Muss

I do think one of Shingo's strengths compared to some of the other Dragon Gate wrestlers is that he worked as an entry point into the style that they really needed in the early 2010s. His power junior style was pretty unique to the promotion at the time before wrestler's like Ben-K and Big R Shimizu came into their own. That style difference was really encompassed in his title run in 2015 where his bullying, relentless pace was put center stage while generating real heat from the main Dragon Gate fanbase. The Veserk faction and his heel title run was easy to understand without the years of intricate booking that a lot of Dragon Gate had reached by then, because they were just bully wrestlers tearing their way through the roster. That faction does not work without Shingo, every member of that faction adopted his attitude and style, and Shingo's personality continued to ratchet up the tension in the faction until it eventually fell apart and was renamed to ANTIAS as the younger members of the faction took over. When Shingo left Dragon Gate really lost that contrast in their style throughout their cards, and has only really gained it back in the last year or so.

Since the poll in 2016, Ishii has maintained his pace as one of the best workers on New Japans roster and a contender for the best wrestler in the G1 Climax every year. He also had several series with the top guys on NJPW’s roster where he was able to shine in a main event context. For those who have not been watching New Japan in the last decade, here is a non-comprehensive guide of some of Ishii’s best matches from 2016-2021 with MOTYC highlighted in bold: Tomohiro Ishii vs Katsuyori Shibata 1/4/2016 Tomohiro Ishii vs Katsuyori Shibata 2/11/2016 Tomohiro Ishii vs Tetsuya Naito 5/3/2016 Tomohiro Ishii vs Kazuchika Okada 8/6/2016 Tomohiro Ishii vs Kenny Omega 3/12/2017 Tomohiro Ishii vs Katsuyori Shibata 3/19/2017 Tomohiro Ishii vs Kenny Omega 5/3/2017 Tomohiro Ishii vs Kenny Omega 7/2/2017 Tomohiro Ishii vs Hiroshi Tanahashi 8/6/2017 Tomohiro Ishii vs Tetsuya Naito 10/9/2017 Tomohiro Ishii vs Zach Sabre Jr (Rev Pro) 4/6/2018 Tomohiro Ishii vs Tetsuya Naito 7/19/2018 Tomohiro Ishii vs Hirooki Goto 7/21/2018 Tomohiro Ishii vs Kota Ibushi 7/28/2018 Tomohiro Ishii vs Kenny Omega 8/4/2018 Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi 9/7/2018 Tomohiro Ishi & Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi 9/30/2019 Tomohiro Ishii vs Yuji Nagata 3/8/2019 Tomohiro Ishii vs Jay White 7/15/2019 Tomohiro Ishii vs Juice Robinson 7/28/2019 Tomohiro Ishii vs Shingo Takagi 8/8/2019 Tomohiro Ishii vs Shingo Takagi 2/20/2020 Ishii’s age does appear to be getting to him as NJPW’s style transitions to something that is less serious and more focused on angles, but he is still able to have a great match when given the time and attention. He was arguably the best opponent of several of New Japan’s stars during their peak run from 2012-2019, including Shibata, Omega, Goto, and Makabe. A great upper-mid card workhorse who was able to beat anyone, and be beaten by anyone over the course of nearly a decade.

Hey everyone, I found PWO from the podcasts around GWE 2016 and I've been a lurker here ever since, but with GWE starting back up I thought it was a good opportunity to finally join the discussions. I’m 26 and live in Atlanta, Georgia. I started watching wrestling in 2012 and really branched out beyond WWE around 2014. The main modern stuff I watch is the American Indies and NJPW and Noah, but with the pandemic happening, i’ve really enjoyed going back and delving through old footage to build a better base of footage that I’m familiar with. My favorite three matches are probable Zach Sabre Jr - Roderick Strong from PWG 4/2/2015, Jumbo Tsuruta - Genichiro Tenryu AJPW 6/5/89 and Bret Hard - Steve Austin 3/23/1997. I’m in the middle of a big deep dive on Kiyoshi Tamura and going year by year in wrestling for the 2000s. The gaps I’m hoping to fill in the next few years are WoS, Joshi, and peak Ring of Honor. I really look forward to taking part in discussions and learning a lot!