[1996-09-23-NJPW-G1 Climax] Shinya Hashimoto vs Shiro Koshinaka

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This is where the genius of this set really becomes apparent to me. I'd seen a fair amount of both guys before, but don't know that I'd ever really followed either guy closely. I've seen them both against some of the same opponents that I'm familiar enough that when Koshinaka signals to the crowd, I know what he's about to do. Sometimes, you can also tell when certain Hashimoto spots are being set up as well. I like that a lot. Yet another upset, as Koshinaka goes over Hashimoto pretty strongly, taking most of the match and pinning him as unquestionably as possible in the end. I really like that if Hashimoto is doing a job, he wants the other guy to look like he deserved the win. That's a consistent theme throughout this set.

[Zenjo]

A rather strange match. It had the vibe of a main eventer vs midcarder workout, even though Kosh was higher ranked than that. Hash was setting him up for the kill and Shiro-oh was going to presumably have a couple of token near falls before falling. Instead he hits two jumping hip attacks which Hash sells like death. I'm not buying the bumbutt as a KO move. Total fluke victory. I think it's pretty awesome that two fans can watch this and have polar opposite interpretations of what happened.

[PeteF3]

Loved Hash daring Koshinaka to take a shot at his seemingly-healed knee. They had a very interesting way of setting up the finish, as Hash takes the butt-butt and falls backward into the ropes and sells like he's knocked out. In fact he does it so convincingly that Koshinaka falls down and starts selling a knee injury--either Hash was legitimately knocked loopy or they crafted this to flagrantly make it look like he was shoot injured and Kosh was buying time. Not sure which is correct or if I'm just reading too much into things. Hard match to rate as it seemed like an extension of the G-1--part of a larger story--rather than a match in its own right. It was another gasp-out-loud finish, though.

[soup23]

Hash is my man and Koshinaka sucks a lot in my opinion so I was bummed to see the result. Having said that, i thought Hash did a good job of making Kosh look strong when he needed to in this match and emphasizing the importance of the final victory. I have to commend Hash again for making the butt-butt look menacing. ***1/4

[tim]

Good, maybe very good, not great match. Koshinaka sure comes out looking strong. His dodging Hashimoto's kicks towards the end was cool and it's really something for Hashimoto to lose to an ass in the face.