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Post by armsofsleep on Sept 27, 2017 13:59:47 GMT -5
Really fun match with Riddle. Extremely underrated match with Goto at WK that I went ****3/4 on. Had one of Ospreay's most unique matches. Highlight of almost every undercard tag (including the best match on the New Year's Dash show). Fun match with Ishii (as always).
Who cares about all that. He tragically ended his career (probably) with one of the best matches of the decade. He literally almost killed himself to make the match good. Don't see how he can't be on my list. Long live The Wrestler.
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Post by bossrock on Sept 27, 2017 16:02:32 GMT -5
Despite the fact that his career most likely ended in April, there's no way I can leave him off my list. His first quarter probably rivals only A.J.'s in terms of quality and volume. Goto, Riddle, Ospreay, Ishii, Fale(!), Sabre, and of course the match of the year candidate with Okada. Don't really think I need to say more except I'm glad he's relatively healthy after a life-threatening injury.
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jml
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by jml on Sept 28, 2017 14:02:28 GMT -5
I turned the corner with Shibata this year cause he wasn't doing overly stupid stuff like he's done in the past. I thought he was peaking with his toned down style against Riddle, Ospreay and Sabre which culminated in him giving Okada the best match of his career. Definitely will be on my list.
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Post by philschneider on Sept 28, 2017 14:22:32 GMT -5
I would think that headbutting yourself into a coma would count as "overly stupid stuff"
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ed
Junior Member
Posts: 57
Pronoun: He/Him
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Post by ed on Sept 28, 2017 14:32:49 GMT -5
Slam dunk making my list; from the looks of some nominated threads, there will be wrestlers making other people's top 100 with even less matches than Shibata.
I wasn't so high on the Goto match just because I think I've seen enough of their matches together to not get excited by them anymore, but I loved his NJ Cup match with Ishii, his match with Ospreay and his MOTYC with Okada. Fale and Riddle matches were pretty good too.
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jml
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by jml on Sept 28, 2017 16:34:32 GMT -5
I would think that headbutting yourself into a coma would count as "overly stupid stuff" He wasn't doing this year as frequently as he did even last year with the headbutts he did every match. Didn't see it in the matches I stated except for the Okada match. I'm not gonna debate the spot cause it was dumb but judging him from the past years in New Japan, I'll prefer this year's Shibata.
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Post by brockobama on Oct 6, 2017 14:53:30 GMT -5
Wasn't as into the Goto and Ishii matches as much as I should have been, thanks to what is probably just a gradual shift in tastes for me. Still, those were good enough along with his other singles standouts to populate some depth behind a stellar bout with Okada that is certainly aided by a sort of perverse reverence after we know what we now know. But it's also just legitimately fucking stellar. If Wilkins made it to my top 30 last year on the basis of one match, Shibata can probably make it higher for me this year.
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