Two Notes About the World's Coolest Wrestler

PWInsider.com is reporting that Samoa Joe has apparently agreed to a new deal with TNA for the next 2-3 years, and DAMN is that good to hear. The man is quite simply the most exciting thing to hit the national scene in many years, consistently turns in awesome matches, is probably the best brawler in the business, a damn great technician, can fly for a big man, plays the bad-a$$ heel incredibly well, and on and on. The Company That Shall Not Be Named probably didn't even give him a serious glance because of his percieved "look" (i.e., he's not a muscle-headed roid freak so how could he possibly get over), and that is their loss. And if he had decided to sign with them now, they'd probably do a Taz(z) on him, taking one of the hottest non-them commodities on the market and utterly destroying his credibility, because everything in wrestling has to have been created by Vince and Vince alone, wah wah. To hell with them, and thank you Joe for staying where you can still be you. And hoping this means we'll get a rematch of...

Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi. I had heard tales of this match from various news sources, and it finished third in the match of the year voting, an impressive feat for a contest that didn't even air on television. It was held by an independant promotion named Ring of Honor on October 1st of last year, and those who were there heralded it as one of the greatest matches they'd ever seen. The DVD of the show in question was simply named "Joe vs. Kobashi" - for those who knew, apparently, no more hype was necessary. Well, after many moons of anticipation, I finally order it from ROH and it arrived in the mail yesterday.

I have watched the match three times in the ensuing 24 hours. Capsule reaction: Holy S#!t.

There is not a drop of blood spilled in the match. No weapons of any kind are used. Just a straight-up contest between two of the hardest hitters in the game. And it may be the single most brutal match I've ever seen. Chops so hard they practically echo. You can see the progression as Joe's chest turns beet red from the sheer force of the blows. Incredibly stiff bumps all over the place. No blown spots. This one may be as close to perfection as you can get - perfection of execution, perfection of storytelling, and most of all, perfection of sheer effort. When Joe can barely stand up at the end to shake Kobashi's hand, you somehow know he's not selling. Both guys left everything they had in that ring. Just incredible.

So, I own it. Anyone who wants to see it, I'll be happy to show it to you. It may amount to a wrestling epiphany.