KENTA

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[dawho5]

Just no. KENTA has one speed, one match and he has to be forced off of it by an extremely determined opponent. Some of his high profile stuff shows how severely bad KENTA was as far as not being willing to change to fit what was happening in a match. Not saying he isn't good at what he does, just that he lacked a lot of what makes a wrestler great.

[goodhelmet]

He might sneak into my top 900. How many wrestlers went though Memphis and Mexico through the years? They would all be ranked higher. How many people made it in the Top 100 on the 80s sets? they would all be ranked higher. I may have to go to 900 to see where he would end up. 872 sounds right.

[BillThompson]

Nope, he's good, but he's pretty limited as a wrestler and never produced a great enough output to e considered for a top 100.

[Timbo Slice]

Definitely soured on him over the years. As big as I was on him when he first became well known, I don't see him as a candidate now. One thing that is interesting to me is whether he'll be able to work within the WWE style that well. If that's the case, maybe something changes in a few years.

[W2BTD]

KENTA was my pick Wrestler of the Decade for the '00-'09 decade. He spent the first half of that decade as part of the best tag team on the planet, and the second half as the most exciting & intriguing singles worker in the world.

 

His '06 & '09 are two of the greatest singular bell to bell years in wrestling history. And that's with spending half of '09 injured. His feud & series of matches (tag & single) vs Nakajima from late '08-early '09 contains some of the best multi layer match to match psychology I've ever seen.

 

Obviously i'm very, very high on him. He's also my personal favorite wrestler of all time. My one & only knock is that his GHC run was very disappointing. It's easy to blame shitty opponents like Morishima & such, and a dead, boring promotion, but it is what it is.

 

When KENTA is clicking on all cylinders, I find it hard to come up with anybody who I think is better. If I were participating in this (which I probably won't be because narrowing down 100 wrestlers would be impossible for me, and then ranking them would be a complete nightmare...I did a Top 100 on another site once and was disgusted at my list because i'm waaay too indecisive and I change my mind daily), he'd be considered for #1, but would likely fall somewhere in the middle/bottom of the top ten.

[Steenalized]

KENTA won't touch my list, though I think he's enjoyable in a few spots here and there. Mostly when someone like Takayama is making him sell his ass off. His presence (well, him and others, Marufuji is worse) is what ground my Best of Japan 2000s watching to a halt for quite a while.

[Shining Wiz]

Fun watching the tide turn one way then the other on some guys. KENTA was the shit in the 00's as W2BTD (Joe from VOW, right?) accurately states above. Now, the general opinion seems to be that he's awful. Meanwhile, Jerry Lawler's gone from camp favourite to some's choice for #1.

 

More on topic, even if KENTA only has one speed, it's one I like and produces killer matches.

[FedEx227]

Yes, W2B is Joe from VOW. I'll guess you'll be joining us on this crusade Shining Wiz. Welcome to the team!

[concrete1992]

There are a few guys so far on the list that I will be dismissing most likely because of time. KENTA won't be one. Haven't gone back and watched most of his stuff so I'll be trying to get an idea of where his career lands. He does have going for him that he was one of those GUYS people were talking a storm up about when I was getting into the OTHER WRESTLING stuff that exists in the world.

[Jesse Ewiak]

Fun watching the tide turn one way then the other on some guys. KENTA was the shit in the 00's as W2BTD (Joe from VOW, right?) accurately states above. Now, the general opinion seems to be that he's awful. Meanwhile, Jerry Lawler's gone from camp favourite to some's choice for #1.

 

More on topic, even if KENTA only has one speed, it's one I like and produces killer matches.

 

I'd argue that the general opinion KENTA is "awful" is basically limited to this forum and a few others associated with it. Nothing personal against the people who feel that way, but out there in the wider Internet, Kurt Angle & Shawn Michaels are still the best of all-time. Any downgrade of KENTA's place within the general feel of the larger IWC is more due to the fact that NOAH has become a glorified indy instead of the #1 Japanese promotion.

[Childs]

I don't think he's awful; actually, he's fun to watch in modest doses. It's just that a lot of his big matches over the years have given in to wretched excess. I'd like to see him adapt well to the WWE style, because he does have a lot of tools. I'd much rather watch him than Marufuji.

[dawho5]

Fair enough on the Marufuji point. At the very least KENTA goes easy on the excessive flippy crap.

[Alan4L]

I hear the criticism about "excess" and while I understand what people would mean by that, I disagree in the case of KENTA (at least as far as his 2003-2009 prime years go).

 

To me his "excess" was taking matches to another level, a better level. Those NOAH crowds ate that shit up. Those Nakajima matches and such felt like real epics. To me it wasn't ever like the worst of Davey Richards when it's just doing more for the sake of it, doesn't feel real, and it doesn't add to the match. That is excess.

 

Also, why doesn't KENTA get more credit for his fire and intensity? To me, he was one of the best EVER when it comes to lighting a match on fire with a strike exchange or just getting all up in someone's face. Again that gave him such a sense of realism to me.

 

He wiill definitely be on my list. Top half? probably.

[benjaminkicks]

Woah, I didn't know people were so down on KENTA.

 

He's been a personal favorite of mine for years now, and I think he's a lock for my top 25. I pretty much always enjoy his matches, and I love what he brings to the table as a worker.

 

His so-far pretty enjoyable work in NXT is just icing on top of like 12 years of great work in NOAH and ROH.

[Childs]

The times I've seen him on NXT (not an every week viewer), he doesn't seem to have clicked to any great degree. He's obviously not terrible, because he's a polished, 15-year pro. But the best things about him--stiffness and surly attitude--haven't translated very well.

[Jimmy Redman]

I really like KENTA. I think he's one of those guys that I instantly liked at first sight, and just have to come up with the reasons why from there.

 

I see why a lot of people here wouldn't dig someone like him, and to be honest on paper he's not a guy I would usually dig. Overwrought juniors matches aren't really my thing. BUT with KENTA I think he rises above it and manages to be good despite the style and environment he works in (or did work in, I should say now). He brings the best out of a questionable style, to put it that way.

 

Like Alan said, he has tremendous fire and intensity and can really lift a match with a well-timed burst of emotion. He takes a great shit kicking, and makes a good comeback. He adds a real oomph to his moves too.

 

I like his selling as well. I know it's problematic for a lot of people but again, I find him more to be the exception to the rule in his environment. He's great physically taking a beating and selling, and also in showing that he's still in pain even while running around and going back on offense.

 

I also think he straddles the line between 'dominant ace of junior division' and 'small guy trying to compete with heavyweights' quite well, and it's a dual-role that I tend to enjoy. He's great showing contempt to some junior challenger, and then turning around and completely eating it from a guy twice his size, and looking credible and doing good work in both settings.

 

I think he had a really strong 2006, and a really strong 2009, with a lot of good work in between. I haven't kept up with him much in the 10s until he hit NXT, but his 00s run is enough for me.

[GOTNW]

I'm a massive KENTA fan-he's one of the guys who got me into puro in the first place and my opinion of him never diminished even as I was discovering better workers. I'm sure something like the 40 minute Nakajima Kensuke Office match wouldn't hold up for me-god knows what ridiculous rating I gave it when I watched it-but it's something where I kind of saw the flaws even when I was watching it but the action was spectacular enough for me the ignore them. That's my main problem with a lot of junior wrestling and spotfests-if you're going to work a match like that it has to impress me. I just don't get that from Minoru Tanaka matches, Dragon Gate etc. But that kind of work isn't something I associate with KENTA a lot really. Even when he was a junior he'd be in a random tag where KUDO would try to start shit and KENTA would just slap him into oblivion and that kind of thing stuck with me a lot more than the Apron Falcon Arrow matches. I think his output is amazing and I don't see any major flaws in his work. He's a lock for my top 50 and there's a big chance he'll be in my top 30. If anything he's a guy who suffers from me being too familiar with his work, and with being busy watching so much unfamiliar wrestling and him being injured I haven't thought about him much lately so I wasn't hyping him much here.

[InYourCase]

KENTA was bumped from my top 10 by Hashimoto, but he'll finish comfortably in my top 20. My pick, over Danielson, for wrestler of the decade between 2000-2009. His work in KENTAFuji can't go overlooked, also. He's an outstanding wrestler. Someone, who in my mind, does everything right. Great babyface, better heel. Has played the sparky underdog and the dickhead, veteran heel. Great in singles, tags, six-mans, etc. Someone that, to me, that gets unfairly criticized because of the generation that he's a part of. The "pro wrestling is objectively bad after *insert year here*" narrative that is so absurdly false and rather annoying.

 

Side note, I think people forget how amazing he was in ROH. Anyone wanting to explore more of him needs to see him vs. Low Ki, the Danielson series, vs. Nigel, etc.

[Microstatistics]

Am I the only one who thinks Marufuji is far better than KENTA? KENTA works a stiffer style but Marufuji is much more compelling to watch: more versatile, a better underdog and a better heel. I do like fast paced wrestling but KENTA's non-stop action stuff isn't very compelling and he is not a particularly good seller, IMO. Some of his character work is good though I will admit.

[GOTNW]

Those are bizarre criticism if you like Marufuji and I say this as someone who's probably spent what would convert to weeks watching Marufuji matches. I don't even remember when did Marufuji play heel, his All Japan and New Japan runs were just him being put in big junior matches that were wrestled like big junior spotfests-I think they were well done but going as far back as his first match outside of NOAH (I think) vs. the now paralyzed dude in ZERO-1 Marufuji has wrestled the same wherever he went. Marufuji is about all-action as you can get as well while I could think of some examples of KENTA working a slower pace while still producing good results.

[Childs]

Marufuji is an all-action guy whose offense looks like shit. He came off as so unworthy of going toe-to-toe with Minoru Suzuki that what was supposed to be the climactic NOAH match of 2015 fell completely flat. At least KENTA, at his best, succeeds as a tough little bastard. I would much rather watch him battle Suzuki for the soul of a promotion.

[Jimmy Redman]

Yeah that sounds bizarre to me on the surface. Marufuji is kind of like KENTA, but turned up to whatever it is that makes juniors overkill matches uwatchable.

 

He's way more spotty, his spots are way more convoluted and he isn't nearly as good as KENTA at selling, babyface fire, timing, projecting toughness, etc.

 

Both 'fuji and KENTA are great at getting the shit beat out of them by someone bigger than them. But that's about it for me. KENTA is miles better. Marufuji is insufferable most of the time.

[Microstatistics]

Some of Marufuji's weakish looking offense doesn't bother me, he wrestles like a junior so it doesn't really matter if it isn't hardhitting. It's funny because I consider KENTA to be the all action guy prone to overkill. Also even though he and his opponent go way overboard in the finishing stretches of some of his matches, I think Marufuji paces his matches better. His selling also much better, I don't like the way KENTA often blows off damage and injuries and suddenly goes full speed. Different strokes.

 

I don't even remember when did Marufuji play heel

He played heel in some tags in 2005 and multi-man tags in 2008

[KB8]

I'm not really a fan of either guy, but KENTA playing belligerent junior punching above his weight against heavyweights was pretty close to a can't fail prospect for a while, and I enjoyed him in that setting far more than I enjoyed Marufuji in any setting. Irrespective of how stiff they worked, Marufuji's offence at its worst looked like a contrived street dance routine.