NOAH Final Burning

Monday May 13, 2013

Giant Baba had a simple philosophy to booking. Patience, no outsiders, tell the story. Back in the 80's All Japan essentially signed its talent then locked itself away from the wrestling world. Baba looked for charismatic faces that where tough. They had to be. All Japan had developed its own style called King's Road. The booking of this style demanded consistency in its wrestlers who followed a pattern in matches that made them build their stories slowly from match to match and over a career. In 1981 Baba found the perfect wrestler for his style; Mitsuharu Misawa. Misawa took the long road to the top, taking over as Tiger Mask II. Developing King's Road to include aerial as well as hard strikes and mat work gaining support and eventually reaching the main event beating Jumbo Tsuruta in June 1990. A journey that took nine years for Misawa. The patient approach of Baba paid off dividends. Misawa was a massive box office smash. Baba then turned his hand to his next project Kenta Kobashi.

After his début in 1988 Kobashi lost 63 times straight in his rookie year but the near misses Kobashi went through gave him a loyal following. He was the ultimate under dog and the fans loved him for it. He won the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship four times with Tiger Mask II (Misawa), twice with Johnny Ace (John Lauranitis these days) and once with Junior Heavyweight Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in a deafening Match of the Year in 1992. Baba kept his run to the top of All Japan focused and disciplined. Before the decade was through he would win the Triple Crown, All Japan's top honour, three times. He was a massively popular and reliable worker. Presenting five star performances nightly for All Japan. The company ran on the trio of Misawa, Kobashi and Toshiaki Kawada at the top of the card. It broke records for two years and then . . . it didn't. The three greatest wrestlers the company had produced couldn't draw because they had wrestled each other so many times there where no more combinations left. Elder Gaijin's where on the decline like Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy, or gone entirely like Steve Williams. All Japan was losing its fan base because Baba the long term visionary had not foreseen what would happen when he had played ALL of his cards. Rumblings went on in the background of the company, but the fans where crying our for a change. A visitor from NJPW a fresh face, but Baba stuck to his tradition.

Baba passed away in 1999, his dyeing wish was to see All Japan stay the same as it always had. Home grown talent and hand sourced Gaijins. The trouble was none of the wrestlers wanted it that way. Misawa who became president on Baba's death and board member Kobashi resigned and took all but two of the roster with them. In the biggest coup in pro wrestling history All Japan Pro Wrestling became temporarily meaningless over night. The people who did it where the AJPW wrestlers themselves. They formed NOAH a promotion ran on the Kings Road Style, with a modern twist. Everyone got a shot, no more slow pushes if it worked it worked, if we need a NJPW guy or have the opportunity why not? It was a blistering success. All of this was unthinkable under Baba.

Kobashi was important politically as he was as a wrestler. Final Burning was his final match. It fills me with happiness that he left the sport in much better shape than when he entered it. His legacy is secure and despite some near career ending injuries and illnesses, including a bout with cancer, he has remained more or less as good as it gets for 25 years. What really made me happy, but a little sad to, was that the fans got to celebrate Kobashi for what he has given them. Mitsuharu Misawa died during a match in 2009. The fans never got to celebrate his legacy only mourn. The Misawa chant in the post match celebration was fitting for Kobashi's friend, but Budokan's favourite son was Kobashi. Forever will his mark be felt.