While he is best known for finishers like the Moonsault, or Burning Hammer, Kenta Kobashi has another super finisher that is very rarely seen.
While his Burning Lariat, or Moonsault would regularly win matches, sometimes Kobashi had to dig deep into his arsenal to put away his opponents once and for all.
This usually came in the form of the Burning Hammer – an inverted fireman’s carry driver that is incredibly dangerous, so only used seven times in his career.
However, he had one even rarer finisher. One that was so dangerous that it was used only once, and never even attempted again.
That move was Kenta Kobashi’s Diamond Head finishing move.
Kenta Kobashi Diamond Head
During a match against Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Kenta Kobashi invented a new version of the powerbomb, which was named the Diamond Head.
Kobashi lifted Kanemaru onto his shoulder in a powerbomb position, but sat him on his right shoulder, rather than on his head.
He then spun him in the air as he dropped him, leading to Kanemaur landing right on his shoulder and head, with a huge force.
This looked incredibly dangerous, and could have resulted in a disturbing injury. However, Yoshinobu Kanemaru wrestled just two weeks later, so he avoided a potentially catastrophic injury.
The Diamond Head was never used again by Kenta Kobashi again. Likely because of the inherant danger of the move, but also because he simply couldn’t do it right.
The move was meant to look a lot different, according to speculation in the year’s since.
Many have theorized that the Diamond Head was supposed to look Chris Sabin’s “Over Easy“, which was a Canadian backbreaker rack, flipped over into a DDT.
This makes a lot more sense and looks a lot better, less dangerous but more difficult to pull off than the Diamond Head.
Luckily, Kenta Kobashi had an array of different finishing moves he could pull out at a moment’s notice, so he did not miss taking the Diamond Head out of his arsenal.