KawadaSmile Posted January 7, 2017 Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 Personally I think that G1 match against Ishii is his best one ever. I didn't like the WK10 match on rewatch, but it's possible JvK will enjoy it, as it has the tropes found in that match, plus more ridiculous shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted January 7, 2017 Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 It seems like Shibata is in A LOT of repeat match-ups. Fair read? Everyone in New Japan is. GOTNW nailed it. Not unlike AJPW booking just without overarching story for most part Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted January 7, 2017 Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 Parv GOTNW just found a great Shibata that is also Fujitsu classic I've been looking for. Fujita vs Shibata for IWGP Championship July 2004. Some crazy stiff shots and a great champion vs young lion story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Always thought Shibata's gimmick was more "80s throwback shooter" than "shoot style". With a touch of "I am Inoki reborn" mixed in. He was doing the manjigatame for a moment there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted January 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Apart from wearing black tights and being Japanese I can see literally zero of Inoki in Shibata. I don't see much 80s in him either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 The way he worked versus Tanahashi and Nakamura is as throwback traditional New Japan style as it got in recent years. His gimmick was "strong style revival" before he went to do MMA, during that phase he was also part of a stable that worshipped Inoki as a deity. He trained with Maeda and Funaki somewhere around that time too. His style started to change once he started doing full tours, and I'd say it was for the worse. In the 2013 G1 he was pretty much working a semi shoot gimmick, everyone had to adapt to his style and work to get all of their usual moves in. Almost none of that is left now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliott Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 I second Phil's Futen recommendations. That Ono vs Ikeda match is must see shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted January 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 I thought the style he worked the Ishii match in the 2013 G1 and the style he worked the Goto match from a couple of nights back was substantially the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkix Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 And you should watch that. And you should also watch that Shibata/KENTA vs Taue/someone else tag because you'll get a kick out of young Shibata being a little shit to Taue in it. Check out Shibata's match with Akiyama from Wrestle-1. Also, I think Shibata's match against Kojima from last year was probably his best NEVER title defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 I thought the style he worked the Ishii match in the 2013 G1 and the style he worked the Goto match from a couple of nights back were substantially the same.The Ishii match was pretty much the only match from that G1 where he worked like that. His matches versus Kojima, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Tanahashi, Devitt etc. were all worked differently. Anything post 2012 is likely to have less matwork and shootiness to it but even after his return reckless 1 count pop up trainwrecks didn't immediately become the norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted January 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Well as you know I fucking despise Inoki and think he's the most boring wrestler ever to work multiple main events, so any shift away from being like him is a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Well as you know I fucking despise Inoki and think he's the most boring wrestler ever to work multiple main events, so any shift away from being like him is a good thing. Based on what I've read from you here, don't listen to these guys. When Shibata & Sakuraba first came back in 2012, they were pretty dull. Shibata adjusted and became the uber masculine, more-guts-than-brains, dick measuring asshole that you seem to be enjoying in these reviews. Sakuraba stayed dull, didn't get over, never got out of the midcard, and is now out of the company. I don't think the style gets redundant like others are saying, either. I though the Dome match was fucking awesome, just like the Ishii Dome match, just like all of the 2015, 2014, 2013 G1 stuff... You should watch the Ishii/Goto matches, too. More pure, unadulterated, stupid men doping stupid things and defiantly no selling until one guy dies. How that can ever wear thin is a mystery to me, but to each his own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Well as you know I fucking despise Inoki and think he's the most boring wrestler ever to work multiple main events, so any shift away from being like him is a good thing. Based on what I've read from you here, don't listen to these guys. When Shibata & Sakuraba first came back in 2012, they were pretty dull. Shibata adjusted and became the uber masculine, more-guts-than-brains, dick measuring asshole that you seem to be enjoying in these reviews. Sakuraba stayed dull, didn't get over, never got out of the midcard, and is now out of the company. I don't think the style gets redundant like others are saying, either. I though the Dome match was fucking awesome, just like the Ishii Dome match, just like all of the 2015, 2014, 2013 G1 stuff... You should watch the Ishii/Goto matches, too. More pure, unadulterated, stupid men doping stupid things and defiantly no selling until one guy dies. How that can ever wear thin is a mystery to me, but to each his own. Cosign all of this. Caveat that it doesn't wear thin, but the impact and innovative aspect of it that's there the first couple times does wear off eventually. Its always good but that shock to the system can't last forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Nice narrative creation Joe. What did Sakuraba ever do except semi main a Dome in a fantastic match and put on good showings every time he was there? Pretty good for a middle aged man with a wrecked body doing a side gig. I must have imagined the fans cheering him and accepting him after the initial scepticism of the Laughter 7 angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Nice narrative creation Joe. What did Sakuraba ever do except semi main a Dome in a fantastic match and put on good showings every time he was there? Pretty good for a middle aged man with a wrecked body doing a side gig. I must have imagined the fans cheering him and accepting him after the initial scepticism of the Laughter 7 angle. That's how I saw his run. Off the top of my head, Sak had two good matches (Shibata, one of the Nagata bouts) and one great match (Nakamura). To me, the rest of his run was largely shit, with Sak looking bored & uninterested. People use the term "playing pro wrestler" a lot, and to me that perfectly described his run. It looked like it was all tongue in cheek to him, like he wasn't ever taking it seriously. Shibata quickly blew by him in popularity because regardless of real life ability, Shibata came off like the real life bad ass, while Sak came off like a dude doing half ass loose as fuck grappling that didn't get over. He was good for about one good match per year. And I say all of this with Sak being my favorite MMA fighter of all time. Sak the pro wrestler can kick rocks. He was carried a couple of times to good matches, and outside of that, he was below average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Almost all of his singles matches and tag matches he's had on relevant shows were well received-and when they weren't it was due to Gracies or something similar. Sakuraba spent most of his time in New Japan having no program whatsoever or making Nagata feel a little better about losing real fights 15 years ago. I mean what exactly would have a satisfying run been to you then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Almost all of his singles matches and tag matches he's had on relevant shows were well received-and when they weren't it was due to Gracies or something similar. Sakuraba spent most of his time in New Japan having no program whatsoever or making Nagata feel a little better about losing real fights 15 years ago. I mean what exactly would have a satisfying run been to you then? Better matches, or at least looking like he gave a shit in the ones that weren't good. idk, I feel like we're derailing things here. I found him boring outside of two or three bouts. I do think the Shibata match is worth a watch for Parv, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 There's also a pretty short match against Kawada back in '04 that, while not exactly stellar, is a good dynamic between hungry young lion versus grumpy old vet. Kawada's selling in this match is pretty great, and even if by that point he was broken down, could still tell a good story when needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Yes, watch Kawada vs. Shibata from November 2004. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimArg Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 I don't think anybody mentioned Shibata vs Ibushi from 07/29/15. I didn't like the match at all, but Parv might dig it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InYourCase Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 I don't think anybody mentioned Shibata vs Ibushi from 07/29/15. I didn't like the match at all, but Parv might dig it. I brought it up because, A) One of my favorite Shibata matches B ) Hopefully that sheds some light here on how great Ibushi is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew wardlaw Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 I feel like that match against AJ Styles is one of Shibata's best performances. Him selling the arm injury and the finish really showed how dynamic and complete he is as a wrestler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 You should try watching the Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato matches. I don't have dates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew wardlaw Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 You should try watching the Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato matches. I don't have dates.5/28/1510/29/15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 You should try watching the Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato matches. I don't have dates.5/28/1510/29/15 Can also add: 6/26/16 -- 6-man that sees Okabayashi team with the Twin Toweres against Sekimoto, Hama & Kamitani 10/31/16 -- BJW tag league match between the 2 teams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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