[2000-02-27-AJPW-Excite Series] Vader vs Kenta Kobashi

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Superstar Sleeze]

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Vader vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 02/24/00

I would hazard a guess that this Vader's last great match and it actually surprised me how good it was. It had been six years since I seen it last and had no recollection of it, but this was really well-executed. This is puroresu version of a most excellent Black Sabbath dirge, slow and heavy as fuck. Kobashi's ribs are taped up and Vader eats him alive. The match focuses on the two things Vader has left his offense and selling. At the beginning during Kobashi's shine, I was worried this match would go the way of the Kawada match with Vader trying to bump for Kobashi and just not having the agility anymore. I know that Vader helps everyone when he gets suplexed, but it looks even more obvious in these matches. Kobashi starts to chop as he would Akiyama or Kawada, but instead of the usual macho pissing contest, Vader just creams him with a clothesline. Lets Go Vader. From there, Vader zeroes in on the ribs dropping all his weight on them and just doing everything he can to injure them further: hanging Kobashi out to dry on the railing or ripping off the tape. Kobashi would get a hope spot like a flying shoulderblock and Vader would just immediately fall with all his weight on Kobashi's ribs to stymie him. The crowd finally gets into after three Vaderbombs, which starts up the ""Ko-Bash-I" chants. Where was the Vader whistle and customary trash talk? Vader hit a huge short arm clothesline, but here comes Kobashi with the spin kick. Dont you just love when all of sudden the Japanese commentator will just scream "FLYING BODY ATTACK~!"? Kobashi hits a powerbomb off the top rope and a German suplex, but you can't hold Vader down yet. Vader starts swinging those bear paws and just throws Kobashi all over the place with three German suplexes. Double clothesline and Vader is still first to his feet and hits a monster chokeslam and then another. The straps are down and all that gut is hanging out. It must have been an 18+ only show at Budokan that night. It is all for naught as Kobashi hits a Burning Lariat for two and then a moonsault for two. In a finish I absolutely loved, Kobashi bounces off the Vader body attack, rebounds and takes Vader's head off with a BURNING LARIAT~! to win the championships to a huge pop.

Given Vader's limitations at the time, they have the best match possible with Kobashi taking a shit ton of punishment from the Mastodon. I loved all the moments where Kobashi would hit a move and Vader just kept on coming back. It felt so different from the usual All Japan fare at the time where you had a really established underdog in Kobashi because of the size disadvantage working hard underneath. This is Vader in his fucking element too. Give him a popular babyface that can sell and has great fire and he can't have a bad match. It doesn't matter that he put on a ton of weight and can't move, David vs Goliath is Vader's game and no one does it better. I heard one critique of this match was that Kobashi did not get enough offense and it was just an extended squash (on puroresu.tv). I am going to be a dick about this comment and say this guy needs to watch more American wrestling because two momentum shifts in a match is a perfect number to have an all-time classic. This match actually had four because Kobashi had a false comeback. The story of the match was Kobashi outlasting the monster you have to take Vader to proverbial twelveth round that's Sting learned at Starrcade '92. By letting Vader punch himself out, Kobashi had effectively already weakened Vader. In addition, his ribs were fucked so he was looking to hit a big bomb and get the fuck out of there. That's why he went for a cover after each big bomb because he was trying to shorten the match once his ribs were attacked. Plus, the fact Vader basically kicked Kobashi's ass demonstrates how much of a warrior Kobashi is for surviving that onslaught. In reality, that is the central question in most Vader matches, "Can the opponent survive the onslaught?" It was a excellent execution of that story. ***3/4

[Ditch]

Really solid match, but second-tier in a stacked 2000 and not a lock for my ballot. Good action, logical work, and it ends when it should, but it doesn't feel "great" throughout the way a true MOTYC ought to.

 

On the bubble.

[Graham Crackers]

I'm not a big fan of the Vader vs Kobashi series and this probably isn't even the best of those matches. This isn't as smart as their Champions Carnival match from a year earlier. I felt like the injured eye in that match made for a more compelling subplot than the injured ribs in this one. I just feel like I've seen Kobashi survive many other asskickings and this didn't feel like one of the more compelling ones.

[WingedEagle]

This was stiff and pretty heated, with what I've always found a great match up. These two look like they should produce a classic. This isn't that as they really get by with wailing on each other rather than putting together any kind of structure, then slide into a nice stretch run with a lot of Kobashi kick outs before finishing the big guy.

 

***1/2

[soup23]

Kobashi just saw his boy win the big match against Misawa and now he is fired up to take on Vader. Kobashi shows a lot of restraint in this match which is weird and I can see Loss’s critique that with Vader, Kobashi is the one guy you want to see go balls to the wall with him. Kobashi has a target on his ribs and Vader does a good job mangling them. I thought Kobashi sold the damage well and worked his offense around that. This led to the finale where the nearfall on the moonsault was well deserved and had me biting. Even his final lariat felt like a triumphant moment. Huge night for Burning. ****

[Loss]

I've talked a lot about how I don't really like how Kobashi works with Vader, and he didn't really change things up here, but I do think this is the best match I've seen them have against each other by far. This match had enough good stuff going for it that it worked on its own terms. I liked the stuff they did around Kobashi's taped up ribs, and this is actually a tremendous selling performance from Kobashi with classic world title match slow build. The win feels like a bigger moment than just a title change because of Kobashi's great selling. Anyone who thinks Kobashi never really evolved past the up-and-comer role owes it to themselves to watch this. This is a guy who has very much arrived. ****1/4

[ohtani's jacket]

This was all right. They were able to work around Vader's physical limitations by having him work over Kobashi's injured ribs. Kobashi sold well and the finishing stretch was classic All Japan. The lariat at the end felt like a vintage All Japan even if the match didn't. Kobashi is certainly being positioned as The Man at this point w/ Akiyama poised as his main challenger. That close-up of Akiyama at the end was double-edged.

 

Kind of weird to have an All Japan where Misawa is breaking down at a rate of knots and Kawada is floundering after his injury layoff. It's almost like tennis in the post Federer/Nadal era with Kobashi as Djokovic and Akiyama as Murray.

[Moonsault Marvin]

Kobashi sold the ribs well throughout, and I thought Vader pulling the bandage off was a nice touch. Vader lacks his old mobility, but Kobashi is able to work around it and really makes a great comeback to beat Vader. It wasn't an all time great match like Misawa/Akiyama, but it was still an excellent match.

[dkookypunk43]

I liked Kobashi's selling of the ribs and Vader looked ferocious here. Overall very solid stuff here. I am happy I saw this match

[BigVanCrush]

This was probably their best match together but as Ditch said, it's a second tier match in a really stacked year. Probably the second-to-last great match Vader ever had, but not a MOTYC for 2000 or even the best TCC match of the first half of the year. ****

[Rah]

I’m actually glad that there’s only one more Vader match on this set, simply because it means my heart won’t have its hopes continually dashed by his matches. While I love the fact that AJPW finally managed to put together some dream Vader pairings, the fact that it would come years after Vader’s peak is certainly something that outweighs the positives. Vader’s rib work here was most certainly focused, with Kobashi doing some great selling for the big man, but it never quite raised itself beyond that. While it is nice to see Kobashi work from under Vader, lasting all of 18 minutes in what was, arguably, an extended squash by surviving endless Vader bombs, chokeslams, kicks, guardrail drops and liver punches took away the novelty of Kobashi’s hope spots as it all became too apparent that he would win. The fact that Kobashi would make the win with only a small amount of offence (comparatively) didn’t sit well with me, either. Disappointing.

[Tim Evans]

This was alright but I don't think I want to see another Vader singles match. Kobashi sold his ass off and hits some nice clotheslines. Vader was Vader and looked clumsy at times and brutal at times. Good to see Kobashi get the his big moment.

[superkix]

I liked Kobashi working around the injured ribs early on, wincing through his offense as he tries to keep Vader down but like the killer at the end of the movie, Vader never stays down. He lumbers around, targeting Kobashi with his grunty ribwork, clobbering shots, and ragdoll throws. Him tearing off the bandaging was good stuff and Kobashi sold well enough to make up for Vader's limitations. Vader goes to town with the German suplexes and chokeslams but Kobashi spirits through the pain to win the match. Kobashi doesn't fire off much on Kobashi but the big moonsault was a fun tease and him bouncing off Vader with the first lariat attempt and leveling him with the second was a neat finish. Solid stuff.

[Stiva]

Kobashi comes into this with a bullseye around his waist and god damn, does it ever suit late-era Vader. After an initial flurry from Kobashi, Vader lands a sweet elbow drop to the ribs and he takes over. With the pace slowed, this really becomes the perfect match for Vader, who was obviously past his prime but when you give him a target, he's clearly still got enough to deliver in spades. That's not to take away from Kobashi who really puts in a masterful selling performance, maybe the best of the year thus far, retaining that stoicism in the face of the task ahead of him. A really simply laid out, expertly executed wrestling match with a satisfying finish. No complaints here.

[tbrett]

This was very good. I find myself enjoying these Vader matches more than I expected to in 2000. I watched some AJPW 2000 Vader matches about 10 years ago and just felt like he had lost so much, but between this and the Triple Crown matches he definately had some left in the tank. He might just need the right opponent who can hide his weaknesses or a tag match where he can take some breaks. Kobashi was awesome in this, his selling and timing were fantastic. Good match.

 

***3/4