Yoshi-Hashi

Yoshi-Hashi

Yoshi-Hashi in March 2015.
Born May 25, 1982[1]
Togo, Aichi[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Nobuo Yoshihashi
Yoshi-Hashi[1]
Yoshihashi[2]
Billed height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Billed weight 102 kg (225 lb)[1]
Trained by New Japan Pro Wrestling[3]
Debut July 6, 2008[1]

Nobuo Yoshihashi (吉橋 伸雄 Yoshihashi Nobuo, born May 25, 1982) is a Japanese professional wrestler.[1] He currently works for New Japan Pro Wrestling as Yoshi-Hashi (stylized in all capital letters).[3]

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2008–2010)

After training in New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo, Yoshihashi made his professional wrestling debut on July 6, 2008, losing to Tetsuya Naito. Although not competing in G1 Climax 2008 he did wrestle on many of the G1 Climax event. Yoshihashi did not pick up any wins in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2008. This is normal for rookies in New Japan Pro Wrestling. However, on making his Riki Pro debut on November 3 he teamed up with Kazuchika Okada to beat the team of Kuniyoshi Wada and Yusaku Obata.[4] On February 12, 2009, Yoshihashi won his first match in New Japan Pro Wrestling by teaming with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yuji Nagata and defeating Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto and Shinsuke Nakamura. After this however, he lost almost all of his matches in 2009. On November 4 Yoshihahsi teamed up with Koji Kanemoto in a losing effort against the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.[5] In 2010 Yoshihashi began winning many more matches for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He teamed up with Jushin Liger to participate in the first Super J Tag Tournament, however, the pair lost in the first round and were eliminated. He also participated in the 2010 Best of the Super Juniors tournament.[5] Yoshihashi picked up his first ever singles victory in New Japan Pro Wrestling however by winning only one match and losing the rest, therefore gaining two points, he did not progress to the semi final. His last match for New Japan before leaving was a loss with Liger against Davey Richards and La Sombra.[5]

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2010–2011)

Yoshihashi joined Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in 2010 as a way to gain more experience and be exposed to a variety of wrestling syles. His first match was a six-man two out of three falls match with La Ola Amarilla ("The Yellow Wave"; Okumura and Taichi) losing to El Hijo del Fantasma, La Mascara, and Maximo.[6] For the rest of 2010 and the entire year of 2011 Yoshihashi wrestled in six-man two out of three falls matches and rarely participated in anything else. He lost most of his matches for CMLL in both 2010 and 2011.[5][6] Near the end of his stay in Mexico Yoshihashi started a storyline with CMLL mainstay Rush that started in six-man tag team matches and soon escalated to the point where the two agreed to both bet their hair in a Lucha de Apuestas ("Bet Match), which in Mexico is more important than Championship matches.[7] On August 1, 2011, Rush defeated Yoshihashi and then forced him to have his hair shaved off as per the stipulation.[2][8]

Return to New Japan Pro Wrestling (2012–present)

Yoshihashi, now working under the new ring name "Yoshi-Hashi" (stylized in all capital letters), returned to New Japan Pro Wrestling to take on his old nemesis from his early career Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom VI; Okada won the match in under five minutes.[6] After New Japan's break he returned to defeat King Fale and Tama Tonga with Okumura. Yoshi-Hashi and Okada both joined Chaos and on January 22, Yoshi-Hashi teamed up with Gedo, Jado and Okumura in his first match as a part of Chaos and lost to Prince Devitt, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tama Tonga and Tiger Mask IV. Yoshi-Hashi appeared at The New Beginning and NJPW 40th Anniversary Show teaming with members of Chaos and won both matches. On April 1, he was defeated by La Sombra in the first round of the New Japan Cup.[9] At Wrestling Dontaku 2012, Yoshi-Hashi along with Jado and Tomohiro Ishii defeated Captain New Japan, Strong Man and Tama Tonga.[6] At Dominion 6.16, Yoshi-Hashi teamed with Tomohiro Ishii and Rocky Romero defeated Captain New Japan and Seigigun members Wataru Inoue and Yuji Nagata.[6] From November 20 to December 1, Yoshi-Hashi took part in the round-robin portion of the 2012 World Tag League, alongside stablemate Kazuchika Okada under the team name "Chaos Ride the Lightning".[10] The team finished with a record of three wins and three losses, with a loss to "Sword & Guns" (Karl Anderson and Hirooki Goto) on the final day, costing them a spot in the semifinals of the tournament.[11][12] Yoshi-Hashi and Okada reunited a year later for the 2013 World Tag League, this time finishing second to last in their block with a record of two wins and four losses.[13] On September 5, 2014, Yoshi-Hashi picked up a major win, when he led Chaos to a ten-man elimination tag team match win over their rival Bullet Club stable.[14] Following the win, Yoshi-Hashi was granted a shot at two different championships held by Bullet Club; the NEVER Openweight Championship and the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[15] On September 21 at Destruction in Kobe, Yoshi-Hashi and Kazuchika Okada unsuccessfully challenged Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[16][17] Two days later at Destruction in Okayama, Yoshi-Hashi also failed to capture the NEVER Openweight Championship from Yujiro Takahashi.[18] In November, Yoshi-Hashi once again teamed up with Okada for the 2014 World Tag League.[19] The team finished their block with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals.[20]

In wrestling

Yoshi-Hashi in September 2013.

Lucha de Apuesta record

Wager Winner Loser Location Date Notes
Hair Rush Yoshihashi Puebla, Puebla August 1, 2011 [2][8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 "Yoshi-Hashi" (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Quiere Rush más retos". Récord (in Spanish). August 4, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 http://www.puroresucentral.com/yoshihashi.html
  4. ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=7125&page=4&s=200
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=7125&page=4&s=100
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=7125&page=4
  7. ↑ Madigan, Dan (2007). "Okay... what is Lucha Libre?". Mondo Lucha A Go-Go: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 29–40. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lozada, Miriam (August 2, 2011). "Rush Despoja de su Cabellera a Youshihashi". Cinco Radio (in Spanish). Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  9. ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=7125&view=&page=4&gimmick=&year=2012&promotion=&region=&location=&arena=&showtype=&worker=&text=
  10. ↑ "11月20日（火)開幕!!　『World Tag League 2012』の対戦カード決定!!　TDC大会、愛知大会には桜庭＆柴田が特別参戦！" (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. 2012-11-16. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  11. ↑ "NJPW 40ｔｈ anniversary Tour World Tag League 2012" (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  12. ↑ "NJPW 40ｔｈ anniversary Tour World Tag League 2012" (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  13. ↑ "World Tag League 2013". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  14. ↑ "【カード変更】9.23岡山でYoshi-HashiがNever初挑戦! 永田＆中西がNWAタッグ戦! 9.21神戸はIWGPタッグに変更!!". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2014-09-08. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  15. ↑ "オカダ下半期は団体戦重視 Chaosでベルト総取りへ". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  16. ↑ "Destruction in Kobe". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  17. ↑ Caldwell, James (2014-09-21). "Caldwell's New Japan PPV results 9/21: Complete live coverage of "Destruction in Kobe" - Nakamura regains IC Title, Tanahashi vs. Shibata, A.J. Styles, new Jr. Hvt. champion, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  18. ↑ "Destruction in Okayama". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  19. ↑ "『World Tag League 2014』出場チーム＆公式戦が決定！ 棚橋はヨシタツとタッグ結成！ 桜庭、AJ、柴田、ROH、NWAも参戦!". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2014-11-11. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  20. ↑ "World Tag League 2014". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  21. ↑ "NJPW 40th anniversary Tour World Tag League 2012" (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  22. ↑ "NJPW 40th anniversary Tour Road to Tokyo Dome" (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 新日本・携帯サイトの“着うた”で、アンダーソンの新入場曲! ベンジャミンの入場曲を8月3日（金）配信!!　真壁独占インタビューも掲載!! (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  24. ↑ Rush vs. Yoshihashi

External links