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Post by jetlag on Jan 7, 2018 12:12:23 GMT -5
tl;dr aging puro legends step up for this gritty, violent war with superb psychology and an all time classic selling performance from Hashimoto
full review:
Even for two beaten up old guys past their primes, I thought this was a world class pro wrestling match. They stuck to a more methodical pace in a match built around selling and limb damaging, which worked really well and built to an incredibly tense 2nd half. Hashimoto may be the greatest ever at selling wounded but dangerous, and here we also got him working as a beast next to the smaller Kawada.
Early on, Kawada was just overwhelmed by Hashimoto. I don't know if Kawada being unable to throw Hash properly was intentional or not, but it worked great in the context of the match. So we get Hashimoto as One Man Gang, working like an invincible wall of doom that Kawada has to figure how to topple. Hashimoto's facial expressions were absolute top tier acting and some of the best shit I've ever seen in a wrestling match.
Then of course you get two of the baddest dudes ever standing face to face and dishing out punishment to eachother. The dueling limbwork was a great way to avoid the trite "stand there and wait to get hit" crap japanese matches sometimes have. Instead, you had two angry bears, one on one leg, the other with one arm, hacking away at eachoter's weakpoints. Just an epic battle.
For the record, I thought Kawada's selling was near perfect. But Hashimoto's performance, all leading up to his eventual downfall, is the real integral part to the match. Just incredible stuff.
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Post by smash1992 on Jan 7, 2018 19:01:57 GMT -5
Remember loving this year's back. Limb work is incredible and selling is even better. Felt like a totally epic clash with two dudes that do it best.
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Post by microstatistics on Jan 30, 2018 22:41:06 GMT -5
Third. Really good match/borderline great match. Awesome Hashimoto performance and he makes the match for me. Selling, acting, violence, urgency. He was as great as ever. Kawada was alright but his leg selling was really bizarre. It was a weird mix of traditional selling, fighting through the pain selling and just plain no selling and came off as haphazard rather than unique.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jul 30, 2018 18:23:41 GMT -5
I wanted to love this match so much but it just didn't click for me. It is a great but there is so much weirdness with the selling that it just falls short of being a classic.
All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - Budokan 02/22/04
If there is one thing the 00s provided in spades, it is dream matches come to life. It is fuckin Kawada vs Hashimoto in the Budokan for the Triple Crown. I threw out all my misgivings about Hashimoto from this decade because I knew this was going to badass. I had seen this before and it did not quite live up to my memory, but it is still a very good match. I will say as much as I hate to admit it the match felt oddly heatless. All Japan was clearly in a rough place because even with this as the main event they only drew 10,500. Just a year previous, Hashimoto/Muta drew a sell out at the Budokan and Hashimoto drew a sell out against friggin' Arashi. So it was not because the Hashimoto was an unknown commodity. I will have to do some research on this, but the match just did not feel as big as it should.
Kawada wins the first exchange with a spin kick, but Hashimoto draws first blood from Kawada's ear. Kawada goes for the head stomp/half-crab too early and Hashimoto gets to his knees and makes the ropes. The exchange kicks to each other's knee and Kawada hyperextends his right knee on a kick and Hashimoto pounces. I liked that unique wrinkle. Kawada uses the closed fist to keep him at bay, but Hashimoto sweeps the leg. Hashimoto attacks the knee hard with seat drops, double stomps and leg laces. Just like the Tenryu match, Kawada drops the leg selling. He goes full bore with the big boot and uses the right knee to knee drop Hashimoto's taped up shoulder. I was not happy with the King of Knee Selling pulling this uncharacteristic bullshit. Kawada goes for the cross armbreaker, but is able to get the stretch plum and really focus on the arm. Hashimoto does some great verbal selling here and for the rest of the match. He sounds like a large wounded animal fighting for his life. Hash catches the right leg and punches it. Kick floors Kawada. BRAINBUSTER! However, Hashimoto is in tremendous pain and cant capitalize. He is able to throw some awesome kicks, but he is in too much pain to brainbuster Kawada again. The story becomes can Kawada put Hashimoto away. Remember, he had fellow Z1 cohort, Ogawa on the run, but could not finish him. Again, he has an opponent severely injured, but he just cant seemed to get him off his feet. He is rocking him, but Hashimoto wont fall down. Finally, after a barrage of enziguiris, TIMMMMMMBBBBAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Kawada slaps on the Stretch Plum, but Hashimoto has too much pride to submit so a Z1 suit throws in the towel to save their ace from permanent injury.
The finish is an interpromotional bullshit finish and sucks. Regardless of that, I thought Kawada's performance was pretty lifeless and mechanical. He was just going through the motions. Add that he dropped knee selling, it was a pretty disappointing performance especially at this was right in the middle of his big All Japan Triple Crown run that he had a deserved for so long but booking and injuries had denied him. Hashimoto was in peak 90s form here. He was that rockstar badass that just exudes charisma. From destroying Kawada's knee to selling the arm to fighting back to weeble wobble selling before succumbing to the Stretch Plum, he gave an inspired performance to tell the story of a wounded warrior. Unfortunately, this would be Hashimoto last great match (I could be wrong) as he would pass away in September of 2005. It was an uneven, but overall a very good blowoff to the AJ/Z1 feud. ****
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Post by tetsujin on Dec 8, 2020 9:29:34 GMT -5
Today is Kawada's birthday so I wanted to watch one of his most underrated matches. They're not at their peaks, but the dream match feel is still there (even if at this moment All Japan was pretty fucked, honestly), and they only needed great strikes and limbworks to make the match work. The superb selling most of the times, Hashimoto's viciousness working the leg, and the payoffs to early setups (specially around Shinya's injured shoulder) elevate the match from very good to pretty great, at least for me. I still have the feeling that this could have been a better match if it happened ten years earlier (obviously, duh), and Kawada could have been more ambitious, but it remains as a proof of how good both guys were past their primes. They didi so much with so little, I wish minimalism was more present in today's puroresu.
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Post by Cap on Dec 8, 2020 9:39:17 GMT -5
I actually just watched this for the Great Match Generator podcast since I've been joining them lately.
This is a great example of what great wrestlers can do. They are past their prime (in hard hitting careers), but they are professionals in the art of violence and storytelling. I think the selling and limb work are great (as mentioned by others) for the most part. Kawada seemed to sort of give it up later in the match, but not in a way that felt natural like adrenaline might be a factor. That is small, because I thought he started so hot here. Hashimoto definitely was the star of the show bell to bell, from aura, to offense, to selling. By way of their willingness to beat on each other they would find their way to a quite good, and pretty satisfying match.
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Post by elliott on Sept 22, 2023 13:57:22 GMT -5
Even before I realized Kawada stunk I've never been able to get through this match.
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