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Post by Cap on Dec 8, 2017 13:53:16 GMT -5
Kenta Kobashi vs Steve Williams (Triple Crown #1 Contender's Match - AJPW - 8/31/1993)
Two hoss athletes going to war in this one. This one has an extra edge to it from the very beginning. it is intense, well built, and beautifully timed. To me, this one hits on all levels. I am not 100% if/where this lands on my list, but it is a match I consider to be elite and will get every consideration.
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Post by elliott on Dec 8, 2017 19:02:14 GMT -5
Seconded. This is one of those matches that I don't really view as a contender for my personal list but I understand many will rate it and so I will do my part to push the nomination through. End it after the first back drop driver and I'm more inclined to be with it.
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Post by fxnj on Jan 5, 2018 22:33:54 GMT -5
Thirded. Awesome bomb-fest between two jocks juiced out of their minds. Everyone remembers the finish, but it's really Kobashi who makes this memorable with how awesome he is on offense and I also love the slow hulk-up Williams does to end Kobashi's first big control segment. Williams on offense isn't quite as good (not sure what he was thinking pulling out a cradle in the middle of it), unfortunately, and there's just so much quality from AJPW it may not make my list, but it deserves a nomination
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Post by bossrock on Aug 14, 2018 21:20:14 GMT -5
Might be the greatest offensive display of all time on Kobashi's part. Not just the way he varies up his attack on Williams' neck, head, and chest, but in how he works his comebacks. He uses what seems like 20-30 different move combinations and not only do they make sense, but they look good as hell. My only criticism of this match would be that Kobashi looks almost a little too dominant in the opening 10 minutes or so which makes Williams' comeback almost babyface-esque. They do a good job of rectifying that in the latter half of the match, but it just stands out to me a bit.
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Post by elliott on Aug 14, 2018 21:58:30 GMT -5
Might be the greatest offensive display of all time on Kobashi's part. Not just the way he varies up his attack on Williams' neck, head, and chest, but in how he works his comebacks. He uses what seems like 20-30 different move combinations and not only do they make sense, but they look good as hell. That's a cool point about Kobashi specifically in terms of his offense. Given what Williams does, you could definitely make an argument that this is the greatest offensive display in wrestling history given the size of the guys. They did this in the Hansen match from July as well. I actually really liked that structure of Kobashi taking it too the biggest brutes in the promotion. It was a great way to make the still super young Kobashi look really strong knowing that he's going to lose in the end. |
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jun 9, 2020 20:15:54 GMT -5
I am a big fan of both and generally love Mid-South-style power wrestling just two big mutha truckers throwing each other around, but this disappointed me. I still thought it was great but I didnt think it was the greatest version of this match in the genre of power wrestling. So disappointment is in the context of great expectations. I still enjoyed it because it is Doc and Kobashi just kicking ass. I might give it another watch in a couple years, but I thought this was too spotty. It was power wrestling's version of a spotfest. Not enough struggle, felt more like an exhibition.
Kenta Kobashi vs Steve Williams - AJPW 8/31/93
Important match in the annals of All Japan lore as Doc has his coming out party. With Gordy's OD and Hansen's age, they strapped the rocket to Dr. Death and pushed him hard as the #1 gaijin. Doc would go on to have an amazing 1994 that single handlely makes him a Top 100 wrestler of all time candidate. It all starts here against Kobashi who was coming off a greatest match of all time candidate with Hansen at 7/29/93. Kobashi was at best #3 in the native pecking order, maybe fourth, we can argue his status with Taue at the time. A win for either man would propel them up the ranks for a Triple Crown title shot against Ace, Misawa.
This is a Bill Watts' dream match. Just two big muthas bowing up to each other and daring to the to hit him hard. They were really slashing one another with those chops. I always like how Williams chopped. He just whip those arms like they were belts. He really slice and dice you. Kobashi returned fire with some murderous chops and lariats of his own. There were definitely some really impressive feats of strength in this match. The number one spot that stood out to me was Doc pressing Kobashi over his head. I have seen big, strong wrestlers have trouble doing a press slam if their opponent does not feed right coming off his feet. So for Doc to press Kobashi TWICE from deadlift position shows how FUCKING strong Dr. Death was. That was a gnarly bump Kobashi took when Doc just let him fall to the floor. Not to be outdone, Dr. Death decided to do a back handspring elbow out on the floor. All sorts of athleticism on display from the Boomer Sooner!
It was definitely a very bomb heavy match. Kobashi loved DDT at this point in his career, lots of those. Lots of suplexes. Kobashi was using the legdrop a lot. Dr. Death was using a lot of slams. I would say there were three main stories to this match. Would Kobashi finally get a big win? Could Doc apply the dreaded Backdrop Driver? I think they did a great job selling this with two teases and how Kobashi scrambled for the ropes and railing. Each occasion the announcer really did a great job selling how it would be curtains for Kobashi if Doc hit this move. The last story was this big, dumb, jock meathead wrestling. A lot of the transitions were just them No Selling like there were Luger of Sting and bowing up to the other and then taking over. I think my major issue of the match wasnt that there were too many bombs. It is that they were too easy. Each man let themselves be ragdolled for a couple minutes. Then they would hulk up and take over. There were not a lot of missed moves or missed opportunities. It was too "my turn, your turn" for my tastes. This was especially cemented after Kobashi's lengthy sleeper and when it was over and Kobashi went to move to the next spot, Williams just broke and threw his arms up and hit his move. It felt like Smackdown Here Come The Pain where I successfully hit Square at the right time to break my brother's grapple and go on offense. That's how I felt about the body of the match, it was very Kurt Angle. The difference is the match breathes more because people stayed on offense longer, BUT the transitions were piss poor.
The finish run was definitely the best part because they played into their characters a lot better than in the body. Plucky underdog Kobashi desperately going for covers after the superplex first with DDTs and then legdrogs then German then finally the fist pump moonsault 1-2-NO! When you first dont succeed, try, try again, this time the moonsault eats the knees. I thought this was the best part of the match because there was some meaningful struggle in who would gain the upper hand as Kobashi was still valiant. Doc counters with the Oklahoma Stampede. Kobashi tries to bring him down after the kickout with a sleeper, but Doc wrangles him into an insane Back Drop Driver on his fucking head. WOW! That should have been the finish, but this being All Japan we need two more, but goddamn those were wicked!
Most people take umbrage with the finish, I loved it. I thought there was great escalation, awesome nearfall for Kobashi with moonsault, good competition after the failed moonsault leading to an cool way into first Backdrop Driver. My issue is with the body of the match, I thought it lacked struggle and the offense was NOT earned and it was too "my turn, your turn". Offense looked great and I love power offense but with so much good wrestling these things stand out. Fun match, but not an elite All Japan match. ****
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Post by mvz on Sept 17, 2021 21:55:10 GMT -5
My feelings here are close to Sleeze’s, there were a couple of moments that really impressed at the start, but then there wasn’t much compelling in the early going, then I just don’t really go for the chop exchanges and bulking up. Finishing stretch was ok, but didn’t feel like there was a lot of meat in the bone.
I thought Dr Death made some weird choices in this match. I have only seen his US stuff but kind of strikes me as The Doors of professional wrestling, when I was in middle school he seemed really awesome and cool but as my tastes evolved his flaws are outweighing his strong points. We’ll see if I have a better response to his nominated matches in 1994.
Kobashi is not guiltless either, it was striking how different this was than his matches that I like.
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Post by KB8 on Sept 16, 2022 11:43:27 GMT -5
This was alright. It's basically a big beefy boy slugfest only with head drops and suplexes and whatnot rather than punches and kicks to the eye socket. On the one hand if I'm going to watch a big beefy boy slugfest I'd probably rather watch Ashura Hara v Akitoshi Saito, but on the other hand those two for 27 minutes likely wouldn't have been as good as this so I guess we must give credit where it's due. I actually thought the pacing was really good, and even though the match was generally Big Boys Hitting Moves I don't think it really teetered into overkill territory. Didn't feel like just a collection of STUFF and there was at least progression and such. There was a point where they maybe started to lose me a wee bit, but I'd seen this enough times that the anticipation for the lunacy at the end woke me up again. That backdrop driver was teased throughout and it was always lurking in the back of your mind. Whenever Williams went for it Kobashi immediately scrambled out of dodge and there was a palpable sense of danger around the move. The first one at the end is of course insanity, met with a sort of ripple through the crowd where they might wonder if Kobashi's actually dead, then Williams does it again and Kobashi's selling is something I could be convinced is genius one day and just the absolute dumbest shit another day. Then the third backdrop driver is basically like swatting a house fly with a hand grenade. Cue up the "he's already dead!" Simpsons GIF. I might watch Misawa/Williams from the following week to see how it compares. Later, perhaps. Or another year down the line.
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