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The 50 Greatest Wrestlers Of The Last 50 Years: Who Is #14?
- Updated: September 17, 2016
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of WrestlingInc or its staff
#14 Kenta Kobashi
Every generation there seems to be a wrestler that has the complete package, a natural blend of god-given talent, athleticism, drive and charisma. If Ric Flair was the quintessential 1980s wrestler who was the total package, and The Rock was the quintessential wrestler of the 1990s; then Kobashi was the wrestler who bridged those two generations. There was very little that Kobashi was not capable of doing in the ring. A terrific athlete, he was capable of flying around the ring, winning many matches with his patented moonsault. His background in judo made him one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, and his thick physique allowed him to stand toe-to-toe with American heavyweights like Steve Williams and Stan Hansen. Blessed with tremendous charisma, Kobashi was able to sell as well as any other babyface in wrestling and was known for his fierce and tenacious comeback. On Cagematch.net, a German website that ranks thousands of professional wrestlers on a 1-10 score, only Shawn Michaels has a higher average rating; pretty impressive considering Kobashi rarely toured outside of the Far East. Kobashi practiced judo in high school and also was a standout rugby player. After graduating he began to practice bodybuilding. Kobashi was one of the first Japanese wrestlers to regularly train with free weights and the result gave him the best physique of any major Japanese wrestler. In 1987 he applied to join the All-Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo and his size and athleticism immediately impressed AJPW management and he was pegged as a star for the future. When Kobashi debuted for AJPW in February of 1988, he was the beneficiary of one of the more brilliant booking decisions in wrestling history. Naturally, when a new wrestler enters the promotion it is common practice for the company to have the new wrestler win a lot of their early matches, giving them a certain level of credibility when selling them to the audience. Giant Baba saw things a little bit differently and decided to have Kobashi lose not only his first few matches, but his first 63! It was like the opposite of Goldberg’s debut; instead of dominating his opponents, Kobashi would always lose, but his charisma and never-give-up attitude would shine even in the loss and slowly he got over with the fans, who paid to come see Kobashi try and get his first victory. A frequent saying about wrestling in Japan is that it is very difficult to get over, but when you do get over, you are over for life. Unlike in other parts of the world, nobody really cracks the main event scene and eventually fades away. Once Kobashi got over with the fans because of his plucky attitude, he was set for the rest of his career. Unlike Goldberg, whose first loss really marked the beginning of the end for his time as a major superstar in wrestling, when Kobashi finally won his first match (a 1989 victory over Mitch Snow) it was really only the start of his great career. After picking up his first victory; Kobashi immediately assumed an important role in the company as one of the three upstart wrestlers who would push AJPW into a golden age of wrestling. Along with the more experienced Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada, Kobashi would become known for drawing huge audiences and having the best main event matches on the planet for AJPW. The idea that Kobashi, Misawa and Kawada were the leaders of a new era would come to fruition when the group, known as Super Generation Army would battle a rival trio, led by aging company ace Jumbo Tsuruta in a series of critically acclaimed matches. In October of 1990, Super Generation Army would lose to the trio of Tsuruta, Akira Taue and Masanobu Fuchi in what was quite possibly the best six-man tag team match in the history of professional wrestling. A 25-minute barnburner, the match redefied what AJPW was capable of and altered the course of the company by assuring management that Kobashi, Misawa and Kawada were indeed the future of AJPW. During the early-1990s, Kobashi was probably the most versatile wrestler in AJPW. He split time between teaming with the Super Generation Army, as well as with Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. When he worked with Kawada and Misawa against Tsuruta, he would play the underdog role, often getting beaten on for extended periods of time before making a comeback and tagging in Kawada or Misawa, who would then clean house. When he tagged with the undersized Kikuchi, it was Kikuchi who would withstand tremendous punishment until he would tag in Kobashi, who assumed an older brother role in their tag team and would produce one of the best hot tags in wrestling history to the delight of the crowd. On May 31, 1992, Kobashi and Kikuchi challenged Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas for the All-Asia Tag Team Championships. The match took place in Kikuchi’s hometown of Sendai and the audience adored Kikuchi and popped huge for his signature move, the Zero-Sen Kick, which he hit about a hundred times in the match and the crowd lost their mind every single time. Kikuchi got beaten down for most of the match, before hitting one last Zero-Sen Kick to tag in Kobashi, who probably delivered the best hot tag performance in the history of the industry, beating down both Kroffat and Furnas to win the match and the championships. The match was named the Match of the Year by many wrestling publications, including The Wrestling Observer and is regarded by many as being the very best tag team match of all-time.
In 1993 Tsuruta had to reduce his wrestling schedule after being diagnosed with Hepatitis. Since Tsuruta could no longer be the ace heel for AJPW, Kawada was chosen to replace him, turning on Kobashi and Misawa and aligning himself with Taue and Fuchi. This made Kobashi Misawa’s main tag team partner and put him as the definitive number two babyface behind Misawa. A key moment in his career came in December of 1993, when Kobashi pinned Kawada in a tag team match. This was Kobashi’s first pinfall victory over the top heel in the company and it also won Kobashi and Misawa the AJPW World Tag Team Championships. This marked a change in Kobashi’s career path, he wasn’t just Misawa’s sidekick and an ace tag team wrestler; he was going to be a future champion. In 1994 he defeated Stan Hansen in the Champions Carnival, and would receive his first Triple Crown Championship shot against Steve Williams, failing to capture the championship. Although he didn’t win the championship his star continued to bloom. In January 1995 he challenged Kawada for the Triple Crown Championship in a match that was called by Dave …
