Every July 11th, I take time to reflect on the life of Shinya Hashimoto.
For most fans, Hashimoto was a destructive force in the squared circle. For me, he was an amazing friend and Boss. He believed in me at a time when I didn’t believe in myself. We loved to sit in his office and talk old school wrestling (he loved Calgary Stampede) and how we could incorporate stories like that in the original Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE.
In the ring, he liked to kick me hard. CW and I would usually be 2/3 of the rulebreakers team on the live events. There would be a Tom Howard, Predator, or Nathan Jones would be our partners. We knew our roles. Bump big for the comeback and protect the size of our partners.
One night, CW and I had enough. We decided that we were only taking one kick a piece in the comeback instead of the normal three each. Of course, we didn’t tell the Boss. He tags in, kick to me, out, kick to CW, out, and Hashimoto is in the ring all by himself. He realizes that we just ribbed him and comes charging like a bull after me and yells “COMEBACK ON YOU!” and proceeds to beat the holy hell out of me. Well worth it!
But maybe my favorite Hashimoto story was an interaction he had with CW one night. CW is from Raleigh, NC. 7000 miles from Japan. We are in a country town in Japan one night and Hashimoto gives out a finish to CW. Hashimoto says “me up, you please down.” to CDub. Without batting an eye CW says “can’t do it tonight Boss.” Hashimoto, also not batting an eye comes right back with “your hometown?” CW says “yes”. Hashimoto nods his head and says “Corino-san, you down.”
For the next six months, Hashimoto would ask CW if the town was his hometown. CW would always say yes. Let’s say I took a lot of falls for those six months!
I miss Hashimoto every day. I wish we could have spent more time with him. I wish his end wasn’t so premature. I wish he would have got to see Colby and Daichi become pro-wrestlers.
My life is so much better because of Shinya Hashimoto.
11July
2018
2018
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