Author: Alex Podgorski

It was the head-butt heard around the world. While things have changed, but on April 9th, 2017, New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Katsuyori Shibata wrestled what many believed was his last match ever. He fought tooth and nail to try and claim the coveted IWGP Heavyweight Championship from the company’s new ace, Kazuchika Okada. But Shibata did something in that match that changed his career forever. And that’s because he did something that almost cost him his own life. The Head-butt Heard Around The World An Epic match-up Shibata had come a long way going into this match. He was once pegged…

The rivalry between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada has spanned fourteen singles matches over almost a full decade. But it is Tanahashi and Okada IV that may be their greatest match in NJPW History. For many years, their matches together were heralded as the peak of modern professional wrestling. Some observers have since gone on to hail other New Japan matches as being far better than those in the fabled Tanahashi-Okada series. There’s something about this match that makes it not only the best match in modern NJPW history but also the best match NJPW has ever produced. And now,…

The birth of the Ganso bomb. On January 22nd, 1999, the most dangerous wrestling move of all time was created. It happened completely by accident due to one wrestler suffering an injury early on in a match. That resulting injury led to the inadvertent creation of a move so horrifying that it was only ever used three times. It also became symbolic of how far All Japan Pro-Wrestling had gone to one extreme, and how it signaled the peak of that company’s legendary 1990s run. On this day, AJPW ace Mitsuharu Misawa defended his Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against his…

On October 24th, 1998, the ultimate wrestling finisher was created, as it was the debut of the burning hammer. It was hyped up for weeks as a special secret weapon that was meant to be a last-ditch effort. And when it debuted, it became world-famous. Wrestling fans everywhere were shocked at the move’s sheer brutality and inherent danger. And many of those same fans used the move in each and every wrestling video game as their created wrestlers’ finishers. Today we look back at the creation of the super-finisher to end all super-finishers, Kenta Kobashi’s Burning Hammer. This is the…

Pro-wrestling is and has been full of terrifying wrestlers. And this particular wrestler is a great example because he has intimidated people in two different ways. And nothing says ‘Halloween’ like fear and evil. EVIL is the ring name of Takaaki Watanabe, who wrestles for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is one of the few NJPW wrestlers that actually has a gimmick/stage name and doesn’t wrestle under his real name. But it wasn’t always like this for him. He wrestled under his own name for four years. However, that changed in October 2015, following his return from a foreign excursion.…

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazucika Okada have the most iconic and storied rivalry of the 21st century. Their feud has produced shocking twists, great character arcs, emotional victories, and crushing defeats. And above all else, they’ve put on some of the best wrestling matches of all time together. Today we revisit one of their iconic matches from King of Pro-Wrestling 2013. _____________ Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada – Bitter rivals This was the sixth singles match between Tanahashi and Okada. At the time, they were even in terms of match results. Tanahashi had two wins, Okada had two wins, and they…

On October 8th, 2012, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Minoru Suzuki put on one of the best matches in wrestling history. It was so great that the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer considered it to be better than the fabled Ric Flair-Ricky Steamboat matches from 1989. How could one match be so great? Today, we look back and find out. A Perfect Meeting There couldn’t’ve been a better challenger for Tanahashi in 2012 than Suzuki. Tanahashi was the ace of NJPW and he symbolized the company entering a new era. It was Tanahashi that had carried NJPW on his back through its darkest…

On September 11th, 2005, a Triple Threat – TNA Unbreakable 2005 match took place that many argued was one of the promotion’s greatest matches ever. When the Monday Night Wars ended, the wrestling landscape became a difficult landscape. With WCW and ECW gone, there was no longer any force strong or rich enough to challenge WWE’s juggernaut. But someone tried. The Jarrett family created a new promotion that was meant to be the alternative to WWE. It was supposed to showcase everything that wrestling fans wanted from WWE but didn’t get. That promotion became known as TNA. And one of…

On August 14th, 2016, the trajectory of New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s history changed in a big way as Kenny Omega wins the G1 Climax Tournament. The finals of the biggest and most prestigious tournament in modern wrestling saw an unexpected winner rise to the top. That wrestler went on to become one of the most iconic and controversial wrestlers of the modern landscape. His name is Kenny Omega, and this is the story of his history-changing win. Massive roster changes spurred Omega’s rise to the top in New Japan. At the end of January 2016, NJPW lost Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson,…

High-flying wrestling wouldn’t exist today without Eiji ‘Hayabusa’ Ezaki. He was a pioneer, an innovator, and a trendsetter. He was so influential that many of today’s top wrestlers have praised and emulated him. Without Hayabusa, there wouldn’t be PAC, the Young Bucks, AJ Styles, or Chris Jericho. Sadly, Hayabusa’s career was cut short due to a horrifying botch that left him paralyzed. But not even being paralyzed from the neck down was enough to keep Ezaki in one place. Today we look at the life and career of one of the most innovative and influential wrestlers of the past thirty…