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

In this day and age, one must have appeal in more than just their home country to be considered a big star. Despite spending 99% of his career wrestling in his native Japan, Kenta Kobashi has earned considerable respect and admiration from fans all around the world.

From the early days of the tape traders, when his matches were distributed illegally around the United States, to the era of YouTube, Kenta Kobashi has been one of the most popular non-American stars among wrestling fans. Like their Japanese counterparts, English-speaking wrestling fans love watching his legendary brutality and craftsmanship in the ring unfold.

However, Kobashi himself was convinced that no one knew who he was. This theory was put to the test during one of his greatest matches, when he came to the United States to face Samoa Joe at a Ring of Honor event in 2005. Kobashi thought that, because he was an unknown to the Americans, he’d have to play up the whole ‘evil Japanese’ character to incite a negative reaction from the fans.

Boy was he ever wrong.

Just listen to that crowd reaction. They clearly love the guy, cheering him loudly throughout the match. Mind you, Samoa Joe has always been an incredibly popular wrestler in North America, but even with home field advantage, Kobashi was getting the louder reaction.

Once again, Kobashi proved how easily he can work a crowd, hitting Joe with multiple chops, each one getting its own loud reaction from the crowd. This match between Kobashi and Joe was so good and the crowd so heavily-invested in both performers that it was voted 2005’s Match of the Year, and was given 5 stars.

Also, in case you were wondering, yes, Kobashi did, in fact, do that much damage to Joe’s collar and chest using nothing but chops.