P-Boi Wrestling Mix Tape - Week 6

[B]

[Jim]

My sister is getting me the DVD for Christmas, but I couldn't resist seeing this match. I downloaded it last week, and immediately shit my pants. It's without a doubt one of the best matches I've ever seen. Joe v. Low Ki from Glory By Honor was an eye opener for me. This match opened my eyes, and then chopped me in them 70 times. Every time I watch it, I feel like a kid again. You guys and the rest of the crowd were spot on. This is awesome.
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[B]

I can't believe I'd never scanned it before.


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[dlomyhero]

Favorite spots:
-chop that sent Joe from sitting in a chair to over the barrier and into the crowd.
-chop-fest at 17:00
-powerbomb into the corner.
-STF, into a crossface, into the rings of saturn
-chop-fest II at 25:30
-the 2nd half-nelson suplex, where samoa joe rolled through afterward perfectly

Christ the crowd made this rock even more, and I'm not saying that because friends happened to be in the audience. Matches on TV rely heavily on the announce team, and to watch a match like this with no commentary is great. I bet any commentary would have taken the quality down a notch actually. Last I saw ROH on TV, it was years ago, and I'm pretty certain there were announcers, but I don't remember them well.

I wish our local station still showed indy wrestling at midnight every night. Sure, one night was CZW and another was WXW, but one of the nights was ROH. They changed the station to a church channel though.
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Asked yesterday whether it would eventually release a revised edition of "Opal Mehta," a little brown spokesman declined to comment.

[Jim]

I love all the spots you mentioned, but I think my favorite spot might be early in the match when Joe backs Kobashi into the ropes, breaks clean, and slaps him. All I could think was "holy fuck, it's on now."
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[SundownMotel]

Such an amazing, unparalleled match. B, prepare yourself for what may be the greatest compliment you have ever received:

Finding P-Boi was my own personal Joe vs. Kobashi.
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And this is a promise, because this is true. This is real. This is Straight Edge.

[Lindy]

[pholby]

It's the slap. The slap is what makes this match. The slap is epic. The slap takes it from a great match to an incredible spectacle.

When Samoa Joe was ROH World Champion, almost everyone he fought was smaller than him. One of Joe's strengths as a wrestler is that while at times he seems dominating, he makes you believe his opponents can win. At Death Before Dishonor, Paul London gives everything he has to try to beat Joe, and you really believe he can do it. Christopher Daniels, Jay Briscoe, Homicide, Joe gave them all enough that you bought that he might lose. He has to do the opposite here. Everyone knew, from the it was announced that Kobashi was coming to ROH, that he was going to win. A main-eventer, a legend, does not travel halfway around the world, wrestle in front of 700 people, and lose. It was an inevitable fact: Joe was going down.

I watch it in a loop on my computer. They back into the ropes. Slap. OHHHHHHHHHH! Joe takes several steps back, and points two fingers at his own eyes. "Look at me," he says. This is Ring of Honor, and it is mine, all mine. I am Samoa Joe. I am pro wrestling. At that moment, I forget that Joe is going to lose. That one slap draws me so far into the match that I forget everything except that Joe just slapped him, and now Kobashi is going to murder him. If I remember correctly, I tried to warn Joe. "He's gonna fucking kill you," I think I shouted. "Oh god, why did you slap him?" He slapped him because he's Samoa Joe. That's what he does, he slaps people. He is a cocky son of a bitch, and I love him for it. He is not backing down, not to Kobashi, not to King Kong, not to anyone.

Kobashi doesn't get worked up. He's good for a fight. He didn't come here just to destroy some jobber and hit the showers. He did that earlier in the week against Wild Wade Chism. But he doesn't slap Joe back, slapping is Joe's game. Kobashi's is chops. I have heard loud chops. Chris Benoit throws a loud chop. Roderick Strong throws a loud chop. Low-Ki throws a loud chop. These chops are different. They are superhuman. They are a sonic boom dispensed at will from the end of an arm. Joe, proving he is human after all, cringes. But then he comes back for more. Everyone chants "This is awesome" because "This is the greatest thing I will ever see in my life, and I am overjoyed with what I am witnessing" isn't as catchy.

Kobashi rolls out, and Joe follows with the elbow smash. Later, he'll work in Misawa's chin lock, and later still the stretch plumb and the Kawada kicks. On the surface, it's a nod to puro fans watching, or Japanese fans who will watch it on Samurai tv. But if you want to look more into it, it's Joe taking a little bit there and a little bit here from men who have beaten Kobashi. He's going with what he knows can work. Back in the ring, Joe hits the greatest enziguri of his life. The sound on an enziguri is hit-or-miss. Sometimes it's fucking great, sometimes it's lousy. Sometimes it's great when the enziguri sucks, and the whole thing feels wrong. But that, that was perfect. The form, that's Joe's part. The sound, well, I attribute that to divine intervention. God wanted this match to be perfect. And Joe stares at the crowd and makes his hand signal. And the majority of the crowd chants "Joe" for the first time since Kobashi came through the curtain, because they know it. He is Samoa Joe. He is pro wrestling. And when he goes for the Kawada kicks, Kenta Kobashi will turn his chest into hamburger. And no one will "WOO" after the chops, because we are cringing and going "ooh!"

Then, we get the Ol? kick. Joe gets his Ol? kick in because if it's good enough for all his other opponents, it's good enough for Kobashi. If Samoa Joe is going to go toe-to-toe with Kobashi, the Ol? kick is coming with him. And Kobashi doesn't just take the Ole kick, he sells it more than most, falling out of his chair. Joe gets his one Ol? kick in, and Kobashi stops the next one with an elbow to the face. Ol? kick or not, toe-to-toe or not, one of these men is still Samoa Joe, and one of them is still Kenta Kobashi, and one Ol? kick is enough. And a chop from Kobashi sends Joe backwards over the guardrail. And Kobashi DDTs Joe on the floor, because if you want a fight, you're going to get one. Some more chops come, and they're just as awesome as before. Everything is just as awesome as before, so we chant to celebrate. They get into a chop fight, and Joe gets the most amazing look on his face. It's one of defiance and pain. "I am going to keep chopping as long as I can, but holy fuck that hurt." And Kobashi brings the chops to the neck, and though it didn't seem possible, the snap of flesh on flesh gets louder, and it is too much. Joe goes down.

Kobashi puts on the abdominal stretch, and Joe makes the ropes. If I didn't know better, I'd say a look of concern crosses Kobashi's face here. Like Joe is tougher than he thought. But no worries; just chop him some more. That takes care of everyone. He makes a cover, and Joe kicks out, and that look of concern is back again. He works the chinlock and chops Joe in the forehead. Joe is either seriously hurting now or playing possum, although it could be both. Kobashi brings more chops to the neck and Joe sneaks in an STO, then hits the only senton in the world better than Dick Togo's. I love that senton. Joe is definitely hurting, he moves slower, but he hits the chop/punch combo in the corner, and maintains his advantage. The powerbomb in the corner is next, and people are starting to notice how much offense Joe is getting. He's drawing them farther into the match, making them believe in his shot at victory. The bootscrapes come, and we're applauding him, and chanting.

He hits the musclebuster, which no one was expecting, and he makes the cover. Joe made a cover early in the match, and when referee Todd Sinclair hit 'two' and Kobashi kicked out, no one did anything. Of course Kobashi kicked out. But here Joe gets a "One, two, OHHHHHH", and he has earned it. He has been chopped and he has fired back and that "One, two, OHHHHHHH" is pure glory because it is his, all his. It's the same when he gets the STF, and the crowd is chanting "please don't tap", which is a lame chant, but they believe in Joe. Kobashi makes the ropes and we cheer because Joe made us. Joe charges in, Kobashi gets behind him, and just like that, his advantage, his glory, it's over.

Kobashi dumps Joe right on his head. There is no other way to land from a half-nelson suplex. The mechanics of it prohibit a safe landing. It is pure carnage. And there is chop after chop after chop after chop because that's what toe-to-toe with Kobashi means. More chops, and another half-nelson suplex because either you destroy him or he destroys you - that's the way it works. Joe grabs the ropes to break the pin, and when Kobashi brings him to his feet he is stretching his hand out, desperate for something, because he knows he is fighting a losing battle. But Joe is like the Death Star - before he goes, he will explode. And so he forearms Kobashi just as hard as he would have 20 minutes ago. A sleeper and a third half-nelson suplex, and it should be done. Kobashi makes the cover and Joe just spasms out. He doesn't kick out, he just spasms. He should be done, but he will not give up. That's why he throws his arms around on the ground, because he will not give up. He is Samoa Joe. He is pro wrestling. He struggles to his feet, and once there he brings the slaps like violence to let you know that he's Samoa FUCKING Joe, but inevitability is inevitability. Three chops, one Burning Lariat, and a three count.

I knew instantly it was the greatest match I would ever see. Nothing will top that. I wonder how Joe feels about the match, and if the match after it, or the match after that rings hollow. Hunter S. Thompson once wrote a fractured piece on Jean-Claude Killy, who won three gold medals at the 1968 winter Olympics.

" Jean-Claude had been there - to that rare place where snow leopards live; and now, 26-years-old with more dollars than he can use or count, there is nothing else to match the peaks he has already-beaten."

I wonder about Samoa Joe. He is not rich, but he has this match. I wonder about him, and how breakfast tastes when you've wrestled Kenta Kobashi.
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"You're a pussy, Strong!"

"Woah woah woah."

[Blake]

Holy God.

I cannot belive Joe slapped him.

Then Kobashi chopping him for day 27:00 was just insane... my arm actually hurt from watching him go for so long.

That last half nelson suplex was brutal.

Oh man.
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Hey guys, guess who just became lactose tolerant!

[SundownMotel]

Simply amazing write-up, Pholby. Soon every P-Boi staffer will have written about this match. Also, I'm glad someone else loves Dick Togo's senton as much as I do.
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And this is a promise, because this is true. This is real. This is Straight Edge.

[Rusty Cooledge]

Amazing fucking match. Thank you for sharing this, B.

I wish I wasn't such a cheap ass and I would order wrestling tapes online.
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[dlomyhero]

[Rogue]

Man, if I had known you were taking requests, I woulda requested the tag match from Unforgettable the night after JoeBashi. Mainly cuz I don't already own that one.

I finally got around to watching this match a few days ago, after getting back from Steel Cage Warfare and catching up on the other shows I had. I had never seen Kobashi before this; I had heard about him, and read all the pre-match and post-match hype, but had never seen him in action. Well, he made me a fan with this bout. Even though his offense in first part of the match was mainly chopping, they were fucking cannons, so it worked. When he chopped Joe in what appeared to be the groin and sent him tumbling into the crowd, I just said to myself, "He chopped him. In the GROIN...I like this guy."

I assume my reacton would've been stronger if I were there live, but alone in my living room, the impression was left in more subtle ways.

At SCW, one of the pre-show guys hit a half-nelson suplex, and somebody in the crowd gave him crap for pulling out that move during a mere pre-show. After seeing that move done during JoeBashi, I can kinda understand why. That shit's brutal.

Joe, for his part, showed why he's a modern-day icon. When I first got into ROH, I couldn't understand what people saw in him. Course, my first exposure to him was 2002-era Joe, so that might explain it. My DVD timeline is fractured, but I try to watch in order anyways. And Joe just got more and more imrpessive each time in. He may not be my favorite, but he's definitely up there now.

And regarding Kobashi's Hundred-Hand Slap, that was just insane. I loved when he slowed down to catch his breath, still chopping, and then exploded with about 20 more rapidfire chops. Joe looked an awful lot like the ground beef in my hamburger casserole after that.

So, yeah. I liked this match more than the Tag Title match. Did ya notice?

[Jordo]

I have no idea who Kobashi is, but I've become a fan of Joe based on what little I've seen of him. This match was good because it came off as being very real. Nothing seemed scripted at all. I also liked the balance of the match. I was pretty sure Kobashi would win, but I was pulling for Joe the whole time. Once Kobashi hit that half-nelson suplex, though, it was over. I wouldn't say this is the best match I've seen, but I'm pretty sure most of the enjoyment in this match comes with being familiar with the two wrestlers. I'd definitely say this was the most brutal straight-up wrestling match I've seen. Very good stuff.

[pholby]

[SundownMotel]

Say what you will about Dan Maff, but he's had his share of matches (most notably the 4CS at DBD and the Chicago Street Fight) where the spots were completely warranted.
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And this is a promise, because this is true. This is real. This is Straight Edge.

[Greg]

The thing I like about Kobashi over most wrestlers is that he doesn't exaggerate his injuries like everyone I've seen in wrestling do. Even Joe does it. When someone gets elbowed from the top rope, they completely flip out and have a split second seizure, and it's all goofy. When someone gets chopped across the chest, they stumble backwards, flap their arms in the air, and sometimes falls down.

Not Kobashi. Kobashi gets hurt, he gets winded, just like any normal human being. He gets hit, he acts like he's been hit in real life, and than sucks it up and keeps fighting. When Joe gets a stangle on Kobashi's neck, he screams because it hurts. He doesn't scream when Joe kicks him in the leg, because that doesn't hurt enough to warrent a scream. Kobashi is nobody's circus clown.
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[Rogue]

[wee bull]

Even before the slap, I loved the way Joe went for the sly knee/kicks on Kobashi when they went to lock up. Not so much disrespect as "I'm not afraid of you".

I also liked Kobashi grimacing like mad while Joe chopped him at one point, before letting loose hiw own killers.

I have to say though, the chop over the fence into the crowd felt a tad forced to me. Yeah Kobashi chops like a demon, but he's not that strong. Still, it was only a minor quibble I had, I enjoyed the rest of it.

[SundownMotel]

Okay, I'm totally calling dibs on Brick McHurtYou when I start training.
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And this is a promise, because this is true. This is real. This is Straight Edge.