[1997-09-28-FMW] Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Kenta Kobashi & Maunakea Mossman

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Cool to see Kobashi in FMW. If I remember right, this match didn't make the commercial release because Baba didn't want Kobashi appearing on an FMW video. If you are watching this, be patient, as the camera angle that makes this impossible to follow early on eventually gets much better. Less heat for this than you'd expect considering that it's Kobashi. In the last few minutes of this, you get some of the All Japan-style dramatic saves off of nearfalls and this becomes a very good match. Glad we included this for the novelty but it wouldn't really be a memorable match if not for the cool factor of Kobashi being involved.

[FLIK]

because Baba didn't want Kobashi appearing on an FMW video.

Wasn't that Baba didn't want them appearing, the companies had a small working agreement at the time, it's that All Japan was under contract to a diffrent video company so they weren't allowed to appear on video releases anyone else put out.

[Kevin Ridge]

Kobashi in FMW! The first camera shot where you only see some fan's head was worrisome. The taper moves around to get a better location. It is still far away from the ring so visibility is not great. Loss is right about being patient. This isn't really an FMW type brawl as just a straight up wrestling match in the ring. I was expecting more from the crowd though with Kobashi involved. Gets really good towards the end but I thought Kobashi should have put these guys away a few minutes earlier.

[soup23]

Bahu has this as the #5 FMW match of all time which seems nuts but it was a very good tag match and again bolsters Kobashi who again feels like he is quietly having a strong year overall with some unique opponents (Hase, these two). The match took a much more structural tone and was perfect to be third from the top in a huge show.

[PeteF3]

Good match that's a bit hard to follow at times due to the bad VQ--luckily all four guys are distinctive-looking enough to mitigate the problem somewhat. Not only do we have the novelty of Kobashi showing up in FMW, we have a rare glimpse of him really wrestling and carrying himself like an ace. He's by far the #1 guy in the match and for once he wrestles like it. Granted, we can't see if he does any of his crying spots, but every time he's in, it feels like a huge momentum shift with Hayabusa and Shinzaki having to fight and to double-team just to stay even--they come across as underdogs even though Mossman is the glorified rookie and bottom man on the totem pole. We get the inevitable result but not without a few curveballs that have you believing that Kenta might just do the J-O-B but still being firmly established as the top dog. Also, thank God the other matches on this show apparently aren't like this.

[TravJ1979]

Bahu has this as the #5 FMW match of all time which seems nuts but it was a very good tag match and again bolsters Kobashi who again feels like he is quietly having a strong year overall with some unique opponents (Hase, these two). The match took a much more structural tone and was perfect to be third from the top in a huge show.

I got this from Dan after George Mayfleid (the person who taped it) said it was the best match he's ever seen. Since I'm a huge Kobashi fan I couldn't wait to see it. Wish it was pro shot.