 Hashimoto in September 2015 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1992-04-13)April 13, 1992 (age 33)[1][2][3] |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent |
|
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Daichi Hashimoto Hashif Khan (II) |
| Billed height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1][2][3] |
| Billed weight | 92 kg (203 lb)[3] |
| Trained by | Masahiro Chono Shinjiro Otani |
| Debut | March 6, 2011[1] |
Daichi Hashimoto (橋本 大地,Hashimoto Daichi; born April 13, 1992)[1][2] is aJapaneseprofessional wrestler. He is currently signed toBig Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), where he performs in the Strong BJ division.
In BJW, Hashimoto is a two-timeBJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion and three-timeBJW Tag Team Champion. He is the son ofShinya Hashimoto and started his career in his father'sPro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) promotion.
The oldest of three children, Daichi Hashimoto grew up around full-contact sports, as his fatherShinya was a famous pro wrestler, alongside his "uncles"Masahiro Chono andKeiji Muto. Since the sixth grade, Hashimoto took upkarate, and was part of his middle school's MMA team, Blue Sky.
When his father died in July 2005, Hashimoto decided he wanted to become a professional wrestler in order to honour his father's memory. He appeared in the Shinya Hashimoto memorial event in professional wrestling promotionHustle on July 9, 2006, where he was introduced by his father's tag team partnerNaoya Ogawa and made public his intention to become a wrestler.[4]
In September 2009, he took part in his father's 25th Anniversary show, hosted byPro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He competed in an exhibition kickboxing match againstSatoshi Kobayashi.[5] The match was declared a draw after two two-minute rounds.[5] After the show, Hashimoto expressed again his desire to become a professional wrestler and Masahiro Chono andShinjiro Otani picked up on his desire and trained him for nearly a year and a half.
After nearly a year and a half of training, Hashimoto made his debut on March 6, 2011, at Pro Wrestling Zero1's 10th Anniversary show, where he wrestled Masahiro Chono in a losing effort.[6] After the match, he was given advice from his "uncles" Chono andKeiji Muto, and he was also embraced by his mother and his two younger sisters. Fellow Zero1 rookieYuichiro ☆Jienotsu☆ Nagashima came to congratulate him. Fifteen days later, Hashimoto went toAll Japan Pro Wrestling, wrestled Muto, and lost.[7] Over the next few months, Hashimoto would team up withShinjiro Otani in various types of tag team match up and would even wrestle together atInoki Genome Federation. On August 27, Hashimoto received his first title shot ever, as he and Otani unsuccessfully challenged Kamikaze and Sato for theNWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship.[8] In December 2011, Hashimoto took part in the Furinkazan Tag Team League, teaming up withAkebono. He and Akebono started the tournament strong on December 8, defeating Kohei Sato and Kamikaze.[9] Three days later on December 11, Hashimoto and Akebono continued their success by defeating NWA Team, which was revealed to be Schwarz and Weiss.[9] However, the team would go on to lose their next two matches which led to them being placed 3rd in Block B.[9] TheWrestling Observer Newsletter awarded Hashimoto with theRookie of the Year award for 2011.[10]
Hashimoto began the new year with a bang on January 1, 2012, when he won his first singles match, defeatingYoshikazu Yokoyama.[11] On March 2 at Zero1's 11TH Anniversary Show, Hashimoto teamed with Otani and lost toKensuke Sasaki andKatsuhiko Nakajima. In April 2012, Hashimoto participated inPro Wrestling Noah (Noah)'sGlobal Tag League with Otani as his partner. On April 11, he and Otani started off strong by defeatingEddie Edwards andColt Cabana.[12] They defeated the team ofGo Shiozaki andTamon Honda andYoshihiro Takayama andMaybach Taniguchi. The team lost the rest of their matches meaning that Hashimoto and Otani ended the Global Tag League in 5th place with six points.[12] Hashimoto and Otani teamed up together until July when they separated to take part inFire Festival 2012. Hashimoto lost all four of his tournament matches, including losing to Otani.[11] In September, Hashimoto participated in two tournamentsTenkaichi Junior Tournament 2012 at Zero1 where Hashimoto was defeated byTatsuhito Takaiwa in the first round.[13] The second tournament he took part in was theNippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League 2012 in block B at Noah.[14] Hashimoto teamed up with Ikuto Hidaka and won their block with six points but would lose the final toAtsushi Kotoge andTaiji Ishimori. On December 2, he travelled to Hong Kong for his first overseas contest against Zero1 Hong Kong's Bitman. Wrestling as a big heel from Japan, he defeated Bitman after a mist attack follow by a vertical drop DDT.[14] On January 4, 2013, Hashimoto was scheduled to make his debut forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), teaming with Keiji Muto atWrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome; however, on December 27, it was announced that he had fractured his left forearm and would be forced to pull out of the match.[15] Despite the injury, Hashimoto made an appearance at the event, having a confrontation withHiroyoshi Tenzan, after he andSatoshi Kojima had defeated Muto and his replacement, Shinjiro Otani.[16] During the hiatus, Hashimoto bulked up to 95 kg, but eventually slimmed down to 90 kg. Hashimoto returned to the ring on April 15, 2013, when he was defeated byDramatic Dream Team (DDT) representativeKota Ibushi in a singles match.[17] On May 2, Zero1 announced that Hashimoto had re-aggravated his forearm injury and would once again be sidelined from in-ring action.[18] On October 13, 2013, Hashimoto made his return to the ring, facing Nakajima in a losing effort.[19] On February 11, 2014, Hashimoto received the first singles title shot of his career, when he unsuccessfully challenged Tama Williams for theNWA United National Heavyweight Championship.[20] On April 8, while Hashimoto was recovering from a broken jaw, Zero1 announced that his contract with the promotion had expired on March 31 and he had decided not to re-sign.[21][22] At a press conference the following day, Hashimoto announced that going forward he would be working as afreelancer.[23]
On June 5, 2014, Hashimoto and theInoki Genome Federation (IGF) held a press conference to announce that he had signed with the promotion.[24] He made his debut for the promotion on July 13, losing toKazuyuki Fujita.[25] On July 13, 2015, Hashimoto took part in an event, which commemorated the tenth anniversary of his father's death, losing toYuji Nagata in the main event.[26]
In June 2015, Hashimoto began wrestling inBig Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), primarily teaming withKazuki Hashimoto (no relation) as "Team Yamato". On January 1, 2016, BJW announced that Hashimoto had signed with the promotion, making him a full-time member of their roster, representing their Strong division.[27] In October 2017, he won his first tournament, the Saikyo Tag League, teaming withHideyoshi Kamitani, winning their Strong block, before defeating the winners of the Deathmatch block,Abdullah Kobayashi andRyuji Ito, in the finals. On December 17, Hashimoto won his first title, when he defeatedHideki Suzuki for theBJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship.[28] On February 2, 2018, Hashimoto adopted his father's alter-ego fromStampede Wrestling, Hashif Khan, for the third show of the day. On November 4, 2019, he defeatedKohei Sato to win the World Strong Heavyweight title for the second time. His second reign would last until October 2020, when he lost it toYuji Okabayashi. On December 26, 2020, Hashimoto won his fourth Yokohama Shopping Street Six-Man Tag Team title with Kamitani (who's in his fifth reign) andYuya Aoki (who's in his first reign). On March 16, 2021, during a BJW/ZERO1 joint show, after he andShinjiro Otani defeatedDaisuke Sekimoto and Yuya Aoki in the main event, Otani gifted Hashimoto the robe his late father wore for his tenth anniversary in the business.
On June 30, 2023, Hashimoto announced in a handwritten letter to his fans that he had gotten married on March 6, 2023 (the same date as his wrestling debut) and that his first child, a son, was born on June 16, 2023.[29]
