(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi – AJPW Champion Carnival 1993

Any time you see the names ‘Mitsuharu Misawa’ and/or ‘Kenta Kobashi’ together you’re all but guaranteed to have a good time. I’ve seen countless singles, two-on-two, trios, and eight-man tags involving these two men and have yet to see anything that could be considered disappointing, much less bad or underwhelming. There’s a reason these two men are still regarded among diehard wrestling fans as two of the best to ever do it: they had incredibly chemistry the likes of which doesn’t appear all that often. There’s plenty of evidence of this elsewhere: the two were outstanding tag partners and they had amazing singles matches in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2003, many of which top fans’ shortlists of greatest matches of all time. But how were things even earlier than that? How good were they as opponents back in 1993 when they spent 95% of the year on the same side of the ring?

The Story

The Champion Carnival pitted all of AJPW’s top talent against one another including regular tag partners. Up to this point Kobashi was the third man in Misawa’s Chosedaigun stable with Kawada as the stable’s #2 (that would end literally right after this match) but the CC gave him the chance to show what he could do on his own. Going into this match Kobashi had twelve points which he got from wins over Doug Furnas, Johnny Ace, Danny Kroffat, and Davey Boy Smith; and draws with Terry Gordy and Del ‘Patriot’ Wilkes. His only loss thus far was to ‘Dr. Death’ Steve Williams. Conversely Misawa had fourteen points having beaten Patriot, Kawada, Davey Boy, Ace, and Kroffat, with his only loss coming to Stan Hansen.

In terms of record between them, the score was even more one-sided with Misawa having won each and every prior encounter he had with Kobashi. Given this lopsided record and Misawa ace status few people expected Kobashi to win here. And yet it was unwise to count Kobashi out given his work ethic and overachieving nature. So while he might not get a win here could he at least pull out a draw?

The Match

This took place on April 12, 1993. It was rated ****3/4 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer. This is a fancam shoot which gives the fan’s perspective rather than a produced ‘televised’ perspective.

They shake hands and the match begins. Kobashi gets two clean breaks and lands some chops. Misawa hits back with elbows but Kobashi ducks one and hits a picture-perfect bridging German suplex for two. Then Kobashi hts a plancha to the floor and you can hear people screaming loudly for him. Kobashi follows with a barricade-assisted elevated DDT followed by a top-rope diving shoulderblock and a running corner lariat. A scoop slam/running leg drop combo gets him a two-count so he applies a deep facelock. Misawa gets a ropebreak so Kobashi lands some chops and a vertical suplex for another near-fall.

Kobashi applies a deep chinlock with his knee in Misawa’s back. Misawa resists so Kobashi lands more chops to the chest and another shoulderblock for yet another near-fall. Kobashi sends him into another corner but Misawa kicks out and lands a shotgun dropkick. Another dropkick sends Kobashi to the floor and Misawa lands a plancha/head-butt to the floor.

Back in the ring Misawa applies a double armlock which leads to a standing test of strength spot. Kobashi counters the hold onto Misawa but Misawa mule kicks his way out. Misawa follows with snap kicks and it’s back to the same submission hold. This time Kobashi can’t escape so he must get a ropebreak, only for Misawa to reapply it seconds later. Misawa attempts a Tiger Suplex but Kobashi rushes to the ropes. This leads to a chop/elbow exchange that ends with a surprise forearm from Kobashi. Misawa fires back and drops Kobashi with another elbow for two.

Misawa rolls into an inverted cross armbar but Kobashi gets a ropebreak with his foot so Misawa shoots him off the ropes and hits a spinning lariat for two. Kobashi fights out of an armlock with an enzuigiri, hits a running corner shoulderblock, and locks in the same double-arm stretch as Misawa had on him earlier. Misawa almost fights out when Kobashi switches to a cobra twist. Misawa tosses Kobashi off but Kobashi goes after his lower back. Misawa wins the next strike exchange and sends Kobashi into a corner. Kobashi boots out and lands a big running lariat. He follows with corner machine fun chops and a corner jumping knee/bulldog combo for two. Misawa answers back with elbows and a crossbody press. Kobashi blocks a facelock but can’t block the next one. Kobashi powers his way out so Misawa tries a Tiger Driver. Kobashi blocks two of those and charges but runs into a sleeper. He sinks down so Misawa freely switches to his facelock which leads to loud ‘Kobashi’ chants.

Kobashi gets a ropebreak so Misawa slams him and goes to the top rope. Misawa goes for a diving elbow but Kobashi blocks and lands a Giant Baba running neckbreaker for two. Kobashi follows with an enzui dropkick, an enzui leg drop and a springboard legdrop for another near-fall. He goes for a sleeper but Misawa throws him off. Twice. Misawa goes for his stepping corner escape but this time Kobashi has him scouted and locks in the sleeper successfully. Misawa rolls to the ropes for a break so Kobashi drops him with a DDT.

Kobashi slams Misawa and goes for the moonsault. Misawa gets up quickly and tries cutting Kobashi off but Kobashi kicks him back and lands a top-rope crossbody for two. Jackknife powerbomb. Two-count. successful diving moonsault. Two-count. Misawa blocks another moonsault and tries a back suplex. Kobashi counters with a midair press pin for two. Kobashi dives for a shoulderblock but Misawa dodges and hits a big corner running elbow smash. Tiger Driver. Two-count. Kobashi blocks another Tiger Driver so Misawa charges off the ropes. Kobashi counters with a powerslam for two. Kobashi hits a back suplex. They trade waistlocks until Kobashi lands a bridging back suplex for two once more. Misawa reverses a corner Irish whip and hits a spinkick to stagger Kobashi. Kobashi catches his foot on another kick but Misawa answers with a free-leg enzuigiri. A succucessful Tiger Driver gets Misawa a 2.9-count. Kobashi fights on valiantly as fans can be heard screaming “GANBARE!” [LET’S GO!]” at him. Kobashi blocks another Tiger Driver and endures more elbows to the face but can’t survive Misawa’s Tiger Suplex. One, two, three! Misawa gets the win.

Winner after 21:16: Mitsuharu Misawa

Post-match, Misawa pulls Kobashi to his feet and the two partners hug. Misawa leaves first while Kobashi sells more in the ring. And even though he lost, Kobashi bows to the crowd and gets an incredible show of respect from the crowd.

Review

You really can’t go wrong with Misawa/Kobashi singles matches. These two men know how to put on a compelling match with a simple story told brilliantly. Simply put this match was all about Misawa telling Kobashi, “you’re good but not as good as you think you are” through actions rather than words. Kobashi took control early with big power moves and tries to soften up Misawa’s neck. He went through his usual arsenal of heaving and exertion-heavy moves which wowed the crowd. He showed all kinds of grit and perseverance which enabled the crowd to stay behind him as this lovable for foolhardy underdog who stood no chance despite all his best efforts. As for Misawa he basically played the hits, hitting elbows between Kobashi’s long control segments and to cut him off whenever he got close to winning. He briefly went after Kobashi’s left shoulder to stop him from spamming shoulderblocks. Whenever Kobashi ran into him Misawa hit him hard with strikes. He wore Kobashi down with grounded holds until Kobashi’s guard was lowered enough for him to be unable to defend against any further bombs. Once Misawa caught up with Kobashi it became a matter of not if but when and how Kobashi would go down. Misawa rained down heavy artillery on him with suplexes, elbows, and Tiger Drivers. And while Kobashi adapted throughout the match to Misawa’s tactics, Misawa simply had one too many tricks up his sleeve and managed to hit the right move at the right time to get the win that everyone expected. Still Kobashi lasted longer than most people expected, which led to more growth for Kobashi. So while the conclusion was never in doubt, the actual journey to that same presumed destination was more unpredictable than expected.

Final Rating: ****1/4

These two are simply incapable of having anything less than an exciting match together. They know how to make their shit look compelling, sport-like, and exciting. They know how to hit hard and tell simple stories clearly. They have incredible chemistry with each other and know how to make each and every match unique at multiple points, even if the conclusions are almost always the same.

Though Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi have had much better singles and tag matches, this is still an entertaining match in its own right, especially since it came via amateur footage. This is thus the closest thing we have to being able to go back in time and transport ourselves to 1990s AJPW directly and see things from the live audience’s perspective.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone, then, that the audience that saw this stuff live loved it so much and that it managed to hold up so well after over three decades.

Thanks for reading.