NOAH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER VOL.59 ~ 1ST DECEMBER 2019

As the year starts to wind down; Hisame keeps us up to date with where Pro Wrestling NOAH is headed!

Published

4 years ago

December 2, 2019

Hi5ame

As the year starts to wind down; Hisame keeps us up to date with where Pro Wrestling NOAH is headed!

Please note that during NOAH’s upcoming schedule 3rd December to December 12th, translations of magazine articles or interviews will not take place. I am hoping to catch up on anything that I have had to delay from the 13th to the 22nd, and then again over the holiday period.

THIS WEEK IN NOAH
We were in for a treat, both the RATELS produce and the event in Niigata, were streamed live through YouTube.

EXCITE PURORESU.DCM KAMA HOME CENTRE (23rd November)
Not a full blown NOAH event, but a small promotional free show done in association with Tatsumi Fujinami and some sponsors. Nothing really of any note relating to NOAH happened in the match, but they all seemed to have a fun time – Naomichi Marufuji took pictures (Sugiura was caught in one looking like he wanted to ask what he was doing), Nakajima was at his sarcastic best, Shiozaki got hold of a high pressure cleaner, and Kiyomiya hugged a little dog.

RATELS SHOWTIME (24th November)
Fortunately, STINGER turned up for the produce show, which in the long run RATELS would regret as they dominated the evening with the singles matches ending in Yoshinari Ogawa torturing YO-HEY to the point that HAYATA came out and threw in the towel for him (YO-HEY wasn’t happy), Daisuke Harada beating Kotaro Suzuki, Chris Ridgeway defeating Tadasuke and Atsushi Kotoge and HAYATA wrestling to a draw. The evening produced two matches that made my Match of The Year 2019 list.

Naturally after this (and two other matches which were on the card which I will discuss below) a ragged looking RATELS came limping out to face STINGER in an elimination match. This being STINGER vs RATELS, no-one wanted to wait for the bell, with both teams attacking each other even before the sound of the bell had faded from the air. Ogawa sensing blood, went after YO-HEY’S knee, which others in STINGER joined in with. Unfortunately for Ogawa, YO-HEY eliminated him by the roll up, which was something Ogawa could not believe, and angrily confronted the referee.

This left three of STINGER facing four of RATELS.

Fortune’s wheel turned with YO-HEY being eliminated by Kotaro Suzuki, and then himself being eliminated by Tadasuke. HAYATA and Ridgeway eliminated each other, with HAYATA knocking him off the apron after they had been fighting on it, with Ridgeway eliminating him by pulling him into an ankle lock. They got into the first of two fights outside the ring (Ridgeway appears to possess the ability to be the only one to drive usually calm HAYATA into a rage), and Harada had to break up both fights. After this they stayed away from each other.

Finally, it was Harada & Tadasuke vs Kotoge.

Kotoge got rid of Tadasuke by using Harada against him, and with Tadasuke gone the two got into another match of the year quality match (the only downside was Kotoge’s use of headbutts, Harada didn’t bleed, but Kotoge did). They both pulled out everything they could with the crowd being on their feet screaming vocally, but the evening belonged to STINGER when Atsushi Kotoge got the pin with the Killswitch.

YO-HEY came limping out to see to Harada (who was lying dazed on his back) with his knee heavily iced and taped, as Kotoge spoke sadly on the microphone to say that there could never be any kind of happy ending between himself and Harada, before he left the ring.

Afterwards, Harada was hauled to his feet, and RATELS put on a show of solidarity.

In the two other non RATELS vs STINGER matches, Junta Miyawaki got a lot of praise for exhibiting further growth when he teamed with Hi69 against The Sugiura Army (Kinya Okada & Hajime Ohara), although he fell to Ohara’s Muy Bien. Shuhei Taniguchi, Mohammed Yone and Masao Inoue faced off in a three way match which ended with Yone and Taniguchi ending not caring who won (despite the fact that they had squared up to each other in the beginning), as long as it wasn’t Masao Inoue.

NIIGATA CITY GYMNASIUM (26th NOVEMBER 2019)
It was a blessing that this was streamed, otherwise this event and the fact that the juniors managed to eclipse their hated rivals, the heavyweights, would have gone unrealised.

Sadly, despite his best efforts, Junta Miyawaki fell to Hajime Ohara’s Muy Bien again in the opening tag match. As well as a budding rivalry with Kinya Okada starting, NOAH also seem to be teasing the day when Miyawaki gets the win over perhaps, Ohara?

Akitoshi Saito was another person who benefited from today being streamed, as stepping away from the usual comedy tag match he does with Masao Inoue, he had a hard hitting singles match with Masa Kitamiya. Hailed as a “hoss fight”, it lived up to its name. Nothing technical, just two guys beating the hell out of each other. There is a reason why Marufuji used to say that “my partner is Saito-san”, and this is it.

It was also good for Kitamiya to take a momentary break from the tag team division, and do some singles work. Match can be summed up as brute force with Masa Kitamiya getting the win after ten minutes and sixteen seconds with the Saito Suplex.

50 Funky Powers (Mohammed Yone and Quiet Storm) were presented with flowers, and a photograph with local officials, for their tag match against Kongoh.

Kongoh were not invited to the party and stood by complaining after the ref pushed them back, and then proceeded to crush 50 Funky Powers in what could be described as a semi squash revenge we didn’t get given flowers or asked to pose with pretty ladies match, Quiet Storm challenged Inamura and was thrown halfway across the ring for it, and Kenoh stalked around with his quick Hawk like head movements.

It took eight minutes, twenty-five seconds for Kongoh to beat them up over some flowers.

With Daisuke Harada and Tadasuke facing Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Kotoge for the GHC Junior Tag titles, YO-HEY & HAYATA faced off against Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway (YO-HEY & HAYATA came out wearing the same outfits, with YO-HEY tucking one of the pant legs into his boot to make it shorter like HAYATA’S). The usual fight broke out before the bell with Ogawa working on YO-HEY’S knee again with Ridgeway working on HAYATA’S ankle. It was a very brutal match to watch with STINGER at their most sadistic keeping RATELS grounded.

Chris Ridgeway got the win over HAYATA after fourteen minutes and one second with the German Suplex Hold. Afterwards he taunted HAYATA by taking the belt and standing over him with his foot on HAYATA’S ankle, YO-HEY attempted to shove him off, which just led to Ogawa attacking his knee again.

Unsurprisingly YO-HEY & HAYATA did not appear to second Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke in their title match for the GHC Junior Tag Titles against STINGER.

The GHC Junior Tag titles were defended next, and this was a real heart-in-your-mouth watch through your fingers match, which managed to completely eclipse anything the heavyweights did on the card that evening. The two teams bought everything to the table, the match ebbed and flowed with force swinging between the two teams as it reached its crescendo towards the end as no one was going to give up, but in the end it was Tadasuke with a mixture of both showboating to the crowd and exhaustion who lost RATELS the tag titles after twenty minutes one second, when he made a grave error earlier in the match when he should have pinned Kotoge, but carried away he was playing up to the crowd, and so allowed Kotoge to recover. Had it not been for that one moment, RATELS could have kept the belts, but instead Kotoge got the win with the Killswitch.

It was a match which was not only a brilliant display of what the NOAH Juniors can do, but also one with a very human story of failings, which made for great storytelling, which added to the high quality (the aesthetics as NOAH like to call it), made my 2019 Match of The Year list.

Daisuke Harada, humiliated, made no comment at first, only to say a few days later that he was mortified to lose the belt after just twenty-four days. However, he did rally and said that Korakuen Hall on the 3rd December would be about supporting HAYATA.

Takashi Sugiura made his historic first defence of the GHC National (which now has its own theme like the other belts do) against Shuhei Taniguchi, in which the audio picked up quite clearly the punches and elbows the two threw at each other. At one point the ref tried to come between them and got thrown aside. Sugiura got the win after twenty-three minutes and fifty-nine seconds with the Olympic Slam, and then got hit with the Saito Suplex by Masa Kitamiya who came out to challenge for the title.

Sugiura in the post match promo said, “Why did you have to come and pour water on it?” (i.e. why did it have to rain on his celebration), and while he is usually inclined to see anything the younger heavyweights do as the impetuosity of youth, he didn’t dismiss Kitamiya’s attack as that, and warned him that he was not ready.

Kitamiya has said that he wanted to challenge as Sugiura was the champion, and he was the barrier he needed to overcome to pull himself out of the dip he is in. Sugiura basically responded with, “bring it asshole, if you think you are hard enough. If you want it, try and take it.” Sugiura, however, was a little kinder to Taniguchi (despite the social media trolling and the provocation in the ring into his doing something more), by saying that although the flowers did not bloom in the match, there was no way that the petals were scattered or faded.

Taniguchi himself has vowed to make an even bigger bloom in the future.

AXIZ are gearing up to their 15th anniversary singles match, and had the first in their series of celebrations which will culminate in a highly anticipated singles match at Korakuen Hall on December 3rd, by teaming with Hitoshi Kumano (making them “Kumaxiz”) against Kaito Kiyomiya, Naomichi Marufuji and Masao Inoue.

Yes. Masao Inoue. Who got bullied by AXIZ.

You would have thought that Inoue would have gotten the worst in this match from AXIZ, but it was Kiyomiya who took the dreaded kick\chop sandwich, and Kumano was knocked groggy by Marufuji’s “Tiger King” knee attack. Marufuji also treated Kumano like a small boy by patting him on the head when on the ropes, which Kumano was not appreciative of.

Go Shiozaki won the match with the short range lariat on Masao Inoue (complete with audible thunk) after twenty-three minutes and 1 second.

Afterwards (presented with a sack of rice and two PS4), while a spaced out Kumano looked on, AXIZ did the famous lean and Go Shiozaki spoke about their upcoming singles match. He proposed that he and Nakajima put on a match which can be roughly translated as “set the world on fire”, and they shook on it.

NOAH’s next event will be on December 3rd at Korakuen Hall, which will be the final part of the last tour of NOAH’s 2019, and will have a very harsh schedule.

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

~ YO-HEY & HAYATA escaped to the countryside to do some small local promotions in YO-HEY’S hometown of Yabu in Hyogo prefecture. YO-HEY said he went to rest his knee, but this translated into smoking, drinking beer, playing basketball, walking through the woods (the trees much to YO-HEY’S disappointment were not interested in leaflets or tickets), and playing Super Mario World (1990) until 3am when they beat the game with a score of 96. HAYATA is known to love Mario games (YO-HEY said that he creates levels on Mario Maker which no one can beat). Normally, the champion would go on his own to do promotion and have interviews with local papers etc, but this is HAYATA, and he doesn’t like speaking to people….
~ Naomichi Marufuji did his own promotion in Sendai. He said he was looking forward to eating the local food.
~ Kaito Kiyomiya says that he was given a blow to the face by Kenoh at Sumo Hall which gave him a kind of out of body experience, when for a few seconds he found himself running across a plain to the river of the dead. He was crossing the bridge when he decided to turn back. He wonders what would have happened had he kept going.
~ Kenoh’s feud with Kiyoshi Tamura is ongoing, he is enraged though by Tamura’s “No comment” to his challenge. He also says that he will be creating the “Kenoh Awards 2019”.
~ El Hijo de Canis Lupus and his (biological) brother Dragon Bane arrived in Japan on the 1st December. They will have a highly anticipated singles match at Korakuen Hall on the 3rd December, and then a tag match where Dragon Bane will team with Naomichi Marufuji and El Hijo de Canus Lupus with Daisuke Harada on the 12th.
~ AXIZ talked about their 15th anniversary in a YouTube video and took fan questions (it’s in Japanese).

PRODUCE NEWS
NOAH have not announced any plans to stream the other two produce shows yet, but it is hoped that as they streamed RATELS, they will at least stream The Sugiura Army’s (it wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t stream Kongoh’s due to the whole leaving them out of things storyline).

“All Dogs gather! Bark at Korakuen” ~ The Sugiura Army
There is going to be a “Battle of The Tough Guys! The Bout to Knock Each Other Out” when the heavyweights of The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Kazuyashi Sakuraba take on Kazushi Fujita and Hideki Suzuki) clash in a fight to determine who is the most powerful.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

GHC Heavyweight Champion: Kaito Kiyomiya
No challenger as of yet
GHC Junior Champion: HAYATA
Challenger: Chris Ridgeway (3rd December 2019, Korakuen Hall)
GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: AXIZ (Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima)
No challenger as of yet
GHC Junior Tag Champions: STINGER (Kotaro Suzuki & Yoshinari Ogawa)
No challenger as of yet
GHC National Champion: Takashi Sugiura
Challenger: Masa Kitamiya (4th January 2020, Korakuen Hall)
IPW Junior Heavyweight Champion: Daisuke Harada*
No challenger as of yet, and it is not known if there will be one

*This chronology will only be maintained for NOAH wrestlers.

THIS WEEK IN NOAH
Monday 3rd December: Korakuen Hall (18:30 bell)
Thursday 5th December: Sendai PIT (18:30)
Friday 6th December: Yamagata International Exchange Plaza (18:30)
Saturday 7th December: Hachinohoe Seagull View Hotel Gymnasium (17:00)
Sunday 8th December: Mutsu Grand Hotel (2pm)

BROADCASTS
NOAH’s 3rd December Korakuen Hall show will be broadcast on 8th December at 11pm JST on Samurai TV.

LINKS
Noah theme song CD 2nd release commemorative event
“Beef tongue, Seri nabe anticipation” Naomichi Marufuji promotions Noah’s Tohoku Event on 5th December
The name of the tag full of love is AXIZ
“I cannot lose to the intense harassment of LIDET entertainment!” 14th December Kongoh produce advance tickets sold out, Kenoh avoids Kongoh dissolution and departure from Noah
Crossing the Sanzu River on 2nd November at Sumo Hall? Kaito Kiyomiya talks about a “near death experience”
Kiyoshi Tamura “please fight with me in earnest”, Kenoh “collaborating questions & answers” and the memory of Nakamura
“The two sons who have inherited the souls of Kensuke Sasaki and Kenta Kobashi”
First card decision! GHC National Battle of Sugiura vs Kitamiya
Birthdays, debuts and anniversaries
“Come At Me You Bastards!” ~ Kenoh’s column (October 2019)

GIF CREDITS: Noah GHC
PICTURE CREDIT: Noah GHC, YO-HEY

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.200 ~ 7TH MAY 2023

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

Published

12 months ago

May 8, 2023

Hi5ame

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.

“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.

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.

“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.

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

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

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

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

Published

12 months ago

April 26, 2023

Hi5ame

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.

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.

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