5 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2014

#4 Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata – NJPW Destruction in Kobe

There is a lot of history between these two wrestlers. Tanahashi and Shibata (along with Nakamura) were meant to be NJPW new ‘Three Musketeers’, the trio that would become the top stars of the company (like how Hashimoto, Chono and Muto were in the 1990s).

But Shibata left NJPW for MMA, and his career there didn’t pan out as he had planned. So when he returned, there was anger from Tanahashi, as he felt Shibata had turned his back on NJPW and had now come back as if he was still deserving of a top spot.

That turned into a very dramatic match that oozed bitterness. The normally clean-cut Tanahashi slapped Shibata on the face, and from there all hell broke loose. These two grapplers went to war with each other, and at one point they exchanged stiff strikes outside the ring until the count of 19 before getting back in the ring together and continuing that same strike exchange. That’s how realistic the hatred came across.

Yet through all that, and despite all of Shibata’s ‘realistic’ fighting experience, it wasn’t enough to overcome the bottomless well of determination that is Hiroshi Tanahashi. The ‘one-in-a-century-wrestler’ withstood everything Shibata threw at him, even hitting his dragon screw leg whip as Shibata hit him with the stiffest strikes possible.

What makes this match so great is that it adds a layer of story that isn’t common in puroresu. Normally, Japanese wrestling follows a straightforward, sport-like approach of ‘two opponents, both want to win’ with little else in terms of gimmicks.

This match was an exception, as two wrestlers with contrasting styles fought each other while having very bitter feelings towards each other. That came out in this truly dramatic and exciting wrestling match.