14 Things We Learned From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11

5. Hirooki Goto Wins The Big One, Kind Of

Wrestle Kingdom Hirooki Goto Katsuyori Shibata
njpwworld.com

When will people learn not to kick Katsuyori Shibata when he is kneeling?! Anyway, Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto with the NEVER Openweight Championship on the line was exactly what you would expect from the two childhood friends. It was brutal, it was stiff, both me kicked, slapped and headbutted each other into something approaching oblivion.

Goto picked up the win after a brutal match, hitting a reverse GTR followed by the traditional version. Steve Corino put it over on commentary as Goto winning the big one, but can this really be described as a big one? That isn't to sniff at Goto defeating Shibata, certainly not. Goto's big match troubles have come in IWGP Heavyweight Championship matches, not secondary titles.

Even so, this could be the spark that sets Goto up for a big year and pushes Shibata up into the main event. The former champ should take a little break first, as it would seem he is more and more being held together by tape. His style is so physical that it isn't going to make for a long career, and with previously unseen heights ahead of him a rest will be best for both Shibata and New Japan.

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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.