Highlights

• Japanese wrestling is known for its brutal and physical style, with the iconic "King's Road" style developed in Japan by All Japan Pro Wrestling.
• Kenta Kobashi is credited with creating the infamous Burning Hammer move, which is an inverted death valley driver. He only used it seven times in his career, making it a lethal and notable finisher.
• While some wrestlers have attempted to replicate the Burning Hammer, the move is highly dangerous and controversial. Many believe it should be banned out of respect for Kobashi and its potential for serious injury.

Japanese wrestling is home to some of the greatest innovations the sport has seen within the last few decades. It was in Japan where the iconic “King’s Road” style of pro wrestling developed, a style that heavily emphasizes brutality and the physicality of the sport as a means of storytelling. The promotion that arguably spearheaded this style was All Japan Pro Wrestling.

RELATED: NJPW Star KENTA's Real Life Beef With CM Punk, ExplainedWith this brutality comes a lot of jaw-dropping, stomach-wrenching maneuvers. One of the most infamous of these is the Burning Hammer, the creation of which is credited to Kenta Kobashi, one of AJPW’s Four Pillars.

The Burning Hammer Wrestling Move Was Made Popular By Kenta Kobashi

While Kobashi usually gets all the credit for the creation of the Burning Hammer, the reality is that he found inspiration for the move from fellow Japanese wrestler Kyoko Inoue. The Burning Hammer finds its origins in Inoue’s Victoria Driver, a torture rack head spike maneuver. Kobashi tweaked the move and created what is effectively an inverted death valley driver, wherein an opponent is held on Kobashi’s shoulders with their stomach up, and then dumped onto their head.

Kobashi crafted his weapon and began to boast to his longtime rival and fellow Pillar, Mitsuharu Misawa. Kobashi had never been able to defeat Misawa in the ring, and had to resort to drastic measures to put down the Emerald Emperor. It wasn’t until October 1998 that Kobashi finally had an ace in the hole to finally bring Misawa down.

Kenta Kobashi Rarely Used The Burning Hammer

No one ever kicked out of the burning hammer when Kobashi delivered it, making it the most lethal finisher in wrestling history. What adds to the prestige of the move is that Kobashi only pulled it out of his arsenal seven times in his career, making each usage incredibly notable. Three of the seven times Kobashi wielded the Burning Hammer, it was against Mitsuharu Misawa.

The move’s debut came on October 24, 1998, when Kobashi used it during a tag team match against Misawa to send a firm message that he’d finally got the Emperor’s number. The next usage came a year later, when Kobashi used the Burning Hammer on Misawa once again to win the AJPW World Tag Team Titles with his longterm tag partner and rival, Jun Akiyama. Then, in 2003, Kobashi used the Hammer to defeat Misawa for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. This bout marked the end of their legendary rivalry.

RELATED: 10 Best Technical Wrestlers In NJPW History, RankedKobashi also used the move on rivals like Jun Akiyama and fellow Pillar Akira Taue. The last time Kobashi ever took out the Burning Hammer was to put down his disrespectful young protégé, KENTA, in 2003.

Kobashi spent much of his late career sidelined due to injury, some of which required surgeries. He wrestled on-and-off until his official retirement in 2013. However, the Burning Hammer has not been laid to rest. Instead, several other wrestlers have attempted to wield it themselves, with mixed success.

The continued use of the Burning Hammer beyond Kobashi’s retirement generates a heated discussion; some believe the move should be outlawed out of respect to the wrestling legend who created the move, while others believe it shouldn’t be used simply because of how dangerous it is.

The Burning Hammer Has Been Used Worldwide By Other Wrestlers

The move became an instant hit among fans, meaning that replication of Kobashi’s creation was all but inevitable. Promoters are obviously very wary of the move and usually have it banned from their rings, but that doesn’t mean the occasional ballsy wrestler doesn’t take a risk every now and again.

Brian Kendrick was the first to hit the Burning Hammer in WWE during the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic. He delivered it to Kota Ibushi, one of the few men in wrestling who’s reckless enough to agree to that spot. Ibushi, unsurprisingly for fans of the Golden Star, kicked out of the move.

Other wrestlers to have tried their hand at the Burning Hammer include AJ Styles, LuFisto, Jake Something, and Seth Rollins (as Tyler Black on the independent scene).

RELATED: Why AEW 's Four Pillars Marketing Gimmick Works Against The CompanyKenta Kobashi’s Burning Hammer is a harrowed maneuver that he created to defeat his greatest rival and arguably the best wrestler in the world, Mitsuharu Misawa. However, wrestlers who are reading this and thinking about trying the move for themselves should heed this warning: the Burning Hammer has the reputation it does for a reason. It is an exceptionally dangerous move with a lot of room for error, and in the worst-case scenarios, those errors can be lethal.