All Japan Triple Crown Title: Kenta Kobashi (champion) vs Toshiaki Kawada (challenger) 10/18/96
This was exactly what you would expect from these two in a one hour match from the time period. The workrate was fantastic, although not on the level of Toyota vs Inoue from 5/7/95 or maybe even Misawa & Kobashi vs Kawada & Taue from 1/24/95. However, this match was the most technically sound of the 3 one hour matches with the fewest flaws. From a psychology standpoint, this was outstanding, with perfect pacing. Kobashi did perhaps the best selling of his career in this match. Most of the first 20 minutes were slow and basic, but there were just enough big moves inserted to maintain a level of excitement. Kawada delivered a suplex and then a kick at 20:40 in the first exciting sequence of the match. Ten minutes later, Kobashi gave Kawada a German suplex for a near fall. In a cool spot, both men lariated each other at 33:52. What made this a neat spots was that neither man held back in their delivery, so both lariats were stiff. Kawada gained a near fall with a powerbomb at 37:34. For the last 20 minutes, the work was excellent and heated for the entire stretch, and the crowd heat finally kicked into high gear. Kawada used a backdrop driver to gain a near fall at 43:10. Kobashi took another great head bump on that move. Kobashi gained a close near fall with a northern lights suplex at 57:35. The final two minutes saw both men struggle to make pin attempts before the time ran out. What made this a great match was that, while the final twenty minutes stood out from the rest of the match, there was enough drama and near falls dispersed throughout the rest of the match to keep the outcome and the time of the match very much in doubt until the last few minutes. *****