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Kazuchika Okada vs Katsuyori Shibata: NJPW Sakura Genesis 09/04/2017

"God's In His Heaven, All Is Right With The World."   As well all know, Katsuyori Shibata almost dies in the aftermath of this match, this was his personal heaven. It's a match that has been talked about a lot recently, largely due to Joseph Montecillo reviewing this as a commission and seeing him write and talk about it made me want to rewatch it for the year, initially I didn't plan to write about it, but there's so much that this match makes me feel that I just had to. Firstly, even just the presentation of this match makes it feel like the biggest thing in the universe. Ryogoku Sumo Hall is absolutely electric for everything, Masahiro Chono makes a rare commentary appearance for this and everyone in the arena is fully behind Shibata for this, even with Okada being made to feel like the most important being in the world at this point, Shibata is the one in the hearts of the people. I mentioned Joseph's review earlier and he makes a point to the shot of ...
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Yuki Ishikawa vs Ryuji Hijikata - AJPW Only My Royal Road 22/07/2004

Ryuji Hijakata is in hell, unfortunately for him, he is alone with the devil.           Little side note before we start, I was initially planning on writing about Sareee vs Ranna Yagami from the 08/06/2025 Stardom show and I still am going to be! Expect that over the weekend at some point, I've got a few other projects I'm working on as well as that so it'll take a little longer, I just saw this match for the first time a couple of hours ago and felt immediately compelled to write about it so I did, as always I would recommend seeking this match out afterwards, it is easily available on YouTube so it is not difficult to find. Enough yapping though, lets actually talk about this. Yuki Ishikawa is someone who I know a bit about but someone who I want to learn and dive into way more. I already recognise from what I have seen that he's one the rawest and straight up best wrestlers of all time, so him coming up against a BattlArts trainee, one who had left to join A...

Makoto Hashi vs Taro Nohashi - Fu-Ten BATI BATI 35 - 24/04/2010

 What Is Professional Wrestling?    I'm going to begin this by asking a question and if you would indulge me for a few moments, before you read my thoughts and feelings surrounding this fight I just want you to think about what professional wrestling is to you. What is it that brings you back constantly? What is the driving force behind your fandom? At it's core, to you, what is professional wrestling? Whatever your answer may be, keep it, hold onto it and once you have read my thoughts regarding this go and watch this. Calling what transpires here a "match" would be a disservice, this is a fight. This is something so raw and pure that in my few experiences with this (both on initial watch and showing it to two friends who have absolutely zero interest in wrestling) will change how you view pro wrestling as a sport and an art form, whichever you see it as first. A fight that sees Jun Akiyama's protégé Makoto Hashi face off against Taro Nohashi, a man trained by Ul...

Bryan Danielson vs Jon Moxley - AEW WrestleDream 12/10/2024

A Dragon's last breath is the one filled with the most fire.   I would like to specify before going into my thoughts regarding the match that I won't be touching on the post match angle, nor be evaluating this with the view of what the Death Riders has become. This is a match that doesn't deserve to be looked back on with perceptions skewed by what happened following it as none of it really matters in the context of the match itself. Coming into this match there was a sense of dread, a thick fog of fear surrounding this match that it would be the last of the American Dragon's. Less than 8 weeks after the pure euphoria of his victory against Swerve Strickland at All In, Bryan Danielson returns home to defend his championship, his career and god knows, maybe even his life against Jon Moxley. This is a war best summed up in it's opening 5 minutes; the challenger as always with no pomp and circumstance, Moxley is coming into this knowing what needs to be done, knowing h...