Few figures in the history of professional wrestling can rival the legacy of Kenta Kobashi.
Known as “The Orange Crush,” Kobashi stood as the heart and soul of Pro Wrestling NOAH during its golden years, mesmerizing audiences in Japan and around the world with his unmatched intensity, resilience, and storytelling in the ring.
A three-time Triple Crown Champion in All Japan Pro Wrestling and a GHC Heavyweight Champion in NOAH, Kobashi’s career was adorned with accolades and classic matches that epitomized the peak of puroresu.
But for all his accolades, what truly cemented Kobashi as an icon was his unyielding fighting spirit.
Not just against rivals like Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, and Jun Akiyama, but against life’s greatest challenges.
In 2006, at the height of his fame and skill, Kobashi faced a battle far more daunting than any opponent in the ring: kidney cancer. It was a fight that tested not just his physical strength but the indomitable will that had defined his career.
Kenta Kobashi’s battle with cancer and subsequent return to the squared circle is a tale of resilience, determination, and the unbreakable bond between a wrestler and his fans.
It is a story that transcends wrestling, capturing the essence of the human spirit and the enduring power of hope.
Kenta Kobashi Was The World’s Greatest Wrestler In Pro Wrestling NOAH
Very few could compare to Kenta Kobashi in the 2000s.
The Orange Crush was Pro Wrestling NOAH’s top star during their most successful period, with his matches against Mitsuharu Misawa wowing fans in Japan and tape traders all over the world.
The pair had been battling in Japan since the 1980s. They first faced off in All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1988 and had a series of matches in the ‘90s and ‘00s that are considered the ultimate peak of puroresu.
Paul Heyman even tried to book Misawa vs Kobashi on an ECW show, which you can learn about here.
When Misawa led an exodus of AJPW following Giant Baba’s death, Kobashi followed him and helped found NOAH. With his help, Misawa made NOAH a huge success and quickly became the most beloved promotion in Japan.
Kobashi was a three-time Triple Crown Champion in AJPW and went on to win the GHC Championship once in NOAH. He did this while putting on 23 five-star matches, according to Dave Meltzer, which at the time was the second most, behind Misawa.
In 2006, Kobashi was coming off arguably the greatest world championship run of all time. He lasted 735 days as the GHC Heavyweight Champion, managing 13 title defences against stars like Yoshihiro Takayama, Akira Taue, Masahiro Chono and Minoru Suzuki.
He eventually dropped the title Takeshi Rikio at NOAH Navigation For Evolution 2005 in March of that year but continued to be seen as the company’s top star.
Kenta Kobashi continued putting on fantastic matches every time he stepped into the ring. Most notable of these were matches against Naomichi Marufiji, KENTA and Samoa Joe, the latter of which took place in Ring of Honor. He even wrestled a match in England in 2005, at Universal Uproar in the Coventry Skydome.
The star wrestled mainly in tag team matches in 2006. His final match that year, on May 6th at NOAH Northern Navigation ’06, saw Kobashi and Tamon Honda win the company’s tag team championships.
They defeated Mohammed Yone & Takeshi Morishima to win the belts, although their reign would end as quickly as it began, and in devastating fashion.
In 2006 He Was Diagnosed With Kidney Cancer
Despite his legendary status in the world of puroresu, even Kenta Kobashi was not invincible.
During a regular health screening that NOAH did for all of its talent, doctors noticed some irregularities with Kenta Kobashi, specifically his kidneys. They advised him to see a specialist to see what was wrong and once he did, the worst was revealed.
Kenta Kobashi was suffering from kidney cancer. His condition was officially revealed to the public on the 29th of June 2006 with a posting on the door at Differ Ariake before the Pro Wrestling NOAH SEM show that day.
He followed it up with an announcement on NTV Sports News at midnight to tell the entire country about it. Pro Wrestling NOAH’s weekly TV show was changed that week to a discussion about Kenta Kobashi’s cancer and highlights of his career in NOAH.
He was only 39 at the time of his diagnosis.
In an interview Kobashi gave about his cancer battle, he spoke about how he broke the news to his colleagues. He revealed that he told Mitsuharu Misawa after a fan event, who was lost for words and could not reply to what he had heard.
Meanwhile, he told Akira Taue over the phone. His fellow Four Pillar was so distraught that Kobashi had to hang up the phone to give him time and space to deal with the information.
The whole company was distraught to find out the news but rallied behind the NOAH ace in aid of his recovery.
The fans got behind their ace on his road to recovery. Over 80,000 paper cranes were made by fans for him in tribute and to encourage him to get better. These were displayed on the stage when Kenta Kobashi finally made his return, which we will get to later.
In aid of his recovery, Kenta Kobashi underwent kidney surgery to remove the cancerous tumour on his organs. At the time of his diagnosis, he held the GHC Tag Team Championships alongside Tamon Honda and was forced to vacate them when getting medical treatment.
Even for a man as tough as Kenta Kobashi, the cancer treatment knocked him for six.
He wrote in a social media post at the time that he couldn’t do anything when he was recovering. He was too weak to even walk, let alone train or wrestle, so simply had to lie in bed as he waited for his body to recover.
For a man who embodied what fighting spirit meant, this was a fight very different to anything he’d faced in the ring. Battles against Misawa and Kawada seemed like child’s play compared to his fight against kidney cancer.
Thankfully, the treatments were successful and Kenta Kobashi was given the all-clear for his cancer. He was ready to make his return and it would be a big one
Kenta Kobashi’s Return Was One Of The Greatest Ever
546 days after leaving the promotion to start his cancer battle, Kenta Kobashi returned to NOAH as the conquering hero.
The Iron Man of pro wrestling had taken on the biggest fight of his career and had won. His body was still broken down from the numerous injuries he suffered over the years, including various arm and leg surgeries in the early 2000s, but he came back to NOAH much to the delight of the fans.
Kenta Kobashi’s return match from cancer was a huge deal. Fans did not know if he would ever come back, making the eventual announcement in September of that year even more incredible.
It took place at NOAH Winter Navigation ’07 and had an unprecedented amount of attention from the Japanese fanbase. The company revealed months in advance that his first match back would be a tag team match, teaming with Takayama to take on Akiyama and Misawa.
People were desperate to see their favourite back in the ring and packed the Nippon Budokan just to see him returning to the sport that he dominated for so many years. And it was the will of those fans that inspired him to return.
In a recent Tweet, Kobashi wrote;
“The reason I was able to come back to the ring was that there were fans who believed in my return and were waiting for me! I like professional wrestling! A strong feeling of “I’m going to live”! Because there was. Thank you to all the fans.”
On the 2nd of December 2007, Kenta Kobashi returned to the ring after 546 days of recovering from cancer treatment. The crowd were electric and were one of the loudest ever heard, breaking the record attendance for the near-20,000-seater venue.
As his music hit, the crowd roared and began to chant “KO-BASH-I” louder than anybody had before. The 80,000 paper cranes were woven together and hung on the stage, showing how much the fan support meant to the Japanese star.
As he made his way onto the stage (with another huge roar), Kenta Kobashi looked rather emotional. He likely never expected he’d be back in front of the fans and ready to wrestle again.
You could barely hear the music over the “KO-BASH-I” chants. It was that loud and more than he could ever have expected as a return to wrestling.
Kenta Kobashi and Yoshihiro Takayama lost the match. It was a great match, earning 4.25 stars from Dave Meltzer. He was pinned at the end of the match, which isn’t unusual in Japan.
Wrestlers out with injury usually lose their first match as they are not yet acclimatised to top-level competition. However, the loss did take the wind out of the fan’s sails and the match would have been better received had the conquering hero conquered again.
In the grand scheme of things, the result didn’t matter. Kenta Kobashi had beaten cancer and was back in a NOAH ring. He would wrestle for six more years before retiring, although this was marred after he was fired from the promotion in 2012 due to his sky-high salary.
He did get to end his career with dignity with a final retirement tour. Sadly, others weren’t so lucky.
Kenta Kobashi’s Cancer Ultimately Led To Mitsuharu Misawa’s Death
While Kenta Kobashi battled and defeated his cancer, his time off with illness is ultimately what led Mitshuaru Misawa to his own death.
That is not to say that death was Kobashi’s responsibility. He can in no way be blamed for the dangerous risks Misawa took in the ring.
The Emerald Warrior should have not been wrestling at all and should have hung up his boots years ago, even before Kobashi had to take time off to recover.
However, Misawa thought that he needed to continue in the ring. Despite his body barely holding up, he continued to wrestle for NOAH in Kobashi’s absence. Most of these matches were in six-man tag matches, allowing him plenty of time to recover on the apron during the bout.
He may not have been in the best physical shape, but Misawa was still a fantastic wrestler and a huge draw for NOAH. There were worries that with Kobashi gone, they needed Misawa to keep wrestling or risk the promotion going under.
So, he kept wrestling. Even when Kenta Kobashi returned from his cancer treatment, Misawa continued to compete in the ring. He knew he was on borrowed time, even writing a letter to his future opponent in the event he died in the ring.
Mitsuhiro Misawa died in the ring in 2009, long after Kobashi’s return to the company.
Discover more detail about how Mitsuharu Misawa died.
Would his death have occurred had Kenta Kobashi’s cancer not forced him out of the ring? It seems likely. Misawa didn’t need an excuse to keep wrestling. He knew that he would die in the ring eventually but kept competing.
His stubbornness and determination to help Pro Wrestling NOAH was admirable, but it ultimately cost him his life.
It would be wrong to blame the consequences of Kenta Kobashi’s cancer on his death because it’s likely that he would have been wrestling all that time even if he was healthy.
