[1972-05-06-IWE] Strong Kobayashi vs Andre the Giant (Monster Roussimoff)

[Jetlag]

Pretty entertaining match and a cool chance to see young Andre working a lengthy epic. The early going isn't exactly what you expect from an Andre match as he works pretty even with Kobayashi, Andre would do a headlock takeover and Kobayashi would easily counter to a headscissor. On the other hand things such as Andre reversing an armbar by stepping on Kobayashi or pushing his knee in his face become extra compelling because he is so huge. Andre wins the first fall pretty easily and the other two is pretty much Kobayashi beating him down by stomping on his hand, working his stomach over with punches etc. There is a cool spot in the 3^rd fall where Andre does a double leg Fuchi stretch and gets thrown on his face. Really liked all the Andre facial selling and bumping including the gutsy finish. This got pretty chinlocky here and there and was a little meandering overall but is worth a watch.

[WrestlingFan]

Amazing match. Andre does really well facial expressions, he's kinda funny. Kobayashi looks great. Andre doesn't use his size that much here comparing to his match with Killer Khan in 1982 but it doesn't bother me, it's still a really enjoyable match.