Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama (NOAH - 7/10/2004)

Seconded. Not as good as their AJPW TC match and the decision to have Kobashi go over is one of the worst long-term decisions in a company wrought with mistakes, but this still deserves to be nominated. Great bomb throwing match with an epic atmosphere that's almost definitely going to find a place on my ballot somewhere.

Certainly an excessive match and didn't have as good a story as their '98 encounter, but this is still pretty damn great. Insane escalation and tons of urgency led to some downright dangerous spots, but I can't help but to say it worked. Booking aside, this has a decent chance of making the top 100.

Too much for me and I love excessive excess but it felt overwrought and meaningless. I love Kobashi's GHC run so much but this falls short for me. I still recognize it as a great match but not a classic.


GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04



The pinnacle of Pro Wrestling NOAH pits the red-hot Kenta Kobashi defending his title against NOAH's second best, Jun Akiyama in a suitably epic encounter. It is a testament to NOAH that they were able to draw 50,000 to the Egg Dome with a main event of two NOAH talents as the big matches of 00s tended to feature a company vs. company rivalry. Yes, All Japan and New Japan were represented on the show, but without a doubt the drawing card was the payoff to the collision course that Kobashi and Akiyama has been on since Kobashi returned from injury in 2002. With a victory, Kobashi cements himself as one of the greatest champions of all time with one of the best reigns ever. If Akiyama wins, it could be a similar torch seizure that took a place just a year earlier when Kobashi finally got the Misawa monkey off his back and took his place in the sun. It has the Clash of the Titans feel you want at a Dome show.



It is always a little weird to see the All Japan/NOAH boys at the Dome, but if there were ever two of them meant for the Dome it is these two. Kobashi wins an early exchange with a shoulderblock and Akiyama powders. Kobashi tells him he wants to get this done in the ring. Akiyama has Kobashi scouted grabbing a leg lace out of a Russian Legsweep attempt (that usually follows his short knee lifts). Akiyama looks for the guillotine choke (how he won the August 2000 match), but Kobashi urgently chops Akiyama's neck to stymie him. Kobashi turns Akiyama's neck/chest a nasty purple-red with some of the most brutal chops ever. He misses a spinning back chop and Akiyama capitalizes with a high knee. It is business as usual for Akiyama targeting the neck with knee-based offense and a wicked DDT onto the apron. Akiyama wrangles the choke, but Kobashi pops out so Akiyama goes right back to the neck with a double-arm DDT and a forearm to back of head. Akiyama grabs the choke and Kobashi goes limp, but summons the strength to make the ropes. In a bitchin transition, Kobashi actually clamps on a headlock after being hit with a back suplex. It is such a good headlock that it is a credible pinning predicament. Then in a HOLY SHIT bump, Kobashi suplexes him off the apron, which sounds nasty, but not that nasty. However, when you actually see the landing they fucking bounce off the floor.



They milk this for a double countout, but both get in at 15. Kobashi collapses in the ring and when he finally covers Akiyama he barley gets a shoulder up. Kobashi runs off his usual offense, half-nelson suplex and Burning Lariat He knows it is time for Burning Hammer, but Akiyama elbows out and a running knee levels the playing field. They tease finishers off the apron and Akiyama hits his Exploder off the middle rope to the floor. They tease a countout loss by Kobashi, who gets in at 19. Kobashi is able to get his foot on the ropes during the consequent pinfall attempt. More Exploders (top-rope version) are not doing the trick, so he tries choking him out and still only can get two. Wrist-clutch exploder gets two. Kobashi is not human. Akiyama must be like I am fucked at this point. Kobashi brainbuster out of some crazy Exploder variation and trade half-nelson suplexes and exploders. Burning Lariat and finally Akiyama collapses. It is academic at this point and a moonsault and Burning Hammer polish off Kobashi's biggest challenge yet.



There is something about the Kobashi/Akiyama that just does not do it completely for me. I like wrinkles and dynamics that add to forumla. I feel like Kobashi and Akiyama are the most proficient practitioners of the epic NOAH style so it is just formula executed as well as possible, but without the wrinkles that other opponents can add to the match. This had everything you would expect from Kobashi/AKiyama: chops, knees, suplexes, huge bumps, big bombs and a badass finish run. It felt like Akiyama pushed Kobashi to his limit moreso than any other opponent yet with his chokeout and Exploder off the middle-rope, but just did not have enough in the arsenal to polish off Kobashi. I can see why people feel like this match is the nail in the Akiyama as an Ace coffin. It was a very decisive Kobashi victory as he take literally every Akiyama bomb and then beat him clean with his two biggest bombs. I don't think this was the point of no return. Akiyama could have worked on a new super head drop finisher or if Kobashi dropped the title on the next defense he could take credit for Kobashi being so fatigued that he was easy pickings for the next challenger. There were options for Akiyama and I don't think this was a must-win for him. It was a great performance that put him right on Kobashi's level, but much like Kawada the resistance to pull the trigger ultimately fucked him. It is hard to explain, but I thought it was missing that little hook that other MOTDCs have had to give this the full monty. I felt Kobashi's desperation, but I just didnt think Akiyama was at the same level of urgency. For comparison, I thought Akiyama's performance in the Misawa '00 match really had the extra sense of urgency that takes the match to next level. I have said it before and will say it again when you are picking the best match of the decade you have to pick nits.

I love Kobashi. I love Akiyama. I just don't like them together. They both seem to lose all emotion when facing each other. The match is dramatic, but it lack of urgency really kills it for me. Akiyama reached an out of this world level in February of 2000 and he never really got there again it feels. The beginning Clash of the Titans work is really great from the test of the strength to Kobashi demanding they do it in the ring and Kobashi chopping Akiyama down when he is going for an early choke. I thought Akiyama's transitions were too lackluster throughout the match. Akiyama's heat segment felt too by the numbers and Kobashi was unusually reserved. Kobashi did an amazing job on a long transition to his offense. From the sustained headlock to the sleeper suplex to the gnarly vertical suplex off the apron where Akiyama bounced off the floor. It was a great crescendo and Kobashi is looking to build to the Burning Hammer. Again, instead of using the Exploder to the floor as his transition, he hits some moves before the Exploder to the floor that do not make that spot pop out. Akiyama's finish stretch is loooooooooooong and I just don't buy it. The exploder/half-nelson suplex was a bit much. Kobashi works through his big finishers to win. Kobashi was doing more of the deadfish sell with less struggle, which sucks because he is so much more dynamic than that. Akiyama had no urgency. Weirdly lethargic match, but it had its big moments and was definitely dramatic. It is one of the big losers of the rewatch falling into the 40s. ****1/4

Sleeze's review sums up my thoughts pretty well on rewatch. I have to respect what these guys went through here and the crowd response is amazing, to the point that I was entertained just watching their reactions even when I wasn't too into the in-ring stuff, but it feels like a step back compared what these guys did before this. It's kind of amazing a match with brilliant stuff like how they work the first few minutes or Kobashi's headlock -> half nelson setup also has something as dumb as that stretch run. The story seemed like Kobashi's strategy was about forcing Akiyama away from wrestling his match (doing stuff on the outside + bodypart submissions) and into wrestling a Kobashi match (keeping it in the ring with strikes and throws), but he eventually fails and Akiyama has his way with him until Kobashi comes back because... he's Kobashi and that's what he does. The match is hurt by the future context of knowing the damage it did to the championship of not letting Akiyama go over here and having to do the switch on Rikio instead, but it's hurt even more by having the past context of their 1998 match and seeing how much more interesting the work done in that match is. Akiyama's control segments feel a little flat in lacking the same surliness or vicious streak you see in his other great performances, but Kobashi also deserves some blame for his selling. I have no idea what happened to all the great struggle and nuanced acting he showed in the 1998 match. Him going through Akiyama's entire final control segment looking like he's knocked out but then shrugging all of it off when it's time to go back in control feels like the type of thing you'd get from a 2010's NJPW match aping Kobashi instead of from the man himself.