Csonka’s Top 12 Tomohiro Ishii Matches of 2016

WELCOME back, back to the column that makes lists and hopes that you enjoy them. This week’s column will look back at Tomohiro Ishii’s best of 2016. I always hear a lot of people saying that they can’t decide what to watch because they do not have enough time to follow everything, so maybe this will help those of you short on time find some stuff to check out. Tomohiro Ishii had an outstanding 2016, not quite on the level of a Chris Hero, but he makes a case for most outstanding as far as an in ring worker goes, constantly delivering for New Japan. Have fun, and always, thanks for reading. Also, if you saw matches from companies I do not regularly catch; feel free to share them with the others. The more wrestling we share, the more fun we can have.

12. From ROH Honor Rising Night One 2.19.16: Tomohiro Ishii defeated ROH TV Champion Roderick Strong [****]: I was looking forward to this match, hoping that Strong would recapture some of that early 2015 magic and deliver a great main event with Ishii. Now this wasn’t in the same league as the Ishii vs. Shibata matches, but it was a damn great main event with a surprising finish. The one thing I liked was that while they worked a physical and intense match, it didn’t feel like the usual Ishii match, and that’s a compliment because I love to see guys deliver great matches while working outside of their comfort zone. Strong got control after slamming Ishii to the apron, which played into Strong’s wheelhouse, working the back. They worked a great pace, and the action escalated well to the end very well with good near falls and the surprising finish when Ishii hit the brainbuster, and Strong was down for the three. Going into the main event I had hoped for a physical and competitive match, with a near fall or two that could make me buy that Ishii was going to win, But ROH and NJPW did one better and actually pulled off the title change. It’s nice to be surprised in a finish that everyone thought was a lock for Strong.

11. From NJPW New Japan Cup Day Two: Tetsuya Naito defeated Tomohiro Ishii [****]: Early in on Naito’s gimmick change, many of his matches weren’t exactly great, because they were focusing on his new gimmick and personality. I could appreciate the effort, but was really waiting for it to get established so that the match quality could again come back to his matches. he had a good match on night one, but he and Ishii had a great match here. As previously talked about, Ishii has been one of if not the most consistent guys for the last two years (if not more), he always delivers and he and Naito surprised me here, because I was not sure that they would jell together as they did here. The first half or so was good, with quality back and forth action, and then shit got real in the final stretch with Naito giving no fucks and slapping Ishii. As we all know, this was ill-advised, and Ishii decapitated him with a lariat. Naito picked up the win with a great counter out of the brain buster into the destino, which I dug and it came off very well. The post match was also quality as EVIL worked over Ishii, to play off of yesterday’s match and likely leading to EVIL being part of the NEVER title picture

10. From NJPW G1 Climax Night 1: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tomohiro Ishii [****]: One of the best parts of the G1 is the fact that you get way less fucking around, and without that you get some really inspired sprints and matches that just get to the meat of things. That’s what this was, as once the bell rang it was a battle to see who could dish out the most punishment the fastest. Tenzan was really aggressive and even shoved the ref aside at one point so that he could continue his assault on Ishii. Ishii finally fired up and started a comeback, just pummeling Tenzan with chops and forearms in the corner. Tenzan would fight back, countering a superplex and hitting the flying head butt for a near fall. Ishii fought off the anaconda vice, but Tenzan hit the anaconda driver, and that got a great near fall. Ishii stopped the moonsault, almost lost Tenzan, but hit a running powerbomb to counter. Ishii then laid into him with lariats as Kojima screamed for his teammate to keep fighting, they had a great crowd as Ishii tried to do everything he could to put Tenzan away. They then just started to head butt each other like a pair of rams; Tenzan hit the lariat, slam and then the moonsault to finally put Ishii away. That was awesome and exactly the match they needed to work. The crowd was invested and loved the Tenzan victory, they are into the warrior looking for one final big win story, if Tenzan can hold up (unfortunately he couldn’t), his stuff could provide some great drama as the tournament goes on. That was an excellent start to the tournament matches. Ishii was so good here that he made me believe Tenzan was the Tenzan of old and actually had a chance in this thing.

9. From NJPW G1 Climax Night 7:Tomohiro Ishii vs. Naomichi Marufuji [****]: Oh it was clobberin time here kids, and it was a beautiful thing. This was Ishii trying to be a bad ass while Marufuji just rips his chest apart with brutal chops and kicks. This was the theme of the match; Marufuji wasn’t afraid and was tearing up Ishii, who just kept rolling through everything (despite the pain) like the Juggernaut (bitch). They got the crowd early, kept them throughout, and as they worked down the stretch and to the finish they got them so riled up that it helped to take the match to the next level. Marufuji was not messing around either, brutalizing Ishii and scoring with stiff kicks, but this just enraged Ishii, who went straight up violent as he owned Marufuji with the head butts and lariat, and then finally ended his day with the brainbuster. What makes this really work is that it is just more than guys hitting each other; it’s Ishii trying to keep his bad ass persona, it’s Marufuji trying to still prove himself in the New Japan ring, it’s Ishii trying to hold serve on home court and get out of the bottom all told in a beautiful display of violence. That’s exactly what the show needed to pick things up a bit, Ishii does that a lot.

8. From NJPW G1 Climax Night 17: Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii [****]: neither man can win the block, but this will not stop them from beating the piss out of each other. And that is what they did here, the first two minutes or so was them trading strikes with reckless abandon. Ishii then repeatedly chopped Makabe in the throat, and Makabe demanded that Ishii keep hitting him. Makabe fought back and worked over Ishii with lariats and was mostly overpowering him. Makabe had the advantage as they worked strikes again, forcing Ishii to drop to a knee, but he came back and then kept walking into Makabe’s strikes and generally not giving a fuck. Ishii then hit the delayed superplex for a near fall. Ishii then hit a series of suplexes, which Makabe somehow popped up from; they then traded shots center ring, just brutalizing each other. Makabe finally hit a powerbomb for a near fall. Makabe hit a series of lariats, but Ishii kept getting up; Makabe then hit a bridging German for a near fall. Ishii’s selling is pretty amazing here. Makabe almost killed Ishii with the spider suplex, but Ishii rolled out of the way of he king kong knee drop. Sweet baby Jesus, the amount of brutal strikes here was sick. The beatings will continue until morale improves! Ishii finally hit the brainbuster to put Makabe away. It was an ass kicking Makabe vs. Ishii match that’ll put hair on your chest. Ishii may not win the tournament, but he’s likely the tournament MVP. Togi Makabe has become a very lazy worker, at age 44 he’s not as beaten down as some of the new Japan dads, but it feels like if he’s going to have a great singles match that they have to drag him kicking and screaming. Ishii was up for that challenge, once again being a magician, and tricking me into thinking that “Togi Makabe” may be back. He wasn’t, it was just some hocus-pocus from the pit bull.

7. From NJPW G1 Climax Night 15 – Tomohiro Ishii vs. SANADA [****¼]: SANADA tried to use his speed early, and was able to lock in he dragon sleeper, but Ishii got the ropes. SANADA decided he wanted to stand toe to toe with Ishii and trade strikes, which was a poor plan. Ishii came back with a series of suplexes, and got the first near fall of the match. They battled up top, and Ishii got the dead lift superplex for another near fall. SANADA again tried to out strike Ishii, which did not work out well for him. It was when SANADA went back to the speed, dropkicks, RANAs, and springboard shit that he was able to take the advantage back. They worked some good counters, and then SANADA got the dragon sleeper. This led to a great fight spot from Ishii, who got the ropes. SANADA missed the moonsault, but landed on his feet. He then did a chaos theory into the dragon sleeper, but Ishii rolled right out and then hit the sliding lariat. Both guys showed great fire down the stretch, the crowd was reacting really well to everything and adding to the match big time. SANADA survived a pair of powerbombs, countered out of the brainbuster and then they did another great series of countered around the dragon sleeper and brain buster. SANADA hit the cutter, and then scored wit the dragon sleeper, and Ishii finally had to tap after a great fight. They laid such good groundwork early, and then everything they did was really built off of that and had such a great foundation that the crowd was going nuts. The closing two minutes was top notch stuff to close off the great effort overall; that closing stretch doesn’t mean nearly as much if they do not lay that foundation early on to make the crowd care. SANADA has had a strong tournament, and Ishii is well… Ishii, which means he shits out four-star matches.

6. From NJPW New Beginning in Osaka: Champion Katsuyori Shibata defeated Tomohiro Ishii to retain the NEVER Openweight Title [****½]: Sweet baby Jesus, these dudes went out there and busted their ass in an attempt to out do their WK 10 match and they nearly did it. They did everything you’d expect; the chops, the lariats, elbows, the big fire up no sell spots, some submission work and it all worked again. They worked in some man up spots, where they would challenge each other to suplex the other, and it got over really well. I felt that Shibata was really over big time with this crowd, which I am happy with because I really enjoy the guy’s work and feel he’s under appreciated. These guys have a way of working their match to where they can keep a great pace, never let it slow to a crawl, but they also never feel as if they are sprinting either. It’s just the right balance, and the matches ever feel long to me. They worked some great near falls down the stretch, and Shibata finally retained with the PK. This was fucking awesome and on par with their WK 10 match.

5. From NJPW DONTAKU: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito defeated Tomohiro Ishii @ 30:33 via pin [****½]: These two had worked well together in the past, and did so again here. They had a great match, they played the angle on the floor where Okada and Gedo fought off Los Ingobernables, which plays into the angle and Okada challenging again down the line. They did a good job of constantly building layers, building intensity and the final stretch of the match was all out and took it to that next level you really want from your main event. Ishii worked well as the first challenger for Naito, he is an EXTREMELY consistent performer when it comes to great matches, and has enough credibility to help Naito, but doesn’t lose anything in the loss. I was shocked when this clocked in at 30-minutes, because it never once felt that long, which is a credit to both guys. I love Ishii, and feel that the guy doesn’t get the credit he deserves a lot of the time. Hell I even bought that he may win once or twice. One thing I really enjoyed was Ishii moving away from his straight up smash mouth style and working the knee of Naito, showing some diversity. With CHAOS evening the odds (to battle Los Ingobernables), Naito still overcame and eventually retained on his own, which is also great for him. We got the big stare down with Okada and Naito, as expected. While a great match overall, both guys really peaked later in the year; if these to faced off in a main event late in 2016, I can only imagine how much better it would be. I could have done without all of the extra curriculars from Los Ingobernables and CHAOS, even if it made sense, but Ishii and Naito’s homestretch was really well done, with some great back and forth and near falls, including Ishii nearly ending Naito’s existence with a sick brainbuster. This came off even better on the rewatch; I loved it.

4. From NJPW WrestleKingdom 10 – NEVER Openweight Title Match: Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata [****½]: They went hard and heavy from the bell, using kicks, forearm strikes and lariats as they were just kicking the shit out of each other. It’s what you’ve come to expect from NEVER title matches, and also was so different than everything else that it felt so fresh. At one point Shibata is kicking the shit out of Ishii with forearms, and Ishii keeps calling him on and walking into the strikes before finally just dropping Shibata and face washing him in the corner. The first cover did not come until 8-minutes into the match, and that led to an arm bar attempt by Shibata. They hit this run of German suplexes and clotheslines that were just laid in so hard, leading to both men collapsing in exhaustion. Ishii went into full dick mode, chopping Shibata in the throat several times. Dear lord these men were doing some legit damage here, Shibata fighting for the sleeper and Ishii fight to escape were well done. Shibata looked for the penalty kick, but Ishii countered and then head butted him in the throat, because he’s an established dick. And then they did the head butt spot where they wee two rams fighting, and you could just hear that shit echo as they were head butting each other so hard. Shibata finally scored with the PK, and that was enough to score the pin and win the title. Amazing match, exactly what it needed to be style wise and work wise from both guys, and they did an excellent job building drama along with delivering the brutality. This is our first MOTY contender of 2016. Well, that was the first of the top three matches, and it delivered HUGE. It was everything I wanted from the match, and Shibata winning was absolutely the right call. The NEVER ranks need an overhaul, and he is fresh blood and can have great matches with everyone. Normally I’d fall into the “follow that” club, but with the two matches left, if anyone can, it’s these guys. Whether they will or not is a completely different question, but they certainly have the ability.

3. From NJPW G1 Night 11 – Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii [****½]: Ishii tried to use his power early, so Tanahashi smartly picked up the pacing to try and put a stop to that. They did some good back and forth based on that, and then Ishii attacked the knee to slow Tanahashi. Ishii was being such a dick here, playing with Tanahashi and making fun of his hair. After some stiff shots from Ishii, Tanahashi smartly targeted his leg to try and stop the powerhouse. Ishii then just beat the hell out of Tanahashi, who fired up and answered the challenge, beating down Ishii in the corner. This was pure back and forth, with both men fighting with all they had and refusing to give into the other. They did a great battle spot on the ropes, which led to Tanahashi attacking the knee of Ishii again. But it wasn’t enough to stop him, and he connected with that sweet delayed superplex to a great reaction; these people were into this battle. My God this totally broke down into a pissing contest as they stood middle ring, beating the shit out of each other to the delight of the crowd. Ishii then hit a head butt to the face of Tanahashi, and scored a near fall with the powerbomb. He then got an awesome near fall off of a great lariat spot, which the crowd bought. Tanahashi escaped a brainbuster attempt, and then Ishii actually countered the sling blade and dropped Tanahashi on his head with a dragon suplex, Tanahashi then did the same and Ishii said FUCK YOUR SUPLEX and popped right up, only to eat a German for the near fall. Tanahashi finally hit sling blade, but MISSED the high fly flow, leading to another great near fall by Ishii off of the sliding clothesline. THIS FUCKING MATCH. Ishii lit into Tanahashi again, breaking him down to the point where he could barely stand, but Tanahashi countered the brainbuster into another dragon suplex for the near fall. Tanahashi it sling blade, and followed it with two high fly flows and finally put Ishii away. That was just fantastic on every level, this was G1 Tanahashi working an Ishii who has been one f the most consistent guys over the last 3-4 years and delivering. It was everything I had hoped for, and is one of the best matches of the tournament so far.

CHRIS HERO VS TOMOHIRO ISHII WAS THE MATCH DREAMS ARE MADE OF pic.twitter.com/CxM76jWHns

— The Tag Rope (@tagropemag) November 10, 2016

2. From RPW Global Wars 2016 Night 1 – Tomohiro Ishii vs. Chris Hero [****¾]: The great thing here is that this was a battle of two guys that bully their opponents and impose their will whenever they wish. The big difference between this math and the Shibata match was that Shibata refused to take Hero’s shit, and then basically scared Hero into the realization that he couldn’t fuck with Shibata. Here, Ishii just out bad-assed Hero; constantly fighting back, overcoming and giving as good as he was getting. They took all the best parts of Ishii’ matches, his refusal to quit, his desire to pummel his opponents and added in Chris Hero, who can seemingly work with any one in any style and make it work. Hero ends Ishii’s night at around 14-minutes, and after this and the Shibata Match, I desperately want Chris Hero in the 2017 G1 (Guess I can keep wishing).

1. From NJPW G1 Night 13 – Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii [*****]: Okada made the mistake of messing around a bit, which led to devastating lariats from Ishii for some near falls in the first minute that the crowd actually bought into. Ishii took control from there, working over Okada and doing those little tap kicks to mock him while he was down. He then lit him up with chops, telling him “come on motherfucker!” Okada’s forearms looked like little old lady strikes compared to Ishii’s. Outside of the forearms, Okada made a strong comeback, and planted Ishii with a sick looking DDT. Dropping Ishii on his head only pissed him off as he lit into Okada with chops. Okada did the corner dropkick spot t send Ishii to the floor, but Ishii’s foot got caught up, delaying his trip to the floor. He looked in pain on the floor and favored his leg. Okada hit the hangman’s DDT on the floor, which led to him hitting the elbow drop in the ring. Okada went to do his rainmaker pose, but Ishii fired up and attacked with a chop to the throat, and then hitting a backdrop suplex and powerbomb for a near fall. They did some great things down the stretch, constantly fighting back and not only countering each other’s trademark stuff, but Ishii did the big dropkick. They then got an awesome reaction to a near fall off of a superplex as well as Ishii’s sliding clothesline. This was straight up fire here. Okada was able to keep escaping the brainbuster, and the crowd was INTO this shit, as was Liger on commentary; he was going insane. Okada hit repeated dropkicks for a near fall, went for the tombstone but Ishii fired up and fought out, only to run into a dropkick. Ishii countered the rainmaker, ran into a German but then countered again and laid into Okada with head butts! They both fought for the tombstone, Ishii PLANTED Okada with the sitout version and then destroyed him with the lariat, AWESOME near fall. BRAIN BUSTER by Ishii and HE WINS! THIS FUCKING MATCH! The crowd is losing their shit, Liger is losing his shit, and I am losing my shit! This was simply amazing, everything done at the right time with a purpose all culminating with the perfect climax point. I LOVE THE WRESTLING! Seriously, everything meant something, the reactions were perfect, it never felt long and just all came together; it just all happened and never felt like they were trying for the epic match, it was the perfect storm. The best thing about this is that we’ll get a title match after the G1 due to this, and it will be glorious.