The Burning Hammer has gone down in infamy as one of the most dangerous moves in pro-wrestling history.
Used only a handful of times by its creator, the original version of the move has been banned from the ring, hopefully never to return.
While it has been used as a modified version over the years, nothing compared to when it’s creator – Kenta Kobashi – used the move in All Japan Pro Wrestling & Pro Wrestling NOAH.
What Is The Burning Hammer?
The Burning Hammer one of the finishing moves of Japanese legend Kenta Kobashi.
The move is referred to as a “super finisher”, given its rarity and effectiveness in the ring.
The move was seldom brought out in Kobashi’s matches, only being used when he was in dire straights and needed one last push to win his matches.
The move itself is very dangerous. It is an inverted fireman’s carry driver, where Kobashi lifts his opponent onto his shoulders, before driving him headfirst into the matt.
Usually in wrestling, they do something to protect the taker from hurting themselves. Not the Burning Hammer.
He takes the impact head on, risking injury and maybe ever death – this is why the move was used so rarely.
There were may super finishers in this era, including Misawa’s Tiger Driver. While they made for excellent match quality, they held great personal risk for the man taking the move.
Kenta Kobashi’s Burning Hammer
Kenta Kobashi hit the burning hammer 7 times in his career. Every time, the super finisher put his opponent away and won the match.
It was only brought out due to necessity, due to the incredible danger it posed to his opponent.
Here we will list every single time Kenta Kobashi hit the burning hammer in his matches, going through his career from All Japan Pro Wrestling to Pro Wrestling NOAH.
The 7 matches that Kenta Kobashi used the Burning Hammer always ended in him winning. Those matches are as follows:
- w/ Shinzaki vs Misawa & Omori, October 1998 (AJPW)
- w/ Akiyama vs Misawa & Ogawa, October 1999 (AJPW)
- vs Akiyama, December 2000 (NOAH)
- vs Misawa, March 2003 (NOAH)
- vs Akiyama, July 2004 (NOAH)
- vs Taue, September 2004 (NOAH)
- vs KENTA, March 2006 (NOAH)
Since his retirement, the move has been done by various individuals. However, they usually do it a lot safer, not dropping their opponent directly on their head.
Tyler Reks used the move in WWE, albeit a much safer version. However, due to the moves similarities with John Cena’s AA, he lost his push and was eventually forced out of the company by Cena.
Brian Kendrick also used the move during the Cruiserweight Classic, much to the delight of Daniel Bryan on commentary.
He hit the move on Japanese star Kota Ibushi, who would have been well aware of the connection to Kenta Kobashi.
Unlike Kobashi, this move rarely ended in victory in the WWE, as it did not have the dangerous connotations it had in Japan.
What do you think of Kenta Kobashi’s Burning Hammer finisher? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.