10 Introductory Matches To The Unrivalled Art Of Japanese Wrestling
8. Mitsuharu Misawa Vs. Kenta Kobashi - Pro Wrestling NOAH Navigate For Evolution 01/03/03
The pairing of these two men had amassed a record number of ***** ratings before this encounter, the expectations for which were tempered by the unprecedentedly high standards they set previously, and the incredible wear and tear they had endured during their famous wars.
The match was structured to resemble on a micro-level Kobashi's career-long struggle to usurp Misawa as the Ace of AJPW. Before Misawa bested him throughout the recurring, legendary feud, he was booked to narrowly lose his first several All Japan singles matches as part of a ploy to present him as a sentimental underdog. Though he'd eventually capture the company's top prize, the Triple Crown, he was perennially cast as a supporting player to the master.
In this match, which he'd win decisively in order to drive his epic two-year reign as NOAH's undisputed Ace, he suffered an uncomfortable amount of punishment - the launchpad for his heroic comeback sees him get tiger suplexed from the ramp to the concrete three feet below - before drilling Misawa with the devastating, match-winning Burning Hammer.
Accordingly, the match was laid out to flatter Kobashi.
He was shown to have learned the minutiae of and logic behind Misawa's shifting repertoire, but the "Standard-Bearer of Future Generations" kept his opponent and his fans guessing with his preternatural ability to hark back to and modify his moveset - a narrative device Hiroshi Tanahashi would later master to similarly scintillating effect.