[1991-05-24-AJPW-Super Power Series] Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kenta Kobashi

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

We get the last 10 minutes or so of what looks to be an outstanding match. I wish we could see the whole thing. The majority of what is here is Kobashi offense, which is interesting, as even though Kobashi is not yet ready to beat Jumbo, it's clear watching this that he's just a couple of years away from knocking on his door. Jumbo still has the threat of Misawa. He has the threat of Kawada. And now Kobashi is on the rise too. He's the most wanted man in All Japan, and he's somehow surviving it all.

[Childs]

I've never quite gotten why this match was so acclaimed. It was a very good example of Jumbo being generous with a lower-ranked guy and of Kobashi doing Kobashi stuff. But Dave had it as one of the promotion's best matches of the year, and jdw had it as his No. 19 All Japan match of the decade. Just for the year to date, I have it behind Jumbo's singles matches against Misawa and Kawada.

[shoe]

I enjoyed this a lot. It seemed like a really hot finishing sequence. Still I think you need to see the base if the match to put it into context. Though the heat was out of control.

[PeteF3]

Yeah, I don't see how this makes a Best of Decade list, just by virtue of being clipped as much as it was. I get the novelty factor and the action was very good, but not Can-Ams/Kobashi & Kikuchi good, either. I've said this already but Jumbo is still one of the all-time best "top guy vs. lower-ranked guy" workers ever.

[Kevin Ridge]

Lots of offense from Kobashi including a nice face buster off the apron to the floor. He alludes Jumbo a few times on the backdrop before finally being put away. Last few minutes were really good but match was too edited to rate it highly.

[Zenjo]

Only airing 9:30 still sucks. What made the cut was tremendous action with a red hot crowd. Orange Crush unloaded lots of offense and looked credible against the veteran. Exciting stuff and probably would have gone higher in full. There's only so high I can rate it given what was missing.

[soup23]

I am in the Pete and Childs camp here. I don't want to downgrade the match as it is very good from the clips we see but it would really struggle to make my top 50 All Japan matches from the 90's. Kobashi does look very spunky in the clips we see but I didn't bite on many of his nearfalls and as a result there was a slight disconnect.

[garretta]

What we saw here was excellent, a standoff between the old master who wouldn't let himself be beaten (Jumbo) and the youngster who wouldn't stop trying (Kenta). I like Kenta planting Jumbo face first in the concrete, then stealing the backdrop driver but still not quite getting the job done. Jumbo eventually gets the win, but it's Kenta's fabulous performance that the crowd remains enthralled by, as they keep chanting his name even in defeat. You know that there will be better days ahead for him, and soon.

 

Boy, that arena must have been a total sweatbox. Both guys were sweating to the point where it had to have been hard to control each other's bodies, which could have led to unintentional disaster. It's a tribute to both men's extreme professionalism that there weren't any accidents.

[G. Badger]

Watched this one a couple times and I really don't know how it's a MOTY candidate or could be nominated for Top 20 but, it's certainly top 50. The start is clipped to where both guys are sweating pretty good. Kobashi's offense is the highlight and he nearly gets Jumbo but, really he wasn't going to win. Still, you really feel for Kobashi & his facial expressions never seemed to get mentioned but he's one of the best. Better organized than the Kawada carny match but not as brutal & believable that the underdog could pull it off. Although Kobashi's moonsault got pretty close...No real flaws it just wasn't meant to be a MOTY & the divide between the two is far too large to have any believable drama especially since the moonsault didn't do it. Still Top 50 type AJ stuff that should be seen. ****

[dawho5]

Don't see where this would have been #19 on any list, but Kobashi vs. Jumbo from this era in no way disappoints.

[superkix]

Kobashi's comeback includes a bulldog on the floor and a moonsault but you never really get the sense that Kobashi is anything but a pain in Jumbo's ass, which is to say, Jumbo working against a pain in his ass is always a pleasure. Love his tired lariats and the build to the finishing backdrop. 

[paul sosnowski]

This has never been released in its entirety?   On a rare Jumbo or Kobashi box set or anything?   What the hell....

[cactus]

It's a damn shame that this is clipped. Kobashi isn't on stablemates Misawa or Kawada's level yet, but he's so close to getting a win over the champ. I don't how Jumbo wasn't concussed from taking that bulldog on the floor. Kobashi hits a moonsault early and he lands many other convincing nearfalls. I can't give this a rating as we are missing over half the match, but if the first half was as good as the second, then this would probably be my AJPW singles MOTY.