Shinya Hashimoto

Infobox Wrestler
name=Shinya Hashimoto


names=Shinya Hashimoto
Shogun Hashimoto
Hashif Khan
height=183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
weight=135 kg (287 lb)
birth_date=birth date|1965|7|3|mf=y
death_date=death date and age|2005|7|11|1965|7|3
birth_place=Toki City, Gifu,
Japan
death_date=death date|2005|7|11|mf=y (aged 40)
resides=
billed=
trainer=Antonio Inoki, Stu Hart
debut=September 1 1984
retired=|

Shinya Hashimoto (Japanese name: 橋本真也 )(July 3 1965 - July 11 2005), was a Japanese professional wrestler. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the "Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling in the late 1980s and dominated the promotion in the 1990s.

He is one (the other being Keiji Mutoh) of the only wrestlers that has held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the AJPW Triple Crown Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He is often compared to All-Japan's Toshiaki Kawada, as both are widely known for their stiff kicks and violent matches.

Career

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Despite his large size, before turning to pro wrestling Hashimoto was an amateur judoka, not a sumo wrestler. Hashimoto debuted in 1984 for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he would continue to compete and soon become one of the promotion's biggest stars until 2000; Hashimoto, Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro Chono were dubbed by many in the industry as the "Three Musketeers", due to their dominance of New Japan. In September 1989, Hashimoto teamed with Masa Saito to win his first gold, the NJPW IWGP Tag-Team Titles, beating Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka. The two would hold the belts until the next year, losing in April 1990 to Masahiro Chono & Keiji Mutoh. Hashimoto briefly wrestled in the United States, most notably in 1992 when he participated in the NWA World tag team title tournament for WCW; at the 1992 Great American Bash pay per view, Hashimoto (replacing an injured Akira Nogami) and Hiroshi Hase advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament (after defeating the Fabulous Freebirds), but were defeated by Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes. In New Japan, Hashimoto had several memorable bouts with Keiji Mutoh, Masahiro Chono & Kensuke Sasaki. He also wrestled the legendary Ric Flair on several Japanese house shows in the mid-1990s. Hashimoto won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from the Great Muta in September 1993, but lost it 7 months later to Tatsumi Fujinami; a month later, he regained the gold (in May 1994). Hashimoto remained dominant in New Japan for the next year, and his reign featured a defense at the WCW/NJPW Festival of peace(平和の祭典) pay-per-view event in Pyongyang in North Korea on April 28, 1995 where he went to a 20-minute time limit draw with Scott Norton. Hashimoto lost the championship to Keiji Mutoh only a few days after celebrating the milestone.

A few months after losing the gold, Hashimoto teamed up with Junji Hirata in July 1995 to face and defeat Scott Norton & Mike Enos to win the vacated IWGP Tag Team Championship, making Hashimoto a two-time champion in both divisions. Soon, Hashimoto enjoyed another lengthy championship run, as he and Hirata remained the champions for almost another year. Hashimoto also became a double champion, as he defeated Nobuhiko Takada to regain the IWGP Heavyweight Title in April 1996. Hashimoto & Hirata would lose the tag titles in June 1996, when they fell to Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka; it allowed Hashimoto to focus solely on the singles gold, as he worked on another long run. At the end of August 1997, Hashimoto lost the title to Kensuke Sasaki. Hashimoto continued to work for NJPW for the next few years, earning another great honor by winning the G-1 Climax in 1998.

Hashimoto launched into a brutal rivalry against Judo champion Naoya Ogawa, leading to Hashimoto vowing to retire if he lost again, which happened in April 2000. Despite the vow, he returned to New Japan for the New Japan/All Japan "Do Judge!" card on October 9, where he defeated Tatsumi Fujinami by submission. He appeared at the Great Voyage 2000 event for Pro Wrestling NOAH on December 23, where he successfully defeated Takao Ōmori in a mainly one-sided match.

Mixed Martial Arts

From 1990 to 1998, Shinya Hashimoto successfully competed in various Mixed Martial Arts bouts in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he defeated the likes of Volk Han, Tony Halme, Ramzin Shibiev and Dennis Lane. Most of the bouts lasted from 3 to 14 minutes and usually ended via submission.

Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE

Even though Hashimoto was assumed to be retired, Hashimoto registered the Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE name on on November 13, 2000, and the promotion had its first show on March 2, 2001. Hashimoto also proved that his wrestling talents had not diminished, as he challenged Steve Corino for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in October 2001. The match ended in controversy, leading to the belt being held up. In December 2001, Hashimoto faced off against Corino and Gary Steele in a "Triple Threat" Match, winning the vacated NWA World Heavyweight Title. Hashimoto's NWA World Title reign would come to an end in March 2002 through duplicitous means, as a crooked referee gave a fast count, allowing Dan Severn to win away the belt. Hashimoto then went back to concentrating on Zero-One, where he was an active competitor. In October 2002, Hashimoto teamed with his old rival, Naoya Ogawa, to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag-Team Titles (which were usually defended in Zero One) from John Heidenreich & Nathan Jones. The two would defend the belts for the next few months, before falling to Matt Ghaffari & Tom Howard in December 2002. The two teams feuded on and off over the next few months, even as Hashimoto looked to another organization for a major accomplishment.

On February 23, 2003, Hashimoto defeated the Great Muta to win the AJPW Triple Crown Championship; as a result, Hashimoto became only the second man to have held the NJPW, AJPW, and NWA World Titles (as Keiji Mutoh was the first). Hashimoto added to that gold, temporarily, when he & Ogata won back the NWA Intercontinental Tag-Team Titles from Ghaffari & Howard in April 2003. However, due to Ogaya having thrown Ghaffari over the top rope at one point in the match, NWA President Richard Arpin stripped them of the belts a few days later, as throwing an opponent over the top rope is against the rules in the NWA. Hashimoto's AJPW Triple Crown would face a similar fate, as Hashimoto suffered a knee injury in August 2003 and had to vacate the belt.

Despite the build-up of several injuries, Hashimoto continued to wrestle on and off in Zero-One, including teaming with Yoshaki Fujiwara to get the NWA Intercontinental Tag-Team Titles for a third time, defeating Takao Ōmori & Shiro Koshinaka in June 2004. The two would stay the champs for the next few months, before Ōmori found a new partner in Shinjiro Ohtani to take the belts away in August 2004. Going into 2005, Hashimoto left Zero-One and placed Ohtani in charge, citing financial problems as the reason for his departure. However, many of his peers testify that once Hashimoto recovered from various injuries, he was planning on returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as making an appearance at an All Japan Pro Wrestling event on July 26th in Yoyogi National Gym #2 for a "Three Musketeers" reunion [http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2005_/articles/1121126272.php] .

Death

The Japanese wrestling world was shocked when Hashimoto suddenly died of a brain aneurysm in Tokyo, Japan, on July 11, 2005, 8 days after celebrating his 40th birthday; he was pronounced dead at approximately 10:36 a.m. while en route to the hospital. Hashimoto’s sister Masanari claimed that Hashimoto had been complaining about chest pains and thought that his heart was beating too fast a week prior to his death, but refused to contact his doctor about the conditions.

Hashimoto had a heart problem in 2004 and was put on medicine, but he had to stop taking it after having shoulder surgery. Hashimoto’s doctor claimed that high blood pressure was the most likely cause for his brain hemorrhage, and proposed that other stress over the years led to these problems, which should not have happened for someone his age. [http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2005_/articles/1121126272.php]

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves
**Spike brainbuster
**Multiple DDT variations
***Jumping
***Elevated
***Flowing
***Running
**Multiple suplex variations
***Bottom rope super
***Exploder
***German
**Overhead chop
**Running leg drop
**Spinning wheel kick
**Triangle choke

Championships and accomplishments

*All Japan Pro Wrestling
**AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*NWA Pro-Wrestling Xpress
**NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*New Japan Pro Wrestling
**IWGP Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
**IWGP Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Masa Saito (2) and Junji Hirata (1)
**G-1 Climax (1998)
**Super Grade Tag League (1992) - with Riki Chōshū
**Super Grade Tag League (1996) - with Scott Norton
*Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE
**NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Naoya Ogawa (2) Yoshiaki Fujiwara (1)
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI ranked him #45 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
*Tokyo Sports Grand Prix
**Memorial Award (2005)
*Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
**Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2000)

External links

* [http://www.puroresufan.com/roster/hashimoto.php Profile at Strong Style Spirit]
* [http://www.zerooneusa.com/ ZERO1-MAX official English Language site]
* [http://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/bios/hashimoto.html Extensive profile at Accelerator3359]