20 AJPW Matches you must see before you die

5. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi – June 11, 1999

There are only two match-ups to have won the Wrestling Observer’s Match of the Year award in consecutive years: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania in 2009 and 2010 and Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi in 1998 and 1999.

In this match, the roles are reversed from their famous 1998 encounter, with Misawa now being the defending champion against challenger Kobashi. As is the case with any Misawa/Kobashi match, the psychology and storytelling are both deep and logical.

In this case, Kobashi went for an armbar seconds into the match to weaken Misawa’s deadly elbows. Misawa, meanwhile, seemed to have an answer for everything, as he managed to reverse his way out of any hold and stop Kobashi’s momentum in its tracks.

Kobashi tried to fix this by spending a lot of time working Misawa’s arms, which leads to a lot of highly dramatic submission sequences. Bear in mind that AJPW wasn’t known for emphasizing submission holds during this era, so it took a lot of work to make any of them feel believable. But again, that goes to show how good Misawa and Kobashi were when in the ring together.

By the 20-mintue mark in a 45-minute match, much of the psychology had shifted to the ‘head-drop-mania’ approach that both men have become famous for.

The match is filled with amazing wrestling spots, including several devastating Half-Nelson Suplexes from Kobashi, a Frankensteiner by Misawa that tosses Kobashi into the steel guardrail, a picture-perfect Moonsault from Kobashi, a Sleeper Suplex that legit looked like it caused Misawa to land on the top of his head and one of the most beautiful Emerald Flowsions ever seen.

Although this match requires considerable patience, it is one of the best matches in wrestling history and comes with the highest recommendation possible.