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Shinya Hashimoto - Three Years Ago Today...

July 11th, 2008

It was three years ago today that ZERO-ONE founder and legendary Japanese wrestler Shinya Hashimoto passed away suddenly of a brain aneurysm at the age of 40.

Shinya Hashimoto, who along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Muto once formed the "Toukon Three Musketeers" in New Japan Pro Wrestling, is well known to long time followers of Japanese pro wrestling. In his 21 years as a wrestler, Hashimoto left an indelible impression on the sports and on all those he wrestled and the fans who supported him.

It is safe to say that without Shinya Hashimoto there would be no ZERO1, nor would any of the successes achieved by the wrestlers in the company exist.

ZERO1 President Shinjiro Otani commented on his death today, the 3rd Anniversary:

"Today, July 11th, is the 3rd year anniversary of the death of ZERO-ONE founder Shinya Hashimoto. It is hard to believe that he has been gone for three years, as three years have seemed to pass in the twinkling of an eye. To fulfill his wish of making ZERO-ONE succeed has not been easy, though I believe we are succeeding. And while our current status is not overly abundant, hope always persists in our minds.

"What can be done now is to repay the support and kindness of the fans of ZERO1 and Shinya Hashimoto. No matter what happens, I will never give up. That is the soul of ZERO1.

"On July 13 at Differ Ariake, I want to have some battles so hot that Hashimoto-san will feel it in Heaven. I wish to have a pleasant day with Hashimoto-san's fans and ZERO1 fans. Hashimoto always loved a party with his friends and acquaintances while he reminisced. And while doing so, always drinking large quantities of alcohol!

"What ever happens in the future, Hashimoto-san and ZERO1 will never be defeated. I hope he will watch us from Heaven forever..."

"Laugh Out Loud" Battle Royal Press Conference! The Great Otani Shinjiro Appears!

July 9th, 2008

Back in June, ZERO1 announced their annual tribute show to ZERO-ONE founder Shinya Hashimoto would be a light hearted event at Differ Ariake with a special Battle Royal main event titled "Laugh Out Loud." Today at the ZERO1 offices in Japan various masked wrestlers who are scheduled to fight in this battle royal were present to speak to reporters. This bizzare arsortment of wrestlers included MEN's Kyoko Kimura, Corner Kouji, Tengu Baron, Shinijuku Pro Wrestling's Devil Man, an unknown wrestler wearing a ski mask, and Swordfish Man.

The situation broke down very early, as the wrestlers had only just introducted themselves before MEN'S Kyoko Kimura started to act out with his bananas. Eventually he began to get in a scuffle with Swordfish Man and the whole meeting broke down resulting in brawling in the FOS store and rapidly spilling out into the street in front of the office. As this odd assortment of pro wrestling battled in the street, suddenly out of nowhwere appeared The Great Otani Shinjiro! As a protector of justice and the environment, The Great Otani Shinjiro chased the battling masked men away from the store and peace returned to the neighborhood.

The Great Otani Shinjiro first appeared in ZERO1 back in Match during the "Celebration from the Yasukuni Shrine" as the myseterious partner of The Great Sasuke in his battles versus Minoru Fujita and Takuya Sugawara. He declared his hatred of "crookedness" and said he doesn't drink or smoke, gets up at 5AM and goes to bed a 9PM for 20 years, and his goal in live is "...to continue to eradicate environmental abuse of the planet and to eradicate the bullying of children." He and partner The Great Sasuke were able to defeat the brothers that day at Yasukuni, and The Great Otani Shinjiro had not been heard of until now. What will be his roll at "ZERO1 - PURE LIVE" on July 13 in Differ Ariake?

Excerpts from the interview (in Japanese), can be seen in the video below:

World Dubai (WDB) Mixed Tag Titles Re-emerge! Free Palace?!!

July 8th, 2008

Back in early 2007 a very rich Sheik named Mr. Burj-al and his wife from Dubai sponsored a pair of mixed tag team titles in Chick Fight SUN. These titles were won by Steve Corino and his partner, joshi pro wrestler Toshie Uematsu, at the SUN "COLORS" show in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall. Now due to inactivity the titles have been stripped and will be reactivated on July 13 at Differ Ariake.

Munenori Sawa and Hikaru will take on Osamu Namiguchi and Saki Maemura in a decision match for the new champions. Sheik Burj-al has declared his title belts the "top richest" of all titles and has added the stipulation that any team that can defend the titles 10 times in a row will be awarded a palatial residence in Dubai.

The participants commented:

Saki Maemura: "This is a good opportunity since I haven't had a shot at these titles in some time. I definitely want to take the belt, defend it 10 times and then give my mother a palace!"

Munenori Sawa: "I just heard now that a palace can be won. Although I'm moving to Kamiitabashi in July, I'd rather move to a palatial estate! Let's do it!"

Hikaru: "So when you defend this title ten times I win a palace? I've been waiting my whole career for a chance like this! I've teamed with Nami several times my time here in ZERO1, so I think we have a good chance to win this. I wonder if they'll let me build the palace in Koshigaya...?"

Osamu Namiguchi: "Honestly, I don't want a large palace, it's too greedy. I'm not a greedy person. My focus is on winning gold and professional wrestling. I want to win these gold belts and be a tag team that defends them once a month."

Hikaru: "Yes, but if we win I also get a palatial estate!"

Osamu Namiguchi: "No, I want the belt. I don't want a house. I want to enhance the value of the belt through my possession."

* crosstalk as everybody berates Nami for not wanting a palace *

Osamu Namiguchi: "No...wait... I want the palace. I also want hair!"

Video can be seen below (in Japanese):

Tag Team Championship Matches Approach! Old Partners & New Partners!

July 7th, 2008

The "Sworn Brothers" team of Minoru Fujita and Takuya Sugawara currently hold both the NWA Intercontinental Heavyweight and NWA International Lightweight Tag titles. July will be a big month for them as the will be defending both titles on consecutive weeks. They had only recently managed to win the Lightweight tag titles at April's JCB Hall Pay-per-view "Miracle Rocket - 2nd Impact -" from longtime champions the Motor Citiy Machine Guns of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. Though as is common with many of the "Gikyoudai" victories, there was some obviously treachery involved to win.

While holding the NWA Intercontinental Tag Titles since October 2007 when Fujita and Sugawara won them by defeating Yoshihiro Takayama and Kohei Sato, the mischievous duo haven't defended them very often. Now on the July 13, 2008 ZERO1 show at Differ Ariake they will be defending their titles against the first Japanese tag team to ever hold those belts - Shinjiro Otani and the President of BattlArts Yuki Ishikawa.

The last time they held the title together was back in the beginning days of Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE when they defeated the former NWA World Heavyweight champion tandem of Steve Corino and Mike Rapada. It will be almost 7 years to the day of that victory on July 12, 2001 as the enter Differ Ariake to once more attempt to become champions on July 13, 2008.

We're the team that captured these belts in 2001," ZERO1 President Shinjiro Otani commented to the media. "However we lost the titles without having a defense. And although we haven't teamed together in several years, teaming with President Ishikawa and hitting on all cylinders there will be few teams that we cannot defeat. I have absolute confidence in this match."

"We were the first Japanese wrestlers to hold those belts," added Ishikawa. "If we can team well together in this match we will easily take these titles. Though I've known Minoru Fujita for years and he's always been mischievous, even more so these day. It's also honorable to be called to participate in a show commemorating Shinya Hashimoto."

Also on the line for the "Gikyoudai" this month are their Lightweight tag titles, as on July 20 in Aomori they will face Ikuto Hidaka and BattlArts Munenori Sawa. "I recently recaptured the International Jr. Heavyweight title." Hidaka told Since I achieved that goal I thought I would aim for the International Lightweight tag titles with my new tag team partner Sawa. These belts I also have a deep intensity for. Fujita and Sugawara can't be overlooked as they defeated the Motor City Machine Guns of Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin. Jr. class competition in ZERO1 is a very high level. I want to regain the title belts and increase the level of skill in the ZERO1 Jr. ranks."

BattlArts' Munenori Sawa was also present at the press conference. As is his usual custom Sawa appeared dressed in his ring gear so he's always ready for a fight. He added that Fujita and Sugawara have been longtime partners and have deep teamwork, whereas he and Hidaka as a new team had thinner teamwork. Despite this he remained confident in victory.

Both interviews can be viewed below, in Japanese:

Victory and Defeat in NJPW TRILL!

July 7th, 2008

ZERO1 and New Japan Pro Wrestling collided once more, this time in Korakuen Hall for New Japan's "TRILL" on July 7th. This time ZERO1 came up short, winning two matches and losing three with one time limit draw. The draw came in the Main Event, as Team EMBLEM of Masato Tanaka and Shinjiro Otani was more faced off against the former IWGP Tag Team title champions Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata. This same combo met back on May 29th in Korakuen Hall for the "Unshakeable - Final - " show and battled to an action packed thirty minutes that also ended in a time-limit draw.

Due to once more being considered unfinished business, Yuji Nagata who has yet to have a singles match since returning from a health related absence, challenged Masato Tanaka to five more minutes in the ring. This confrontation also ended in a draw when the allotted five minutes expired.

Also on the show, Wataru Inoue and Tiger Mask defeated the newly former team "Aibou" of Ikuto Hidaka and BattlArts' Munenori Sawa in the semi-main event when Inoue pinned Sawa. Tatsuhito Takaiwa and longtime ZERO1 visiting fighter, BJW's Daisuke Sekimoto, delivered one of ZERO1's victories this day when versus IWGP Jr. Tag Team champions Jushin "Thunder" Liger and AKIRA ZERO1's Takaiwa pinned AKIRA with a avalanche-style Death Valley Bomb. It was a non-title match.

Ryouji Sai and Minoru Fujita also provided a victory for ZERO1 when Ryouji dropped the Nachi's Waterfall on Tetsuhito Naito who was teamed with Ryusuke Taguchi. Both Naito and Taguchi have played major roles in the promotional battle between New Japan and ZERO1. Another who has played a big role is New Japan's Yujiro. Yujiro has had a big mouth during the war, often verbally baiting his opponents. Here he faced Osamu Namiguchi and defeated him in a short 4 minutes!!

The first loss for ZERO1 occurred during the official opening match of the event. AXE ARMY Captain Takao Omori teamed with young Shito Ueda to face legend Riki Choshu and Mitsuhide Hirasawa. Ueda learned what many have learned these past decades as he ate the Choshu Lariat at 5:59 for the loss.

Otani Official in New Japan Pro Wrestling's G1 CLIMAX Tournament!

June 29th, 2008

Following his team's victory in the recent PREMIUM One Night Tag Tournament alongside Hiroyoshi Tenzan, ZERO1 President Shinjiro Otani announced that he would be participating in New Japan's G1 CLIMAX 2008 ~HEROES OF SUPREMACY~ tournament taking place 8/9/08 to 8/17/08.

In an interview after the event, Otani also stated that he plans to win the "Fire Festival" katana and enter the G1 with it in his hand.Until then, his main focus is on winning the "Fire Festival" and preparing for that tournament.

NJPW announced that Otani will be in Block A of the G1, a block that includes Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi, Wataru Inoue, Giant Bernard, Togi Makabe and a wrestler to be determined.

Otani & Tenzan Victorious in PREMIUM's One Night Tag Tournament!

June 27th, 2008

Masahiro Chono's production PREMIUM was held tonight in Korakuen Hall presenting a special "One Night Tag Tournament." Taking part was, as the name implies, a premium of pro wrestlers from New Japan Pro Wrestling, ZERO1 and DRADITION composed of eight teams. Along with Otani's & Tenzan, other ZERO1 wrestlers participating were Masato Tanaka (w/Riki Choshu), Ryouji Sai (w/Mitsuya Nagai), Takao Omori (w/Tatsumi Fujinami) and Kohei Sato (w/Shiro Koshinaka). Non-ZERO1 teams included: Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito, Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin "Thunder" Liger and Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin "Thunder" Liger.

Otani & Tenzan's path to victory began in the first round versus ZERO1 ace and Otani's partner in EMBLEM, Masato Tanaka, and his partner legendary Riki Choshu. Both teams unloaded their full arsenal on each other in a very hard-hitting match. The decisive moment came when Tanaka misfired on a double-team maneuver hitting Choshu instead! Tanaka accidentally hit his partner with a lariat as Chono was holding opponent Tenzan. Otani then disposed of Tanaka with a full nelson suplex, and Tenzan took advantage of Tanaka's errant strike to finish Choshu with the TTD. Although they won this victory, Otani and Tenzan eyed each other warily, and left towards different exits leaving some unanswered questions regarding their future teamwork.

Tanaka wasn't the only ZERO1 fighter whose team was eliminated in the first round of the tag team tournament. Ryouji Sai's team with DRADITION's Mitsuya Nagai was eliminated in the first match of the first round via Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito. Kohei Sato's team with Shiro Koshinaka was also eliminated by Koshinaka's former NWA Intercontinental Tag Team co-holder in ZERO1 Takao Omori. Omori was teamed alongside New Japan's Tatsumi Fujinami and their victory advanced them to the semi-finals along with Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger who were also victorious in the opening round

As the semi-finals began, Otani & Tenzan faced Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito next. Here Otani and his partner found much better coordination, despite some strange refereeing. They hit a coordinating jumping kick and lariat on Super Strong Machine, and once more when Tenzan ducked a lariat causing Saito to be felled by his own teammate they once more capitalized. Otani landed a missile dropkick on the stunned SS Machine and than Otani & Tenzan than took quick advantage of their fallen opponents as Tenzan locked the Anaconda Vice on Saito and Otani submitted Machine with a Ground Cobra Hold for the victory.

Their opponents would be determined in the next match as AXE ARMY Captain Takao Omori & Tatsumi Fujinami collided with Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin "Thunder" Liger. Nakanishi and Omori have battled all year, in tag matches and singles match where Nakanishi is up 2-1. This time as well Nakanishi once again dominated Omori with the help of Liger. After sustaining an Axe Guillotine Driver, Nakanishi was able to block Omori's follow up Axe Bomber and answer with a power bomb! Then Liger hit Omori with his running palm strike as Nakanishi swept his legs with the McEnroe! A German suplex and Hercules Cutter later and Nakanishi once more score a pinfall over former tag team partner Takao Omori.

Now the PREMIUM One Night Tag Tournaments finals were determined as Shinjiro Otani and Hiroyoshi Tenzan versus Manabu Nakanishi and Jushin Liger. Despite both teams having won two matches to get to the finals, both again delivered a hard-hitting match that went almost eighteen minutes. Otani was able to hang with Nakanishi as they faced off together in the ring, though Liger struggled when matched up with Tenzan.

As Otani occupied Nakanishi outside the ring, Liger hit an avalanche brain buster and a moonsault but couldn't put Tenzan away. Tenzan kicked out at the referee's two count and then rallied to finish off Liger with a TTD, a diving headbutt and then locking on the Anaconda Vice.

During the Championship Commendation ceremony, where the victors were presented 3 million yen as their prize, Otani had a surprise announcement for those in attendance, declaring that he would be taking part in New Japan's G1 CLIMAX 2008 ~HEROES OF SUPREMACY~ tournament taking place 8/9/08 to 8/17/08.