Togi Makabe

[10.0] "When I first started watching NJPW he was one of the wrestler that most impressed me, everytime he entered the ring you were sure he was about to annihilate his opponent. I still think that late 00's Makabe is one of the last incarnation of the term "Fighting Spirit""

[10.0] "Togi Makabe is my first exposure with njpw back in 2009 (G1 climax) great look, great charisma, great brawler, full of fighting spirit etc. I fall in love like a lot of people in Japan ! The guy deserve every titles and tournaments especially during his peak with the G1 2009 (brilliant) and the IWGP Championship in 2010."

[6.0] "Say what you want about Togi but you can't argue with the fact he has a very friendly face. Kind of NPC you have to recruit for a side mission in a village. Back in the day, he was a nice brawler. Nothing you ever really need to revisit. These days he is just holding on for as long as possible as he would have seen the likes of Nakanishi end up working in a petrol station as these types of guys did not make enough money to have a comfortable retirement like they deserve."

[8.0] "Most people probably don't know much about him and have only seen him way past his prime. But during his better days he was a great brawler with a cool look and had a sense of danger. He wasn't the best in his era but he was good enough for the main event and he was over with the crowd."

[7.0] "Excellent longevity through a long career now and an effective brawler in his day. Never been the best worker but could connect with fans and was over for a long time, getting a few deserved title reigns as a result."

[4.0] "Mostly disappointed with Togi Makabe's performance. Some of his submissions didn't look painful at all with not much effort put into them. In tag matches, it didn't really feel like he contributed to the match much as he was in and out pretty quickly. Wish there was something more memorable about him."

[6.0] "Fine but I'd never call him good ever. He's one of those guys who would get endlessly shit if he was working today in his prime for just how basic he wrestled. Sure, he's had good matches with guys who can get positive match quality out of nearly anything (Okada, Kojima, Ishii etc) he's a perfectly fine brawler and was a solid heel for the time but he's slow as hell and his style gets old quick if the other guy isn't able to mix things up. Better in tags and is alright as a heel but aimless as a face. For the time he was a good injection of some versatility in the main event scene, so he's alright."

[7.0] "Togi Makabe is a guy whose career can definitely be described as a grind as Makabe started at the bottom and slowly clawed his way up the NJPW roster and in the end had quite a decent career. The dude's first title win was 10 years into his career and it was a title in a freaking Japanese indie promotion. His first real push in his home promotion of NJPW was a year later in 2007 having a feud with the iconic Shinsuke Nakamura. Makabe was originally a heel in the feud with Nakamura with Makabe being a memeber of the Great Heel Bash stable. The feud with Nakamura was the defining one of Makabe's career. Also noticeable during this time was Makabe's tag team with Toru Yano (this was before Yano became a comedy guy). A big twists in the Nakamura/Makabe fued happened in 2009 when the entire of Great Heel Bash turned on Makabe and joined Nakamura to form the CHAOS stable. It was a double turn that juiced up both men's careers. Makabe scored his two biggest victories against Nakamura. Makabe won the G1 Climax in 2009 defeating Nakamura in the finals and won the IWGP Heavywieght Championship in 2010 also defeating Nakamura."

[9.0] "At his peak he was a brilliant brawler, and even though age has slowed him down, he can still have great matches with the right opponent."

[6.0] "Used to be a very solid brawling badass but like many of NJPW's old guard, he has slowed down with age. Still decently entertaining thanks to his unique aura."

[7.0] "Makabe is probably the closest NJPW has ever had to an ECW wrestler. In the ring he's never been remotely good: I remember his matches against Tanahashi when both were still young up and coming wrestlers and he was already as bad as he's these days. However he's very good at promos (albeit he works better as a ruthless physical heel than the generic tough guy he plays these days) and albeit he lacks Honma's pedigree in the field he's fondly remembered for his brutal and bloody hardcore matches. With hardcore matches the preserve of BJW and especially Freedoms these days, Makabe hasn't got a whole lot to do but keep on teasing a GBH reunion by tagging along with Honma and Yano. Considering how popular he still is and what he has done for the company in the past, that's a well deserved semi-retirement."

[6.0] "Togi Makabe, at his peak, was a decent worker and a solid brawler, and somewhat of an odd choice to make IWGP Champion. But that run as champion means that when guys beat him, it gives them a little more credibility than had they beaten any other star from days gone by."

[9.0] "These days, he can have good performances and is still one of the most popular wrestlers in New Japan. In his prime, he was a fantastic brawler, IMO. Highly charismatic, great as a badaas face and a tough heel. Awesome look with the chains. Great matches throughout his career and deserves a bit more praise than he gets."

[5.0] "Makabe possesses an unquestionable charisma in relation to his "no-selling sweets-eatin' bruiser/powerhouse gorilla" gimmick, however, his generic skills, weak-looking offensive and stagnation do not make him shine if not against a good opponent or with the right stipulation or style."

[3.0] "Makabe does nothing for me. He has a certain badass aura to him, and I like the chain he carries around, but then the match starts and he loses me. He doesn't do much, and what he does doesn't look particularly good. Boring, boring worker."

[6.0] "If you look in the dictionary the word "average" you'll find his picture. Makabe is an average powerhouse/bruiser, with a stereotypical gimmick of an hungry (and angry) King Kong Gorilla who loves sweets... and that's it. Not much more can be said about him, except that much like a generical us-oriented character in US, the crowd will always have a reaction for him. He had some good matches (especially the ones with Ishii, since Tomohiro is a far better version of him in the ring), but nothing that really standout. How he won the IWGP Hvt. title is a mistery to me."

[8.0] "While Makabe may be winding down in terms of quality, he is still very popular and has had alot of great matches, just nothing standout."

[4.0] "Far too slow to ever do anything exciting in the ring and possesses zero charisma. His gimmick is pretty much just that he wears a chain, pulls the finger, screams "f*ck you! ", and has a mentally deranged look on his face every time he wrestles. He can occasionally use his no-selling to create tension, but this is always once in a blue moon and only ever occurs when he is facing a really top tier performer, such as Ishii. Being that he is so slow this also means that his opponents often have to slow themselves down to match his pace, resulting in pretty boring matches. He is really over with the Japanese crowd for some reason, apparently being quite involved in Japanese pop culture. That must be where he gets all his support from, since what he offers in the ring is incredibly sub-par. Nagata, Tenzan, Liger, and heck, even Nakanishi to some extent have all stepped up their game in 2016 to show that they can still go and give decent to good matches despite their age. Why can't Makabe do this? I believe it's not because of his age, but because Makabe just doesn't possess good natural wrestling skills. He's a pure gimmick-guy, and a very poor one at that."

[10.0] "The Unchained Gorilla is one of New Japan's toughest ! Started making his name back in 2007 with his involvement in Apache and brought that hardcore strong style to NJPW, which led to some very amazing feuds through out the years. An amazing pro wrestler ! If you dont believe me check his matches every year in the Tokyo Dome."

[7.0] "Dependable charismatic veteran bruiser for New Japan. The Unchained Gorilla is a former heavyweight champion so anybody who beats him gets some credibility. Getting a little long in the tooth but can still work good matches if given the right opponent and they keep it under 15 minutes. Still very popular, with an intimidating look, brawling style, and good promos. Impressive array of clotheslines and power moves. Great brawler and great hardcore wrestler. His promo making ability has landed him numerous appearances on mainstream Japanese Television."

[3.0] "Decent powerhouse, but nothing really special. He was lucky to get the IWGP heavyweight championship as he didn't really deserve it."