Katsuyori Shibata tweeted a picture of the Tokyo Sports front page from January 2005, when he announced he was leaving NJPW

6 comments

1. He clearly wants to wrestle again, and NJPW hasn’t booked him since Wrestle Kingdom 16 last year, so I’m speculating that he may go his own way once again. There’s also the fact that [KUSHIDA was leading the most recent LA Dojo training seminar](https://twitter.com/njpwglobal/status/1616299481431003138). Rocky Romero has also held his own solo seminar before, but it just seems like convenient timing.

2. Always interesting when this sort of thing happens… some doctors clear him but others don’t.

   I wonder what would happen if he went to NOAH and then appeared on a crossover show.

3. Really hope he gets around to having that second match he wanted in AEW with Bryan Danielson, i could die happy after seeing THE WRESTLER vs THE AMERICAN DRAGON.

4. Oh shit. He already wants to face AEW guys.

5. I‘ve heard it said that NJPW is reluctant to book him since he went against their wishes at WK 16. Still holding out hope, though, for a Goto/Shibata match. If it happens, it would probably have to be outside of NJPW.

6. I feel like the Narita match and the OC match (and to a lesser extent the ZSJ and Lawlor “matches”) and maybe running into Bryan Danielson at AEW probably made him feel like he’s able to do this in a safe way. And if it’s not in the Cerulean Blue, he’ll have to go elsewhere.