THE MOSS COVERED THREE HANDLED FAMILY CREDENZA

ARTICLE #14
NOVEMBER 19, 2001

Kenta Kobashi’s Triple Crown Pursuit

All Japan Triple Crown Title: Steve Williams (champion) vs Kenta Kobashi (challenger) 9/3/94

A fantastic match, arguably the best singles performance of Williams's career. This was also Kobashi's first shot at the triple crown, and he really showed his greatness in carrying Williams to a super 40+ minute match that never dragged. The match started out slow and simple with the early highlight being Kobashi doing a rolling cradle on Williams. The opening minutes saw mainly tests of strength and stature with neither man holding a sustained advantage. Kobashi DDTd Williams on the floor at 7:00 and followed up with a plancha moments later. Kobashi continued to dominate Williams until Williams sidestepped a top rope tackle and gave him a brainbuster. At 15:47 Williams gained a heated near fall with another brainbuster. He gained another near fall with a spinebuster before locking Kobashi in a lengthy bearhug. In an impressive spot, Williams turned the bearhug into an overhead belly to belly suplex for a near fall. Williams attempted a tackle but Kobashi responded with a lariat. Kobashi gained a near fall on Williams at 20:10 after a couple high angle DDTs. The two traded hard punches and then Kobashi scored a great near fall with a sudden lariat. Kobashi gained another near fall after three legdrops, including one with Williams's neck draped on the middle rope. Williams caught a charging Kobashi and suplexed him overhead, and Kobashi nearly landed on his neck. Williams then press-slammed Kobashi clear out of the ring. At 27:13 Williams belly to belly superplexed Kobashi off the top rope in an impressive spot and followed up with a doctor bomb for a great near fall. He then attempted an Oklahoma stampede but Kobashi blocked it and actually gained a near fall of his own. Kobashi German suplexed Williams for a heated near fall at 31:30. He then gained a more dramatic near fall after his trademark moonsault. Kobashi missed a second moonsault but maintained the advantage including sending Williams out of the ring with a dropkick to his knee. Kobashi gave Williams several legdrops, including one off the top rope for a near fall. Kobashi gained another near fall on Williams with a powerbomb. Williams belly to belly suplexed Kobashi for a near fall. Williams then dropped Kobashi on his head with a backdrop driver for another near fall. At 40:50 Williams gave Kobashi a backdrop driver in the corner causing Kobashi's head to bounce off the turnbuckle. Williams scored the pin at 41:27 after another backdrop driver. Super match with a 5 star second half. Both men were at the top of their game. ****3/4

Kobashi was the decided underdog as would be expected, but fans knew he had a better chance of beating Williams than the likes of Misawa or Kawada. After all, Kobashi had taken Williams to the limit in a classic match one year earlier that’s best remembered by the two homicidal backdrop drivers with which Williams dropped Kobashi on his head. This time, Kobashi had another year of experience under his belt and a legit chance, within a story context, of capturing the triple crown. Although Williams was in his prime, putting him in a 40+ minute singles match was a big gamble, since his work is somewhat limited in ways. However, Kobashi was the perfect opponent because he was the best native, even better than Misawa, at working with the foreign (gaijin) stars like Hansen and Williams. These two could not put together the psychological tour de force that Misawa & Kawada created two months earlier, although the pacing and psychology here were pretty strong. Nor could they rely on quite as spot-intensive a match as their 8/31/93 classic since they were going 14 minutes longer, although the moveset for this match was more than adequate. In other words, while this wasn’t really a flawless match in those two categories, it was very close in both respects. In terms of quality, this match is really interchangeable with their 1993 match, although All Japan purists might prefer this match due to its slower build and longer length.

All Japan Triple Crown Championship: Toshiaki Kawada (champion) vs Kenta Kobashi (challenger) 1/19/95

This was the expected world class match with really good heat, although it was just a notch below their sequel on 10/18/96. The pacing here was definitely slower and the move set less spectacular. Both men did a good job of selling the grueling nature of the match, especially Kawada. The first several minutes were slow with neither man getting a sustained advantage. Kawada German suplexed Kobashi at 10:11. He then dropkicked Kobashi's knee and further worked on his leg. Kobashi gave Kawada a cross between a legdrop and an axe kick. Kobashi dominated the next few minutes, although he did sell the damage to his knee exceptionally well. Both men stiffed each other with their chops. Kobashi chopped Kawada several times in the neck before knocking him down. Kawada powerbombed Kobashi at 26:00 but came up limping slightly. He managed to give Kobashi a backdrop driver. The two briefly fought outside the ring. Kobashi came off the top rope but ran into a kick to the stomach. Kawada also hurt his leg doing that move. Kobashi then focused his attack on Kawada's damaged leg over the next several minutes. Kobashi used a sharpshooter to attempt a submission. Kawada dropkicked Kobashi's weakened leg and so both men were hobbled. Kawada stiffed Kobashi with a series of kicks and chops. The action picked up soon after that as Kobashi gave Kawada a backdrop driver. Kobashi missed a moonsault. Kawada floored Kobashi with his trademark kick and gained a dramatic near fall with a powerbomb. Kawada gave Kobashi a backdrop driver and applied the stretch plum. Kobashi used a rolling cradle for a near fall. He gained more near falls with a powerbomb, lariat and a moonsault. Kawada gave Kobashi a vicious dragon suplex for a great near fall. Kobashi gained a near fall with a German suplex. Kawada went to powerbomb Kobashi when time ran out at 60:00. Super psychology oriented match that was better on a second viewing. *****

This was Kawada’s first triple crown title defense. Again Kobashi was the underdog since he had never defeated Kawada in a singles match, although he had pinned the champion in a tag team setting. Kawada was just reaching the pinnacle of his career both from a storyline standpoint and a work standpoint, as many considered him to be the top worker in wrestling at the time. The result of this match was designed to show that Kobashi had progressed in that he could not hang with any wrestler in All Japan, even the triple crown champion. However, I’m not sure Kobashi was able to achieve a sense of equality with Kawada by going to the 60:00 limit. Indeed, this was probably the pinnacle of Kobashi’s success in 1995, as his career, from both a work and story standpoint, would stagnate a bit for most of the rest of 1995. This was a match that All Japan purists would enjoy, although fans unfamiliar with the AJ style might not enjoy it. The build was slow, and perhaps a bit too slow and long for many fans. Still, the work was flawless, and there were few, if any, gaps in pacing and psychology. Kawada did dictate the pace and to an extent carry the match, which helped in this respect. While Kobashi held up his end, few would say this was the best performance of his career to this point. He had entered into what should have been a transitional period in his work from the style of a young rising star to that of a veteran. It wasn’t a smooth or quick transition, as would be evidenced in his next triple crown challenge.

All Japan Triple Crown Championship: Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs Kenta Kobashi 10/25/95

Kobashi hit a lariat early and the two had a hot exchange of offense. Misawa dominated Kobashi as footage picked up towards the middle of the match. Misawa hit an elbow suicida on Kobashi and gained a near fall with a tiger splash. Misawa tiger suplexed Kobashi for a near fall at 20:00. Misawa gave Kobashi a brutal released tiger suplex for a pop and Kobashi rolled out of the ring. Misawa gained a heated near fall after a roaring elbow. Kobashi fought back and legdropped Misawa. Kobashi German suplexed Misawa for a near fall as heat picked up. Kobashi powerbombed Misawa and added a dropkick for a near fall. Kobashi gave Misawa another powerbomb for a near fall. Kobashi legdropped Misawa 3 times and moonsaulted him for a dramatic near fall as fans went nuts. He landed a second moonsault but hurt himself in the process. Misawa kicked Kobashi but Kobashi responded with a lariat. He gave Misawa a second lariat and an elbow. Kobashi gave Misawa a released German suplex but Misawa responded with a stiff elbow, yet Kobashi then dropkicked Misawa for a near fall in a fantastic sequence. Kobashi went for a powerbomb but Misawa countered with a huracanrana. Misawa scored with a series of elbows and gained a near fall. Misawa dropped Kobashi on his head with a released tiger suplex for a near fall. Misawa gave Kobashi several more elbow strikes. Kobashi kept trying to fight back and scored with a chop to Misawa’s neck. Kobashi gave Misawa something of a dangerous backdrop but Misawa knocked him down with a roaring elbow. Finally Misawa dropped Kobashi on his head with a tiger driver ’91 and pinned him at 35:50 to retain the title. A great match with a super final ten minutes. They did a great job portraying Kobashi’s tenacity and it was also interesting to see Misawa use his tiger driver ’91 instead of his regular and less dangerous tiger driver to put Kobashi away. ****1/2

This was Kobashi’s biggest match yet against his then-tag team partner. Misawa was by far the top wrestler in AJ in terms of stature, and Kobashi was a very longshot in this match with few fans believing he had a chance. Perhaps the time was right for a shocking upset to rejuvenate Kobashi’s push, but that would, within the conservative nature of AJ booking), be the equivalent of Jesse Ventura becoming President of the U.S. (and boy do I hope I never have to eat those words). Misawa did a great job of putting this match together and making it as cohesive as possible. Kobashi’s selling and psychology were easily his weaknesses in this match. He held on to too many of his “young lion” mannerisms and failed to show his progression towards becoming one of the veterans. While this was a great match, it had zero impact because no one was surprised by the result of Misawa going over. Kobashi’s stagnant push and work would continue for several months, until surprisingly unconservative booking would result in a couple surprises in 1996.

All Japan Triple Crown Championship: Akira Taue (c) vs Kenta Kobashi 7/24/96

Kobashi and Taue exchanged strikes early on. Taue won a solid exchange of offense. Taue hit a lariat and dropped Kobashi neck-first on the top rope. Kobashi fought back with a series of spinning chops to Taue’s neck. Kobashi continued to dominate Taue gained an early near fall. Kobashi won an exchange of chops. Taue gave Kobashi a lariat but Kobashi fought back with a German suplex for a near fall. Kobashi applied a sleeper on Taue for a lengthy period of time. Kobashi legdropped Taue on the apron as his neck was draped on the second rope and gained a near fall back in the ring. Kobashi powerbombed Taue and gave him a sleeper/slam combo for a near fall. Kobashi and Taue exchanged chops again but Taue regained the advantage with a lariat. Taue powerbombed Kobashi but Kobashi blocked a second powerbomb attempt. Taue gave Kobashi a high kick that appeared to injure him. Taue gave Kobashi a top rope elbow and a Samoan drop off the bottom rope for a near fall as heat picked up. Taue gave Kobashi a nodowa for a heated near fall. Taue attempted to give Kobashi a nodowa off the apron to the floor but Kobashi blocked it. He then tried the move with Kobashi on the top rope but Kobashi chopped Taue to the floor and hit a legdrop from the second rope to a hunched over Taue on the floor. Kobashi then gained a near fall back in the ring. Kobashi gave Taue a nodowa of his own. Taue fought back with a nodowa but Kobashi immediately responded with a lariat. Taue knocked Kobashi down with a chop and gave him a running high kick. Taue gave Kobashi a dynamic bomb for a great near fall. Taue gained a near fall after an enzuguiri. Kobashi countered a nodowa attempt out of the corner with a tornado DDT. Kobashi German suplexed Taue for a near fall and legdropped him. He moonsaulted Taue for a dramatic near fall and gained another near fall with a powerbomb. Taue fought back but Kobashi gave him a lariat. Kobashi legdropped Taue and gave him a top rope legdrop for the pin at 27:18 to win the triple crown for the first time. A great match, though just shy of a classic because some slow points early on didn’t contribute to the psychology or story of the match. ****1/4

This match was a focal point of some booking that was less conservative than usual for All Japan. Just two months earlier, Taue pulled off a shocking upset of Misawa to win his first and only triple crown, made even more shocking because Misawa was at the top of his game. Taue was also still in his prime, and could be one half of some great matches without having to be carried too much. Kobashi’s push continued to be stagnant for the first half of 1996, which is why some weren’t too excited upon hearing of this match being booked. After all, Taue was just two months into his title reign and conventional wisdom dictated a longer title reign for him. Therefore, some were pessimistic because Kobashi would have fallen to Kawada, then Misawa, then…Taue, thus worsening his push/stature in AJ rings. Kobashi’s win here accomplished two purposes. Not only did it rejuvenate his career from a booking standpoint, but with Kobashi defeating Taue and not Misawa or Kawada, held off the stories of his first big singles wins over those two. Kobashi was in somewhat of an unstable role since he no longer teamed with Misawa. Also, the pushed of Kawada and Taue from 1994 to 1996 put Kobashi on the back burner for a while. Kobashi’s first triple crown win was the first sign of upward progress in his elevation, and would not be his last.

NEXT ISSUE: The Insane Luchador Vs. The Japanese Buzzsaw

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