[2003-07-06-ZERO-ONE] Shinya Hashimoto & Naoya Ogawa vs Toshiaki Kawada & Keiji Mutoh

[fxnj]

A big match at Budokan that I've somehow heard next to no pimping and only found out about when it showed up in my recommended videos this morning. Really strange as it's a great match. It's a perfect example of a match that has absolutely no wasted motion from Hashimoto hobbling to the ring up to him (I think) challenging Kawada to a singles match in the post-match promo. The crowd is molten from the beginning and all four guys do an amazing job of keeping them there throughout, making every strike thrown and tag made feel like a huge deal. There's nothing that could be seen as "down time" or "time killing" yet the match still has a great sense of progression through selling and has a beautiful finishing stretch that plays off of the strike exchanges and leg work earlier in the match. Just two masters of the trade in Hashimoto and Kawada at their top of their trade with a motivated Mutoh and Ogawa to keep things moving. ****

[GOTNW]

I got the feeling this match was at least somewhat famous. I remember being somewhat disappointed with it but it also having my favourite counter in pro wrestling history (Hashimoto cutting off Kawada's Jumping High Kick have to also mention-I pop big whenever english commentary says "gamengiri" which is just japanese for face kick).