10 Iconic Wrestling Storylines Summed Up In A Single Frame

3. Kenta Kobashi Ascends

Bret Owen
Pro Wrestling NOAH

There's selling, and there's Kenta Kobashi selling.

This was a moment so earned, and fought for with such fire and struggle, that it encompassed two wrestling companies: All Japan Pro Wrestling, and the Pro Wrestling NOAH league that broke away from it amid shockingly tumultuous circumstances. Kobashi's fire and his popularity was so inexorable that it carried him through several years to reach its pinnacle.

The singularly genius Mitsuharu Misawa had to be overcome for sentimental favourite Kenta Kobashi to ascend to Ace status. There was perhaps no wrestler ever, beyond Kazuchika Okada, at being the best wrestler ever.

Misawa was a fiendishly difficult puzzle box - the ultimate chess player - with an in-ring arsenal deep in its strategic minutiae. Kobashi was relentless in the spirit that has for decades enchanted the Japanese wrestling public. Their AJPW Triple Crown Title matches, all of which Misawa won, were the greatest of the 20th century. Brutal and awesome, performed with a sense of unrivalled depth and immersion, this epic war of intelligence versus instinct came to a dramatic, euphoric end on March 1, 2003.

Kobashi had spent so long with fire in his eyes, unleashing so many chop barrages, that when it finally happened, he could only collapse in an exhausted crumple, those eyes now shut in agonised triumph.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!