10 Most Painful-Looking Wrestling Matches Ever

6. Mitsuharu Misawa Vs. Kenta Kobashi - Pro Wrestling NOAH Navigate For Evolution 2003

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The series between Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi is more famous for its genius than its stiffness, and is naturally overlooked in that specific regard. This climactic encounter in particular is best remembered for its incredible, passing-of-the-torch finale years in the making, built towards superbly with a battling, career-best babyface performance from the greatest in-ring babyface of all time.

It also looked like it really, really hurt. Likely because it did really, really hurt; Kobashi and Misawa, to their physical and mortal costs, left everything in the ring.

Misawa crotched himself throat-first on the guardrail attempting his elbow suicida in the sort of bump of you yourself can just feel; Kobashi took advantage with a crunching half-nelson suplex to the floor. In a crucial moment reinforcing their grand history, Misawa, as he always did - he was the Ace, Kobashi the perennial underdog - went one better by hurling Kobashi neck-first from ramp to ringside matting with a disgusting tiger suplex. In great camerawork, the director panned to a shocked, standing spectator, unable to register what he had just witnessed.

Mirroring everybody, he could not process the death-defying extent to which these two legends went in the name of the GHC Heavyweight Championship.

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!