This will be a short lived series to build hype for others, but also myself for the upcoming G1 Climax 27. I decided to do this separate of the Puroresu Rewind series mostly because I didn’t want to do 3-5 of that series in the next 10 days leading up to G1 Climax 27, then have to play catch up with it’s two sister series.

 So this series will be it’s own ‘G1 Hype Train’ series. Hopefully if this whole tumblr thing works out next year I’ll revive it to build hype to the G1 Climax 28, but let's not put the cart before the horse.

Today we will be looking at a 2nd round match in the 1998 G1 Climax, which was a single elimination tournament and is also the last time the single elimination format was used for the G1 Climax. 

Video Link for those with NJPW World

Hashimoto Shinya vs Genichiro Tenryu

Who’s who? 

Hashimoto Shinya is one of the most decorated men in NJPW history, his 3rd IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign in 1996 being the longest in the belts history with 489 days. Which might not seem long, but one has to remember this belt was created in 1987 after the era of wrestling where guys would hold a major belt for 1,000+ days. 

Hashimoto is also one (the others being Keiji Mutoh and Satoshi Kojima) of three wrestlers that have held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship(which made the rounds in various places after NWA became a bit irrelevant), the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship(AJPW’s top belt) and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship(NJPW’s top belt).

Genichiro Tenryu is one of the more decorated men in AJPW history, where he held pretty much any honor that promotion could give you. The top of which is their Triple Crown Championship which he held 3 times being #6 all time days with that belt. Tenryu’s roots were in Sumo wrestling where he competed/trained for 13 years from the age of 13 to 26 before leaving it for professional wrestling. 

He more than excelled at pro wrestling having 9 Tokyo Sports ‘Best Bout/MOTY’ awards and 4 Meltzer 5 star match rankings, no doubt considered one of the best wrestlers to ever work in Japan.

What are they wearing?

I gushed so much about both men I forgot to describe who was who in the video. Hashimoto Shinya is wearing long black pants with red trim while Genichiro Tenryu is in black trunks and yellow boots both wearing what is their signature attire. 

How’s the match?

Brutal, it’s just completely brutal and grueling for a 2nd round tournament match. I think the one complaint I have that I could see others having as well is simply the strike heavy bout feels a little one note because of it. Dave Meltzer rated this match a 4.75 stars and I’d probably be a little lower myself. Not that it’s not a fun watch because it is. Had this been 10 minutes or so longer the onenote complaint would be much harsher. Though since this is a 15 minute or so fight the striking focus of the match doesn’t hurt it all that much. 

I’d describe it as 2 guys who showed up without a script or having practiced this fight and just winging it. I don’t mean that in a bad way, as the improv of the match was just, “Let’s have a striking war until one of us can’t get back up.” To steal a line from spinal tap, this is ‘Strong Style’ turned up to 11. If you don’t mind a wrestling bout that’s 90% striking this might be one of your favorite matches. 

I’d argue it’s one note, but when that one note is played so expertly it’s hard to complain. Hashimoto might be one of the best pure strikers to ever step in the ring, every hit of his just feels like a bullet and with that analogy by the end of this match Hashimoto and Tenryu are basically Bonnie and Clyde.

Final Thoughts

Leaving this match, I’m pretty interested to see how the next two rounds played out in the tournament. Neither was reviewed as highly by Meltzer, but I have a hard time imagining the finals of any tournament not to have the excitement ramped up. 

So don’t be too surprised if I cover the Semi-Finals/Finals of the 1998 G1 in this G1 Hype Train series. 

This series will be dictated by what good/great G1 matches I can find on NJPW World and won’t be just G1 as I may likely go back to the precursor tournaments : International Wrestling Grand Prix, MSG League, World Cup Tournament and World League of which there were 17 years of under those various names before the 27 G1s, meaning this tournament by NJPW has actually be going on for 44 years or... more specifically since 1974.

Highlights :