[2000-12-31-Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye] Shinya Hashimoto vs Gary Goodridge

[Edwin]

I'm sure I dug this more than most people will. I thought this was a masterful performance from Hashimoto. Him chopping the bigger Goodridge down with leg kicks, his selling of Goodridge's somewhat held back punches, his selling/facial expressions during Goodridge's rolling kneebar and him finally getting frustrated with Goodridge's clean breaks and blasting him with a headbutt and then landing the grounded headbutts, etc. was pretty awesome. I thought Goodridge did pretty good for having such limited experience in pro-wrestling. Him getting the full mount was pretty neat and got a pretty neat pop from the crowd.

[GSR]

Gary Goodridge is dressed like a Roman Gladiator and accompanied by a muscular woman who seems to be having the time of her life, flexing her guns at the fans as they make their entrance.  ‘Big Daddy’ is also coming out to the entrance theme (Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’) of the late Andy Hug who passed away earlier in the year.  A cautious start with both men throwing out tentative strikes as they look to try and find their range.  After the referee gets between them to separate a clinch, Goodridge has had enough and tees off on Hashimoto with a mixture of punches to the head and body.  Those have really rocked Hash who rolls out the ring to the floor in order to buy himself a little more recovery time.  When he returns to the ring he throws some kicks to the knee which fell ‘Big Daddy’.  That’s pissed Goodridge off and when the official tries to separate them again there’s no clean break this time, as he cheap shots Hash who’s backed up against the ropes.  Judo throw by Hash, but Goodridge is able to reverse position, get the mount and unload with a flurry of punches.  The ref pulls him off, potentially saving Hashimoto, telling ‘Big Daddy’ to open the hands.  Leg trip and Hash with the leg lock forcing Goodridge to grab the bottom rope.  Nice rolling kneebar into an ankle lock and this time it’s Hashimoto who goes to the ropes.  Bodyslam and more ground and pound, although surprisingly no interference from the official this time.  Hash bucks his way out and a bit of G&P of his own before switching to side control.  It’s definitely an MMA smart crowd as they react big to the attempted ‘Americana’ even though Hash doesn’t really get anywhere close to locking it on.  A headbutt drops ‘Big Daddy’ and Hash is on him immediately, repeatedly headbutting his floored opponent while Goodridge’s valet is now up on the apron complaining about the illegality of them.  The official struggles to get Hash to stop, eventually doing so, but the damage has been done and a single legged crab forces Goodridge, whose valet is still not happy about those headbutts, to tap.

It must be difficult for the MMA fighters to throw a convincing looking worked punch when 99% of the time they’re used to trying to knock the block off whoever it is they’re facing.  ‘Big Daddy’ clearly struggles in that aspect!  I didn’t think much of Goodridge here, but Hashimoto was tremendous with his facials and selling, while there were noticeable gasps from the audience whenever a submission was attempted showing that they understood what they were watching.  No idea who Goodridge’ valet was, but she showed some plenty of personality on the entrance walk and then at the finish complaining about Hashimoto’s headbutts.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Shinya Hashimoto vs Gary Goodrige - Inoki Bom Ba Ye 12/31/00

Interesting note Hashimoto is announced representing Zero-One already even though they have not had their first show yet. I knew Hashimoto was fired by Inoki after Do Judge in October but I guess the rift was not that bad as Hashimoto goes over here. Goodridge is a world champion arm wrestler turned MMA fighter fighting in both UFC and Pride, he lost to Naoya Ogawa in Pride. Great look, zero charisma dry as fuck. His girlfriend/wife is a stone cold fox.

Pretty blasé MMA Fighter vs Pro Wrestler match. Goodridge threw great missed punches. But his landed punches were painfully pulled. Good bodyslam takedown and heel hook. Hashimoto worked the leg with some kicks and used the ref to get a takedown. Nothing super interesting. No real hook or narrative to sink your teeth into. Hashimoto headbutts out of the corner and repeatedly headbutts him on the ground. Single leg crab ends Goodridge’s night. Skippable.