So, I've seen a fair amount of both of these guys between All Japan, New Japan and Noah but off the top of my head I've not seen them square of at all before. My overriding memory of Kensuke Sasaki is his awesome 2004 G1 Climax match with Yoshihiro Takayama, a match that I rewatch at least once a year and just adore from start to finish. If he's bringing that level of powerhouse energy to a match with Kenta Kobashi then this is obviously going to be amazing.
And that bring us round to Kenta Kobashi, someone I'm much more familiar with. And there's just nothing I can add to the man's career that hasn't been said, he's just an all-time legend who deserves every accolade this sport can offer. While he isn't my favourite Pillar (that would be Kawada) he is also someone who I basically can't criticise, everything I've seen him do has been near perfect and yeah, I'm just excited by the matchup, so here we go.
The bell rings and we open with a stare-down in front of a raucous crowd, I always like a match that can open like this and just let the moment breathe. But then out of nowhere Sasaki just picks up Kenta and drops him straight on his head and we are off. While Kenta is down Kensuke just starts laying in kicks and chops but Kenta just powers through all of them, initiates a short chop battle then throws Kensuke onto his head. Sasaki is instantly back on his feet, hits a shockingly strong lariat then both men roll to the outside and, after a brief recovery, stare each other down from the ground, just daring each other to get in the ring first. Once they return to the ring they transition to a test of strength and this succeeds where a lot of similar attempts fail. Rather than feel like a token segment just to do it, this feels like two men really fighting for every step they make, and it also ends in another gnarly suplex which I'm never going to complain about.
It's just occurred to me this is becoming a play-by-play of the whole match, and rather than write a 5000 word blow-by-blow recap of the whole match I'm going to try cover my personal highlights, seems to make more sense.
So my real highlight of this match is the chop battle midway through, like the test of strength this has become something of a token spot in a lot of wrestling and not something I'm all that interested in anymore but this. This is something different. This feels like the essence of the chop battle refined into something perfect. It opens with 2 insanely tough men laying it in as hard as they can and you feel every single impact. There's sweat flying off of each man but despite all of this they don't miss a single beat, the moment one hand lands the next is ready to go and this continues for what feels like an incredibly long time until finally one man cracks. Sasaki stumbles back into the corner and then Kobashi pounces ready for the kill, he starts laying in the famous machine gun chops but Sasaki just powers through, reverses their position and starts to lay in his own. This reversal sequence continues a few more times till they both leave the corner and recommence their initial chop battle, each standing there and taking the best their opponent has to offer. But there's a difference now, outside of the adrenaline powering each man in the initial confrontation they're slower now, they're struggling to overcome each hit, but still they keep going. I just love this. There's just a timeless purity to it that connects right to my heart. Finally, after what feels like 5 minutes of nothing but chops Sasaki crumbles and falls to the ground.
Even after all of this there's still no quit left in him. Soon after, Kobashi picks him up from the top turnbuckle and hits a superplex but Sasaki just pops straight back to his feet. Sasaki is one of the people I will never tire of seeing no-sell a move, he is just this brick of energy and power that I truly believe cannot be seriously hurt by mere wrestling moves. This time doesn't work out for him though, Kenta sees him rise to his feet and immediately hits a savage lariat to cut off Kensuke's momentum.
This dynamic powers a lot of the remainder of the match, it's just a real intense fight with both men refusing to give up anything in the pursuit of victory. The finishing sequence really nails this dynamic. Both men hit a simultaneous lariat, and go down. As they regain their footing Kenta is in the corner facing away from the ring and Kensuke takes the opportunity to run and hit a lariat to the back of Kenta's head. You'd think this is the opening for Kensuke to take the victory but as he hits the ropes to wind up for a second lariat Kenta catches him in a sleeper hold, quickly transitioning to a sleeper suplex, before picking Sasaki up and hitting a standing lariat leading to a close 2-count, but the pace doesn't slow, Kobashi climbs to the top rope, hits a moonsault and then another 2-count. Sasaki tries to throw one last lariat as a dying blow but it's blocked by Kobashi who hits 5 (FIVE) spinning back elbows, then one final lariat before the one-two-three.
This match is sensational, every move fits the flow of the match perfectly and it just builds to this fantastic crescendo as Kenta keeps trying to just keep Kensuke down. I am angry at myself for never having seen this before because it's a match that feels so tailored to me. The only thing keeping me from throwing 5 stars at it is a tiny bit of cowardice and a lack of knowledge of the build to this match
****3/4
To see the whole spreadsheet these posts are based off go to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pCqQdRHRrLsZUlimMAxJmyTEGjJAPu_-RUQ6tF6kVeY/edit?usp=sharing
- Chester
And that bring us round to Kenta Kobashi, someone I'm much more familiar with. And there's just nothing I can add to the man's career that hasn't been said, he's just an all-time legend who deserves every accolade this sport can offer. While he isn't my favourite Pillar (that would be Kawada) he is also someone who I basically can't criticise, everything I've seen him do has been near perfect and yeah, I'm just excited by the matchup, so here we go.
The bell rings and we open with a stare-down in front of a raucous crowd, I always like a match that can open like this and just let the moment breathe. But then out of nowhere Sasaki just picks up Kenta and drops him straight on his head and we are off. While Kenta is down Kensuke just starts laying in kicks and chops but Kenta just powers through all of them, initiates a short chop battle then throws Kensuke onto his head. Sasaki is instantly back on his feet, hits a shockingly strong lariat then both men roll to the outside and, after a brief recovery, stare each other down from the ground, just daring each other to get in the ring first. Once they return to the ring they transition to a test of strength and this succeeds where a lot of similar attempts fail. Rather than feel like a token segment just to do it, this feels like two men really fighting for every step they make, and it also ends in another gnarly suplex which I'm never going to complain about.
It's just occurred to me this is becoming a play-by-play of the whole match, and rather than write a 5000 word blow-by-blow recap of the whole match I'm going to try cover my personal highlights, seems to make more sense.
So my real highlight of this match is the chop battle midway through, like the test of strength this has become something of a token spot in a lot of wrestling and not something I'm all that interested in anymore but this. This is something different. This feels like the essence of the chop battle refined into something perfect. It opens with 2 insanely tough men laying it in as hard as they can and you feel every single impact. There's sweat flying off of each man but despite all of this they don't miss a single beat, the moment one hand lands the next is ready to go and this continues for what feels like an incredibly long time until finally one man cracks. Sasaki stumbles back into the corner and then Kobashi pounces ready for the kill, he starts laying in the famous machine gun chops but Sasaki just powers through, reverses their position and starts to lay in his own. This reversal sequence continues a few more times till they both leave the corner and recommence their initial chop battle, each standing there and taking the best their opponent has to offer. But there's a difference now, outside of the adrenaline powering each man in the initial confrontation they're slower now, they're struggling to overcome each hit, but still they keep going. I just love this. There's just a timeless purity to it that connects right to my heart. Finally, after what feels like 5 minutes of nothing but chops Sasaki crumbles and falls to the ground.
Even after all of this there's still no quit left in him. Soon after, Kobashi picks him up from the top turnbuckle and hits a superplex but Sasaki just pops straight back to his feet. Sasaki is one of the people I will never tire of seeing no-sell a move, he is just this brick of energy and power that I truly believe cannot be seriously hurt by mere wrestling moves. This time doesn't work out for him though, Kenta sees him rise to his feet and immediately hits a savage lariat to cut off Kensuke's momentum.
This dynamic powers a lot of the remainder of the match, it's just a real intense fight with both men refusing to give up anything in the pursuit of victory. The finishing sequence really nails this dynamic. Both men hit a simultaneous lariat, and go down. As they regain their footing Kenta is in the corner facing away from the ring and Kensuke takes the opportunity to run and hit a lariat to the back of Kenta's head. You'd think this is the opening for Kensuke to take the victory but as he hits the ropes to wind up for a second lariat Kenta catches him in a sleeper hold, quickly transitioning to a sleeper suplex, before picking Sasaki up and hitting a standing lariat leading to a close 2-count, but the pace doesn't slow, Kobashi climbs to the top rope, hits a moonsault and then another 2-count. Sasaki tries to throw one last lariat as a dying blow but it's blocked by Kobashi who hits 5 (FIVE) spinning back elbows, then one final lariat before the one-two-three.
This match is sensational, every move fits the flow of the match perfectly and it just builds to this fantastic crescendo as Kenta keeps trying to just keep Kensuke down. I am angry at myself for never having seen this before because it's a match that feels so tailored to me. The only thing keeping me from throwing 5 stars at it is a tiny bit of cowardice and a lack of knowledge of the build to this match
****3/4
To see the whole spreadsheet these posts are based off go to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pCqQdRHRrLsZUlimMAxJmyTEGjJAPu_-RUQ6tF6kVeY/edit?usp=sharing
- Chester