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[1997-02-16-NJPW] Shinya Hashimoto vs Kazuo Yamazaki


Loss

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hashimoto really works hard to get Yamazaki's chances over here. This looks like it's going to be Hashimoto working dominant with Yamazaki selling a knee injury early on, but then it turns into Hashimoto eating quite a bit of offense from Yamazaki that's focused on weakening Hash's arm. Very good match that could have even better with more time to flesh out the story, but I understand why they worked it compact, and sometimes, that's appreciated.

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Excellent arm attack by Yamazaki and selling by Hashimoto. I loved the moment when Hash said fuck it and just wailed on Yamazaki with five chops from the devastated limb. That would've come off poorly from most wrestlers, but he had laid the groundwork with his selling and was so good at working with emotion. Just a classic Hash moment. This was sort of the perfect New Japan counterpoint to Misawa-Kobashi.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would like to see this in full for the opening minutes of mat work. What we get is pretty gritty as Hash wears out the leg of Yamazaki and Yama returns by killing Hash's arm. Hash's underneath work is very good as his limb feels completely comprised until he realizes he cant win without it and uses it anyway no matter how much pain it will cause. That was the catalyst for the whole match and he shortly puts Yama away with the brainbuster. Really nice story that was able to develop in this match.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I prefer these guys working a compact match against each other and if anything I felt like it went too long. Was expecting them just be kicking the hell out of each other. Yamazaki finally provides the kicks later in the match. He may have been using more kicks early on Hash's arm that got edited out. Hashimoto hits one great looking Brainbuster.

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  • 1 year later...

This was slow to start and the action was kind of disappointing, but this turned into a good match, though they've had better. I agree with Kevin that this could have been tightened up, as these two were more enjoyable working syndie TV-type matches--as it is, even though he'd beaten Shinya before I didn't really buy into Kazuo winning the title here, as well as Shinya sold the arm. Hash has some fantastic counters here--I loved his leaping headbutt to cut off a Yamazaki kick attack. Kazuo also started punching Hash's bad arm to block the first attempt at a brainbuster, which was also well done and a little flashback to the "little wrestling" they did in prior matches. Good, but probably not a great match unless those opening minutes were really blowaway.

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  • 1 year later...

JIP 11m of 18m shown. It sucks having Hash matches clipped as he's such a master at creating a big match feel in the early stages. Mainly strike and submission based as you'd expect from these two facing off. Not on the level of their '98 G1 classic, but still quality action. The closing stages were particularly good. I've no doubt my rating on this has a clippage penalty but WCYD?

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  • 6 months later...

I think people should seek out the full version of this because I too felt like it was somewhat lacking when I watched it clipped. If anything, you get to see Yamazaki break out some roundhouse kicks and an axe kick that made me hit rewind. The matwork is gritty as is the armwork that becomes the major point of the match. I really liked Hashimoto building his comebacks around those headbutts when he had a bad limb late. And man, could anybody else get away with obliterating a guy with his bad limb and have it still seem to make sense and even add to the match? Maybe Misawa. And that brainbuster to win this. Hashimoto might be the most definitive finisher in wrestling. I can only think of a few times where he annihilated a guy and then wins where I didn't feel satisfied, no matter if the match was 20 minutes or 10.

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  • 9 months later...

Misawa is the only other person that can get away with it. Hashimoto is tremendous.

 

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Kazuo Yamazaki - NJPW 2/16/97

 

 

Move over Sid because Hashimoto rules the world! Hashimoto had really grown into a world class asskicker. Adding that overhand chop as a more frequent part of his arsenal is great. Yamazaki throws some bows up against the ropes and Hashimoto responds by OBLITERATING him with a chop! Loved the beginning Yamazaki sneaks in a head kick (great call by announcer) tries to pounce with German but Hashimoto counters with a DDT so they are back on an even playing field. Yamazaki catches the next kick and drops into a kneebar. Great selling by Hash rolling to outside and good focus by Yamazaki attacking the leg upon reentry. I liked him going for an arm bar to make Hash defend that and go back to the leg. Great psychology. There's one small problem I find the kneebar to be most painfully boring submission hold. Great psychology doesn't always lead to great entertainment. Yamazaki gets in an axe kick as Hash was trying to make a comeback and then gets his German good callback! Figure-4! Hashimoto escapes and now here comes the asswhupping. Great kicks and a big ass lariat. Yamazaki counters with a cross arm breaker where the drama is appropriately sold and Hashimoto races for ropes. It becomes a great battle of Hashimoto strikes vs Yamazaki arm bar takedowns. They did a great job building drama and making those arm bars into hot nearfalls. The one where he switches arms to block Hashimoto from getting to ropes is great and loved it as a counter to the brain buster. Great use of psychology and submission to build tension. This is peak Hashimoto even more so than earlier in the decade. His comeback is fire. The way he pops Yamazaki with an elbow while Yamazaki has wrist control or those head butts. But the best is when he fires up and he knows his arm is gonna hurt like hell but he fights through the pain dishes an unholy barrage of overhand chips. The kicks in this were brutal. He was smoking Yamazaki. I forgot this earlier but the front kicks he used to make his initial comeback were nasty. This is all set up for badass finish. He fucking spikes Yamazaki with they brain buster. Goddamn. Not quite as good as their 98 classic but this is so much fun especially once it becomes Hashimoto's strikes vs Yamazaki's arm bars. ****1/4

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  • GSR changed the title to [1997-02-16-NJPW] Shinya Hashimoto vs Kazuo Yamazaki
  • 6 months later...

I'd say this is definitely a great match when taken in its entirety. Those first six-seven minutes give you a better idea of how the leg work materialised and ultimately why Yamazaki switching to the arm made sense. Sleeze touched on it as well but those first couple minutes have some really cool setups that they pay off later -- the overhand that floors Yamazaki straight away and the attempted German they go back to around midway. Obviously the leg work makes sense initially because why wouldn't you want to neutralise the kicks? For a while it works too, and it feels like Hashimoto's having to react to what Yamazaki's doing as opposed to forcing the issue himself. Hashimoto's the champ, but Yamazaki's implementing a strategy and Hash can't settle into any rhythm. I agree that the kneebar isn't the most compelling, but I appreciate that it at least makes sense to work it and doesn't come across as a time-killer, plus using thr armbar attempts to transition back to it was really cool. Knowing the history between them adds to this as well. In '96 they matched up a few times and in the June tag title match Yamazaki picked up a rib injury that he sold for the remainder of the year. It'd even play a part in matches outside of New Japan because it became a theme in a WAR v UWFi tag taking place in WAR. Of course the injury was sustained in the first place because Hashimoto tried to punt his liver into the stands. So Hash just front kicking him in the guts repeatedly here was an amazing "fuck this" transition. I think they played it up enough with a few more kicks to the midsection later that it was a deliberate part of the story as well. Everything from then on out was exceptional, I thought. We already saw how effective Hashimoto's overhands were earlier, and clearly going after the leg wasn't working terribly well, so it made sense for Yamazaki to switch it up and go after the arm. It's easy to compare Hashimoto and the overhands here to Misawa and the elbow considering I watched the 1/20 Misawa/Kobashi last week, but I think the comparison fits well enough. I mean, the selling from both is incredible, though still different. Hash is more expressive whereas Misawa is stoic and determined, but the overall point is much the same -- the opponent is trying to take away the arm and a huge weapon into the bargain, but as long as that arm is still attached to their body they're going to keep using it, even if it causes themselves damage at the same time. Yamazaki's targeting of it ruled. The armbars where he'd switch between arms, the kicks to the arm, headbutting the shoulder, punching the bicep to break the brainbuster; all of it ranged from cool to awesome. Hashimoto responding with his own brutal headbutts was amazing, and of course the moment where he lost it and reeled off those overhands, dropping to a knee in agony afterwards, was absolutely spectacular. The mother of all brainbusters to end it was some exclamation point. 

I thought this was tremendous. It might not be there by the end, but to me it feels like a dark horse top 10 match of the year. What a show New Japan put on that night, btw. Between this and Liger/Kanemoto they'd have won my ticket money for months to come. 

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