Kenta Kobashi (小橋 健太, Kobashi Kenta; ring name: 小橋 建太) (born, March 27, 1967) is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired wrestler. Broadly referred to by the nickname "Tetsujin" (鉄人; Iron Man), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. He is best known for his two runs in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah, of which he captured AJPW's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship thrice, and Noah's GHC Heavyweight Championship once. He is the winner of numerous Match of the Year and Wrestler of the Year awards, including from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) and Tokyo Sports. Kobashi started his wrestling career in AJPW in 1987, debuting the next year and becoming the star rookie of the promotion. Booked as a resilient jobber by AJPW founder Giant Baba, he became a key major figure in the shift between old wrestlers to younger ones in the turn of the Super World of Sports exodus. In 1993, he was officially dubbed as one of the members of the Four Heavenly Kings (プロレスの四天王, Puroresu no shiten'nō; also called the Four Pillars of Heaven) of AJPW, alongside Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, and Akira Taue. He becam
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