Shinya Hashimoto

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Hashimoto grew up in Toki City in Gifu and began training in judo and karate in his late teens. He joined the NJPW Dojo in April 1984 and made his debut in September 1984 at age 19, wrestling against Tatsutoshi Goto. He traveled to the United States (Continental Wrestling Association), Canada (Stampede Wrestling), and Puerto Rico (World Wrestling Council) for seasoning. Upon returning to New Japan in July 1988, he introduced a martial artist gimmick based on his background, wearing a hachimaki during ring entrances and utilizing a wrestling style based on shoot kicks, karate strikes, and submission holds. In April 1989, he took part in the IWGP Heavyweight Championship tournament at New Japan's first Tokyo Dome show, Battle Satellite in Tokyo Dome, defeating Riki Choshu and Victor Zangiev before losing to Big Van Vader in the finals. In September 1989, Hashimoto teamed with Masa Saito to win his first gold, the IWGP Tag Team Championship, beating Choshu and Takayuki Iizuka. In August 1991, Hashimoto, Chono, and Mutoh cemented their status as the aces of NJPW during the G1 Climax, surpassing longtime aces Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, and Riki Choshu. It was around this time that Japanese media dubbed them the "Three Musketeers." Hashimoto won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from the Great Muta in September 1993. He held the belt for approximately 6 months and 8 days before losing to Tatsumi Fujinami, then regained it a month later in May 1994. Hashimoto reigned as IWGP Heavyweight Champion for over a year, losing the belt to Mutoh only two days after celebrating the milestone. In July 1995, Hashimoto teamed with Junji Hirata to defeat Scott Norton and Mike Enos for the vacated IWGP Tag Team Championship. On April 29, 1996, he defeated Nobuhiko Takada to regain the IWGP Heavyweight Title. In 1997, he was presented with a new championship belt (the second-generation IWGP Heavyweight Championship). On August 31, 1997, Hashimoto lost the title to Kensuke Sasaki after reigning as champion for a record-breaking 489 days (the record has since been broken by Kazuchika Okada in 2017). Hashimoto won the G1 Climax in 1998. He launched into a brutal rivalry against Judo champion Naoya Ogawa in 1997, leading to Hashimoto vowing to retire from NJPW if he lost again, which happened in April 2000.

In Their Own Story

Between 1990 and 1998, Hashimoto took part in various worked mixed martial arts-like bouts in NJPW called "Different Style Fights," where he defeated Tony Halme, Ramzan Shibiev, and Dennis Lane. Most bouts lasted from 3 to 14 minutes and usually ended via submission or knockout. Due to his success, Hashimoto was scouted by K-1 executive Kazuyoshi Ishii to compete in their '93 GP tournament, but he declined. He was also invited to a 1994 all-star shoot wrestling tournament in Union of Wrestling Forces International, NJPW's rival promotion, with a hundred million yen prize, but he refused again. After being fired from NJPW, Hashimoto registered the Pro Wrestling Zero-One name on November 13, 2000, and the promotion had its first show on March 2, 2001. In December 2001, Hashimoto faced Steve Corino and Gary Steele in a Triple Threat Match, winning the vacated NWA World Heavyweight Title. His NWA World Title reign ended in March 2002 when a crooked referee gave a fast count, allowing Dan Severn to win the title. In October 2002, Hashimoto teamed with his old rival Naoya Ogawa to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag-Team Title from John Heidenreich and Nathan Jones. On February 23, 2003, Hashimoto defeated the Great Muta to win All Japan Pro Wrestling's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, becoming only the second man to have held the NJPW, AJPW, and NWA World Titles (as Keiji Mutoh was the first). Hashimoto suffered a shoulder injury in July 2003 and had to vacate the Triple Crown. In June 2004, Hashimoto teamed with Yoshiaki Fujiwara to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag-Team Titles for a third time, defeating Takao Omori and Shiro Koshinaka. Going into 2005, Hashimoto left Zero-One and placed Shinjiro Otani in charge, citing financial problems as the reason for his departure. Hashimoto suddenly died of a brain aneurysm on July 11, 2005; he was pronounced dead at 10:36 a.m. while en route to the hospital. Hashimoto's sister Masanari claimed Hashimoto had been complaining about chest pains and thought his heart was beating too fast a week prior to his death, but refused to contact his doctor. Hashimoto had a heart problem in 2004 and was put on medicine, but had to stop taking it after having shoulder surgery. His doctor claimed high blood pressure was the most likely cause for his brain hemorrhage and proposed that other stress over the years led to these problems.

Reader's Guide

Shinya Hashimoto debuted for NJPW in September 1984 at age 19, wrestling Tatsutoshi Goto. He worked his way up through the NJPW Dojo system and traveled to the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico for seasoning. In Puerto Rico in 1988, he formed The Three Musketeers with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh. Upon returning to NJPW in July 1988, he adopted a martial artist gimmick featuring a hachimaki and a style based on shoot kicks, karate strikes, and submission holds. His first championship came in September 1989 when he teamed with Masa Saito to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Hashimoto won his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship from the Great Muta in September 1993. He held the title for seven months, lost it to Tatsumi Fujinami, then regained it a month later in May 1994. His reign lasted over a year until he lost to Mutoh. On April 29, 1996, he regained the IWGP Heavyweight Title from Nobuhiko Takada. In 1997, he was presented with the second-generation IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt. On August 31, 1997, he lost the title to Kensuke Sasaki after a record-breaking 489-day reign. He won the G1 Climax in 1998. After being fired from NJPW, he founded Pro Wrestling Zero-One, which had its first show on March 2, 2001. He won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in December 2001 and the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship on February 23, 2003, becoming only the second man to hold the NJPW, AJPW, and NWA World Titles. He vacated the Triple Crown due to a shoulder injury in July 2003. Hashimoto died of a brain aneurysm on July 11, 2005. Following his death, New Japan retired the second IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt as Hashimoto was the first to wear it. On March 2, 2008, then IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura visited ZERO1 for their anniversary show and gave the second IWGP Title belt to Hashimoto's son, Daichi.

Did You Know?

• Hashimoto is one of only three wrestlers (along with Keiji Mutoh and Satoshi Kojima) to have held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (a combination of three titles), and the
• The second-generation IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt was retired in 2008 when the third-generation belt was introduced, not specifically as a tribute to Hashimoto, who died in 2005.