit a spear to Yasudas bad leg, as well as the finish.

Tadao Yasuda vs Yuji Nagata, NJPW 8/8/2001

Nagata is like a hyena here mauling a bigger lion. He’s just all over Yasuda, who is totally backed into a corner, as Nagata takes him apart with relentless takedowns, faster kicks, and trying to tear his arms out. All Yasuda can do is try and go for a choke and maybe punch Nagata in the face and hope for the best. Intense stuff that works mostly because you buy Yasuda could come back with just one submission. There are few wrestlers in wrestling history who had that kind of believability in a basic front choke or sleeper, and for Tadao Yasuda to be that guy is just incredible. Another intense little match and Nagata looked like a killer.

 

Tadao Yasuda & Shinya Hashimoto vs Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue, ZERO1 4/18/2001

 Awesome match. It's early Zero1 vs NOAH so we get heated interpromotional action filmed at glorious dutch angles. This was all action in the best way, just 4 guys constantly going at each other. The early Yasuda vs Honda match up is pretty great, just two big guys pummeling each other and trying to go for chokes, with Honda throwing the bigger man around, even hitting a sweet dead end later. Obviously Hashimoto is really great here and Inoue is great as an outmatched guy throwing everything he has at a monster in sheer desperation, these guys just did this match perfectly as Hashimoto ends up mauling Inoue into oblivion with Inoue unable to continue. Yasuda does look great in this kinda match and he does bust out the old sumo palm strike even with the gloves. It's a bit of a different side to him than the cowardly heel shooter stuff and he is quite suitable here.

2025 Wrestling Roundup Week 33

Masato Tanaka vs Hayabusa, Zero1 8/3

I did not think I would be watching a Masato Tanaka vs Hayabusa match in 2025 but here we are. And this had amazing magnitude! It's Tanakas career vs the revived Hayabusas mask. The news Hayabusa looks fantastic. Not only does he hit all the spots, but he can actually work. And this match feels competitive and not like some kind of nostalgia tour. Tanaka sidestepping the asai moonsault really accentuates this. Tanaka was pretty great here - it's insane how much the guy has in the tank. They went a fast pace with no real slow down, and the action was crisp and punctuated by Tanakas cracking elbows and Hayabusas exploding athleticism. First 15 minutes of this I thought were pretty much flawless pro wrestling, almost shockingly so. The opening chain wrestling and Hayabusas armwork were really crisp and fun. It definitely stands way up to any Tanaka/Hayabusa match from the 90s. They do no sell a bunch of big moves in the middle, but that just kind of sets up the increasing stakes in the second half. Legwork on Hayabusa was a blatant breather since it isn't really sold, but we do get Tanaka smashing table pieces on Hayabusas leg and they didn't drag it on for too long. There was also the cool moment of Hayabusas leg giving him trouble when he countered Tanakas splash so it was kinda paid off. The rest of this was quite great, mostly thanks to a few well worked transitions and a certain unpredictability factor. A lot of the fascination definitely comes from watching 52 year Masato Tanaka doing this kind of match and looking like he hasn't lost a step. It's not a flawless bout, but overall a really well structured match that was gripping from start to finish, had plenty of hard hitting and deadly bombs being thrown without getting repetitive and was just one hell of a ride. 

 Virus vs Xelhua, RoH 7/26

A match where they both hit the mat for 7 minutes and proved proved what everyone knows already, that they are among the absolute elite tier when it comes to mat technicians in all of wrestling history. So no surprise here, and that's kind of the one fault of this. You get exactly what you expect, and for that it's a really good little match albeit a slight bit exhibitiony with neither guy displaying a ton of fire since they had to fit everything into a 7 minute sandwhich. Kind of the Velocity version of an epic lucha title match and that is a really cool thing to see by itself. I did really like the mixing in of basic movements like the dropkicks, side headlock takeover or hip toss in between all the more esoteric holds. And Xelhua getting Virus to tap out felt like a big deal so that's really cool.

Seri Yamaoka & Victoria Suzuki vs Senka Akatsuki & Sora Ayame, Marigold 7/16

Heated rookie vs rookie action, or in this case swimsuits vs fancy outfits. Good solid stuff as usual but I thought the match could've used a bit more of Senka. Instead Ayame was the focus at the end and while she's quite fun she doesn't hit quite at that level yet. The brief mat scramble between Akatsuki and Seri was obviously the highlight. I love that while Seri is the 'grappler' Senka is such an animal that she can totally overwhelm her on the mat and maul her with headbutts. Her entire thing is that despite her limited experience she's a force of nature and they only thing containing her right now is her rookie status.

Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu vs Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase (Sendai Girls 7/19)

Team 200 KG are a pretty reliable joshi twin towers. They can go a fast pace, provide plenty of hard hitting, and the big vs small aspect always forces opponents to get a bit more creative than just running through their offense as usual. This was all about what Iwata and Takase would bring to the table to a reliable story, and Iwata and Takase brought plenty. Iwata seems like she's ready to fill the void that Satomura has left. She's got the cool kicks, the slicked back hair and the stoic attitude to fill the mantel. She just needs to figure out to spam her kicks a little bit less so they will mean more, but that should come with some time. All of her exchanges with Hashimoto were real highlights and hinted at a great singles match between them. Even something thats often trite like the armbar over the ropes spot looked vicious and fresh here. Takase and Yuu were playing second fiddle, but they are pretty solid and I was even surprised by Takases angry headbutting. Add some violent vader hammers from Hashimoto and you've got yourself a pretty satisfying match.

Keita Yano vs brother YASSHI, Tenryu Project 7/20 - GREAT

Godhead vs Godhead! Even knowing that YASSHI can be really sick when he wants to, and Keita being Keita, I thought this even exceeded my expectations. A cool match up on paper, that really delivers what you want. Really cool technical work here, with Yasshi busting out cool amateur wrestling takedowns and transitions and Keita tying him up repeatedly. Really enjoyed how Yasshi would escape from something like Yanos straight jacket armbar like it was a shootstyle hold and then even put on an Achilles Hold. I thought Yano may have gotten a bit predictable recently, but he was cooking here. Energetic Yasshi is really fun too, he really had the working boots on here. I kind of like that Yano keeps working a slower pace. He doesn't need to speed it up, he's kind of like a slow moving eldritch abominations that assimiliates other wrestling styles, and sooner or later will entangle his opponent in some predicament they can't escape from. It really suits his 'you pressed random on the character creator' look. The bar for slow paced technical wrestling is getting pretty high in 2025, but this holds up. Really enjoy that these two got to paint a little art on that canvas together.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup 

Keita Yano Documentation Project 

2002 MOTY Project Update #21

 

Wataru Sakata vs. Yoshihito Sasaki, Z1 12/29/2002

Great BML style match. Sakata may have been the best junior in 2002 simply because he just goes for the kill all the time. You buy a random knee or low kick from him as knocking someone out, and on the ground he‘ll just start grinding the other guys face. Sasaki was just the right mix of cautious and aggressive. Him trying to control this dangerous shooter with headlocks and swinging away wildly with open hands and pro wrestling style crowbar shots was really great. Him randomly trying to grab an argentine rack has to be one of the greatest hope spots I‘ve ever seen. And Sakata was just a killer.

Carlos Amano vs. Meiko Satomura, GAEA 11/17/2002

These two only need about 5 and a half minutes to have an excellent match. Great constant scrappiness throughout, and there was some absolutely fabulous submission and counterwork throughout. Amano looked great busting out deadlift suplexes and some murderously stiff headbutts. Satomura fired back with her trademark kicks, and because of the sprint format every nearfall was great. Utterly brilliant finish. It annoys me to no hand there‘s no lengthy singles match between these two as veterans, as the stuff they do together is always so unique and undeniably great.

Osamu Nishimura vs. Yuji Nagata, NJPW 8/8/2002

At points this may have been even better than Nishimura vs. Takayama. Nishimura is this guy who just kind of gives everyone the same challenge, and Nagata was super game to grapple it out with him and threaten him with his dangerous submissions. First 15 minutes of this or so were a pretty sublime grappling epic as it‘s so fascinating to watch Nishimura control and counter his opponent. Nagata is really decent mixing it up by throwing some strikes and shoot suplexes into the mix. The match could‘ve been Top 10 level if Nagata didn‘t decide to complete bury Nishimuras legwork. Instead they went with Nishimura surviving Nagatas high end modern offense and countering with his 80s moves, which was still quite great. Nishimura was damn near superhuman in 2002.

 

2002 MOTY List

Assorted ZERO1

 

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu, ZERO1 2/29/2004

I had no idea this match happened. I can kind of see why it was largely forgotten – these two are broken down, and they do a short match, without an overly dramatic ending, at a time when most tape nerds where hungering for NOAHesque epics. But fuck, the match between these two was still happening. The first 6 or 7 minutes of this is guys stubbornly trying to crack eachother, really trading brutal kicks and chops where the other looks like he really doesn‘t want to get kicked and chopped. There‘s not even a back bump but it‘s really compelling. Hashimotos shoulder selling ruled and Choshu has some nice kicks to the shoulder. Hashimoto clutching his shoulder after the Scorpion lock was a nice touch. These two are really the kings of these kind of ultra-simplistic, nasty, uncooperative strikes exchanges. Eventually, after the opening established that both guys are broken down and hurting, Choshu gets Hashimoto up for a superplex. And Hashimoto takes that superplex in really brutal fashion, really barely getting over, landing on his shoulders. It feels like a big spot, and then Choshu hits another, even crazier superplex where he nearly spikes Hashimoto. Really probably the most „Damn he killed him“ a superplex has ever felt in a match. Eventually it gets to the usual Choshu stubbornly trying to take Hashimotos head off with lariats while Hash refuses to go down. Choshu sold the finish in a weird way, which is probably the reason this doesn‘t get talked about match. But damn I was amazed by these two guys just cracking each other.

7 vs. 4 Elimination Match: Shinya Hashimoto & Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinsuke Z Yamagasa & Kohei Sato & Hirotaka Yokoi & Osamu Namiguchi vs. Riki Choshu & Tomohiro Ishii & Takashi Uwano & Ichiro Yaguchi, Z1 12/14/2003

Extremely fun elimination match which was just a wild spectacle. Everyone jumping in and getting eliminated real fast, seconds get involved, all building to the epic Hashimoto vs. Choshu faceoff. Every single exchanges was on the money, you had the black trunks guys throwing beautiful suplexes and dropkicks, Yokoi punching people in the face, Takaiwa crowbarring people, etc. Ishii got to look tough as he does. Last Hashimoto/Choshu showdown was short but super intense, both guys just wasting each other with brutal punches and kicks. That low kick Hashimoto threw to take out Choshu has to be among those great subtle things that end up looking awesome that Hashimoto just has a thing for.

Fugofugo Yumeji & Takao Ohmori vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Mitsuhide Hirasawa, Z1 2/17/2008

About the rawest 90 seconds in pro wrestling you will ever see. It‘s Z1 vs. NJPW, Nakanishi and Hirasawa rush their opponents to start. We get Yumeji trying to stand up to Nakanishi who‘s just a big old tank. Fugo tries to scramble his brains with those crazy jumping headbutts he does and Nakanishi punches him in the throat then just turns his lights out with one of the crazier lariats I‘ve ever seen. Harrowing.

2002 MOTY Project Update #12

 Kohei Sato & Ryouji Sai vs. Hirotaka Yokoi & Wataru Sakata (ZERO1 5/23/2002)

Stiff, uncooperative shootstyle pro wrestling. Apparently this was Yokois first match ever and he looked good right from the get go. Whenever Sato & Sai got too uppity he would start throwing punches. I also loved how he kept blocking Sais irish whip attempts and, once he had Sai prone, ran the ropes himself and blasted him with a huge dropkick. Sakata is at his best when he acts like a dick and there was plenty of that here. I also liked how he acted like he was a class above all these greenhorns. There were some brutal saves in this match aswell. Sai took a big beating, getting bloodied by a Sakata spin kick and punched in the face by Yokoi. Sato & Sai were effective underdogs here, never getting in too much offense, and when they got something it would hit with a thud.

Wataru Sakata vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (ZERO1 5/3/2002)

Sakata had the vibe of someone who was just getting the hang of how to pro wrestle here, but after a somewhat tentative opening this turned into a shockingly good match. Takaiwa has been efficient against shooters and this was no exception. Sakata had it all over Takaiwa here, basically making him his punching bag, working submission counters and throwing him around with massive suplexes. Takaiwas only chance was to crowbar Sakata into oblivion. Muscling Sakata into the Death Valley Bomb may have been Takaiwas finest moment ever here. We get lots of brutal lariats (obviously), but Takaiwa really earns his salt eating one nasty kick from Sakata after another, getting double stomped and almost submitted a couple times. Awesome jaw breaking finish.

 

Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Katsumi Usuda (ZERO1 5/3/2002)

BattlARTS vs. ZERO1 feud continues. And this was a real good match! I mean, that shouldn't come as a surprise, but I was expecting something fishy to happen here. But nope, they get to do their thing for 15+ minutes. Plenty of hate, stiff shots and neat moments, of course. There was lots of back and forth, altough nothing egregious. I guess this was the Z1 guys giving a shot at working a BattlARTS style rhythm. No shootstyle matwork besides a few counters, but lots of nice snug work. Tanaka was pretty efficient working with the BattlARTS dudes and Ohtani kept the crowd into it with his charisma.  

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Nathan Jones (ZERO1 1/6/2002)

VAST ENERGY. This match was a total freakshow, but had far too many great moments not to love it. After working a lithany of martial artists in the 90s and being the king of the Tokyo Dome, Hashimoto has retired to his own remote island to live out his vision of what pro wrestling is supposed to be – some weird combination of Memphis and RINGS. Broken down 2000s Hashimoto is still a seriously great pro wrestler, and him destroying this freak of nature here was damn impressive. Jones really laid into Hashimoto who sold the beating huge. This also included Jones working an iron claw that Hashimoto sold like his skull was about to get crushed, Hashimoto and Jones working 70s Mighty Inoue/Andre spots, bearhug etc. Jones was a mixture of wooden and awkward and impressively athletic, he had this huge elbow drop, flies over the top rope, impressive leaping clothesline etc. And Hashimoto really lays into him too, hitting every part of the body with a thud, trying to find the weak spot. Hash chopping the shoulder while Jones was trying to hit lariats was pretty awesome, other great moments include: Jones powering out of Hashimotos armhold attempts, Hashimoto chopping away at the throat as well as his body shot combo, Hashimoto coming up with a bloody lip, a borderline exhausted Hashimoto locking in a basic leglock that ends up inescapable for Jones etc.

 Naoya Ogawa vs. Shinjiro Ohtani (ZERO1 3/2/2002)

Big awesome spectacle. Ohtani rushes Ogawa kicking him in the face, and Kazunari Murakami is ringside causing trouble. Ogawa has his haters, but to me his greatness is undeniable as he is pretty much the best possible japanese Goldberg. When hits the first judo throw on Ohtani he just drills him into the mat, and when he follows up kicking Ohtani he looks like a killing machine. He looks like he will destroy a guy in 2 minutes, but his selling is such that it always looks like the other guy can believably make a comeback. I also love how he took a german suplex with his big lanky frame. Ohtani of course rules punching Ogawa in the balls and selling the beatdown huge especially the last STO where he was just laid out as if he had his neck broken.

Wataru Sakata vs. Kohei Sato (ZERO1 6/27/2002)

Okay now, seems like Sakata was really getting it at this point. Sato has looked solid all year doing shootstyle matwork, but he wasn't really capable of creating great moments on his own. Here there were a number of great, well timed moments, most of them involving Sakata almost KO'ing Sato. Every movement counted here. Most importantly, Sakata looked like he was ready to snap this pasty nerd in half.

 

2002 MOTY PROJECT MASTER LIST

2002 MOTY List Update #11

 Osamu Nishimura vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NJPW 8/10/2002)

I may be in the complete minority here, but I thought this wasn't as good a Nishimura/Rutten in some aspects, particularily because Takayama came across as holding back. This was still some pretty great character driven pro wrestling with a technical edge. Takayama doing those bridge up spots is wonderous. I wish he had sold the legwork a little more. Nishimuras throwback spots for massive reactions ruled as usual. Nishimura can actually set up a move or hit a pin combo that decides the match, so he never comes across as exhibitiony. Liked Takayama just kicking him like a dog, but this is largely the Nishimura show aside from the novelty of Takayama doing technical wrestling.

Osamu Nishimura vs. Takashi Iizuka (NJPW/MUGA 10/6/2002)

  Iizuka returns to wrestling. And he gets to fight Nishimura in a long technical battle! Is this the longest singles match Iizuka has ever been in? Does anyone even remember any significantly long Iizuka singles matches?? As far as lesser known 2002 Nishimura singles matches go, I'd say this was better than Nishimura/Shiga. Iizuka was much less luggage than Shiga, instead he was actively trying to crack the stoic grappler, while Nishimura seemed to have an answer to everything. Iizuka finally found what he was looking for when he got Nish in one of his sambo leg locks. An awesome battle of leg entanglements ensued that left both guys struggling to get up. Couple brilliant nearfalls down the stretch that I bit on. Nishimura was the man in 2002 and Iizuka more than held up.

 

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Shinjiro Ohtani (ZERO1 4/27/2002)

YO! This match is two sided. First of all, they level some epic beatings on eachother here. No doubt about it. Ohtani goes at Ishikawa like he just caught him with his daughter. Just punishing him with kicks, slaps, bloodying him, some nasty as hell face grinding, and he slaps the ring boys too for good measure. Ishikawa makes one or two epic comebacks, including one where he just punches Ohtani square in the face and another where he hits one of his stiffest enzuigiris ever and then tries to break Otanis arm in several places. So you feel like you are watching an epic fight, but then the match seemed to be lacking in well thought out transitions or some kind of twist and also it's all over in less than 9 minutes. For that there is plenty of asskicking going on here, but other than that – I guess I just expect deeper material from Ishikawa who is a master of the neat touch even in a short wild brawl. Then again this was largely the Otani show. But – if you want to tune out and watch two surely elderly japanese men throw the kitchen sink, this is your stuff.

 Masayuki Naruse vs. Takehiro Murahama (NJPW 8/29/2002)

  Naruse has to be in the running for most under utilized Japanese worker ever (you know, excluding guys who only worked Z-indies and only made tape a few times in 10 years). He didn't have a problem at all hitting the mat and trading nasty strikes for 20 minutes. This was some cool modern shootstyle action. There was a big size difference, but Murahama more than held his own with some lightning quick strikes. There was some slick U-Style matwork as well as plenty of manly kicks and suplexes. I thought the match was hurt a bit by NJPW being undecided whether it wanted to be a shootstyle or pro style company at this time and there were some slightly melodramatic touches towards the end.

 

2002 MOTY MASTER LIST

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

2002 MOTY List Update #7

 Wataru Sakata vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa (ZERO1 12/15)

Brutally stiff fight that blows away pretty much all current (2021) pro wrestling. The opening segment alone where they unload in the corner was just disgusting. The submissions here won't make you forget U-Style, but they did everything with a certain intensity, and you'll be too busy wincing at these two lunatics trying to hit eachother as hard as humanly possible to notice. They did a good job telling the story of the match, which was that Hoshikawa was slowly falling apart as he kept getting destroyed by his super vicious, more precise opponent. I liked how both guys used limb selling to put over the punishment, it makes sense that wyou would pick up injuries after getting kicked a dozen times, even without your opponent specifically targetting a bodypart. Sakata was just a bastard here, Hoshikawa is someone you buy as being really tough, but anytime Hoshikawa started to build momentum Sakata would punch him in the liver or knee him in the face. All the big strikes, including Hoshikawas massive enzuigiris were really well timed. I'm not gonna pretend the match was flawless or some kind of classic as Hoshikawa does a pretty lame no sell and at times the match is just going a long but for this kind of brutal fight it was fairly great. It starts out pretty nasty and you wonder how can they keep this going and have some kind of arc building up, but they pull it off and the last strike that left the loser drooling blood from his mouth really feels like an exclamation point. 

Koji Kanemoto vs. Makoto Hashi (NJPW 8/29/2002)

 
Awesome WAR-like beginning with Kanemoto trying to demolish Hashi with a barrage of strikes only for Hashi to leap in with a headbutt and trying to pulverize his jaw elbows on the ground. After that, proceeded to try and put the boot down hard on Hashi, who came across as the most tenacious, hard hitting underdog on the planet. Kanemoto was accordingly great in his role of veteran who was flustered by his heavy handed opponent. When reversing a basic suplex, Kanemoto immediately went for the kill by dropping Hashi on his head. He then proceeded to unleash some disgusting strikes in the corner. Apron bump had a sick moment with Kanemoto hitting the back of his head on the way down and was a good way for Hashi to get in some offense. Before the match could turn into a mindless 2.9999 fest, they got back on track with some more nasty strikes and Hashi desperately fighting his way out of Kanemotos leglocks. Loved Hashis limping headbutts. This feels like a NJPW junior MOTDC, although I'm not super eager to rewatch a ton of those matches.

Super Dragon vs. Bobby Quance (GSCW 12/14/2002)

It's crazy to think these two had pretty much perfected the US Indy style so early in the game. This was like a distillate of their 2002 work, and while it wasn't as smartly worked as their epic match in November, it has all the cool matwork, stiffness and crazy bombdropping you can ask for. Super Dragon came across as this menacing asskicker during the opening exchanges, punishing Quance with double stomps when he attempted basic moves and kicking him hard while applying leglocks. He also hit this awesome past the turnbuckle dive. Quance is able to hold his own, countering the usual armbars and hitting a stiff dropkick. After Dragon rams into the turnbuckle (taking his signature bump where he basically suicide dives into nothing) Quance hits this shooting star press to the outside nuking both Dragon and Excalibur which is a pretty insane spot for 2002. After that that it's basically them trading big nearfalls while still maintaining a sense of competitiveness and working a few reversals/cutoffs. While there are lot of big moves it wasn't just a series of trading back and forth. Dragon once again looked great mixing up his stuff and I loved him cranking back at a basic facelock between all the powerbombs and suplexes. They also laced into eachother with hard strikes at one point. Epic finish which feels like a perfect example of how to use a crazy complicated death move like that.

Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe (RoH 10/5/2002)

  Two of indy wrestlings greatest asskickers level epic beatings to eachother. Virtually every blow in this match landed with a major thud. The match lacked in transitions, but the sheer assbeating will keep you watching till the end. Ki looked amazing as not only was making minced meat of his bigger, menacing opponent with rapid fire Kawada kicks and flying kicks to the face but also locking in crazy armbars. Joe countering the Dragon Sleeper into his Island Driver was inspired. Pretty great finish.

 2002 MOTY PROJECT MASTER LIST

2002 MOTY List Update #5

 Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH 9/7/2002)

IT SAYS GHC CHAMP ON OGAWA'S SHORTS!!! This is about the quintessential Ogawa match, as swamp monster Takayama is coming after him and Rat Boy has to weasel his way out of this without getting murdered. Ogawa is so great in the opening, throwing punches and eye pokes like a ratty, sleazy heel mini Jerry Lawler. Takayama puts a fulls sized ass beating on his undersized ass and about 5 minutes in the match, it seems like Ogawa is done already. Ogawa makes great use of the TREE OF WOE~! does a mighty great control segment on Takayama. My favourite thing about Ogawa here was that everything he was able to do was capitalizing on something else, he was never merely running through his offense. Takayama gets in a SINGLE BLOW which is enough to almost put Ogawa on the shelf and we get a brief but awesome finishing run built around Takayama throwing bombs and Ogawa throwing Rat Boy'isms. Ogawa's bumping was great here as he was just flying around for Takayama and Takayama himself did a great job putting over the champ as a champ.

Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NJPW 8/29/2002)

NOAH vs. NJPW! Everyone acts like a heel! Liger is a disdainful prick! Kikuchi gives a top level performance! Tanaka and Kanemaru actually add to the match! I dunno, this was very enjoyable. Liger pummels the hell out of the NOAH guys and acts like a bastard, while Kikuchi is equally fired up and takes some murderous bumps and hits. The most amazing thing about the match is probably that it works while Minoru Tanaka and Kanemaru are in it. Those guy tend to be lousy, but they are effective here. Don't be fooled Kanemaru is still Kanemaru and has no presence whatsoever, while Tanaka falls into get-this-shit in territory at times, but Kanemaru hits his moves well and Tanaka heels it up nicely, so their stuff comes across as less dull than usual. The heel moves and chippiness aswell as some really fun, borderline Monterrey-like sequences keep it entertaining the whole way and they end the thing at the right time. I dunno if all that is merriting of all-time classic status but it's one of the better 2 vs. 2 junior tags I've seen in japanese wrestling that's for sure.

Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Kazushi Miyamoto & Taiyo Kea (AJPW 4/27/2002)

These WAR revival in AJPW Tenryu performance are always a highlight when it comes to 2000s puro. No dumb shit, just a lot of fire and disdain at play. Miyamoto wants to stand up to his much tubbier, bigger opponents and as a result gets his nose busted and kicked in the face a bunch. Bully Tenryu is always great, but Miyamoto looked seriously good here aswell. His selling was pretty nuanced – I mean he was probably legit taking a lot of pain, but he even made glancing individual blows look really hurty. His comebacks looked good, and he was able to pull off a parkour spot that actually looked cool. Kea is someone who just never reaches greatness, but he was energetic and always there to put a thudding kick on Tenryu when it counted. Tenryus facial expressions and selling were out of this world as usual, anytime he took a blow that knocked him off balance he would look like a teacher in a high school comedy that just got pie faced. Tenryu casually strolling over to teach Kea a lesson while Araya and Miyamoto were fighting is why he's special. I found it almost comical how cooled down Araya was compared to everyone else here like this was just another tuesday. He looked good raking Miyamotos bloody nose a bunch and taking a massive bump on a german suplex for a fat aging guy.
  

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. 

 

2002 MOTY MASTER LIST