Shinya Hashimoto Ain't No Big Thing But It's Growing

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Gary Goodridge Inoki Bom Ba Ye 12/31/00 - EPIC

PAS: Hashimoto is the greatest different style fight spectacle wrestler ever. This was in the period after his loss to Ogawa where he was supposed to retire, but before he founded Zero-One where New Japan was doing some sort of Brian Pillman worked shoot. Goodridge was an early UFC and Pride fighter who was probably best know for winning a Vale Tudo fight by squeezing the nuts of his opponent. This was one of Goodridge's only pro-wrestling matches (he also may have thrown a PRIDE fight to Ogawa) and he put together a pretty good performance, he is a naturally intimidating guy (he had some of the most brutal KO's in early MMA, his elbow KO of Paul Herrera is horrifying) and had some cool moments, including an awesome rolling kneebar. This was a Hashimoto show though, he sold Goodridges punches huge, was great attacking the knee with low kicks, and had an awesome finishing run where he snapped and started laying in these stiff headbutts to Goodridge including a bunch of nasty grounded shots to the eye. Violent well paced stuff with a huge crowd, super into the match. Love these kind of spectacles.

ER: I could just sit and watch Different Style Hashimoto fights all day. And Phil is right about Goodridge being an early MMA standout. I remember watching those pre-weight class UFC cards at my friend Steve's place, and remember that Herrera KO to this day, a total immediate annihilation. Goodridge always felt like he had pro wrestling presence, so it's a shame he only worked a few matches. He clearly gets what he's doing, and shows that by coming out in full Spartan armor with an awesomely mouthy gal with him. I don't know who this woman is, but she looks like Miss Texas and is a great second, flexing at the crowd, talking trash to Hash, yelling at the refs, clearly the inspiration for Cersei Lannister leading the Mountain into battle. I think the match is behind the Halme match in pure epic spectacle, but it scratches the same kind of itch. Goodridge overwhelms him with some nice focused bombs, and Hash is one of the greatest all time at selling a near KO blow. Him slowly rolling on the mat while looking at the lights, knowing "Welp I still gotta get up, it's expected of me" was conveyed as few can. I loved Hash's thundering leg kicks, just chopping down that big tree, and we get a cool moment (who knows, possibly I'm reading too much into it) where Hash jumps and stomps Goodridge in the chest after kicking him down, and lands slightly funny on his ankle, leading to Goodridge targeting the leg. Did Hash land weird, or was it just his expertise at working with inexperienced workers, dropping those match story breadcrumbs for them to follow. I lean the latter, but the fact that there's some doubt is just more example of Hashimoto's mastery. The kneebar was sunk in deep and I was fully expecting a Hashimoto tap out, that leg was hyperextended and I was waiting for a pop. But I love Hash fighting back, love Goodridge's gal yelling from ringside, loved Hash going into a trance and waking up to realize he just pounded Goodridge with a dozen grounded headbutts, love that single crab finish with Goodridge *this* close to the ropes. I miss this guy.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE SHINYA HASHIMOTO