First Round: New York - Kenta Kobashi vs. Tito Santana

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round matchup in the New York City Subregion. The ring and arena are universal throughout the first round and the organization is not a factor. There is a 20 minute time limit. Vote using any criteria you like. Most votes in the poll at the end of the time period wins. In the case of a tie we will go off of the number of written votes. In the case of a second tie, both are eliminated.

Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Kenta Kobashi

Vs.

Tito Santana

Voting is open for 4 days.

 

[Mr. Truth]

Tito Santana was good back in the day. He's had the IC Championship a couple of times as well the Tag Team Titles a couple of times. Strike Force was a pretty good tag team. But unfortunately for him, he's up against Kenta Kobashi. Kobashi is one of the top 3 Japanese wrestlers ever. He's won the Triple Crown Championship 3 times and has had numerous 5 star matches. Kenta wins this with the burning lariat for the 3 count.

 

[D-Man]

This match is about as one-sided as Harley Race vs. the Berzerker.

Sorry, Tito... you're skilled and were a lot of fun in the 80's, but Kobashi is just superior to anything that you could come up with in that ring.

Say goodnight, Tito... good morning to Kobashi.

 

[GenMe]

Kenta will get my vote on this match.

Tito was good in the ring, But Kenta was great. Kenta is a multi time champion, He is one of the best Japan wrestling in wrestling history. Tito doesn't stand a chance against Kenta Kobashi.

 

[Theo Mays]

Kenta has this one in the bag. Tito is good and all, but he doesn't match up to Kenta. Tito was a midcarder and a very good one at that, but Kenta is a legend and while he may not be successful in America that means little here. Kenta would wrestle circles around Santana and I'd imagine even in America Kenta would draw more than Tito.

 

[ZeroVX]

Wow. This could be even more one-sided than Race VS Berzerker, since no one seems to want to vote for Santana just as a joke. Even if you add in the fact that Santana was one of the first ECW world champions, he cannot stand up to Kobashi. He's become one of the biggest legends in Japan, has proven to be one of the best wrestlers in history, and is just flat-out better than Santana. Santana goes down easy here.

 

[jmt225]

Kenta Kobashi in a squash.

Tito Santana was a decent enough wrestler, but Kobashi was truly GREAT. His body of work from the early nineties all the way up to 2005 prove that to be an absolute fact.

Plus, in the ring, not many were tougher than Kobashi. He could take a beating like no other, and he could deliver a beating like no other as well. Tito Santana, nothing in his offensive arsenal could make Kobashi flinch, let alone put him down for a 3 count, whereas Kobashi had a dozen ways to finish Santana off. It would be an easy, easy victory for him, no matter how you look at it.

 

[X]

First off let me just say I absolutely love Tito Santana and I always have. He carried the WWF midcard for years in the 80s on his back on the circuit tours throughout the US and Canada to all the big arenas and venues, from MSG to the Astrodome, he wrestled in all of them and he put on classic matches in all of them with just about anyone he wrestled in the mid 80s, particularly his absolutely EPIC feud with Randy Savage when Randy was still a bit of a newcomer to the WWF and Tito was the Intercontinental champion. The matches those two had around the country are simply some of the best wrestling matches you'll ever see. Loved Tito all my life, but unfortunately, he's facing Kenta Kobashi, and he's simply outmatched in every department by the legend that is Kobashi. I'll save the good arguments for Kobashi for when he actually needs my support, but to suffice to say that he's in a league of his own, a league that unfortunately Chico Santana is not.

I would have fucking LOVED to see this match up in say 1990, before Kobashi really beefed up and was more prone to the high-flying action. They could have torn down house on any show this match happened on.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

I love me some Tito Santana, and I think he's class personified. But, he was known primarily for two things: being a part of Strike Force and, like Jimmy Snuka, serving as Wrestlemania enhancement talent (hey, man, I wanted Tito to win those matches against The Barbarian and The Mountie just as much as you did).

Kobashi, on the other hand, well, he was a jobber for the first part of his career. But, that jobbing blossomed into one of the greatest stories of fighting spirit ever told.

Kobashi FTW.

 

[Tenta]

Tough draw for Tito in this one. One thing that should be noted is that Tito also was an Intercontinental Champion. He was pivotal in placing the importance on the belt in its ealry days, having good to great matches with Don Muraco, and getting as much as he can out of Greg Valentine. He was critical for making the title as we know it today: The mid card championship, which signifies you're good enough to be a main eventer on call, but that they're not ready to let you be a main eventer just yet.

Kobashi steam rolls here. I wish I could be more gentle, but I can't. Santana was a class act, but a mid carder. Kobashi may just be the greatest worker in the history of the business. Of course, time must tell that one, but he'd get my stamp of approval. He's just such a unique worker, and has brought his style to America in ROH, and has influenced greatly what we feel is fantastic wrestling. He has made NOAH into perhaps Japan's best promotion, and has toppled the established powers of New Japan and All Japan. This one would be an opener for Wrestlemania; Santana may get good offense, but we all know who's winning.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

The only reason Kenta Kobashi won't win this entire tournament is because he's not as well known in America as he is in Japan. That's obvious as he's primarily wrestled and is a native of Japan. But if the roles were reversed and we were in Japan, Kobashi would be on the level of the Undertaker and Hogan as far as popularity and overall respect is concerned.

Kobashi is a machine. He's overcome cancer... he's overcome odds in the ring against icons in the industry. He studied under Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba and was main eventing with Stan Hansen and many other 'gaijins' in Japan at a young age. He should handle Chico Santana easily here and Santana is no slouch. He's a multi-time tag champion and a former IC champion when the belt was prestigious.

But this goes to Kenta here and should be an easy win for him.

 

[Mr. Truth]

The only reason Kenta Kobashi won't win this entire tournament is because he's not as well known in America as he is in Japan.

I agree with this statement 100%. And, if somehow Kobashi faces off against Stan Hansen, I'll be bringing this quote back. But as I stated earlier, Kobashi > Santana and should go on to the second round rather easily.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

Oh man, if there is one match that I have to feel sorry for an opponent, its this one. Damn, I love me some Tito Santana... but it's Kenta Kobashi.

This man has had many 5 star matches under his belt and has held his own against Japanese legend Misawa multiple times. He has all the stamina and endurance in the world, and his wrestling skills are on another level many can never achieve. Santana and his legacy was pretty decent, but Kenta has so much more to offer.

I feel that Kenta has one of the highest chances of winning this entire tournament based on in-ring skill alone. Kenta should take this one.

 

[PsychoBlack]

Kobashi will carry this to a 5star match and hit the burning lariat to win

5 Star Match (1990) with Toshiaki Kawada and Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue and Masanobu Fuchi on October 19
5 Star Match (1991) with Toshiaki Kawada and Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue and Masanobu Fuchi on April 20
5 Star Match (1992) with Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue and Masanobu Fuchi on May 22
5 Star Match (1992) with Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas on May 25
5 Star Match (1992) with Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Masanobu Fuchi and Yoshinari Ogawa on July 5
5 Star Match (1993) vs. Toshiaki Kawada on April 14
5 Star Match (1993) with Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue and Yoshinari Ogawa on July 2
5 Star Match (1993) vs. Stan Hansen on July 29
5 Star Match (1993) vs. Steve Williams on August 31
5 Star Match (1993) with Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue on December 3
5 Star Match (1994) with Mitsuharu Misawa and Giant Baba vs. Masanobu Fuchi, Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue on February 13
5 Star Match (1994) with Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue on May 21
5 Star Match (1995) vs. Toshiaki Kawada on January 19
5 Star Match (1995) with Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue on January 24
5 Star Match (1995) with Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Steve Williams and Johnny Ace on May 4
5 Star Match (1995) with Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue on June 9
5 Star Match (1995) with Mitsuharu Misawa and Satoru Asako vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Tamon Honda, and Akira Taue on June 30
5 Star Match (1998) vs. Mitsuharu Misawa on October 31
5 Star Match (1999) vs. Mitsuharu Misawa on June 11
5 Star Match (1999) with Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa on October 23
5 Star Match (2003) vs. Mitsuharu Misawa on March 1
5 Star Match (2004) vs. Jun Akiyama on July 10
5 Star Match (2005) vs. Samoa Joe on October 1 at Joe vs. Kobashi

you cant argue against that when tito has never had a match of this quality EVER

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Tito, you poor son of a bitch. Everyone loves Strike Force and everyone gets a little bit of a nostalgia trip when Tito Santana is brought up. But the fact of the matter is, Kenta Kobashi was and is a better professional wrestler than Tito Santana. As much as it might hurt to say, there is no feasible way Tito could ever beat Kobashi, period.

The fact that people outside of Japan have heard of Kobashi should be an indication of how good he really is, no disrespect to Tito. When most people are asked to name 3 puro wrestlers, I guarantee you that Kobashi will come up, perhaps along Misawa or Kawada...or I don't know, Tajiri. But let's save the argument for a non-squash shall we?

 

[Tastycles]

Tito Santana is a wrestler I've never really been able to get into. I mean, he's alright, but in essence he's just an 80s guy that was around for a long time. Kobashi probably gets more love than he deserves, but the man has a track record of getting the job done, even in America, and I don't think Tito, the master of losing but being popular, would have an answer for him here.