KENTA, Age 19

Makoto Hashi vs Kenta Kobayashi, AJPW Super Power Series 2000 (All Japan Pro Wrestling)

The year 2000 doesn't seem that long ago to me until I remember that back then the 9-11 attack had not yet occurred, that I wasn't yet employed where I'm currently employed, that the USA had not yet had a nonwhite President or a female Vice President, that Facebook and iPhones didn't exist, that same-sex marriage was not an option, that COVID-19 was not yet a thing, that KENTA was not an internationally famous mononym. This 31 May 2000 match occurred just a week after Kenta Kobayashi's debut. The bulked-up KENTA did not yet exist, neither did the yellow and brown velvet trunks, but red trunks with matching boots suit him well here, and he's already close to being resoundingly terrific.

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