Great Muta vs. El Gigante - NJPW Fighting Spirit: Day 8(1995)
Yes, El Gigante, better known as that guy with the furry body suit, Giant Gonzalez took on one of the greatest Japanese wrestlers of all time, the Great Muta. The match includes El Gigante performing no real offense, Muta standing on a chair to spew his green mist in Gigante's face, and a very awkward looking finish to one odd match-up.
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax 23 Day Night 4 (2013)
If there was one bit of hype that I read on the internet that I did believe this year, it was the hype for New Japan Pro Wrestling. With an incredible good match to match ratio, exciting wrestlers, and outstanding events, I think it's safe to say that NJPW was the best wrestling promotion of 2013.
One outstanding event NJPW put on this year was the 23 annual G1 Climax, a super tournament featuring 20 of the top wrestlers in Japan that took place over the course of 9 days. That's right, a 9 day event that NJPW streamed lived every day featuring pretty much only good matches. One match in particular that got mega attention over the course of the 9 days is the Shibata/Ishii match from Night 4.
Tomohiro Ishii versus "The Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata is an adrenaline rush of stiff strikes and Japanese fighting spirit (which would be called no-selling in America). There's no feeling out process in the beginning, no rest holds, and absolutely no slowing down. There is a story to it however and that story is: who can look the most legit.
Kishin Liger is the much darker and sadistic side of Jushin "Thunder" Liger. One could also argue that he is the KISS version of Jushin Liger, but don't let that fool you, this is not the Liger who wants to party all night. No, this is the Liger you definitely do not want to be crossing paths with. First appearing after The Great Muta ripped off his mask in 1996, The "Kishin" character only makes rare appearances when it is most fitting for revenge - such as this match featuring Bad Boy Hido ten years later. Hido, an ultraviolent specialist, thought it would be a wise move to chop some of Liger's hair off...
Let's just say Hido got what he had coming to him.
Low Ki vs. Kota Ibushi vs. Prince Devitt (c) - IWGP Junior Heavyweight title 3-way match - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome (2013)
English commentary provided by E C Dubs Commentary.
Every year New Japan Pro Wrestling holds the Japanese version of Wrestlemania (sort of) in the Tokyo Dome on the 4th of January. This year was the 7th time it was known as Wrestle Kingdom.
Also this year, Low Ki decided he wanted to be Agent 47 from the Hitman video game series. Apparently the serious mannered NJPW did not take kindly to his attire and found it quite disrespectful. About a month later he was released.
As for the match: it's pretty much what you would expect from a 3-way of this caliber and three of the top junior heavyweights today. Ibushi (from the Japanese promotion, DDT) does his classic combos like the the missing moonsault into a standing moonsault and is always a thrill to watch - while Prince Devitt, who I haven't seen a lot of matches of yet, was also very impressive.
Bonus:
This is probably the first wrestling highlights video that doesn't feature a really terrible song...
