[1994-04-10-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Great match that tells a hell of a story! Hansen tries wrestling Kobashi at the beginning before losing his patience and taking the match outside, where he pelts him with a chair and throws him into a table. Eventually, Kobashi gains an opening when Hansen injures his ribs and goes after it with gusto -- throwing boxing style punches and deadlifting him for a vertical suplex. Hansen fights back like a wounded animal, throwing occasional bombs but not being able to fully capitalize when he does. Every move he executes on Kobashi takes just as much out of him. About 25 minutes in, he finally nails the lariat, but again, can't cover. Kobashi ends up getting the pin after two moonsaults, and we have a fantastic post-match celebration. The crowd seems to be treating him like he's "arrived", as this is the biggest singles win of his career.

[NintendoLogic]

It looked to me like Hansen was supposed to have injured his lariat arm on the guardrail.

[jdw]

Ribs. The storyline over the two nights was the ribs were hurt.

 

John

[Childs]

I love a good body attack, so of course, I loved this match. Kobashi's offense to the ribs looked really nasty, and Hansen did a masterful job of selling it, even as he tried to put Kobashi away with a hellacious run of offense. I liked how Kobashi's resilience, combined with the pain, led Stan to try an uncharacteristic top-rope dive and how that dive turned the tide. I also liked how a dazed Kobashi threw his body indiscriminately at Hansen's midsection after Stan couldn't follow up on the lariat. Kobashi was going to have to fight through a terrible beating to have any chance against Hansen. And he did. But I appreciated him winning with smart opportunism rather than blind courage. The win felt like a big moment well-earned. Best match of the Carny so far and probably top 5 for the year to date.

[Kevin Ridge]

This was fantastic. What a ride. Hansen beats up Kobashi early but eats guard rail with a reckless should tackle attempt off the apron. His selling of the ribs the rest of the match is great as it has such a big effect on him attempting various moves. Kobashi uses some great looking punches to Hansen and repeatedly attacks his ribs. Hansen finally hits the lariat which I think ends it but he can't make the cover. Kobashi comes with two moonsaults and gets the win. Not expecting that one! Great crowd response after that match for Kobashi.

[Exposer]

This was fantastic! Hansen gets pissed off and pummels Kobashi with a table and powerbombs him on the floor. Hansen makes a mistake and goes rib first into the guardrail. Kobashi targets the ribs for the rest of the match and Hansen tries his best to fight back even getting in the lariat but can't make the cover due to the pain in his ribs. Kobashi wins with two moonsaults and the crowds loves it. This absolutely ruled.

[soup23]

EVeryone else has talked about the fantastic storyline with hansen's ribs I will just say that Hansen's selling was sublime and Kobashi is making a strong WOTY case so far in what kind of felt like an under the radar year for him going in. The only signature singles match was vs. Williams but this match was great and he has looked really good in tags.

[PeteF3]

Yeah, nothing much to add here. Wrestling has been on fire during the spring of '94. Kobashi wrestles a gutsy match but also a smart one, and the rib injury is the perfect booking move for this match since it gives Kenta realistic openings and naturally sets up the big moonsault. Kobashi earns a monumental singles win but what a ride to get there. To the point where I was second-guessing if this was really Kenta's big win or not--"Wait, is this a draw here and the win comes later? Oh, fuck, WESTERN LARIATO!", and so on. They even tease us one last time by having Hansen escape sure death on the first moonsault. And there's a terrific moment on the follow-up where for a split second it appears that Hansen is going to roll out of the way, but he can't escape in time. A three-count and now Kobashi, at least for the moment, truly comes across as the #2 native in the company.

[ohtani's jacket]

A lot of people said the Kobashi/Hansen match the night before Hansen/Taue is better because Kobashi has better offense than Taue and his win over Hansen means more. They're totally different matches as the rib injury occurs literally halfway through the Kobashi bout whereas with the Taue match it's the focus right from the start. The Kobashi bout has a bigger feel to it with more of the back and forth beginning you'd expect from two guys who are healthy. Kobashi does have better offense than Taue and is a better athlete. What he's not as good at in this two match comparison is selling. He looks like some kind of string puppet the way he sells. He was trying to be dramatic, but it was awkward looking. Hansen sold his demise well, as you'd expect, but it wasn't a truly great match despite the crowd reaction, and the Taue match seemed cooler to me.

[ohtani's jacket]

I watched the '94 CC bout again, and I think it's a shame that Kobashi's win came in probably their worst match. I can live with the ribs injury being the excuse for Hansen's loss, but it wasn't ideal given how close Kobashi had been to beating Hansen in their '93 bouts based on his own skill and ability. Granted, you could argue that Hansen was still dangerous when injured and could still hit the lariat at any time, and that Kobashi showed a certain amount of skill by evading the attack that led to Hansen's injury, but that's fishing for excuses. Mostly, they tread over old ground, and in some cases regressed on what they had accomplished in previous bouts. The crowd were thrilled with what they witnessed, though, and seemed to view it as something special. I did like Kobashi face down clinging to the streamers as the magnitude of what he'd accomplished set in. It's too bad it had low quality dubbed in commentary instead of Wakabayashi.

[Zenjo]

I remember liking this a lot but dayum I didn't remember it as being quite this hot. There was no messing around as hard strikes were being layed in early doors. Kobashi did find some initial success, yet a slugfest favoured Stan and he began to completely dominate proceedings. This got the crowd right behind the underdog. A pivotal turning point occurred when Hansen crashed into the barricade and injured his ribs. As great as the big man is at dishing it out, he's every bit as strong when selling. Kobash was right back in the match and had the fans dreaming of an upset. A thrilling climax ensued, but once the Lariato connected it was surely a case of so near, so far once more for Orange Crush. Only this time Stanley couldn't make the cover. It's quite something when you can go north of 25m without it ever feeling like a draw. When Kenta hit his 2nd moonsault and got the duke the fans went bananas. It was a huge breakthrough result for the rising star. Great scenes afterwards as he took the plaudits. 7/29/93 is their classic and this was a great match as well.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 4/10/94

The beginning of this match has a Hansen vs Kawada 2/28/93 vibe to it although not quite as stiff. What do I mean by that? There were a lot of momentum shifts and there were not a lot of highspots. It was just a lot of general pummeling and attrition selling. There were also not a lot of pinfall attempts. Kobashi was going to the thrust kick a lot. There were some whips into the railing. Hansen was using a lot of head shots, elbows and what not. It was just a lot of strong brawling, but not much in the way of story. There were excellent moments like Kobashi fighting through Stan's kicks as Stan was on his back near the apron and Kobashi was trying to enter the ring. Kobashi fights through it and slaps him a ton. Hansen FIGHTS through that and starts headbutting. I am a mark for sequences like that. Anytime people are fighting through offense, I love it. Kobashi has sort of control with some leg drops and the sleeper. Hansen ends up bowling him over with a lunging tackle. Hansen really starts to rock Kobashi with those headbutts, we get a glassy eyed sell that pops the announcer and Baba. He slams Kobashi's head into the steel post. Then he slams a chair off his back. I love a Hansen chair shot. Slams him into the table and THROWS THE TABLE DOWN ONTO HIM! POWERBOMBS KOBASHI ON THE EXPOSED CONCRETE! He has whipped the crowd into a frenzy and the crowd wants to kill Hansen. Hansen ends up diving off the apron on a shouldertackle only to eat the railing. This has turned into an excellent match. Looking forward to the second half and seeing if Kobashi can make the comeback and get his first win over Stan Hansen?

Absolutely TERRIFIC ENDING! Call me a mark for the series all you want, but fuck that was awesome and this shit right here is why I am pro wrestling fan and why pro wrestling is the greatest thing ever. Hansen has been a total prick to Kobashi and honestly should have been DQ'd because of the chair and table throws. The crowd was pissed. When Hansen clutching his ribs tries to enter the ring, Kobash shows NO MERCY, illegal closed fists to the ribs and a lot of hair pulling. Fuck that prick and Kobashi lights him up. Kobashi turned Hansen's drum into a punching bag at one point. There was a great suplex struggle where Kobashi kneelifts the injured abdomen and is able to hoist Hansen over. Kobashi DECKS Hansen with a lariat for a hot nearfall. I mean Double Hot! The whole building was ringing out with "KO-BASH-I" chants! Hansen's selling here has been sublime. This is on the order of Kawada doing his best knee selling. Just great work from Stan. Boston Crab from Kobashi and punts Hansen in the ribs. You can feel it and you know Hansen had one more run left in him. You knew to ratchet up the drama you needed that and they did a great job picking when it was. It came right after this once Kobashi had gotten his nuclear nearfall. 

Hansen reverses an Irish Whip hard into the buckles such that Kobashi takes the Bret Bump. Big back suplex. Crowd oooh and aaahs and gets a little worried. Hansen gets a good nearfall here. He tugs on the elbow pad. You can tell the crowd is anxious. They have seen this story before. It felt different because Hansen had seriously injured himself but it looked like it was going to end the same with Hansen crushing Kobashi. Kobashi evades the first Lariat but Hansen gets the back suplex. Hansen decides for the powerbomb, but Kobashi back drops out to a big pop. Hansen lunging elbow to the head gets a nearfall. Curiously Hansen wants the big splash from the top even though his ribs hurt. Great selling from Hansen who manages to fight through the pain and Powerbomb Kobashi again only two. Crowd breathes a sigh of relief. Hansen goes for the big splash from the top. Eats Knees! Me and the crowd go fucking apeshit! This is best part here. Because I totally thought Kobashi was going to fire up win, but NO out of nowhere Hansen swings that BIG BEARPAW LARIAT! It was such a great catch you out of nowhere spot. Took my breathe way, but this time was different. He did NOT have as much Oomph behind he was the one hurting. It was defense mechanism and Kobashi absorbed the blow and just kept marching forward. 

That bodyslam and that little fist pump. God, I was emotional then and I am man enough to admit I am emotional now. What a powerful moment! You could tell how badly the crowd wanted it. You could tell how badly he wanted it. It took two Moonsaults but Kenta Kobashi finally got his victory over Stan Hansen. Kobashi is my favorite Japanese wrestler of all time and definitely in my top 5 overall, I was so happy for him fucking 26 years later it is crazy. I am so glad he got that moment. Hansen knocked it out of the park. He was an ornery, sadistic prick then sold his ass off like a champ and still had that compelling finish run to make you doubt the feel-good ending. Nobody in my opinion is better at transcending language, culture and time to elicit emotion than Kenta Kobashi! Yet another sublime performance from in my eyes the undisputed GOAT of pro wrestling history. ****3/4