5 Best Wrestling Matches of 2005

#4. Kenta Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki – NOAH Destiny, July 18, 2005

There may not be a better example of ‘unstoppable force meets immovable object’ than this match.

You have two powerful wrestlers from two different companies clashing in singles competition. Both of them are known for being power wrestlers with devastating maneuvers in their respective arsenals. Also, one of them is known for delivering the stiffest chops in the entire wrestling business. So when they clashed, it felt like a titanic struggle, like any Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle match from 2003.

From bell to bell, the wrestling is hard-hitting and stiff. But what most people will remember from watching this match is the chop battle. For almost five minutes, Kobashi and Sasaki chop the ever-loving daylights out of each other, each one pushing out their chest to take a chop hard enough to knock the wind out of someone.

Each chop led out a thunderous noise which traveled throughout the Tokyo Dome, which means that it must’ve hurt like hell. The crowd cheered with each chop and gave both of them a standing ovation not once but twice in the span of just over four minutes. By the time the chop battle was over, Kobashi and Sasaki had chopped each other 168 times four minutes, proving to the world just how superhumanly tough both of them were.

But that’s not all; Kobashi and Sasaki hit so many other crazy moves in this match that it made tens of thousands of Japanese fans erupt. These include: a Norther Lights Bomb (brainbuster-type move) from the apron to the floor; lariats from both guys that look like they have enough force to decapitate a normal person, and some of the most out-of-nowhere and seemingly impossible reversals ever seen. Just when you think a move is going to land, either Kobashi or Sasaki find a way to either reverse a move or find the strength to absorb the pain and survive.

If you’re the type that doesn’t really care about characters, promos or storylines, and just want to see two incredibly tough athletes fight to see which is better, this is the match for you. It’s the closest wrestling gets to ‘pure competition’, and feels like a genuine and unscripted contest between two of the strongest and toughest wrestlers in the world at the time.