https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM3q04J10No Sure, he might look like Mac from 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia', but Katsuyori Shibata is every bit as fierce and terrifying as Ishii, as the two proved in their mad barn burner at Wrestle Kingdom 10. If anything Shibata ups the terrifying levels with added mixed martial arts ability. It is this dabbling in MMA that arguably cost Shibata a place at the very top of the New Japan card. During his initial run it seemed like he was being well placed to take the company forward, but he decided to up sticks and leave for a career in MMA. New Japan was struggling at the time, and this was seen as abandoning a sinking ship. He returned in 2012, and it has taken four years for him to win a singles title in the company. Still, win a singles title he has (in the shape of the NEVER Openweight Title), and he will surely continue to be a top player in the company going forward. In a way it feels like he has regained the trust of the booking crew, and the NEVER belt is the start of big things to come.
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.