GOTNW

Of course, ditto the Steve Corino match. My favourite thing about it is how in the beginning there were are a few instances where Hashimoto looked kind of lost (or maybe the indy guys were just really shitty at setting up stuff?) which made sense considering he'd probably never worked a four way but then he just started wrecking fools and by the end of the match when he's trading blows with Corino it feels like the greatest thing you'll ever see.

Random Hash: Shinya Hashimoto vs Masahiro Chono-NJPW 20.3.1987. Perhaps the best young lion match I've ever seen, really fascinating to see how much more limited (or maybe just less skilled) today's youngsters are and even in the couple of instances where things could've been done better like the sleeper set up and the double underhook suplex counter you could see that the ideas behind them were very good and that it's something that would develop over time (I didn't think there was anything wrong with those spots, just that they could've gotten more out of them). The matwork as neat, only way you'd see something as sophisticated as this in today's New Japan is if it's a Sakuraba match. Hashimoto looked great and displayed a lot of great offense which even included a Bridging Fallaway Slam. It was cool to see them just start slapping the shit out of each other instead of engaging in endless battles of throwing weak forearms and Hashimoto's kicks already looked killer. Shinya Hashimoto, Keiji Mutoh & Masahiro Chono vs Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka-NJPW 29.7.1988. You would want a 6 man tag like this one to be a chaotic brawl and that's exactly what we get. One of the highlights of it was Hashimoto breaking up a pin, I've gotten used to the weak stomps that barely connect as a means of breaking up a pin but here Hashimoto doesn't just stomp Koshinaka he stomps THROUGH him. One of the best moments of the match was when Fujinami's teamw as beating on Hashimoto on the outside and he had this amazing facial expression whis was reminiscent of a villain on the verge of defeat who had not yet given up, as if he was saying they were gonna pay for it later. Throwing great punches isn't the first thing I think of when I think of Fujinami but damn he was rocking people left and right here, his exchanges with Hashimoto were out of this world great. Shinya Hashimoto vs Tatsumi Fujinami-NJPW 4.4.1994. Amazing match, I understand why some would be unimpressed with the opening stuff here but I always enjoy the battle over the lock ups and the simplest holds. Fujinami was probably too old for them to try something similar to the Hase matches at this point. Then the beatdown starts. Hashimoto's control segments are probably my favourite thing in wrestling, I laughed the first time he kicked Fujinami in the head but then just kind of became mesmerized by the level of violence displayed. It was kind of surreal how well done the finish was for what they were going to, it had me jump up and lose my shit and accomplishing that is a sign of great pro wrestling. Great post-match too with Fujinami selling the beatdown like he'd just come back from war. Shinya Hashimoto vs Tatsumi Fujinami-NJPW 1.5.1994. This one was worked more evenly but still came back to Hash brutalizing Fujinami which is what I'm all about. A lot of the time matches are drawn out for no reason, it was nice to see them follow an amazing control segment with a big move and just end it there, and with the shorter length and the manner in which their previous match was structured leave no room for a rematch. Shinya Hashimoto vs Kensuke Sasaki-4.1.1995. Very well structured and built heavyweight battle with plenty of struggle and smart teases of big moves. Hashimoto's transitions were really great, there was a sequence where Kensuke started chopping him and advancing forward and Hashimoto just cut him off with a Kesagiri and it looked like he'd beheaded him and another one where Kensuke went to Lariat him and he just punched him in the arm. The aforementioned punch started the armwork which didn't last long, there was not enough of it for it to make Kensuke's normal use of his strikes and throws intolerable but just enough of it so they could call back to it when he went for his wacky Strangle Holds. Could've done without the pop-up after the DDT but the context it was done in made it more bearable. Exciting finish with some swell nearfalls. Shinya Hashimoto vs Hiromichi Fuyuki-NJPW 23.3.1993. This is where Fuyuki shoot kicks Hashimoto and breaks his nose. Hashimoto would retaliate by going after his wife and also by hitting him really hard in this match. There's a certain charm to this match that modern japanese wrestling unfortunately doesn't really attempt to recreate. Everything feels so clean nowadays and the grittiness and lumpiness have been neglected. The feeling out process isn't just headlocks and shoulder blocks, the escalation doesn't come right after the first strike exchange, Fuyuki backs away from Hash and goes out of the ring to buy time...those things have value too, but alas replicating just the stiffness is much easier.

Yumiko Hotta http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/30493-manami-toyota-yumiko-hotta-vs-aja-kong-kyoko-inoue-ajw-050396/?hl=%2Byumiko+%2Bhotta http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/30232-yumiko-hotta-suzuka-minami-vs-manami-toyota-toshiyo-yamada-ajw-101792/?hl=%2Byumiko+%2Bhotta http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/30220-bull-nakano-yumiko-hotta-suzuka-minami-vs-akira-hokuto-etsuko-mita-mima-shimoda-ajw-japan-grand-prix-083092/?hl=%2Byumiko+%2Bhotta

Yeah Okada has more than enough years as a pimped worked to be voted for in case someone is insanely high on his work.

HASHIMOTO IN MEMPHIS I stumbled upon a GIF of Hashimoto in Memphis on a certain site and creatively youtube'd "hashimoto memphis" only to find a bunch of videos of full memphis shows, many of which included, in my opinion, the greatest wrestler to ever walk this earth. It's not Christmas anymore over here but it might as well be. Let the binge watching begin! PY Chu Hi, Shogun (Hashimoto)/Samurai (with Tojo Yamamoto) vs. David Johnson/Mike Masters/Scott Smith-CWA 14.1.1989. PY Chu Hi, whoever the fuck that is, greets Lance Russel and introduces us to JAPAN'S GREATEST WARRIORS, Shinya Hashimoto and friend. It is as amusingly racist as you'd expect it to be-they are named Shogun and Samurai and have a manager who carries the imperial japanese flag. I have no idea any of their opponents are. The most intruiging thing here for me was how Hashimoto was going to work but before he even got into the ring I was impressed by PY Chu Hi. Here's a big, fat dude who knows how to throw a punch and will throw people around. Sounds like my kind of wrestling. Anyway Hashimoto tags in and he does not kick Memphis jobbers as hard as he does Riki Choshu and Hase but still kicks them a lot harder than the bullies who took their lunch money. A complete squash which is alright in my book. PY Chu Hi is Phil Hickerson apparently. I am now a fan of the Phil Hickerson. PY Chu Hi/Shogun (Hashimoto)/Samurai vs. Tracy Smothers/Jeff Jarrett/Scott Steiner (aka Big Poppa Pump)-CWA 21.1.1989. Whoa boy I sure am looking forward to Hashimoto being there just to make Jeff Jarrett look good. Ok match but it had more shtick than substance, interesting to see Hashimoto work basically a Kaientai in WWF match, lots of choking and stooging. We get a commercial break and they don't show the finish despite Lance Russel's promise they would. I'll live despite not seeing Jeff Jarrett get thrown over the top rope. PY Chu Hi (aka Phil Hickerson)vs. Wild Eyed Southern Boy Tracy Smothers-CWA 28.1.1989. It's a part of Hashimoto's storyline so I'm obligated to watch it. The Oriental Team is at ringside. Solid match, mostly Hickerson doing Throat Thrusts which I am more than fine with. Smothers threw good punches but his kicks were dogshit. Hashimoto's input was limited to Kesagiri Chopping Smothers' leg. Shogun (Hashimoto)/Samurai vs. Chris Frazier/Rodney Napper-CWA 28.1.1989. Top notch fanservice as Hashimoto beats the shit out of jobbers whle Phil Hickerson cuts a promo mid match and the Oriental's Team wacky manager occassionally interferes by smacking the shit out of jobbers with a kendo stick. "Samurai" is ok but I am happy whenever he tags out. Post-match the beatdown continues and all is right with the world. Hashimoto WORKS THE CAMERA while exiting. This ruled. PY Chi Hi/Samurai/Shogun (with Tojo) vs. Rodney Napper/Mike Masters/Chris Frazier-CWA 4.2.1989. Man this was fucking amazing, you had Hickerson viciously slapping a skinny kid, Hashimoto obliterating everyone with kicks and Samurai was cool too. I really love Hickerson's Belly To Belly Suplex, it looks like he's picking up a feather and not a grown man. Dutch Mandell was on commentary and very entertaining. PY Chu Hi (aka Phil Hickerson) vs. Primetime Brian Lee-CWA 11.2.1989. Brian Lee looks like Johnny Ace. Hickerson gives him some shine before they do the big transition which is Hickerson countering a headlock by pulling Lee's hair and then Toji Yamamoto (the manager) smacking him with a kendo stick of which I approve of. Wacky and entertaining bout. Hashimoto was in a 18 Man Battle Royal on the same show and I do not feel like watching an 18 Man Battle Royal right now. PY Chu Hi (aka Phil Hickerson) with Tojo vs. Dreamweaver aka Del Wilkes-CWA 18.2.1989. Unintentionally hilarious as Hickerson does possibly the greatest referee distraction ever, another fat guy interferes and Dreamweaver ends up choking out the manager. They show footage of the Battle Royal and it looks amazing so I'm gonna go back and watch it. 18 Man Battle Royal (Beauty, Beast, Bill Dundee, Keith Eric, Chris Frazier, Robert Fuller, Knighthawk, Frankie Lancaster, Brian Lee, Mike Masters, Jim McPherson, PY Chu Hi, Alan Reynolds, Tracy Smothers, Samurai, Scott Steiner, Shogun, Adrian Street)-CWA 11.2.1989. Hashimoto has a hand fan so this is alrady at least four stars. I generally don't like battle royals as there's too much going on and none of it ends up being particularly good, at least until there's less people. Tojo Yamamoto hits someone with a kendo stick to set up an elimination which is great. He also hits Jeff Jarrett with one and Jarrett chases him. That means Jarrett isn't actually in the ring wrestling so that is also great. The Orinetal Taeam pin a random guy and jump on each other's back so he can't kick out and I think I'll be able to tolerate Memphis battle royals. Haha shit Yamamoto hit a guy that was already eliminated with a kendo stick for the hell of it. Some cool stuff happened inbetween but eventually it's down to a few men and Hashimoto and Samurai start rocking people with strikes and kicks, they pay off a spot they'd built up and have a clever and interesting finish. Tracy Smothers throws shitty kicks and has an outfit I do not condone so I am glad the post-match was a vicious beatdown on him. Hashimoto breaks a table with his head and all is right in the world. Shogun (Hashimoto)/Samurai vs. Jungle Jim McPherson/Alan Reynolds-CWA 18.2.1989. Jungle Jim is an athletic black guy, the ACH of 1989 CWA. He dominates the match early on with flippy stuff and then tags in the white guy whom Hashimoto and Samurai beat the shit out of. They even have a new tag team finisher after their previous one backfired last week! Really good stuff. Shogun (Hashimoto)/Samurai vs. Jungle Jim McPherson/Chris Frazier-CWA 25.2.1989. Watching Hashimoto beat on random white boys is my new favourite thing in life. Who is Chris Frazier? I don't know, I don't care but I'll watch Hash maul him any day of the week. Hashimoto playing to the crowd after the USA chants was incredible. Shogun (Hashimoto)/Samurai (with Tojo) vs. David Johnson/Chris Frazier-CWA 4.3.1989. Hashimoto smiles as the bell rings as if he knows he is going to smack on some american boys real good today. My favourite thing about these matches is how little the jobbers get in, I don't think they did a single move in this match and all their strikes were laughed off. Hashimoto was clearly great by this point. Prime Time Brian Lee/Jungle Jim McPherson/Jed Grundy vs. PY Chu Hi (Phil Hickerson)/Shogun (Hashimoto)/Samurai (with Tojo Yamamoto)-CWA 11.3.1989. Mediocre match, the japanese warriors have been killing everyone for weeks. Only a true fat american hero like Jed Grundy could stop them. That was the opening and it was amusing but then they moved over to the workovers which were pretty dull. Hashimoto's legwork looked way better than the american boys doing wristlocks and arm wingers as you'd expect. Hashimoto took a nice bump off a Dropkick. Good finish. Oriental Team has a promo on the March 25th promo. Hashimoto's promo: "I jumped Tracy Smothers. Shogun and Samurai will be champions. Do you understand that? Idiots!" Then they do the banzai chant for no reason. Amazing. Shogun & Samurai vs Mason Dixon Connection-CWA 1.4.1989. Good match, very interesting to see Hashimoto work like a much more expressive character, particularly enjoyed his exchanges with Smothers. Nota fan of the faces doing the Andre double headbutt spot and the finish but eh, what can you do? This seems to have concluded Hashimoto's Memphis storyline. PY Chu Hi/Shogun (Hashimoto) vs. Chris Frazier/Alan Reynolds-27.5.1989. Inexplicable Hashimoto one-off. Fun squash, about what I'd learned to expect though Hash did surprisingly bust out a great snap belly to belly.

Yeah this is really undermining the greatness of this underrated gem. The opening matwork lasted about two minutes and then Hase took Hashimoto down and they started progressing with the match. Hase's greatest weapon is his amateur background so taking Hashimoto down and wearing down his leg to neutralize Hashimoto's greatest weapon (kicks) is a sound strategy. Hashimoto may not posess Hase's technique but he is no slouch on the mat himself and can power out of Hase's holds. And interestingly, Hashimoto's offencive choices on the mat also include various leglocks to neutralize Hase's takedowns and limbworks. There is clearly double legwork going on-I trusted my memory because it's one of the matches I best remember but it's also pretty clear going back and FFing through it as you see them both acknowledging it in their selling. Then you get an all time great Hase FIP section too but you liked that so w/e. Crowd really put over the importance and significance of the upset as well.

I'd completely disagree regarding his accessibility, it's been thrown around here and I would say it was definitely the case with me that Satanico took a while to click and I'm still not sold on him as a top 3/5 luchador.

I'll repeat my point-Kobashi was a terrible promo but he had amazing body language. Worked out just fine.

I'm not counting in promos because that would make my list even more of a clusterfuck (and wouldn't change that much since I just don't like most american wrestling that much) but if I did I wouldn't look into words as much as I would the ability to communicate through body language. I speak almost no spanish but Satanico cutting a promo on Sangre Chicana after the title match that recently popped up is probably my favourite promo ever. He didn't say anything profound in it, "I'm a real wrestler, he's just a beast" is such a basic pro wrestling statement but the extend to which he made it work is unreal. Negro Casas yelling at Rush not to get too cocky just because he's young was amazing as well.

They didn't have much choice, their female roster is incredibly thin.

What heritage? Antonio isn't his real name. There's a decent amount of japanese immigrants in Brazil but I don't see why his association with them would have any effect.

I've seen plenty of people criticise it (I know I didn't like it at all) and haven't seen anyone talk about it as a *perfect* match.

Wot.

Would you say Yamamoto is as good as Ono and Usuda? I've kind of neglected him but I've loved him in the few matches I've seen of his.

From what we have of Fujinami 1977-1979 he looks like a BITW contender and light years ahead of Jumbo.

I intended to post something similar myself, Austin's 2001 run was awesome and I liked him in WCW but I think 1998-1999 is too big of a hurdle, that's the style and era he's synonymous with and I hate it. Only way I'd consider including someone based mostly on one great year would be if they were great at shoot style and I won't rank someone like Ken Shamrock.

I couldn't care less about Trish but you're gonna rank folks that have only a couple of matches on tape and not HAN?

If you need a thesaurus it's not a good promo.

I find classification much easier this way.

Self-explanatory, thought it'd be interesting to compare how many wrestlers we'd rank from a certain region, I'm splitting it Japan-Mexico-Europe-US&friends. Currently jap folks make up a little over half of my list, I have between 15-20 lucha guys and the rest is mostly US with some safe EU picks like Finlay, Han and Breaks thrown in there.

Shigeo Miyato http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/32649-nobuhiko-takada-vs-shigeo-miyato-uwf-5121989/ http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/32646-nobuhiko-takada-vs-shigeo-miyato-uwf-7241989/ http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/32645-akira-maeda-vs-shigeo-miyato-uwf-1011989/

This is weird yet awesome, basically japanese wrestling in a nutshell, it's an exhibition match for some reason so it has a ten minute time limit and a fall doesn't end the match, it's mostly Takada kicking the shit out of Miyato, Miyato is really perfect as a guy who will sell vulnerability and struggle to win but also throw everything at someone higher than him in the pecking order, there was some neat grappling mixed in but this was mostly Takada kicking the shit out of Miyato and I will watch Takada kick the shit out of someone any time, especially when a guy can sell as great as Miyato, any time Takada would connect with a bigger combo I'd get flashbacks to Rambo being electrocuted. Haha shit. I screwed the date up. But the match is in the correct subforum, it's from 1988. If a mod sees it please edit the thread title since I can't.

What is the quintessential Solar outside of that one Blue Panther match?

Any chance you could make the "Instructions on setting up a PWO account" thread more visible? Maybe make another subforum only guests could see and have it be the only thread in there? Or just change the thread type into an "announcement" if that's even possible on whatever forum type PWO is using.

I would usually watch something like this, go "fucking amazing" and leave my match analysis at that but I can't really do that here. Miyato attacks Takada from the beginning, he doesn't exactly rush him at the bell like you'd see at the all time classic Funaki/Nakano match from the same show but he's the one initiating attacks. It's easy to imagine Miyato was pissed a pretty boy with a baseball background was pushed so hard based on his height and how well a magazine with his nudes would sell (yes they are a real thing. I come across a lot of weird stuff on the interwebs). The problem Miyato has here is that, whatever he does, he's fucked. He can't really win. The size difference isn't such that he couldn't realistically put Takada in peril but if he tries to battle him in stand-up he'll get his head kicked off and if he tries to take him down Takada will just power out of it. I'm really glad they followed the narrative I though up in my head, only Takada shoot kicked Miyato in the head as soon as he got out of his takedown and from then onwards this one picked up the pace. Don't think there'd be much use of me doing a play by play of everything that happened and explaining why it ruled, I will note that Miyato's selling further impressed me, he understood his role very well and made it very easy for the crowd to get behind him.