10 Best NJPW Matches Of 2016 (So Far...)

4. Tomohiro Ishii Vs. Katsuyori Shibata - Wrestle Kingdom 10

Will Ospreay KUSHIDA NJPW
NJPW

If this list was me ranking my favourite matches in New Japan this year, I dare say that this would sit proudly at the top. At Wrestle Kingdom 10, Tomohiro Ishii put his NEVER Openweight Championship on the line against perennial underachiever Katsuyori Shibata. We all expected a fairly stiff battle, but what we got was something else.

Well, by 'something else' I mean we got what we expected, just ramped up to the maximum. From the opening bell these two had a fight, not a professional wrestling match, an all-out fight. It was all forearms, hard kicks and headbutts that are way stiffer than any headbutt should be.

This is the sort of match that those looking to get into New Japan should really seek out first. There's no huge backstory to it other than two men trying to prove their toughness, warriors willing to put their bodies through hell in order to have their hand raised in victory.

It isn't about moments, it isn't about redemption, it isn't about a family saga. It was about being able to get up off the mat when your opponent no longer can. It was Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii, and it was simple yet brutal. Brutally simple. Simply brutal.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.