Big Japan Wrestling
Korakuen Hall (Tokyo, Japan)
Not unlike the Sato vs. [Daichi] Hashimoto bout from the prior day in ZERO1, this match is all about a veteran (Kanemoto) delivering out punishment to the youngster (Hashimoto). The comparison sort of ends there as this match is less-strike oriented, a little longer, and a little less one-sided. It also is not as good as the ZERO1 match, I thought.
Kanemoto played veteran, surly ass-kicker last year against Fujita Hayato in a match that was really fun in some spots but too long and ultimately too boring. Here he does much of the same things – as you would expect – like kick Hashimoto hard and face wash him a bunch. Hashimoto’s best attribute in this match is his fire. He jumps Kanemoto before the bell and plays the underdog role in a much different and more effective way than Daichi did versus Sato, even if his offense is probably not as good. I’ve admittedly never been very high on Kanemoto as he just comes off a bit bland even with the stiff kicks. I felt the same way here to the point where I was into Hashimoto fighting back to some extent but the rest of the match left me underwhelmed.
Hashimoto has potential and is still very young, but seems to still be finding his niche. Coincidentally, he teams up with the other Hashimoto (Daichi) on February 7th and Korakuen to face Shuji Ishikawa and Sato. That match will almost certainly be wrestled in a similar style to this match and Daichi’s match versus Sato on the 1st so it will be interested to compare the three.
Stiff | Skippable | Quality
