Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kenta Kobashi

[9.0] "A great sprint where Kobashi throws everything at Jumbo but by the end, the rookie is spent and the veteran outmatches the young Kobashi who is relentless even as he's dropped on his head for the three count."

"Loved this. Such a shame only the 2nd half is available to watch. Love both these wrestlers, and every time they fight you know it's going to be good. I'd love to see the first 12 or so minutes, to justify giving it a higher rating, but I don't want to just assume its great and mark it up unfairly. The first time Kobashi signals the moonsault and hits it is electric. Both of these 2 have such great movesets and charisma that it is always a joy to watch them perform. Loved the fast paced offence. If only the first half was available, I could likely easily give this an extra quarter or half star. ****1/4"

[8.0] "This was my first taste of All Japan on a grainy VHS back in 1992. It was a total eye opener as to how pro wrestling could be presented as a serious & thrilling combat sport. Of course Kobashi doesn't stand a chance here, but the big development at this stage is just how much trouble Jumbo finds himself in while battling to stave off the upset in front of an electric crowd ***3/4"

[7.0] "Based only on the final minutes, which is what you have available, you can have a good idea of what the match might have been like, but using only that, the final rating ends up being a little compromised (***1/2)"

[8.0] "These boys had worked up a sweat by the time the footage joins the action. Pretty gutting we only get the last half of the match but what you do get is excellent in front of a very hot crowd backing Kobashi."

[8.0] "So electric, would be a classic if people could see the whole match but what we get is pretty excellent."

[8.0] "Unfortunately the only version of this match I could find was clipped. Unless something epic was cut I'd say Meltzer overrated this a bit, but it's still a good showing from a young Kobashi against the Ace. Tsuruta did some no selling, which he had the leverage to do, but I think it held the match back slightly and led to a little bit of a sloppy sequence when Kobashi was going for a pinning combination. Otherwise this was an action packed finishing sequence. ****-****1/4"

[8.0] "Such a shame that this was clipped because you could just tell that they had a great match before it started and they had a great set up. Oh well, the 10 minutes that this was on was outstanding. Kobashi just trying to fight against Jumbo? s offence, not staying down after high knee after high knee. Great storytelling and the fans brought into it with chants of Kobashi that would be prevalent for the next 20 years. If I looked at the 10 minutes as a vacuum, this would be borderline MOTYC imo. ***3/4"

[8.0] "Rating based solely on seeing the last 10 minutes, as that was the only footage of this match I could find (h/t: theditch. biz). Action is great, the crowd is hot. I can see why WON would rate this so highly; without the first half of the match, though, I can't go that high. But the last 10 minutes are fucking great!"

[7.0] "Great form what we can see but what we can see is clipped. It's great action nonetheless, but IMHO there match from 1990 was much better. Good stuff though."

[7.0] "The first half is missing, however we immediately feel how hot the crowd. Both are weared down, but Kobashi shows more endurance and looks to get an unexpected upset, forcing Jumbo to use all of his tricks from the bag. Great story and climax, although it is a great pity it misses the first half. ***1/2 - ***3/4"

[10.0] "This is the perfect type of veteran vs. promising youngster match with Tsuruta and Kobashi both playing their respective veteran and up-and-comer roles to perfection. Great heat, lots of great work and plenty of nearfalls. Just an awesome match. Defentilty worth seeking out a personal favorite of mine"