10 Reasons Kenta Kobashi Is The Greatest Wrestler Of The Modern Era

As one of the aptly named ‘Four Corners/Pillars of Heaven’, Kobashi took part in some of the most amazing wrestling matches in history. In fact, Kenta Kobashi has had more 5-Star matches than any wrestler alive, including Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho, etc.

The only person who outranked him was Mitsuharu Misawa, who tragically passed away in 2009. Kobashi has taken part in 23 of these matches, and many of them were with Misawa, as well. These include singles matches, tag team matches, and 6-man tag matches.

When was the last time a 6 (or more) – man tag team match in one of the major North American promotions received such a rating? It’s very rare for such a thing to happen in the US, which speaks volumes about the skill of the All Japan wrestlers, including Kobashi himself.

Kenta Kobashi has also been in the Observer’s Match of the Year an astonishing six times, including three times in a row between 2003 and 2005. He took part in what many call the greatest tag team match ever (6-9-95, mentioned earlier), as well as his match against Misawa on March 1st, 2003, which is considered the single greatest match in NOAH history, and in the eyes of many, the best singles wrestling match of all time.

This, more than anything else, is Kobashi’s legacy: being an outstanding and incredibly decorated wrestler who stood head and shoulders above the rest in terms of quality performances throughout his career, which included both the highly-competitive 1990s decade and early 2000s periods that many people consider the best era ever for pro wrestling.

This is why Kenta Kobashi is the greatest wrestler of the modern era.