Talk about it here.

Incredibly stiff match. Kawada's kicks on Kobashi's legs and to his face are crazy. Kobashi goes after him aggressively from the opening bell, knowing he's the underdog and wanting to pull off the win. I don't think this is their best match together, but I do think it's another very good match in their series. They spend a lot of time sitting in holds after a hot opening, and in some ways, they squander what was a super hot crowd. In time, they rope them back in. So yeah. It doesn't compare favorably to some of their later matches, but it does look good next to almost anything heavyweights were doing anywhere in the world in 1992.

This was a super hot start. They took the crowd down when they started working holds. Worked to the finish and got the crowd going again. Overall, a really good match.

Definitely weird to see someone submit. Awesome heat in this match, especially towards the end. And yeah, Kobashi took some hellacious kicks to the face in this one - like when he ran into the gamengiri.

When I watch wrestling, I sometimes see spots that make me think "If I were a wrestler, I'd probably use that." Kawada pulling out of a headlock and swinging a kick at Kobashi's leg is one of those spots.

Been enjoying these AJPW singles matches on set. This probably falls in the middle of the pack. It does slow down a bit more in the middle than I would have liked but they got me and the crowd completely back in at the end. Great back and forth at the to the finish. Kobashi had some good kick outs but I was surprised to see him then submit.

A solid 'B' match. They didn't go all the way through the gears. There were some nice strikes and the finish was quite good. At this time they hadn't established a rivalry.

I know it killed the crowd, but I actually found Kobashi's headlock work to be quite engrossing. When Kawada is in control, he's in total control, almost treating Kobashi like a rookie, and laying the groundwork for the following year when they'd be on opposite sides. Kobashi takes the beating and dishes it out pretty good himself, and it's Kawada so you can only imagine how well he puts it over, but Kobashi was a few years away from being a genuine threat to him.

It doesn't compare favorably to some of their later matches, but it does look good next to almost anything heavyweights were doing anywhere in the world in 1992.

That's for sure. This is probably the best heavyweight singles match so far this year, and without looking at my overall rankings, I can't imagine its all that far from the top.

 

They start off ridiculously hot, with Kobashi hitting a DDT off the apron and flying shoulderblock to the floor. Then comes the prolonged headlock, which with Kawada transitioning from it with his left knee work I did not mind one bit. I can see how that may look like a worthless rest spot to someone that isn't at all familiar with these guys. Kobashi's selling of Kawada's stiff elbows and kicks takes things up a notch as well. Then comes the stretch run with them building to Kawada's power bomb & Kobashi's moonsault. Great near fall after Kawada hits the power bomb on his third try before Kobashi taps to the stretch plum. The intensity here had me completely forgetting they were still teammates at this time, but they shake afterwards. This was great.

 

****1/4

The mat work was a little long, but it was well done and befitting of a match between two guys who are still allies at this point. This gets hot towards the end with Kenta getting a huge kickout by escaping the power bomb, only to tap a few minutes later to the Stretch Plum. I'm going to miss these submission finishes when they're gone from AJPW, and I think the style was a little worse off without them.

No matter how often I see it, I'm still amazed at Kobashi's moonsault. He pulled one off in one of the first puro matches I ever saw and that's the moment I knew I was watching something completely different.

 

This was a good match, Kobashi does a lot of little things with the headlock to keep it interesting. A lot of the AJPW matches this year so far seem to be table setting for the future.

This was something different, all right. A teammate usually doesn't begin a singles bout against someone on his own side with a DDT off the apron. Kenta was actually quite good at controlling Kawada in the early part of this match with the work on his head and neck, which was so important because it kept Kawada from attacking Kenta's knee. Like Mike, I actually found the headlock sequences interesting because Kenta was always working the hold, not just sitting in it until it was time to do something else.

 

Eventually, Kawada's brutal kicks and knees put that strategy to rot, and we get a great finishing sequence where each man escapes almost-certain defeat several times before an exhausted Kenta submits to the stretch plum. I can tell that they think a ton of Kenta; getting out of the stretch plum, even if it's only through a rope break, is a tremendous feat. There was no way he was doing it twice, though.

 

All-Japan's the promotion of the first few months of '92, as their run of excellent heavyweight matches, both single and tags, is unlike anything I've seen yet. Even WCW, as good as they've been so far this year, has a lot of catching up to do,

I for one enjoyed the matwork a lot, mostly due to how it was always work and not sitting in a hold for either.  Kobashi's tactical error of giving up the controlling holds (he is well under Kawada at this point) and starting to try and beat him into submission is a key story point, so it's necessary to lay that groundwork first.  Kawada on top and selling is great.  The stretch run is tremendous and works up to the moonsault and powerbomb really well.  So well that, having not seen this match in forever, I bit on the powerbomb nearfall.  I did spot some awkward moments in the stretch run, but not near enough to bring it down very far.  I would agree it's the best standalone singles match from 1992 so far even if it's not their absolute best.  It doesn't hurt that 1992-1993 AJPW is my favorite era because the matwork still meant something.