[8.0] "Not length-wise a sprint, but worked as one, and so very different to their draws through the same era. Kawada just doesn't respect Kobashi and Kobashi is throwing everything at him to try to take him down, just exploding out of nowhere to hit moves. It's a desperation gambit that leaves him vulnerable, but it puts him inches close to finally beating Kawada. Kawada, though, is indomitable, and toughs it all out in an incredibly surly manner to eventually kick Kobashi to death. It doesn't have a great sense of development, but I don't really find that a problem, and don't think it needed more time; I actually think the limitation is here is how by 1996 King's Road had become narrow and based on certain kinds of repetition. This is a very narrow match, even if it is exciting, and though it is worked harder and quicker than the 60 minute draws, it ultimately shares a lot of DNA with them - and that limitation is the issue. Very few people want to ride five rollercoasters a day. 4/5"
[7.0] "There's a strong feeling of diminishing returns at play here. Sapporo is sold out, but the fans are relatively subdued, often silent - they've seen this all before, including the outcome. And while the finish in isolation is a bold and unorthodox one, it also maintains Baba's rigid pecking order for the umpteenth big match running ***3/4"
[8.0] "This match didn't have an epic finishing stretch, but it probably was by design because I think this match was all about making the crowd believe that Kobashi could win - if not here, then next time for sure (lol). His selling together with Kawada's great offense time after time were getting the crowd more and more involved, which helped make the finish memorable."
[10.0] "My favorite Kobashi v Kawada match that I've seen thus far with an exhilarating change of pace and a great crowd as per. This finish reminds me of Kobashi v Hansen 7-29-93, which was one of my favorite finishes of all time. This might be the best introductory match to 90's AJPW to the modern wrestling fan who is adjusted more to a fast pacing. I loved it."
[7.0] "A very exciting match that was sadly about 5-10 minutes too short. They took no water breaks here, as they immediately began the match with big moves and heaps of intensity. Every single move they traded had great impact, and they made the match feel personal with all their stare-downs and stand-offs (playing off of how well they knew each other from their heated on-going rivalry since the start of 1995). Kobashi showed great fire as he brought out everything he possibly could in order to try take Kawada down, and at some points he even got quite nasty by utilising some heelish tactics and strikes that we almost never see from him. Kawada's selling was great for all of it, and he eventually broke free from Kobashi's control period by targeting Kobashi's arm in very brutal fashion. Kobashi then likewise began targeting Kawada's arm, so I thought we'd then get an interesting and very detail dual limb-selling match, but both guys instead just brushed off the other's arm-targeting and didn't bother implementing their own arm-targeting either. I'd call this blatant no-selling if not for the fact that, in the grand scheme of the match, neither guy targeted the other's arm for long enough that their corresponding lack of long-term selling felt too jarring. It more felt like both guys just naturally chose to target the other's arm when that opportunity presented itself, but then they both moved on with other parts of their game that they felt might prove more efficient to focus on. I definitely still would have liked to see both guys sell their arm, since that just ended up as a disappointingly dropped story point, but it thankfully didn't take away from the match much. Their eventual big-bomb trades were great, and they gave enough time towards the 'filler' work in-between those trades to ensure the match never felt like just a mindless bombfest. Their trades became more and more stiff and dangerous-looking, with both guys getting heavily clobbered and dropped on their necks in order to present this as quite the battle. Both guys highlighting their immense struggle and endurance was very exciting, adding another layer of interest to all their big exchanges. I really liked how Kobashi was constantly evading, countering, and otherwise tanking all of Kawada's signature moves in the final 1/4th, teasing that he might actually be able to outlast Kawada and finally beat him 1-on-1, but then Kawada went for broke with a pair of big Gamengiris that managed to finally keep Kobashi down for the 3-count. This was well on its way to being great before it sadly ended despite it feeling like they could still easily go another 10 minutes. On the other hand, I at least like that this was a relatively short singles match with a lot of very impressive content fitted in. Not Kobashi and Kawada's best effort but still very impressive. ***3/4"
[7.0] "This is not one of Toshiaki Kawada's and Kenta Kobashi's all-time classics, but it is a good match with a pretty unusual finish that I enjoyed."
[7.0] "This is a rocking match with some pretty neat and unique ideas, such as the opening where Kawada got a three count a minute into the bout but Kobashi had his feet in the ropes. Kawada? s seconds are up in arms and Kobashi is now in a state of panic. Kawada kept his cool and picked Kobashi apart, eventually knocking Kobashi out with a brutal gamengiri. Kobashi is very impassioned and does some pretty great counters. Kobashi even at one point punches Kawada in the jaw (twice) and hit a Tiger Suplex, not even waiting for him to recover from the illegal strike. That was an awesome moment that was out of character for him. Kobashi? s selling for the final kick was sublime as well. ***1/2"
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