10 Most Genuinely Frightening Moments In Wrestling History

Katsuyori Shibata's final headbutt against Kazuchika Okada in his final match at Sakura Genesis 2017 is almost too sad to think about. One of the greatest to ever step foot in a wrestling ring forced into retirement from the blunt impact of one move. Yet, with the context of the match and Shibata's career, it becomes transcendent, a moment that defines a career and an entire era of wrestling.

After years of earning back the trust of the NJPW audience, Shibata walked into this match as a hero, with everyone in that audience desperate to watch him pull out the impossible and win the championship he'd never held, with no one knowing that it would be the last match of his they'd ever see. From the second that his head collides and the blood trickles down his face, we know that it's the beginning of the end, the horror and fear of what comes after the 3 count is always present.

But like with all the best wrestling moments, what comes next is almost irrelevant. The power of that second, of witnessing one of the greatest of all time give everything they have left to create a final masterpiece, is eternal.