Int Region, S.A. Subregion, First Round: (5) Chris Jericho vs. (28) Kenta Kobashi

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round match in the International Region, San Antonio Subregion. It is a standard one on one match held under International Rules, meaning the match is held under the standard rules of the country the match is held in. It will be held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

#5. Chris Jericho

Vs.

#28. Kenta Kobashi

​

Polls will be open for three days following a one day period for discussion. Voting will be based on who you feel is the greater of the two competitors. Post your reasons for why your pick should win below. Remember that this is non-spam and the most votes in the poll win. Any ties will be broken by the amount of posts of support for each candidate, with one vote per poster.

Also remember that this is a non-spam forum. If you post a response without giving a reason for your selection, it will be penalized for spam and deleted.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Match of the year. This is what would take place here. Kobashi could hang with any wrestler in the world, past or present. Jericho's built a cult following and his one of the better overall wrestlers in the last decade or so.

Overall, I would have to give a slight wrestling edge to Kobashi because in an actual match, this would be tough and no one's proven to be more resilient than Kobashi... the man beat cancer... the greatest foe of them all.

I can't vote yet, but leaning toward Kobashi here.

 

[PsychoBlack]

This is a tough one. But I have to give it to Jericho. Kobashi was dominant in the 90's no doubt however Jericho may be one of the smartest guys in the ring ever. He picks up on every mistake his opponents make any sign of injury they show he attacks it. Kobashi has the knees of a veteran Major League catcher and Jericho would be all over them. Kobashi would give him a hell of a fight but in the end he Jericho gets him to tap with some type of submission hold (Not the walls though).

 

[Bernkastel]

When I saw this match in the draw, I knew it would likely be the toughest 1st round match for me to choose. Both men have been successful not only in different top promotions in their respective countries, but both have been to the proverbial "top of the mountain" on more than one occasions.

What makes this match even more difficult to call is the fact that neither Jericho nor Kobashi were ever considered "the #1 guy," Jericho played second fiddle to Austin, Rock, and Cena, whilst Kobashi was never the draw that Misawa or Hanson were - in either AJPW or NOAH.

I'm leaning towards Jericho as their next opponent will likely be Mil Mascaras, and Jericho would put up a better fight. For Kobashi it would be "He was a big name, but never the big name, while Mil Mascaras for a time was the big name in lucha libre." Either way it's a toss up.

 

[Brewski]

Lariat is right, match of the year. Both men are unique and accomplished performers. I want to lean a bit toward Y2J but I think Kobashi has better luck in big matches Somebody convince me.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

As the leader of 1,004 Reasons to Vote Y2J I'm encouraging you to give your vote to Chris Jericho.

I'm not the most familiar with Kenta, his Ring of Honor work with Joe and Homicide plus the odd match from Japan with Misawa and one with Vader (saw it years ago, came to my mind while typing, stuff the mind remembers) is my viewing of him, however one thing he never did was conquer where it mattered. All Japan Pro Wrestling lost its superiority a good while before he went to NOAH, who lost their ranking as the number two promotion in Japan years ago and until recently were in a downward spiral both in a business and product sense, caused by their release of Kenta who has now returned.

Kenta has beaten guys like Misawa and Hansen, even his protogé KENTA and young puro stars such as Marafuji, but hes always been a great wrestler surrounded by inferior talent and that's the truth of it. KENTA is currently the GHC Heavyweight Champion, but his image compared to that of a Hiroshai Tanashai or a Okada who are on top in NJPW is a lot smaller. He doesn't have many true challengers, much like how his mentor had in the last decade or so. He had it a bit in All Japan but they were always battling to keep up with NJPW who used their Jr. Heavyweight division to draw crowds.

Chris Jericho on the other hand has competed at the top level in his country for the majority of his career. This is like for North American fans, John Cena versus AJ Styles. Who'll win? John Cena. Because hes done more and beaten better in a superior company. Is Jericho's career flawless? By no means and I'm sure this'll be pointed out in some argument against me in either this round or another following it - yeah, he lost to Heath Slater, I'm waiting for it to be brought up - but my point stands.

Chris Jericho takes this via Codebreaker after what would probably be a great wrestling match, with two styles clashing which are both unique and similar in different ways. I find it odd that Kenta is involved in this tournament but not KENTA, whoever chooses the participants needs to reassess next year.

 

[Danger Burger]

Lariat is right, match of the year. Both men are unique and accomplished performers. I want to lean a bit toward Y2J but I think Kobashi has better luck in big matches Somebody convince me.

He beat The Rock AND Stone Cold in the one night. Back to back. That is the ultimate in "luck in big matches"! Held 30 championships throughout the three biggest American promotions as well as sucess in Europe, Mexico and Japan.

Besides, hes a freakin rockstar baby! And a writer! Easy peasy. Maybe.

 

[Brewski]

He beat The Rock AND Stone Cold in the one night. Back to back. That is the ultimate in "luck in big matches"! Held 30 championships throughout the three biggest American promotions as well as sucess in Europe, Mexico and Japan.

Besides, hes a freakin rockstar baby! And a writer! Easy peasy. Maybe.

Yeah true, I used the wrong words. Y2J, while on my short list of favorite wrestlers of all time, is streaky when it comes to world title runs. Yeah he beat Austin and Rock, It was fucking great. I'm looking at his match record now and I always feel like his title runs are so much shorter than they actually are. Maybe it's because he hops around the card so so much.

 

[Jaffa]

Just like Dragon Saga I am a huge Jericho fan and have limited knowledge of Kenta. What I understand from my knowledge about him is that he was one of the top guys in the two Japanese promotions that have always been considered second to New Japan. Kenta is an exceptional wrestler I mean just look at the fact he was been in 23 matches that Dave Meltzer has awarded 5 stars( Yes it is subjective but it does show his quality).


Chris Jericho on the other hand is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time who has achieved so much in terms of titles. Chris Jericho has basically changed the concept of a heel in WWE since his heel turn in 2008 how many times have you seen a heel walk down to the ring in a suit and start talking slowly. Jericho is also one of the best talkers in the history of wrestling whether heel or face his promos are delivered perfectly. I think that Jericho wins as he has been a big fish in a big pond for a while Kenta has always been a big fish in a small pond.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Big fish, big pond. Big fish, small pond. I do not care about ponds.

We know about him beating Austin and Rock, yada, yada, yada. In this match, I don't see Vince McMahon, Booker T, Test, Christian, Hogan, Hall, or Nash helping him out. The relatively cleanest win he's ever gotten over a top guy was Rock in 2001 and a steel chair and Stephanie came into play there. None of that is going to convince me that Jericho is going to win. He's a upper midcarder. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[D-Man]

Man, this matchup is sending my ind into a tailspin. I think that with all other things being equal, my decision may come down to a personal preference in Chris Jericho. But I definitely need more convincing. Fire away. guys.

 

[Teddy Irving]

This is a tough one both of these men are great in the ring and as someone pointed out neither was ever the number 1 guy in the promotion.


I am voting Jericho in this one though. This would be a fantastic match, quite possibly one of the best we will witness in this tournament, but Jericho is one of the most intelligent and crafty guys in the ring he picks up on any weakness that becomes apparent and is generally prepared for his opponents with some sort of pre game strategy.
Jericho takes a bit of an advantage here on personal preference for me as well though I wont say that has nothing to do with the way I am voting.

In this match, I don't see Vince McMahon, Booker T, Test, Christian, Hogan, Hall, or Nash helping him out. The relatively cleanest win he's ever gotten over a top guy was Rock in 2001 and a steel chair and Stephanie came into play there.

As for this, Jericho's cleanest win over a top guy was probably that time he beat HHH clean for the title only to be stripped of the title later that night.

 

[Bernkastel]

Man, this matchup is sending my ind into a tailspin. I think that with all other things being equal, my decision may come down to a personal preference in Chris Jericho. But I definitely need more convincing. Fire away. guys.

Your vote in Jericho is reasonable. Both Jericho and Kobashi have had classic matches - that's evident. Both have been the the top of the mountain several times - that's evident. Both have beaten the biggest names that their generation and countries have had to offer - that's evident. But neither wrestler was that good of a draw; they both were playing second fiddle to someone - Jericho with Rock or Austin and Kobashi with Misawa or Hanson.

I'd think that Jericho would also be the better draw for Mascaras next round, too.

 

[nightmare]

Honestly this would probably go either way. What a damn match this would have been though.



Kenta has done some great work & is a pretty damn big star in his own right, but it seems people forget some of the reasons he is a bad ass. He beat cancer & came back. He brought us all the Burning Hammer & other fantastic moves. He has had numerous 5 star matches. All things Jericho has not done.



In the end, this goes to Jericho. His match with HBK at WM was awesome, he was the first ever Undisputed champion & he has put on some of the better matches and promo's that I can remember over the past 20 years. He has won titles all over the damn place & had some great matches that seem to fly under the radar of most people. Plus he gave me one of my favorite moments in all of WCW's history..... A R M B A R ! !



this is a guy who reportedly punked Goldberg & choked him out backstage. Now I bet that made Stu Hart perk up a bit. Good old Hart Dungeon training right there. Jericho, a flashy guy- yet pretty laid back off screen- out wrestled Bill Goldberg & made him look like an amateur.


Jericho wins.

 

[The Brain]

Did you guys know Shawn Michaels lost to Razor Ramon in a ladder match at WrestleMania X? Did you guys know Steve Austin lost to Bret Hart in an I Quit match at WrestleMania 13? How is that relevant? You can look like a million bucks and still come out a big winner even in a loss. That's what would happen to Jericho here.

I know it's the internet and I know it's Chris Jericho but I'm actually a little surprised this isn't closer. I like Jericho too. Not as much as a lot of people here but I like him. Guys, he's a loser. Not in a personal insulting way. He's just always booked to lose big matches. He does a great job in the ring but when the final bell rings he's not the one getting his hand raised. I have no reason to think it would be any different here.

 

[Tastycles]

I suspect that Jericho will do far better in this tournament than he deserves. There's plenty of arguments as to why he'd lose here too, but I suppose I can't really see it. Jericho, for all of his big losses, tends to win the early matches in feuds, and Kobashi is someone who he'd probably have a long old feud with.

As for Kobashi, I suppose I never really appreciated his matches as much as so many others do. I mean, sure, they're good, but they're not the be all and end all that some imagine. I don't think there's a particularly clear cut winner here, but I think if you look at it on paper, Jericho probably edges it.

 

[deem]

Left this to last as I still have absolutely no clue which way to go on it. I love them both and this would be amazing.

Ok so i'm just gonna rattle off some opposing views I have in my mind for this match. It might not be coherent but may help me decide where I want to vote. I'm really not trying to convince anyone either way here, since either winner is completely fine.

a) Homefield for Jericho, bigger and brighter career than Kobashi.

b) Jericho has a terrible win/loss for a top guy and a really tough to define peak. Loads of flashes of brilliance before tumbling down card again.

c) fuck, kobashi is such a badass

d) armbar. both can use one damn. no bias there.

When i picture this match, I see Jericho losing. I don't know why. I guess because I see him lose the special attraction so f much.

okokok I'm taking Jericho. Just thought from a different angle and realised there are tons of Japanese stars advancing already. Misawa/Rikidozan/Muta/Inoki are through already with every chance for Baba to join them. I just think this tournament needs Jericho more than it needs Kobashi at this stage, as such I think he'd be booked to go through.

Any vote for Kobashi is completely fine though. I'd probably take him purely in kayfabe, but when its this close I like to consult logical booking.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

I'm going with Kenta here. Both guys have enough quality on their resumes to go over but the factor that gets me here is that this is the International Region and I can see the Japanese legend getting the edge over a guy whose main successes are American based.