VOW 2021 Match of the Year: #4 (Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi)

Two all-time greats in Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi put together the best NJPW match of 2021.

2021 MATCH OF THE YEAR ARCHIVES

• Introduction & Honorable Mentions
• 100-76
• 75-51
• 50-26
• 25-11
• Top 10 Reveal/Audio Show ($)
• #10: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shingo Takagi
• #9: Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker
• #8: Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
• #7: Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White
• #6: WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov
• #5: Utami Hayashishita vs. Syuri

VOICES OF WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR ARCHIVES

• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012

#4
Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi
5/4
NJPW

Overall Points: 554
Total Votes: 66
% of Ballots: 37.5%
16 First Place Votes

“Shingo was easily my favorite wrestler in 2021 and I am so glad that he had the opportunity to step up and lead as champion in New Japan. At the time of this match, I thought this would be the high point of his year; an epic losing effort against the IWGP champion, just as he lost to Will in the BOSJ finals in the match of the year of 2019. Instead, he made the case that he could be the interim Ace of New Japan while the main pillars all faced roadblocks. This was the state of the art of main event wrestling in 2021.” -Kevin Ely

“Will Ospreay rules as World Champion and Shingo is the ultimate opponent for him. Just classic putting-it-all-out-there action” -Dave Musgrave

“At this stage, it just has to be said that it’s physically impossible for Shingo Takagi and Will Ospreay to do anything less than achieving the truly superb when paired together. Sure, the list of guys Takagi can have awesome matches with can probably be measured in astronomical units, but his chemistry with Ospreay is something people will be talking about decades from now.” -TDE

“2021 was absolutely challenging trying to follow puro. Clap crowds, questionable booking and a hot American product in AEW largely took a lot of the buzz away from the east. HOWEVER, two men seemingly kept things attention worthy in Shingo and Ospreay. Both men seemingly making it their mission to go above and beyond and stake their claim as the world’s best. In a time when New Japan feels as drier then the Sahara, these two felt fresh and full of life. lt’s to no surprise that this match not only sold out in an instant but would deliver a match to the highest caliber. Completely sucking me in and making me believe either man was capable of walking out with their hand raised at the end. This is easily my favorite of all their matches they’ve had up until this point and played on alot of the history that came before. I can’t help but wonder how this match would have been like with the crowd able to cheer because this match seemed to get genuine gasps even with the restrictions.” -Chris Duarte

“You can absolutely argue with me that his one has to be the number one match of New Japan’s 2021 and still I would say it’s just my #2. Wrestling wise it’s maybe the better match, it’s an ridiculous good match with sequences where several counters and move came across. You cannot wrote all of them down due to the super speed both competitors do. Shingo did a great job of neutralising some of Will’s offense and counter most of his big stuff but it wasn’t meant to be.” -Christian Gascoigne

“Ospreay and Shingo can wrestle for an hour but move like the match started freshly. For some reason they don’t get tired and continue going on. Even tough I prefer their first match, this was another banger in their match series. They went 45 minutes and kept the fast pace which is unbelievable. Two of the best in the business clashing and giving you something epic. I can watch these guys for an hour.” -Kaan Ünverdi

“Will Ospreay would turn in a banner year of matches, in spite of an injury that would sideline him for months, as well as a Pandemic spike that would make travel to Japan especially challenging. However, Ospreay’s title defense against Shingo at Wrestling Dontaku seemed to have a special level of spice to it. The match hit hard, harder than most New Japan matches in the clap era. And it was that hard hitting nature, perhaps enhanced by the fact that Will would be out due to injury after the match, that made the action displayed the perfect balm to muted crowd response.

The athleticism and intensity was matched by a match flow that one would have expected from wrestlers that had spent far more time in the ring against them than they actually had. The energy and freshness that this confrontation offered was something that surpassed even the high bar Will’s other master class matches earlier in the year had set.” -Reuel Castillo

“Just an amazing match. Top athleticism and psychology and great storytelling.” -BJ Bethel

“There are good matches, there are great matches, and then there are matches that make you stand and pace, nervously slapping your hands against your thighs like a maniac while yelling “Come on!” at your screen. This match is an example of the latter, which made for an amusing interaction with my co-worker (yes, I watched this at work) when he asked what I was watching. “Wrestling,” was my response, and I was so enthralled by this match that I actually didn’t feel any shame over it for once. This was an absolute masterclass of pro wrestling between two guys who are so great and work so well together that they’re able to have a 40-minute+ clap crowd match and it still feels big and epic and important. You had jaw-dropping sequences, callbacks to previous matches in their series, a bonkers Made in Japan through a table. When Ospreay finally put Shingo down, I was so jazzed up because I knew I had just watched something magnificent. This was my match of the year in 2019 and they did it again in 2021. Simply put, Ospreay and Shingo are nothing short of the best in the world.” -Andrew Rich

“This was an amazing match that I’m surprised that has not been mentioned more. Even if someone does not like clap crowds, I think that this match is so good that it surpasses all the obstacles. This was over 40 minutes and unlike a lot of NJPW main events in 2021, it did not feel bloated. Ospreay’s first and only defense is a memorable one that will leave you thinking what could have been if he was healthy the whole year.” -Abraham Delgado

“These guys might have the best chemistry in all of wrestling. Every match is a classic, and this was no exception. Building upon the matches that came before it, with the added brutality of a heavyweight heel Ospreay. So good.” -Trent Breward

“Every single time Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi meet inside of a wrestling ring their matches against one another reach another level. The next match is better than the previous etc. etc. These two just have a chemistry against one another that is absolutely unheard of. There’s Flair vs. Steamboat, Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock (just to name a few) and as far as I am concerned you can add Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi to that list. Every time they meet in the ring it’s an instant classic, its art unfolding in front of your very eyes as their paint their latest masterpiece in their series of outstanding matches. This match was a long one but it was brilliantly paced, they started off slowly as Shingo had most of the advantage early on in the match. As the match went on Will Ospreay grabbed a table to use on Shingo Takagi but Shingo grabs his own table and throws it at Will as he (Shingo) continues to have the advantage. Eventually Shingo puts both tables next to each other at ringside as the match continues. Later on in the match both Shingo and Will find themselves on the apron near both of the tables. Shingo hits a Made in Japan on Will from the apron through both tables on the outside of the ring in an amazing albeit insane spot! Later in the match Will hits Shingo with a Rainmaker he follows it up with the hidden blade and he finally hits the Storm breaker to pick up the win over Shingo Takagi in what was an amazing match from beginning to end. These two are incapable of having a bad match against one another if you see one Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay match in your lifetime consider yourself lucky. Their matches are a joy to watch as a wrestling fan and every time these two wrestle they manage to have a different match from the previous one while using things from their previous matches together in their next it builds a lot of drama within the match and makes for a fantastic viewing experience. Wrestling rewards people who pay attention and if you pay attention to not only this match but all of Will and Shingo’s matches you will be rewarded tenfold. This one gets my highest recommendation!” -Nathan Neumann

“I feel like I almost have to put this match in my Top 10. Their 2019 encounter was my Match of the Year that year, and this Match was technically better and had higher stakes, but for some reason I almost didn’t have this one in my Top 10. I think it probably is due to the real life problems that resulted afterwards, with Ospreay being injured and then the shenanigans that followed. However, this was still an excellent match, another one for the case of Shingo for MVP of New Japan in 2021.” -Slyguy46

“Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi have had an incredible series of matches over the last few years. While I still view their Best Of The Super Junior Final from 2019 as their best bout (mainly because it actually had a crowd that could react), this IWGP World Heavyweight Title encounter from Night 2 of Wrestling Dontaku wasn’t that far behind. The clap crowds were an unfortunate handicap (which is sadly the case with pretty much all New Japan matches as the pandemic is still raging on), but these two guys absolutely worked their asses off in this match. This was a forty-five minute classic that never felt like it lasted forty-five, and the action from start to finish was nothing short of amazing. Shingo hitting Ospreay with Made In Japan through the set of tables on the floor was one of the standout spots of 2021, and still sticks with me to this day. Even though things got a little messy in the aftermath of this one (with Ospreay vacating the title, setting up the events that would lead to Wrestle Kingdom 16 in 2022), there’s no disputing that this match totally delivered.” -Sean Sedor

“There is a lot of things that can be said about Will Ospreay and are said about “The Commonwealth Kingpin,” but one thing for sure is that he is a fantastic professional wrestler. And that can be said for his opponent in this match as well as Shingo Takagi was able to bring the best version of Ospreay out yet again. These two have become one of the best combinations in wrestling today to deliver a great match. Their BOSJ final bout is potentially the greatest in the history of that tournament. Their New Japan Cup final from earlier this year was another elite-caliber performance. But when they met at Wrestling Dontaku for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, they channeled what made their previous matches so great and made it a world title quality affair. Kevin Kelly went on record to say that it was the best match he had ever called and while I still think their BOSJ match is better, this was world-class. Takagi’s determination to not fail against Ospreay is what carried this for me, showing that he had the heart of the champion — even if he was not the champion. Then there was the forever cocky Ospreay, who had doubt creep into his mind as the match went on despite having confidence for the majority. When the match came to a close, it was a lock for the NJPW match of the year.” -Scott Edwards Jr.

“One of the greatest matches I have ever seen.” -Warren Hayes

“Two of the best wrestlers of their generation, and possibly two of the best wrestlers of all time, put on an absolute stunner here. The series that these two have had belongs in the pantheon of all-time great feuds in this company’s recent history, right alongside Tanahashi/Okada and Okada/Omega. While it won’t get that recognition due to the circumstances surrounding the match’s atmosphere, Shingo and Ospreay had a match so beyond excellent that it overcame the restrictions to be the best match of 2021. I hope these two get the chance to have another classic in front of a loud, lively Japanese crowd sometime soon, because matches this good deserve to get their recognition.” -Suit Williams

VOICES OF WRESTLING 2021 MATCH OF THE YEAR