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NBIceman posted...

Iceman's Match Recommendation (Week 2)
Katsuyori Shibata vs Kota Ibushi
NJPW, G1 Climax 25 - July 29, 2015
Match Link: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Hs411W7UA?from=search&seid=16498732861684611450
NJPW World Link: https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00333_7_07#

I had two matches in consideration for this week, and the other one was posted by Bidoof. Glad to end up with an easy decision after all!

At least I know you and Steiner weren't eyeing my backup. I'll be holding onto that match for a future week. =)

This is the only singles match these two ever had, and though they couldn't have known that then, they sure worked like they had nothing to leave on the table for the future.

That's kind of the beauty of Shibata's style. Outside of the occasional match you could tell was cut short for event timing (like his match with Goto at the Tokyo Dome one year), you never feel like he's holding anything back. There's no lingering sense of "oh, he's saving something for the rematch"; Shibata is a very in-the-moment kind of wrestler. We all know where that eventually went, but at least we will always have wonderful matches like this.

One of my favorite things about this match is that you could tell the crowd had no idea what they were going to get with this match. Ibushi was a former junior finding his place in the heavyweight division, which hasn't always been a successful endeavor (hi Wataru Inoue). Shibata was also a guy trying to establish his spot and earn the respect of his peers backstage. What you got was a really crisp, real fast strike battle between two guys who seemed to feel that they had nothing to lose. I can definitely see why you were thinking about either this or Sasaki/Takayama as they are very similar matches. Personally, I prefer the type of brawl you get from Sasaki/Takayama as it feels more novel today but this match is still great. Another strong recommendation.