Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs Kenta Kobashi
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship
10/21/1997
Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan
(reviewed 05/23/2024) I really don’t like this matchup but I will say, Kenta Kobashi’s energy helps make up for what Mitsuharu Misawa lacks at this stage in ways that his betters have not been able to do. It’s been less than a year since their widely-heralded classic and already Misawa is looking a lot older, struggling through Budokan main events and mid-tour tags alike. Kobashi mostly contributes by crying and bumping around a lot along with forcibly dropping the dude on his head but it’s more than Misawa is capable of when left to his own devices, if these last few title bouts are anything to go by. All these matches depress me but I guess I’ll take something that’s a little more active compared to something much slower.
That has its drawbacks though. At one point there’s this sequence where Kobashi tries suplexing Misawa off the apron and the champ flips through, landing on his feet down on the floor before elbowing Kobashi in the back of his heavily-taped knee. Then when Misawa goes to back suplex Kobashi onto the floor, the challenger reverses it with the classic crossbody counter to take control again. Individually all three of those spots—the initial flip, the elbow to the knee, and the final counter—would feel huge, would feel like moments that’d swing this match in one man’s favor, and indeed such spots have in the past. Instead when they’re thrown all together in the space of six seconds they’re far less satisfying, spots we’re not allowed to savor when they whisk by so quickly. I won’t pretend that I’ve ever had a twelve-course meal but as I understand it they last a good three or four hours, spreading supper over a long enough period of time that you can actually, y’know, taste it before one plate is carried away for the next. Without Masanobu Fuchi putting their matches meals together, these guys seem intent on stuffing as many entrees as they can into the soup course for fear their dinner guests will die of sheer boredom otherwise.
It’s frustrating because they certainly can slow down. You don’t even need to go as far back as 1991 to see that; Misawa once again injures his neck taking a half and half suplex on the floor and it results in some of his best selling in years. When the dude’s rolling in and out of the ring to escape Kobashi and his comebacks are quickly cut off by a swift chop to the neck, it’s almost like this injury to a particularly sensitive part of his anatomy influences his actions and what he’s able to accomplish. Imagine that! In taking just a few moments to make this injury feel meaningful they’re able to rouse this Budokan crowd in a way their earlier amuse-bouches never could. The problem is that it never lasts. Every time it looks like Misawa’s down and out, he’s never more than ninety seconds away from turning it all around with a limp elbow. Even what little we’re allowed to relish is taken away too soon. Wish these guys had a little more confidence in their cooking.
Brock Hates Wrestling 