Welcome to your main event of the evening. Tonight, we have on tap the legendary final showdown between two of the greatest to ever grace the squared circle, the innovative and destructive Kenta Kobashi, and the spiritually transcendent Mitsuharu Misawa. Throughout the 1990's, the two have blazed a trail built on a mutual thirst for violence, stealing the show night after night in All Japan Pro Wrestling, exiting the decade as two of the biggest stars in The Land of the Rising Sun. After Misawa led the controversial exodus that stripped All Japan's roster down to bare bones, he utilized the talent he brought with him to found Pro Wrestling NOAH, the puroresu powerhouse of a new millennium. Kobashi was one of many to jump ship, joining his old rival and tag partner in this ambitious venture, though the creator of the Burning Hammer was running on spare parts. Kobashi's bum knees forced him out of action after playing his part to establish the new brand, and in the interim, Misawa cemented the legacy of the newly created GHC Heavyweight Championship, embracing his inner wrestling carny by booking himself to claim the top prize, twice. The second of these victories came at NOAH's Great Voyage in September of 2002, and with Kobashi finally healed up, it was time to re-ignite the dormant fires buried in the souls of these two warriors. On Day 9 of the Navigate For Evolution tour, on March 1st, 2003, Kobashi and Misawa blessed the wrestling public with a beautiful battle that would be the final chapter in the war that had defined both men's careers for the past decade. It's Main Event Time.
Photo Credit to: Pro Wrestling NOAH. No copyright infringement intended.
- Nippon Budokan is red hot for this one, with immediate chants for both men after they make their entrances, and they never let up, it's a wall of noise throughout. Kobashi is the early aggressor, and I felt he carried most of the first 10-15 minutes, taking the aging Misawa apart in sadistic fashion. It's a great choice, as Misawa needs to save the gas he's got left for the bigger moments, while Kobashi builds heat, tossing Misawa on his neck and cruelly digging into Misawa's face while working a resthold, maintaining interest in the bout before Misawa's comeback, which is awesome. That moment where Misawa stares down Kobashi after suplexing his counterpart on the ramp, then diving through the ropes at Kobashi felt truly special, the fight was now on and Misawa was going to do everything to emerge victorious, just like he had so many times in the past against Kobashi. Misawa's Dragon suplex off that ramp and onto the floor was bonkers, a massive escalation of the stakes as Misawa again proves that contesting him is a recipe for disaster. But this was to be Kobashi's night, as demonstrated by his kickout of the Emerald Flowsion that followed, and it felt like destiny. Misawa fights tooth and nail to avoid the inevitable, but Kobashi closes it out. Kobashi gets a near fall after landing a thunderous lariat, and another after spiking Misawa with a Brainbuster, before the curtain falls on this historic struggle courtesy of the Burning Hammer. Even as a newbie to these two and their magnificent legacies, this still drew genuine emotion out of me, as the booking helpfully guided me through each dramatic false finish and imprinted its message on my soul. I'm well aware of the fact that this isn't exactly the connoisseur's choice of a Misawa-Kobashi match, as both were well removed from their respective primes and were beginning the downturns of their careers, but it's the history that resonates throughout every blow that drew me to this one in particular. For one last time (ignoring that random 10 minute draw they had a year later), two of the greatest gunslingers the wrestling business has ever known drew down, and the result is a battle that will stand the test of time.
10/10
This was the debut of a new series I'm hoping to make a permanent fixture. Reviewing full events has begun to grow weary for me after a couple years straight of that being my main source of content, and I'm hoping that a tighter focus on individual matches will revitalize for consuming wrestling. I likely will still watch complete shows in the future, but only for the purpose of reviewing the final match, which I feel is a unique concept that fits my brand to perfection.
- Henry
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