Internal AEW Praise For Tomohiro Ishii's In-Ring Work

New Japan Pro-Wrestling star Tomihiro Ishii's ring work has been subject to praise in AEW, according to a report by PWInsider which states:

"There's been a lot of praise for Tomohiro Ishii's work and we are told quite a few younger talents have been studying his work while he's around."

This comes despite recent discourse online surrounding Ishii's match with Swerve Strickland on last week's AEW Collision. Rob Van Dam even responded negatively to a clip of the match on Twitter/X, writing: "I want my money back." 

Several fans and commentators have come to the defence of Ishii in the days since, with Dave Meltzer among those reiterating the opinion that Ishii is one of the best sellers in wrestling - a relevant opinion, given that the widely-shared clip saw Ishii no-selling several of Strickland's strikes. It has been pointed out by several online that this makes sense in the wider context of the bout, and that Ishii often fires up in this manner.

Ishii has spent the Summer wrestling in AEW, although he is still contracted to NJPW. He and company president Hiroshi Tanahashi were left out of this year's G1 Climax tournament, with the reported view that neither man should be wrestling such a gruelling schedule at this stage of their respective careers.