Join the cast of Netflix’s Cobra Kai as they relive some big moments following the release of Cobra Kai Season 6. From the school fight scene in Season 2, to Johnny and Daniel teaming up to tackle the ruthless John Kreese. Watch as Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo and Peyton List break down some iconic moments from Cobra Kai.Part 1 of Cobra Kai’s sixth season is available to stream exclusively on Netflix. Part 2 will be released November 28 on Netflix.
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00:00What's up, GQ?
00:02I'm Billy Zabka. I play Johnny Lawrence.
00:04I'm Gianni DiCenzo. I play Dimitri.
00:06Shalom, Ayuduena. I'm Miguel Diaz.
00:08Tanner Buchanan, Robbie King.
00:10I'm Peyton List. I play Tori Nichols.
00:12Ralph Macchio, Daniel LaRusso.
00:14I'm Jacob Scott Thomas Bertrand.
00:16I play Eli Moskowitz, slash, the Hawk.
00:18Mary Madeline Mauser, and I play Samantha LaRusso.
00:21And these are the biggest moments of Cobra Kai.
00:25Daniel versus Johnny fight.
00:31Ready?
00:33Fight!
00:40I remember I said to Billy at one point,
00:42I said, I wonder what this would go for on pay-per-view.
00:47You know, just because we hear about it all the time
00:49on the streets over the years,
00:51before this show, and certainly once this show is going on,
00:53when's the rematch?
00:55I recall talking about, okay, so how can we do this
00:58and be honest to where these guys are now?
01:01Like, not us trying to do the teenage version.
01:04Like, sort of fight as men that have been through this,
01:07that are this age.
01:09And we sort of found that in the choreography.
01:11And we had a little bit of time,
01:13which often on the show we don't,
01:15in the fight sequences.
01:17We did have enough time to kind of work it
01:19and find all the emotional beats.
01:22And that's what made it not just a rematch.
01:24It was more about, we're both fighting for our reliefs
01:27and we're fighting for what's best for the kids.
01:29I want what's best for them.
01:31What's best for them is Miyagi-Do.
01:34So neither guy was wrong.
01:36And then it ends in the perfect draw,
01:39where nothing gets settled.
01:41The double spinning backfist,
01:43so we don't knock each other out.
01:45Which was the only way that it could have ended.
01:47I mean, it should have been, I should have won.
01:49It's a good fight. I like that fight a lot.
01:51And I like the music in that fight and the way it's shot.
01:53It's a good one.
01:56Come on, baby!
02:01The difference really, I think, is the time.
02:03When we did the Karate Kid,
02:05we had months and months of preparation for that fight.
02:07It was a ballet. We could have done that blindfolded.
02:09Yeah, we never touched each other.
02:11We always joke now.
02:13We're like, why do we have all these bruises back in the day we didn't?
02:15Because back in the day we had the time.
02:17Everything was synchronized to perfection.
02:19It was a tango.
02:21Now it's just like, we just learn the thing.
02:23You don't have it in your body yet,
02:25but you still have to shoot it.
02:27It was something that I think the writers felt
02:29like the fans were waiting to see happen
02:31and they wanted to see happen.
02:33It was the right place for it and the right result.
02:35It drove the story forward,
02:37which is what all the fights are supposed to do.
02:39Move the plot forward, not just fight for a fight.
02:41I will say, for any of the fans sitting at home being like,
02:43man, what it would have been like to stand there
02:45and watch Daniel Russo
02:47and Johnny Lawrence fight.
02:49Sure, it was freezing,
02:51but Carlo and I got to be on the mat to be the referees.
02:53And that was probably
02:55the pinch me moment
02:57that I will be telling my grandkids about.
02:59The school fight!
03:01And the balcony kick.
03:15How did we get to this?
03:17I hear the challenge in your tone
03:19How did it start?
03:21What started it?
03:23What started it was,
03:25so anyway,
03:27don't drink before,
03:29don't drink kids.
03:31None of this would have happened.
03:33You kissed Miguel.
03:37I...
03:39I...
03:41That was my first time
03:43getting to fight with Peyton, both of us.
03:45I think that was your first time fighting on camera or no?
03:47Yeah, my first time fighting on camera for sure.
03:49And the first time I remember hearing about
03:51Samantha, Mary's character,
03:53was from Miguel, and I think there was instant jealousy
03:55about Sam.
03:57But yeah, I mean,
03:59Sam accuses Tori of
04:01robbing her mom at the country club.
04:03I mean, to be fair,
04:05she spoke about stealing like five minutes
04:07before something goes missing.
04:09She's like, I steal!
04:11But look, yes, Sam was a little hot-headed.
04:13She should have taken her time.
04:15I see that now with age and maturity.
04:17Damn, we're getting to the root of the problem.
04:29The water's
04:31where the scary stuff happens.
04:33You can't mess anything up.
04:35The water was really fun.
04:37There was a lot of rehearsals of it.
04:39There was a lot of what felt like a lot of takes,
04:41but realistically, six takes is not many to get
04:43of something that intricate.
04:45But we all, like,
04:47there was no, because there were no cut points
04:49and because it wasn't linear, like it didn't move in one
04:51direction, we, nobody could
04:53take a break. So it wasn't like you got to do your
04:55part and then quit and wait until
04:57the end of the take and start over.
04:59Everybody was fighting in the background of everybody else's
05:01fight, so even though the camera wasn't on you anymore,
05:03you had to keep moving and keep fighting
05:05and making it look like you were involved
05:07and alive the entire time.
05:13Ah!
05:15Look out!
05:17Look out!
05:19I mean, I'm happy with where
05:21Miguel is now. I think
05:23he had to get his
05:25comeuppance a little bit.
05:27For Miguel, karate is such
05:29a central core of who he was
05:31and I think having that
05:33aspect taken away,
05:35there was a big learning curve
05:37and getting to
05:39ease back into things was something
05:41different to explore in the character,
05:43something that I definitely didn't think going
05:45into the first season of the show was going to happen,
05:47but... Send him to the hospital, you were in a hospital.
05:49Right!
05:51It was maybe not the wisest decision
05:53in the moment, but in the long term,
05:55showing mercy pays off
05:57because it comes around.
05:59You could have not
06:01had mercy, I mean you were going to get... I wish you knew a pressure
06:03point or something like that. Right!
06:05No, but showing mercy was the right move and in the tournament you
06:07didn't show mercy and you won the title,
06:09which won the title, but it's like, is Cobra Kai
06:11good or is it bad? Like, you won
06:13but through a dark way. You won the battle
06:15and she lost the battle. Yeah, that's why, you know, Johnny's not
06:17so happy at the end of that season and drinks some
06:19scotch and then in comes Kreese, who's the root
06:21of it all. So you made the right choice. I'm proud of
06:23you for having shown
06:25mercy and in the long run, look.
06:27Look at what you did to me.
06:29Hawk breaks Dimitri's arm.
06:31No, no, no, it's fine, I'll go.
06:35Hawk, finish him!
06:37No!
06:39Damn it!
06:41Dude, he breaks my arm!
06:43I mean, he shatters it. Like, these guys
06:45encourage, well no, just you actually
06:47of this whole group encourages
06:49him. And there's
06:51no discussion between
06:53our characters.
06:55Do it, do the roar.
06:57We do not talk about that.
06:59I know, I just get so angry that I black out.
07:01I don't remember any of it. Yeah, I just forgive you
07:03out of fear that you're going to do it again.
07:05Even if you don't know who he is,
07:07I really think that you don't even recognize
07:09that he's the kid who got his arm broken.
07:11Yeah, I was like, violence, yeah.
07:13You just know me as
07:15like, Darwin something.
07:17Some random name. Yeah, man, I mean, this is
07:19the lowest point for the binary
07:21bros, I think.
07:23Yeah, you want to talk about how violent
07:25you were? It's probably the most powerful Hawk
07:27has ever been.
07:29I mean, I have twigs for arms.
07:31Yeah, it's not that tough.
07:33It's kind of funny, fake breaking your arm,
07:35like screaming on the ground.
07:37Dude, dude!
07:39When I went
07:41to break it, the way Gianni screamed,
07:43I was like, ew.
07:45We joke about it now. This is pretty disturbing.
07:47But yeah, that was rough.
07:49The Russo House Fight!
07:51No mercy!
07:53The Russo House Fight!
07:55The Russo House Fight!
07:57The Russo House Fight!
07:59The Russo House Fight!
08:01Tori is bringing all the
08:03Cobra Kai's to the Russo House.
08:05Handicapped? In matching outfits?
08:07In color-coordinated
08:09outfits. All Cobra Kai
08:11color-coordinated, and maybe some snakeskin.
08:13I was in group chat, and she was like,
08:15not that, wear the other shit.
08:17If you're not wearing black, don't show up.
08:19But that was never supposed to be
08:21the Russo House, little
08:23behind-the-scenes.
08:25We had to finish up shooting
08:27that season, and the forecast
08:29was for five straight days
08:31of rain. That was supposed to be the Miyagi
08:33backyard. And this
08:35was a last-minute, what are we
08:37going to do? We can't be shooting this in
08:39the pouring rain, and
08:41the terrain of that
08:43backyard, and they came up with
08:45tossing a kid through the
08:47kitchen window. That would have looked sick, though,
08:49if it was in the pouring rain.
08:51No, it's way better in the house.
08:53Taking weapons off the Miyagi-Do
08:55wall, and breaking Miyagi's picture was
08:57probably the worst thing. I love that it invaded their
08:59space. It brought the battle
09:01right to your home. I don't like to talk
09:03about Jacob so much, but that one kick
09:05that you did was super sick. That one
09:07where you're flying through, and you do a double kick on the guy.
09:09Oh, you take them both down, the binary brother.
09:11Yeah, he's got that twist where he's like,
09:13okay, I broke his arm, but now I'm going to
09:15save his life.
09:17My favorite part of all that was the behind-the-scenes
09:19of making the Wunner work involved
09:21Sholo and Joe, who were
09:23fighting in the background of the scene, picking
09:25up and moving the coffee table out of the way for the
09:27camera crew to get through, then moving the coffee table back,
09:29setting it down, and then resuming their fight
09:31in the midst of the rest of the
09:33thing happening. They had to move the coffee table
09:35and stand it up on its side, and they're standing there
09:37waiting for the second to be like,
09:39bring it in, set it down, and then immediately
09:41go back to punching.
09:43Like theater ensemble.
09:45Yeah, you got it. I like how that whole fight
09:47happened, and everyone visibly gets
09:49hit, but you are just like
09:51so messed up.
09:53And then we had the really bloody
09:55kiss, because Sholo
09:57was supposed to have a bloody nose, and they were like,
09:59you guys are going to have this really romantic kiss
10:01at the end of it, and we were like, okay.
10:03And then we went and did the kiss scene, and as soon as we did,
10:05I turned away, and my mouth was just
10:07covered in blood, and they were like, so that's never being
10:09used.
10:11The first All-Valley tournament!
10:15What do you think you're doing? Coaching my student.
10:17Somebody needs to be there for him.
10:19You think this is funny? Do you see me laughing?
10:21You're going to regret this
10:23when it's over. Yeah, right, like this
10:25will ever be over.
10:27What was weirder than reading it was actually walking onto the
10:29set, I think, the first time and seeing the big poster
10:31of Daniel LaRusso on the crane kick.
10:33There was no poster of Johnny Lawrence taking
10:35the crane kick, which I'm still upset about.
10:37But just the walking into
10:39that with the...
10:41It was so surreal. It was just really like a flashback
10:43in time. It really was.
10:45And all that stuff felt
10:47very Karate Kid in the
10:49scope of that first season.
10:51Being there on the sidelines,
10:53which I was thankful for, for the most part,
10:55until I got back
10:57in shape.
10:59Yeah, it was surreal
11:01is the word.
11:03Nostalgic is another word
11:05that's massive that we feel,
11:07Billy and I, and a lot of the
11:09OG original characters from the movies
11:11feel all the time.
11:13I wasn't
11:15expecting to fight at all during the first season
11:17to be honest. Oh, come on!
11:19I really wasn't. You're a bad boy.
11:23I love that we established
11:25Robbie the bad boy in the first
11:27couple of episodes, and you're like flannel
11:29shirts and long hair,
11:31your ring's on and everything.
11:33And then after that, you're just like,
11:35you're fine. You're not that bad of a guy.
11:37I'm just a skater boy
11:39at that point. You were headed towards Juvie
11:41until you bumped into your old dad
11:43again. He did go to Juvie.
11:45I know!
11:47I think the only rememberable moment is
11:49just you jumping up onto the mat.
11:53I mean, that was fire.
11:55Yeah, that's my little anime added.
11:57Yeah, Hawk is sick.
11:59You know, I got to take my shirt off
12:01for the first time on camera.
12:03That was really fun.
12:05I was super nervous for that all day.
12:07Yeah, I got to do a lot of fighting, you know.
12:09I got to elbow someone in the face.
12:11I got to injure Robbie.
12:13Really, I think I paved the way for Miguel
12:15to win. The season one tournament, I remember
12:17being so excited. I was like,
12:19yeah, I'm just going to sit and watch people do a bunch
12:21of karate. This is going to be awesome, which is
12:23basically what I got to do. Plus, I got to watch
12:25Raph Macchio teach Xolo Maldivana
12:27how to do a crane kick.
12:29While Xolo held a cup of hot chocolate,
12:31I think, in his hand while
12:33trying to do the crane kick.
12:35He finds out that he's back at the dojo
12:37and Johnny comes and kicks the door in and finds that
12:39Kreese is taking over. Or he actually already took
12:41it over. Now what is it? Did he take it over?
12:43That's got to be the title.
12:45She's just looking for you
12:47to tee up the story.
12:49Yeah, so Johnny's coming in and seeing his son
12:51under the spell of John Kreese, which just sets
12:53him off and Kreese tries to lure him in one last time.
12:55Well, before it's
12:57Daniel and Johnny fighting Kreese, it's
12:59Johnny fighting Kreese, and then Daniel
13:01saves his life because Kreese is about to kill him again.
13:03I only have one thing to say.
13:05I shot a video
13:07of me showing
13:09Ralph being my hero, coming in and
13:11standing over him. That's when you go to the glass
13:13with Kreese, right? Exactly.
13:15But I only have one thing to say.
13:17Johnny and Daniel fight
13:19John Kreese.
13:21Oh, is that what you wanted me to say?
13:23This isn't how I wanted
13:25this to end.
13:27You sent him to my house?
13:29You came after my daughter?
13:31You want her to fight you son of a bitch?
13:33Now you go!
13:35He comes in to save
13:37Johnny Lawrence, and
13:39you start to begin to see
13:41these two guys that are
13:43quite different, but often
13:45the same, coming together.
13:47And I thought that was a
13:49strong... I had that great...
13:51He's choking him out,
13:53which is a sort of
13:55a replay on him choking him out
13:57in the beginning of Karate Kid Part 2.
13:59And so it was kind of
14:01them coming together for the first time
14:03to join forces
14:05at the end of Season 3.
14:07You can't trust him!
14:09And I can trust you?
14:11Robbie, please listen to me.
14:13You know, all those years you weren't there,
14:15I blamed myself.
14:17Since then, Kreese is right.
14:19I can't be my own worst enemy.
14:21But you can be.
14:23Robbie goes down the road that led Johnny
14:25into the darkness, and he's desperate
14:27to save his son from that, but
14:29Robbie doesn't see it yet.
14:31And so Johnny goes crazy on Kreese,
14:33and then in comes Daniel, and I was trying to say
14:35while we were filming that I got my little phone out
14:37because as I'm on the ground being choked out,
14:39I see Daniel LaRusso's feet, and it's really surreal
14:41as Johnny Lawrence to be on the ground and see
14:43in character Daniel LaRusso
14:45coming to help me out.
14:47So it was kind of a real honest
14:49moment where I was like, this is kind of cool.
14:51And then they went through the plate glass
14:53window together, and
14:55it was the first time Johnny and Daniel
14:57are the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
14:59There was like a moment, a bridge
15:01slowly coming together. That was the first
15:03turning point, I think, for that.
15:05Listen, when Kreese came back, I remember reading the script
15:07and the way he took over the dojo,
15:09and we didn't know that was going to happen.
15:11And at that point, the show was built on, here's the new Cobra Kai,
15:13and it's moving forward.
15:15So when I read that Kreese is actually literally going to
15:17take over Cobra Kai,
15:19I had a real
15:21strong feeling about that. Like, wait, what?
15:23No, this can't happen. It was like in character
15:25feeling that way. And then,
15:27what's going to happen next? Which is
15:29the genius Eagle Fang Karate,
15:31the dojo that saves us all.
15:39My dad threw me into a locker.
15:43No, it was super cool,
15:45but to be honest, it is true. My dad threw me
15:47into a locker. Wait, I didn't throw you
15:49into a locker. You came charging at me
15:51like a bull in a china shop, and I tried not to
15:53hit you, and used your own power against you.
15:57This wonderful sidestep swat move,
15:59and you fell into the locker.
16:01If it was a pillow, it would have been a pillow.
16:03Yes, I didn't throw you
16:05into a locker. For me, that was pretty incredible, but
16:07to be honest, a lot of it, I had to be
16:09knocked out, so I didn't actually
16:11get to see any of it until it was on
16:13screen. So I got...
16:15I know. There were a couple things
16:17that I had to lay there and kind of keep my eyes open
16:19a little bit, because I wanted to watch, but I didn't get
16:21an experience like any of them.
16:23Did you check on your son after you threw
16:25him into a locker? Yes.
16:27Terry Silver versus
16:29Daniel LaRusso. This guy wants
16:31to break, humiliate you,
16:33stomp you into the ground,
16:35and what are you going to do about it?
16:45This was a big...
16:47Season 5, another episode 5,
16:49which is always kind of like our mid-season
16:51finale. It was fun for me,
16:53because Daniel LaRusso was going down this
16:55kind of rabbit hole of like
16:57his wife took off
16:59with the kids, and he's
17:01the only one who knows
17:03who Terry Silver is, so he looks like the
17:05crazy person, and he's drinking
17:07scotch for breakfast, and
17:09Chosen comes in to try to, you know,
17:11point him back straight,
17:13and then he's
17:15off his axis,
17:17and Terry Silver just, you know,
17:19psych warfare just manipulates
17:21him into a situation, because
17:23LaRusso's operating
17:25from anger. He's operating from
17:27knee-jerk instead of balance. You know, he's
17:29lost all his
17:31centered Miyagi-ness, and
17:33fighting Thomas Ian
17:35Griffith, who's a true martial artist.
17:37I play one on TV.
17:39And then he's 6 foot what? 6'5"?
17:41Whatever. He's like fighting
17:43a buff praying mantis.
17:45He's 12-1.
17:47And so he, fortunately,
17:49his control is spectacular,
17:51and he didn't, you know,
17:53ever hit me really, but
17:55it was
17:57an exciting fight, and
17:59it left Daniel in a really
18:01tough place, and it was disturbing
18:03to see this sort of protagonist
18:05of this original movie
18:07series now be, you know,
18:09just pummeled to the
18:11unconsciousness, you know?
18:13I'm always punching up at 6'5".
18:15You know? I can only
18:17look so cool.
18:19He just had to put his hand on my head, and I would've been like...
18:21But I got a
18:23few good ones in there.
18:25A few good ones. It was a good fight.
18:27You know, you have to hit bottom to bounce
18:29back up, and this was clearly bottom.
18:31And it's also
18:33at the point of that season when
18:35all the characters,
18:37you know, Johnny and Joseph and
18:39Robbie, you know, Sam, obviously
18:41she always has Dad's back, but
18:43you know, there are really
18:45strong elements
18:47where all of Miyagi-Do
18:49comes together to say, yes, you were right.
18:51This guy is bad, and we have your back.
18:53Thanks, GQ!
18:55Be sure to watch season six of Cobra Kai
18:57now on
18:59Netflix!
19:01Doo-doo!
19:03Doo-doo!
19:07Doo-doo!