Katsuyori Shibata

[Superstar Sleeze]

Shibata was someone who I thought in the right setting could be a really big star after watching his matches against Kawada (2004) & Akiyama (2005), but never seemed to materialize for him in the 2000s. He throws a wicked kick and knows how to spark that type of chaos that can make pro wrestling so gripping. It seems he is finally coming into his own in modern New Japan. I am going to start in 2014 and work my way backwards.

 

Katsuyori Shibata vs Tomoaki Honma - G-1 Climax 2014 Day 8

 

As a straight up fighting spirit match, this is a ton of mindless, slobber knocking fun. But, unlike most fighting spirit matches, this has the cool hook that lovable loser, Honma is looking for his first victory in the G-1 Climax and the crowd is 100% behind him. I like the whole match is just built on Honma's straight ahead approach. There was no heat segment. Honma was going to live and die by his offense. For the most part, he actually overwhelmed the hard hitting Shibata. Shibata could rely on kicks and elbows to always quell any sustained offense, but he was no match for Honma's fast break offense. They built to Honma's falling Harley Race heabutt perfectly as he missed the first two and then when he hit on third try, crowd popped huge! The crowd went nuts for his leaping Zidane headbutt to Shibata's chest. I heard about Honma, but I had no attachment to him going into this. I am on Team Honma for sure now. Dude is pure relentless, positive energy! Shibata chops him in the fucking face at one point. Shibata goes for the penalty kick and Honma catches. Shibata slaps a bunch of times in the face hard. So Honma fucking slaps him into the next week. HOLY SHIT! Nothing stops Honma ok, maybe two boots to the head as he comes off the top rope for a headbutt. NOPE LARIAT~! Fuck, Shibata just hit a damn brick wall. Spinning back hand chop to the face and Shibata finally catches his breath. Sets him up for a G2S, but Honma struggles so Shibata backfists him in the face and then hits the G2S! Honma-Seeking Penalty Kick! Our underdog comes up short again. Awesome, hard-hitting sprint made way better by the great, energetic underdog, Honma who looked poise to score the upset. ****1/2

 

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Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Katsuyori Shibata - G-1 Climax Day 4

 

Pride can be the downfall of even the greatest champions. I have argued before that beauty of Tanahashi is not his magnificent mane, it is his offensive strategy. Tanahashi's game plan is to attack the knee, destroy his opponent's base and set himself up for a victory either via submission (Texas Cloverleaf) or suplexes/High Fly Flow. Tanahashi can not beat Shibata in straight up strike battle. What makes Tanahashi a champion is recognizing that, swallowing his pride and getting to work on his strategy. He is NOT Bob Backlund, who is going to beat his opponent at his own game. He is NOT John Cena that is going to bury his head down, circle the wagons and fight through his opponent. He is Tanahashi, he is going to avoid his opponent's best shot and set himself up for victory.

I have never seen Shibata in this long of a match before especially one where he had to sell so much. He did an admirable job for someone who is better suited to shoot-style mayhem. Tanahashi put over Shibata as a killer early by avoiding the penalty kick and hurrying to the outside to regroup. He lures Shibata to the outside and hits a plancha to set himself up for some knee work. Tanahashi goes to work like usual except he decides to go for a running splash and crashes into the turnbuckle. Shibata is able to smoke Tanahashi with a kick to the head up against the railing. Shibata favors the leg, which is awfully nice of him because Tanahashi really had not gotten down to work on it yet. I have seen people no sell a lot worse and I would have not begrudged him not to sell it. Shibata seems more reserved than usual. He is hitting Tanahashi hard, but it is not as urgent or energetic as I would like it to be. Tanahashi is playing to the crowd way too much when he his flurries of offense and it is costing him. Tanahashi catches the Penalty Kick and Dragon Leg Screw! That's Tanahashi I know! Texas Cloverleaf, but can't secure the submission. I love when Tanahashi flips his opponent over before hitting High Fly Flow to avoid the knees. On his second High Fly Flow (I also like that he does High Fly Flow in pairs), Shibata gets his knees up. Then Tanahashi does something uncharacteristic he gets sucked into an elbow exchange. Shibata is able to obliterate his back with a spinning back chop. Tanahashi's sell is so awesome. Shibata has a bit of trouble with Go 2 Sleep, but is able to wrangle Tanahashi to hit it and the Penalty Kick for the win.

Kayfabe, Tanahashi's head did not seem to be in the game. Playing to the crowd, not exploiting his knee work and then getting sucked into a strike exchange. Non-kayfabe, Tanahashi was crushing it selling for Shibata. Shibata came off as a total badass when Tanahashi was selling his ribs and then selling that last spinning back chop. In a lot of ways this was the story of Tanahashi dropping the ball and Shibata staying steady with game plan of strikes. It felt a bit cold and dry at times. I wanted more out of Shibata, who I know can get feisty, Maybe the story is that he is more concentrated because he respects Tanahashi's status and wanted to focus on winning. Either way it did not grip me even if it was an effective story. ***3/4

[Superstar Sleeze]

I have a backlog of reviews to do. Knock out two before I go to bed.

 

Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs Yuji Nagata & Tomomaki Honma - 6/21/14

 

Picked this match to watch for two reasons: I wanted to watch a modern New Japan tag match and I love the "underdog face paired with a vet face against a bruising heel duo" genre. It looks like the only underperforming part of New Japan is the tag division, which produced pretty much no match of the year contenders. This was the only New Japan heavyweight tag match to even make Voices of Wrestling Top 120 of 2014 countdown. Add in the fact this type of tag match is my favorite type of tags this was a slam dunk to watch. Unfortunately, I was bit disappointed. You think beating the piss out of Honma and a hot finish run would be hard to fuck, but I just didn't think the drama was there. I liked Honma jumpstarting the match. You can't help but be infected by his energy. You want that dude to win a match. He takes it to Shibata early and Nagata/Honma overwhelm Shibata. Shibata finally gets his wits about him and levels Honma with a right elbow and wisely tags out. This is what I am waiting for the beatdown on Honma and it did not last long enough. Goto is just as lame as ever. Shibata was a good dick, but he is no Tenryu. I liked him shoving his boot into Honma's face. Only one knock Nagata off the apron spot? Honma is already making his comeback. Nagata, who is GHC Champ at this point, does feel electric as the vet face bursting on the scene. Shibata tags out and he immediately grabs his armbar. Honma wants in and kicks some Goto ass, which gets me and the crowd rocking. Nagata is a great cheerleader for all this. Honma misses diving headbutt and Goto hits his finishes while Shibata detains Nagata to win the match.

 

It felt really abbreviated and WWE-esque. Like this is one of the better WWE tags of 2014, but happened in NJPW. Where was the usual chipiness and constant shots to the apron guy or holding someone back or the constant saves. It was nice little character piece for Honma, Nagata was a good cheerleader, Shibata is a good dick and Goto is whatever. Honma is entertaining, but not at the level of heat I expect from puro tags. ***

 

Katsuyori Shibata vs Shinsuke Nakamura - G-1 Climax 2014

 

So this weirdo Nakamura that everybody has been raving about well I will take him over Nakamura circa 2008, who was talented, but did not look like he gave one single fuck. Nakamura seems to be playing mind games with the ultra-serious, straitlaced Shibata with his shenanigans: yawning and putting head right on his bellybutton during a rope break. Shibata finally has enough to unleashes a slap. Nakamura is like "You don't have to get hot about it.", but Nakamura misses his running knee. Shibata gets a nice rip over the top rope and then kicks his head off when he is up against the railing. Shibata applies a figure-4, which is inconsequential in the long run. Nakamura hits a monster elbow and Nakamura after failing like two or three times finally gets his knee lift in the corner. I love that Nakamura is still the King of the Knee Lift. They trade moves like knee lifts, Germans and chinlocks. Nakamura comes running in and Shibata dropkicks him in the mush. The one constant thread is that Nakamura should really stop running at Shibata that is his downfall. BOMA YE~! Gets first and only nearfall. Nakamura runs again at Shibata and dropkick. Shibata hits his wicked spinning back chop to face. Go 2 Sleep and Nakamura-Seeking Penalty Kick for the win!

 

Go 2 Sleep/Penalty Kick is my favorite combination finish in the world right now! I love that Shibata constantly countering Nakamura running into him played into the finish. It makes sense not to artificially create separation between you and your opponent. Shibata made him pay. That's neat, sensible storyline that is not exploited enough. Nakamura likes to build momentum for stuff like Boma Ye knee with a running start, but if you telegraph it, you will pay. That's the type of treating wrestling as real that can make matches like this fun. ***3/4

[Mr JMML]

Reading this is incredible after all the things that happened in the last 8 years.