[1999-01-04-NJPW-Wrestling World in Tokyo Dome] Shinya Hashimoto vs Naoya Ogawa

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I'm told this is a shoot, but are we sure about that? This seems awfully booked and they are definitely working the crowd. It's over quickly and entirely one-sided, with Ogawa bloodying up Hashimoto's nose and making quick work of him. Considering how strong Hashimoto had been presented for a decade, it's a pretty shocking move, but I know this is seen as something that eventually killed Hashimoto as a star. I'm not sure how I feel about watching that decline. For now, I'll just praise the segment. This is more angle than match, but it's excellent. Choshu (I thought he was retired? Oh yeah, pro wrestling) comes out and has to be restrained from Ogawa as well.

[El-P]

It's a total work.

And it's not awesome. It's the Fingerpoke of Doom of NJ, of sorts.

[tim]

I'm not really all that familiar with how this angle played out but decontextualized this was a cool spectacle. Ogawa bursting on the scene by murdering the top star in unprecedented fashion and then celebrating by pretending to be an airplane was something else though.

[Tim Cooke]

Didn't like this at all. Looked like a clear work and a terrible one at that. Looked like they were trying to imitate a Pride fight, which isn't wise for numerous reasons around this time period - mostly due to Pride having almost no good heavyweight fights up to this point in their history.

[Tim Evans]

So what was the finish? A dq for hitting the ref? Awful stuff even with all the guys getting in the ring to break it up. Who was the big bald white guy on team Ogawa?

[soup23]

Agree in the this sucked camp for the finish. There were stretches of good punches and a frantic pace but overall the match didn't really come together like the Ogawa stuff in 98 did at times. The finish seemed pretty dumb and really reflected the doldrums of New Japan for me which honestly didn't pick up again until just a few years ago. Poor Hashimoto deserved better. (**1/2)

[jasch]

The ref bump may, or may not, have been an indication that this wasn't a shoot.

[Zenjo]

Watching this out of context, it doesn't make a lot of sense. To be fair it probably didn't make a whole lot of sense in context. Most Dome shows from now on would feature Inoki's crackpot MMA themed ideas.

[PeteF3]

I deliberately didn't listen to the New Year's edition of Between the Sheets until after I got past this week in Yearbook-viewing, and I'm not sure I'm in position to comment too intelligently on this oddity of a match until I do. That said, this looked very much like a worked shoot--deliberately working the match to make it look like a work "gone wrong," so to speak. They actually had me with the refusals to break and the super-stiff Ogawa punches, but Tiger Hattori getting kicked in the gut and selling it like Earl Hebner ended that feeling in a hurry. The match peters out and we get a confrontation between various NJPW guys and the UFO guys, presumably to set up an interpromotional feud and attempt to recapture the magic of the UWFI invasion. Something tells me this version is going to be less successful. The least of the three Hash/Ogawa matches so far by a million miles.

 

Also, I have no shortage of love for him, but I don't think what the aftermath of this match needed was to set up an Ogawa vs. fat old 1999 Riki Choshu match.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Shinya Hashimoto vs Naoya Ogawa - NJPW 1/4/99

 

A lot has changed since these last two hooked up in May of 1997. Hashimoto is no longer the IWGP Champion and the main focus has been on getting Kensuke Sasaki over as the new man. You can clearly see that Sasaki is cut from cloth of Riki Choshu and someone that Choshu would want to carry New Japan into the new millennium, but Inoki was entering his phase with being obsessed with shooting and there was a clear clash over Sasaki as there was no way he could deliver on what Inoki wanted as a champion. In a way, Inoki had been obsessed with credibility and shooting, after all that is what his legend is built upon but I don't think it ever got in the way of presenting pro wrestling like it did from 1999-2006. Ogawa after his first two matches with Hashimoto won a series of matches over shooters and traded victories with Don Frye who Inoki had his last match with was clearly someone Inoki respected. In late 1998, it seems Inoki started a spinoff promotion called Universal Fighting-Arts Organization with the first main event being Ogawa defeating Don Frye. Inoki loves invasion angles. The idea was to create Ogawa as the centerpiece of the UFO promotion and invade New Japan.

 

They work this big angle for January 4th Dome show to kick off 1999. There has been reports that this was a shoot. I didn't see it. Felt like a work to me. It clearly is trying to capture the magic of PRIDE with the brutal head stomps. It is funny that Nobuhiko Takada ended out Inoki-ing Inoki at the end of the day. Also on paper this sounded awesome. Ogawa brutalizing Hashimoto in a five minute ass kicking with a wild fracas at the end and the whole match being called a no contest. It didn't feel as heated as I expected. I thought the 1/4/00 match was way crazier and more chaotic. One big plus is this is the Naoya Ogawa I know and love. Cocky shooter badass taunting everyone and the crowd. Getting on the mic laying down some smack talk. Flying around like an airplane. In the ring, his movement has vastly improved. His strikes look light years better. I think they could have had a good match here but the point is to get the UFO invasion over and create some buzz that Ogawa destroyed Hashimoto. Hashimoto is going for takedowns which is dumb. Hashimoto never was great at takedowns and Ogawa is a world class judoka that is what he does. Stick with strikes Hash. Somehow Hashimoto's nose is bloodied, but he is so prone to bloody noses who knows when it happens. Ogawa knees the ref in the balls. Ogawa was teeing off on Hashimoto's head. Brutal, brutal head shots. Was it a shoot in the sense that those punches and kicks were dangerous? Yes. But it all looked pre-planned to me. Riki Choshu coming out at the end was weird, but at the same time it doesn't matter if it is Japan or America people love seeing their old timey favorites come out and play asskicker. So I get it.

 

I think on paper this was an excellent idea for an angle. To me they didn't hit this one out of the park. Look at 1/4/00 for a real crazy spectacle.

[BigVanCrush]

I'm a big fan of this feud and both of these guys, but I don't enjoy this match at all. This didn't feel like a shoot at all but there was an intensity and a genuine feeling of dislike that's sorely lacking from pro wrestling now. I'm with Sleaze in that this wasn't as heated as I remembered it being and the post-match angle wasn't nearly as awesome as I remembered. Fortunately, their subsequent meetings (especially the two in 2000) were much better than this.