Kenta Kobashi Retrospective

Original Title: Kenta Kobashi Retrospective
Original Date Sent: December 11, 2012
Sent to: This one just went out a couple people sort of on the spur of the moment.
Context: When I heard Kobashi was retiring I went back and watched a bunch of his stuff and couldn't help but want to write about it in some way.


It was recently announced that Kenta Kobashi, one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of Japan, would be retiring after 25 years of dominating All Japan and NOAH. His knees are almost completely destroyed and it seems that he's walking away while he still can. There is also no doubt that Misawa's death in the ring in 2009 has made retirement an easier decision for many of the wrestlers of his generation (including Kawada). Kobashi leaves behind a legacy of matches that is rivaled by only a select few. Below are ten of those matches. This list could easily be twenty or thirty or fifty matches long.

I set a couple guidelines while choosing. First, I avoided repeat matchups. This email could have easily just been the ten best Kobashi vs. Misawa encounters. I've also tried to pick stuff that approximately maps the trajectory of his career. Again, this could have very easily just been his ten best matches from 97-99 when he first came to dominate All Japan or from his two year run with the GHC. This is only a starting point and not necessarily just a straight list of the ten best (or even most important) matches of Kobashi's career.

4/20/91
Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masanobu Fuchi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvPAipN7uRc
This match serves as a sort of microcosm for the state of All Japan in the early 90's. The King's Road era was in full swing. The torch had been passed from Jumbo to Misawa the year before and the two are treated more or less as equals here. Jumbo's form quickly deteriorated and his untimely death followed soon after. Across the ring were the three men who would carry the company for the next decade: Misawa, Kawada, and Kobashi. And the Kobashi of this match is drastically different than the way that Kobashi is viewed now. Here he is young and spry and even a little skinny. He flies around the ring (or at least as much as one can fly within the context of this era in this company) using a wide array of dropkicks and top rope maneuvers. Even if he's the 4th or 5th most important guy in the match, Kobashi still manages to stand out (and not even in the "I know what he'll eventually become" way). What should also be noted about this match is how insane the crowd is. Japanese crowds have been stereotyped as being quiet and reserved and only getting loud for big moments. Well, this crowd was loud the entire time, popping for every big move and chanting for every single guy involved at different points. And finally, this is worth it for Fuchi alone. Fuchi is the king of dick moves and trolling his opponents and this may be the greatest ever example of that.

5/25/92 
Kenta Kobashi & Tsoyushi Kikuchi vs. The Can-Am Express (Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24YHbhxWhMk
More junior-heavyweight Kobashi. Here he takes on a North American duo in the type of fast-paced tag contest that was commonplace in All Japan at that point but would soon disappear as the focus of the company shifted. This also serves as one of the first points when Kobashi began to be appreciated for himself rather than as the junior partner in the Misawa-Kawada-Kobashi young lion trifecta. Kobashi quickly became a favorite of tape-traders and writers in the States and it's easy to see why. Kobashi flashes a skill set here that made Puro fans salivate: he was already beginning to bulk up, he moved naturally around the ring, he made his opponents look good, he was charismatic, he hit hard, and he had a unique move set. It's always tempting to try to pinpoint a moment that "made" a particular wrestler (or athlete or actor, for that matter) and it usually results in over-simplifying their career arc. For example, Kobashi showed the same sort of potential in the previous match. But this really is the one that brought him worldwide fame and changed his status from "future star" to "star." 

7/29/93
Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV4hKPlK7fQ
One of the most famous finishes in Japanese wrestling history. The signature spot is an absolute killer and every time I see it I can't help but hurt for poor Kobashi. The match is so much more than that spot though. Hansen was All Japan's resident badass for years and could always be counted on to maul his opponent and take whatever he was given in return. He stood toe to toe with the likes of Andre the Giant, Terry Funk, and Jumbo Tsuruta. A 26 year old Kobashi should never have had a chance. But it's here that Kobashi shows that not only is he a fiery young lad who does moonsaults and dropkicks but a human fucking tank as well. It's a baptism by fire that showed that Kobashi could endure and thrive within the hardships of the King's Road style.

6/9/95 
Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALyg-EhxbgI
This is the greatest match of all time. Not greatest Japanese match. Not greatest tag team match. Not greatest match of the 90's. Greatest match. Period. Full stop. Kobashi is a big part of the reason why. Granted, this match isn't really "about" him. This is Misawa and Kawada continuing their epic saga in a match that was truly years in the making. But all of the Four Corners of Heaven are involved and each plays their role to absolute perfection. Here Kobashi is in the transition period between young lion and ace. He is no longer a sidekick for Misawa but instead an almost equal partner. But Kobashi comes in with a knee injury and is therefore also the weak link in the match. The Holy Demon Army (by the way, what a great name) work Kobashi's leg mercilessly to the point where he can no longer stand and fight under his own power. This includes a moment when Taue nodawa's Misawa onto Kobashi's injured leg; the most perfect spot in a match full of them. Because he eventually has to go at it two on one, Misawa is left an easy target. Kobashi can do little more than throw his crying corpse (yeah, real tears) over Misawa to absorb Kawada's legendary kicks. It's a harrowing match that never lets up and tells a story in the ring that could fill a novel. 

1/20/97
Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6uWsU4yzFQ
This is the moment, in my mind, when Kobashi became a true ace. He had won the Triple Crown shortly before and now defended it against All Japan's top dog, Misawa. The big difference here is in the demeanor of each competitor and how the crowd reacts to them. Kobashi is no longer the underdog. He is now expected to win the big matches, even against the likes of Misawa. The result isn't the point here, it's how they get there. Kobashi would never again be looked at as the inferior guy in the match. He had reached his peak and would stay there for over a decade. In addition to all that, this is a really special match. It's brutal and unforgiving while also forgoing some of the excesses that would later become associated with All Japan in the late 90's. 

6/12/98 
Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w7JOe7OWMw
This was for Kawada's Triple Crown and again it's all about Kobashi's emergence as the ace of the company. Kobashi is an absolute monster here, bullying around Kawada and imposing his will on the champion. Kawada manages to stay alive through his kicks and veteran savvy. But there's a certain level of inevitability here. Every spinning chop, every lariat, every head drop brings Kobashi one move closer to victory. Late 90's All Japan has been retroactively criticized, and justifiably so, for going too far too often. Guys were kicking out of too many finishers, moves were being done solely for the reason that they looked good, and the story-telling within the match, the key to King's Road, was getting lost in the shuffle. But this match doesn't suffer from that. It still feels like a big match without jumping over a cliff and holds up better today than many of the other matches from around that time period.

4/25/04
Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvOkh6IrLcE
This was in the midst of Kobashi's two year run with the GHC. It also marks the first time since he was a young man that Kobashi is absolutely manhandled by his opposition. Takayama dominates the match. And he does so in much different fashion than the usual. Instead of trying to hit Kobashi harder or drop him on his head more times (though he does both), Takayama instead takes advantage of an injury that Kobashi suffers to his arm. Takayama then ruthlessly goes after it and suddenly this starts to feel way more like a New Japan IWGP title match than a normal NOAH main event. The arm work has the double effect of both putting Kobashi firmly on the defensive and weakening his strikes when he is able to hit them. But when Kobashi finally is able to make his comeback the crowd goes nuclear. You can see people literally jumping up and down at the end. It's arguably Kobashi's most modern match and certainly one of the most unique.

7/10/04 
Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pJs1vevNAg
Akiyama was supposed to be the heir to the throne after Kobashi in All Japan. That never really worked out as Akiyama proved to be very good but not an all-time great. Even later on in NOAH he could never truly wrest the title of ace from Misawa and Kobashi. The closest he ever came, however, was here. Again, this was part of Kobashi's epic GHC reign. Akiyama was built up as a guy who was about to reach his full potential. This match is an absolute war and goes overboard in all the right ways. It's a little bit like how year after year there are big special effects extravaganza movies but something like Avatar comes around and still manages to blow them all out of the water. You can feel a decade of frustration in every move that Akiyama hits on Kobashi. But Kobashi isn't one to just move out of the way for the next best guy. It boils down to a pure battle of wills. Who will keep getting up and who will finally stay down?

5/11/05 
Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGVXSU9QM14
The Kobashi vs. Kensuke singles match is arguably better, but I've always enjoyed this one more. It's just such a fun match with the big guys whaling on each other and the young lions doing everything they can to impress. Plus, I think Kobashi's Machine Gun Chops work better in the context of this match than in the title defense. Regardless, this is a blast. It may not contain the incredible drama of some of the previous matches, but it gets the crowd into an equal stir and puts a smile on the viewer's face. Kensuke is far better as an old man than he was as the young muscle-bound Power Warrior (with the notable exception of the incredible tag match with Hiroshi Hase against the Steiners). Since then Kensuke has become an internet darling and had several more fun matches with the elite heavyweights of the 90's, many of whom he missed out on while in the midcard of New Japan. It's also cool that Go has matured into one of the top heavyweights in Japan including two reigns as GHC Champion. And it's not like Nakajima is a slouch either. If any of these matches were a gateway drug for people who have never seen Japanese wrestling before, this is the one.

10/1/05 
Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xq4z5j_kenta-kobashi-vs-samoa-joe_sport#.UMeQN4M8008
Kobashi comes to America and takes on the ace of Ring of Honor. Going in, people didn't quite know what to expect or how the two would mesh. On paper it seemed like a good matchup. Joe's style was heavily influenced by Kobashi and he could certainly hold his own in the ring. But the history of Japanese talent coming stateside for guest appearances was checkered and usually resulted in fun exhibitions rather than epic encounters. Well, this was no exhibition. To the delight of the New York City crowd, Kobashi and Joe put on an absolute classic. It served as both a fitting culmination of Ring of Honor's rise to the top of the independent scene and a cementing of Kobashi as the American internet crowd's all-time favorite Japanese wrestler. Over the course of his career, Kobashi wrestled in six Wrestling Observer Matches of the Year and twenty-three "Five Star" Matches (as rated by Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer). This was the last of both.