Kenta Kobashi Sides With Naito in the Dispute Over His Moves on OZAWA

By: Thom Fain

The retired NOAH star said wrestlers are supposed to take their opponent’s moves, and that Naito must have judged OZAWA to be someone he could not beat without going that far.

Kenta Kobashi has weighed in on the dispute over Tetsuya Naito’s moves against OZAWA, saying Naito must have faced an opponent he could not beat without going that far. Kobashi, 59, spoke to reporters on Wednesday, Tokyo Sports reported.

Kobashi said a pro wrestler’s job is to answer a move with a proper bump. He recalled that when he hit Jun Akiyama of DDT with the Burning Hammer, Akiyama told him, “If you’re doing this because you trust me, don’t trust me,” and he smiled wryly telling it. Kobashi said the exchanges in which both men have to give everything to win show up in the moves and in the bumping, and that is how a wrestler becomes a main eventer.

The former NOAH stalwart said OZAWA has solid technique and pointed to the photo OZAWA posted on social media the next day, which showed him looking well. That was his own way of making a point, Kobashi said, and he credited both men.

The dispute began on Oct. 25 at Ryogoku Kokugikan, where the 44-year-old Naito retained the GHC Heavyweight Championship over OZAWA. Kenoh criticized Naito’s high-angle moves afterward, saying a wrestler should take his opponent’s move and that NOAH could not survive a string of injuries, and he challenged Naito for a title match on Nov. 9 at Korakuen Hall. Naito answered on Oct. 26 that a wrestler cannot avoid risk and still win, and that if an opponent were hurt he would see it as his own technical shortcoming.

OZAWA responded on X in a post that Sports Hochi’s headline describes as showing a neck brace, saying he took basically no damage. He is on NOAH’s Nov. 3 card in Kasukabe, Hochi reported.

Kobashi also ran a show for young wrestlers on Wednesday, “Fortune X: Road to Champion.” Mio Momono of Marvelous won the audience vote for MVP and with it a place in Fortune Dream, Kobashi’s show on June 16, 2027 at Korakuen Hall. He said the matches were hotter than he expected, and that he wants to pick wrestlers who can deliver high-level matches on the main show.