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Post by joeg on Mar 15, 2019 17:36:20 GMT -5
Other matches from this feud have been nominated, however this one is my favorite and has not. It is the quintisential wrestler vs shooter match spectacle. Ogawa dominates Hash as Hash valiantly fights back refusing to quit or back down until Fujinami stops the fight. Lots of melodrama, very over booked, much like the entire feud.
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Post by microstatistics on Mar 16, 2019 23:34:08 GMT -5
Second.
This is a polarizing match to say the least with opinions ranging from "it's garbage" to "it's an all time classic". Regardless of the booking, as a match I thought it was pretty excellent. Ogawa was pretty good in this actually with great looking offense (though it did get repetitive) and I liked his frequent taunting. Hashimoto carries it though with his selling and ability to generate drama. There was also a cool spot where he tried to minimize the distance between himself and Ogawa to counteract the strikes. They could have taken it home about 2-3 minutes earlier though because the finishing stretch dragged a bit.
Fans of this match got annoyed when I called this a squash but, essentially, that's what it is (and that's not an insult by any stretch of the imagination). Ogawa never looked in any real trouble and reversed all of Hashimoto's offense pretty easily. Ogawa pretty much owned him from start to finish. Also all of those pop-ups near the end from Hashimoto did not resemble any sort of comeback and seemed to be fueled by defiance and pride.
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Post by tetsujin on Feb 2, 2021 15:41:11 GMT -5
I watched this and the 4/1 match and... Damn. 4/1/99 is a fucking nonsense of a match, but this one started pretty great. Ogawa punching Hash in the face because he didn't want to get out of the corner, Hash basically no selling it and then giving Ogawa a brutal headbutt to start beating the shit out of him was... just a sequence I'll never forget. That was peak minimalistic epicness right here, only Lawler can do something like that as good as Hash imho.
Then Ogawa started to dominate him, and it's sad there wasn't any crucial turning point, a great transitional spot, to conect the two main parts of the match together. Basically Ogawa starts punching and throwing him and that's it. I loved his cockiness and how Hashimoto's pride don't let him give up, but I wanted a big comeback or a better, more brutal and decisive win for Ogawa, instead of the Inoki bullshit. I thought they were gonna do something with Ogawa's leg, as it was stablished to be his main weakness in this match.
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Post by lemming on Nov 30, 2021 7:04:29 GMT -5
I love this feud and think it is some of Hashimoto's very best work. Ogawa is limited but a natural heel and they match up so well together.
I think the first half of this is amongst the best 7 minutes of wrestling in history. Out of this world great. Ogawa is a cocky jerk but undeniably dangerous. Hashimoto is one of the best wrestlers in history at doing 'fired up' and his comeback out of the corner starting with the big headbutt was him at his most firey.
Sadly the match hits its (extremely high) peak early and then the second half drags too much. Ogawa looks a bit lost and the final stretch isn't very interesting. Because of how we like to experience our stories, if the quality of the two halves had been swapped (i.e. so so first half, all time great second half) this would feel much more special.
The rematch the next year is very similar in structure, but better down the finishing straight and is one of my absolute favourite matches. I think this one falls a little short of top 100 for me.
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Post by elliott on Sept 18, 2023 12:45:29 GMT -5
I don't care that this feud is poorly booked. The matches are awesome & this is the best one. Just an enormous huge spectacle.
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