10 Best Wrestling Matches That Ever Happened In New York City
3. Samoa Joe Vs. Kenta Kobashi - ROH Joe Vs. Kobashi (1 October 2005)
When it comes to pure in-ring greatness, there's no era for any promotion that was as consistently great as the 1990s in All Japan Pro Wrestling. The "Four Corners of Heaven" - Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Toshiaki Kawada, and Akira Taue - constantly delivered classics against one another, with men like Jumbo Tsuruta, Steve Williams, and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi also part of the bargain.
In the year 2000, Misawa, Kobashi, and Taue jumped to Pro Wrestling NOAH. They continued to have classic matches, but as the years wore on, the now middle-aged men began to slow down. Only Kobashi, who was younger than the others and managed to change his offensive output to a more aggressive brawling style, was still considered an A+ level talent.
That's why it was such huge news in 2005 when Ring of Honor announced that Kobashi was coming to compete in the United States - against top star Samoa Joe. The match was signed for the Manhattan Center, where hundreds of rabid fans of great wrestling could enjoy it.
People had high expectations leading into the match, and nobody was let down. Despite Kobashi's physical limitations, he worked as hard as he could, blistering Joe with chops and fighting all around the ringside area. Joe fought back with chops and slaps of his own, as well as hard kicks. The crowd was rabid throughout, and the contest ended up more like a fight than a wrestling match.
Eventually the strikes gave way to hard-hitting moves, with Joe hitting a powerbomb and Kobashi getting a pair of half nelson suplexes. Finally, the Japanese legend hit three spinning back chops and a lariat to put Joe down for three, ending one of the wildest matches of the 21st century.