10 Wrestling Duos Who Shared The Most Bizarre Chemistry

Tomohiro Ishii and Katsuyori Shibata added such a splendid character element to the old Fighting Spirit style in their G1 Climax 2013 banger.

They also intensified it by absolutely pelting the sh*t out of another's faces and skulls in what remains possibly the most fun spot of ultra-violence ever crafted in a pro wrestling ring.

The premise, the glorious premise, was thus: Ishii and Shibata, after almost literally flying into one another with the impact of bricks, each stood down. They proceeded to take it in turns to absorb the other's stiffest shot, only to no-sell at first. Then, with impeccable, graduating drama, the first cracks in the flexing armour appeared. Ishii clutched what little exists of his neck. Shibata barely winced, chewing through his gum shield.

All of this was so oddly polite.

It was the fairest and most brutal fight ever seen, and the character work doubled as exhilarating build: the drama ramped up and didn't stop ramping up as the two sh*t-kickers dropped the pretence and started to smash each other even harder when it became apparent that they were simply too hard and resilient to f*ck around with.

Funny, harrowing, badass, and so, so painful, this somehow conspired to deliver almost everything we love about wrestling without reminding us of any of it.