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 Title History:
NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Title (2):
IWGP Heavyweight Title (3):
IWGP Tag Team Title (2):
NWA Heavyweight Title (1):
Triple Crown (1):
Tournament History:
- Super Grade Tag League 1992: Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto beat Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki (15:45) when Choshu pinned Sasaki.
Signature Moves:
- DDT
Profile: After studying judo during his school days, Hashimoto was initiated into New Japan, joining in April, 1984. Following an overseas learning excursion from October, 1987, to July, 1989, he began obtaining great success, quickly winning the IWGP Tag Team Title. Throughout the 1990's, he, along with fellow "Musketeers", Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono, would largely dominate New Japan, waging war against all comers. Hashimoto's career took a different route to Muto and Chono's though, as he would commonly tackle outsiders from different combat types, such as kickboxers. His desire to defend New Japan's Strong Style against the enemy threats made him one of the most popular wrestlers in the world, and a legitimate successor to the great Antonio Inoki. Two of his IWGP Heavyweight Title reigns lasted over a year, with Hashimoto a dominant ace for a long time. The only heavyweight throne in New Japan to elude him for a while was the G1 Climax, but he won that in 1998 to complete a New Japan grand slam. His feud with judo star, Naoya Ogawa, was one of the big talking points of the late 1990s and would effect his career majorly. After three losses and just one win over Ogawa, including one in April, 2000, where he vowed to retire if he lost, Hashimoto removed himself from New Japan tours and went into relative seclusion. Later in the year, he returned, but quickly declared his independence from New Japan. On November 13th, 2000, Hashimoto registered the "ZERO-ONE" name, and quit his home of many years, New Japan. ZERO-ONE debuted in March, 2001, mixing many different forms of fighting. In February, 2003, Hashimoto added another prestigious prize to his cabinet, winning All Japan's Triple Crown from old rival, Great Muta (Keiji Muto). Hashimoto left behind ZERO-ONE at the beginning of 2005, handing it to a man who jumped with him from New Japan, Shinjiro Otani. He was recovering from several injuries and all signs pointed to a big New Japan return late in 2005, but on 7/11/05, Hashimoto collapsed suddenly due to a brain hemorrhage. He was rushed to hospital, but was died on arrival aged just 40. Hashimoto's death became a national story, extending beyond the pro wrestling community, and at the end of July, around 8,000 fans joined wrestlers in mourning the fallen icon at a special event. Although no longer with us, Hashimoto will forever live on in New Japan history, as he was the very definition of what the company stands for and is a permanent part of its legacy.
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