Kenta Kobashi

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Kenta Kobashi
Fukuchiyama, Kyoto
, Japan
Spouse(s)
Mizuki Mai
(m. 2010)
Children1
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Kenta Kobashi
Blaze[1]
Billed height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Billed weight115 kg (254 lb)[2]
Billed fromKyoto, Japan
Trained byDory Funk Jr.
Giant Baba
Kazuharu Sonoda
Masanobu Fuchi
DebutFebruary 26, 1988
RetiredMay 11, 2013

Kenta Kobashi (小橋 健太, Kobashi Kenta, ring name: 小橋 建太) (born, March 27, 1967) is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1988, where he became one of the promotion's top stars, holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship three times, and winning the Champion Carnival in 2000. Kobashi left All Japan in June 2000, taking part in a mass exodus led by Mitsuharu Misawa, which led to the formation of Pro Wrestling Noah.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time,[3][4] Kobashi worked for Noah for thirteen years, and had the longest singular GHC Heavyweight Championship reign of all time, holding the championship for 735 days between 2003 and 2005. Overall, Kobashi was a four-time world champion and an eight-time tag team champion.

Kobashi spent many of the later years of his career sidelined due to various injuries. He underwent numerous surgeries on his arms and legs in the early-mid 2000s before retiring from in-ring action in May 2013. Kobashi continues to make sporadic appearances in both Noah and All Japan, while also promoting his own shows under the Fortune Dream banner.

Professional wrestling career

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1988–2000, 2009)

Kobashi practiced judo and

The Road Warriors were in AJPW, they taught Kobashi the "Road Warrior Workout". He first gained some prominence as member of Mitsuharu Misawa's faction during Misawa's feud with Jumbo Tsuruta
.

Kobashi during this period played dual roles according to who his partners and opponents were. When teamed with the higher ranking Misawa or

Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas took place before a rabid crowd in Kikuchi's hometown of Sendai on May 25, 1992; the match quickly gained legendary status among tape-traders, and was voted 1992's Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
. In 1993, he became Misawa's main tag partner in the middle of the year when Kawada became Misawa's main rival. He gained his first singles victory over a former
Maunakea Mossman
.

Kobashi defeated Akira Taue on July 24, 1996, to capture his first Triple Crown. He lost the championship to Misawa on January 20, 1997, in a very highly regarded match. In March 1997 in the Champion Carnival he gained his first pinfall victory over Misawa. At the end of the Carnival, Kobashi qualified for the finals for the first time. However, instead of the traditional one on one contest to settle the carnival, a one night 3 way round robin was held due to Kobashi, Kawada, and Misawa all having finished the Carnival round robin with the same score. In the first match Kobashi went to a 30-minute draw with Misawa. However, this match left both men greatly weakened and Kawada was able to quickly gain his first singles pin over Misawa in the next match that gave Kobashi little time to rest. In the final match Kawada defeated Kobashi to gain his second Carnival title. In October 1997 Kobashi won his first World Tag title without Misawa when he and Johnny Ace defeated Gary Albright and Steve Williams. In the same month he challenged Misawa for the Triple Crown in another memorable match, but again Misawa defeated him. While Kawada would finally end his quest to defeat Misawa for the Triple Crown at AJPW's May Tokyo Dome show called AJPW 25th Anniversary, in 1998, Kobashi would replace Kawada as Misawa's top rival. On June 12, 1998, Kobashi defeated Kawada to begin his second Triple Crown reign. Shortly before his victory he again suffered a major knee injury which he would not give time to heal, which nearly ended his career, and during that time, Johnny Ace turned heel on Kobashi to form his own stable called "The Movement". He lost the championship again to Misawa on October 31.

The year of 1998 would end with Kobashi gaining another career milestone as he with Akiyama, teaming as "Burning", captured his first World's Strongest Tag Determination League championship. As January began Kobashi was kicking off a new rivalry against Vader. He won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League again with Akiyama in December 1999. In February 2000 he defeated Vader to earn his third Triple Crown reign. Then in April 2000 he won his first Champion Carnival while in the course of the tournament gaining his first televised singles victory over Misawa. In mid-2000 Misawa left the company to form Pro Wrestling Noah; Kobashi, along with all but three All Japan native workers, followed Misawa. He was the reigning Triple Crown champion at the time, and the championship was thus vacated.

On August 30, 2009, Kobashi returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling for one night only, competing in his first match for the company in nine years. Kobashi teamed with Akihiko Ito and fellow AJPW alumnus Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in a losing effort to Satoshi Kojima, KAI and Hiroshi Yamato at Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku, Volume 8.

Pro Wrestling Noah (2000–2013)

During this period, Kobashi's knee injuries were beginning to worsen to the point that he desperately needed time off to heal. However, he was needed to establish Noah as a viable promotion, and was given a marquee position on the first two shows. On August 5, 2000, he teamed with Akiyama to defeat Misawa and Taue in a

main event of the promotion's first show, and then lost to Akiyama on the second show the next day (Kobashi legitimately passed out while being captured in Akiyama's "King Crab Lock" submission and was unable to finish the match). Noah struggled to organize itself without any titles during this period. At the biggest Noah show of the year on December 23, 2000, Kobashi defeated Akiyama, avenging his loss earlier that year. Unfortunately for Kobashi the next month his knees finally deteriorated to the point he could no longer work through the pain and he was forced to take 13 months off for healing. He went through multiple knee surgeries during this time.[2]

His return match was on February 24, 2002, and featured Kobashi reforming his pairing with Misawa to face Akiyama and New Japan Pro-Wrestling's (NJPW) Yuji Nagata. His knees again gave out on him during the match. After taking another five months to recuperate he returned and Noah began to slowly build towards him winning their top prize, the GHC Heavyweight Championship.

On March 1, 2003, Kobashi defeated his rival Mitsuharu Misawa in a match for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Kobashi's reign spanned for over two years and included 13 successful defenses. Notable defences included: against

5-Star Matches as rated by Dave Meltzer
of the Wrestling Observer, second only to his long-time rival, Misawa. In late 2005, Kobashi made his first appearance in North America with
Samoa Joe in a memorable singles match (given a full 5-stars by the Wrestling Observer as well as their Match of the Year award for 2005), and teamed with Homicide to defeat the tag team of Low Ki and Samoa Joe. Kobashi also traveled to Europe, where he had matches in Germany, and at Universal Uproar in England, in November 2005. After winning the GHC Tag Team Championship on June 4, 2006, Kobashi became inactive in the sport due to cancer, resulting in his partner Tamon Honda
returning the belts on September 26, 2006. On December 10, at the Nippon Budokan, Kobashi appeared before the fans and announced that he would return "without fail".

On September 8, 2007, news broke that Kobashi would make his return on the December 2, 2007, Budokan Hall event where he would team up with Takayama to face Akiyama and Misawa. On the card, Misawa would pin Kobashi with an avalanche Emerald Flowsion, but the fans still gave Kobashi a rousing ovation.

In September 2008, Kobashi underwent emergency surgery on both of his arms. The surgery was successful, and Kobashi was expected to make a full recovery. Kobashi was expected to be out of action for up to a year, but he would return to the ring less than six months later. Prior to returning to the ring, Kobashi stated that he wanted to start in opening matches, and rebuild himself to a main event player.

Kenta Kobashi made his return to wrestling on March 1, 2009, at Nippon Budokan with Pro Wrestling Noah, defeated Masao Inoue in the opening match of the card with his signature lariat. Kobashi won the

Hachiōji
, Japan during Noah's Southern Navigation tour.

On December 23, 2009, Kobashi was seriously injured in a three-way match against Honda and Kikuchi. He was sidelined for 19 months with nerve damage in his right arm. Kobashi made his return on July 23, 2011, teaming with

Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano. On October 6, it was announced by Noah that Kobashi had stepped down from his position as an Executive Vice President of the promotion.[5] On December 3, 2012, Noah released Kobashi from his contract.[6] The news sparked shockwaves, as Atsushi Aoki, Go Shiozaki, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru spoke out, declaring their intent of not signing with Noah after their contracts expire in January, out of loyalty to Kobashi.[7][8]
On December 9, 2012, Kobashi attended Noah's Ryōgoku Kokugikan event and during an in-ring interview, revealed he planned to retire in a Noah ring in 2013.[9] Noah and Kobashi seemingly came to an agreement to let him retire as opposed to forcing him to leave the promotion. Despite this change in plans, Noah confirmed on December 19 that Akiyama, Shiozaki, Suzuki, Kanemaru and Aoki all would be leaving the promotion after December 24.[10] On January 23, 2013, Kobashi announced that his retirement match would take place on at Nippon Budokan.[11] Kobashi's retirement event, Final Burning in Budokan took place on May 11. His retirement ceremony was held after the second match on the show and was attended by former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, legendary NTV announcers Akira Fukuzawa and Kazuo Tokumitsu, former colleagues Akira Taue, Hiroshi Hase, Masahiro Chono, Mitsuo Momota, Toshiaki Kawada, and Stan Hansen via video message, along with many others. In the main event, Kobashi teamed with Jun Akiyama, Keiji Mutoh, and Kensuke Sasaki in an eight-man tag team match, where they defeated his protégés Go Shiozaki, Kenta, Maybach Taniguchi, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, with Kobashi pinning Kanemaru with a moonsault for the final win of his career. The event at Nippon Budokan was attended by 17,000 fans and aired live across Japan on the television network BS Sky! and in movie theaters.[12][13][14]

Post-retirement (2013–present)

On March 17, 2013, Kobashi made an appearance for All Japan Pro Wrestling to promote his retirement match. Before the main event,

inaugural event.[16] On October 27, it was confirmed that Kobashi would not be joining All Japan after all, when Dory Funk Jr. was announced as the new PWF chairman.[17]

On February 14, 2014, Kobashi announced that starting June 8, he would begin producing his own independent events under the brand "Fortune Dream".

On May 10, 2015, Kobashi returned to Noah to serve as a "special witness" for a GHC Heavyweight Championship match between champion Minoru Suzuki and challenger Naomichi Marufuji. Kobashi's role included making sure that the Suzuki-gun stable did not interfere in the match.[20]

In September 2023, he made an appearance for

knife-edged chop) on Suzuki, who also won the match later on. He assumed the role of a ticket checker on the Shinkansen train.[21] Other wrestlers who appeared in the match included the now-DDT signed Jun Akiyama, Kazunari Murakami and Hikaru Sato
.

Personal life

Kobashi married his girlfriend of 14 years, singer Mizuki Mai, on October 2, 2010.[22][23] In August 2015, Mai gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter.[24]

Legacy

Kobashi has the fifth-most 5-star matches (as rated by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter) with 23, behind Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega (24), Mitsuharu Misawa (25) and Will Ospreay (26). In 2002, he was inducted by Dave Meltzer into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame as the third inductee of the 2002 and the 148th inductee for his accomplishments in All Japan Pro Wrestling. For his last match on May 11, 2013, he was presented a replica of the GHC Heavyweight Championship belt as a farewell gift after his retirement match at Final Burning. He held the GHC Heavyweight Championship for a total of 735 days (the longest time held by any one competitor) with the second most successful defenses with 13. Del Wilkes considered him as the greatest wrestler of all time, and Eddie Kingston labeled him a "perfect wrestler".[25]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ "NOAH Halloween with NOAH « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - the Internet Wrestling Database".
  2. ^ a b c d e "Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 - 2004 : 4 Kenta Kobashi". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Sports and Entertainment publications LLC. October 2004. p. 22. December 2004.
  3. ^ Podgorski, Alexander (May 16, 2015). "10 Reasons Kenta Kobashi Is The Greatest Wrestler Of The Modern Era". WhatCulture.com. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  4. ^ Djeljosevic, Danny (April 28, 2022). "10 Things You Should Know About Japanese Wrestling Legend Kenta Kobashi". TheSportster. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  5. ^ "新役員人事について (Appointment of New Directors)". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). October 6, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  6. ^ ノア激震!小橋解雇、秋山ら退団. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). December 4, 2012. Archived from the original on December 10, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  7. ^ ノア激震!小橋解雇、秋山ら退団. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). December 4, 2012. Archived from the original on December 10, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  8. ^ "ノ小橋、9日両国大会でフリー宣言へ!秋山ら5選手もノア退団申し入れ". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. December 5, 2012. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  9. ^ "「Great Voyage 2012 in Ryogoku vol.2」12月9日(日)両国国技館大会 小橋建太選手コメント". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). December 9, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  10. ^ 秋山らノア退団正式決定. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). December 19, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  11. ^ 小橋5・11「思い出多い」武道館引退試合. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  12. ^ 2013年5月11日(土). Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  13. ^ Meltzer, Dave (May 11, 2013). "Notes on Kenta Kobashi retirement match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  14. ^ やはり小橋は最後まで"鉄人"だった!まさかの月面水爆で引退試合を締めくくった小橋「プロレスは自分の青春でした」. Battle News (in Japanese). May 12, 2013. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  15. ^ "小橋が古巣・全日本に登場 馳がPWF新会長に任命". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. March 18, 2013. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  16. ^ "武藤新団体「Wrestle-1」旗揚げ戦". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. September 8, 2013. Archived from the original on September 11, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  17. ^ 曙が諏訪魔を下し、新ベルトとなった三冠王座を奪取!健在だったファンクスにファン歓喜!ドリフは惜しくもアジアタッグに届かず!. Battle News (in Japanese). October 28, 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  18. ^ 小橋建太プロデュース興行「Fortune Dream」が6月8日に始動. Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. February 14, 2014. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  19. ^ "【FortuneDream】小橋建太プロデュース興行始動、耕平&火野vs宮原&関本". Battle News (in Japanese). June 8, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  20. ^ "鈴木軍がGHC王座戦で4連勝! 永田裕志が"マイバッハ・ブルージャスティス"として登場!【5月10日(日)ノア横浜大会・試合結果】". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  21. ^ Thompson, Andrew (September 18, 2023). "DDT presents bullet train match, Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama appear". POST Wrestling | WWE AEW NXT NJPW Podcasts, News, Reviews. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  22. ^ "411MANIA - Various News: Jim Ross Health Update, Kobashi Gets Married, NXT Preview, More". Various News: Jim Ross Health Update, Kobashi Gets Married, NXT Preview, More.
  23. ^ "Kobashi Kenta Ko'd by Killer Kiss". japan-zone.com. October 4, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
  24. ^ "小橋建太に第1子女児誕生 娘の「握りこぶし」に笑顔". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). August 17, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  25. ^ Dakota Cohen (June 22, 2022). "Eddie Kingston Labels Two Legends 'Perfect Wrestlers'". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  26. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. ^ a b "Name: Kenta Kobashi". Purolove.Com. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  28. ^ "Real World Tag League 1991 « Tournaments Database « CAGEMATCH - the Internet Wrestling Database".
  29. ^ Oliver, Greg (March 16, 2023). "IPWHF Class of 2023 both 'Great' and 'Gorgeous'". Slam Wrestling. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  30. ^ a b "Nikkan Sports Awards - 1997". wrestlingscout. February 10, 2016.
  31. ^ a b "Nikkan Sports Awards - 1998". wrestlingscout. February 11, 2016.
  32. ^ "Nikkan Sports Awards - 2003". wrestlingscout. February 19, 2016. Archived from the original on January 5, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  33. ^ a b "Nikkan Sports Awards - 2004". wrestlingscout. February 21, 2016.
  34. ^ a b "Nikkan Sports Awards - 2005". wrestlingscout. February 22, 2016.
  35. ^ a b "Nikkan Sports Awards - 2007". wrestlingscout. February 26, 2016.
  36. ^ a b "Nikkan Sports Awards - 1996". wrestlingscout. February 9, 2016.
  37. ^ "Nikkan Sports Awards - 2008". wrestlingscout. February 27, 2016. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  38. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  39. ^ a b c d e "The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo : Puroresu Awards: 2000s". Puroresu Dojo.
  40. ^ "オカダが2年連続でプロレス大賞MVPを受賞!史上4人目の快挙だが、本人は「当たり前の結果」". Battle News (in Japanese). December 10, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  41. ^ a b c d e f "The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo: Puroresu Awards: 1990s". Puroresu Dojo.
  42. ^ "(Results) New Japan, 12/14/11". Strong Style Spirit. December 14, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  43. ^ "The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo: Puroresu Awards: 1980s". Puroresu Dojo.

External links