The Triumph of Kenta Kobashi: From Rookie to Legend

Join us this week as we dive deep into the illustrious career of Kenta Kobashi, one of pro wrestling's greatest babyfaces. Hosted by Japan’s leading pro wrestling author, Fumi Saito, we explore Kobashi's journey from a

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:56 Early Struggles and Beginnings

00:21:25 Tradition and Discipline

00:24:47 Neon Orange Tights Origins

00:26:26 Transition and Evolution

00:28:39 Resilience and Determination

00:29:02 Changing Dynamics

00:31:19 "Ganbaru Spirit"

00:32:22 Main Event Spotlight

00:34:34 Tag Team Dynamics

00:34:46 Dominance in Tag Team Wrestling

00:38:15 Formation of Faction G.E.T.

00:40:33 Triple Crown Champion Legacy

00:45:13 Pro Wrestling NOAH Formation

00:48:13 Dream Matches and Cross-Promotion

00:49:24 Decade-Long Rivalry with Misawa

00:53:42 Emotional Return Post-Cancer

00:55:27 Battling Through Injuries

00:58:24 Transition to New Era in Wrestling

01:01:03 Legacy and Influence Post-Retirement

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Write that, write that down for me, say it down, write that down for me, say it down, say it down.

(00:30):
With Japan's leading pro wrestling author and writer. sociologist and historian
broadcast journalist all-around fantastic fellow mr fumi saito this week finally
we got to cover kenta kobashi,
we went over his entire career talked about his struggles early on fitting in

(00:51):
with such a packed roster filled with wrestlers who had prestigious amateur
wrestling backgrounds sumo backgrounds,
whereas Kobayashi would come
in to All Japan Pro Wrestling really out of passion for pro wrestling.
I think he's arguably pro wrestling's best baby face of all time.

(01:13):
There's an argument to be made, for sure.
But if you've been listening to this show for a while, this one's been a long
time coming and it was fun to do. So enjoy it like we did.
If you haven't already, please subscribe to the Fight Game Media Network podcast
feed on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you usually listen to your podcasts,

(01:35):
because it helps us out very much.
Without further ado, oh, and Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Before we get started,
enjoy this over your break.
But yeah, let's get into it. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Kentakobashi Day.

(01:56):
Okay, so today, Kento Kobashi, I mean,
if you had to rank him among the four of the top four from that All Japan we
were talking about, it's hard to rank him and compare him with Misawa and Kawada
because of his background.
That's one of the first things you have to factor in when you're comparing him

(02:19):
with the others from All Japan at that time.
Misawa, the high school champion, Kawada, high school champion.
Of course, Akira Taue as Tamaki Rin, the big-time sumo wrestler.
And even Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, he was high school amateur champion.
And later, Jun Akiyama was the college champion.

(02:43):
Yeah. Even though he was a big, athletic, good-looking guy who wanted to wrestle,
he didn't have the I guess the exact background they were looking for what Baba was looking for and,
Same story with people like Yoshinari Ogawa.
He played baseball, and he realized that first year in, Bob, Mr.

(03:06):
And Mrs. Bob would pick who's going to be starting and who's not going to be.
You know what I'm saying? That's devastating for a rookie to look at.
You know what I'm saying? Sure.
Oh, wow, I'm going to be around, but they're not going to push me,
right? Or something like that.
So against all odds, yes, Yes, Kenta Kobayashi became much, much bigger star

(03:27):
than the company expected.
This is a real big success story right there. He had to fight a lot more than
those others. Yeah, I think so. I think so.
And also, we talk about big four. Well, we can go through that,
you know, four pillars of heaven story too.
But shiten no is Japanese word for it. Four big ones.

(03:49):
Shi, four. Ten, heaven. No is like a king. So that's how they translate three
different kanji and put together the pillar of the heaven. What was that?
Pillars of heaven? Four pillars of heaven. Four pillars of heaven, the heavenly kings.
It's hard to describe if you don't, it's about, it's rooted in.

(04:10):
Stendo is one word, you know?
And it's from a more Asian Buddhist background. So it's like.
None to do with this heaven thing. Yeah, I mean, it's heaven,
but it's not Judeo-Christian heaven. Right, right, right.
But basically, it's like saying the big four.

(04:31):
Big four. It's the big four. And it's a common word. It's not just for wrestling.
No, no, this is a regular term, shiten no, four big ones.
And one word. Just like three musketeers. It's the same idea.
We can say three samurai, you know, worked for the castle or something.
Sure, sure. Yeah. Three musketeers is another word that we use a lot.

(04:55):
For either three or four. But this is a four big one. And you say Misawa,
Kawada, Taue, and Kobashi, right?
And they were actually like in the same age group besides Kobashi.
Taue born 1961, Misawa born 1962, Kawada born 1963, but Kobashi was 1967.

(05:17):
So he's like five years younger than other guys. Yeah. So he felt that too, when he started.
Yeah. Kenta Kobashi is such a success story.
So I don't even know where to start, but this is a good story.
Let's talk about when he wrote, we were just talking about it before we started

(05:37):
recording, but when he, he wanted
to be a pro wrestler and he wrote a letter or he sent his resume to.
Sent his resume and photo to All Japan Pro Wrestling that he felt that he thought
that how you apply for your job, right?
Sending your bio, you know, athletic resume and the photo, you know.

(05:57):
Actually could you explain that a little
bit because in japan the resume expectations or
the template for what you send out after college is very it's different than
is it common it's a little bit you felt what's different unique to japan well
you you're required to put your photo on it that's one very different right

(06:21):
that's like almost like a discrimination now right.
Because you don't judge by the look.
And it has to be like two or three pages, and it's all about...
Having a lot of content on it
a lot of words a lot of text even like
a great what grade school you went to and what year and what month you graduated
from what junior high and what high school and this and that right yeah and

(06:46):
it's often i mean when it's just common in japan when someone graduates from
university this is what they're playing for the first you know year or two or
Or even more for some people,
you go through this resume process.
When a company goes through this paper, bio, then they'll pick who they want to have job interviews.

(07:07):
Some people are not going to make job interviews even.
You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. I didn't realize that you felt was like
a system and the custom was a little bit strange, huh?
It's more rigid than I think what we're used to over in the States or maybe
like on the CV in UK, for example.
Oh okay different just a different format same

(07:29):
idea just different but it's a common you know common practice
and common sense kind of thing that that young 18
year old kenta kobashi actually like a 19 then because
he's right after high school he didn't think he was big enough you know physically
that he started working for this big factory called kyoto ceramic kyocera you
know big factory worker and he's you know asked you know factory chief for the

(07:55):
your, you know, factory boss that the,
please buy this or the weight sets and the put up in the roof and then let's
start bodybuilding club, you know?
And yeah, he was the only one pumping iron every night, every night,
you know, but he, he sent this, you know, written form of resume,
redactio thing and photo and apply for like a rookie position, right?

(08:18):
Just like any other person would apply for a job after graduating.
Same system. Meaning that he had no connection to wrestling,
like wrestling people inside the promoter or any wrestler that he knew personally.
He, from front door, knock, knock, knock, knock the front door,
sending a letter to All Japan office in Tokyo.

(08:39):
And a couple weeks later, he got the letter back from All Japan office.
He thought it was all right, accepted, right?
Then he opened the letter saying that, read your bio, not accepted.
That was the end of it. What did I do wrong, right?
What did I write wrong? Or what was wrong with my, like, personal bio?

(09:01):
You know, he played, he was, all through his childhood, judo and played rugby.
And after high school, he, you know, spent a whole year, you know,
lifting weight and putting on weight. and he was all ready to become a wrestler.
He quit Kyoto Ceramic and he was ready to come to Japan, not to Japan,
but he was ready to come to Tokyo and become a wrestler. It wasn't that smooth.

(09:26):
So can you imagine how hard it is for a country boy from outside the Kyoto area
to call up an All Japan office in Tokyo and pick up a phone?
It's before a little bit before your cell phone Decades before the internet right?

(09:47):
Mm-hmm, and he actually picked up a phone and called all Japan office to ask
what was the reason that he didn't even make a paper, you know the bio and the
person answer the phone said,
two reasons that.
You haven't you don't have very good athlete background and number two, little bit too old.

(10:12):
He was 20 at the time. Hmm.
Hmm. Yeah, like right out of high school, 18, yes, but you don't have very good athletic background,
meaning that, yeah, that the jumbo, like a giant barber, the former baseball
player, major, you know, giant baseball player, jumbled through the 1972 Munich Olympics, the big.

(10:37):
You know, Sumo star turned wrestler.
Misawa, high school champion. Kawada, high school champion.
Yeah, you do have this, you know, like really, yeah, almost like a premier athletic
amateur background, huh?
Especially at the time. Especially late 80s. You only have like three or four companies in Japan.

(11:01):
All Japan, New Japan, and UWF group. and all
the top stars had that background for the most part right
right and whether it was wrestling right we
thought it was normal but it was really hard to get into business at
the time huh yeah there was no direct way to get in unless you knew somebody

(11:21):
or related somebody yeah but they think about like a young 60 actually 15 year
old atushi onita came right from kyushu nagasaki to baba's office,
and he was accepted when he was 15.
Probably Baba looked at it and said, you know, this kid had something. That's a long trip.
Yeah very long trip he yeah the 15 year old atushi onita hitchhiked from narasaki to tokyo,

(11:48):
that's uh that's pretty i mean it's another story
for another yeah it's his character yeah it's
in his character yeah he was 15
huh that is not i mean nagasaki's an island so
i mean it's not easy to get it was not easy to
get there so it's not one hitchhike it's like a days and
days yeah it's that's the hardcore journey by stood

(12:11):
by the freeway or highway and just pointing his thumb up and say can i get a
ride you know that's what 15 year old onita did anyhow that the kobashi called
his uh you know all japan office is like that's a big challenge you know picking
up a phone you know speaking professional language like almost like may i speak to,
whom it may concern right yeah and then this person said you know you okay well

(12:35):
we do have paper here that you don't have very good athletic background and
you're a little bit too old to start,
what what just just turning 20
you know and later on kobashi himself told me that you know that the same group
of rookie who you know started together there's three wrestlers kenta kobashi

(12:59):
and tsuyoshi kikuchi and tatsumi kitahara later on koki kitahara.
Kikuchi is two years older than kobashi and kitahara was three years older than,
kobashi that doesn't really make any
sense right and but they had the background in uh
in wrestling at least kikuchi did and also kitahara was instruct instructor

(13:24):
at the sayama's shooting dojo oh okay so yeah that's a good background striking
background okay instructor at the Satoru Sayama's Shuto Dojo.
That's a guaranteed tough guy, huh? That was also a very big dojo.
There were a lot of people that trained there even if they didn't become fighters.

(13:44):
Those classes were with, you know, 50, 60 people and the Shuto was half around the time.
Kitahara must have had Sayama's blessing to be an instructor there. Hmm.
Yeah. So Kobashi didn't have any of this coming into it.
He had nothing to, you know, either of them
he had his own yeah he was a big

(14:06):
dude he had his looks he had passion for it but he didn't have maybe the background
they were looking for yeah so he tried couple times you know to try to get more
reasons can I speak with somebody that you know that I can explain this to you or and.
After second in the phone conversation he was told to come to this middle of nowhere house show in

(14:32):
in in the the town i've never heard of
you know that it was during the during the one tour you
know that but mr barber decided to audition you or at least meet you you know
and come to this so-and-so prefecture so-and-so house shows like no tvs you
know like during the during the long tour i mean it's like house shows that

(14:53):
nobody comes to i mean i mean people come in locally but,
But, you know, you would think you would be auditioned at the Tokyo Korakuen Hall, right?
Right. But these shows, they're a little bit, maybe, less energy.
Yeah, in the middle of nowhere town, but one of those night in like house shows

(15:13):
during the school nights, right?
Usually at the recreation center in the town.
Very bright, not a dark place, but like, you know. Yeah, the existing lights.
Or daylight or whatever.
Yeah but uh all right i'm i'm coming and it's like he took trains and trains

(15:33):
and tried to look you know like before google map right he got to the town you
know it was like a big test number one if all right i'm not coming to that little
town right then that would be the end of it,
they you know the office tested you that you know first that come to this town
and that's the only day Baba can meet you.

(15:55):
And he took trains and just looked at the map and took another train and from
train he took bus into this town in a small town, but that's where he was going
to meet Mr. Baba in person.
Then he made it to town then had audition, you know, like regular audition,
like, you know, squat and push up and sit ups and do and Baba look at you and say, hmm, hmm, right?

(16:21):
Then he got okay that day.
And this was in 1987?
87. Yeah, yeah. The spring of 1987.
He officially got to All Japan Dojo in June of 1987.
And he didn't even have a Golden Rookie debut. His first match was December

(16:42):
of 1987, the Undercard Battle Royale.
Isn't that interesting? He really, he didn't have, it's very different from
Jumbo Tsuruta's debut, for example.
Or Jun Akiyama. Sure.
So he started from the bottom. Oh, pretty much bottom. Right, right.
And he was trained under Baba, of course. And when Dori Funk came in, Dori Funk Jr.

(17:07):
Trained him a little bit. And late Haru Sonoda, the magic dragon, he trained him.
And some weeks, Masafuchi trained him.
So it's like anybody who was in the ring
at the time might train you you know what I mean yeah
so he was really nobody rookie kind of
thing and he lost all of

(17:28):
his matches for a couple years about a year yeah
like 60 matches or something
in a row so he started but it
was relatively quick you know it takes
usually 10 months to a year for
all Japan rookie to debut you know but he
got in dojo june of 1987 and and

(17:52):
had a first battle royal match you know in december
you know and and the very official
debut match was following february
february 1988 against
late motoshi okuma the second match
you know very much undercard don't
you think yeah not the not the exciting

(18:13):
part of the show especially back then it was just yeah
against 45 year old motoshi okuma yeah that
was the style though all japan they usually had a pretty kind of slower modest
undercard unless you're a golden rookie huh yeah and it was very interesting
uh all japan dojo tradition that you usually don't have your own tights or ring shoes.

(18:39):
At the Old Japan Dojo, there's a big cardboard box that the veteran or experienced
wrestler tossed his old trunks and shoes.
They're not going to use these tights or the knee pad or these ring shoes,
too old. I'm not going to use them. Somebody can use it and put them in the box, right?

(18:59):
He found blue trunks and Masafuchi's old ring boots.
That's what he wore. The blue trunks was interesting one that the,
the, it was part of two sets, blue trunks and the blue tights,
long tights, blue, long tights and blue trunks that the Misawa used only six months in Mexico. Hmm.

(19:21):
And he brought it back, and he's not going to use it because he was already Tiger Mask.
You know, second Tiger Mask. Yeah. So he had this blue trunks and blue long tights. It was in a box.
And he, young Kobashi, 20-year-old Kobashi, found this blue trunks.
All right, I'm going to wear this. Right?
Then there's another, you know, like a beat-up ring boots that looks like Master
Fuchi's old boots. All right, I got the costume.

(19:42):
That's almost cute, right? In a way. I mean, he really was not granted anything.
He wasn't presented anything or handed anything at the start.
That's what made, you know, Kenta Kobashi, though, huh?
That's what made him pretty. Happy start, you know, but that's what the old

(20:06):
Japan, it's almost like bullying, huh, a little bit, but it's like a discipline,
discipline part, you know?
Yeah, and let alone that, you know, your character image color will be given
and you have certain images, you know what I'm saying?
But he had to spend the whole year in 1988 undercard, right?

(20:26):
And also Greg Kabuki at the time told Bob, you know, told Yankobashi to go wash Baba's back, right?
Yeah. So he, one night, without any formal plan, that he became Baba's,
you know, guy, you know, to carry his bag, you know?
That's one step forward, huh? That's a big responsibility.

(20:47):
Responsibility i mean he had to carry giant barbara's
two big suitcase and and uh while he's taking
shower he's right outside and what he you know if barbara
wants something you know he probably wash his you know back or like hand towels
or you know i'm saying you're almost like their personal assistant yeah like
almost like a butler huh it was the same for a lot of big wrestlers they had

(21:10):
to do the same like at the time at the time yeah even like okada and ultimo
same kind of relationship.
Right. It's a Rikidoza and Baba Inoki tradition that carried over 60 years, huh?
And it's the tradition of martial arts as well from… Yeah, I suppose.
Yeah, the disciples, right? Mm-hmm. Same idea.
Same idea. So he spent the entire 1988 like that, and Baba saw something in him, right?

(21:36):
And there was a very interesting matchup in 1989, right?
March of 1989, to be exact, Baba decided to tag with young Kenta Kobashi to
challenge Asian tag team title.
Baba never challenged that title, right? So it was Baba's idea to elevate him one step.
Baba and young Kobashi challenged Toshiaki Kawada and Samson Fuyuki's Asian tag team title.

(22:02):
Ah, Footloose. Yeah, Footloose, yeah. Well,
because Footloose was on fire year and probably needed an interesting challenger
and Baba almost like a playful right that he Baba himself 1989 version of John
Baba challenging Asian tag team title wow but the,
Baba's partner was then rookie Kobashi so

(22:23):
that made pretty interesting match but he was very
special for Kobashi you know to have that and following year you know that he
and Misawa's version of Tiger Mask had their first Asian tag team title so So
you could tell from Asian tag team title to this, to the singles competition,

(22:43):
to go into champions, current champion carnival, or the, to compete in a real
world tag team tournament in December, that kind of thing.
Yeah. So he got the, though he got the, he got the Baba.
I finally got the Bubba's blessing. Yeah. Yeah. And this is kind of where people
might've taken more of an interest in them.

(23:03):
Yeah. Yeah, and at the time he was still wearing the tights and the shoes that he found at the dojo.
One night he was wearing red, and Baba told him, red looks good on you.
Okay, red tights. He already found that at the dojo, and the blue tights that he had from Misawa.
And there was another blue and red trunks with a star on it.

(23:26):
Probably Jumbo Tsurura left it there, right? Right.
Doesn't that look like it? It's probably the case. Yeah, yeah.
Or young Koshinaka's, you know, Koshinaka's trunks or something,
yeah. But anyhow, it wasn't even his.
He didn't get this neon color bright orange tights until 1990,
and it was at the Tokyo Dome where he started.

(23:48):
You know, that Tokyo Dome, 1990, meaning at the Wrestling Summit.
Wrestling Summit with WWF.
WWF. New Japan. Maybe New Japan and Old Japan combined shows,
you know, Hulk Hogan against Stan Henson, the Baba Under the Giant against Demolition,
the Tenryu against Much More Handy Savage and all these things.

(24:09):
Actually, young Kobashi was there too. Isn't that interesting?
And that's where the Orange Crash tights came. Yeah, right.
So that became his image color. color, the rest of the time that he was with
All Japan, all the way to like 2000.
So, yeah, I guess he wore the neon color orange bright tights for 10 years then.

(24:33):
Yeah. And he liked it.
And actually, the idea of neon color orange tights came from Baba and a real
famous singer that, what's his name?
You might know his name.
Chiharu Matsuyama. Matsuyama Chiharu. He's a singer, you know,

(24:56):
who's a friend with Baba.
Nobody's wearing, you know, neon color or orange, so how about that?
Kobayashi wasn't sure, but somebody said you would look really good with this
orange tights and nobody else.
Actually, on the other side, Muto, New Japan Muto, was already wearing neon
color orange at the time. But what happens on the other side doesn't matter, right?

(25:21):
So within the All Japan ring, nobody was wearing this bright neon orange color tie. So that became his.
And kuboshes were a little bit more...
They were clearly orange. Clearly orange, right.
Muto's had a neon flashiness to it. It was a slight, subtle difference.
Right, right. And it wasn't exactly like white boots either.

(25:45):
So Kobashi had white and orange boots, you know? Yeah.
And that's important, right? And he actually started becoming part of the,
you know, You know, 1990 was also the year Tenryu and his 15 guys left,
went to SWS, Super World Sports, right?

(26:07):
And also 1990 was the year Misawa took off his tiger mask and became Mitsuharu Misawa.
Therefore, the new era began, right?
And the momentum was there for new era.
And then Kobashi was pretty ready, you know, to be elevated, you know?
And yeah he was a natural i mean he i mean he wasn't a perfect perfect version

(26:32):
of himself at that point but for the most part the kawashi we saw in the early
90s is it's an early version of what he'd become for the rest of his life yes
yes he was pretty like like a lot of the other,
guys from this time period when they started kawada no more footless costume
but he became him just black and yellow, right?

(26:54):
That's right, too. And he started, he was kind of wrestling almost like a junior
heavyweight style a little bit more.
Before that, yeah. Before that, he got serious.
I guess we have to rewind the tape a little, you know, about a year or so,
that when he, when Kobashi was still a rookie,
he was being what do you call it, like a punching bag or almost like a guinea

(27:17):
pig for two wrestlers. At the time, the rookie.
Akira Taue actually started like two months after Kobashi came in. Did you know that?
Akira Taue, tall and big guy, you know, he was a former, you know,
Tamakirin, that sumo wrestler.
And there was another sumo wrestler, Isao Takagi. He was Takuetsuyama.

(27:42):
It's like both big sumo wrestlers turned professional wrestlers.
Baba thought those two are going to be something, right? Akira Taue and Isao
Takagi and used Kobashi for the practice in the ring.
You know, the Baba's teaching, right? And both Takagi and Taue throwing drop
kicks to Kobashi, doing body slam to Kobashi, doing a brain buster to Kobashi.

(28:04):
And Baba said, well, get up, do it again. Get up and do it again. Let's go.
And it wasn't really training Kobashi. Baba was training two big rookies,
Akira Taue and Isao Takagi. Takagi let alone join Tenryu's group and pretty
much disappeared after that.
But Akira Taue and Isao Takagi, two big rookies from Sumo, was like a barber's project at the time.

(28:30):
Kobashi was there to take bumps, I guess.
He practiced on me. Yeah, practiced on me.
But Kobashi in person told me about this story because he wanted to tell somebody
about it. You know, and all right, let's say this is the way it is right now,
but it's not going to be like this forever.

(28:50):
And he just was telling himself that this is something he has to go through.
He just knew he'll be better than these two. Isn't that interesting?
It gives you a glimpse of the system.
The system was tough to get through, especially if you weren't.
Like have like a real good amateur wrestling background.

(29:11):
Yeah, you needed some kind of inside. Small background or, yeah. You needed something.
You needed the background. You needed to have connections.
Yeah, more than being a big body wrestling fan, right?
Yeah. But it is willingness, you know, and the will.
And yeah, Kobayashi is very interesting that he was very humble,

(29:34):
very quiet, not being vocal about it.
Like today's kids might, you know what I'm saying? Yeah.
And that's how you survive all Japan system, sort of.
Because I believe New Japan Dojo, it's like more of a company.
You always have more rookies, like 10 guys practicing together.

(29:54):
Together but if you only have a two or three rookie together it's like it's
completely different environment you just have to be like a shut keep your mouth
shut and go through this and i'll make it or a lot of a lot of guys from old
japan dojo they disappeared at night you know i'm saying.

(30:16):
Yeah not similar to traditional martial arts yeah a lot of rookies do disappear
from old japan i I mean, New Japan Dojo too, you know.
Some don't make it through the initial training. Yeah, the first year. Right, right.
So then you become a young lion, right? But Old Japan usually don't have that many, you know.

(30:38):
They never have like a dozen rookies a year.
Two or three of them just make it. And some years they went through five years
with no rookies, you know.
Yeah. Yeah, so different kind of environment because you have more older wrestlers around.
Yeah, different environment and it kind of builds a different sort of character.

(31:02):
I think so. I think the four in All Japan and the three in New Japan at that
time had different flavor and personalities. The nuances were very different.
Nuances were very different, right. All Japan is much more...
How do you explain that gambaru closed
society or the family I was gonna there's

(31:25):
that too not the I was thinking more about the one way to think about kentokobashi
is to think about the word I don't know it's a hard concept to explain but just
the word gambaru to do your best yeah right stick with it right and that that
concept and how deep it runs,
it just in a way By the way, it's very Japanese, huh?

(31:48):
And I think, yes, and it's a good thing. And I think that's one of Kenta Kobayashi's,
maybe one of his strongest points. I think a lot of people see and like that
in him, that Gunbaru spirit.
I'm not doing a good job of articulating, I don't think. That's okay.

(32:09):
But by going through what he has done and what he has gone through,
I hope we are going to be able to really give this feeling in Kobashi's story.
And he really did
become part of the main event package by what 93
yeah i think what

(32:32):
was it it was either maybe his matches with uh
steve williams i think from around
that time or or 94 yeah he did
not yeah he did not challenge his triple crown title until like 94 you know
With Steve Williams Being Triple Crown Champion And Kobashi his first Title

(32:54):
you know like a major title challenge At the main event of Budokan show that's big big Show right,
And taking Steve Williams dangerous Backdrop driver And getting up from it you
know And Steve Williams himself Told me that this guy has a lot of heart You

(33:14):
know and And yeah, because Steve Williams,
as tough as he was, he was never that smooth, high spot,
you know, that the wrestler, he just goes out and does his thing, you know?
Kind of a perfect opponent for Kobayashi.
So sometimes it happens to be a good match. Sometimes it's just,

(33:35):
whoa, what's that about kind of match?
Yeah. Very realistic. Oh, very realistic.
And again, wrestling has no language barrier that you just go out there and
wrestle, you know, and that was test for Kobashi,
you know, and actually there was a, you know, there was a time that Misawa decided

(33:56):
to take Kobashi as his tag team partner.
Regular tag team partner. You would think at the time, Misawa and Kawada would
be your ideal tag team, huh?
You know, around that time period. I want to bring up that was also around the
time that they had their first, Kawada and Misawa had their first singles match.

(34:18):
Right. And that's kind of when the rivalry began heating up.
It really elevated Kawada from being a younger little brother of Misawa to an equal, right?
Yeah. But where did that leave of Kobashi. It left him unfortunately not any fault of his own.
He's behind those two because... Yeah, but Misawa and Kobashi became tag team

(34:39):
partners and Kawada and Taube became tag team partners. It balanced.
Evidently, 93, 94, 95, three in a row Misawa and Kawada won...
Misawa and Kobashi, I'm sorry.
Misawa and Kobashi won the real tag team tournament in December.
Three years in a row no no other team did that and among

(35:04):
wrestling fans not just in japan but all over
the world some of those matches are considered to be some of the best pro wrestling
matches period of all time those tag team matches yeah and 94 95 with all japan
style at the time it's like all you got to do is let this person watch the video
you know you don't need english commentary. You just watch the footage.

(35:27):
Although the commentary up there is dramatic.
Oh yeah, Nippon TV? Yeah. And also, what was interesting with Channel 4 and
Nippon TV, Channel 4 is that they bring in station announcers,
not a wrestling person. You know what I'm saying?
These announcers, station announcers do other sports like a marathon or figure

(35:50):
skating or the baseball, or other sports.
So they come in and treat pro wrestling like you're a professional sport,
and they really do a professional play-by-play.
You know what I'm saying? So it's not like they're acting.
Those network station sports announcers get excited by watching these guys.

(36:12):
Probably added to the realism of the whole product.
Probably, probably, yeah. You know, it's easier to take it seriously when the
person on the serious sportscast takes it seriously.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. So, and also, it was late Saturday night,
but people really watched this, you know, that the All Japan Pro Wrestling didn't

(36:38):
have very good time slot around that time period.
It's like a late Saturday night, you know, like you're talking like 12.30 at night, you know?
And, but people still tuned in and watched and got the, you know,
like rating .6 or something,
his six percent rate i mean during the middle of
the night so it's like a was high rate show for the

(37:00):
midnight you know time slot and yeah
so he it was almost like a fixture you know like all watch wrestling before
you go to bed kind of thing what kind of tradition almost he became and sure
enough in 96 he won his very first triple crown heavyweight title from akira taue in 96.

(37:23):
So it It took him, you know, like, it started in 87, 88.
Yeah, yeah, a good seven, eight years. You know, we fast forward a little bit,
but yeah. He finally got his very first.
Triple Crown title from Akira Tau'e. But it's important. He didn't beat, you know, Misawa for it.

(37:44):
He didn't beat Kawada. You know, he beat Akira Tau'e for the title. You know, one by one.
So that means that that becomes the talking point at the bar after the match.
Well, Kobayashi won, but it's Tau'e, so...
Yeah, it's not Misawa or Kawada.

(38:06):
It's not Stan Hansen No no no You know how many times he got Larry L by Stan Hansen.
It's a Famous footage I remember that
he even Stan Hansen laid a
lariat into him While he was standing Kobashi was standing on the top rope Oh
that one It was the end of the match He took a lot of shit Kobashi did but she

(38:33):
was taking a lot of solid moves from everybody you know but by 96 I think that's,
definitely when the fans were 100% behind him women were very yeah because he's
a handsome guy and yeah younger than Misawa and Kawada you know Taui never had

(38:57):
the vibe you know what I'm saying he was he looked,
older than he was right right he reminded
everyone of baba yeah young baba
looking huh yeah red trunks and all that yeah and
around that time period you know jumbo tourer was pretty much gone from the
main scene you know he had you know took years off and he when he came back

(39:21):
he only did tag team match it was never in the main main event cluster again
so he was big four era and following year, 97,
Misawa, I mean, Kobashi formed his own faction called G.E.T. G.E.T..
Kobashi and Johnny A.S. and the Patriots. You know, they're Wilkis.

(39:42):
That's right. Yeah, remember? Johnny A.S. and Kobashi had a nice tag team run for a couple of years.
Yeah. Late 90s. Both world tag team champions and Asian tag team champions went there.
Yeah. Actually, during his All Japan career, Kobashi won the world tag team title like six times.
Twice with Misawa. Twice with Johnny A.S. Twice with Akiyama.

(40:05):
Yeah. And that, that get, you know, Johnny Ace and Patriot group that a little
bit later on, it became burning, you know, that Kobashi took Jun Akiyama into
his group and formed a new tag team called Burning.
And then won the 98 and 99 world tag team tournament.
So all in all, he's winning like five, you know, five tournaments,

(40:29):
you know, the tag team tournaments. So that's up there, huh?
Yeah. And while he was in All Japan Pro Wrestling, he won a triple crown three times.
One time beating Taue, another time beating Kawada.
And in the year 2000, right before the formation of Pro Wrestling NOAH,
he beat Deiter for that title.

(40:51):
But not once from Misawa.
It doesn't happen until Pro Wrestling NOAH day. Isn't that interesting?
That was the story. And the story seemed to feel, we won't fast forward yet,
Yeah, but the story finishes in NOAA, not in All Japan, between those two. Right, right, right.
But I remember the Vader win being very big. That was a big deal.

(41:14):
And while Stan Hansen was slowing down and he was getting ready to actually
retire, was going to give his position to Vader. Yeah.
And Kobashi had even changed his look a little bit. He had the goatee.
Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. A little bigger. but it
was turning you know the time was moving

(41:35):
on and me so I'm not doing his
moonsault but to start using right arm clothesline right
arm clothesline he started debuting those wild moves like burning hammer right
more but striking because I guess that the moonsault was for the younger part
of his career huh But he would always bust it out on a special occasion or in a big, big match.

(42:02):
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So he really evolved in front of the audience.
You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
And he was a complete babyface. And if you remember all Japan wrestlers,
they don't grab a house microphone and say things. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, no promo at all. It just, they tell story with matches, you know.

(42:27):
No agitation, no big promo like you'll be the baby face or heels.
It just, they just don't do it, you know.
And as hard as they, you know, wrestle during the match, it doesn't make any
sense if they get up and do the mic. You know what I'm saying? Right.
Yeah, because they can't stand up anymore, you know.
And, yeah, it was like Baba was in tears.

(42:50):
You know in his color commentary table that's
right yeah he was crying remember that one yeah because baba
is like the type of person he doesn't often pat
guys back right and even if you are doing well that he said he just nods all
right that's the classic style that's the classic like godfather style sure

(43:11):
yeah yeah that's the style it's not common to praise during the broadcasting,
you know, during the match,
while Kobashi and Misawa was having this great tremendous match that the announcer
looked at Baba and was like, Baba's in tears.
Oh my gosh, Mr. Baba's crying, sir. It's like...

(43:32):
Baba's the one who probably might have been the first doubter Kento Kobashi
had and he really overcame all of that.
And that's a real story, you know. That's a real story.
No resting story. yeah right yeah so that's
why it's like it's very you know
it's easy to believe in kobashi really
you know all you got to do is watch his match you

(43:55):
know not a character but he just his matches
and his energies the way he does things you
know probably the facial expression too but it
just tells it all everything i think
anybody on the planet would see him and they
don't need to know any information on him and they would immediately say
he's got to be a pro wrestler yeah he

(44:17):
looks like you know he's a classic timeless
baby face yeah yeah and then amazing never done promo you know what i mean he
might say something very polite at the end of the match like thank you everyone
thank you very much for coming in oh yeah i won the title today thank you very

(44:37):
much yeah Yeah, that's about it. Very humble.
Very humble. Very humble. Yeah. But in the match... All Japan upbringing kind
of thing. Yeah. Very humble.
Show your stuff in the match and be humble afterwards.
Not much need for chatting or long-winded...
So it's very different. Yeah, that's a very old Japan style, huh?

(45:00):
And so year 2000, he won both triple crown and won the champion carnival tournament.
Yeah. He's probably around his peak in his whole career at this point,
I would say. Around 2000?
Yeah. Then June of 2000, Misawa and his guys,
meaning that everybody from old Japan roster,

(45:23):
to back kawada and fuji and ring crew
to uh you know ring announcer to
referee to everybody pretty much backstage office people
office people too right so to form a get on north's arc and form forming pro
wrestling noah it was misawa's idea you know and kawa was a you know kobashi

(45:44):
was the first person yeah and then the pro wrestling noah era starts the first
thing they did was that they changed color, you know?
Misawa didn't change color. It's always this emerald green and silver.
That's his color. But Kobashi's neon orange tights was no more,
and then he had these black trunks with purple in it. Remember?

(46:07):
That's right. It was like the fires going out, the orange fire in the side. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And coal burnt.
And Jun Akiyama's tights from blue to like a silver white.
Yeah. Yeah. And everybody pretty much changed costume and people like Yoshihiro

(46:31):
Takeyama came with them too, you know, into North. Yeah.
It was big. Vader, Scorpio. Yeah, Scorpio.
Yeah. Then they went to, you know, Misawa went to, you know,
Missouri and met with Harley Race and got guys from Hardy Racers Camp in the
World Wrestling League and brought in quite a few wrestlers.

(46:54):
And the guys, like Mike Modesty was from California. Their group came in.
Yeah, for me, that was... Bison. Yeah, Bison Smith, yes.
Bison Smith, well, he died young too, but Bison Smith was a big rookie too at the time. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. But it all felt like that crew, that initial NOAA crew,

(47:15):
felt like they could be another foreign crew for all Japan at that time. It was the same.
It looked like these guys are all Japan. Yeah. Right. It was the same fit,
same style that you would have seen.
So if you like to run and start running Budokan shows, you know,
just like what all Japan was doing.

(47:35):
But it's written in the book, but Mrs. Bubba was stubborn enough that,
no, I'm keeping the company, right?
And they brought in all the independent wrestlers and got a little bit of help
that Muto wanted to work in the year 2000,
you know, and still under Keiji Muto, still technically under contract with

(47:55):
New Japan, but the New Japan had idea at the time that they wanted to buy All Japan, right?
So they were running combined show like All Japan and New Japan,
like a five-year-too-late dream matches, right?
Yeah, there were a couple of those. Yeah. Some were huge. Some were good, yeah.
Kobashi, Kensuke, Sasaki is maybe the most memorable of those.

(48:17):
Kobashi and Kensuke... That would happen a little later. Actually,
it wouldn't happen until 2005, though. Yeah, yeah.
2004 was Pro Wrestling NOAH's very first Tokyo Dome card. It was Kiyama against
Kobashi, and it was the match of the year in the Tokyo Sports Award.
And the match you just said, 2005 Tokyo Dome, a second pro wrestling knows Tokyo

(48:42):
Dome show that the Kensuke Sasaki against Kobashi was also a match of the year that year.
Yeah. And they created, you know, GHC title, you know, Global Honor Championship title.
Yeah. Yeah, and of course, you know, sure enough that Misawa was the very first champion.
But it was when, 2003, that Kobashi finally, finally beat Misawa in a single match to get the title.

(49:12):
That was one of the more memorable calls on commentary.
I remember the announcer, I think the announcer was again, not Baba,
but the announcer was in tears. Tears, yeah.
And also, yeah, before 2003, Kobashi and Misawa had probably a dozen single
matches, right? By then.
But not one match, you know, Kobashi won.

(49:34):
But it wasn't until 2003 at the Budokan, you know, the very initial,
you know, it was still second year.
But the early stage of pro wrestling in Owa that the champion Misawa finally
meeting Kobashi for the title match at Budokan and Kobashi for the first time,
beat Misawa for the title. How many years would that be?

(49:56):
Oh, ever since he was rookie? Yeah. So more than 10 years.
More than 10 years, yeah, yeah. Well, 88 to 2003, so it'll be more like 15 years,
huh? It's a long time for a story to pay off.
So it's that hard to beat Misawa in a single match situation.

(50:17):
But this run, 2003 to 2005, he kept the GHC title for two years.
But before that, we've got to rewind the tape a little bit because now that
he had a lot of injuries between 2001 and 2002, In 2002,

(50:38):
Kobashi had to take a year off with both knee operations, like reconstruction surgeries.
The moonsault. That and years and years of pounding, right?
They worked a hard style. That's right. Yeah, and then came back in 2002,

(50:58):
and the comeback match was interesting.
Interesting that the Kobashi and Misawa against Akiyama and Yuji Nagata of New
Japan yeah that was interesting then worked for a while then he then had another
injury you know pretty soon that.
It's like he come back and get injured and come back and get injured right so

(51:23):
he's that the body Artie was taking toll.
You know, the style he's been doing all through the 90s, huh? You know?
I mean, these guys would do it, especially when we talk about hard-hitting wrestling,
when we think about Kobayashi Misawa, Kawada. Yeah, Kawada wasn't involved with
his pro wrestling, no, but at the time, yes, yeah.

(51:43):
And Jun Akiyama and Akira Taue, of course.
The level of violence. Takayama was involved, too.
It's not that there's any, you know, like your American like wrestling storyline
that the nobody really hated each other.
It just had athletic, hard hitting match, convincing wrestling match, you know,

(52:07):
And they were pushing the athletic boundaries, too. I think so.
Some of those guys, they were suplexing each other off of the apron,
onto the floor. Onto the floor, yeah.
It was very, it was new.
It went further than New Japan was going.
It's not like New Japan was any, it was just a different style of it.

(52:28):
And especially these guys are so big.
They're big guys. So we have to think that there must be a certain kind of trust
that only wrestlers share, like a code.
Deep trust and faith in each other to pull off those kind of matches.
Make sure that this guy can take it. You know what I'm saying?

(52:50):
They don't try to injure each other. They just ended up injuring themselves. Yeah.
So it's really unfortunate that this kind of injury really happened.
And on top of that, 2006, if you remember, that Kobashi had kidney cancer.
That's right. Yeah, yeah. It was June of 2006, and they announced it publicly that Mr.

(53:16):
Kenta Kobashi has cancer. He's taking some time off.
He had surgery, and it took a year and six months.
Yeah, he wouldn't come back until December of 2007.
At the same time, while he was rehabbing from this kidney cancer,
he had another major operation on his both knees.

(53:42):
Yeah. And he did come back 2007 at the Budokan show, you know,
Misawa Akiyama against Kobashi and Takeyama.
You know, you would think you lost a lot of weight, right, while he was rehabbing
with cancer and had a major operation on both knees. and he was gone for like 18 months.
But he came back just as big, so he must really worked out where he could work out, right?

(54:08):
I very much remember the reaction in the crowd.
Oh, they're all in tears. It was pretty, maybe one of the high point moments,
in Kobashi's career when I think about it.
I mean, those images you think about when you think Kobashi,
those big, big moments. Yeah, well, people would be forgiven if he retired then.

(54:30):
You know what I'm saying? Of course.
Because by that time, wrestling was in a different state than it was in the
90s. From the 90s, right.
But Kobayashi said, you know, I'm going to come back. And he really did come
back in 2007, in December.
But at the time, he came back, though, but all he did was those signature chops.

(54:50):
You know what I'm saying? Chops, yeah. And he would be in a tag team match.
Right, not quite a single match situation anymore.
But it looked like Kobashi, but he was doing what he could do.
And that's signature Kobashi, you know, the backhand chops.
Yeah. It didn't feel like sad, you know, or embarrassing. No, no.

(55:11):
He was just like, it's okay. Take a break. Right.
But he was trying to give 100% to the audience again.
And again, he got injured. You know, the, I think it was like a following summer and took this time.
He operated right elbow and that
he has a good elbow injury this time and took

(55:33):
another six months off you know it's okay do
not come back right but he insisted he'll come back so after six months and
in the major elbow operation he comes back like 2010 you know then and then
he gets injured again have another six months off you know it's okay do not
come back right then he comes back like in 2011 again,

(55:55):
then he gets injured and get seven months off, you know,
and he finally make his announcement year 2012, you know, and then,
yeah, we, uh, he, he didn't almost have to have this retirement match. Don't you?
What do you think of that? Yeah. Well, like you said, I think he,

(56:16):
if he wanted to have retired in 2007, I don't think the, maybe it was Greg.
Career he had there's nothing wrong with the clocking out in 2007 that he was
still respect it wasn't a point he didn't have a point in his career where he
really in dipped in his in his,
talent or his athleticism or health uh it was him and so i i think the crowd

(56:44):
would have been more than forgiving and right but and also that we should point
this out that the summer of 2009 2009,
we lost Misawa in the ring. That's right.
Yeah. So I guess that's how Kobashi felt that I'm going to make one more comeback.
Because they lost Misawa in the ring.

(57:06):
That was a giant shift in the makeup of Noah.
Yeah. It hasn't been the same since, right?
So Pro Wrestling Noah is still Pro Wrestling Noah, but it's a different kind
of pro wrestling it's just like today's New Japan pro wrestling isn't,

(57:26):
Anthony Inoki's New Japan pro wrestling
today's All Japan pro wrestling isn't Giant Baba's All
Japan pro wrestling it still exists so pro wrestling goes
on they have current version
of pro wrestling but pretty much around 2009-2010 I think first the initial

(57:49):
era of this Misawa Kobashi version of progressing Noh was over with.
That was the, yeah, I guess you could use that as the end point.
That era, it was really, Taue, I don't know, I can't remember how active he
was in 2010, 2011, but. Right.

(58:11):
And people like Marufuji and Kenta and Sugi were all debuted,
you know, already. And Morishima.
Morishima, yeah, Morishima or Makoto Hashi and those people like in the main
event cluster, you know, the group.
So it was time to move on, huh? It felt like that was the end of that era from
like, you know, 92 to about 2010.

(58:33):
Mm-hmm. So then all these rookies like Goshi Ozaki or Rikio,
these people, they debuted with Pro Wrestling Noir, not from All Japan. That's right.
So they have, I think, maybe only Marufuji, Kenta, maybe Sugiura.

(58:53):
Sugiura didn't even debut with Pro Wrestling, Kenta was a rookie with All Japan
youngest rookie, like a ring boy rookie,
Kanemaru and Kanemaru Kanemaru was the very end of All Japan and of course Marufuji,
Marufuji was like Misawa's favorite from the day one and Misawa gave all tights

(59:18):
and shoes to Marufuji so that tradition was there yeah the bloodline is still there.
Yeah, yeah. So finally, the spring of 19, I mean, 2013, at the age of 46,

(59:39):
Kobashi retired, finally.
2013 is like almost 10 years ago.
You know, it didn't seem like 10 years ago, but yeah, he really retired for good this time.
And we talked about it a little bit earlier, but he didn't necessarily disappear

(01:00:01):
from the business like Kawada did.
Right. Kawada disappeared on purpose.
Whereas Kobayashi stayed a regular part of the scene as commentator, promoter, guest.
He has a Fortune KK company he runs.
Every now and then, twice a year, he runs his own show.

(01:00:23):
And Kobashi was probably one of the very few people who can go to all Japan
and do the Kalao commentator and go to Pro Wrestling NOAH and be a guest commentator
and he makes appearance at some different companies,
different Kora Ken shows and always welcome because he walks in like superstar still.

(01:00:44):
He carried himself as a superstar he's retired but he still looks like Kenta Kobashi,
I mean, didn't lose it He wears suits, but he's just as big and probably bigger
than today's wrestlers, some of today's wrestlers.
And he looks like a star still.
Yeah, he looks like himself still.

(01:01:05):
Yeah, he does. Just like the one we talked about, Masachono's episode from last week.
Kobashi is another person. He still has this star presence.
And as he's gotten older and since he's
retired he's been able to make appearances all over
the world like in the united states for signings and
yeah he's more accessible and it was different time in the 90s so and also he's

(01:01:32):
one of the very few if not only one japanese stars that he didn't tour overseas
you know in like an excursion like send you out to overseas and spend a year
or two and come back as a superstar.
You know, like the formula. Right.
There was talk of him doing that. Something like, I know WWF did want to do

(01:01:54):
something with him in the 90s.
Yeah, and then during the early years of Pro Wrestling North,
like in 2005, he did go to ROH show and had a famous single match against Samoa Joe.
It felt like it was a little late. late,
that's just that's how it is that's during

(01:02:15):
90s you know that the old
Japan wrestler wasn't sent because Misawa didn't have
a big long tour in America either he went to Mexico for like 8 months period
and he had to come back to be Tiger Mask Kawada did spend a couple years overseas
though but in San Antonio Texas or up in Montreal but Kawada wasn't exactly

(01:02:40):
actually main event at the time.
See, yeah, I always wonder if Kobash toured states in his prime time.
I wonder how he would have, you know, it was a different time period,
but do you think he would have been received the same way?
But it was a decade before the internet was streaming.

(01:03:02):
It was during the VHS tape era. And also,
what would he, you know, toward because 90s was in like, when he was becoming
superstars in Japan, it was Monday Night War era.
WWF against WCW, and then the third company ECW, but every everything else was pretty much gone.

(01:03:26):
No territories, no smaller companies. you know
this is different time yeah so
he never had that there are a handful of superstars that
had a massive reputation in
japan that don't have the same reputation overseas like kobashi fortunately
he did have a chance to come over and he's still active within the scene so

(01:03:51):
he's still in everybody's minds but guys like akira maeda or kichou shu or.
Some even like akira taue to an extent i don't know if he's talked about he's
just accepted or perceived a different way here than he is in japan and i think
it's just it's exposure it was harder to right explore different exposure yeah because uh,

(01:04:15):
if you don't follow japanese wrestling they probably don't know the name yeah,
Some American fans only watch major promotions, you know, and that the VHS tape
traders, yes, but it's not really mass,
you know, and yeah, but you have to watch Misawa against Kobashi or Kobashi

(01:04:37):
against Kawada, Kawada against Taue, you know, all these, you know,
big four plus Jun Akiyama.
Those were the great, great matches and yeah, they had to be in their environment too.
So I guess now you have to watch old tapes, footage from old Japan and the early

(01:04:58):
pro wrestling to really know about Kenta Kobashi.
But I think of any of the wrestlers we talk about, I think Kenta Kobayashi is
one of the most timeless types of wrestlers you can watch.
You can really watch him, and you don't have to be from any generation to appreciate
how he wrestles. I don't think his matches get old.

(01:05:19):
Not at all. You can watch his 1993 match today, and you're in awe.
Anything from the early 90s until around the 2007. 2005-2006. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And it's good that those tapes exist. You know?

(01:05:40):
And yeah. 90s old Japan into 2000s pro wrestling Noah until he got sidelined.
He had this two distinctive era, the peak era, old Japan, the mid to early,
I mean, mid to late 90s into pro wrestling Noah's early 2000s. Yeah.

(01:06:02):
Neon, the orange color tights era to black and purple tights era.
Triple crown era to GHC title era.
So those were his peak years. Yeah. And those are the years that go out of your
way to watch those, you know, if you... I think so. I think so.
And, yeah, like, I'm just going to reiterate, he's timeless. You can watch... Yeah.

(01:06:25):
He's a type of wrestler, I don't know how to put it other than then he always
had the answer at the right time.
He could do the right thing he needed to do at the right time.
And he knew how to- And he was there to take it, you know what I mean?
He had such a unique energy, like aura almost.

(01:06:46):
It's really easy to get behind a guy like Kenta Kobashi. He's a natural baby. Natural baby face.
Definition of a natural baby face. Natural baby face, oh. Any scene, he can go anywhere.
And it's so fundamentally good and sound.
I kind of don't think he really, you know, was thinking he was babyface.

(01:07:08):
He just was being himself, though.
Which actually makes him more of a babyface. Yes, right. It's organic. It's organic.
That's who he is. Oh, very organic, right. Natural.
Yeah. He never really wavered in his, you know, his personality.
He's not like, like last week we talked

(01:07:28):
about Masahiro Chono and he had a transformation and he, his career.
He's like a cool character.
Very different approach to. Different approach. Kobashi came from countryside.
He came to Tokyo and he became a wrestler and against all odds,
he became such a big superstar.
You know, he wasn't focused on doing anything special. He was focused on doing

(01:07:54):
everything perfectly and and and.
Strong as he could yeah and then he wasn't exactly a wrestler who could only work against japanese,
he had company you know tag team combination with people
like johnny ace patriot he had single series of single match against stan henson
he had single matches with vader and with tag team tournament he had all the

(01:08:17):
you know like a so-called gaijin crew on him right so yeah so he He could work with everybody,
like Gary Albright, you know, all these.
Yeah, it's interesting to think about what else he could have done if he were
to, you know, be able to go overseas and see the world. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

(01:08:37):
It just didn't happen that way. But now that we're closing the year 2022,
now I guess we have to go back and watch Kobashi's matches in his prime time.
Let's do that. Yeah, I'll do that. Yeah. A handful of matches.
I have to watch it. It's like this version of Misawa Sengoku match,

(01:08:58):
this version of Misawa Kun, the Kobashi against Kawada match,
or this version of Kobashi against Stan's match. Yeah.
And Stan elevated him too, you know, from like treating him like a young guy,
treating him like a, you know, becoming star guy, treating him like equal.
And I guess he gave Stan longevity too, huh? Yeah.

(01:09:22):
And I mean, he started using the Lariat after that match, and that's always
a nod to Stan. So it's in him as well.
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Giant Baba was almost against,
you know, Kovacs's idea to bring right arm clothesline, you know,
as a finish because it's somebody else's and do something else like jumping

(01:09:44):
neckbreaker drop like you know, what giant Baba would do in the big matches,
which Kovacs was using in his rookie years. Yeah.
But you know, I think, over time became one of the.
Defining parts of his matches. Yeah. And his big wins were with that.
A lot of his big wins were with that.

(01:10:06):
And finally, Kobashi beat Stan Hansen, one, two, three, in the middle of the
ring with his right arm clothesline.
That was big. Yeah, that was like end of an era, too, also.
And I don't think Kawada even had a win over Hansen, did he?
Stan Hansen, I kind of don't recall that. Yeah, so that's another reason why

(01:10:28):
Stan Hansen was pretty important in Kobayashi's career.
Yeah. And I think Stan Hansen chose him to be that person.
I mean, nobody beats Stan Hansen one, two, three in the middle of the ring,
right? Very, very rarely. Yeah.
So it was Stan's choice or choosing to do so. Yeah.

(01:10:49):
Wow. Ken Kobayashi, yeah. I guess the homework is to watch videos.
We could talk about Kobashi all night long, but yeah.
But yeah, he's still active. His story isn't really over because he's out and
about, and he's still doing the Fortune KK shows.
He's on All Japan commentary sometimes. The only person available or the only

(01:11:12):
person capable of bringing All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling North onto
the same table to do the All-Star match.
He is that kind of ambassador type character. Do you think?
Yeah. Like a Keiji Muto or some Masachono, somebody like that.
So I think he still have major role in wrestling. He still has a lot of influence

(01:11:35):
on the scene. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. All right.
So if we have questions about Kenta Kobashi, where can we reach you, Fumi?
Twitter at Fumi Hikodayo. F-U-M-I-H-I-K-O-D-A-Y-O. How friendly.
All right. And on Twitter, I'm at Justin M. Nipper, K-N-I-P-P-E-R.

(01:11:55):
That's it for this week. Until next time, happy Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving. Yes. Take it away. So long from Tokyo.
Music.

(01:12:20):
Thank you for I'm writing it down, it's a great job I'm writing it down.