Into the Indies 05.31.11: A New Hope

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that is just like starting over.

Last week, we took a look at a star from the past, paying tribute to Randy Savage by reviewing one of his matches from Japan. This week, we take a look at a man who very well could be a star of the future.

Daichi Hashimoto.

Chances are good that, even if you don’t follow Japanese pro wrestling all that closely, you’ve still heard the name “Hashimoto” in conjunction with puroresu if you’ve spent any time on the internet. Shinya Hashimoto was, without a doubt, one of the biggest stars of the Japanese scene throughout the 1990’s. The man held New Japan’s prestigious IWGP Heavyweight Title on three separate occasions, including one reign which still holds the record as being the longest in history and over twice as long as most other championship runs. He won the G-1 Tournament, the Super Grade Tag League on two occasions, and, in 2010, he was inducted into NJPW’s equivalent of a Hall of Fame, an elite group of performers referred to as the “Greatest Wrestlers.”

He was so popular that, when he stepped away from New Japan to form Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE in 2001, the promotion almost instantly became a viable entity when so many other wrestling startups fell flat on their faces in a matter of months. Between main eventing ZERO-ONE and doing a run with All Japan where he captured its Triple Crown Championship, it seemed like Hashimoto was on top of the world early in this century, even though many had figured his glory days would be behind him if he lost his connection to New Japan, the company where he first made his name . . .

. . . and then, in the midst of all of his success and in the midst of being one of the most beloved wrestlers in the country, he died.

After having relatively few health problems in his career, Hashimoto passed away suddenly in 2005 as a result of an aneurysm, having just celebrated his fortieth birthday. Both fans and wrestlers alike were awestruck, and the outpouring of emotion in the wake of Hashimoto leaving this earth rivaled anything that has ever been seen in professional wrestling. It was on the scale of the deaths of Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero in the United States and may even have surpassed them given the fact that Hashimoto was a bigger star in his country than Guerrero and Hart were in theirs.

Hashimoto’s death was a huge blow to Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (now rebranded as simply ZERO1). The company lost a ton of momentum, but, on the backs of men like Shinjiro Ohtani, Masato Tanaka, and Steve Corino, it was able to survive through to present day. The fact that it survived through to present day is what brings us here to this column, as ZERO1 recently made a move which will hopefully allow it to do more than just survive. Hopefully this move will allow it to thrive.

That move was allowing Shinya Hashimoto’s son, Daichi, to make his professional wrestling debut. Daichi, currently nineteen years old, was thirteen when his father died, and the event inspired him to become a wrestler. Of course, he could not do that immediately, so he instead participated in other sports which are acceptable for youngsters, gaining a solid base in legitimate martial arts before finally beginning to train full-time in wrestling roughly eighteen months ago. His education in the pseudo-sport was overseen by two men who meant a lot to the elder Hashimoto. The first was the aforementioned Shinjiro Ohtani, another former New Japan star who founded ZERO1 alongside Shinya and competed with him as one of its big name performers beginning on the company’s first card some ten years ago. The second was Masahiro Chono. Shinya Hashimoto and Masahiro Chono, along with Keiji “The Great Muta” Mutoh were THE top players in NJPW when Hashimoto was at his best and were also great real life friends, to the point that they were referred to as the “Three Musketeers.”

It would have been easy for ZERO1 to give Daichi Hashimoto the standard puro rookie treatment, throwing him out there in the opening match of a nondescript card and having him job in six minutes to a half Boston crab. They decided to do something different, though. Knowing that Daichi’s career would inspire more interest than that of most young wrestlers, ZERO1 brass decided to pull the trigger on him in the biggest venue possible. The younger Hashimoto would be set to debut on ZERO1’s tenth anniversary show on March 6, 2011, to be held in the historic Sumo Hall in Tokyo. If that weren’t big enough, Hashimoto’s opponent would not be the usual unspectacular undercard veteran who would be paired up with a newcomer. Instead, his opponent would be none other than the legendary Chono, his father’s best friend and his mentor.

That’s not all, though. Just two weeks later, Daichi would find himself walking down the aisle at Sumo Hall again for only his second match . . . with his opponent being the third of the Three Musketeers, Keiji Mutoh. To say that this young man was getting the push of pushes would be an understatement. This would be the rough equivalent of Shawn Michaels’ teenage son debuting as a professional wrestler and having his first two matches against Ric Flair and Triple H at Madison Square Garden and the Omni, respectively.

It’s a massive honor, and perhaps the most surprising thing about it appears to be that it has WORKED. Daichi Hashimoto has gotten a significant amount of buzz, and there are some people who think that he might be able to turn the wresting business around. Having heard this hype, I had to check things out for myself. So, this week, Into the Indies takes a look at the first two matches of Daichi Hashimoto’s young career.

Masahiro Chono vs. Daichi Hashimoto (ZERO1, 3/6/2011)

There are “Hashimoto” chants from the crowd as soon as the opening bell rings, and the two competitors engage in a collar-and-elbow tie up. It’s a stalemate for a while until Chono shoves his less experienced opponent away and grabs a side headlock. Daichi shoves him off but is taken down by a shoulderblock, though he returns to his feet quickly. He manages to catch Chono in an armbar, though it is reversed into a headlock takedown. Daichi eventually slips out of the hold and a Greco-Roman knuckle lock ensues. Chono kicks his opponent in the gut a couple of times and gets the better of the test of strength, but Daichi fires back. Chono backs him into the ropes to break things up, and there is polite applause from the audience. However, when Hashimoto gets Chono back into the ropes seconds later, he does not offer a clean break and instead slaps his elder across the chest to a big pop. This sets up a series of at least ten big kicks to the chest by Daichi, with the NJPW legend eventually slumping down in the corner until he is saved by the official.

When the wrestlers return to a vertical base at center ring, Hashi fires off another big kick and gets a two count with it, but Chono is quickly back in control with a boot of his own, after which he stands on Daichi’s head a bit before ultimately throwing him to the outside. Once there, Chono hits a SICK piledriver on the arena floor, which is a hell of a way to welcome your best friend’s kid into the business. This sets up a dramatic spot in which Hashimoto has to beat the count back into the ring. Of course, he ultimately does. Chono sets up for and connects with a second piledriver in between the ropes, but Daichi somehow manages to kick out at two on the ensuing cover. He doesn’t just kick out, though. He also manages to hit several more body kicks to score another nearfall, followed up with a sleeper on Chono. Masa spends a lot of time in the hold without passing out, eventually managing to get his foot on the bottom rope to break it.

Almost immediately after he gets out of the hold, Chono drives his boot straight into Daichi’s face and whips him into the buckles. However, when Chono attempts another big boot, Hashimoto catches him unawares with a spinning heel kick and then two more versions of the same move. That gets him a one count on the wily veteran. Daichi now connects with a body slam, but that also won’t put Chono away. Hashimoto tries to go back his kicks, but this time Chono catches his leg and forearms him in the knee. That sets up two shining wizard-esque kicks to the side of the young man’s head. From there, Chono looks for his patented STF, but Daichi grabs the ropes before it is applied. Unfortunately, he makes the rookie mistake of getting up in Chono’s face and jaw jacking with him. Chono is unimpressed and headbutts Daichi right in between the eyes. That leads into a successful STF, and that gives us the submission victory for Masahiro Chono.

Keiji Mutoh vs. Daichi Hashimoto (All Japan, 3/21/2011)

Mutoh goes behind early off of a Greco-Roman knuckle lock and controls Hashimoto in just about every way imaginable down on the mat. Eventually that turns into a fairly long headlock by Mutoh, which Hashimoto eventually escapes by shoving his opponent off. Just like in the Chono match, he’s shoulderblocked down. However, that barely throws him off track and the youngster reels off several kicks to the chest for a nearfall. He then maneuvers Mutoh into a “clutch” type position and starts firing off knees to the face, but Keiji grabs one of the rookie’s legs and hits him with a dragon screw leg whip before applying a knee bar. Eventually Daichi does make the ropes, but Mutoh keeps on him with a basement dropkickck to the knee. He looks for the Funk family spinning toe hold, but Hashimoto gets a good counter in when he kicks Mutoh in the face as he spins around. More kicks from the youngster connect, and, before long, Daichi has actually placed Mutoh into the STF made famous by his mentor Chono.

The AJPW boss escapes in relatively short order, after which Daichi maneuvers him back into the corner for some more big kicks. As the referee separates the two men, Mutoh fires off another low dropkick which hurts Hashi bad. Mutoh looks for another dragon screw, but Daichi kinda botches the spot by taking a regular flat back bump instead of rolling through the move as he should. They sell it anyway, and Mutoh slaps on a figure four leg lock. Daichi does eventually secure a rope break, but Mutoh gives him another dragon screw and attempts the shining wizard. Hashimoto blocks it, though, and HITS A SHINING WIZARD OF HIS OWN FROM OUT OF NOWHERE. Damn, I did NOT see that coming. Daichi follows it up with a spinning heel kick and goes to the top rope for the first time of his career. He connects with a missile dropkick for a nearfall, but, before long, Mutoh finds an opening for another dragon screw, followed by the shining wizard. Rather than going for the cover, Mutoh allows Daichi to get back to his feet, ultimately dropkicking his knee and hitting him with a second shining wizard. Mutoh allows Hashimoto to get back up to his feet again (which he does with significant assistance from the ropes), eventually taking him down with a backbreaker and pinning him with the moonsault press.

Overall

I don’t know if it will necessarily have the legs to succeed in the long term, but, for the time being, you could tell that these were absolutely huge matches for the fans who came out to see them, and they could, if followed up on properly, be the springboard to make Daichi Hashimoto into a top level superstar. The man has momentum, and he has the endorsement of just about every major name in the wrestling industry today.

From a purely technically perspective of delivering in the ring, the younger Hashimoto is far from the greatest. However, that’s to be expected given that he’s been thrust into high level matches with only a year and a half of training. Whoever put the matches together was smart in how they did it, in that all of Hashimoto’s spots were kept relatively simple but were still designed to get the maximum reaction possible, whether it was applying an STF to Mutoh or putting Chono in a sleeper. The big kicks to the chest, which made up the majority of Daichi’s offense, were also a smart selection for his moveset, as they are believably damaging enough to rock a major wrestling star but, at the same time, are safe enough that you can have several of them thrown at an older man without the possibility of the veteran being injured.

Yet, despite the simplicity of the matches, the emotion behind them and the fact that verified legends like Chono and Mutoh were giving this kid so much offense and allowing him to kick out of so much made them into great spectacles. You’re not going to want to watch them if you have no emotional connection to 1990’s puroresu or don’t think you can develop that connection after reading an article like this one. However, if you have even the slightest idea of who Shinya Hashimoto is and what he meant to this industry, chances are good that you will feel some chills running up and down your spine as you see these battles unfold. They are also mandatory viewing for anybody who has any sort of vote regarding any sort of “rookie of the year” award for a wrestling publication, as I have a hard time seeing a situation in which Hashimoto would NOT be the strongest contender for such an honor in 2011.

This youngster is one to watch. I know that I personally will be very interested in seeing how he continues to develop throughout the rest of the year.

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