Daichi Hashimoto (橋本 大地 Hashimoto Daichi, born April 13, 1992)[1][2] is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), where he is a former three-times BJW Tag Team Champion and a former two-times BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion, while a former two-time Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Champion and and the winner of the 2017 Saikyo Tag League alongside Hideoyoshi Kamitani and the winner of the 2020 Ikkitousen ~ Strong Climb ~.
He is the son of Shinya Hashimoto and started his career in his father's Pro Wrestling Zero1 promotion. He would leave Zero1 in March 2014. Shortly after he would sign with Inoki Genome Federation, before signing with BJW in January 2016.
Early life[]
The oldest of three children, Daichi Hashimoto grew up around full-contact sports, as his father Shinya was a famous pro wrestler, alongside his "uncles" Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh. Since the sixth grade, Daichi took up karate, and was part of his middle school's MMA team, Blue Sky.
When his father died in July 2005, Daichi decided he wanted to become a professional wrestler.
In September 2009, he took part in his father's 25th Anniversary show, hosted by Pro Wrestling Zero1. He competed in an exhibition kickboxing match against Satoshi Kobayashi.[4] The match was declared a draw after two two-minute rounds.[4] After the show, Daichi expressed his desire to become a pro wrestler and Masahiro Chono and Shinjiro Otani picked up on his desire and trained him for nearly a year and a half.
Professional wrestling career[]
Pro Wrestling Zero1 (2011–2014)[]
After nearly a year and a half of training, Daichi Hashimoto made his debut on March 6, 2011, at Pro Wrestling Zero1's 10th Anniversary show, where he wrestled Masahiro Chono in a losing effort.[5] After the match, he was given advice from his "uncles" Chono and Keiji Mutoh, and he was also embraced by his mother and his two younger sisters. Fellow Zero1 rookie Yuichiro ☆Jienotsu☆ Nagashima came to congratulate him. Fifteen days later, Hashimoto went to All Japan Pro Wrestling, wrestled Mutoh, and lost.[6] Over the next few months, Hashimoto would team up with Shinjiro Otani in various types of tag team match up and would even wrestle together at Inoki Genome Federation. On August 27, Hashimoto received his first title shot ever, as he and Otani unsuccessfully challenged Kamikaze and Sato for the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship.[7] In December 2011, Hashimoto took part in the Furinkazan Tag Team League, teaming up with Akebono. He and Akebono started the tournament strong on December 8, defeating Kohei Sato and Kamikaze.[8] Three days later on December 11, Hashimoto and Akebono continued their success by defeating NWA Team, which was revealed to be Schwarz and Weiss.[8] However, the team would go on to lose their next two matches which led to them being placed 3rd in Block B.[8] The Wrestling Observer Newsletter awarded Hashimoto with the Rookie of the Year award for 2011[9]
Hashimoto began the new year with a bang on January 1, 2012, when he won his first singles match, defeating Yoshikazu Yokoyama.[10] On March 2 at Zero1's 11TH Anniversary Show, Hashimoto teamed with Otani and lost to Kensuke Sasaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima. In April 2012, Hashimoto participated in Pro Wrestling Noah's Global Tag League with Shinjiro Otani as his partner. On April 11, he and Otani started off strong by defeating Eddie Edwards and Colt Cabana.[11] They defeated the team of Go Shiozaki and Tamon Honda and Yoshihiro Takayama & Maybach Taniguchi. The team lost the rest of their matches meaning that Hashimoto and Otani ended the Global Tag League in 5th place with six points.[11] Hashimoto and Otani teamed up together until July when they separated to take part in Fire Festival 2012. Hashimoto lost all four of his tournament matches, including losing to Otani.[10] In September, Hashimoto participated in two tournaments Tenkaichi Junior Tournament 2012 at Zero1 where Hashimoto was defeated by Tatsuhito Takaiwa in the first round.[12] The second tournament he took part in was the Nippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League 2012 in block B at Noah.[13] Hashimoto teamed up with Ikuto Hidaka and won their block with six points but would lose the final to Atsushi Kotoge and Taiji Ishimori. On December 2, he traveled to Hong Kong for his first overseas contest against Zero1 Hong Kong's Bitman. Wrestling as a big heel from Japan, he defeated Bitman after a mist attack follow by a vertical drop DDT.[13] On January 4, 2013, Hashimoto was scheduled to make his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling, teaming with Keiji Mutoh at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome; however, on December 27, it was announced that he had fractured his left forearm and would be forced to pull out of the match.[14] Despite the injury, Hashimoto made an appearance at the event, having a confrontation with Hiroyoshi Tenzan, after he and Satoshi Kojima had defeated Mutoh and his replacement, Shinjiro Otani.[15] During the hiatus, Hashimoto bulked up to 95 kg., but eventually slimmed down to 90 kg. Hashimoto returned to the ring on April 15, 2013, when he was defeated by Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) representative Kota Ibushi in a singles match.[16] On May 2, Zero1 announced that Hashimoto had re-aggravated his forearm injury and would once again be sidelined from in-ring action.[17] On October 13, 2013, Hashimoto made his return to the ring, facing Katsuhiko Nakajima in a losing effort.[18] On February 11, 2014, Hashimoto received the first singles title shot of his career, when he unsuccessfully challenged Tama Williams for the NWA United National Heavyweight Championship.[19] On April 8, while Hashimoto was recovering from a broken jaw, Zero1 announced that his contract with the promotion had expired on March 31 and he had decided not to re-sign.[20][21] At a press conference the following day, Hashimoto announced that going forward he would be working as a freelancer.[22]
Inoki Genome Federation (2014–2015)[]
On June 5, 2014, Hashimoto and the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) held a press conference to announce that he had signed with the promotion.[23] He made his debut for the promotion on July 13, losing to Kazuyuki Fujita.[24] On July 13, 2015, Hashimoto took part in an event, which commemorated the tenth anniversary of his father's death, losing to Yuji Nagata in the main event.[25]
Big Japan Pro Wrestling (2015–present)[]
In June 2015, Daichi began wrestling in Big Japan Pro Wrestling, primarily teaming with Kazuki Hashimoto (no relation) as "Team Yamato". On January 1, 2016, BJW announced that Hashimoto had signed with the promotion, making him a full-time member of their roster, representing their Strong division.[26] He would later form a team with Hideyoshi Kamitani named Okami (大神 Ōkami) in 2016. On August 19, 2017 Hashimoto received his first shot for the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship unsucessfully challenging Hideki Suzuki. Later in September until October Hashimoto and Kamitani took part of the 2017 Saikyo Tag League. They finished their block with three wins and two losses, advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, they defeated Daisuke Sekimoto and Kohei Sato, and later at the finals the reigning BJW Tag Team Champions Abdullah Kobayashi and Ryuji Ito to win the tournament. On December 17, Hashimoto won his first title, when he defeated Hideki Suzuki in a rematch to become the new BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion.[27] From March 8 to April 15 2018 Hashimoto took part of BJW's Ikkitousen ~ Strong Climb ~, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and one loss, advancing to the semifinals. Hashimoto defeated Daisuke Sekimoto to advance to the finals. On April 15 Hashimoto lost to Suzuki in the finals. This also led him losing the title to Suzuki. On May 22 Hashimoto won his second title, when he, Ryuichi Kawakami and Kamitani defeated Yasufumi Nakanoue, Ryota Hama and Yoshihisa Uto to become the new Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Champions. They lost the back the titles to Nakanoue, Hama and Uto, three days later. Hashimoto and Kamitani would regain the titles, this time with Daisuke Sekimoto on June 17, but lost it back on June 20.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Rising DDT (Implant DDT)
- Vertical drop brainbuster[28] – adopted from his father
- Signature moves
- Multiple kick variations
- Missile drop
- Multiple shoot
- Spinning heel[1] – adopted from his father
- Triangle Kick (Corner middle rope springboard gamengiri) – adopted from Masaaki Mochizuki
- Shining wizard[1] – adopted from Keiji Mutoh
- Snap suplex
- STF[1] - adopted from Masahiro Chono
- Multiple kick variations
- Nicknames
- "Hakai-ō Junior"[28] (Japanese for "Destruction King Junior")
- Entrance themes
- "Bakusho Sengen"[2]
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Big Japan Pro Wrestling
- BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[27]
- Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Hideyoshi Kamitani and Ryuichi Kawakami (1) and Daisuke Sekimoto and Hideyoshi Kamitani (1) and Yuya Aoki and Hideyoshi Kamitani (1)
- BJW Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Hideyoshi Kamitani
- Saikyo Tag League (2017) – with Hideyoshi Kamitani[29]
- Saikyo Tag Tournament (2020) – with Hideyoshi Kamitani
- Ikkitousen ~ Strong Climb ~ (2020)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #244 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017[30]
- Tokyo Sports
- Newcomer Award (2012)[31]
- Toshikoshi Puroresu
- New Year's Eve Shuffle Tag Tournament (2021) – with HARASHIMA and Kengo Mashimo
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Rookie of the Year (2011)[9]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Wrestlers (in Japanese). Pro Wrestling Zero1. Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved on 2013-04-15.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 ja:橋本 大地 (in Japanese). Inoki Genome Federation.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 ja:橋本 大地 (in Japanese). Big Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-01-03.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Zero1 2009 Results .
- ↑ ZERO1 2011 Results .
- ↑ AJPW 2011 Results .
- ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=68375
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Zero1 Furinkazan 2011 Results .
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Meltzer, Dave (January 30, 2012). "Jan 30 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Gigantic year-end awards issue, best and worst in all categories plus UFC on FX 1, death of Savannah Jack, ratings, tons and tons of news". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, CA. ISSN 1083-9593.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Zero1 2012 Results .
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Noah Global Tag League 2012 Results .
- ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=26&nr=2407
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 http://www.cagematch.net/?id=26&nr=2408
- ↑ ja:橋本大地が"左腕骨折"で1.4東京ドームを無念の欠場…! その思いを胸に大谷晋二郎の緊急参戦が決定!!(詳細追加) (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2012-12-27). Retrieved on 2012-12-27.
- ↑ Wrestle Kingdom 7 ~Evolution~ in 東京ドーム (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2013-01-04.
- ↑ 4.15 後楽園ホール大会 「Far and Away」 (in Japanese). Pro Wrestling Zero1. Retrieved on 2013-04-15.
- ↑ ja:橋本大地再び欠場… (in Japanese). Pro Wrestling Zero1 (2013-05-02). Retrieved on 2013-05-02.[dead link]
- ↑ 10.13 後楽園ホール大会試合結果 (in Japanese). Pro Wrestling Zero1 (2013-10-13). Retrieved on 2013-10-13.
- ↑ 2.11 後楽園ホール大会試合結果 (in Japanese). Pro Wrestling Zero1 (2014-02-11). Retrieved on 2014-02-11.[dead link]
- ↑ ja:橋本大地選手 契約満了のお知らせ (in Japanese). Pro Wrestling Zero1 (2014-04-08). Retrieved on 2014-04-08.[dead link]
- ↑ 橋本大地がZero1を退団!4.9新木場大会に来場してファンに挨拶することに (in Japanese). Battle News (2014-04-08). Retrieved on 2014-04-08.
- ↑ ja:橋本大地フリーになった理由は「自立」 (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports (2014-04-09). Retrieved on 2014-04-09.
- ↑ ja:橋本大地がIGFと契約 7・13お披露目 (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports (2014-06-05). Retrieved on 2014-06-05.
- ↑ ja:橋本大地IGFデビュー戦は2分22秒で (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports (2014-07-13). Retrieved on 2014-07-13.
- ↑ ja:橋本真也復活祭7.13後楽園大会 橋本真也10周忌イベント 大地vs.永田、テンコジvs.中西&キャプテン (in Japanese). Battle News (2015-07-13). Retrieved on 2015-07-13.
- ↑ ja:橋本大地選手 入団のお知らせ (in Japanese). Big Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-01-01). Retrieved on 2016-01-06.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 ja:故橋本真也さんの長男橋本大地が初ベルト 大日本 (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports (2017-12-17). Retrieved on 2017-12-17.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 ja:“破壊王ジュニア”橋本大地が大日本移籍で急激進化!関本破る大金星 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-04-01). Retrieved on 2016-04-01.
- ↑ ja:「最侠タッグリーグ優勝決定戦」 (in Japanese). Big Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-10-15.
- ↑ Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2017 . The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved on 2017-09-01.
- ↑ ja:「2012年度プロレス大賞」受賞者 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2012-12-11). Retrieved on 2012-12-10.
External links[]
- Daichi Hashimoto on Twitter
- Official blog
- BJW profile
- IGF profile