[1992-02-27-AJPW-Excite Series] Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kenta Kobashi

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Lots more bomb throwing than the Kawada match, but I think I like the Kawada match better as a layout. This is still really good though. Wish the match wasn't JIP, that might shift things a little.

[MJH]

Isn't this the match that aired complete on the Kobashi special that gave us the extended Can-Ams match?

[Loss]

I don't know.

[silverwidow]

Isn't this the match that aired complete on the Kobashi special that gave us the extended Can-Ams match?

Yep, a complete version exists.

[Tim Evans]

This was pretty fun with a hot crowd and the announcer going nuts. Lots of nearfalls though. Maybe a little too much.

[shoe]

Just a great bout where these guys pound the crap out of each other. A really hot finishing stretch.

[Kevin Ridge]

I agree that with those who preferred the Kawada match. With being JIP it seems like there was only a couple minutes of Jumbo working the knee before they started throwing bombs. It was entertaining though and the crowd was really lively and behind Kobashi. Jumbo has been one of my favorites of 1992 so far.

[MikeCampbell]

Considering the participants, this was actually disappointing to me, even thought it's clearly a good match. They got a little too into the bomb throwing at the end for my taste. Maybe seeing a complete version will help, I dunno.

[Zenjo]

It was your turn, my turn at offense with a ton of 2.9ers down the stretch. Decent action but not a lot of thought had gone into the construction. Finished a bit outside my top 100.

[WingedEagle]

Would've loved to see this complete but what we've got is great. Jumbo gives Kobashi a ton,eating a DDT on the floor, backdrop suplex and more before blocking a moonsault and finishing things with a backdrop of his own. The Kawada match is probably superior due to a better layout but I liked how much Jumbo did to paint Kobashi as a real threat here.

 

****

[PeteF3]

I liked this quite a bit, and I liked it more than their first singles match. That said, neither match was any kind of Top 20 for the '90s contender. Still, this was one of several incredibly well-done "top dog vs. mid-carder" matches for the month of February.

[xlynwoodx]

I really enjoyed this. There were a few times where Kobashi would put a few moves together and start to take over then would get a little reckless and Jumbo would take advantage. This led to the finish with Kobashi going for who knows what off the top and getting kneed in the gut and pinned shortly after. One of those matches where you know the young guy is going to lick his wounds and come back better prepared the next time. I agree with the poster above me about the nice string of "top dog v. young gun" matches recently and they all have been worked perfectly.

 

The full match is on youtube.

[garretta]

One word sums up this match: desperation. Kenta's desperate to get the big win over the former Triple Crown champion, while Jumbo's desperate to teach the youngster a lesson and reassert his place in the pecking order after losing to Hansen.

 

These two pull out every stop known to man, including a DDT on the floor from Kenta that looked like it legitimately messed up Jumbo's neck for the rest of the match. Jumbo retaliates by dropping Kenta face first on the ringside table. Kenta targets Jumbo's neck from then on and gets two and seven-eighths several times, but gets too greedy off the top, allowing Jumbo to catch him with a knee, then pin him after the Jumbo Driver. Afterward, Jumbo still sells the neck to let us know what a close call he'd just had.

 

This wasn't the greatest bout I've seen from either man, but it might have been one of the hardest fought. Count me in with those who hope we have a rematch sometime before Jumbo has to step aside.

[dawho5]

Kobashi is good at throwing bombs. Almost as good as he is at garnering sympathy. Jumbo tends to play to the strengths of his opponent in these types of matches and that's what we get. It's really good and an example of howto make a young guy with potential look really good in a loss. Problem being it took place in AJPW in 1992 and that year is chick full of that kind of thing.