Tear Jerker / Shinya Hashimoto

• Shinya's death. Only that. To puroresu fans, Western and Japanese, it broke the floor under them.
• The comments of many wrestlers after his death. Friends and enemies, from NJPW and AJPW, NOAH and PRIDE, major and indies, all of them felt the loss.
  • Kazuyuki Fujita was shocked upon hearing that his Big Brother Mentor had died.
  • Keiji Mutoh had to leave after hearing the news out of sheer grief.
  • Masahiro Chono only could meet Hashimoto's family and send his dues before having to leave as well.
  • Seiji Sakaguchi, who was very close to him, broke down crying on his message and recalled that Hashimoto's wedding was the happiest day in his own life.
  • Naoya Ogawa, characteristically, couldn't believe that his best friend was dead and admittedly intended to storm Hashimoto's house pleading for someone to tell him it was a lie.
  • Yoshihiro Takayama, who had had cerebral problems as well over the years and had beaten death a couple of times, lamented that Hashimoto could not do the same and that his desired singles match against Shinya would never be realized.
  • Tatsuhito Takaiwa was even more heartbroken, as he had been one of the NJPW wrestlers who had followed Hashimoto to ZERO-ONE and had even asked to face him in a match upon winning the Tenkaichi 2004 as his victory prize.
  • Another ZERO-ONE loyalist, Shinjiro Otani, had previously seen his friendship with Hashimoto become strained with the folding of the original promotion. When Hashimoto died, Otani was crushed not only because the death of his distanced friend, but also because their bad relationship meant he couldn't be there for him before his death or even be one of his pallbearers.
  • Even MIKAMI, a junior heavyweight who never shared a ring with Shinya, wrote a heartfelt necrology and stated that when he was a kid Hashimoto's aura left him in awe every time he saw him.