Misawa and Kobashi go at it one more time...

[EL DANDY~! 0]

When NOAH was created, it tried to push the new stars. Akiyama and Co. were doing good for themselves. Misawa, Kobashi, and Taue were all shells of their former selves, blah blah blah.

 

So somebody PLEASE tell me how these two turned back the time machines to 97 All Japan and put out my Japanese match of the year for 2003?

 

Kobashi has the coolest robe ever. It's probably the greatest non Ric Flair/Greg Valentine robe I've ever seen. Misawa has his usual windbreaker.

 

This match was gonna be different from the get go. After the gymnastics display in the beginning, Kobashi gets DRILLED with a Backdrop Driver...only 4 minutes in. At that point, I'm fucking drooling at this aspect that two guys, over the hill, in their 40s, are gonna put on a match with THIS kinda pace.

 

Well, after Misawa cut himself hardway when he missed an elbow off the apron, I was in for the long haul.

 

Kobashi then went half nelson crazy. Suplex after suplex, including one on the floor. Misawa went suplex crazy. German, Tiger, Tiger '85. Kobashi hit a backdrop driver and then a Tequila Sunrise. So now, this is starting to look A LOT like 1/20/97.

 

Then...Misawa gives Kobashi the bump of the year...the Tiger Suplex off the ramp. And it's the greatest camera angle ever, as you can see Kobashi land SQUARE on the back of his neck.

 

Then the ending, which might be one of the coolest endings I've seen in a while. They hit simultaneously with an elbow and a lariat, and then when they try again, Kobashi ducks the elbow and still hits him with the lariat. Great visual. Misawa then comes back with the Emerald Frosion, and it only gets 2. At that point, we all know what he's looking for to finish...the Tiger Driver '91. He tries like five times, but Kobashi powers out. Kobashi then comes back and hits a brainbuster (which I'm guessing is the substitute here for the Orange Crush), and then... he does something weird.

 

He hits the Burning Hammer...but doesn't do the Avalanche part. That might answer the question about it being necessary for the avalanche to be a part of the Burning Hammer. Of course, that gets the victory and the belt. Remember two years when people were touting Mutoh/Tenryu as MOTY back in 2001? This surpasses it in every way imaginable. I don't think I've ever heard the crowd more fired up in a NOAH event before in my life. These two were able to reach back and pull out everything they had to put out one more classic. ****3/4 because it's not better than the 1/20/97 match, but my god, this was an absolutely superb superb match.

[Guest Breetai]

Avalanche part?

[Guest Black Tiger]

Kobashi has only the BH four times in his career. Both of the times I've seen him do it (to Misawa in 1999 and Akiyama in 2000) he would throw the man into the corner ribs first and charge them with an avalanche. Kobashi would then put him on the top turnbuckle so he could execute the Burning Hammer.

[Guest Breetai]

Ah. Apart from the 2 times with Misawa and the time you just described, who else was unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of one?

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

Tiger suplex off the ramp!? Wait, are you sure Misawa wasn't just wrestling a corpse from that point on?

[Dace59 0]

*Reads the bit about the set up*

 

Then Avalanche part I've always talked about is when he sits them on the turnbuckles and pulls them down into the Rack, and since its off the top rope, it's an Avalanche Rack.

 

But anyway, not here or there at the moment.

[Guest The Rising Star]

Kobashi is born in 1967, how can he be in his 40's?

[Guest Black Tiger]

Ah. Apart from the 2 times with Misawa and the time you just described, who else was unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of one?

Here are the four times it's been used.

 

1. Oct 1998, Kobashi/Shinzaki vs Misawa/Omori. Kobashi uses it on Misawa.

 

2. Oct 1999, Kobashi/Akiyama vs Misawa/Ogawa. Kobashi uses it on Misawa

 

3. Dec. 2000, Kobashi vs Akiyama. I think you know who got it

 

4. March 2003, Kobashi vs Misawa

[Guest Doyo]

And it's the greatest camera angle ever, as you can see Kobashi land SQUARE on the back of his neck.

 

Not exactly. Watch it in slow-mo and you will see Kobashi mostly land with his upper back

on the ringside mat and then roll with it. Still very dangerous, but it if gives you an idea

of how skilled they are at taking bumps properly.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Yeah, it's pretty obvious if you look at it a few times. Still a very gruesome bump, but it could have been a lot worse.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

When NOAH was created, it tried to push the new stars. Akiyama and Co. were doing good for themselves. Misawa, Kobashi, and Taue were all shells of their former selves, blah blah blah.

 

Noah started out with Misawa, Kobashi, Akiyama and Vader on top. Out of all of them, only Akiyama fit into the group you listed, and he had been a "top guy" for years before, challenging for the Triple Crown as early as 1998 against Misawa. I don't see how anyone can call Takayama a Noah creation either, seeing as his PRIDE work was what made him a star.

 

So, who were these "new stars" they tried to push? Yoshinari Ogowa?

 

So somebody PLEASE tell me how these two turned back the time machines to 97 All Japan and put out my Japanese match of the year for 2003?

 

I'll have to read your commentary to see if this match really was a throw back to their '97 matches, because I've heard otherwise.

 

This match was gonna be different from the get go. After the gymnastics display in the beginning, Kobashi gets DRILLED with a Backdrop Driver...only 4 minutes in.

 

Judging from this part, it sounds more akin to their '99 matches, which were full of this type of nutty head-drop stuff and "top this" psyche, while their '97 matches included arm work, build, etc.

 

At that point, I'm fucking drooling at this aspect that two guys, over the hill, in their 40s, are gonna put on a match with THIS kinda pace.

 

Personally, I'd rather they slow down and make the bumps mean something by selling them, but what do I know.

 

Kobashi then went half nelson crazy. Suplex after suplex, including one on the floor. Misawa went suplex crazy. German, Tiger, Tiger '85. Kobashi hit a backdrop driver and then a Tequila Sunrise. So now, this is starting to look A LOT like 1/20/97.

 

I'd be more interested to know how they treated these moves, because it seems to me that with the '97 matches, while they did slip in some no-selling of head drops, it was far less than their '99 matches, which saw them toss out head drop after head drop without bothering to sell any of it until the end where one guy wins.

 

Does this match fall under the '97 category, the '99 category, or somewhere inbetween?

 

Then the ending, which might be one of the coolest endings I've seen in a while. They hit simultaneously with an elbow and a lariat, and then when they try again, Kobashi ducks the elbow and still hits him with the lariat. Great visual. Misawa then comes back with the Emerald Frosion, and it only gets 2.

 

What? How did Misawa go from taking Kobashi's lariat to hitting the Emerald Frosion? Was there any transition to speak of there, because that's a pretty big change in control, if you ask me.

 

At that point, we all know what he's looking for to finish...the Tiger Driver '91.

 

Wasn't Kobashi known for kicking out of the Tiger Driver '91, but falling to the Emerald Frosion? Why would Misawa hit the Emerald Frosion first and the TD '91 second if the latter had never worked on Kobashi and the former had?

 

He tries like five times, but Kobashi powers out. Kobashi then comes back and hits a brainbuster (which I'm guessing is the substitute here for the Orange Crush), and then... he does something weird.

 

Again, I'd like to know how they transitioned through this. Especially when tossing out big bombs like that, it's important to look at how they trade off power since these sequences can often be convoluted.

 

Remember two years when people were touting Mutoh/Tenryu as MOTY back in 2001? This surpasses it in every way imaginable.

 

Can you elaborate on that at all? How did Kobashi and Misawa perform better than Tenryu and Mutoh? What did they do that the other two didn't? If you're going to toss out something like that, it would help to explain why instead of assuming everyone agrees with you.

 

I don't think I've ever heard the crowd more fired up in a NOAH event before in my life. These two were able to reach back and pull out everything they had to put out one more classic. ****3/4 because it's not better than the 1/20/97 match, but my god, this was an absolutely superb superb match.

 

I don't mean to sound like a wrestling snob here, but I think you ought to compare and contrast the 1/20/97 match with this one if you're going to draw a comparison between them in your review. Why was 1/97 better? What did they do differently in this match? As a reader, these are questions I have when I read your piece and it would help if you tried to answer them. At this point, I have no idea why this is better than Mutoh/Tenryu or worse than 1/97. Again, no offense, but the purpose of writing a review is to answer questions like that.

[Guest ManKinnd]

3/1/03 was fantastic for emotion and nostalgia, and there was a ton of head dropping, but I understand why. They knew it was probably their last encounter, so they wanted to get in every move they could, and a lot of them involve suplexes and dangerous bumps. Psychology wise, it had nothing on 1/20/97, but it was such a fun match and had a nice feeling of closure. The right guy went over with the right move. I'm just surprised they didn't throw in a TD91.

[Guest Black Tiger]

I have to somewhat disagree about the right move going over. Personally I'd have like to see Misawa kick out of the Burning Hammer. Notice that in their feud Misawa would continually have to use more dangerous moves to finally keep Kobashi down. First it was stuff like Tiger Suplex '85, then Tiger Driver '91 and finally Emerald Frozian.

 

Had Misawa been able to kick out of the Burning Hammer it would have played off 1/20/97 when Kobashi kicked out of the Tiger Driver '91. Kobashi could have just used a lariat like Misawa used an elbow to put him away on 1/20/97 but it would have been better if he used the Diamond Head. Kind of a way to play up Misawa's needng the Emerald Frozian to get the job done in the last few years.

[EL DANDY~! 0]

A couple of things...

 

First, in regards to Chosyu, yes, that was truly a markish review. I was really excited about that match. After rewatching, I'd give it ****, ****1/4 at most, and it was more like the 98 and 99 matches in retrospect. Also, you talked about how the TD '91 always led up to the Emerald Frosion.

 

Misawa has never busted the Tiger Driver '91 in NOAH. If he has needed to, he's used the Emerald Frosion as his "It's over" finisher. It's just that the two have switched spots. Whereas the TD '91 used to be the go to move for Misawa, the Emerald Frosion took it's place. The TD 91 has more of a "he's gone" kinda aura about it in NOAH, because Misawa has never had to use it. That's how I see it, but I do understand you're psychology about that.

 

Kobashi hasn't used the Diamond Head in over a year, and it's to the point that he's botched it so much that he really shouldn't even be using it. The two times he's tried it he's botched it. I think that if he DID use it, however, it would definitely be higher on the headdrop chain than the Burning Hammer, no doubt about it.

 

So right now, it's safe to call this a ****1/4 affair. Putting it up against their classics of the past isn't really right at this point in time.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

Whether the match was in NOAH or elsewhere is irrelevant, just because the TD 91 has never been busted out in NOAH (and i'm not sure whether you were correct on that, at all) doesn't mean it should effect the story of the match.

 

It's about time Misawa gave up hope of the TD 91 beating Kobashi, if he went for that move during the match (you weren't completely clear on whether he did or not) then that is bad psychology, especially after the Frosion, which has a track record of beating Kobashi.

 

I agree with BT on the diamond head issue, the move has been pushed as being the best in Kobashi's arsenal, so therefore he should probably be using it to defeat The Man. It's Kobashi's fault that the move is so difficult to pull off succesfully, and another fault of the match.

 

To be honest, from everything I've heard about this match, it's just one spot after another. Woopy-do. You may as well just watch Toryumon.

 

Oh, and what the bloody hell are you doing writing a 'markish' review and then changing your rating drastically within half a month? That's helpful to approximately no-one, so congratulations.

[Guest ManKinnd]

I haven't seen much of the recent Kobashi stuff. What exactly is the diamond head?

[Guest Black Tiger]

The Diamond Head is like a normal Thunder Fire Power bomb, only instead of dropping you on your back, Kobashi drops you on your head

[Guest RickyChosyu]

First, in regards to Chosyu, yes, that was truly a markish review. I was really excited about that match. After rewatching, I'd give it ****, ****1/4 at most, and it was more like the 98 and 99 matches in retrospect.

 

Even if you're going to rate it lower, it'd be nice to see a little more detail going into why you're giving it the rating. Isn't that what reviews are for?

 

Misawa has never busted the Tiger Driver '91 in NOAH. If he has needed to, he's used the Emerald Frosion as his "It's over" finisher. It's just that the two have switched spots. Whereas the TD '91 used to be the go to move for Misawa, the Emerald Frosion took it's place.

 

The thing the confuses me is why Misawa would even bother incorperating the move into the match if he's going to change the way he uses it from their previous matches. This match was meant to be the conclusion to their fued, right? You'd think a match meant to tie in previous matches would incorperate the moves properly according to how they were treated through out the feud.

[Guest ManKinnd]

To me the ending seems very fitting. If I recall correctly, this match put Misawa 12-4 in the series. Misawa beat Kobashi overall VERY convincingly. But Kobashi has outdone Misawa in other ways. He kicked out of the big move, the TD91, so that Misawa needed a new big move to get the job done, the Emerald Frozion. Then, in the last match, he kicked out of that, too. That had to be embarassing for Misawa. However, the few times Kobashi hit the Burning Hammer, Misawa couldn't kick out of it. Fighting spirit-wise, Kobashi beat Misawa, and this proved it. Kobashi could kick out of all his big moves, but Misawa could never conquer the Burning Hammer.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

I would have to agree, as it isn't as good as their other matches. But it definatly rocks the hizzy as both guys really do brutalize each other. Great match nonetheless.

[EL DANDY~! 0]

I can't believe people still post on this topic! Much better review is coming, by the way...

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Awesome!!! Can't wait for the review. I just watched this again yesterday for the first time in a few weeks, and it honestly was better the second time around. Where do you think this ranks in their feud all time?

[Guest Turd Ferguson]

KOBASHI IS THE MAN!

[Guest ligerbomb03]

I have Kobashi-Akiyama from 2000 saved on my computer. Excellent match.