Shibata and I passed the tryout on the same day, but I entered NJPW a year after when I graduated from college, so that made him senior to me by a year. Age-wise, he is three years younger than me. Back then, I used to call him “Shibata-san” and he used to call me “Tanahashi-kun” (‘san’ is superior to ‘kun’ in terms of prefix).
The relations of Three New Musketeers were somewhat complicated. Nakamura and Shibata were the same age, but Nakamura is 4 years junior to Shibata in the industry. But when they’ve faced each other in amateur wrestling in high school, Nakamura won. Although the two had not much in common and didn’t admire each other, wrestlers in that kind of relationship tend to create a surprisingly high quality match. “Shibata vs Nakamura” is a wild-card matchup for the current NJPW in my opinion. The two are both adept at creating a dangerous and tense atmosphere, so it will be undoubtedly a must-see match.
My feelings for Shibata are complicated. He is clumsy, too pure, and once he gets an idea about “What pro-wrestling should be” into his head, he can only move forward in that direction. When he stated, “I’m starting to enjoy pro-wrestling” in 2013 G1 CLIMAX, I snapped at him and said “Cut the crap!” On one hand, this was a rage against him for leaving the company at desperate times. “Of course you’ll enjoy wrestling in front of a full packed hectic crowd!” But to be honest, I wanted him to realize that long before this.
He should have realized sooner. Only if he would have stayed in NJPW and worked together with us to make things better...
I’m fully aware of the reason why he couldn’t come to enjoy wrestling at that time, and that he left the company after much agonizing. So on the other hand, I feel happy for what he’s said. But I found his last word in NJPW (2005) “I’m not going to be a white-collar (yes-man) wrestler” offensive.
Shibata has always turned down what the company brought to him saying, "I'm not interested” but when you ask him what he wants to do, he never came up with an actual plan. There’s no way the fans would support him, and Shibata himself would eventually reach a dead-end. That’s why I refuted, “Shibata is like a junior high student who has just entered his rebellious age. Pro-wrestling is a brawl? Killing? Then why are you wrestling in the first place!” These words didn’t just come out of my mouth out of anger, this is what I’ve been advocating for years. And I still feel the same.
And last year when he fought in the G1, he got good reaction from the crowd with his
Bachi Bachi (MMA/Brawler/Battle Arts style) match. I felt the locker room feel uneasy about it. But it didn’t perturb me at all. I could imagine to a certain extent that the crowd will react to slaps and kicks. I take pride in saying that Shibata’s style was accepted because “Tanahashi / Okada” styles were established as a basis. There is a foundation for “A bit old-school NJPW” style matches to be accepted in the current NJPW. This is not a bluff. I believe so from the bottom of my heart.
There is no “Next” to those
Bachi Bachi style matches.
As I pointed earlier when I talked about dangerous moves, fans will seek for more intensity. And the wrestlers have to escalate their violence. And a gruesome scene that you would want to look away will take place on the ring again.
I believe that the true nature of pro-wrestling lies in arousing fans’ interest, making them wonder, “Where will this fight lead to next?” Is there “Next” to Shibata’s pro-wrestling?
What did he say?
