You Light My Morning Sky With Burning Love

Kenta Kobashi (c) VS Takeshi Rikio - NOAH GHC Heavyweight Championship 3/6/2004

JJZ: SPOILER ALERT. Just getting it out of the way but I can't rightfully review this match without spoiling the finish.

I wanna say that I bet this pick suprises you but I don't know if it would. I had so many options. I watched so many matches. I went with this match because I kept thinking about it days after I watched it.  Mainly because I thought it was the match that Rikio ended Kobashi's incredible GHC title reign. It wasn't. I've never seen that match before and I figured now is as good as a time as any. So when Kobashi repeatedly chopped and slapped the piss out of Rikio and then what can only be called a bicep punch to the face, got the three count I was like, Fuck. So Rikio challenged for the Global Crown twice. I'm sure I knew that at one time but I didn't know that when I watched this match. Kobashi made Rikio look like a goddamn star in this match. Don't get me wrong, Kobashi made Rikio earn everything but Rikio really looked like a guy who could have a successful title run that would help NOAH. That didn't happen. But for 27 minutes Kenta Kobashi and Takeshi Rikio put on a world title match that would make any wrestling fan fall in love with the sport just a little more.

CJD: As you said, everything about this match felt like Rikio's coming out party. A guy who's been punching that clock and packing that lunchbox for years and years finally gets his moment where he's the main character of everyone's story. Only, he never really was, but he sure as hell put in the performance that felt like it. He WORKED for this match. Kobashi played off him much more than the other way around, which surprised me. I'd also never seen this before despite watching most of Kobashi's reign. And other than the legwork, which was fine but not really what I wanted at that moment, there was nothing more or less I wanted from this match. I think this show also drew a huge crowd which makes sense in the rise and fall of the story of the Rikio experiment. It was probably more a result of Kobashi lighting the world on fire than the fans clamoring for Takeshi Rikio, but let's give the often forgotten half of Wild II his flowers. He took a hellacious beating in this match and made us all believe, at least for that one night, "should he be the guy??"

Super Generation Army Meets Takayamamania

Kenta Kobashi/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi VS Jun Akiyama/Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 9/16/2000

CJD: So this isn't my Kikuchi white whale I alluded to. And you want to know the damndest thing John? I saw it out on the internet seas. But that's the thing about white whales, isn't it? Sometimes you'd rather know they're out there waiting for you than actually catch them. I decided I wanted a different flavor of Kikuchi, and there's nothing quite like year one NOAH. File this under matches we might've seen before. But how the hell am I not going to play this forward?? This had me riveted. All four guys brought such a great dynamic. This is a match that sets the table more than it feasts, but I am so so okay with that. And I know you have time to sink your teeth into a main course with whatever you play back! This match made me think of you through and through my friend.

JJZ: Oh baby are you hitting me right in the heart with this one. I could watch early NOAH all day! I'm assuming this is building to the 12/23/2000 singles match between Akiyama and Kobashi. Just wanna say that Takayama's German to Kikuchi was RIDICULOUS. I'll totally agree this match was all about setting the table and they did it so fucking well. Something often missing from modern puro. The energy and excitement coming from the crowd of the new born promotion was felt through the screen. It is really impressive that even though Kikuchi is so under sized in this match he honestly makes the biggest impression. They way he puts his whole body into every movement makes him so easy to cheer for. Kobashi is the greatest of all time. Takayama is the standard for Japanese hoss wrestlers. And Akiyama. I don't know if he will ever be truly appreciated considering the shadows he had to come out from under. This match was wonderful.

Is The Great Zebra White With Black Stripes Or Is It Black With White?

Kenta Kobashi/Kentaro Shiga VS Jun Akiyama/Maunakea Mossman - AJPW 6/9/2000

CJD: We've been talking music while reviewing our matches lately. First albums, demos, quoting lyrics. Well I'm going to roll with it. Your previous Shiga match was like an EP that introduces an exciting new sound for the band. This Shiga match is like the album that follows up that EP and delivers on all that promise and then some. You talked a lot in your review of your match about how things felt fresh. I agree completely and 1999/2000 AJPW desperately needed that fresh coat of paint. And even though everyone here was still in the Burning stable and these teams were just having a little competitive rivalry, you could feel that there was much, much more on the line. I've always had a soft spot for Shiga and Mossman (the future Taiyo Kea), and it's because sometimes you'll stumble onto awesome matches like this from both. This match is made by the hierarchy that Kobashi and Akiyama bring, and their performances are phenomenal. But dare I say our MDTSOCWWKD Champion of the week, Kentaro MFing Shiga, is the star of this show!

JJZ: Wow. This match. I can't believe we are stilling finding these wonderful gems 24 years after the fact. The energy between Akiyama and Kobashi was vibrating off the screen. But the shing star of this match was SHI fucking GA. The way he was demanding to start. And then when Jun wouldn't start the match with him, he just picked his spot and took him out. Well Godamn son, go and take it then. This is why I will always say this is the greatest wrestling ever. And this is what Japan nowadays is missing. At the end of the day this is two vets, a green horn and a guy would I'm not sure his level of Pro but I'd guess it about fourth or fifth year, just putting in work. If the same top guys worked a tag with a mix of experience like this today in NJPW, they'd definitely treat it as a rest match. I hope all that made sense. Also all four guys told a complete story that anyone could understand in any language. Also, that finish was sick!

No Excuses, No Fear

Kenta Kobashi/Kentaro Shiga VS Yoshihiro Takayama/Takao Omori - AJPW 7/4/1999

JJZ: So I picked this match because of a bunch of things I believe are new to me. I don't remember Kobashi ever wearing that face gear before. I can't recall ever watching Shiga before. (I'm totally anticipating you telling me that I have) The length of the was shocking to me since it was a 90s AJPW match. I have seen Omori and Takayama team a few times though. I really found this match unique to the AJPW that I have become accustomed to. The dog on a bone mentality that Omori and Takayama had on Kobashi's nose was awesome. Usually they work that stuff but they were treating it like a real fight and going for Kenta's injury right away. Shiga added a lot of fun to the match with his hot tag. Swig of green tea for those slaps. Dude wasn't pulling shit. I think I made the right call here homie. Enjoy.

CJD: You HAVE watched a Shiga match or two before, but with a career that had a few stall outs, that was cut short by injury, I can totally understand forgetting about him. To quote one of my favorite Mountain Goats songs, "sometimes you get some heat, sometimes it follows you around." The heat was following Team No Fear into and out of the building in this one! I loved the dynamic going after Kobashi's nose brought. And Shiga as the outclassed sidekick, doing anything and everything to help his mentor, was note perfect. He really had me believing on his big comeback there. This was about everything I want in 10 minutes of pro wrestling, right up to and including the finish. You made the right call indeed my friend.