Was he aware of how dangerous his headbutt spot was, not just

He's done it enough times that he probably just felt that it was another day at the office. Whoops.

>LITERAL WHO

>>2969958
cringe

Shibata always had a 'zero fucks given' attitude when it came to pro-wrestling. He was brought up during peak Inokism and he absolutely loved that kinda wrestling (hitting each other for real).

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I miss him guys!
I've been wondering who's spot would he have had in the G1?

>>2969945
>pretends to be a tough guy
>didn't go to mma

Sounds like phil

>>2969965
ZSJ

>>2969945
He knew. He was over compensating for failing in MMA. I hated those headbutts. I'm just glad he took the damage instead of someone else suffering his stupidity.

>>2969966
>>didn't go to mma
Never go full retard, anon.

It's Shibata and puroresu. He's been giving and taking stiff shots for 15 years and even with him taking a break for multiple years, time caught up with him.

Shibata's going to go down as a moron, even though I loved his style of wrestling. He left NJPW for Big Mouth Loud which never went anywhere and farted around during the peak of his career. NJPW naturally didn't trust him enough to push him when he wanted back in. And as it usually goes in wrestling, by the time NJPW trusted him enough to push him, he got injured and is now donezo.

NJPW messed up with him. He could have had really big programs with Tanahashi and Nakamura when he returned and they pissed it away for nothing. I waited for YEARS for the big Shibata vs Tana/Nakamura angle that never happened.

>>2969967
I was thinking him or Juice

>>2969945
Of course he was aware. This dumb fuck could have cost NJPW it's top guy. No sympathy.

Realtalk, would the Yakuza have killed this guy if he had brained Okada?

>>2969989
I'm sure Chono or Inoki would have saved him.

>>2969981
>>2969989
It was dehydration that hurt Shibata not the headbutt.

Doctors even said if he wasn't so dehydrated he wouldn't have been nearly as badly off.

>I hit people for real in fake sport

Kek

>>2970113
why was he dehydrated? can Nu japan not afford water?

>>2969977
I would like to defend Gedo's decision to book him slowly.
You can go and burn through all those great tasty programs in a year. But he is patient a plans ahead and has the same amount of great matches and programs you or I would have used in a year, maybe year and a half and he can stretch them to 3 years. And during those 3 years he is already building new programs after he is done.
Shibata was case in point. His match with Okada was built on stuff said to him how long ago? 3 years? And fans wanted him to win. But Gedo said, no, not yet and because he almost killed himself in that match, it is not only not yet, but also never. Shibata's story was a great one.
And he had program with Tana.
>>2969979
I don't think so. ZSJ was a lock when he joined Suzuki-gun. Juice maybe, but in that case we wouldn't have his great story. Maybe Yoshi or Juice?

>>2970132
It was 40+ minute match. He was drained of any water in him.
Maybe he couldn't drink just before the match, cause he was nervous or something. Or maybe he went for a piss just before and lost some water that he needed during the match. You don't know.

>>2970139
can they not do some massive spot to take Okada out the match for a few mins? and while the camera is focused on Okada the other guy can go and get a drink

Japanese people are stupid

>>2970132
>why was he dehydrated? can Nu japan not afford water?
Leave the thread if you don't know anything about it retard, it was the first time for him to wrestle such a long match (40 mins+)

>>2970143
Shibata is stupid. Have you ever watched any anime with dumb, headstrong main protag? That is Shibata. He is basically shonen manga protag.
He has best friend and rival in Goto. He has father who was his sensei and never gave him love when he was young. And so on and on and on.

>>2970163
He's the protag's edgy rival, the one who usually job to the big bad boss right before the end.

>>2970134
Shibata of YH is a...no brainer

>>2970132
I know you're just shitposting but Shibata gets sweaty as fuck in his matches.

>>2970143
Shibata isn't Reigns in the Royal Rumble

>>2970134
>I would like to defend Gedo's decision to book him slowly.
You can go and burn through all those great tasty programs in a year. But he is patient a plans ahead and has the same amount of great matches and programs you or I would have used in a year, maybe year and a half and he can stretch them to 3 years. And during those 3 years he is already building new programs after he is done.
Shibata was case in point. His match with Okada was built on stuff said to him how long ago? 3 years? And fans wanted him to win. But Gedo said, no, not yet and because he almost killed himself in that match, it is not only not yet, but also never. Shibata's story was a great one.
And he had program with Tana.

The money was in booking him vs Nakamura/Tana when he started back. That kind of angle isn't an angle you wait years to do and it ended up never being done.

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>all these Nu Japan marks not knowing the long and illustrious headbutt history of NJPW

Sad!

He saw that the future of New Japan is populated by bleached hair, high flying heavyweight matches and an increasing American influence and chose to die instead of participating in it. His only mistake was not knowing that Okada's skull was not solid enough to kill him.

>>2970694
>The money was in booking him vs Nakamura/Tana when he started back. That kind of angle isn't an angle you wait years to do and it ended up never being done.
Wait - that was done. It was a year's worth of program, it started at finals of G1 in 2013 and ended year later. Against Tanahashi I mean.

>>2970781
Shibata died for your sins.

They did a headbutt in Stardom last week. How fucking retarded.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1zT3md3n30

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>>2969977
What should of happened is that instead of hot-shotting the tag belts between mediocre gaijin teams, they should of put them on Laughter7 (Shibata and Sakuraba) and given them a long reign as the invading/returning shooters. Have Shibata and Saku cut promos on how they're the 'real' wrestlers here to show these pretty boys how it's done.

Would of made so many of their big events much more interesting. The tag division was essentially a piss break division for years and years.

>>2969945
I doubt he knew. And if he did know, Shibata seemed like the type to believe his own hype and thought he could just shrug off any lasting effects. He'd done the headbutt spot with a trickle of blood before and it was basically a signature spot for him. What fucked him was he did it to Okada so late into their match, he was really dehydrated and the damage he did to his brain was greatly increased.

>>2969963

Pretty much this I'm afraid. God, what a waste of a great talent.

>>2969989
Do you really think New Japan has any yakuza links nowadays?

They're the sports entertainment/advertisement division of a huge card game shilling company.

>>2970929

I'm not sure. PRIDE and NOAH were both pretty tightly connected to them and despite NJPW currently being nowhere near the level of those companies at their peaks, the yakuza have their fingers in a lot of pies. It's not like there's been any massive investment in New Japan in years though so I'd like to think it's organic.

I think it's pretty clear the yakuza keep Meltzer under tabs if he underrates a match though.

>>2970957
Yes, the yakuza definitely care about meltzer.

>>2970864
He knew. Read translations of his blogs and his history. He knew he keeps fucking himself up. And he knew he is hurting people in the ring with him.
But he said: "This is my prowrestling. When I stop doing my prowrestling I will stop prowrestling altogether." As I said, Shibata is main protag in shonen manga. His story is that of weird guy who will do so many mistakes in his life and who competes in physical sport (scripted one of course) and his story is awesome. I don't know if the end we get to see is just the most Shibata thing to happen or purely sad tragedy.
Let's talk his character. He is brash, he is macho, he will get mad and in the end of most of his matches it's about honor and respect. Either he wanted respect from his opponents or they wanted his respect.

>>2970975

If it really was his last match, which seems likely, I wish it could have been in the Dome after winning G1. Even if he lost, killing himself to win the title on the biggest stage and not quite doing it would have been a perfect ending.

>>2970837
You know why I think their tag division sucks? I think it's because of Gedo. I think he doesn't want to book it strong, because that would make him strong (I know he is in Jr tag, but nevertheless). And he doesn't want that. He is fun match guy, not main eventer, he doesn't want tag team title be above singles titles.
And yes, I don't agree with his shitty booking of tag teams. Especially now, when they have shitload of people under contract. They could put more people together to form good tag teams and have that whole division catch fire.

>>2970986
Of course, that would be THE BEST tragic ending of his story. And be sure I think it is tragic, but we both are looking at Shibata character in the show, not Shibata the performer.
If I had to script this shitty ending for his story, it would of course be that way. But the way it happened it is the most Shibata thing to happen.

>>2970113
>dehydration
Man, when will they learn? https://streamable.com/ka7rj

>>2970987
I don't really understand his logic. Tag teams are a great way of seeing who is over with the crowd and who could be a good top guy in the future.

Instead he's created all these kinda pointless singles belts and a trios belt to perform exactly the same job that the tag belts are supposed to do. If they want to make new stars from their younger guys, why do LiJ hold belts with no history instead of a prestigious title like the Tag Team titles?

>>2970994
Doesn't "shibata" mean something like "damn" in Japanese and said only when you fuck up and get caught?

>>2971054
I think it's just a town in Japan. I'm not an expert but I always though Japanese surnames were just place names.

>>2970996
backstory here?

>>2971038
I don't think he thinks about tag teams like that. And it is one of his mistakes. He has big blind spot there. He has this lasting tag teams with Jado and TenKoji and GBH.
Maybe he will get on the ball next year, cause their roster is getting bloated. Unless they want to send at least 1/4 of their roster to California in 2019-2020 for extended tours with rotating people from Japan. If that's the case, it makes sense to create more singles stars. Cause you can't "waste" singles in tag team.
But... as I said, I don't understand him in this. I understand him with all those storylines he has planned out. But no tag team stories.

>>2971074
Kojima had left New Japan for All Japan and was holder of the Triple Crown belt. Tenzan was the IWGP Heavyweight champ. They had an inter-promotional champion vs. champion/former tag partners superfight that was meant to go to a 60 minutre time-limit draw so both champs could keep their belts.

However Tenzan got so dehydrated he literally couldn't stand up just before the 60 minute mark, so after a lot of stalling the ref counted him down and Kojima won the IWGP belt by accident.

As you can see he's pissed that the finish was botched and in the heat of the moment causes a mini brawl between the New Japan and All Japan guys by throwing the IWGP belt to the floor. He already had heat with the New Japan boys for jumping ship so they get mad as fuck at him. Look at Nagata kicking him and both Tanahashi and Nakamura attacking him as he leaves down the ramp.

>>2971098
It's strange because you'd think he'd know how tag-teams and tag-divisions work since he was part of one of the most famous Japanese tag-teams ever.

I guess like you said he's a bit autistic about his Memphis style storylines and doesn't like to change how he wants things to go. I can't imagine how he must have reacted when Shibata essentially ended his own push and career.

>>2971103
holy shit, that's insane!

>>2971103
Real talk, why does NJPW have such a wwe like mentality? They come off as very full of themselves and it gets passed down to their fans.

>>2971054

しまった!

Shimatta, like you accidentally did something bad.

Shibata went out like a man doing his own thing. Reality is he didn't give a fuck about anything, and in his own way accidentally accidentally achieved greatness from that.

As for pushing him right away, when they came back they saw him as a traitor who left when they needed him, and I agree you shouldn't just push anybody who comes back after ditching you, Vince does this way too often, but it doesn't how hot a woman is, if she drops you, then comes crawling back, you don't whine and dine her, you either ignore them or use them until they earn their way back (if possible).

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>>2971125
I don't think it's a WWE like mentality, it's just the two companies have always been bitter rivals. NJPW was founded by Antonio Inoki and AJPW was founded by Giant Baba, who were both students of Rikidozan and wrestled for his JWA promotion. The two young stars never really saw eye-to-eye so when the JWA eventually collapsed they both formed their own promotions with their own vision of how pro-wrestling should be done.

NJPW was more martial-arts and realism focused, and Inoki was obsessed with proving pro-wresetling to be the 'strongest' martial art (hence 'Strong Style') while Baba leant towards a more American approach to wrestling (helped that he managed to get All Japan recognised by the NWA and got a lot of big name American wrestlers to work for him).

So New Japan and All Japan have had a rivalry ever since, which lasted until All Japan almost died in 2000 when Misawa lead a huge exodus of wrestler to form Pro Wrestling NOAH due to a falling out with management. Imagine the heat between WWF and WCW during the Monday Night Wars but for 35+ years and you'll understand why that situation happened.

>>2969953
This, he's had health issues for a long time, every headbutt or any other spot where he takes a bump on his head over the years could have been his last.

>>2971162
Damn, so close. Would've been quite funny and poetic if his name were Shimatta considering his fate. Also I heard he was a real dick so maybe that's another reason why he didn't get a push.

>>2970987
Nah, NJPW has always had a very lackluster tag division, especially when compared to the tag matches AJPW and NOAH used to have back in the day. Tag wrestling simply isn't their forte, they have fun tag matches but ultimately they're just undercard filler.

>>2971182
Not really a dick, his ideas about what pro-wrestling should be just clashed with that of the new management and the other young stars like Tanahashi.

>>2970957
Nah, companies have lost TV deals over Yakuza links. NOAH almost went under because of their Yakuza loans. Any major links to the Yakuza NJPW had were cut when the company was bought from Inoki, the only shit you have now is guys like Chono and Honma who have links/are in the Yakuza.

Let's speculate now who got his spot in G1.
Who is there for a first time? Juice and ZSJ, right?
Someone else?
SANADA was there last year? Or is this his first year? Because if it is, I think SANADA wouldn't have been in G1 if Shibata was around.
Or maybe there would be a match between Goto and Shibata, which would Shibata won who of them two would go to G1. Or maybe Goto would have given him his own spot or something like that. Because Goto doesn't have any story and he doesn't do anything for me this tournament. (but that's my bias speaking)

>>2971473
>Because if it is, I think SANADA wouldn't have been in G1 if Shibata was around.
You're a retard if you think this. And no, it's not his first G1. It's Juice probably.

>>2971473
Oh and
>or maybe Goto
Goto won his block last year, retard.

>>2971486
>>2971497
OK, I've just searched SANADA and you are correct.
And I know Goto won last year, but as I said, my personal bias plays a role here. I just don't find him compelling in this tournament. As far as I've started to skip his matches.
I understand why Makabe is in. Same with Kojima and Fale.
But I think Juice needs to be in, just because of his underdog story.
For me people I wouldn't have missed in are: Goto, Yano (tho he is entertaining) and Tama. But Tama has pretty good story, that plays into Bullet Club problems and Yano is there to be funny.

>>2971509
>But Tama has pretty good story,
Jesus Christ, the shit taste is strong with this one.

>>2971511
Thinking this G1 has been anything but distinctly average is a red flag that the person either 1. Has shit taste or 2. Has been watching New Japan for less than a year or 3. Both.

>>2971511
Not his own story. Story of old guard in Bullet Club calling Kenny's bullshit out. Kenny being so cutesy and playing video games instead of going out and partying with Yujiro and his girls.
And of course, his own story is shit. "I don't care about winning, I am there for Bullet Club!" doesn't make sense in vacuum, but in larger picture it does.

>>2971530
There is absolutely nothing about Tama Tonga that makes a lick of sense.

>>2969965
dead, 15 feet under ground

>>2969945

What's with the Japanese wrestlers working dangerously? I know about strong style, but surely they'd know to hit hard in places that won't cause long term injuries, right?

>>2971571
They do, the only thing in Shibata's moveset that does cause long term damage is this headbutt and before this he's only ever used it in short matches. It was doing this in a 40+ minute epic that got him. His shit really hurts but there's a reason everyone wanted to work him and always said they liked working with him on the UK indys. His shit at most welts you up for a few days. Ice it after the match and you'll probably be fine in a day or so.

>>2971571
Most of the dangerous shit they do is practiced enough that it isn't and simply looks it because retards to it poorly elsewhere. And even the stiff strikes like Shibata are usually okay because you're just taking some whips to the body. It's the retarded, albeit awesome and savage looking, headbutts that do the absolute worst. There's no way a "real" headbutt is ever fucking safe and that should have been taken from the arsenal a while ago. The stiff strong style stuff can totally work without being harmful. Headbutts are just stupid.

>>2971537
His attractiveness?

>>2971653
>>2971627
At least when Ishii does headbutts, nine times out of ten he's headbutting the other guy's neck and chest. Skull hitting muscle is one thing, skull on skull just needs to stop.

>>2971571
Strong style is fine. Yoshiaki Fujiwara has been wrestling strong style for like 50 years and he can still go.

Shootstyle and other 'realistic' styles are a lot safer and better for your long term health than head-drops, flippy stuff and movezzz stuff. It's why you see Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki still going while Kenta Kobashi can barely walk.

>>2971682
You're right, but Ishii kind of doesn't count because he can just shove you with his body and it counts as a headbutt because he has no neck.

>>2971675
The way he slithers into the ring and his scrambles on all fours do things to my boner

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>>2969945
Bobby Fish learned the hard way not to go head-to-head with Ishii.

>>2971103
why didn't he just pick him up?

>>2969965
nice, someone kept my shop

>>2969945
So, is this guy really done now? No return or comeback?

>>2971103
Liar
He lost the championship to AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Kojima in a cross-promotional champion vs. champion match. The match had a unique finish designed to fool fans in attendance. The idea was to make it look like the match was going to end in a 60-minute time limit draw. However, with just seconds before the match would be declared a time limit draw, Tenzan, who was known to have a legitimate back injury, could not continue, resulting in Kojima being declared the winner and becoming the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion. NJPW officials had come up with the finish, which was designed to look like a "mistake", having agreed with AJPW that it would be better if Kojima won the match, but not wanting the match to end in a standard pinfall or submission.[4] Tenzan defeated Kojima in a rematch three months later, bringing the championship back to NJPW.[5] He lost the championship to Kazuyuki Fujita on July 18, 2005.

>>2971162
That last paragraph is some church shit my dude.

>>2970793
>Wait - that was done. It was a year's worth of program, it started at finals of G1 in 2013 and ended year later. Against Tanahashi I mean.

I was covering it at the time. They had a match, but it wasn't an actual program.

>>2970811
>two headbutts clashing

Beautiful