10 Beautiful Moments Of Respect In Wrestling

10. Hiroshi Tanahashi And Katsuyori Shibata Reconcile Their Differences

Hiroshi Tanahashi despised Katsuyori Shibata.

Tanahashi transformed New Japan Pro Wrestling commercially after Shibata had abandoned the promotion in its mid-2000s crisis period. The Ace did so by forging a new stylistic path in which he sought to perfect a nuanced, advanced form of pro wrestling storytelling, one broad (and safe) enough for a family audience but loaded with an intelligence designed for the purists.

Shibata returned, in 2012, with his own imprint: a gruesomely stiff interpretation of the Strong Style by which Tanahashi was so disgusted. Tanahashi referred to it as a "curse" in his autobiography - how prophetic, given the fate Shibata later endured. "Is there a "next" to Shibata's pro wrestling?" he asked. In 2017, he would learn his answer.

Shibata meanwhile shrugged off the criticism. He didn't "rate" Tanahashi's work, much less his genre.

This mutual disgust naturally made it to the ring - it's wrestling - at Destruction In Kobe in 2014. The match was a classic, built and informed by this clash of philosophy - the best, most compelling argument that both can flourish. After Tanahashi emerged the victor, Shibata in an intimate, beautiful moment expressed his gratitude to Tanahashi. He had saved NJPW, thus allowing him to become a star in it.

And Tanahashi, the greatest babyface of his generation, was naturally honourable enough to reciprocate the respect.