>>7865203Its just how they tell stories. Shibata spent years getting back into the good books of NJPW, in and out of storyline. The feud with Tanahashi, the NEVER reign where he fought the old NJPW guard, defended NJPW against NOAH all built towards his main event push. He would lose against Okada and probably win the G1 in 2018, challenge again and probably lose again. Third time would be the charm though. Even if he won that match in 2017 his brain was fucked so he'd have to vacate the belt right away anyway. As it stands, the story told was that Shibata completely outclassed and outwrestled Okada but Okada could weather the storm and fight back at the end.
