Kazuki Hashimoto (橋本 和樹 Hashimoto Kazuki, born May 26, 1990) is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), where he performs on their junior heavyweight division. Hashimoto is the former BJW Junior Heavyweight Champion on his first reign while also being a former one-time Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Champion and one-time Sakatako Intercontinental Tag Team Champion.
Professional wrestling career[]
During high school, he would join the Animal Hamaguchi Dojo which would eventually lead him into the Big Japan Pro-Wrestling dojo following his graduation. He would make his debut on September 21, 2009 against Takumi Tsukamoto, whom they both trained together.
His first major victory would come in 2010 as he won Kaientai Dojo’s K-Metal League in May. He would go on to challenge the Independent World Junior Champion Marines Mask, but would lose.
In 2012 he started on to compete in Pro Wrestling ZERO1, as he would clash with, the son of Shinya Hashimoto, Daichi Hashimoto. Even though they share the same name they do not share the same direct relation. The two would begin to compete as a team and even compete in Big Japan’s Tag League later that year. The two would be dubbed “Team Yamato.” In January 2014, Hashimoto debuted for German promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), teaming with Ryuichi Kawakami to unsuccessfully challenge Hot 'N Spicy (Axel Dieter Jr. and Da Mack) for the wXw Tag Team Championship. On June 1, he and Daisuke Sekimoto unsuccessfully challenged Dangan Yankees (Takashi Sugiura and Masato Tanaka) for the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship. In November, he teamed with Koji Kanemoto in the 2014 Saikyo Tag League, making it to the final where they were defeated by Yankee Nichokenju (Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto). In early 2015, he and Sekimoto took part in Pro Wrestling Noah's 2015 Global Tag League, finishing with one win and two points and failing to advance to the final.
In February of 2016, he would compete in All Japan’s “Jr. Battle of Glory” as he was originally set to make it to the final match. Though due to an arm injury suffered against Atsushi Maruyama he was forced to be out of action for the next several months. During his time away Kazuki would undergo a major transformation as he began a new training regiment and dropped 16kg’s as he would drop all the way down to 80kg, previously 96 before the injury. It looks as if he does not aim to make it up to the heavyweight class of wrestlers as he has recently found his place against the junior-heavy class of talent. On May 7 BJW announced that Kazuki would take part in a tournament to crown the first BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship where he finished 8 points advancing to the finals. He would lose to Shinobu at the finals on July 17. On August 12, 2018 Hashimoto finally defeated Shinobu after two attempts to win BJW Junior Heavyweight Champion for the first time. On May 5, he lost the title to TAJIRI.
Personal life[]
On May 21, 2021, Hashimoto tested positive for COVID-19 amid its pandemic in Japan.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Jogen no Tsuki (Modified Triangle Choke)
- BOC (Running Buzzsaw Kick)
- PK – Penalty Kick (Soccer to the chest of a seated opponent)
- Ground Triskelion (Grounded Octopus Stretch)
- Signature moves
- Facewash
- Ankle Hold
- Death Valley Bomb
- Northern Lights Bomb
- Running Neckbreaker
- Falcon Arrow
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Big Japan Pro Wrestling
- BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jaki Numazawa and Abdullah Kobayashi (1), and Takumi Tsukamoto and Yuji Okabayashi (1)
- Sakatako Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Daisuke Sekimoto
- BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship Next Challenger Tournament (2018)
- Kaientai Dojo
- K-Metal League (2010)