5 dream opponents for Katsuyori Shibata in WWE

Katsuyori Shibata is hardly the wrestler one expects to see in WWE. The NJPW star was severely injured and forced to retire in 2017 following an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match against Kazuchika Okada.

He did not officially retire, but the indications were prominent. Shibata appeared on special occasions for the next four years, never participated in a match, and hardly received bumps.

However, Shibata surprisingly returned to this year's G1 Climax finals, facing Zack Sabre Jr. in a special five-minute exhibition match.

After the match, Shibata announced his next in-ring appearance would be in a full-fledged match. While it is unlikely that Shibata will wrestle for WWE, one can always dream.

WWE has a large roster, and some of them are more than capable of challenging the New Japan Cup winner to a hard-hitting contest. Here is a list of five dream WWE opponents for Shibata.

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#5 WWE Hall of Famer Edge

Since his emotional WWE return, Edge has also improved himself. He is delivering some of the best matches of his career in his current run with WWE.

His latest match, a Hell in a Cell battle against rival Seth Rollins, is a perfect example of the former WWE Champion's excellence.

Katsuyori Shibata and Edge could have a brutal match, with the Hall of Famer keeping true to his "The Ultimate Opportunist" moniker by finding ways to weaken his opponent. Shibata would instead bank on his unending fighting spirit to keep the match even.

#4 WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns

Like Edge, WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns has been delivering excellent matches in almost every pay-per-view appearance.

Reigns and Shibata will make a brilliant combination. The bout could feature an interference from The Usos, but Shibata is now used to such things.

Shibata and Reigns could put out a highly physical match, with Paul Heyman providing his iconic shocked expression at every heavily damaging move executed on "The Head Of The Table."

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#3 Former WWE NXT Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly

The main roster is not the only spot Shibata can find opponents at. Like the legendary Jushin Thunder Liger, he may turn his attention towards NXT.

In NXT, there is no better opponent for Katsuyori Shibata than the former Undisputed Era member Kyle O'Reilly. They have a history together, with both of their one-on-one encounters to date being hard-hitting classics.

They are 1-1 at the moment, and a final match may recall or even exceed the excellence of their previous encounters, with the duo taking as much punishment as is humanly possible.

#2 Former WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar

A match between Lesnar and Shibata in WWE will be interesting because of their shared interest in MMA. Lesnar is a former UFC Champion. Shibata, too, dabbled in MMA in a less glorious career.

Lesnar will be able to light up the arena against Shibata. The carefully paced, brutal professional wrestling encounter would leave spectators wincing at the hard-hitting moves.

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#1 WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura terms himself as The King of Strong Style, but if there is any man to challenge for that title, it is Katsuyori Shibata. A battle between two of The New Three Musketeers would be one for the ages.

Nakamura has wrestled a less-attractive, safer style in WWE, and it would be incredible to see him leaving it for the match, attacking Shibata.

WWE can even make the match more memorable by tweaking a few routines, the original name of Nakamura's finisher Bomaye, and inviting the third musketeer, Hiroshi Tanahashi, to be associated with the match in some way, be it as a guest referee or at ringside.