#4.) vs Katsuyori Shibata – Sakura Genesis 2017
Shibata won the NJPW cup and chose to challenge Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight title. The match is quite a tragic one because it turned out to be the very last of Shibata’s career. But what a way to go out. He put in every single thing he had into the match and it was one of the defining bouts of Okada’s historic title reign.
Shibata too, came very close to dethroning Okada and brutalized him a lot, but he also took so much punishment that it ended up costing him his career. This match isn’t for the weak-hearted, as it contained a lot of stiff strikes and brutality. Shibata presented a very different challenge to Okada, but the champion was on another level and he proved it that night.
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