Kenta Kobashi © vs Mitsuharu Misawa
Triple Crown Title Match
01/20/1997
Some wrestlers just have the measure of a certain opponent. No matter how many times they step into the ring, the inevitable result remains the same. Even as the years go by, and they rise up in prominence to a level that they can almost be considered equals, when the two cross paths in the ring, one man emerges victorious time and again.
Having finally risen to the summit of All Japan by defeating Akira Taue in 1996, Kenta Kobashi had managed to make two title defenses before the year was out – a defeat of Stan Hansen followed by a time limit draw with Toshiaki Kawada. However, his first opponent of the new year was a man who had defeated him many time since the two men made their debuts in an All Japan ring. In fact, Mitsuharu Misawa had only lost once to Kobashi (in 1994), with six victories to his name. This was clearly going to be the biggest defense of Kobashi’s short reign; would he finally be able to take down the ace of All Japan?
The opening minutes saw Misawa showing that he was not going to be brushed aside lightly. A Kobashi shoulderblock initially dropped the challenger, only for Misawa to shake it off and land a dropkick, a basement dropkick to send Kobashi to the outside and a suicide dive in quick order. A tease of the Tiger Driver is met by gasps from the crowd, but Kobashi shows he is no slouch either; a grab of the ropes and a DDT left Misawa heading to ringside to regroup.
The two men sought to take each other out in different ways. To slow Misawa down, Kobashi targeted the stomach with his offense. Misawa relied on the strength of his forearm strikes, as well as the occasional high flying move – a frog splash getting the first nearfall of the match. The crowd, clearly behind Misawa, would periodically chant his name, desperate for him to break free from Kobashi’s submission holds and to retain his title. As Kobashi attempted to stop an ensuing Misawa onslaught, both men stood in the pocket and peppered each other with chops, strikes and knees to try and gain the smallest hint of an advantage.
The first real mistake of the contest would see Misawa, having won the previous exchange, dive off of the apron and collide with the barricade as Kobashi moved to avoid a flying forearm. Things weren’t going to get much better; a Kobashi lariat sent him off of the apron back into the barricade. The arm was now the target and Kobashi found ample support from the barricade, the ring ropes and the turnbuckle to attempt to destroy that joint.
As a man who had beaten him so often, Kobashi knew he couldn’t miss this golden opportunity to take Misawa out for good. Multiple standing and jumping armbreakers left Misawa vulnerable to a head and arm suplex, Kobashi slapping on an armlock instantly. Luckily for the challenger, the rope was his saviour this time, forcing the break.
Not content to just work the arm, it was Kobashi who began to throw bombs first, dropping Misawa with a German and a capture back suplex, both moves landing the challenger viciously on top of his head. A lariat attempt finally gave Misawa an opening, using his elbow to block the move and injure Kobashi. Even after a sustained assault, Misawa would manage to find the strength to launch himself with a corkscrew plancha at a recuperating Kobashi at ringside.
Having built the base with the submissions and joint work, the finishing stretch became a desperate battle between two injured, fatiguing warriors trying to eke out enough to get the victory. Descriptions don’t do it justice; the men went to war in the final ten minutes. Misawa landed a tiger drive, tiger suplex and reversed a powerbomb into a frankensteiner off of the apron; Kobashi retorted by nailing a lariat on a jumping Misawa and getting a two count with Orange Crush.
Finally, a simple running elbow to the face was enough to keep Kobashi down. Even as he was dragged to his feet after a tiger suplex and tiger driver ’91, he threw short lariats in one last attempt to stave off his opponent. The fire to defeat Misawa burned, but Kobashi eventually succumbed to the flame.
Kobashi would have to wait until 2003 in NOAH to finally defeat Misawa in a title contest.
