10 Best Strong-Style Wrestlers Ever

1. Shinya Hashimoto

nakamura strong style
NJPW

When it comes to strong style, there are gods and kings, but there's only one best of the best, and that's the legendary Shinya Hashimoto.

Hashimoto was one of New Japan's top stars of the 1990s, and to this day, he boasts the longest IWGP Heavyweight Title reign in history - 489 days. He got there with some of the strongest strong style known to man - bone-shattering kicks, a trademark triangle hold, and a stiff brainbuster that put away opponents like The Great Muta, Tatsumi Fujinami, and Naoya Ogawa. His greatest victory, however, came in 1996, when he defeated Nobuhiko Takada to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title in the Tokyo Dome, cheered on by one of the loudest crowds in wrestling history.

Tragically, Hashimoto died of a brain aneurysm in 2005, just days after his 40th birthday. His son, Daichi, continues his legacy, proving himself one of the most promising young stars in Japan via his own array of stiff kicks.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013