[enlightenedone9]

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Shinya Hashimoto (02/22/2004):****1/2

This will be the point in my life where I say I have not watched a ton of Hashimoto. That’s actually not true. I have watched MAYBE one match of his against Tenryu in a best of the 90s comp. I wasn’t too high on it considering all the great things I have heard about Hashimoto. This match made me want to hunt down this man’s best. He was a god damn treat in this match. I’m pretty sure if he wanted to he could have forced Kawada to drop dead right from the start with his death stare. That being said with the talent in this match it shouldn’t be all too surprising this is awesome. This match doesn’t rely on big bumps and near falls to be awesome. Hashimoto attacks Kawada’s leg and its real nice. Kawada sells it for a bit afterwards. Kawada attacks Hashimoto’s injured arm which is logical and well done here. My favorite of the match is essentially my favorite part of every Kawada match I’ve seen, JUMPING HEAD KICKS!!! I don’t know why I get such a pleasure from watching Kawada doing them. Hashimoto has big part of it this time though. The way he dangles there on the brink of falling had me on the edge of my sweet wondering if this kick would be the one. The towel finish was well done as well.

[EmbassyForever]

NJPW G1 Climax Day 2 03.08.2012 Review:

Yujiro Takahashi vs Satoshi Kojima - **3/4

Rush vs Lance Archer - *** (Archer is actaully really good, love his work in NJPW)

Yuji Nagata vs Toru Yano - ***

Karl Anderson vs Minoru Suzuki - ***1/4

Shelton Benjamin vs Naomichi Marufuji - **1/2 (Meh, nothing special, both needs a better wrestler to carry them)

MVP vs Togi Makabe - *3/4 (really poor, both were sloppy and I'm just not a fan of MVP in Japan, everything he does looks so dull)

Hirooki Goto vs Shinsuke Nakamura - ***3/4

Tetsuya Naito vs Kazuchika Okada - ****1/2 (Thought it was as good as their first match, MOTYC no dobut about it)

[JoeRulz]

The Great Muta vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (AJPW, Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 7)

Aaah, 13 minutes of Triple Crown greatness. Takayama is the G.O.A.T. in working these 10-15 min long matches, where his shoot background comes into play in such a monstrous way, and there are no many long control segments, just BIG TAK going Chewbacca on his opponents. Brutal and bloody title match, short 'n' sweet. Really good stuff.
Rating: ***3/4

[Yeah1993]

Hashimoto >> Jumbo, Kobashi, Liger, Fujinami and honestly I might have him above Tenryu.

[enlightenedone9]

I watched Tenryu vs. Kojima which was my first match for Tenryu outside of the match with Hashimoto that I've seen. I have to watch that again at some point because it was pretty difficult for me to get into. I just felt like Tenryu was hitting brainbusters left and right to the point where they were pointless. I was wicked tired though so somewhere down the road I'll give it another watch.

[GOD of CUNT]

I guess Tenryu can be an "acquired taste" at first (or maybe all the time). Right now, though, I'm at a point where he does pretty much everything I want in a pro-wrestler. Tremendous facial expressions, probably the best "Fuck you for I despise you" wrestler ever, master "storyteller," amazing subtle seller, awesome striker...if I could only watch one wrestler for the rest of my life, I'd pick Tenryu.

Originally Posted by Yeah1993

Hashimoto >> Jumbo, Kobashi, Liger, Fujinami and honestly I might have him above Tenryu.

Other than Tenryu, I agree with that. I'd have him over Jumbo, Kobashi and Liger comfortably. Fujinami is close and I would go back and forth on that, because Fujinami is fucking awesome and arguably the best wrestler of the 80s, but right now I'd go with Hash. Wouldn't have Hash that far below Tenryu, but for me Tenryu is borderline GOAT (definitely my #1 all time wrestler from Japan, at least), so pretty much every wrestler in history goes below him by default.

[Yeah1993]

It took me like two years to really, really 'get' Tenryu and even now I'm less of a fan than most of the pro-Tenryus. He'd still be like, top 15 all time to me though. 100000% top 20 if not. Probably more around 14-17.

[WOOLCOCK]

I'd probably be in the same boat vis a vis Tenryu > Hashimoto. Hashimoto is tremendous and he might be my favourite ever 'company ace' champion although peak Misawa could have something to say about that. He's a great striker, super seller, very good at laying out a traditional title match and building to the bigger moments and he's a tremendous base for a smaller opponent to work against.

Andy pimped Tenryu better than I can though. He's got that innate charm where you're always watching him in any setting expecting him to do something amazing at any moment. His execution can be rugged and a little sloppy at times but more often than not it works in a 'oh god that HAD to hurt' way rather than 'sheeesh that looked weak'. He's great in title matches, heated tags and really knows how to build a feud and advance matches. Watching the New Japan vs WAR feud (need to get back on that actually) made me even more of a fan of Tenryu with how he grew in every match and become more aggressive and cocky towards the New Japan guys and really managed to get you invested in the direction the angle was going.

Only guys in puro I'd consider to be above Hashimoto (or would have to spend a lot of time in finally putting Hashimoto above them) would be Fujiwara, Misawa, Tenryu & Kawada. If we take gaijins into the equation then Funk's years in Japan might just put him above Hash, though its certainly close. Hansen as well would be another contender but I'd need to revisit a lot of his work in Japan before definitively putting him ahead of Hashimoto.

[Obfuscation]

I have to see more Hashimoto matches from his prime. All I've watched lately were some matches from latter years, including the bulk of early HUSTLE shows, and he's been incredibly fun although I know he was capable of much more. His crap match with Vader on HUSTLE #1 nearly broke my heart. Why it wasn't good...I literally cannot form words to explain.

Tenryu is the BOSS. I think anyone who watches Puro ranks him near or at #1.

Liger is treated like god in my eyes. So that's my answer towards him.

[ywall2breakerj]

Ok, all those long posts you made were cute but Fujinami is still teh best rasslah evah.