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AJPW Dynamite Series Results & Review (6/12/2018)

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We return to AJPW with a pretty stacked card as we have two title matches tonight, including the Triple Crown Championship.

The show before this, there was a tag title match, Champions Dylan and Ryoji, against KAI and TAJIRI, where the champions retain, giving Dylan some momentum for his title match against the champion tonight, Kento Miyahara.

Will Kento retain the title or will Dylan shock AJPW? Let’s find out and…dive right in.

 

Singles Match
Keiichi Sato vs. Rionne Fujiwara

Review: We get single’s action to start off the show with some juniors, so let’s hope this match can lead to come new contenders for the Junior Heavyweight Championship. The match was rather slow since the majority of it was chain wrestling and strikes which I don’t mind, but it just felt a little bit slower than usual at times.

I know the name is Rionne Fujiwara, but don’t let fool you thinking he’s a Japanese wrestler since he’s actually a gaijin, but there’s actually a good reason for the Fujiwara surname. In 2013 he beat Jiro, challenged Yoshiaki to a match in WNC and lost, however, Fujiwara took him on as the last official disciple, so gave him the Fujiwara surname in a matter of respect and I love that.  I do gotta say that he actually isn’t so bad as he would work on Sato’s arm throughout the match to try and make him tap out, even went for the Triangle Choke between the ropes to help weaken him. Sato would start to deliver stiff kicks in the match and would deliver a Splash first to have Rionne kick out at two and would go for a Brainbuster for another two count and another kick out, but he would hit his Shouha or modified Fisherman Buster to get the win.

Recommended: The match was pretty basic, but not terrible either.

 

Tag Team Match
Takao Omori & Atsushi Maruyama vs. Masanobu Fuchi & Osamu Nishimura

Review: Our next bout is a tag match with our four vets in the promotion for some friendly competition towards one another. I will say this though, I love the reactions from the crowd whenever Fuchi is in the ring because they’ll cheer for him quite loudly whenever he does his trademark stuff and would boo the hell out of his opponents whenever they would try to mimic his stuff from hitting Fuchi below the belt or putting him in a headlock to punch him in the head and do his open fist taunt to the referee.

The match was Omori and Maruyama getting the heat over Fuchi for the majority of it, until Fuchi would make his comeback, do his closed fists and even Scoop Slam the both of them while holding them in the air for about ten seconds. Nishimura would now get in the ring with Maruyama to try and do some damage on him, but Maruyama would then put Nishimura in the Figure Four Leg Lock to try and make him tap out, but Fuchi comes into the ring to get rid of Omori and flips the two over so the hold would be reversed and Maruyama taps out to give Nishimura and Fuchi the win! I do gotta say that for a match involved with guys their age, it was pretty fantastic for what it was and while it’s not great compared to current standards, but for the old school type feel, it was worth seeing.

Recommended: Actually yes, yes check it out.

 

Tag Team Match
Atsushi Aoki & Ishikiri vs. Yohei Nakajima & Último Dragón

Review: Another tag team bout with our Junior Heavyweight Champion teaming up with Ishikiri to take on Yohei Nakajima and the returning Ultimo Dragon. A little bit of context here, Nakajima is on the hunt for the championship against Aoki, but Aoki feels as if he’s not deserving of a title match and Yohei now has to prove himself to see if he can get a match, so if he can beat him cleanly in a tag match, then that will put him in the title picture.

Nakajima would start to attack Aoki before the bell would ring and would keep on the assault until Ishikiri got tagged in and same with Ultimo as the two go at it and let me tell you, Ultimo can still go for a man his age and is just better than the entire junior division in AJPW and that’s the problem with them, just about none of them really stand out, and I’ve said it in my last article with them at how the division has no leadership and something needs to change soon. I personally think Ultimo should be the one to take the title and hold onto it for the time being until they fix up that division and pick someone to be their future instead of just having him drop it to TAJIRI like they did last time. I will, however, try to give this feud a chance and if the execution is bad, then I still say go with my plan and have Ultimo keep the belt. Near the end of the match, Nakajima and Aoki would brawl around and outside the ring while Ultimo and Ishikiri would be the legal men in the match and Ultimo would eventually pick up the win with the La Magistral. After the match, Aoki continued to criticize Yohei as he does not feel he is fully invested in being a champion, which means that Aoki would not give him the title match as he feels like he still doesn’t deserve one.

Recommended: I would watch it just for the interactions between Ultimo and Ishikiri and that’s it. Just give me a singles match with these two instead since they work great together.

 

Tag Team Match
Zeus & Black Tiger VII vs. TAJIRI & Yoshitatsu

Review: We have Zeus in action now and not teamed up with Bodyguard meaning he’s still injured or it’s just a heavyweight/junior heavyweight tag bout and his partner is Black Tiger VII as they take on Yoshitatsu and TAJIRI, surprised he’s not teaming up with KAI and I guess that’s over with since they failed to get the tag titles.

Tiger and Yoshi start the match off and it looked like Tiger would have the opening advantage while for some reason selling his knee and dancing around at the same time…he’s weird, but he would then go for a Shining Wizard and I’m confused as to did Yoshi block it or just no sell it since he got up pretty quick. I always liked the chemistry between Zeus and TAJIRI since they match their strengths off pretty well together and he knows how to make Zeus powerful than he already is. I mean just look at that gorgeous body of his, the body of the gods! The match was solid for what it was except for Yoshi how has been rather sloppy in this match and it really shows here, but hopefully, it’s just the one time since it’s gonna happen to everyone. Yoshi would try to apply the Koji Clutch on Zeus, but that man is too powerful and throws him off before doing a Gorilla Press to both Yoshi and TAJIRI. Black Tiger would try to go for the Shining Wizard on Yoshi to get the win, but Yoshi ducks and hits him with a Spinning Heel Kick and the COJ (Codebreaker of Jericho) for the win and yes he actually calls it that. You know, Jericho is in Japan for the time being, so maybe he should pay Yoshi a little visit.

Recommended: I would like to say it was worth a view.

 

Six Man Tag Team Match
Suwama, Shuji Ishikawa & Hikaru Sato vs. Jake Lee, Ryoji Sai & Koji Iwamoto

Review: We now get six-man action this time with Violent Giants and Hikaru to take on Jake Lee who has been doing rather well ever since he returned from his injury and wants to keep that momentum going here.

Jake and Suwama would start off the match with Suwama pretty much testing Jake’s strength in the match once they locked up and Jake would even get Suwama towards the ropes to break it up, but then it leads to Jake being kicked in the chest and would get him down which made both teams switch as we now have Shuji and Ryoji in the ring now. Shuji would then knock Ryoji down after going back and forth as we now have another tag, putting Hikaru and Koji in the ring now with Hikaru trying to deliver some stuff strikes to Koji. Hikaru would continue his assault on Koji and both Suwama and Shuji would run in to knock down Ryoji and Jake as they beat down Koji, Shuji would even throw him towards the guardrails to damage his body up some more. Suwama would get in the ring now and hits a nice Back Suplex to pin him for a two count and would then apply the Liontamer only for it to break up. Suwama would deliver stiff shops to Koji and would go for an Irish Whip, but Koji reverses it into a Judo Throw to give himself some time to tag in Ryoji for the hot tag as he starts exploding with energy and would go back and forth with punches against Suwama until he got chopped, but Ryoji would still knock Suwama down to get Shuji tagged in as he doesn’t go down without a fight as he delivers a Double Stomp to Ryoji to end his momentum right here, but Jake would then get tagged in as well as Hikaru with Jake trying to go for his Backdrop and is still unsuccessful to do so with Suwama and Shuji coming in to triple team Jake by the both of them delivering Clotheslines to Jake while he was caught on the ropes and ended with Hikaru doing a Jumping Kick, but would get a two count out of it. Hikaru tries to knock Jake out, but Jake makes a comeback with stiff kicks and hits the PK to knock him down and go for a pin, but he breaks up the pinfall by himself since he’s not done yet as he hits the Backdrop for the win. If Jake Lee can keep this momentum up throughout the whole year, then I would have no problem with him winning next years Champion Carnival.

Recommended: Great match, definitely watch it.

 

  • All 7 teams were announced for this year’s “Jr. TAG BATTLE OF GLORY”. The league will run throughout the month of August (August 3rd – August 25), with the team with the highest points winning the league.

    ☆ Atsushi Maruyama & Masashi Takeda (2017 Winners)
    ☆ Atsushi Aoki & Hikaru Sato
    ☆ Yohei Nakajima & Black Tiger VII
    ☆ Koji Iwamoto & TAJIRI
    ☆ Kaji Tomato & Shiori Asahi (K-DOJO)
    ☆ Shuji Kondo (W-1) & Kotaro Suzuki (FREE)
    ☆ Masaaki Mochizuki & Shun Skywalker (DRAGON GATE)

All Asia Tag Team Titles Match
Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata (c) vs. Naoya Nomura & Yuma Aoyagi

Review: Uncle Jun and Yuji are back teaming up together as they are set to defend the All Asia Tag Team Championships against Naoya and Yuma from NEXTREAM, can the uncles of AJPW and NJPW retain their championships or will they get dethroned by the younger generation? Well, let’s find out for ourselves.

Naoya and Yuji would start it off with a lock up and Naoya would flip him over only for Yuji to quickly get back up and kick him off. Naoya seems to be holding onto his own for a bit of it since he was able to knock Yuji down after delivering some pretty nice forearm shots to his head and would tag Yuma in now which lead to Jun getting the tag in as well which leads to Yuma getting Jun outside of the ring and does a Plancha to the outside while Naoya does the same to Yuji and would start to knock down the champions outside of the ring. Yuma would throw Jun to the guardrail and once he tried to chop him, Jun wasn’t phased by it at all, but he did take a nasty DDT on the outside and would get him back into the ring. There are two things I love about this match and the first one is the old generation vs new generation feeling with this one with Jun and Yuji showing they can still go in the ring and deliver quality matches for their ages and with Naoya and Yuma, they showed the fire and intensity as a team and as individuals to show that they have a chance to beat them and can be people that others should keep an eye on.

The second thing I loved about this match is that it shows AJPW still has a bright future ahead of them and yeah you got Kento Miyahara carrying the company right now, but you got quite a few people on the rise and that follow Kento to help AJPW reach new heights once more since you got guys like Naoya, Yuma, Koji, and Jake Lee to help them and once the time comes for them to reach that status, they’ll have new people ready to start their journey to follow them and so on, and so on. Naoya would get some close calls with Spearing both Jun and Yuji back and forth and would pin Yuji, but would only get a two count. With Jun beating down and holding Yuma back, Yuji had Naoya in the ring all to himself and would go for his Backdrop Hold and it looks like it could be it, but Naoya surprisingly kicks out at two to show he still had some fight left in him, but it doesn’t last long as Yuji hits the Backdrop Hold one more time for the win and have a second successful defense under their belt. After the match, Naoya and Yuma stated that they weren’t done chasing the titles as they plan to have a rematch for them very soon while both Jun and Yuji welcome it.

Recommended: I thought it was a great match with nice storytelling with old and new generations feeling to it. Definitely watch it.

 

AJPW Unified Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match
Kento Miyahara (c) vs. Dylan James

Review: I’m still confused as to why its James Dylan getting a shot at the Triple Crown Championship over anyone else in the company. Here we have someone who had the worst performance in this year’s Champion Carnival next to The Bodyguard and has been having mediocre matches since his arrival in this run of AJPW, and he somehow gets this big match in the main event. If it’s so Kento could get an easy defense for his reign, then why not just have him fight someone that defeated him during the Carnival like Joe Doering, I wouldn’t mind a third encounter between the two as a way to end that trilogy over this, but too late now and let’s see how he fairs in this match. Kento is the future of Japanese wrestling and just his entrance and how the crowd reacts to him before he gets into the ring is something similar to Tetsuya Naito except it’s not as loud…yet and he will definitely get there once more people know of his greatness in the ring.

The two lock up as James gets Kento by the ropes and went to go for a quick chop, but Kento ducks out of the way while Dylan tells him he was this close to hitting him, but the next time he would hit Kento and it would even make him go to the outside of the ring. Kento was selling each strike down to him to make Dylan look as strong as he could in this match and I felt like that’s what he needed to do since Dylan is a big guy after all. Dylan would have Kento on a corner and goes for a chop, but Kento ducks and causes Dylan’s hand to chop the turnbuckle post, hurting his hand and would give Kento an opening to strike him down and would even go onto the apron to knee him in the back of the head. Kento would throw Dylan, but Dylan would run back after hitting the guardrail to shoulder tackle Kento, causing him to go over the guardrail. Dylan would get Kento back into the ring so she could work on Kento more with some stomps, chops, and just any strike he could do and while it’s simple, Kento makes it look very effective and I love his seeling for it and Dylan would keep this up for a few minutes before taking him back to the outside, but Kento would headbutt Dylan to regain some composure and before he could do it again, Dylan catches him for a Chokeslam and hits it onto the ring apron. Dylan gets Kento back into the ring and places him on the corner and would deliver a stiff Lariat onto the corner and immediately knocks Kento down onto the mat. Dylan attempts to go for a Powerbomb and Kento reverses it into a Hurricanrana and kicks Dylan, but Dylan chops him and goes for a Suplex, but Kento hits a Brainbuster and the two are down. Kento would hit the Blackout and then attempts to hit his Shutdown German Suplex Hold, but Dylan would break free of it to hit a Lariat and would them hit a second one for good measure and Kento kicks out at two. Dylan is pulling off all the stops in these last few minutes as he hits a Powerbomb this time after Kento breaking free from two of his Chokeslam’s and giving him another Lariat, Dylan is just killing him with these Lariats while Kento keeps kicking out at two even though this whole sequence was actually making me believe that we would’ve had a new champion here. Dylan goes for another Chokeslam, but Kento would turn it around for a regular German Suplex Hold for a two count and Kento would try to get more momentum, but Dylan stops him dead in his tracks and hits the Powerbomb for another two count! Dylan goes for another Lariat only for Kento to hit the Blackout on his arm and go for his finisher, but Dylan breaks free from his hold only to be hit with two Blackouts and then hits his Shutdown German Suplex Hold for the win and still Triple Crown Champion. Where the hell has this Dylan James been? This was the best match I’ve seen him wrestle in, give me more of this!

After the match, Zeus makes his way to the ring and claims himself as Kento’s next challenger and I am completely torn on this because I don’t know if they wanna give Kento another short reign while being the face of the company, but at the same time I feel like Zeus has to win this one and show he can actually win the companies biggest prize. The match is set to take place on July 27th and this is sure to be a classic match. I want Zeus to be the one to take the belt, but I don’t know what direction Uncle Jun would have this match go and we’ll have to wait and see.

Recommended: Dylan James best match in the company and it actually was a great match for what we were given between the two, so give it a look.

 

Overall: I have to say that the show was solid from top to bottom and none of the matches were actually bad and the last two matches definitely delivered to give us a great show here, plus we now have something to look forward to in July and you don’t wanna miss it.

Favorite Match: Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata vs. Naoya Nomura & Yuma Aoyagi

Least Favorite Match: Keiichi Sato vs. Rionne Fujiwara

Score: 7.5/10


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More From Japan

(NOAH) NOAH NEWSLETTER VOL.200 ~ 7TH MAY 2023

New alliances, MMA challengers and the return of a beloved tag team!

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NEWS

AXIZ reunite

Go Shiozaki lost in his return match at MAJESTIC (4th May at Ryogoku Kokugikan) to Katsuhiko Nakajima’s Vertical Spike. While he was lying on the mat, with a worried Kaito Kiyomiya and Yoshiki Inamura looking on, Katsuhiko Nakajima got on the mic and said, “What is this, Go Shiozaki? This awkward state? Is this “I AM NOAH?” Where did that strong Go Shiozaki go? Shall we do it again? Stand up!”, Everyone, including Shiozaki, thought that Nakajima wanted to fight him again and so Shiozaki used Nakajima to pull himself up. Nakajima had his usual devilish smile on, and grabbed Shiozaki by the hair as if he was going to strike him.

What he actually did was offer him his hand, which Shiozaki took, and to the wild screaming of the crowd, AXIZ reformed and the two would not let go of each other.

Kenoh was outraged and demanded to know what was going on. Manabu Soya later left the ring shaking his head. Backstage, Nakajima confirmed that yes, AXIZ were back and the reason why he had left was because (and this sounds familiar) Kenoh didn’t need him, Kongoh didn’t need him, and he didn’t need them. Kenoh growled that he would destroy anyone who got in his way and that included All Japan, All Japan’s Suwama, Dragon Gate (probably the whole roster) and Katsuhiko Nakajima. Kenoh remarked that usually Kongoh didn’t punish people who left (he probably doesn’t mean the chaotic juniors), but it seems that he himself will have another singles match with Nakajima on the 31st May at Shinjuku FACE. Kenoh has also branded AXIZ as a “thief and traitor duo” and has warned elderly AXIZ fans not to make any bank transfers. He has also claimed that while he was injured, Go Shiozaki is a “salary thief” for doing nothing for NOAH during that time, and not even updating his Twitter.

Related articles

Kongoh’s leader, Kenoh, denounces Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima’s AXIZ reunion as a “thief and traitor duo”

NOAH promise more women’s matches

Following the four woman tag at MAJESTIC, Ryo Mizunami hinted afterwards that NOAH will be holding more and she (and others) want to be a part of this. Nothing more has been said about the possibility of a women’s GHC Championship though.

N-1 VICTORY 2023 Announced

NOAH have announced that the N-1 VICTORY 2023 will make a return in August 2023, and as is tradition, will have the final night held in Osaka in early September. No names have been announced as of yet, but the league will head up for a couple of dates in Sapporo, Hokkaido (NOAH have not been to Hokkaido since before the pandemic when they would traditionally share a ring with Big Japan and then get drunk together over a lost weekend). No names have been announced as of yet.

Masakatsu Funaki challenges Josh Barnett 

Following his victory over Shinya Aoki at MAJESTIC, Masakatsu Funaki challenged Josh Barnett, who was sitting at ringside to a match. Barnett accepted, but NOAH are yet to state the date when the match will take place. Funaki also seems to be hinting that his career is now winding down, and he wants to tie up any loose ends; such as the Aoki match and the challenge to Barnett, who he has never faced before, but seems to have always wanted to. Mutoh told Funaki to keep going until he is sixty, but Funaki, who makes no pretense about the fact that he is approaching his mid fifties, seems to think that this is unlikely.

Eita alone, Daga joins “the new STINGER”. HAYATA not welcome either. 

During the STINGER vs I guess the last of Perros Del Mal De Japon, Eita and Daga, Eita caught Daga with the Imperial Uno, which meant that Yoshinari Ogawa could capitalize, and he went to pin Eita. However, Ogawa broke the pin and got to his feet slowly, dragging Eita up by his hair. He looked across the ring to Daga, and Daga turned on Eita. Eita, now utterly alone, was beaten up after the match, and no one at all came out to help him as there is now no one left. Backstage, Eita on all fours, said that from now on he would be trusting no one and didn’t believe in friends (NOSAWA posted “…..” to this) and demanded a singles match with both Ogawa and Daga. As for STINGER, Chris Ridgeway said that from now on he, Daga and Ogawa were the new STINGER. Daga gave no reason for his turning on his old friend, STINGER rarely give reasons anyway, and Ogawa said that HAYATA and Eita were no longer considered “friends”. Eita will get his singles matches on the 14th May at Korakuen Hall, and with Daga on the 21st in Kobe. Fans are wondering if Eita and HAYATA will team up, but HAYATA seems to be more preoccupied with the GHC Junior at the moment.

Ring intruder at Korakuen Hall

At NOAH’s Korakuen Hall event on the 29th April, a young woman intruded into the ring at the start of Kaito Kiyomiya, Sean Legacy & AMAKUSA vs Kongoh, and started imploring Kiyomiya to “show us a stronger NOAH” because he was “the savior of NOAH”. She was gently expelled from the ring by Referee Nishinaga, Kiyomiya and the young rookie, Taishi Ozawa. No further information has come from NOAH or any news outlets as to who this young woman was or what the consequence of her intrusion was, and it is rare in Japanese wrestling that a fan should intrude into the ring, but NOAH took the precaution to check bags at their fan event and MAJESTIC, and extra wrestlers were seen at ringside, which fans said felt like security. The very real threat was that she could have had a knife. New Japan’s Toru Yano has also spoken out about fan behavior. He didn’t mention fan invasion specifically, but more wrestlers being harassed by fans when at baggage claim at airports, at convenience stores etc. Kenoh kind of saved the situation by telling Kiyomiya that if he was stronger, then strange people wouldn’t do things like this!

Shinjiro Otani

At an event held on the 6th May to help with his hospital bills, Shinjiro Otani made an appearance. Takashi Sugiura bought him some flowers and Otani thanked him for not giving up wrestling due to the injury that Otani sustained during the title match. He also warned Sugiura, that he would see him in the ring again. Sugiura said he was waiting for that day.

Voodoo Murders vs Kongoh

SUWAMA broke into NOAH’s event at Korakuen Hall on the 29th April and gave Kenoh, a massive Last Ride powerbomb. Shrieking that he was going to take the All Japan World Heavyweight Tag back to where it belonged, i.e. All Japan, he was prepared to come and have a match in NOAH (with Kono his partner) to retrieve them. There then followed a comical scene involving the infamous lifts, where a quaking old man appeared and was told by Suwama to hold the doors. The match has been set for NOAH’s Kobe event on the 21st May. The event will not be broadcast live, but I would imagine this match will be through NOAH’s official Instagram. Suwama got further revenge on Kenoh at All Japan’s show on the 7th when Kongoh and Voodoo Murders had a pre match. Kenoh was given another powerbomb, shoved into a body bag and Voodoo Murders posed with their boots on him, before carrying him backstage on their shoulders. Half in and half out of the bag and dumped on the floor, Suwama told him that now he was in hell, those titles were theirs.

TITLE NEWS

GHC Heavyweight

In a match that saw Naomichi Marufuji pull out old moves (Shiranui and Shiranui Pole Shift, plus a rope bounce that he hasn’t used for a while) and moves that he has worked on, Jake Lee retained the GHC Heavyweight at MAJESTIC. However, no challenger came forward, and fans were expecting to see Go Shiozaki come out. Jake thanked Marufuji and ran down what he had felt in his past title defenses; Kiyomiya was the future, Nakajima the strength and Marufuji the history. Jake wondered what was next and predicted that on the 14th May at Korakuen Hall, things would start to happen. Jake’s match then is himself teaming with Good Looking Guys (including YO-HEY and Tadasuke) against two NOAH Juniors (Seiki Yoshioka and Atsushi Kotoge) against Kaito Kiyomiya and Takashi Sugiura. Fans think that it will be Sugiura who challenges.

Related articles

“Half the guys don’t think about it”, the real intention of outside invader Jake Lee’s cut down of the Ark warriors

“I can’t win in a direct match anymore”…Naomichi Marufuji aims to surpass his teacher, Mitsuharu Misawa, in recapturing the GHC

“It’s like a dream” – Jake, “Full speed for the first time in a while”, Marufuji

“Naomichi Marufuji must do his best here and now”, Mutoh speaks! 4th May Ryogoku Kokugikan, the direction of Jake vs Marufuji

GHC Junior Heavyweight

HAYATA was forced into doing some light comedy, when at the title match signing/press conference, Ninja Mack told him that he didn’t want him to be injured in their title match, and handed him a gift of bandages and athletic tape. HAYATA tried to keep a straight face. However, Ninja Mack found nothing to laugh about when HAYATA beat him and went to hand him his presents back. Apparently, HAYATA kept the bandages, as he only tried to give back the athletic tape. Ninja Mack knocked them to the floor and walked off. The GHC Junior Heavyweight is the only one with a challenger out of all the championships at the time of writing, as HAYATA has nominated Dante Leon as opponent. Dante Leon took the belt from Ninja Mack, but HAYATA feels he has to defeat everyone who held it while he was injured. Dante says he is coming back to take his belt back. Pre matches will take place, with the title match on the 17th June in Nagoya.

Related articles

GHC Junior signing ceremony: Ninja provokes the champion with first aid supplies, HAYATA “excellent”

GHC National

El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr continues to cement himself as one of the greatest GHC National Champions, by defeating Hideki Suzuki at MAJESTIC to retain in an epic match. Suzuki was even booed as he knocked Wagner Jnr down with a punch early on after Wagner Jnr had yelled “Arriba Mexico!”. Suzuki didn’t look as if he was too bothered, and fought most of the match with a cool hard expression. El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr isn’t on any cards for the rest of May 2023, so it looks as if the title will probably be challenged for some time in June.

Related articles

“Real” Suzuki emphasizes “Real Deal” to take over the GHC National, match signing ceremony

GHC Heavyweight Tag

Monster Taniguchi, which his seniors try so hard to awaken, sat dormant at the match signing as Saxon Huxley overturned the table, (which Takashi Sugiura, no stranger to trashing tables during press conferences, helped put back), but then turned his own over with a roar and made off with the tag belts. Sugi very politely helped the staff put the tables back. The team of Sugiura and Taniguchi gave very close to retaining, but they lost the belts when Saxon Huxley pinned Taniguchi with the Hanging Neck Bombs. The new champions celebrated by yelling loudly into the camera, and Huxley repeatedly head-butting his belt. Two new tags arose that night at MAJESTIC; AXIZ, and a new team of Masato Tanaka and Kazuyuki Fujita.

Related articles

Huxley and Taniguchi go berserk overturning tables, Sugiura apologizes

GHC Junior Tag

YO-HEY and Tadasuke (Good Looking Guys Unit) defended the GHC Junior Tag against Alpha Wolf and DragonBane at Korakuen Hall on the 29th April. The lucha brothers came very close to taking the titles, but YO-HEY saved the team by pinning DragonBane. No challengers have come forward, but it does seem likely that they will be challenged by the people that YO-HEY dumped to join GLG; Atsushi Kotoge and Seiki Yoshioka at Korakuen Hall on the 14th May, which is NOAH’s next event. However, Kotoge and Yoshioka may not be the most stable team, as Yoshioka did catch him with a kick accidentally.

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH PROMOS

  • STAR NAVIGATION 2023 

(Saturday April 29th, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo) 

Event recap

Post match interviews

  • ABEMA PRESENTS MAJESTIC 2023

(Thursday 4th May, Ryogoku Kokugikan)

Event recap

Post match interviews

NOAH Fan Event Recap

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

– Atsushi Kotoge posted a picture of himself when he came to NOAH eleven years ago. He says he is “slightly embarrassed” about seeing himself back then.

– Mohammed Yone and Super Crazy almost left via the wrong gate at MAJESTIC. The trainee standing there tried to tell them, but they seemed insistent, eventually he had to almost stand in their way before they realized.

– Xtreme Tiger returned to the NOAH ring following his concussion

– Most people down the old man VIPER tonic, Masato Tanaka opened it, poured it down his throat and chugged it.

– Keiji Mutoh told Kazushi Sakuraba that he should fight a bear on PPV. Sakuraba said no, he would be killed, and suggested that Mutoh do it. Mutoh said he was an old man who was enjoying retirement by sitting at home and watching historical dramas on NHK.

– Ray Escorpion made his NOAH debut, which involved heel tactics and stalking Dralistico.

– Jake Lee regretted his choice of costume, i.e. his gloves and cape, at the NOAH Fan Event. He said he felt like he needed an icepack under his armpits.

– Eita hid under the ring to jump Yoshinari Ogawa at Korakuen Hall on April 29th. When he crawled out he stretched and yawned, meaning that he fell asleep under there!

– Alejandro was sitting at the commentary table when it got trashed by the Luchadores at MAJESTIC.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

  • GHC Heavyweight Champion: Jake Lee
    Challenger: TBA
  • GHC Junior Champion: HAYATA
    Challenger: Dante Leon, GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in NAGOYA (Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall – Saturday, June 17th)
  • GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: REAL (Saxon Huxley & Timothy Thatcher)
    Challengers: TBA
  • GHC Junior Tag Champions: Good Looking Guys (YO-HEY & Tadasuke)
    Challengers: TBA
  • GHC National Champion: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr
    Challenger: TBA

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

(May 2023 schedule)

– STAR NAVIGATION 2023

Date: Sunday May 14th

Venue: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo

Start times: Doors 17:30 JST, Bell 18:30 JST

Broadcast: ABEMA

Birthdays & anniversaries

May 8th 1961: Akira Taue birthday (62)

May 13th 2000: Jumbo Tsuruta memorial (23)

*NOTE ABOUT ABEMA BROADCASTS

For the overseas fan a subscription to WrestleUniverse is recommended instead of a subscription to ABEMA. You can only watch ABEMA shows live (you cannot watch replays should you miss the show), but these always get uploaded to WrestleUniverse a few minutes after the broadcast finishes. I do not recommend that overseas fans subscribe to ABEMA due to the time consuming and expensive issues around finding a VPN that is compatible with their firewall, and ABEMA do not broadcast any other NOAH shows aside from the live broadcasts, they do not show much exclusive content and they do not show vintage or older events.

LINKS

“No matter how many times you fall down, you get back up, that’s pro wrestling” – Kaito Kiyomiya vs Reiwa’s “Pu-Girl”

“I want to fight” Aoki’s first NOAH participation, Funaki “challenge”. Press conference for the first showdown in six years

“Isn’t that a stupid question?” Shiozaki, returning for the first time in eight months, emphasizes “perfection” like AMAKUSA

26 year old wrestler Kaito Kiyomiya talks about the importance of the dojo and generational view

NOAH FROM THE VAULT

Donmai, Donmai” – Mitsuharu Misawa’s diary….he’s being obscene!

With thanks to: Metal NOAH

Picture credits: NOAH.co.jp


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More From Japan

(NOAH) NOAH NEWSLETTER VOL.199 ~ 25TH APRIL 2023

Lots of Championship news! Does Jake Lee have what it takes to captain the ark?

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NEWS

“I made you all wait”, Go Shiozaki announces his return

Go Shiozaki made a surprise appearance at NOAH’s Sendai event on the 16th April, and announced that he would return to the ring at “MAJESTIC” at Ryogoku Kokugikan on Thursday May 4th. In an interview done soon afterwards, Shiozaki said that of course his goal was to “get my belt back as soon as possible” and naturally, his target is the current champion, Jake Lee. He is very excited about NOAH now with the influx of foreign wrestlers, and of course, Jake Lee whom he knew from being in All Japan. Shiozaki’s return match will be against Kongoh’s Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Manabu Soya. Shiozaki says he will not only be fighting against his opponents, but also the younger generation of NOAH, who he says are “a threat”. NOAH’s generational wheel continues turning.

Related articles

The theme of return is “New Go Shiozaki”, “Fight with five people”, thrilled by the new NOAH scenery

“I have to get my belt back”, Go Shiozaki vows to return early to the title front

Junta Miyawaki returns from Mexico

Junta Miyawaki announced (bilingually as he also announced this in Mexican), that he would be returning from Ultimo Dragon’s training camp, and would make his first match back at Korakuen Hall at STAR NAVIGATION on the 29th April. His opponent will be HI69, who has been on a roll recently. Before he left, Junta Miyawaki said that he would “sip muddy water”, (which basically means to hit rock bottom and crawl you way back up), before he returned to NOAH. HI69 was unimpressed with this statement, saying that Junta had no idea what he was talking about, but he would soon make him realize it.

Women’s matches

NOAH continue to book women’s matches on their bigger shows. Sendai saw Maya Yukihi and Sumire Natsu fight in a singles match, and afterwards mention was made (even fleetingly) of a woman’s GHC championship. The next women’s match will be a four way at “MAJESTIC” on the 4th May between

Maya Yukihisa & SAKI vs Sumire Natsu & Ryo Mizunami.

Xtreme Tiger concussed & Luchadore’s trash the commentary table

Very sadly Xtreme Tiger sustained (probably) a concussion during the match in Sendai and was stretchered from the ring. Fortunately, he could still move as he was seen to be sitting up and sliding himself on to the stretcher. The remaining Luchadores (Doralistico, Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf, Alejandro & Lanzelot) decided to continue the match, and as they are NOAH Juniors, didn’t bother to tell the ref. They just carried on and during this, Dragon Bane trashed the commentary table by moonsaulting through it. Then everyone else joined in, fighting in the wreckage. Akitoshi Saito (who had been sitting at the table) was seen looking on blankly. Later he made the comment that the table was not made of a material that was meant to be broken.

Yasutaka Yano and Kinya Okada taken off the Sendai card at the last moment

Yasutaka Yano and Kinya Okada were announced to have been taken off the Sendai card at the last moment, meaning that Anthony Green and Akitoshi Saito (who wrestled by taking his shirt off and in his normal clothes) had to fill in for them. NOAH have not announced the issue (illness, injury, etc) but fans think that they may have gone to Mexico for training, albeit why this should be so sudden is a mystery.

Title news 

GHC Heavyweight

Jake Lee retains, Naomichi Marufuji challenges

Jake Lee retained the GHC Heavyweight against Katsuhiko Nakajima, and was challenged that same night by Naomichi Marufuji. The nautical references continued, as Marufuji said that Jake’s steering was making him “seasick” and used a term that he says he came up with before he made his challenge, by saying that “Even if it is rotten, it is Marufuji” (the full saying is “Even if it is rotten, it is still a sea bream”, which basically is like saying “white cat, black cat, as long as it catches mice, then it is a good cat” i.e. quality is quality). Title match has been made for “MAJESTIC” on the 4th May.

The two pre matches have taken place at shows not broadcasted live, Hamamatsu (which was put on WrestleUniverse on the 25th April) and Kyoto KBS Hall (which will be streamed on WrestleUniverse on the 26th April from 18:00 JST). Neither the champion or the challenger scored the direct win over the other, but Jake was seen to hold the belt over Naomichi Marufuji as he, Jake, stood on the turnbuckle and held it even higher.

Related articles

The new champion gives NOAH a warning! Is it okay to stay as NOAH = Marufuji?

“After all, I’m the man who’s been with NOAH for a long time” – Naomichi Marufuji, on the 25th anniversary of his debut who named himself as the one to overthrow Jake, talks about his thoughts!

GHC Heavyweight Tag

Masa Kitamiya and Daiki Inaba lost the GHC Heavyweight Tag Championship to Takashi Sugiura and Shuhei Taniguchi in Sendai. Shuhei Taniguchi, much to his seniors delight, got the win but there was no chance to celebrate for very long as a new fearsome tag team, who were part of a new unit (and therefore a new power in the heavyweights) appeared on the scene to challenge. Hideki Suzuki announced that himself, Timothy Thatcher and Saxon Huxley, were breaking away from The Sugiura Army, which he said was “over” (fans have long felt that the unit simply fizzled out) and the three of them were breaking away on their own.

Suzuki challenged for the GHC Heavyweight Tag belts on behalf of his partners, whom both came across as having chemistry akin to an old school American tag team (Saxon I know is from England, but you know the vibe I am talking about). Backstage, Hideki Suzuki said their new unit was called “Real”. In their first pre match in Hamamatsu, Suzuki refused to shake hands with Takashi Sugiura and Sugiura was defeated by Saxon Huxley. The next night in Kyoto, Sugiura defeated Huxley, which was Huxley’s first NOAH loss, with the Olympic Slam and labelled himself as “Beastmaster”. There was also some slight friction appearing between Takashi Sugiura and Shuhei Taniguchi, as Taniguchi did the same “I heard you lost today?” kind of comment back to Sugiura, and once again refused to shake hands with him when Sugiura offered and just walked off when Sugi asked, “Did you win?”.

GHC National

In an epic match, El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr defended the GHC National against Jack Morris, and the two of them shook hands afterwards and patched up their friendship. Backstage, Hideki Suzuki appeared in the comments booth when Wagner Jnr was in it, clapping sarcastically and saying that he was coming for his belt. Suzuki also made a very poetic comment about the challenge.

“Because Wagner Jnr is the sun of Mexico, I will take him deep into the ocean. We will sink together, and only I will rise”

Their two pre matches so far have been inconclusive as they head towards the title match at “MAJESTIC” on the 4th May at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

GHC Junior

AMAKUSA did not do well in the pre matches against HAYATA, and HAYATA ran him into the ground in the title match in Sendai, winning in thirteen minutes and four seconds. In order to forestall anyone who thought they were going to challenge, he was picking up where he left off, and his next challenger would be Ninja Mack. Ninja Mack had challenged HAYATA in late 2022 for the belt, but he had won it when HAYATA was injured, and the belt was awarded to him. To HAYATA, he needed to defeat Ninja Mack first before dealing with anyone else. The two pre matches have not gone well for HAYATA, although Ninja Mack hasn’t got the win over him directly, he has still gotten the win for his team at one point, even if one of the matches was won by someone else, which for him counts as a victory over HAYATA.

GHC Junior Tag

Fans knew that Yoshinari Ogawa and Eita were going to fall apart. YO-HEY knew this too, but knew enough about his opponents, to be wary. In the end, a misfire by Eita, who caught Ogawa in the face with a kick, letting Tadasuke get the win, made the team implode. Ogawa might have come to the ring ignoring Eita’s very existence, but by the end of the match the two were brawling and the fight went backstage. After kicking Ogawa in the crotch, Eita announced that the only person he trusted was Daga. Daga will return to NOAH at “MAJESTIC”, with the one person who hasn’t turned on Ogawa (although he was wary of his aligning with Eita), Chris Ridgeway, who is returning to NOAH at Korakuen Hall on Saturday 29th April.

The new GHC Junior Champions, Good Looking Guy’s YO-HEY and Tadasuke, were challenged backstage by Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf, who told them they were going to be taking the belts back to Mexico. The brothers have run riot on the junior tag champions, defeating them in the pre matches, Alpha Wolf in a singles against Tadasuke. Title match will take place this Saturday at Korakuen Hall.

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH PROMOS

  • ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in Sendai (Sunday April 16th)

Event recap

Post match interviews

  • Act City Hamamatsu (Saturday, April 22nd)

Event recap

Post match interviews

  • Kyoto KBS Hall (Sunday, April 23rd)

Event recap

Post match interviews

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

– Because they were both champions facing their challengers, YO-HEY offered HAYATA a handshake in Kyoto. HAYATA reacted in usual fashion (he refused) but the two were seen to work together…

– Kongoh appeared in a short Kenoh Channel video, where each of them ate one of Shuji Kondo’s financiers and talked about the merch table. Katsuhiko Nakajima very neatly put back a packet of Naomichi Marufuji’s curry, which Kenoh had thrown.

– Although he is no longer appearing in the ring, NOSAWA Rongai was seen watching at the Hamamatsu show. He’s not a member of the audience however, as he seems to be travelling with them – Kenoh said that he was glad Go Shiozaki had returned as he could not “wait to beat the shit” out of him.

– Atsushi Kotoge has revealed his beloved Shiba is called “Chikuwa”. When he left for NOAH’s weekend shows, he told him he was leaving him as watchdog to guard the family.

– Mercedes Monet said she wanted a match with “Marufugi”. “Marufugi” said he wanted one with her too.

– YO-HEY and Yoshiki Inamura will appear on “All-Star Chorus Battle” on May 14th for Fuji TV. The premise of the show is that they will team with five other people, sing the hit songs of the Reiwa era and compete as a chorus for a championship.

– A picture taken by NOAH’s official photographer in Kyoto was captured at precisely the moment that Seiki Yoshioka was diving off the top turnbuckle. The angle of his body made him look as if he was leaping out of the stained glass behind him. Ironically, he seemed to be leaping from the roof of the Ark. Also photographed against The Ark was Yoshiki Inamura, who put a Dove above his head.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

  • GHC Heavyweight Champion: Jake Lee
    Challenger: Naomichi Marufuji, ABEMA presents MAJESTIC 2023, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Thursday May 4th
  • GHC Junior Champion: HAYATA
    Challenger: Ninja Mack, ABEMA presents MAJESTIC 2023, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Thursday May 4th
  • GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi
    Challengers: REAL (Saxon Huxley & Timothy Thatcher), ABEMA presents MAJESTIC 2023, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Thursday May 4th
  • GHC Junior Tag Champions: Good Looking Guys (YO-HEY & Tadasuke)
    Challengers: Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf, STAR NAVIGATION 2023, Korakuen Hall, Saturday April 29th
  • GHC National Champion: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr
    Challenger: Hideki Suzuki, ABEMA presents MAJESTIC 2023, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Thursday May 4th

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

  • STAR NAVIGATION 2023

Date: Saturday April 29th

Venue: Korakuen Hall

Start time: 18:30 JST (doors open 17:30)

Broadcast: ABEMA (Live)

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES 

29th April: Atsushi Kotoge debut anniversary (2005)

29th April: Tadasuke debut anniversary (2007)

*NOTE ABOUT ABEMA BROADCASTS

For the overseas fan a subscription to WrestleUniverse is recommended instead of a subscription to ABEMA. You can only watch ABEMA shows live (you cannot watch replays should you miss the show), but these always get uploaded to WrestleUniverse a few minutes after the broadcast finishes. I do not recommend that overseas fans subscribe to ABEMA due to the time consuming and expensive issues around finding a VPN that is compatible with their firewall, and ABEMA do not broadcast any other NOAH shows aside from the live broadcasts, they do not show much exclusive content and they do not show vintage or older events.

NOAH FROM THE VAULT

“Donmai, Donmai” – Mitsuharu Misawa’s diary

With thanks to: Metal-NOAH

Picture credits: NOAH.co.jpPro Wrestling DX


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Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
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