Shinya Hashimoto Passed Away
 

Credit: Wrestling Observer

Shinya Hashimoto passed away at approximately 9:30 a.m. Monday
morning in Yokohama, Japan. His death is believed to have been due
to a brain aneurism. He collapsed suddenly and was rushed to the
hospital and is believed to have been dead on arrival.

No other details are available at this moment. He was 40.

Hashimoto, a many time IWGP champion and Hall of Famer, had, along
with Hulk Hogan, headlined more successful huge live pro wrestling
events than any wrestlers in the history of the business. He had been
out of action for several months due to a shoulder injury and the
collapse of the original Zero-One promotion. He was recovering from
surgery in December.

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Sorry to hear that; that's a horrible thing to happen. :( R.I.P.

RIP.

I never actually got to see the man compete, but if I can believe what I've read over the years, wrestling has lost a true star.

:(

Truly a wrestling legend that I consider myself honoured to have seen...

I have watched tapes of his matches against Naoya Ogawa, Riki Choshu, Keiji Muto, Scott Norton...

Along with Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Keiji Muto, Jushin Liger, Toshiaki Kawada and Antonio Inoki, Hashimoto was one of the true legends in japanese wrestling, especially throughout 1996-1998...

Rest in peace... :'(

A note about him: Shinya was indeed one of the longest (if not the longest) IWGP heavyweight champions in history winning the title in April of 1996... He defended the title more than any champion in recent memory... I am not yet sure if the length of his title reign was beaten, but he was a japanese legend 5-10 years ago...

Another note: Shinya Hashimoto is a year older than Kensuke Sasaki and younger than both Masa Chono and Keiji Muto, other legends he has battled over the years... One of the most dominant New Japan superstars in history...

Check out the New Japan Super Grade Tag League Tournament circa-1996 when he won the tag titles along with Scott Norton... The matches were something special... Japanese wrestling has a special touch to it...

Cannot say I have ever seen him in the ring but this sucks. R.I.P.

This was a pretty big shock. Unfortunately, we have come to expect stars in the States passing away early but Japan is another world.

Can't say it better.
 

Shitty deal :( Loved to watch the guy. A huge loss.

RIP