Shibata chats Ren Narita.
The comparisons between Katsuyori Shibata and Ren Narita have been made on multiple occasions and Shibata addressed those comparisons during part one of his chat with NJPW1972.com.
Narita trained extensively with Shibata at the NJPW L.A. Dojo. Shibata stated that Narita could be around him forever and he’d still feel like he was not teaching him enough. Shibata added that Narita cannot surpass him doing the exact same things he did and has no reason to go in that direction.
He could be with me forever and I’d still not feel I’ve taught him enough, but I have to let that go, I think. Everybody always says how similar he is to me, but if he really wanted to be like me, he’d have to walk out the company, right?
That’s how hot headed I was. But he can’t surpass me doing the same things I did, and he would have no reason to take things in that direction. It’s a completely different environment, different set of circumstances now to what things were like then. Anyway, he shouldn’t be afraid of screwing up, and keep doing his own thing.
This past October, Narita made his return to Japan for the first time since Wrestle Kingdom 16. Shibata talked about Narita’s re-introduction and feels he was ‘done dirty’.
Narita was placed in a six-man for his first match back and Shibata feels he was slotted in the exact same position he was when he left. The three-time NEVER Openweight Champion said there’s a short list of talents who were treated worse when they returned.
Honestly, I think he was done dirty. He went on excursion for two years, came back and was right back where he started (in the first match). I think it’s a short list that were treated worse on their return. But that’s the hand he was dealt; it becomes a matter of moving up from there and changing those perceptions.
I do [want him to rebel against the system]. I went through a similar thing when I came back to NJPW, and it became, okay, I have to rail against all of New Japan. That’s the attitude I brought with me to the ring. What we’ll see now is just how far he can live out Narita’s vision for NJPW.
Narita is slated for the finals of the NJPW World Television Championship tournament. That’ll conclude at Wrestle Kingdom 17 and he’ll be facing Zack Sabre Jr.
