Just a few months after landing Jushin Thunder Liger, ROH has agreed to another short-term deal with a Japanese star, this time with one who hasn't wrestled on US soil (as far as I know).
Originally posted by Meltzer It was announced as tonight's show in Lake Grove, NY, that Kenta Kobashi would be wrestling on the 10/1 ROH show in New York. This will be Kobashi's first-ever U.S. wrestling tour and will include at least one other match.
Having not seen any matches from Japan that occurred within the past three years, should I go out of my way to try to see this live? In other words, is Kobashi the same worker he was a few years back?
I don't think any of the great All Japan guys are as good as they were in the early to mid 90s. That was their physical prime. To boot, some people (including me) think that starting in the late 90s, The All Japan/NOAH guys starting working matches that were less about awesome stories with selling and psychology that made sense and more about raising the bar with as many crazy headrops as possible.
That said, some people still think Kobashi is the best worker in the world. I think Meltzer has given some of his big matches over the last few years ***** even. I wouldn't agree! I think Kobashi still puts on some good matches and I myself would go just to see Kobashi, no matter what shape he was in.
Wow, that's pretty cool! Kobashi is amazing! His match last year with Akiyama is often argued as the greatest match of ALL time. Meltzer even got a boner for it, giving it 5 stars. I have the DVD of the show (even Harley Race calls it the greatest wrestling match in the history of pro wrestling), I think everyone here should at least download it from Kazaa or whatever wrestling P2P software you use. He had legendary matches with Misawa and Kawada. I can't wait to see him in ROH. Imagine if Samoa Joe had faced Kobashi? I think thats out since Joe is TNA (or can he still participate in ROH?) If I was to book specifically for the internet, I think a Kobashi vs. HHH match would be fuckin' great.
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