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

Published

5 years ago

June 22, 2018

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

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

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(NOAH) NOAH NEWSLETTER VOL.196 ~ 29th March 2023

An injury to a major a player in NOAH causes a little concern! New challengers arise for the champions!

Published

16 hours ago

March 30, 2023

Hi5ame

NEWS

Kongoh vs GLG

Sparks flew between Kongoh, the Kongoh Juniors and Tadasuke and GLG (“Good Looking Guys”) during NOAH’s Tohoku tour. Hi69, who appears to be the mouthpiece of the Kongoh Juniors (when Shuji Kondo is not around to terrify them), swore revenge on Tadasuke for his defection, and Kenoh who had branded GLG “a bunch of rando’s” proposed a best out of three falls for one night, and then a Captains Fall (he nominated Hi69 as the captain) for the final night. Kongoh might have won the Best out of Three falls match, but they were humiliated on the last night of tour, when GLG won over Kongoh, with Jake Lee pinning Hi69. Kongoh are also at war with GLG as Katsuhiko Nakajima is challenging Jake Lee for the GHC Heavyweight. Both had their brutal interactions, but neither got the win over the other. Nakajima told Jake, that “It’s amazing that you won the GHC Heavyweight not long after coming to NOAH. BUT! I will take the helm. Anyway, I’m changing this situation. That is all.”

Shuhei Taniguchi & Takashi Sugiura’s title challenge

Shuhei Taniguchi introduced his new tandem move with Takashi Sugiura during the Tohoku tour. Except, he didn’t tell Sugiura that he was going to use him as a weapon to chokeslam him onto his opponents. Tokyo Sports have named this move, “The Sugi Bomb”. This move came after Taniguchi lost to Masa Kitamiya, and Sugi basically told him to shape up as there wasn’t any time left. Taniguchi since then has gone slightly off the rails, and even accidentally dissed Sugi by not shaking his hand as he was too elated.

STINGER fall apart, YO-HEY and Tadasuke challenge

Yoshinari Ogawa and HAYATA managed to stay together until the third night of tour, when HAYATA accidentally caught Yoshinari Ogawa in the face with a kick when Tadasuke ducked, meaning that YO-HEY got the win and the right to challenge. After the match, YO-HEY and Tadasuke held the tag belt above Ogawa, and officially became the next challengers. YO-HEY likened the Ogawa and Eita relationship as a “mushy daytime drama” which he was sick of. He also said that getting the tag belts would prove the reason why he left The NOAH Junior Regulars and why Tadasuke left Kongoh. Meanwhile in the ring, HAYATA and Ogawa got into a fight, which led to HAYATA saying that he wasn’t going to tag with Ogawa the next day, or team with him in any form, and that NOAH had better change the card. Looking at the matches booked for the run up to the 16th in Sendai, HAYATA and Ogawa have nothing to do with each other, and as Chris Ridgeway is not currently in Japan, this leaves the field open for Eita who said that he was on Ogawa’s side and was all he had left. Title match has been set for ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI on 16th April at the Xebio Arena Sendai.

AMAKUSA retains, HAYATA challenges

AMAKUSA was successful in his title defense against Lanzelot on March 26th at the Aomori Mutusu Maeda Arena, and was challenged by HAYATA afterwards. Neither are people of very many words. HAYATA’S challenge was simply that he had come to take his belt back, and therefore, he was asking to be the next challenger. AMAKUSA used his catchphrase of something being a stupid question and said he had been waiting for HAYATA to come, and how he had been waiting for “a duel” and, “I would like to ask for a fight that will lead me and the NOAH Junior’s greatest treasure to the highest heaven.”

Title match has been set for ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI on 16th April at the Xebio Arena Sendai.

El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr, Jack Morris and the GHC National

E Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr was initially a little hurt by Jack Morris’s challenge to him and his subsequent vicious attacks on him during the pre matches, as he considered him to be a friend, and they had both discussed getting the tag belts together some day. Both have sworn to destroy the other, with Jack saying he won’t just destroy El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr, he was going to humiliate him as well.

Kaito Kiyomiya concussed, trip to America cancelled

Kaito Kiyomiya had planned to accompany Keiji Mutoh (and Yoshiki Inamura) to Keiji Mutoh’s WWE Hall of Fame induction in Los Angeles, but unfortunately, he was concussed following a Wagner Bomb from El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr on the last night of tour. For a while after taking the move he lay motionless, leading NOAH’s trainer to get in the ring. He was helped out and taken to the back with the fans applauding him. The good sign was that he was walking, but sadly a concussion meant that he had to be in contact for the next couple of days with NOAH’s medical team, which meant no long haul flights. Kiyomiya has made no comment as he is not in a state to be on social media, which he hasn’t been on since losing to Jake Lee, while Keiji Mutoh said there will be other chances and Kiyomiya should concentrate on getting better. NOAH’s director, Narihiro Takeda is a little irritated with Kiyomiya for not being able to take this chance, while Yoshiki Inamura looked a little upset that Kiyomiya wasn’t able to come to America.

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH INTERVIEWS

Recaps

SUNNY VOYAGE (TOHOKU TOUR)

Akita Selion Plaza, Friday March 24th

Iwate Morioka Gymnasium, Saturday March 25th

Aomori Mutsu Maeda Arena, Sunday March 26th

Aomori Hachinoe Yutori 1st floor multi-purpose large hall, Monday March 27th

Post match interviews

Akita Selion Plaza, Friday March 24th

Iwate Morioka Gymnasium, Saturday March 25th

Aomori Mutsu Maeda Arena, Sunday March 26th

Aomori Hachinoe Yutori 1st floor multi-purpose large hall, Monday March 27th

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

– Because Akita Selion is a small venue in the provinces (Japanese countryside), the comments booth was a curtained off area in the main hall. Everyone heard Kenoh shrieking as they left.

– Akitoshi Saito was observed by Naomichi Marufuji to be eating frozen broccoli that he had bought from a convenience store when the bus made a stop. Marufuji asked him if he should be eating it like that, to which Saito said he didn’t see the problem. Marufuji summed up the card the next day as “young guys fighting, title match pre matches and a fight with frozen broccoli.”

– As the Tohoku tour took place outside of the big cities there were no restaurants around the hotel area or the venue, so people very much stayed in their rooms. Naomichi Marufuji did an increasingly drunken Instagram live with Mohammed Yone and Masa Kitamiya, which involved Kitamiya belching and Yone pulling gangsta signs, and then the three of them running their phones at the same time so each was live from the same room and whistling and humming at the same time. The last night showed a very drunk Takashi Sugiura.

– With YO-HEY defected and Daisuke Harada gone, Atsushi Kotoge hinted at the creation of a new unit with Seiki Yoshioka and Alejandro.

– The Iwate fans helped to clean up the arena by packing away chairs on to pallet trolleys.

– Yasutaka Yano debuted a new costume, officially ending the first part of his career. Naomichi Marufuji hinted that he wanted him to think a little more about what he did and start joining in the title race.

– When he was in Dove, fans used to comment on how much they loved YO-HEY’S aftershave. Fans commented on this in the same way this past week in Tohoku.

– Yoshiki Inamura photographed some squirrels whilst in Los Angeles.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

GHC Heavyweight Champion: Jake Lee
Challenger: Katsuhiko Nakajima, ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI (Xebio Arena Sendai, Sunday April 16th)
GHC Junior Champion: AMAKUSA
Challenger: HAYATA, ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI (Xebio Arena Sendai, Sunday April 16th)
GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: Masa Kitamiya and Daiki Inaba
Challengers: Shuhei Taniguchi & Takashi Sugiura, ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI (Xebio Arena Sendai, Sunday April 16th)
GHC Junior Tag Champions: Yoshinari Ogawa & Eita
Challengers: Good Looking Guys (YO-HEY & Tadasuke), ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI (Xebio Arena Sendai, Sunday April 16th)
GHC National Champion: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr
Challenger: Jack Morris, ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI (Xebio Arena Sendai, Sunday April 16th)

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

4th April: Xtreme Tiger birthday (1981)

Kenoh and Shuji Kondo will be heading to Dragon Gate to challenge Natural Vibez (Big Boss Shimizu and Kzy) for the Open The Twin Gate tag championship on April 1st. NOAH themselves don’t have any events until April 8th. April schedule can be found here.

LINKS

Interview with Kenoh, a professional wrestler from Tokushima, who will hold an event to commemorate the 15th anniversary of his debut at the Tokugin Tomony Arena

“If it ends suddenly in one go, it doesn’t matter how the match goes”, new GHC Heavyweight Champion Jake Lee talks about the challenger, Katsuhiko Nakajima

NOAH FROM THE VAULT

“Donmai, Donmai” – Mitsuharu Misawa’s diary

(This latest entry was by far the most embarrassing thing I have ever had to do at work)

Picture credits: Weekly Pro, PKDX and Tokyo Sports.

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

(NOAH) NOAH NEWSLETTER VOL.195 ~ 22ND MARCH 2023

New champions, All Japan interactions, new debuts and Joshi in NOAH! NOAH is heating up in 2023!

Published

1 week ago

March 23, 2023

Hi5ame

NEWS

YO-HEY & Tadasuke join GLG

During Kongoh vs The NOAH Junior Regulars at Great Voyage in Yokohama 2023 on the 19th March, Tadasuke inadvertently knocked down Shuji Kondo, which allowed Atsushi Kotoge to get the win over him (Tadasuke). The NOAH Juniors left the ring, which left Kondo and the others, Hajime Ohara and Hi69 advancing menacingly on Tadasuke. Kondo it is well known does not like him, Hi69 has a simmering jealousy, and Ohara will do whatever Kondo does. YO-HEY ran in to save Tadasuke, and just when it looked as if Tadasuke would be welcomed by the NOAH Junior Regulars, YO-HEY was seen whispering something to him, and the two took out Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka and Alejandro. Backstage, while Kotoge et al wondered what had happened, YO-HEY said “No Comment”. Fans were hopeful of a RATELS reunion (Daisuke Harada had been signing autographs), but YO-HEY and Tadasuke came out in the main event as members of GLG (Jake Lee’s “Good Looking Guys” unit).

Saxon Huxley debuts in NOAH

The 203cm Saxon Huxley (which makes him taller than even Jake Lee at 192cm), made his NOAH debut at “Great Voyage in Yokohama”. Very reminiscent of Bruiser Brody, his first match was fittingly a match teaming with Hideki Suzuki and against Yoshiki Inamura and Mohammed Yone. Huxley won the match and backstage said that he didn’t come to Japan to look at the Cherry blossoms, he came here to fight!

The problem with Shuhei Taniguchi, Takashi Sugiura takes a hand

Shuhei Taniguchi emerged from his slumber and the monster reawakened against Takashi Sugiura in a match in Yokohama (“Great Voyage”) where Taniguchi had one of the best matches of his in a long time. He won via repeated soccer ball kicks to the head, which made a nasty thudding sound. Backstage, Takashi Sugiura urged him to seize this chance, Taniguchi asked him for another match, but Sugi told him he had to seize the opportunity by himself. Later (and with Sugiura looking on, hands behind his back and standing in the background in teacher mode), Taniguchi challenged Daiki Inaba and Masa Kitamiya for the GHC Heavyweight Tag titles they had just retained against Kongoh. Masa Kitamiya grimly told Taniguchi that he would accept their challenge, but he would “teach him” when to “leave NOAH forever” and that there was no future for him. Title match will take place on April 16th in Sendai.

Jack Morris challenges for the GHC National

The Yokohama Budokan has always been good to Jack Morris, he made his NOAH debut there (which he won) and on the 19th, he defeated El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr and therefore won the opportunity to challenge for the GHC National. Morris picked up the belt and silently held it over El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr, who was lying spread out on the mat. Title match has been set for April 16th in Sendai.

SUWAMA, Kenoh, Soya & All Japan

Following Kenoh’s labelling All Japan as a “pigsty” (I am trying to imagine how that would have gone down in the Baba era) and walking out of the press conference saying that the whole venue chosen for it was like an old fashioned mayoral meeting in Tokyo with the close press of bodies, Kenoh and Manabu Soya succeeded in winning the All Japan World Heavyweight titles on the 21st March. I have never seen Kenoh so happy on winning a title, the GHC has history, but not as long a history as All Japan, the promotion it flowed from and I think despite his disparaging, Kenoh was overcome to be holding the belts that the legends of All Japan once did. Suwama got in the ring after their victory to challenge for the titles on behalf of Voodoo Murders, Kenoh basically told him to beat it. He wanted nothing to do with him, he was insulted by his not turning up to Great Voyage in Yokohama, where Kenoh had prepared a special seat for him at ringside, and their next challenge (and probably any subsequent challenges) would take place in NOAH as he told everyone pointedly in the ring and then backstage, along with more jumping and cheering with Soya. No challengers have come forward yet, but Kenoh looks to be adding to his collection of belts as on the 1st April when he and Shuji Kondo will challenge DragonGate’s Natural Vibez (Big Boss Shimizu and Kzy) for the Open the Twin Gate Championship. Media outlets are wondering whether Kenoh will once again attempt to unify the GHC and All Japan belts.

Kenoh “All Japan, Aoyago disappointing”. Aoyagi demands a double title match and orders Kongoh to win the GHC, World Tag Press Conference

Seriously? Managing Director Kohei Suwama sends a thank you letter to Kenoh, “If it’s full, I’ll give you a monetary reward”

Kenoh & Soya win the World Tag, notice of defense in NOAH, re-notification of “break” to Suwama

Kenoh’s “pigsty” ruthlessly inflames Suwama, lambasts Triple Crown Champion Yuji Nagata!

No love lost, Masa Kitamiya & Kento Miyahara

Furious that Masa Kitamiya was ignoring his demands for a three man tag in All Japan and irritated even more over Kitamiya’s not greeting him as his senior, Kento Miyahara appeared in NOAH to confront his unrepentant junior following Kitamiya & Inaba’s successful tag defense against Kongoh. Miyahara, who danced his way to the ring, told an unimpressed “Mitsuhiro Kitamiya” that he was getting way ahead of himself (he said it was by one hundred years) calling himself “Masa” and that he had come to finally get an answer out of him about the match. Kitamiya told him that there was no benefit, but since Miyahara had come all the way down here just to shame his junior for not responding, then fine, he would fight him. There was no love lost in Ota Ward, at least not on Masa Kitamiya’s part, and while Miyahara might have had a change of heart after the match, Kitamiya didn’t. The match itself was won by Yoshiki Inamura (against whom Ryo Inoue in particular has sworn revenge and says he will win the All Japan tag league to do it) and was followed by Miyahara speaking on the microphone to Kitamiya. He told him that with the “Masa” name Kitamiya had no choice but to go to the top of NOAH and having seen for himself how he was now, he was no longer “Mitsuhiro Kitamiya”, which was hard for him to say, and he could stop worrying about him. Kitamiya (who hates both of his older brothers/sibling students) told him that he wanted nothing more to do with him, he hated him then and he hated him now. Miyahara, however, seemed to think that they would meet in the ring again although Kitamiya made it very clear that it was unlikely.

Kitamiya gets irritated with “Irresponsible comments”, “Not thinking about unnecessary things”. Kenoh once again declares “GHC World Tag Team”. GHC tag signing ceremony.

“Pathetic”, Miyahara asks Kitamiya to quickly determine the three wrestlers who will be on the NOAH side

NOAH’s Kitamiya wins the match, an announcement of “Never getting involved”, Miyahara cheers “Get to the top!”

STINGER war, outcast Eita

To the surprise of no one, Yoshinari Ogawa (and Eita) did not attend the match signing. Chris Ridgeway and HAYATA did, and while Ridgeway did most of the talking, HAYATA was vocal enough to state that losing the pre matches could be an Ogawa trick. He also likened him to an “Amanojaku” (天邪鬼, lit “Heavenly evil spirit”) which is a demon in Japanese folklore, which urges people to wicked deeds by preying on their darkest desires. HAYATA’S description is apt, because the demon is tricky and never does what anyone expects as their nature is contrary. There was no way to try and outmaneuver such a demon with tricks, so HAYATA said there was no strategy other than to destroy him. In the title match, Ogawa stole the win and then appealed for peace between himself, HAYATA and Ridgeway. HAYATA shook hands, Ridgeway was a little apprehensive and when it came time to leave the ring, hung back without shaking hands, despite the fact that both Ogawa and HAYATA where urging him to come walk with them.

What about Eita?

Eita and Ogawa got into a shoving match when Ogawa shook hands with HAYATA, which ended with Ogawa slapping Eita, who thought that like his squabbles with NOSAWA, it would blow over in a matter of seconds. What he forgets is that Ogawa forgives when he wants.

It was hard not to feel sorry for Eita as he did look so alone when he left the ring, gathering up his belt sadly and slinking backstage with hunched shoulders and holding the side of his face. Like Eita said, STINGER are a notoriously silent group, two don’t have social media, the third doesn’t use his much, and it is only Eita who talks online. Eita’s last post was sad, he said he still believed in Ogawa…after all, they were the GHC Junior tag champions. So far, no one has come to challenge for the belts.

Related articles

Yoshinari Ogawa declares dissolution of STINGER!? (Interview, Part 2)

“Stop waking up Ogawa”, HAYATA declares a parting? GHC Junior tag signing ceremony

Lanzelot challenges AMAKUSA

Lanzelot challenged AMAKUSA for the GHC Junior title following his (Lanzelot’s) win over him at the Yokohama Budokan. Title match will take place in Aomori on March 26th. This will be broadcast at a later date.

Joshi matches announced on a NOAH show

NOAH continue to test the water in putting on Joshi matches, this time outside of a special show (i.e. Great Muta and Keiji Mutoh’s retirement) by putting on a women’s match for the first time ever on an official NOAH show. Nothing as of yet has been announced regarding a women’s division or a GHC Women’s Championship, but it would not surprise me if an announcement was made on the 16th April following Maya Yukihi vs Sumire Natsu.

Jake Lee wins the GHC Heavyweight title

Jake Lee defeated Kaito Kiyomiya following a brutal match where Kiyomiya was worn down but did not have the energy to keep wearing down Jake, which he almost succeeded in doing, at Great Voyage in Yokohama and became the 42nd GHC Heavyweight Champion. He was immediately challenged by Katsuhiko Nakajima, who told him that he would show him what the real NOAH is, and he used the phrase “I’m NOAH”, which made fans wonder if there was a double meaning here as Nakajima started using this in response to Go Shiozaki’s, “I am NOAH”. Jake Lee, after looking stunned, commented that Nakajima was one of the wrestlers he had always wanted to fight. Title match has been set for the 16th April in Sendai.

Related articles

GHC Champion Kaito Kiyomiya dismisses the recommendation to retire, and will “turn everything upside down” in the match against Jake

“I think I will dominate” Jake Lee reveals his ambition in his first GHC challenge to Kaito Kiyomiya in an exclusive interview

Jake “Get the symbol of freedom”, Kiyomiya smiles and says, “Spring in full bloom”. GHC Heavyweight signing ceremony.

“Kiyomiya, take a rest!” The strongest black ship appears in the new era of NOAH! Getting to the bottom of Jake Lee’s heart.

“There are still some diamonds in the rough that I am curious about”, the new GHC champion Jake Lee expresses his beliefs to increase his power

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH INTERVIEWS

Post match interviews

Sunny Voyage 2023 (Tuesday March 14th)

Great Voyage in Yokohama 2023 (Sunday March 19th)

Event recaps

Great Voyage in Yokohama 2023 (Sunday, March 19th)

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

– Naomichi Marufuji picked a few hairs off of Anthony Green’s chest before chopping him

– Very sadly with the defection of YO-HEY and the retirement of Daisuke Harada, the NOAH Junior Space recorded its last session this past week.

– Naomichi Marufuji posted two short InstaLive videos of himself and a drunk Tadasuke. Who had a white towel over his head for some reason in the first, and then had the grin and the eyes half closed and half open in the second.

– A sports news outlet based in Nigeria, reported that Chris Ridgeway had passed away on March 30th 2021! I mean STINGER might be reclusive, and one fan drawn cartoon depicted HAYATA living inside of Yoshiki Inamura’s tires as it was a dark place to hide, but come on! I doubt the 1,308 fans at the Yokohama Budokan were all having a mass hallucination.

– Eita has now become a freelancer. DragonGate said that with his activities in NOAH and Eita also wanting to expand, that this was the best and easiest option all round.

– Manabu Soya announced himself as the mystery wrestler who would enter Champions Carnival Block B

– Kenta Kobashi will be running Fortune Dream (8) again at Korakuen Hall on the 14th June.

– The Great Muta will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, alongside Keiji Mutoh. Akitoshi Saito wondered whether Muta had a passport.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

GHC Heavyweight Champion: Jake Lee
Challenger: Katsuhiko Nakajima, ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI (Xebio Arena Sendai, Sunday April 16th)
GHC Junior Champion: AMAKUSA
Challenger: Lanzelot, SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 (Aomori Mutsu Maeda Arena, Sunday March 26th)
GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: Masa Kitamiya and Daiki Inaba
Challengers: Shuhei Taniguchi & Takashi Sugiura, ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI (Xebio Arena Sendai, Sunday April 16th)
GHC Junior Tag Champions: Yoshinari Ogawa & Eita
Challengers: None at the time of writing
GHC National Champion: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr
Challenger: Jack Morris, ABEMA presents GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in SENDAI (Xebio Arena Sendai, Sunday April 16th)