Loss Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 Talk about it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted November 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2012 I suppose this is the first-ever Misawa vs Kobashi singles match. Misawa horribly botches a neckbreaker early on. In spite of this getting some recommendations, I wasn't really expecting that memorable of a match, and we didn't really get one. This is one that needed to be on to see how the match evolved over the years from their first meeting. And Kobashi just works circles around Misawa in this. The match picks up a little when they start working to the finish. But without the historical factor, there's just not much to see here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Kobashi doesn't quite get everything right but a lot of the classic touches are already there--the rolling cradle, bodyslam+moonsault+kickout+cry and pound mat, etc. Most of this is worked very junior-y with the trading arm drags and faceoffs and kip ups and all that. We do get some good old-fashioned AJPW near-falls and a VERY well-done buildup to the Tiger Driver finish. Still, Misawa was pretty much going through the motions here and the first half to 2/3 of the match wasn't bad (except for that neckbreaker) but pretty unmemorable. The last part was more Stuff than great psychology (except for Kobashi trying to avoid the TD), but it was pretty fun Stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 I agree with Loss that Kobashi badly outwrestled Misawa for most of the match. Misawa's leap over the course of 1990 should be one of the more interesting stories to watch on the yearbook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted November 19, 2012 Report Share Posted November 19, 2012 Misawa horribly botches a neckbreaker early on Kobashi bumped early, tottaly his fault on that one. So far in none of the matches i've seen of Misawa's this year has he looked like anything close to a future Ace. That said, he was still the more complete wrestler here. Kobashi did a lot more big moves but he'd barely been wrestling 2 years at this point so still looked really rough around the edges here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Definitely had to be on the yearbook with it being there first singles match but oy vey this is not very good at all. On one hand I wish we just had the finish since this was time used that could have been used elsewhere but on the other hand, this match is great evidence in how much of a leap Misawa made in a short time. I can't begin to tell you with watching this footage how shocked I am that this is the same man that in 90 days will have one of my favorite matches of all time. We just don't see hardly any evidence of that or a crowd reaction clamoring for that here. Kobashi was till rough around the edges but his enthusiasm is endearing and enhances portions of this match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to given when it took place. The first half or so felt like two pros running through a routine they've worked on forever (almost akin to how I've read AJW used to start off young pros), before picking up after that with a few high spots and hot finish. I don't know if I'll appreciate it as much on a rewatch but thought it was a lot of fun on an initial viewing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 I thought is was a solid match. We are going to get much more from these guys down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Ridge Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 Tiger Mask with some high flying action to start. Quiet crowd for these two. They mess up a neckbreaker which gets a crowd response. Big splash from the top rope by Kobashi to the outside. He tries to do his rolling cradle but it doesn’t go too smoothly. Kobashi dominating but he switching back and forth between working the leg and back. Tiger briefly fights back but Kobashi puts him on the ropes with some powermoves. Mask kicks out of the moonsault and then finally gets some offense on Kobashi and gets the win. Kobashi was dominating this match until the final stretch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cox Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 It's weird, almost disorienting, to see Skinny Misawa with mask wrestling Skinny Kobashi wearing red. It's hard for me to say Misawa is outworked here by Kobashi when Kobashi is the one who botches the neckbreaker. It feels more like Misawa is giving Kobashi most of the offense to let him shine before putting him away. This starts out pretty lousy but has a nice finishing sequence that gets the crowd into it. I don't regret watching it, but I probably won't remember watching it tomorrow either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laney Posted September 21, 2013 Report Share Posted September 21, 2013 This was an interesting watch. This is the first match between two guys that would go on to have a legendary rivalry. Nothing too special here, but I thought it was solid. The obvious weakpoint of this match is the very badly botched neckbreaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garretta Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Other than the botch, this was just nice. I'll be interested to see the historical progression between these two as the year goes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew wardlaw Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Not much to add that hasn't been said, but this is a very cool match from a historic standpoint. Humble beginnings. Also, the crowd seemed pretty quiet until after one of the near falls (I forget which one) and then flipped a switch and were hot. I liked that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetlag Posted February 14, 2017 Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 This is such a funny match to watch considering what they'd do later. They wrestle like a bunch of X-Division chumps and people laugh at their blown spots. Kobashi does some legwork, to which Misawa of course comes back by landing some kicks and then a dive where he sprints across the ring. Pretty slow in parts and really just an average junior match, but I did get a kick out of Kobashi busting out the Calf Slicer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makai Club #1 Posted September 17, 2021 Report Share Posted September 17, 2021 I was close to calling this a terrible match before it was saved by the closing stretch. Most of the match was filled with sloppy, bland Junior Heavyweight style wrestling. Kobashi bumped too early for a neckbreaker and some of the counters weren't too smooth either. The crowd was relatively quiet before they began doing the spots that would be more refined later on and this got good quickly. One aspect of the match I thought was strong was the build to the Tiger Driver. The struggle of the whole spot was good. It's a shame the rest of the match is a bit of a mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShittyLittleBoots Posted January 13, 2022 Report Share Posted January 13, 2022 A very notable match, given that it's the very first ever singles meeting between the two. It's not a good match. The finishing stretch is very good, and they manage to get the crowd into it as well with it, which is something, because the atmosphere was almost-completely dead for most of this match. I don't think the match is bad, as they don't overstay their welcome, but its just felt like most of it fell completely flat. Certainly wouldn't expect them to go & have the matches they would go on to have for years to come together based on this. ** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin Posted April 23, 2023 Report Share Posted April 23, 2023 A far cry from what they'll do together in the next decade, but it's their first match together, and while it's obviously rough around the edges, it's a teaser for things to come. **1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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