AEW Star Still Has Heat with NJPW After Going Off-Script During Match

Katsuyori Shibata is one of the most beloved Japanese wrestlers in the world right now and he signed a deal with AEW last year. He used to be a mainstay in NJPW but circumstances led to him being ousted from the promotion and now it appears Shibata still has heat with NJPW.

At Wrestle Kingdom 16 on January 4, 2022, Shibata made his second appearance in the ring since returning from a career-threatening injury. He was initially scheduled to face Ren Narita in a ‘catch wrestling rules’ match, which prohibited strikes. However, once in the ring, Shibata unexpectedly changed the stipulation, announcing that the match would instead be a full pro wrestling bout, including strikes.

This unexpected change reportedly caused NJPW officials to panic, as Shibata had not been medically cleared by the promotion’s doctors to compete in such a match. Following this incident, Shibata did not wrestle for New Japan again. In December 2023, the company allowed him to sign with AEW. It was reported that NJPW had washed their hands of Shibata as well.

In a recent press conference, NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi expressed his desire to face Shibata as part of his retirement tour. However, Tanahashi admitted that he doubts the match will actually happen. The main reason for this uncertainty stems from lingering tension between Shibata and NJPW.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Shibata still faces heat with NJPW officials. The issue dates back to Wrestle Kingdom 16 and this act of going against NJPW’s agreed match rules caused the company to pull Shibata from active in-ring competition and eventually led to them cutting ties with him. Shibata had also served as head trainer at the NJPW dojo, a role he lost as a result of the incident.

“The issue is the Japanese doctors won’t clear Shibata, number one, the New Japan doctors. Number two, they’re still pretty hot on Shibata for double-crossing them in that match with Ren Narita a couple of years ago when they’re supposed to go out there and do a grappling match and then Shibata called an audible in the ring when he was not cleared to do an actual match with striking and went and did an actual match with striking. Because he double-crossed them, they have never put him in the ring since. Eventually, he was no longer the head trainer at the dojo or anything, they cut all ties with him and that’s when Tony Khan picked him up.”

Shibata’s career was initially halted due to a life-threatening subdural hematoma he suffered in April 2017, which prevented him from wrestling until his brief return in 2021. Regardless, it’s unlikely Shibata will ever compete in NJPW again and fans will have to accept that fact.

Do you believe it’s simply unfortunate that Katsuyori Shibata and NJPW will never mend fences? Let us know in the comments section below!