Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

[7.0] "[3. 50*] A solid match, but a bit underwhelming. It definitely dragged at some points, and honestly there were definitely stiff strikes, but I thought it would have been stiffer given the two names involved. The finishing stretch was fantastic, I always love Shibata's spinning backfist."

[8.0] "This match was fantastic! I love Nakamura and Shibata. They had great chemistry and the crowd were hot for the match. This was hard hitting, stiff, top tier striking and it was back and forth. Shibata's kicks are a thing of beauty, as is his running dropkick in the corner turnbuckle! I am glad this didnt go short and they got 15 minutes, they took absolutley everything out on eachother here, What a match."

[7.0] "A more modern UWF style match for most with lots of time in submissions and so many strikes thrown and throws struck. The last third of the match is top notch but while not an all-timer, this felt like the most true athletic contest of the night so far."

[8.0] "[4, 25 Stars] We often talk about Nakamura vs. Tanahashi in NJPW's 3 Musketeers clashes, but Shibata, when he faces Nakamura or Tanahashi, is often very cool too. (****, 25)"

[8.0] "Obviously this match is awesome, it's Nakamura vs Shibata, how could it be anything other than awesome? That Spinning Backfist -> Go To Sleep-> Penalty Kick combination lives rent free in my mind. 4 stars"

[8.0] "Whew. Two guys with plenty of bad blood and enough history to go around. Katsuyori Shibata showed respect early in the match, but Shinsuke Nakamura immediately enacted the mind games that he is known and loved for. He taunted Shibata to the point of non-verbally communicating that The Wrestler had gone soft. And then they threw bomb after bomb until neither competitor looked like they would be able to continue. Combine the clash of ideologies and you are in for a strong story, strong strikes, and Strong Style altogether. 4 stars, 8 out of 10."

[6.0] "for a match with such a high score i expected a lot better. the first half was rather slow and while the second half picked up it never really got to a level i'd consider to be great. it was a pretty average match imo."

[8.0] "That was a very good match, I didn't really liked the beginning of it but the second part of it was truly great ! Shibata did some strikes in the corner, and they were outstanding. Nakamura's work was genuine too, both wrestlers found some chemistry between each other and the end was very good. Shibata's facial expressions are not the bests. ****1/4"

[10.0] "Just pure bliss in wrestling match form tbh, everything I love about these two distilled into a match."

[8.0] "This was a good match between two of the best pure fighters in the company. The story here was how Shibata was no nonsense while Nakamura had a sense for the flair with his attack. Just a straight forward battle of who was tougher and Shibata was able to avoid Nakamura's finisher in the end to come up on top. ****"

[8.0] "It's funny how two products of the same environment can look so different almost a decade later. I thought these two matched up well. Nakamura can more than throw his weight around and match Shibata for techinique and stiffness but he has flair and quirks that Shibata does so it sets them apart. Naturally there was some wicked strikes but the submission attemps were really cool as well. They combined their strengths to create a highly compelling match with some good nearfalls with the Boma-ye and PK attemps being added along the way. ***3/4"

[4.0] "This was a fine match but it wasn't memorable in any way, and there was nothing about it that would make it stand out. Given the talent involved, you'd expect something a lot better than 'fine' , so this was a huge disappointment."

[7.0] "7. 6/10 : The epic brutality doesn't pick up until the final 5 minutes, which doesn't make up for the lack of any other component of a great match throughout the first 10."

[9.0] "Nakamura & Shibata have quite the intense history with each other, and it showed here. They beat the crap out of each other w/ their strikes & wore each other down with their submissions. It's a great time from start to finish. ****"

[9.0] "I loved this match. Nakamura and Shibata held no punches and went all out to make the first main event in 2014s G1 Climax something worth watch. Shibata was outright vicious, from dragging Nakamura to the outside with a headlock of all things to brutalizing him in the corner. Lots of good counters and an absolutely nasty finish really make this one stand out as a relatively unsung classic. Its not the best match in the tournament, not even the best from Nakamura or Shibata but man was it a great kickoff for what might be my favorite G1 (well, it or the most recent tournament). Its not the most certain **** 3/4 Ive given out but I certainly have no regrets about giving it that many stars."

[9.0] "I have seen this match several times, but it didn't really click with me how much better it is on at least the 3rd or 4th rewatch. The storytelling is very subtle in the beginning where it looks like Shibata is going to keep this a a clean match with no hard feelings, but then Nakamura goes for a taunt and immediately Shibata lets his true feelings known by going for a swift attack. You can feel the anger coming from Shibata the whole match in the strikes he lays on Nakamura, who is struggling to get some momentum going with each move and sequence. Not even two Boma Ye's could keep Shibata down as he rose from the mat and laid one backhand into a GTS into a PK for the decisive win. Shibata forced Nakamura to acknowledge him as his equal with his anger, ****1/2."

[8.0] "Pretty much what I expected, especially the finishing stretch. A lot of the beginning was Nakamura stuff with Shibata trying to find counters but other than that the very start and finish was good. The start was the two trying to find the right moment to strike with a kick, I liked how tentative they were in doing so. The G2PK was great and I loved the sleeper trade-offs. All in all a good match. (****1/4)"

[9.0] "Just a lot of fun to watch these guys just beat the daylights out of each other. They definitely brought it here and it was only the first night of the G1 tournament. This was just fantastic and I loved the Backfist -> GTS/Penalty Kick combo from Shibata that ended up putting Nakamura away. (****1/4)"

[9.0] "Really enjoyed this. Minor issues like no selling in a couple places, but you can't avoid it. Shibata may be the best striker in the world, and Nakamura is damn good at just about everything. Excellent match."

[9.0] "Phenomenal match. They threw everything they had at one another and withstood the onslaught of the other. Just a tremendous back and forth match that lived up to the expectations of it ****1/2"

[9.0] "You can't really go wrong with Shibata vs Nakamura. Kicks, Knees, and strikes galore. Really strong match."

[9.0] "This was a really great, stiff match. Both Shibata and Nakamura looked like a million bucks in it; I'd love to see these two match up again in the future."

[8.0] "Match of the night without a doubt. Brutal spots and great offense by both sides and also the selling was a great, especially Nakamura's selling. This match really reminded me of Shibata/goto match from last year. Great pick for the winner, I want Shibata the win the G1, he deserves a main event shot."