New Japan Pro Wrestling's latest PPV, Destruction in Kobe, took place and it was host to the newest five star match from The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer. Much debate has been made about Meltzer's rating system but there's no denying that it's a big deal whenever he doles out five stars.

The match in question was Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, somewhat of a rematch from their classic bout at G1 Climax 24 earlier this year. Looking back on the first match in their series - which Shibata won - and critiquing the second match - where Tanahashi got his win back, so to speak - it's easy to see the skepticism many people have for the five star ranking. Was it really deserved?

Further introspection then made me realize: Tanahashi-Shibata is Cena-Lesnar, only done much, much better.

You should really check out the matches for yourself to appreciate them. Both Shibata and Tanahashi are excellent workers, two of the best in the world, but it's only when you grasp the background that you truly begin to appreciate how well NJPW crafted this narrative.

There was a time when Katsuyori Shibata was pegged to be the next big thing in NJPW. This was before Tanahashi became the flagship who would lead New Japan to its resurgence and most successful years. Shibata saw a slow but steady rise in NJPW - his shining moment was arguably in the G1 Climax 2004 tournament where he defeated three former heavyweight champions. This was after receiving different title shots in the past, including a heavyweight championship match against Kazuyuki Fujita in 2004.

But just as he got big, Shibata left. He fought "freelance" for some time, even returning briefly to NJPW to defeat, of all people, Hiroshi Tanahashi in 2006. Shibata then focused on mixed martial arts. To say he had an illustrious career would be a lie. Shibata saw several losses and even went for a solid two years before scoring a single victory in various organizations like K1-Hero and Dream.

Meanwhile, Tanahashi quickly began his rise through the ranks of New Japan Pro Wrestling, becoming a multi-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and having several classic bouts with the likes of Minoru Suzuki, Shinsuke Nakamura and even Kurt Angle. Then something happened in August 2012 while Tanahashi was busy dealing with a young up-start by the name of Kazuchika Okada.

Shibata returned.

He wasn't alone. He was paired with another shoot fighter, the "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba who actually had numerous big-time MMA victories to his credit. Though the two teamed for a while, Shibata eventually struck out on his own, having some classic bouts with Hirooki Goto - a venerable wrecking machine of a man - before losing to, you guessed it, Hiroshi Tanahashi at the G1 Climax 2013. Shibata's momentum never ceased though. He went up against the underdog Tomohiro Ishii during the G1 Climax in a five star and had some amazing matches with him as well leading into 2014.

Unbeknownst to the world at large though, behind the scenes, Hiroshi Tanahashi wasn't fond of Shibata. The reasons were obvious - Shibata had abandoned a role in NJPW to pursue an MMA career, effectively snubbing the organization in the process. After said career flopped, he came crawling back to NJPW for another chance. It didn't help that NJPW had had terrible experiences with MMA including a failed invasion angle that led to many top stars being buried in the process. It had a hand in creating the "King of Strong Style" Shinsuke Nakamura but that's another story.

There was also the fact that Shibata and Tanahashi had passed their NJPW try-outs on the same day. They became the Three New Musketeers along with Nakamura, essentially the largest stars in NJPW.

Whether it's because NJPW treats wrestling as more of a competitive sport or because Tanahashi didn't give a damn (since he released a book this year where he plainly revealed his anger at Shibata for leaving, along with Shibata's last word on NJPW: "I’m not going to be a white-collar/yes-man wrestler") or both, the organization played up the real-life animosity between the two.

They would clash at the G1 Climax 2014 and it wasn't going to be pretty. Here was a man who built himself to become one of the best pure strikers in NJPW. Here was another man who was in contention for being the best of all time, anywhere in the world. They didn't like each other. What's going to happen next?

As it turns out, they had a competitive match. That is to say, Shibata beat the ever loving hell out of Tanahashi. The Ace of the Universe could take a beating but it was plainly obvious that his entertaining, high-flying, wrestling style wasn't going to work on Shibata. One GTS and the Penalty Kick, and Shibata was victorious.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, who had suffered a very somber 2013 when he lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship; who was on the receiving end of countless beatings from the Bullet Club; who had a brief resurgence in 2014 with an Intercontinental title win over Nakamura before quickly losing the belt back to him; who seemed to be slowing down and battling a bad back had lost to Shibata and went on to lose the entire tournament. It wasn't his first loss of the year but it was definitely the heaviest.

Ring any bells yet?

John Cena had been conquered by Brock Lesnar at Summerslam 2014 and handed the most definitive defeat of his career. Nothing he did worked and really, there was nothing that could be done in his current state to defeat Lesnar, who had conquered the Undertaker's Streak at Wrestlemania 30. John Cena had to evolve, to change, in order to win. Or so it seemed.

Tanahashi was at a similar cross-roads when he went to war with Shibata again at Destruction in Kobe. However, he clearly held nothing back. He went toe-to-toe with Shibata in striking exchanges, despite the latter often winning out. He targeted Shibata's leg, the source of the man's key striking ability, much more viciously this time around in order to neutralize the GTS and Penalty Kick. He had Shibata scouted and didn't fall victim to the same moves. In their previous match, Tanahashi tried to take advantage of the 20 count to bait Shibata to the outside. Here, Tanahashi brawled with Shibata on the outside and didn't realize the 20 count was going on until the very end.

Every time Tanahashi returned to his high-flying style, he was summarily disposed of by Shibata until finally, the former nailed the basement drop-kick of death in the corner - one of Shibata's signature moves - before hitting the High Fly Flow for the victory.

For his part, Shibata remained extremely rigid in this match. He didn't try to evolve past his strike-based offense and even nailed Tanahashi with a Penalty Kick at one point despite his leg being injured. He grew a little arrogant in the strength of his own legs and Tanahashi's inability to strike as hard, as when he applied the Figure Four Lock and goaded the latter to strike him on the mat.

Most importantly though, he let his guard down for one second and Tanahashi capitalized by targeting the injured leg and nearly knocking him out with the corner dropkick. The same Shibata who had pummeled Tanahashi throughout the match had lost because his opponent evolved. It was survival of the fittest in its purest, more poetic form.

And after the match? Shibata and Tanahashi had a brief stare down, exchanged what seemed to be trash talk and then shook hands and hugged briefly. Because on this day, Shibata seemed to finally admit that he was not in fact the better man. That his stubbornness had caused him a key victory in a classic match. A match that history would remember him as the loser of. He admired Tanahashi for putting aside his own pride for his style and fighting Shibata, head to head, while slowly getting the better of him.

Shibata wasn't destroyed but he was bested and for a guy like him against a guy like Tanahashi, that was a big fucking deal. Though there was no title shot or championship on the line, Tanahashi's victory seemingly signaled a return to form after more than a year of misfortunes. He challenged the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles because that's what you do when you overcome actual, seemingly insurmountable odds for so long.

Meanwhile, at Night of Champions 2014, Cena repeatedly spams his finisher against Brock Lesnar before Seth Rollins comes in and ends the match on a disqualification. No, it's not the "worst finish ever" by any means but there was no evolution of John Cena. In fact, John Cena now seems to be shifting away from Lesnar - who still holds the WWE Championship and wasn't beaten clean for it - and towards Ambrose and Rollins who are in a bitter blood feud. Apparently John Cena will have a match with Ambrose and the winner will face Rollins in Hell in a Cell.

Huh.

Everyone has a different definition of a five star match. For some of us, it could be a technical wrestling classic. Others could enjoy the pure spectacle of story-telling that makes us all believe for one second that it's all real. For still others, it could be a match with a lot on the line and plenty of history leading up to it. It could be a match with stellar psychology.

I can't say whether Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata IV is a five star classic for everyone or whether it will be remembered for all time like Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuhara Misawa or Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker or Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin.

However, if a match like this can open up so significantly under closer inspection, be wrestled with such great psychology and story-telling that it becomes an epic in its own right, and still tie in to a long-running saga between two of the best in the world, it's definitely something special.

Except in the WWE, with John Cena and Brock Lesnar.