Who Is Your Favorite Puroresu Wrestler?

[SavageTaker]

It’s a very simple question, who is your favorite puroesu wrestler?

Admittedly, I haven’t been watching puroesu for very long. As a matter of fact, I started watching puro matches about a week or so ago. I had seen puro matches before but none of them were like the ones I saw. Thanks go to X, Tdigle, and Jmt for giving me good puro matches to watch.

Anyways, before I continue to digress, my favorite two puro wrestlers from the matches I’ve seen so far are Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi.

Both of them are phenomenal wrestlers that have put on some incredible classics whether it was against each other or against different opponents. The first good puro match I ever saw was them facing each other in 2003 for the NOAH promotion and I honestly cannot find a bad thing about the match. But that isn’t there only good match. They have definitely had other wonderful matches…and I’m sure I haven’t even seen a fraction of them. So, from the matches that I’ve seen so far, both men have entertained me a lot and I don’t regret watching any of their matches.

So, who are or who is your favorite puro wrestler(s)?

 

[Rizza]

There are tons that I like, and I really can't choose just one, My absolute favorite of all time is of course of Mitsaharu Misawa, there was litterly no one better in the ring IMO, not Kobashi,(even though that is very arguable), not Kawada, not Tenryu, not Tsuruta, not any of them. My favorites of all time beside Misawa are , Tatsumi Fujinami who was to me one of the best In-ring technicians I have ever seen in my life, and has innovated many awesome moves, he was the inventor of the dragon suplex, dragon screw, dragon sleeper, seriously he was a mat wrestling expert and his in ring work always reminded of Antonio Inoki's and I am a total mark for Inoki so Tatsumi really ranks high on my all time list.

I also loved Shinya Hashimoto, he is very high on my all time favorites list, his kicks were something fierce, he might not have been some expert mat wrestler or complete powerhouse but his moveset and the brutal aggression he brought to his mathces was beyond amazing and the Brainbuster of his really puts any Brainbuster I have ever seen in my life to shame.No joke.

Some Puro wrestlers I really really enjoy, but would not but them on my all time favorite list are, Shinsuke Nakamura who is my favorite current wrestler he is one of the best modern day professional wrestling technicians on earth, and Satoshi Kojima, who was in my favorite puro tag team of all time (besides Jado & Gedo, they fucking rock) with Hiroyoshi Tenzan, I might be in the minority on this but IMO Tenzan & Kojima> Tenzan & Chono. The reason I started to keep and eye on Kojima was he was supposedly be a Stan Hansen Protege, I dont know of this is true or not, a friend just told me, but after I watched him I didn't care whos protege the man was, he was insane in the ring and pulled some of the sickest moves I have seen in a while, best part about Kojima though, is that his finisher is a Lariat, a move that I am a total mark for.

I also Like Yoshihiro Takayama, I think he is a very good in ring performer, my friends I talk puro with though, hate the guy. I can't for the life of me see why, his match with Misawa was pretty damn good,and I belive he had a few good matched with Muta and his 10 minute or so bout with KENTA in NOAH was one of my favorite KENTA matches ever. I like to hear what Tdigs thinks about Takayama. Am I blind and he is bad as everyone thinks he is?

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Oh, man, this is like asking me to pick which one of my (hypothetical) I love the most, SavageTaker.

For feelings of pure wonderment, I always go with Tiger Mask and pre-1995 Jushin Liger. Both of these guys are sort of like Titanic's box office gross: it's been well over a decade and, still, no junior heavyweight can top what these two guys did in their heyday.

For motivational purposes (yes, some professional have the ability to motivate you), I look no further than Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi. Whenever life's kicking my ass and I feel like throwing in the towel, I look to Misawa's matches with Vader, where he endured brutal beatings at the hands of the Mastodon but just wouldn't give up. Although he did lose their 30 October 1999 rematch for the AJPW Triple Crown championship (and even though I've seen this match at least five times), as Vader fails to put away Misawa with suplex and slam after suplex and slam, I never fail to grab my hair and ask myself, "How can Misawa endure this much punishment?"

Kobashi...well, saying that this man's never heard of throwing in the towel is an understatement. Kobashi lost his first 63 singles matches (yes, you heard me right, HIS FIRST 63 SINGLES MATCHES), and now he's possibly the greatest Japanese wrestler to ever live. Realistically speaking, how someone can endure such defeat and disappointment yet eventually reach the pinnacle of their profession is beyond me. Hell, if WWE tried to pull off a character like Kobashi, I'd shake my head, laugh, and rant on this board about what a fucking joke he was. Hell, I would probably say the same thing about Kobashi if it wasn't for one thing: this man embodies the fighting spirit, and this shows in every single one of his matches. Nothing pleases this man more than kicking ass and taking names. The greatest thing about him, however, is how he takes no one for granted. You could be the most talented wrestler to ever live, or you could be a mentally-handicapped dreamer from the local Association of ******ed Citizens, and it wouldn't matter to Kobashi; he'll always give you everything he has in the tank. And, yeah, it might be too much for some people, but, hey, if they bitch about it, they need to just shut their fucking mouths; nothing to me shows more respect than someone who comes at you with their full abilities, as it shows you that they believe you to be an able, competent, and dangerous combatant.

I could go on and on about how great Kobashi is, and how important a story his career and matches tell, but, I'm getting worked up, and I need to save this for my own puro thread.

 

[jmt225]

I've made it no secrete just how much I love Hayabusa. Not only is he my favorite Puro wrestler of all time, but he makes my top ten in my favorites of all time, period.

But instead of, once again, expressing my admiration for Hayabusa, I'll praise Hiroshi Tanahashi, who is by far and away my favorite Puro wrestler from this era.

I actually first saw him on TNA against AJ Styles back in like 2005 or 2006, and after seeing that I sought out more of his work. And it's fortunate I did because the guy is simply spectacular.

Honestly, by the time I found out about Tanahashi, I wasn't following the current state of Japanese pro wrestling like I had tried to in the nineties. I mostly just stuck with the old stuff, but when I saw more of Tanahashi's work against guys like Manabu Nakanishi, Nagata, Nakamura, and others... my passion for Puroresu was rejuvenated. Also, when I read his story about being stabbed by his girlfriend, who was actually a news reporter of all things, and then made a return to the sport not too long after, my respect for him just kept rising and rising. And to this day I haven't lost that respect for him, even if I don't follow his stuff as closely as I did a year or so ago. I'm sure I can pop on any Hiroshi Tanahashi match from this past year and still be amazed by the guy. He's, without a doubt, a top 3 professional wrestler in the World right now. There's nobody like him.

 

[X]

Without a doubt my favorite puro wrestler is Kenta Kobashi. I'm already regretting changing my signature now that I think about it. The logical (and likely equally acceptable) choice would have been Misawa, but we all know about Misawa. Don't get me wrong, I fucking love that man. Easily in my top ten wrestlers of all time. Kenta is even higher though...something about him always clicked with me more than Misawa. Kenta was (and STILL is) just a wild animal in the ring, able to pull off virtually any maneuver you could think of, and always ready to lay the deadliest elbow in the history of the wrestling business on his opponent. Few wrestlers have ever entertained me as thoroughly as Kobashi has. The best thing of all is the fact that to this day he still wrestles, and even now as a middle-aged man he's still leagues above most other wrestlers in the world. I'm thoroughly of the belief that without Kobashi (and to a much lesser extent Kawada), Misawa would not have been as big as he was.

Honorable mentions go to Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, Jushin "Thunder" Liger, The Great Sasuke (better than Liger IMO), Masato Tanaka, Taka Michinoku, Jun Akiyama, and Keiji Mutoh. I could list quite a few more, but those are the ones that come off the top of my head. Good thread ST.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Kobashi is a great choice. The more I watched his matches, the more I started to admire him. But I remember certain wrestlers from the older days of WCW when the WCW and NJPW did some talent exchanges. The main wrestlers I remember were Hiroshi Hase, Masahiro Chono, Great Muta, Kensuke Sasake, and Tatsumi Fujinami. Each one of those stars could be considered legends in Japan.

Another one that stands out is Jumbo Tsuruta. His matches with Flair for the NWA Worlds Title and with Stan Hansen for the Triple Crown were some of his greatest matches. He was an agile big man who could take a lot of punishment and manage to win using the opponent's weakness against them. An example of this is when the first Triple Crown was being determined and near the finish, Hansen was going for the Lariat, when Jumbo ducked, Hansen bounced off the ropes chest first, and was rolled up for the loss. Mind you, Hansen beat the hell out of him for nearly 20 minutes in this match, and Jumbo pulled out the win. Shows what heart and determination he had.

Then you have Kobashi, who's had MANY matches like that. It's a tough choice. I can't really pick a favorite. And that sucks, too. If I HAD to, it's between Muta, Kobashi, and Jumbo.

 

[kerplin]

This is going to be pretty difficult. Misawa was always great, and I have a lot of fun watching his matches.

Hayabusa was the one that turned me on the Puroreso to start with. Plus he was very innovative, and had some of the most amazing matches I've ever seen.

Jushin Liger is a must, he did invent the shooting star press after all. He's a legend for sure.

Although I must say my favorite is probably the Great Muta. He's reinvented himself time after time. Still a great talent. His entrances are as entertaining as some of his matches.

 

[GrandSword]

Great thread and some great responses and explanations on who is your favourite puro guy is. As for me my username is GrandSword which is Kenta Kobashi's moniker and name of his theme music which has to be the greatest entrance theme of all time. Kobashi not only is my favourite puro guy he is my favourite of all time. He is the perfect wrestler in many ways.

Oh and I got my fiance a cat and she let me name him Kobashi...

The Great Muta, Misawa, Jumbo, Liger,KENTA and Akiyama are also some of my favourites.

 

[mister630]

My favorite wrestler from the past is Liger. I know he's still wrestling now but his matches are nothing compared to his early 90s bouts with Ultimo Dragon and Pegasus Kid and others. My current favorite wrestler is Dragon Kid. He always amazes me with his acrobatic and technical skills. I am so hoping TNA and Dragon Gate USA form a partnership of some kind and I get to see a singles match between AJ and DK.

 

[OmegaDriver]

Ah this is a hard one.
Of course everyone is going to say Misawa. And yes, he was great, and he and Kenta Kobashi had EPIC battles.

But favorites by far are Kensuke Sasaki, "Power Warrior".
Possibly one of the best power wrestlers in Puro history.
The Northern Lights Bomb and the Volcano Eruption are just great wrestling manuevers.

And Jun Akiyama. The inventor of the wrist clutch and the Exploder Suplex and the Blue Thunder Driver I believe. He has had some incredible matches and I suggest you look him up if you haven't.

Keiji Mutoh/the Great Muta. Innovator of the Shining Wizard. Possibly one of the greatest wrestlers on the planet. (At least in his hey-day) Need I say more?

As for present day, I think Naomichi Marufji is absolutely spectacular.

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

your asking me who my favorite puro wrestler is ST? that's like asking me what my favorite Sax to play on I actually got into Puro after DL'ing a Real World mod to Total Extreme Wrestling back in 04

Anyway here's a couple of my favorites.

1: Misawa Mistuharu. Quite arguably one of the GREATEST wrestlers who ever lived.

2: Kobashi Kenta and his Burning Hammer/Burning Lariat. nobody shows more fierceness then Kobashi.

3: The Great Sasuke. One of the greatest high flyers IMHO to ever grace a wrestling ring. 3rd only to Hyabusa and Liger.

4: Mutoh Keji. one of the three musketeers of Puro and one of the best wrestlers on the planet.

5. Chono Masahiro. Arguably the most charasmatic Puro wrestler. Even has his own clothing line.

Honorable Mentions: Hase Hiroshi, Tanahashi Hiroshi, Nishimura Osamu.

 

[Ty Burna]

I have two favorites, my first one is Keiji Mutoh also known as The Great Muta. I became a huge fan of his when he made his sporadic appearances with WCW back in the 90's, and when I got back into wrestling I've looked up some of his Japanese work since I now have the means to watch some of his classics. Back in WCW, you did not want to face him, he was a bad motherfucker who would kick your ass and if you even thought you had to chance to win, mist right in the face. He was agile and had some power behind him in his prime, and now he's just a straight power house. He's not as good as he used to be, but he's still a scary motherfucker.

In the process of looking up Muta, I also came across Jushin "Thunder' Liger, and god damn the man was awesome. Like Mutoh in his prime, he was more agile and fast then using technical or power moves. After his injury he developed quite a repertoire of moves, and with his size he actually was quite potent against the Jr. Heavyweights. I think of his match against Rey Mysterio in WCW as one of my favorite matches. Liger was throwing Rey all over the place and countering most of Rey's luchadore style attacks. Liger and Muta are my two favorite Puoresu wrestlers, and the matches they've had against each other are pretty awesome, hell one even caused the birth of Kishin Liger.

 

[Syd Liberty]

Great Muta/Keiji Mutoh - The guy had the total package. He still has most of it. He's a great athlete, built like a heavy and as precise and capable as a junior. He's got all the charisma in the world, and blends Jr. style, Strong style, and American style. His work in Japan and the NWA is unsurmountable. I'm willing to say he's the best wrestler of all time. Flair was great, but it was the same match everynight. Misawa was great, but mostly he was just stiff and dangerous. Honestly I'd put Shawn Michaels and Vader closer to the top, but that's beyond the point. Mutoh, son.

Also, these days KENTA, Marufuji, Morishima, Nakamura and Shiozaki are tearing down the house.

 

[emerald phoenix]

hmmm 1 is def hard but i could give a top 5

1. hayabusa- the minute i saw him vs rvd and sabu there was just something about him, and i started to research him and he just blew me away.....this man was one of the most innovative high flyers around. its a shame what happened with his neck, they should of tighten the ropes.......thankful he didnt go to wwe tho, he would of been buried like most japan wrestlers

2. Muta- even going back to his early wcw days what was there not to like about this guy, the face paint, the mist, and at the time a move like the moonsault seemed so impressive and even still today he has one of the best moonsaults bc of the way he snaps it.......ill always remember the nwa/wcw ppv where him,sting,lugar,flair was in a round robin tourny..simply classic

3. liger- much like the 2 above, the minute i saw him there was just something about him, as a kid his gimmick just appeals to you, he was a jr but could do hw moves but could still fly.....had some of the best off the turnbuckle moves around, most of which we havnt even seen in the u.s. feds ... i dont think to date weve seen a fisherman buster or brainbuster from the top in a wwe match, and i think weve only see edge do a ddt from the top rope

4.misawa/kawanda- these guys had legendary battles and the tiger bomb/ganso bomb will forever be apart of puro history

5. kobashi/akiyama- much like above, these 2 have a long history and will likely be linked for ever...had some legendary matchs

 

[ds41]

My favorite puro wrestler of all time has to be Toshiaki Kawada. From all the amazing matches he had with Misawa to the Holy Demon Army tag team with Akira Taue, he's been in some of the best matches I've ever seen. I wished that he's sign with NOAH after Misawa's death for the symbolism and the fact that the company is pretty falling apart at the moment. He's lost a step or 2 but I mark out every time he loses his temper and does his punches and kicks flurry. Plus he invented the ganzo bomb, by accident of course but still. Hard to believe both times he did it Misawa kicked out.
My fav right now is Hayato "jr" Fujita from michinoku pro. He's mostly a striker but he's stiff as hell and can have a amazing match with anyone of similar style. His Helm finisher is awesome, a stiff running knee to the face. He's gotten even better recently and put in amazing performances in the Super J cup and Zero 1's tenka ichii jr tournaments. Just check his Super J cup match with Koji Kanemoto and you'll see what I'm talking about. Way better than KENTA IMO.
Honorable mentions go to Jushin Liger, Black Buffalo from Osaka Pro, Masahiro Chono pre 2000, Misawa {RIP}, YAMATO, Shuji Kondo and Munenori Sawa

 

[TimtheKabim]

WOW.....im shocked that no one here named Ultimo Dragon, hes one of the best ever, and could outwork anybody in his fed!


The best Puro-wrestler would be Kobashi and Liger. Not just the bets Puro wrestlers, they both arguably in Top 5 of greatest of all time. No one can argue that fact.

When i had to pick a Top 5 of greatest Puro-wrestlers. It would be Kobashi, Liger, Mutoh, Ultimo Dragon, Otani.

Jumbo Tsuruta was great too. He put over Misawa, Kobashi, Taue and Kawada and made them look good in their matches. He was japans best Ringpsychologiest and had great matches with everyone. Really, i never saw a bad match of Jumbo.


But the Top-workers would be really Kobashi and Liger. They were both in the 90s the best in japan.

Liger has a lot of experience and has learned from the best all over the world. Jushin Liger was one of the first men to combine the Fast-paced High-flying Style of Wrestling with his Technical ability and created a Style.


Misawa was damn good, but no way in hell better than Kobashi. Yes, he had the most 5* matches and more than anybody, but that doesnt make him better than Kobashi, Liger & Tsuruta.

 

[LigerBomb]

Surprise, surprise (well not really) Jushin Thunder Liger gets my vote. He is quite simply a living breathing testament to hard work and self sacrifice for the betterment of others.

If you ever read or listen to interviews given by Liger he talks of how impossibly hard it was for him to succeed and live his dream of being a professional wrestler due in large part to him being the height he is --5'7"-- and even more amazingly that none of skill(s) and talent that we all now associate with him came naturally. In fact he himself would agree he was terrible and instead of relying on "natural talent" he had to outwork and outlast those who had absolutely no faith or trust in him. Eventually he would go on to be considered one of, if not the best, Jr. Heavyweight of all time...

As I said a testament to consistency, hard work, and unwavering dedication to fulfilling a dream.

As an aside often some may complain and speak about despite being one of the best in the world he maybe dropped off rather quickly after a certain point. And they would be wrong for doing so or perhaps more accurately a bit uniformed. In truth he realized that after being on top and after a lot of physical punishment --life threatening tumors, broken bones, etc.-- he would use his general skill, position, popularity, and backstage respect to make stars of others and put them --and the Jr. division as a whole-- "over". It's simply remarkable to see how unselfish the man is. Even more so when one recalls what business this is and the types of personalities that are customarily rewarded.

Truth be told in all the tournaments WZ runs it's these above reasons that so incline me to not vote "kayfabe" in general and most certainly when it pertains to Jushin Liger as I believe people like Liger, rare as they are, should most certainly go over guys he legitimately is better than in terms of in ring-skill, which for my purposes is more about believability, technical mastery, and story-telling, and those wrestlers who have a lot of "wins" but little else. This holds especially true if those "wins" come via politicking, self interest back stabbing, and greed. So when people talk of how Liger (or any tourney participant for that matter) "lost" this match or "lost" that match, I routinely laugh to myself... It's all phony. If Liger "lost" he was probably happy to do it and possibly even asked to do it as it was for the betterment of the company at large and/or the "opposing" talent. But I digress.

Simply put, I find the guy to be an inspiration both in and out of the ring.