"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 Okada posing on the turnbuckle, money raining down but never touching Shibata and them capturing a moment, I feel the same but in a different sense; Shibata is the last ember of a once raging fire, the last bastion of a bygone era before Bushiroad whereas Okada is the representation of New Japan going into the 2010s and onwards, especially after the Bushiroad purchase and this is truly the perfect clash of those different generations, the golden boy vs the prodigal son.
From minute one of this Shibata drags Okada down into his waters and he is very clearly willing to let Okada drown, Okada can swim, we know that but can he swim in these waters. The strikes in this match are just other worldly from Shibata, you hear every single thud of flesh from the elbows, you can feel every single kick to Okada, the venom that is put behind everything from Shibata here throughout the entire match is felt, it is absolutely unrelenting even with what Okada does throw at Shibata at times, he is given it back tenfold.
That is not to say however that Okada's work in this match is bad either, it's in fact quite the opposite. Of course you still get a lot of the "Okada-isms" within this and at times it does slightly detract from his performance, but as a whole I think it is SO good that it can be forgiven. The early exchanges where Shibata baits Okada into getting on the floor and grappling with him, that cocky shit thinking he's so good he can do everything and immediately gets tied up and wrapped around by Shibata. Okada's struggle here and throughout the match is something I'm very high on, he doesn't just let Shibata have his way with him, he tries to escape and when Shibata eventually locks something in (in this early instance, an armbar), the champion immediately sells the urgency to escape it and gets to the ropes very quickly. It's something that doesn't happen nearly enough with full extension armbars so seeing Okada do that early on was very nice to see. It isn't just here too, there's a period later on where Shibata looks to get in an Indian Deathlock and Okada does absolutely EVERYTHING not to be locked in, he holds Shibata's leg away from fully locking it in, he tries to drag himself to the ropes, anything Okada can do to try and escape this he does. Similarly afterwards, when Shibata locks in a Bow & Arrow, Okada uses his body weight to immediately push himself towards the ropes to escape.
All of what I've said so far ties in to what I personally believe to be the thread throughout the match. Kazuchika Okada fears Katsuyori Shibata. There are slight moments where Okada gives this away, the usual calm demeanor breaking when he realises the depths he needs to sink to to beat Shibata, there's a moment fairly early on where Okada backs Shibata into the corner and instead of allowing the clean break, Okada nails Shibata with a few elbows to attempt to gain the upper hand or later on when he has a Cravate hold locked in, when Shibata makes it to the ropes, instead of immediately breaking as Shibata does for all of his submissions, Okada cranks even more, giving that little bit more of punishment to Shibata, anything to try and get ahead and in control, anything to dispel this fear. Okada knows who he is, he is the golden goose, he is the chosen one and everything he has built up gets stripped down to it's core in this match; all of the pomp and circumstance, all of the mythic nature he has built up over 5 years means nothing when the bell rings and Okada is stripped to his bare bones in this match and in this environment he cannot survive and that is what scares Okada, that is what pushes him to take all of these shortcuts. For all of the shortcuts he takes though, Shibata makes him eat shit for every single one of them one way or another.
Okada though eventually realises that the only way to beat Shibata is to drag himself out of these waters and into the waters he is most comfortable in, the Bushiroad New Japan House Style. The longer the match goes, the more Okada realises this and he does everything he can to get himself there, getting really vicious in his attacks, laying in his strikes as much as he can whether it be his elbows or his uppercuts. There's a section after the aforementioned Cravate where Shibata and Okada trade slaps while sitting cross-legged a Shibata-ism that feels kind of out place given everything that had led up to it so far, yet what it leads to afterwards is what is really good. It's all about Shibata pushing Okada, he wants to see him swim in these waters and the champion eventually realises to be able to get to those waters, he needs to swim through the water Shibata has dragged him into. When they stand up following this, Okada nails Shibata with a huge elbow, the look on Shibata's face as he staggers back into the corner almost one of shock that the champion actually had something like that in his locker but he doesn't get time to rest, Okada is immediately on him, putting him down in the corner just stomping down on him, only being stopped by Red Shoes pulling him away and just when you think that Shibata is going to get a second of restbite, Okada flies in with his own variation of Shibata's signature hesitation dropkick, landing it flush on the face of Shibata.
This viciousness however turns into overzealousness, Okada gets slightly too comfortable, allowing Shibata to fairly quickly regain control, giving back those stomps he recieving by almost kicking and stomping Okada's head out of the ring. Shibata also uses this overzealousness to lure Okada in, he's adapting and knowing what is coming, he locks an Abdominal Stretch in and fairly quickly Okada drags himself to the ropes, interestingly enough, Shibata makes no effort to stop this, instead, when Okada does to the ropes, he's immediately hit with a flush knee right to the ribs as well as a kick right to the strong arm of Okada, weakening the eventual Rainmaker that will almost certainly come.
Even with everything I've mentioned so far though, that's not why this match is remembered, it's not why it's revered or considered one of the best ever. This match holds an almost mythic standing due to everything that happens after the match, which most people attribute to a certain moment (which well get to) however, whilst obviously I don't know all the facts it feels like everything leading up to and within the match could be the cause of the subdural hematoma Shibata suffers. He comes into the match dehydrated, which when you look at how much Shibata sweats in this match becomes really obvious, his body loses an unnatural amount of water in this, there's a moment after Shibata hits a hesitation dropkick that he looks at Okada and almost has to shake off some cobwebs to wake himself up and remind himself what he's actually doing. Then there's obviously that, which is a major cause of everything that happens but there's a particular nasty German Suplex Okada lands which spikes Shibata right on his head and I genuinely cannot tell if it's just a great sell or if Shibata is genuinely out of it, it takes a solid 20 seconds at least for Shibata to move and that's only when he's lifted up and that is when it happens.
Okada grips Shibata's wrist, looking for the Rainmaker and as he ripcords him out, Shibata parries the lariat with a front kick before a few more to the side of the head, the champion fires up, nailing the Rainmaker onto Okada yet the only one who collapses is Okada. The Lariat is simply absorbed by Shibata, who simply shakes his head and looks down at the fallen champion, lifting him up by his head and nailing him with a headbutt that you immediately hear the thud of. The camera here focuses on Shibata, just looking down at Okada, before pulling his head up, a singular stream of blood trickling down his head, before looking into the camera and with Sumo Hall reaching absolutely pandemonium, a nod of acknowledgement, he continues his work.
A lot of the action following this is Shibata controlling and beating down Okada, a Manjigatame is what follows the headbutt, there's something poetic about the first move his most infamous and iconic piece of offense ever being the move of Inoki and he really cinches it in on him. When Okada finally does get out, he is simply met with a flurry of PKs to the chest, each one harder than the last as Okada tries to rise up. Eventually, Shibata locks in the Sleeper, typically the precursor to the Penalty Kick, this time however, the challenger switches it up, launching Okada overhead with a Sleeper Suplex.
It's here that it really feels like Shibata cannot fall, he truly feels like God and that there is nothing that could even stop him, he picks up Okada, and seemingly gets him in position for a Rainmaker, ripcording him out and winding up one of the most vicious and thunderous slaps you've ever heard, one which just slumps Okada down to his knees. Shibata is unrelenting though, laying into Okada with kick after kick after kick to the chest and body of the fallen champion, there's a key thing here which proves to be Shibata's fatal flaw, the one oversight he makes in this entire match, he never lets go of the wrist. When Shibata looks to run the ropes and nail one final PK, Okada has gained control of the wrist and just pulls him back into a Rainmaker. The camera just focusing on both men's wrists, Okada having the grip over Shibata's, the door of opportunity pulled wide open for him finally.
Even now though, after everything he's suffered, Shibata is still defiant, he will still fight, kicking at Okada when pulled up but the wrist is never let go of, Okada hits a huge Rainmaker once again, crumpling Shibata down to his knees this time, Okada only held up by Shibata's prone body finally though, Okada is finally able to have Shibata so beaten down that he can finally now hit the Rainmaker proper. Still though, as Okada ripcords out Shibata, an elbow is winded up by the challenger, one final shot being loaded but Okada hits first, crumpling the challenger down before finally covering Shibata and ending the war. It doesn't feel like Okada has won this, it feels as if he has survived Shibata.
This is a match that almost needs to be seen to be believed, it truly has surpassed something that is just "good" or "great", this match is truly special. Everything about it is special, from the moments that are talked about constantly (for better and for worse) to everything that isn't talked about nearly as much (especially the performance of Okada) and it truly is a must watch experience, even if this style isn't for you, give it a chance, it's 38 minutes that feels like it passes in 25. It is the final flame of a bygone era of New Japan finally being extinguished by the embodiment of what New Japan is today and even though the modern New Japan product isn't for everyone and certain aspects of that can be overrated at times, there is something beautiful about that to me. One of many incredible performances from Shibata but truly a once in a lifetime performance for Kazuchika Okada.
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