NEWS

Atsushi Kotoge wins the GHC Junior Heavyweight from Seiki Yoshioka

Describing himself as “stubborn”, Atsushi Kotoge set out to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight from Seiki Yoshioka, who he had warned after his title win at The Nippon Budokan, that he was in over his head. Despite the use of a headbutt in the pre-match, and the threat of using it during the championship match, Yoshioka managed to prevent Kotoge from doing this on a few occasions. However, Yoshioka fell to the Killswitch, the move he had successfully once prevented Kotoge from doing.

No challenger came forward at the end of the match, or even at the time of writing, but because of Kotoge’s win, the somewhat miserable relationship between himself and Daisuke Harada seems to have grown even more frosty when Kotoge was given congratulations by his team. Junta Miyawaki got a hug, but for Daisuke Harada there was an ice cold fist bump, as Harada looked back with a glint in his eye. No one but Junta Miyawaki was seen to do anything resembling a smile. I would imagine the situation will worsen should Harada and Miyawaki fail to take the belts from STINGER.

Keiji Mutoh’s new challenger

Keiji Mutoh wrestled a title match on the 14th March at the Fukuoka International Center against Kaito Kiyomiya which was a masterpiece in old school psychology. Coming to the ring and showing how spirited and energetic he was following an illness, Mutoh allowed Kiyomiya to believe that he was wearing him down, when in reality Mutoh’s goal was to lure Kiyomiya into wearing himself out. Kiyomiya played into all of this, and as an added bonus, Mutoh managed to make him fall into the old desperation tactic, and finished him off with three Shining Wizards (Kiyomiya kicked out of all of them), and as he was dazed and weak, a submission technique, to which Kiyomiya had no choice but to tap out from. His arm had been worked on in the pre-matches by the others in the M’s alliance. Mutoh did praise Kiyomiya backstage as the match itself was very classical in style. Fans attribute this to Yoshinari Ogawa.

Kiyomiya wasn’t even backstage when the next challenger to the belt appeared. Walking down the ramp, Masa Kitamiya had come to the ring. Mutoh tried to leave, but not as polite as Kiyomiya who had just let him go, Kitamiya stopped Mutoh and then gave him the Saito Slam. What followed was the Kongoh pose, belt motions and Kitamiya making “F You” gestures. As a member of Kongoh, Kitamiya has no care as to what the crowd, Mutoh or anyone in NOAH thinks of him. The date for the title match has not been set yet, but this is going to be a very different theme as one fan has stated. Both Mutoh and Kitamiya share someone in common; Masa Saito. Keiji Mutoh has a strong connection with Saito from their days in New Japan, and of course Saito was Kitamiya’s mentor. This is going to be a very interesting feud.

Go Shiozaki to miss time 

Fans have long been concerned with the worsening state of Go Shiozaki’s arms and the increasing mummifying of his shoulders under layers of bandages as his injury worsens. As the GHC Heavyweight Champion there was nothing Shiozaki could do about his accumulating injuries (and true to form he denied there was ever a problem), but a few weeks after losing the belt he announced backstage on the 14th March in Fukuoka that he was taking time out to have surgery. Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura have told him to take his time and not rush back, as they both know given half the chance, Shiozaki would have walked off of the operating table and back to the ring if he could (which echoes Mitsuharu Misawa’s caution to the roster not to bring Kenta Kobashi weights when he was in hospital, although Sugi probably would have added the part about bringing him porn), with Naomichi Marufuji adding that he is pleased that NOAH is in the situation that it is, which means that Shiozaki does not have to feel pressured into rushing back before he is ready. Shiozaki estimates he will be absent for about half a year, which means that most certainly he will miss the CyberFight Festival.

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH PROMOS

Event recap: “Great Voyage in Fukuoka” ~ Fukuoka International Centre, Sunday March 14th 2021

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

~ Yoshinari Ogawa missed time on the 14th March due to a fever (not Covid related fortunately), which left HAYATA to pull double duty at “Great Voyage in Fukuoka”. He defeated Junta Miyawaki in a singles match, but there was significant damage done to his arm started by Miyawaki and added to by Daisuke Harada in the tag. This will no doubt be a major factor in the title match.

~ Masao Inoue has been commanded by Akitoshi Saito to prepare costumes for Mohammed Yone and Shuhei Taniguchi, as Funky Express and The Anti Wrestlers Alliance have made a wager for the 21st March, whichever team loses will have to disband and join the other, so on the 21st March one of those two teams are going to cease to exist.

~ Kenoh and Kazuyuki Fujita parodied the half hour stare off between Go Shiozaki and Fujita that took place in March 2020. It didn’t last as long as Kenoh broke it by making the first move. The match ended in a stalemate as neither pinned the other, and Kenoh may have bitten off more than he could chew.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

• GHC Heavyweight Champion: Keiji Mutoh
  Challenger: Masa Kitamiya (TBA)
• GHC Junior Champion: Atsushi Kotoge
  Challenger: TBA
• GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: The AGGRESSION
  Challengers: TBA
• GHC Junior Tag Champions: STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA)
  Challengers: Momo No Seishun (Daisuke Harada & Junta Miyawaki) (21st March, “NOAH THE INFINITY 2021”)
• GHC National Champion: Kenoh
  Challenger: Kazuyuki Fujita (21st March, “NOAH THE INFINITY 2021”)

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

 Sunday 21st March: “NOAH THE INFINITY 2021” (11:30am JST)

 BROADCASTS

*Please note, unless stated it is a free stream, you must be a subscriber to WRESTLEUNIVERSE to view events. Subscription is free for first month, then 900 yen per calendar month. You can sign up from anywhere in the world. All ABEMA shows are eventually put on WRESTLEUNIVERSE, with the exception of the PPVs.

“NOAH THE INFINITY 2021”  will be broadcast on WRESTLEUNIVERSE at 11.30am JST. This will not be a free stream.

GIF’S taken from ABEMA