The ‘Stone Pitbull’. The ‘New Mr. Korakuen’. ‘A hard bastard’… that last one might have just been made up by me right now, but it’s definitely a fair title to have.
Tomohiro Ishii is an absolute marvel of the wrestling world. A man loved by pretty much every wrestling fan with a cult following that has continually grown and grown until becoming a staple of the New Japan Wrestling world. However, one fan, via Cagematch.com, described Ishii as ‘a once in a lifetime athlete that will never reach the heights he should’. Why is this the case? Perhaps his height and age are currently working against him but this article is designed to appeal to anyone who either hasn’t seen Ishii before or perhaps doesn’t think he’s all that good. This is for you.
Tomohiro Ishii, when you look at him, emanates a certain aura. For someone just coming into the wrestling world or someone who has never seen him before, it would be understandable to think he’s a villain. A small, no neck man who hits his opponents incredibly hard with almost no remorse isn’t usually someone who the crowd get behind and want to win. But, in fact, Ishii is actually the ultimate babyface both in and out of kayfabe. When looking at his real-life travels, it’s hard not to like the guy. Initially turned away from the New Japan dojo being deemed ‘too small’ (standing at 5’6), Tomohiro went to ‘Wrestle Association “R”’ where he spent much of his early career.
His work didn’t go unnoticed as he travelled to New Japan to make sporadic appearances in both singles and tag action from 2004. Over the next seven years, the Stone Pitbull gradually won over the New Japan crowd and, in 2011, managed to win his first championship within the promotion – the NEVER Openweight Championship. It is admirable and a huge inspiration to both young wrestlers coming through and just general fans the journey Ishii went on which turned a small, cult following into an international sensation.
Moving into a storyline perspective, he is easily the most under-appreciated talent New Japan have at their disposal. Ishii is often discussed in the same category as wrestling legends such as ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts and Owen Hart as incredible wrestlers who never won a world title. Of course, Tomohiro is still competing so definitely has a chance to break away from this group but it is increasingly looking less likely as the months and years go by. Ishii is always used by New Japan to elevate a star they want to attach a rocket to. Jay White, Kazuchika Okada, Jon Moxley and others have all been given matches with the man with no neck in order to almost ‘prove’ themselves and sell their abilities to be top talent. To have that level of responsibility on your, admittedly wide, shoulders are a testament to the man’s ability.
You basically never see a bad Tomohiro Ishii match. Ever. You’re always going to get a hard-hitting, fast-paced, wince-inducing contest that leaves everything in the ring and gives it all to the fans. As I write this, Ishii is currently two for two in this summer’s G1 Climax after losing consecutive matches to tournament favourites Jon Moxley and Tetsuya Naito. Speaking of the quality of his matches, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer said:
‘Ishii is unreal, there’s nobody in the world better than Ishii. There are five or six guys at his level but nobody better’.
The man deserves to win a world title. That phrase is often thrown about in wrestling and it’s a debate for another time whether you can actually use it to describe a wrestler as everything is pre-determined. But I honestly feel that Ishii is one man who you CAN use the phrase on. He’s incredible. He’s a once in a lifetime athlete. And I really hope we all get to see him reach the top of the mountain, even without a neck. What a moment it would be.
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