Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Victor Zangiev (NJPW, 4/24/89)

Victor Zangiev, who looks more like a stereotyped Seinfeld character than the hulking Street Fighter, is pretty fucking awesome here, especially considering his lack of pro-wrestling experience. Between the cool shoot suplexes and practical but effective counters, Hashimoto sells him as a legitimate and unpredictable threat, which only adds to Zangiev's allure. Hashimoto's frustration builds throughout the match as Zangiev has answers to a lot of Hashimoto's offense, and when Hashimoto counters the armbar attempt with the headscissors, Zangiev performs a little dosey-doe to flip back out onto his feet, ready for the grapple. Great stuff. In the end, Hashimoto's finally able to keep him grounded with the leglock for the submission but for a sub-ten minute match, it doesn't get much better than this.

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