10 Precise Moments Kayfabe Ended
3. Shinya Hashimoto Gets Destroyed
New Japan Pro Wrestling was founded on a philosophy - King of Sports - premised on the strictest emulation of just that.
Founded by and driven by the legit skills of Antonio Inoki and advanced through the technical wizardry of Tatsumi Fujinami and, subsequently, the eclectic but formidable Three Musketeers trio, everything about the presentation adhered strictly to kayfabe: the tournament frameworks, the clean finishes, the lack of tacky, theatrical stipulation matches: until the dire and unpopular experimentation of Inokism, NJPW thrived on the old values. The mere notion of a Ladder match informed the dynamic of the snake-bit Kenny Omega Vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi feud of 2016. The stip, imported from the western world, was framed as a transgressive disruption of them.
Ironically, it was Inoki's deranged pursuit of legitimacy that almost engulfed the very promotion he founded.
Totally enamoured by his project Naoya Ogawa, a former judoka who appealed to his legitimate sensibilities, Inoki dispatched him to rearrange top star Shinya Hashimoto's face - for real - at the huge January 4, 1999 show, under the mentality of introducing Ogawa as a lethal, instant threat. Hashimoto was the poorest, most damaging opponent for a damaging idea: the most legitimate act in a predetermined world, Inoki scorched years of build to sacrifice his aura.
He defined the ideals of a company that itself was battered under the philosophy.