Boss Rock

Great match, in my top 10 so far this year. Not quite MOTYC because there was just too much that could have been cut out and the first 2/3 of the match was largely the Kenny Omega show without much from Okada. Finishing stretch however, was one of the most insane things I've ever seen. Both guys really delivered in the end. Wasn't perfect, but still a really good wrestling match. ****1/2.

Loved this match. I'm actually a very big fan of Okada even he does deserve criticism for his strikes and spotty offensive selling. Still, really great story of Okada being obsessed with trying to prove he could beat Shibata at his own game but could not, relying on his endurance and unreal ability to absorb punishment to keep hanging on. Felt the ending was a bit weird where Okada was finally able to just kick Shibata enough times to hit the Rainmaker, but before then this match was damn near flawless. ****3/4, Okada's best since King of Pro Wrestling 2013 and if not Shibata's best, then a close second to his G1 match with Ishii.

• Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu and Riki Choshu (AJPW, February 1, 1986) • Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu and Toshiaki Kawada (Real World Tag League Day 22, 1988) • Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair (Chi-Town Rumble 1989) • Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (Great American Bash 1989) • Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (Clash of the Champions IX) • Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue, and Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW, October 19, 1990) • El Dandy vs. El Satanico (EMLL, December 14, 1990) • Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue, and Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW, April 20, 1991) • Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and Akira Taue (AJPW Summer Action Series II, September 4, 1991) • Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat (AJPW Super Power Series Day 8, 1992) • Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW Excite Series, February 28, 1993) • Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, July 29, 1993) • Akira Hokuto and Shinobu Kandori vs. Aja Kong and Bull Nakano (Queendom II, March 27, 1994) • Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, June 3, 1994) • Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi vs. Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, June 9, 1995) • Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama vs. Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW Super Power Series Day 5, 1996) • Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama vs. Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW Real World Tag League Day 16, 1996) • Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, January 20, 1997) • Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart (WrestleMania 13) • Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (Badd Blood 1997) • America’s Most Wanted vs. Triple X (Turning Point 2004) • Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinnes (ROH Unified 2006) • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki (King of Pro Wrestling 2012) • Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii (G1 Climax, August 3, 2013) • Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (King of Pro Wrestling 2013) • Kota Ibushi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Wrestle Kingdom 9 2015) • Seth Rollins vs. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (Royal Rumble 2015) • Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega (G1 Climax 26 Day 18, 2016) • A.J. Styles vs. John Cena (Royal Rumble 2017) • Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (Dominion 6.11 2017) • Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii (G1 Special in USA) • Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (G1 Climax, August 12) • Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega (G1 Climax, August 13) • Golden Lovers vs. Young Bucks (Strong Style Evolved, March 25, 2018) • Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT Takeover: New Orleans)