10 Hardest Hitters In Wrestling Right Now

4. Tomohiro Ishii

Juice Robinson Hirooki Goto
NJPW1972.com

'The Stone Pitbull' has supplied his typically-sublime summer selection of bruising battles since a gripping war with Minoru Suzuki at RevPro/NJPW's Strong Style Evolved event in Altrincham almost stole the show from a Kazuchika Okada/Zack Sabre Jr blockbuster, but Tomohiro Ishii's G1 Climax performances were a cavalcade of cranium-splitting creativity.

His contest with Kenny Omega stole many of the headlines as the tournament was in progress, but time will also be justifiably kind to his breathtaking brawls with Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi and especially Hirooki Goto for how Ishii in particular donated his body, soul and (fighting) spirit to the cause.

Caving in chest cavities with his stunted chrome dome and brutally breaking opponent bodies with his own, Ishii was a violent assassin of the wrestling upper class. Aesthetically awesome in an entirely different way to some of the muscular and indulgent men of the modern era, Tomohiro Ishii's grasp of how to sell a violent attack enhances the power behind his delivery of one.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett