Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Masahito Kakihara (AJPW, 2/28/98)

A total blast, with Masahito Kakihara once again being the consummate thorn in the side and this time, he’s got heavy back-up in the hulking form of Yoshihiro Takayama. I love how confident Kaki is when takes down Akiyama with a dropkick but when he tries to lure him into a “shoot”, Akiyama brushes off some of his judo skills with a takedown and more than hangs with Kaki on the mat.  So Kaki has to rely on his kicks and he quickly chops out Akiyama’s leg and re-asserts himself back on the mat with a leglock. He’s such a prick in this match. Takayama’s the loveable brute, German suplexing Kobashi and knocking Jun off the apron, which leads to Jun rolling back into the ring to confront Takayama and getting nearly KO’d with a big knee. Kobashi’s the best good guy, checking on the welfare of his partner, taking sympathetic beatdowns, working the crowd while trying to combat Kaki’s pesky kicks. After the first Kaki kickdown, I love how Kobashi mad-dogs him and lays into him with chops.

While on the ground, Kaki has Kobashi on the rocks and Jun has to break up the Fujiwara armbar, resulting in Kaki and Jun mean-muggin’ one another. Boy, Kaki’s pissing off everyone. The chemistry between Jun and Kaki was awesome, between the in-ring interactions, the constant taunting and one-upmanship -- I’d love to see a singles match between these two if it exists out there. But the final showdown between Kaki and Kobashi was also terrific. Kakiwara tries for his roll-up kneebar off a German suplex attempt but it doesn’t do the trick here and when he goes back to the kicks, Kobashi’s able catch one and capture suplex him. Loved Kaki’s last spat at Kobashi before Kobashi destroys his world with the short-range lariat for the win. The good stuff.