TOMOHIRO ISHII:
GATEKEEPER TO THE MAIN EVENT
By Jasmine Olan
New Japan Pro Wrestling is known the world over for its stacked roster which is filled with incredible talent. Its junior and heavyweight divisions feature some of the best of the best from the international and American independent wrestling scenes. In NJPW, every member of its roster has an important role to play and all directly affect each other. In some cases, their role is be instrumental in the push of others while still looking great themselves even if it means not winning a title themselves. If a wrestler wants to make to one of the promotion’s coveted main event spots, they have to go through these performers who are often referred to as gatekeepers. In New Japan, no one has played that role better than the Stone Pitbull, Tomohiro Ishii.
Since first becoming involved with NJPW in 2004, Tomohiro Ishii has amassed a big cult following despite never having held a major singles championship. Throughout his nearly twenty-one year career, the Stone Pitbull has played a vital role in the main event pushes of the majority of New Japan’s top stars like Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, and Tetsuya Naito. He is largely considered one of the promotion’s most underrated talents. Ishii spent a large portion of his career as an undercard wrestler before proving himself as a vital part of NJPW’s mid card. He even helped establish the importance of the NEVER Openweight championship which happened to be the first singles title he ever won.
Ishii has also held mid card titles in other promotions that New Japan has partnerships with like Ring Of Honor and REVPRO. Those titles include the ROH World Television Championship and the REVPRO British Heavyweight Championship. Due to New Japan’s working relationships with other promotions, Ishii has been able to wrestle some of the biggest names on the North American and European independent scenes like Keith Lee, Bobby Fish, and The King Of Bros, Matt Riddle. Over the years, he has received critical acclaim for his matches in those promotions as well as NJPW. As a tag team competitor, His partnership with Toru Yano has created many fun moments for NJPW fans. HIs hard hitting, smash mouth style has also earned the respect of his peers and fans the world over.
When a wrestler is being considered for a main event push in NJPW, Ishii is usually one of the first people they have to go through. His roles as gatekeeper stems from his ability to always look like a viable contender for major singles titles while putting over top stars despite never actually winning those titles himself. He can have great matches against those top stars, even beat them but never win the big one himself and still look great in the process. Because of this, Ishii often plays an important part in the story telling within NJPW. This can be seen in the role he played in the main event pushes of Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito. Each of them had to go to war against the Stone Pitbull before getting to challenge the Rainmaker, Kazuchika Okada.
Even in the prestigious G1 CLIMAX tournament, eventual finalists and winners have had to face Ishii along the way to fighting for the Iconic gold trophy. In this year’s G1, he proved himself to be a major challenge for both Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi on their way to facing each other in the B Block finals. He managed to defeat Omega after falling to Ibushi in his previous block match. Both matches were hard hitting, hotly contested battles of will. Ishii was important part of both of the Golden Lovers making the move from junior to heavyweight. Many considered Ishii to be the MVP of the tournament. Through it all, Ishii has dutifully played his role as gatekeeper without complaint. While he would make a great champion himself he has selflessly helped prepare some of NJPW’s finest for their own pursuits of championship gold.
Many of New Japan’s rising stars often look forward to testing their might against the Stone Pitbull. Ishii is greatly appreciated for his selflessness and fighting Spirit. He may not fit the typical mold of a world champion but has the talent to take on that role none the less. He remains a valuable asset to the New Japan roster as well as one of the most respected wrestlers in the industry, often ranking highly on the annual PWI 500 list. His matches are still the hardest hitting ones on any NJPW card. Having become a company staple over the past decade and a half, he is in many ways the unspoken measuring stick in NJPW. If you want to rule atop the international wrestling scene, you must first do battle against the Stone Pitbull.
