New Japan Rumble: Jado vs. Captain New Japan vs. Cheeseburger vs. Great Kabuki vs. Hiro Saito vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Jushin Liger vs. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. King Haku vs. Manabu Nakanishi vs. Mascara Dorada vs. Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Satoshi Kojima vs. Shiro Koshinaka vs. Tiger Mask vs. YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Yuji Nagata 31:51
IWGP Junior Tag Title Match: Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly vs. Nick & Matt Jackson vs. Baretta & Rocky Romero vs. Matt Sydall & Ricochet 16:42
NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Title Decision Match: Toru Yano & Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi 11:34
ROH World Title Match: Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin 12:00
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Kenny Omega vs. KUSHIDA 12:48
IWGP Tag Title Match: Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma 12:49
Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito 12:16
NEVER Openweight Title Match: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata 17:19. Very good match.
IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles 24:18
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 36:01. Very good match.
Jay White vs. David Finlay 7:01
Jushin Thunder Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask vs. Gedo & Kazushi Sakuraba & YOSHI-HASHI 7:25
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata 11:05
BUSHI & EVIL & Tetsuya Naito vs. Juice Robinson & KUSHIDA & Michael Elgin 8:48
NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Title Match: Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe & Toru Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi 10:08
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Three Way Match: Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Matt Sydal & Ricochet vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly 14:59
NEVER Openweight Title Match: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii 18:47
Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson & Kenny Omega vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Hiroshi Tanahashi 17:11
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto 25:27
10/12/09 Tokyo: Kota Ibushi & Shodai Tiger Mask & Tiger Mask vs. AKIRA & Jushin Thunder Liger & Riki Choshu
10/11/10 Tokyo IWGP Junior Tag Title: Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega
1/4/11 Tokyo Dome IWGP Junior Title: Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi
6/18/11 Osaka IWGP Junior Title: Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi
10/8/12 Tokyo IWGP Junior Title: Kota Ibushi vs. Low Ki
1/4/13 Tokyo Dome IWGP Junior Title: Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi vs. Low Ki
8/4/13 Osaka G1 Climax Block B: Kota Ibushi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
1/4/14 Tokyo Dome IWGP Junior Title: Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi
3/6/14 Tokyo: Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada
3/15/15 Hiroshima NJ Cup Final: Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto
4/5/15 Tokyo IWGP Title: AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi
7/20/15 Sapporo G1 Climax Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson 2:26
Gedo & Kazushi Sakuraba & Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI vs. David Finlay & Jay White & Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask 7:23
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Beretta & Rocky Romero vs. Matt Sydal & Ricochet 16:26
NEVER Openweight Tag Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu vs. Kenny Omega & Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson 14:03
IWGP Tag Title Match: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma 12:12
NEVER Openweight Title Match: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata 11:53
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: KUSHIDA vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 14:37
EVIL vs. Hirooki Goto 9:53
Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA 15:11
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii 30:33. Very good match.
Bobby Fish & Satoshi Kojima & Volador Jr. vs. Beretta & Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay 9:56
Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask & Yuji Nagata vs. Jay White & Juice Robinson & Katsuyori Shibata 9:10
Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens & Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Captain New Japan & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ricochet & Yoshitatsu 9:29
EVIL & SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI 11:39
Best Of The Super Junior XXIII Block A Match: Rocky Romero [2] vs. David Finlay [0] 11:00
Best Of The Super Junior XXIII Block A Match: Gedo [2] vs. BUSHI [0] 11:34
Best Of The Super Junior XXIII Block A Match: Ryusuke Taguchi [2] vs. Matt Sydal [0] 10:20
Best Of The Super Junior XXIII Block A Match: Kyle O'Reilly [2] vs. KUSHIDA [0] 20:06. Not only a huge improvement over their 10/2/15 RPW rematch, but a distinct, legitimate rival to their amazing 6/7/15 Super Jr final. O'Reilly improved considerably in the year since their first meeting, & was now able to put so much more of his game together, chaining, comboing, & countering crisper, faster, & more aggressively. The match was cleaner & flowed a lot smoother from the combination of familiarity & clearer focus due to KUSHIDA not being woozy for the majority of the match. Back in the main event where they belong, this was just a wonderful way to kick off the 2016 Super Jr. league, a match that had more of a junior style feel than their previous matches while also having more of an MMA style feel. Due to being 10 minutes shorter than last years final, it was a lot more briskly paced & aggressive, and while obviously not as important without the trophy on the line, they actually seemed to wrestle with more urgency, increasing the stiffness & adopting a full steam ahead style, just really using their speed a lot more & having the confidence to take it to each other so beautifully & brutally. This was as good a match as the league portion has ever produced, having all the intensity & aura that the RPW sequel was missing & always feeling like a meaningful match where both were giving their all. They had a really clear idea of what they were trying to do here, and were firing off all sorts of great chain wrestling, being really technical but also using their speed & athleticism to enhance everything they did. The striking was excellent here as everything was either a combination, a single shot that left the opponent prone so they could immediately hit the next move or sequence, or a series that added to the story of the match (KUSHIDA's kicks to the arm). There was a n effortless sequence where O'Reilly had a double leg takedown, mounted, used a little ground & pound to open up the armbar then shifted to a heel hold when that didn't work. KUSHIDA still worked the arm, though with much less emphasis on the Kimura, while O'Reilly switched to the knee, though his push was more to get to the point of a submission so he could chain them until something worked. This was really the style of the match in general & what made it so riveting, the perpetual get something & then keep switching & progressing until something sticks. It wasn't so much about doing a move as making something of whatever position you happened to be in. Sane wrestlers would learn from what went wrong in the past, but instead of avoiding the dangerous spot that gave KUSHIDA the concussion, KUSHIDA this time used the arm breaker off the 2nd on Kyle. Fish wasn't at ringside this time, but he was surely back in the dressing room screaming "you're evil!" Another play off the 1st match saw O'Reilly turn KUSHIDA's standing moonsault into a triangle, though KUSHIDA quickly cartwheeled out of the move that cost him the 2nd match. This set up the spot of the match later on where O'Reilly set KUSHIDA up on a chair & ran the apron trying for a dropkick, but KUSHIDA turned it into a flying armbar, taking out the chair in the process. Whereas O'Reilly holding the ropes in the RPW match just seemed like the usual cornball pro wrestling shenanigans to get a reaction, his introduction of the chair & his low blow after catching one of KUSHIDA's kicks to his arm came off much better here, they seemed like he'd become desperate enough that he stooped from his honorable perch & didn't stop trying to win the match to toy with the crowd. These guys were coming up with nutty counters all over the place, KUSHIDA even turning O'Reilly's guard pull guillotine into a Dragon suplex. Finally Kyle got KUSHIDA in the triangle again, but rather than waiting, this time he quickly switched into his ARMageddon for the win. For me, this is their best match, and a match that's actually pretty underrated. It's more creative & the level of difficulty is higher, yet this time they pull everything off to perfection. *****
Rocky Romero & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Matt Sydal & Michael Elgin 8:25
David Finlay & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Kyle O'Reilly & Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata vs. Jay White & Juice Robinson & Katsuyori Shibata & KUSHIDA & Ryusuke Taguchi 9:16
Best Of The Super Junior XXIII Block B: Tiger Mask [2] vs. Chase Owens [2] 6:46
Best Of The Super Junior XXIII Block B: Bobby Fish [2] vs. Beretta [4] 11:01
Bad Luck Fale & Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Captain New Japan & Satoshi Kojima & Yoshitatsu 9:31
BUSHI & EVIL & SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. Gedo & Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii 13:37
Best Of The Super Junior XXIII Block B: Volador Jr. [4] vs. Jushin Thunder Liger [4] 9:02
Best Of The Super Junior XXIII Block B: Will Ospreay [2] vs. Ricochet [4] 16:47
Jay White vs. David Finlay 6:12
Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Captain New Japan & Yoshitatsu 7:11
Juice Robinson & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata 7:50
Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Beretta & Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii 8:12
KUSHIDA & Matt Sydal & Ricochet vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask & Volador Jr. 8:50
Michael Elgin & Satoshi Kojima vs. Bad Luck Fale & Kenny Omega 11:43
BUSHI & EVIL & SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. Gedo & Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI 9:38
Best Of The Super Junior XXIII Final: Will Ospreay vs. Ryusuke Taguchi 22:05
Jushin Thunder Liger & Katsuyori Shibata & Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask vs. Captain New Japan & KUSHIDA & Ryusuke Taguchi & Tomoaki Honma 10:39
Katsuhiko Nakajima & Toru Yano vs. Juice Robinson & Satoshi Kojima 9:37
BULLET CLUB (Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. CHAOS (Gedo & YOSHI-HASHI) 10:09
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito) vs. David Finlay & Michael Elgin & Yuji Nagata 12:04
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tomohiro Ishii 14:08
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Togi Makabe vs. Tama Tonga 10:37
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Hirooki Goto vs. Bad Luck Fale 9:18
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: SANADA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 19:30
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kazuchika Okada 19:07. Good match.
10/29/06 Kobe: Tetsuya Naito vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa
10/13/08 Tokyo IWGP Junior Tag Title: Minoru & Prince Devitt vs. Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro Takahashi
1/4/10 Tokyo Dome IWGP Tag Title: Devon & Brother Ray vs. Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson
10/10/11 Tokyo IWGP Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito
1/4/12 Tokyo Dome: Tetsuya Naito vs. Keiji Muto
3/4/12 Tokyo IWGP Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito
8/11/13 Tokyo G 1 Climax Final: Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
3/12/16 Amori NJ Cup Final: Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto
Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Captain New Japan & Ryusuke Taguchi 5:09
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Juice Robinson & KUSHIDA & Satoshi Kojima 8:05
BULLET CLUB (Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata 7:53
CHAOS (Gedo, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. David Finlay & Katsuyori Shibata & Michael Elgin & Tomoaki Honma 9:01
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Tama Tonga vs. SANADA 10:40
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe 8:38
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Hirooki Goto vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan 10:02
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kazuchika Okada 18:43. Excellent match.
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji 19:00. Very good match.
Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Captain New Japan & Yoshitatsu 3:07
Jushin Thunder Liger & Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask & Yuji Nagata vs. David Finlay & Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi & Tomoaki Honma 4:40
Katsuyori Shibata & KUSHIDA & Michael Elgin & Satoshi Kojima vs. Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI & Atsushi Kotoge & Katsuhiko Nakajima 8:28
Hangman Page & Kenny Omega & Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi vs. BUSHI & EVIL & Tetsuya Naito & Jay Lethal 7:40
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: SANADA [8] vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] 12:12
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Tomohiro Ishii [8] vs. Togi Makabe [8] 12:33
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Tama Tonga [8] vs. Bad Luck Fale [10] 8:39
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Hirooki Goto [12] vs. Naomichi Marufuji [10] 13:17
G1 Climax 2016 Block A Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi [11] vs. Kazuchika Okada [11] 30:00
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jushin Thunder Liger & Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask vs. Captain New Japan & David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi & Yoshitatsu
Naomichi Marufuji & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Juice Robinson & Togi Makabe
BUSHI & SANADA & Jay Lethal vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA & atoshi Kojima
Bad Luck Fale & Hangman Page & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Gedo & Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada & Jay & Mark Briscoe
Block B: Tomoaki Honma vs. Yuji Nagata
Block B: Toru Yano vs. YOSHI-HASHI
Block B: EVIL vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Block B: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Michael Elgin 16:50. Excellent match.
Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega 28:12. Excellent match.
Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi 5:15
Gedo & Jado vs. Captain New Japan & Yoshitatsu 5:39
Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma 9:10
Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima & Masa Kitamiya & Maybach Taniguchi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Katsuyori Shibata & Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata 10:54
IWGP Tag Title Match: Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi 15:21
ROH World Title Match: Jay Lethal vs. Satoshi Kojima 10:46
BUSHI & EVIL & SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson & KUSHIDA & Michael Elgin 11:32
Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano & Naomichi Marufuji vs. BULLET CLUB Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa 9:10
G1 Climax 2016 Final: Kenny Omega vs. Hirooki Goto 26:49. Great match.
Katsuya Kitamura vs. Tomoyuki Oka 5:00
Quiet Storm vs. Henare 6:02
Hajime Ohara vs. Hirai Kawato 8:08
Keno vs. Teruaki Kanemitsu 6:38
Tomoaki Honma vs. Shiro Tomoyose 7:13
David Finlay vs. GO Asakawa 6:30
Juice Robinson vs. Ayato Yoshida 7:42
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hitoshi Kumano 8:41
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Katsuyori Shibata & Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata vs. Go Shiozaki & Kaito Kiyomiya & Katsuhiko Nakajima & Masa Kitamiya & Maybach Taniguchi 17:46
Tiger Mask W (Kota Ibushi) vs. Red Death Mask (Juice Robinson)7:25
Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Adam Cole & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi 8:40
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Bobby Fish & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Beretta & Jado & Rocky Romero & Toru Yano 8:10
Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima & Masa Kitamiya & Maybach Taniguchi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata 11:49
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. David Finlay & Ricochet 12:47
IWGP Tag Title Match: Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa 13:57
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jay Lethal & KUSHIDA & Michael Elgin vs. BUSHI & EVIL & SANADA & Tetsuya Naito 10:42
NEVER Openweight Title Match: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kyle O'Reilly 18:09. Excellent match.
IWGP Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership Match: Kenny Omega vs. Hirooki Goto 21:52. Great match.
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Naomichi Marufuji 28:00. Very good match.
Marty Scurll vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 13:35
Tomoaki Honma vs. Sha Samuels 6:57
Yuji Nagata vs. Pete Dunne 11:55
Chris Hero vs. Tomohiro Ishii 13:35. Goofy violent fun that the crowd consistently went absolutely nuts for. Ishii typically tried to intimidate Hero at the outset, but Hero was quick to point out his huge size advantage while otherwise ignoring him, brushing him off, & swatting him away. Hero would willingly laugh off a series of shots from Ishii without budging then just level him with 1 of his own. The main problem with the match is once you establish Hero as the immovable force, how do you then make Ishii competitive given Ishii really only strikes & Hero already showed these were nothing? This question was not adequately answered, as suddenly Ishii could take Hero's shots & Hero was now hurting his hand punching Ishii's head just so they could eventually have a competitive match. The spot after this where Ishii avoided Hero's corner charge & followed with a lariat would have been a much better transition to Ishii's offensive rather than a segue into him finally hitting a suplex. I didn't mind Ishii's no selling in and of itself, the issue to me was more that he was blown off his feet by everything Hero did early, but now that he's battered & concussed he's suddenly popping up from piledrivers like the undead. That is, until the 3rd piledriver where instead of popping straight up he was pinned. There was really no rhyme or reason for when Ishii could do something & when he couldn't, or much else here for that matter, but Ishii typically gave a great effort, and the fans massively supported the underdog to the point if you just listened to it you'd be penciling this in as match of the year. In reality though, Ishii only came close to competing, not to winning. Hell, he only advanced to the point of even going for the pin 3 times, and none of those were attempts anyone believed he had a chance of converting. I'll take Hero over Okada any day, he actually brought good things to this match, but Okada is the much more dominant wrestler & Ishii was allowed to push him to the limit & then some in their G1 match on 8/6/16 whereas this was really just a high effort squash. ***1/4
Will Ospreay vs. BUSHI 11:11. Ospreay's greatest hits in between BUSHI lying on his stomach & choking him w/ his shirt. BUSHI did have a sweet backcracker counter for the Oscutter, but was only really competitive while Ospreay was recovering from getting mist spewed in his eyes.
EVIL & SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. David Starr & Trent Seven & Tyler Bate 14:50
RevPro British Heavyweight Title Match: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata 16:39. The effort & chemistry were much better in this rematch from 7/10, and they basically did the match you'd expect from them the first time, a really competitive technical brawl between two wrestler's wrestlers. This was a much more thoughtful & developed match, starting with parity segments where they quickly countered one another & moving into each finally gaining an edge, increasing the intensity & pace as the match unfolded. Advantages were seized early, but almost just as quickly taken away as they went back & forth on the mat. Shibata took over working the arm, but Sabre countered the armwringer & damaged Shibata's arm with an overhead kick. Shibata had a pre-existing shoulder injury, so Sabre was able to gain more traction working that arm & shoulder, getting the 1st extended segment of offense. Shibata was forced to change things up & try to get his striking going, but Sabre quickly countered a right hand with a flying triangle. Shibata eventually Hulked up & absorbed Sabre's best shots to the bad shoulder before leveling him with a single right then taking over with his strikes. Sabre held his own here though, and both hit their penalty kicks to further drive home the idea this was a mirror match. Shibata was able to slow Sabre down enough with his chokes though that he eventually put away an already almost unconscious Sabre with his penalty kick. Again the match was on the short side, but this swift & brutal meeting packed 3 times as much action into the same amount of time as their previous encounter. They're still definitely capable of a lot better, but there was no disappointment this time, as it really felt like a high end Shibata match as he swept us away in his whirlwind of violence & aggression. ***3/4
Charlie Garrett & Joel Redman vs. BUSHI & EVIL 9:44
Josh Bodom vs. Tomoaki Honma 10:35
Yuji Nagata vs. Trent Seven 10:50
Jushin Thunder Liger (Will Ospreay) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 9:49. Ospreay wore a homemade version of Liger's old CTU outfit & they did a comedy leaning mirror match with Ospreay using Liger's moves & mannerisms on him, often at the same time as Liger went for them himself.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Pete Dunne 12:25. While not as good as the Ishii/Hero match from a wrestling perspective, these two short stocky wrestlers are well matched, and were able to do a much better job of telling a simple, logical story . Ishii is the stronger, tougher fighter who wins the striking exchanges, but Dunne can compete by shifting to his cheeky, cheaty small joint manipulation.
SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr. 18:44
RevPro British Heavyweight Title Match: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Chris Hero 13:18. Shibata's match with Hero was more or less the same as Ishii's offensively, just beating the hell out of one another, with the crucial difference that Shibata was always able to hang with Hero in the striking department. Shibata was also in the match because he can rely on submissions, as he tried to do at the outset before Hero sucked him into the striking exchanges, and he can win by using his submissions to finish with his striking as he did to win this title the night before. The match followed Shibata's usual big match formula of continually escalating the intensity, violence, & pace through the striking. The primary quality of Shibata's style is his durability, the opponent will keep hitting him harder & harder until they've unloaded all they possibly could, and he'll just keep absorbing it & stepping forward to get in their face until he finally unleashes his own offense that's usually even more magnificently brutal than what he just withstood. Hero has 75+ pounds on Shibata though, and can absorb his best stuff as well though, so he was also eventually able to turn the tide back countering Shibata's charge with a knee & getting a near fall from a piledriver. Shibata not only managed to kick out, but locked a sleeper, and again this is where him having more tools than Ishii comes in as maybe Shibata can't KO Hero going strike for strike, but he can bring him to the point of nearly being unconscious & then finish him with the penalty kick. The finishing sequence was built around Hero having answers for the sleeper, establishing his own weapons during this portion that Shibata needed to answer in the Gotch style piledriver that took Ishii out the night before & rolling elbow, but Shibata had answers for both Hero's finishers & Hero's answers for the sleeper. The crowd wasn't as into this match as the Hero/Ishii match perhaps because Shibata was an equal to the big man rather than an underdog so the support was a lot more split if not now leaning toward Hero, who while also an outsider has been making stops in the UK since the early days of his career, but the match actually worked because of that & just has much more sweep & a much better dramatic arc. The only negative is the match was on the short side as both had done real matches the night before & Hero was flying back to the states for the EVOLVE shows the next 2 days. I was a bit surprised Shibata got the finish when he did even though the match built well & consistently to that exact moment, probably because the actual kick didn't have the expected oomph. They were really rolling once they got momentum going with Hero's barrage of strikes leading to Shibata's comback, and it was super physical & punishing with nice counters back & forth. Overall, I'd rate this slightly higher than Shibata/Sabre as the match of the Global Wars. ***3/4
10/9/95 Tokyo Dome: Yuji Nagata & Tokimitsu Ishizawa vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara & Kazushi Sakuraba
8/28/99 Tokyo IWGP Tag Title: Michyoshi Ohara & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
8/12/01 Tokyo G1 Climax Final: Yuji Nagata vs. Keiji Muto
5/2/02 Tokyo Dome IWGP Title: Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshihiro Takayama
4/13/07 Osaka IWGP Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata
1/4/08 Tokyo Dome IWGP 3rd Belt Title: Kurt Angle vs. Yuji Nagata
3/20/11 Hyogo NJ Cup Final: Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
2/14/15 Sendai IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yuji Nagata
5/3/16 Fukuoka NEVER Openweight Title: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata