5-Star Match Reviews: Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe – ROH Joe versus Kobashi (20-Year Anniversary Review)

Twenty years ago the greatest indy wrestling match of all time took place. For years it was revered as this fabled encounter, one that would become an indelible piece of independent wrestling history. It helped cement Ring of Honor as a (for that time period) viable alternative wrestling company, it brought new eyes to Pro Wrestling NOAH, it elevated Samoa Joe into a star, and it helped cement Kenta Kobashi as arguably the most selfless and admirable wrestler in the world.

Much has changed since then: Kobashi has retired, Joe has gone on to play Sweet Tooth, ROH peaked, almost died, and was revived in a pro-wrestling version of necromancy, and the wrestling business has changed. Nowadays there’s an entire cornucopia of indy wrestling feds great and small, though very few of them have gotten as much attention as this match did when it was first announced. It was such a big deal that ROH’s then-booker Gabe Sapolsky basically decided, “screw storylines, we’ve got Kobashi” and built around him making his first appearance for a major American wrestling company. And as someone who has documented Kobashi’s career extensively through translated his books and other detailed volumes about the Four Heavenly Kings, I think there’s more to know about this match that adds to its already stellar reputation.

The Story

After losing the GHC Heavyweight Championship in March 2005 and having one of the best matches of the past forty years with Kensuke Sasaki in July, Kobashi continued his work as NOAH’s elder statesman. This work translated into a working relationship with Harley Race, a man who had deep respect for Kobashi and asked him to come to the US for Race’s fledging World League Wrestling promotion in Missouri. On one hand this was a major step down for Kobashi, going from having ~62,000 fans in the Tokyo Dome chanting along for his chop battle to getting next to no reaction in front of a tiny local crowd in Eldon, MO since few of them knew who he was. On the other hand Kobashi was a guy who vowed to give the fans 110% every time regardless of crowd size. But on this occasion he got worried: his post-surgery style was one that required the crowd to basically give him energy and for him to feed off that and respond. So when the tiny crowd in Eldon barely so much as reacted to him, Kobashi panicked, which made him doubt whether his style would translate to an American audience. And this was despite Harley Race going out of his way to present Kobashi as a wrestler of mythic proportions, going so far as to call him “Mr. Puroresu” and gift him his NWA Heavyweight Title belt.

Now, as some of you may recall, Samoa Joe went onto Steve Austin’s podcast years ago and basically told his version of events about how Kobashi was convinced that no one in America knew who the hell he was. As such Kobashi thought that to get over he’d have to construct a match as though he were a 1960s Mr. Fuji-style token evil Japanese invader. And all the while Joe had to remind Kobashi that no, so many of his AJPW tapes were traded around the US illegally that the audience coming to ROH would know EXACTLY who he was.

“In my first match at WLW in Eldon, my opponent was a local babyface. Even when I entered the ring, the venue was silent because I was not well-known at all. I understand that it’s natural to cheer for the local wrestler, but it was frustrating to have their support completely overshadow mine. “How am I going to turn this around?” I had that excitement. However, without doing anything particularly special, as the match went on, the crowd gradually became more and more excited. I was convinced that even if the language barrier existed, if I put on a passionate match, it would resonate with everyone, and the same happened when I went to ROH in New York next.” – Kenta Kobashi, 2013

It was around the same time that Dave Meltzer was reporting on each and every lead that he could find regarding Kobashi and this match. He was told that Kobashi was going out of his way to research Joe and ROH in order to create “the perfect match” and that Kobashi vowed to give fans MORE than their money’s worth. This reputation would stay with Kobashi for the rest of his career, and indeed, has become a defining part of his aura as a performer.

“He [Kobashi] believed in always delivering a great match and showing everything he could do, even if he destroyed himself in the process.” – Dave Meltzer, WON, June 20, 2011.

The Match

This took place on October 1, 2005. It was rated ***** and voted the Wrestling Observer’s Match of the Year, ahead of such amazing matches as: Kobashi vs. Sasaki from Destiny 2005, Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels, AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels at TNA Unbreakable 2005, and so on.

The crowd gives Joe a big reaction but it doesn’t hold a candle to Kobashi. The ~800 or so in the building pop bigtime the moment “Blazin’” starts playing and then Kobashi comes from behind the curtain. And. They. Lose. Their. Shit! Kobashi is stunned by the overwhelming cheers he’s getting and does the most generic jobber pose imaginable. “Oh wow, guess they have heard of me” – Kobashi, probably.

They do intros and both guys get enormous babyface reactions, with Kobashi being almost buried in streamers. This crowd is going out of their way to make him feel at home. Joe hits some early kicks but Kobashi no-sells. Then Joe powers Kobashi to the ropes and bitchslaps him. Crowd has a big collective “OH SHIT” reaction as Kobashi slowly lets it sink in and turns his head. This man has gotten a LOOK over. Another lock-up ends with a stiff chop and they go nose-to-nose. A test of strength leads to a “this is awesome” chant back when that shit was actually earned and not spoken on a daily basis. Joe counters with a suplex, tackles Kobashi to the mat, kicks him to the floor, and lands a Misawa elbow suicida. The crowd has lost it two minutes in.

Back in the ring Joe lands a slam/senton combo for two and applies a facelock and then a Stretch Plum but Kobashi gets a ropebreak. Joe lands chops but Kobashi hulks up Kings Road style. Then Kobashi chops back and, I kid you not, his chops sound like the crack of a whip. This is what babyface WALTER/GUNTHER would be. Joe hits back with stiff kicks and a jumping enzuigiri. He follows with Kawada kicks. Kobashi fires up. Another volley. Kobashi fires up again. Kawada-style knees. Kobashi goes down. ROH chant. A seated strike combo drops Kobashi to the floor so Joe kicks him with an Olé kick. He charges for another one…and runs into a series of chops so vicious they send him flying over the barricade.

Kobashi DDTs Joe on the floor and applies a front facelock back in the ring. Another chop leads to a running kneelift/Burning Sword combo. More creative chops get Kobashi another two-count. Joe counters a vertical suplex. The two get into a standing back-and-forth strike exchange that brings the already excited crowd to their feet. Joe hits chops of his own. Kobashi brushes them off and chops back. Joe gets a ropebreak so Kobashi puts him in a cobra twist. Joe gets the ropes again so Kobashi guillotine chops him for another two-count. Kobashi applies a chinlock and chops the bridge of Joe’s nose. Kobashi spams neck chops and goes for his trademark discus chop. Joe blocks and lands an STO followed by a running senton. Tenryu-style corner strike combo by Joe. Kobashi briefly blocks a powerbomb so Joe Kawada kicks him and lands a bucklebomb instead, leading to “holy shit” chants.

Joe lands a facewash and then lands a Muscle Buster…for two. Joe lands some knees and goes for a sleeper but Kobashi throws him off. An ax kick/folding powerbomb combo gets Joe another near-fall so he transitions into an STF. The crowd chants “please don’t tap!” Kobashi crawls to the ropes so Joe switches to a crossface. Kobashi reaches out with his free hand. Joe switches to a scissored armbar. Kobashi reaches out with his leg. The crowd erupts in cheers like that was the finish and it was merely a ropebreak. Joe charges. Kobashi blocks with a chop and hits a big half-nelson suplex.

Both men get up slowly but Kobashi strikes first with a discus chop. Joe finds himself in a corner. Big mistake. It’s machine gun chop time. The crowd is losing their collective minds as Kobashi blasts Joe with 87 consecutive chops. Just when it looks like he might run out of steam he keeps going, extending this little sequence at the last moment. it’s like he knows when the fans will pop and makes them pop more the next time, pushing them farther as much as he’s pushing himself to the extreme. Double-hand chops to the neck. The camera zooms in on Joe’s chest and clavicle: some parts are bright red while others are so purple and rigged they look like Thanos’s forehead. Another half-nelson suplex. Two-count. Joe fires up with elbows. Kobashi puts him in a sleeper hold that becomes a sleeper suplex. Close near-fall. Joe fires off desperation slaps and charges. Kobashi blocks a lariat and hits three discus chops. LARIATO! One, two, three! Kobashi wins!

Winner after 23:42: Kenta Kobashi

Post-match Kobashi helps Joe up and shakes his hand. They hug and Kobashi raises his hand in another show of respect. Then the crowd chants “Arigato” at Kobashi and the legend is once again humbled and grateful.

“At ROH, the crowd was already buzzing with excitement from the start, and I was surprised when a “Arigatou” chant broke out after the match. I had never heard such a chant before, so when I asked various photographers who travel the world with different sports, they said it was their first time too. I have a sense of rivalry with other sports, so perhaps receiving what was likely the first “Arigatou” chant in the sports world left me filled with gratitude.” – Kobashi

Review

This match never fails to put a smile on my face. It was so much fun to watch over the years and even now, two decades later, it still holds up as a classic. It wasn’t contrived, silly, or self-indulgent in any way; instead it was a basic match in which ROH put their biggest star up against a bona fide legend as a sort of gift for their fans. And boy did these fans return that kindness back. They treated this like it was a battle of gods. The 800 or so in this small venue sounded like a sold-out Nippon Budokan crowd from Kobashi’s 1990s heyday. And they weren’t just chanting things just to be heard or to entertain themselves: each and every sequence brought this already-electric crowd to their feet. Kobashi is a wrestler who excels in front of a raucous crowd and he fed off their energy as they cheered everything from the smallest touch to the biggest bomb. If you were take the crowd out of the equation in any way then maybe this would be a **** match or something on that level. But this crowd elevated this into something special. They were completely enraptured with each and every thing that took place in this match. Even if it was repetitive at times, especially with Kobashi’s many chops, the crowd loved it all the same, which makes it a great example of the less-is-more philosophy working in wrestling.

It’s because of that mindset that Kobashi spent 90% of the match hitting chop variations. Though some people have found this to be an issue with the match, it makes sense from Kobashi’s perspective. Come 2005 he was extremely worn down physically but still determined to put on the closest thing to a perfect match that he could. He knew his body was wearing down and so his self-confidence wasn’t the same, so he trained harder and thought of new ways to make the same moves fresh and exciting:

“Of course, I take pride in my wrestling, but I don’t have the confidence to say that someone who has never watched wrestling before would be 100% satisfied after watching my match. Still, because I want to satisfy those people, I put everything into each and every match. Since I lack confidence, all I can do is work hard.
After undergoing knee surgery, I started thinking that way. In the ring, I might have an image of achieving about ten out of ten, but I feel like I hit only nine. So, unless I practice repeatedly over and over, I can’t be satisfied.
When it comes to practice, it’s become a daily routine, like taking a shower or eating a meal.
It’s just part of my everyday life now. After all, as long as the fans have expectations of me, I have to elevate Kenta Kobashi as a professional wrestler even more.
That applies to the moves I use as well. Even with moves that have been used countless times before,
I want to elevate their value by using them. I want to treat each and every move with care. For instance, even with something like a knife-edge chop, I didn’t invent it myself. So unless I put a lot of thought into how I use it, I can’t surpass the original. Even with moves that have already been overused, I want to use them in a way that no one else can imitate. By doing so, I want to surpass the original.” – Kobashi, 2006

As for Samoa Joe, he more than held up his end of the bargain and gave Kobashi the biggest fight he could. He tried borrowing from Kobashi’s seniors – Misawa, Kawada, Tenryu – to try win by using techniques that had taken Kobashi down in the past, only to be overwhelmed by Kobashi’s fighting spirit. Though one might question why ROH’s biggest star is being booked to lose to this outsider, Kobashi put Joe through the ringer and gave him the ass kicking of a lifetime. Few people, if any, expected Kobashi to lose; the biggest question centered on how Kobashi would perform. Would he play his biggest hits knowing he’d be getting a solid payday regardless of quality? Hell no. This is Kenta Kobashi, a man whose whole philosophy has been to always give 110% for the fans, regardless of venue or opponent, for better or worse. He brought his working boots and wanted to thank each and everyone who bought a ticket by being as selfless as he could be while still winning in the end. Though Joe lost Kobashi put him over as much as possible. So even though Kobashi was the star of the match Joe left this encounter a bigger deal than before. Everyone won in the end in some way: Kobashi got the three-count, Joe got his hand raised in the end and looked like a beast for taking so much punishment, and the fans who paid whatever the price of admission was for this event got their money’s worth many times over. Such an overwhelmingly positive experience doesn’t happen very often, so when it does it’s worth highlighting and commemorating.

Final Rating: *****

Yeah, time hasn’t dulled this match in any way. There’s no unnecessary melodrama, any political shenanigans clouding it, or any sense that the people involved have any dark clouds hanging overhead. It’s just two dedicated athletes competing to see which of them was the best and they put respect – for each other and for the fans – above all else in a hard-hitting classic that was equal parts sport and fanservice. For all the talk of wrestling being a dirty business with shitty people in it, it’s refreshing to see two people without any skeletons in their closets doing something like this not because they’re forced to, but because they want to out of mutual respect and admiration.

Look anywhere else online and you’ll see that the response to this match was, and still is, overwhelmingly if not universally positive. Many fans have considered this their gateway into puro or indy wrestling in general. At least one fan has labeled it the Rock versus Hogan of the indies. If you somehow haven’t seen this match go do so right now. If you have seen it, go watch it again. I guarantee that, at the very least, you’ll feel happier after watching it.

Thanks for reading.