News

News From Cook’s Corner 5.17.21: Zombies Ate The Miz

Cook has some commentary on recent behind the scenes stories, Backlash opinions and the sudden passing of an ECW Legend. Check out the News!

Published

2 years ago

May 17, 2021

Steve Cook

Hi, hello & welcome to News From Cook’s Corner! Steve Cook here with you for another week of wrestling news, views and opinions that you won’t get anywhere else! There’s a ton going on and many things to say about it, but before we get to that we gotta get to this…

Tomorrow (Tuesday) marks one calendar year since the passing of my guru, spiritual advisor & executive consultant, Larry Csonka. We’re not going to do some long, drawn out thing here since I already did one last year, but you will want to check out 411mania.com tomorrow for a very special tribute. It’ll be a good time.

For now, we’re going to take a look at some rasslin news!

Backlash From WrestleMania

Did adding “WrestleMania” to the name get people more interested in Backlash? I dunno, the hype heading into this one wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. Looked like a pretty good show on paper, and a good chunk of it lived up to it. I missed the Kickoff Show and most of the first match due to baseball & dinner, but watched the rest for you fine people…

Kickoff Show: Sheamus defeated Ricochet

Don’t worry, Ricochet fans. Your boy didn’t get completely buried here. After all, he stole Sheamus’s hat & coat after the match, just like every good WWE babyface would. So he’ll get at least one Raw appearance, maybe more!

Rhea Ripley defended the Raw Women’s Championship against Asuka & Charlotte Flair

I thought Charlotte might get the duke here, but obviously they’re saving that one for later. Didn’t get to see most of this one, but the last few minutes were pretty good. The sound on my television not working probably helped, to be honest. I was debating not fixing it, but decided it was for the best to do so.

The Mysterios won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from the Dirty Dawgs

Probably about time for Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode to lose the straps. Had them for four months and hardly anybody noticed. Rey worked most of it by himself since Dominik got attacked on the Kickoff Show, but the young boy came down to make the save, the family won and everybody lived happily ever after. Except for me, who spent the entire match trying to make a joke about how some other team was the first father/son pairing to win the WWE Tag Team Championship, but I couldn’t come up with anything good. I mean, Ric Flair’s old enough to be Batista’s dad, so maybe them?

Match was ok. Some people really liked it, others thought it was trash, I’ll go in the middle.

Damian Priest beat the Miz in a Zombie Lumberjack Match

Yeah, this was complete garbage. If somebody tells you it was good, they are either lying to you & drinking the Vince Kool-Aid, or they’re lying to you and are under contract with WWE. This was as bad as the Alexa Bliss stuff, and didn’t have Alexa Bliss dressing in ways that turn some people on to redeem it. (Not judging, we all have our kinks.) This belongs in that conversation with Robocop.

#ArmyoftheDead takes over #WMBacklash in the Zombie #LumberjackMatch! @NetflixFilm @ZackSnyder #BrandPartnership pic.twitter.com/EEfFZFRDMr

— WWE (@WWE) May 17, 2021

The only possible thing that could redeem this would be Miz working the next several months as a zombie on Raw and on Miz & Mrs.. The dude got eaten by zombies, so it would make sense in weird WWE Universe Land and I would give them a little bit of credit for continuity. Even if it’s totally stupid continuity, I would applaud the effort. Also, it would be interesting to see if Miz could pull off the role.

Bianca Belair defeated Bayley

This was pretty good up until the part where Bayley started playing with Bianca’s hair, and the finish where Bayley was allegedly rolled up with Bianca’s hair. I’m hoping this doesn’t result in a hair match considering what happened the last time they tried to build one. They should wait to cut Bianca’s hair until there’s actually an audience, as that might actually incite a riot and would be entertaining television.

Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre & Braun Strowman

This was fun stuff with big people throwing around other big people. It didn’t re-invent the wheel or anything like that, but it was the best you’d expect from these guys. Looks like we’ll get a Lashley/McIntyre Hell in a Cell match, or at least I assume we would because I can’t think of anything else on the Raw side of things that would merit one.

Roman Reigns defeated Cesaro

A very good wrestling match, as we all expected. We all knew Cesaro would deliver in the main event spot, right? I doubt you folks fall in the category of people that would be surprised by such a thing. Speaking of HIAC matches, Cesaro & Seth Rollins are probably due for one since Seth came down to murder Cesaro’s arm after Cesaro had already been murdered by Roman & Jey Uso. Though I could see them doing Roman vs. Jimmy Uso in the cell since Roman already made Jey his bitch in a previous cell match.

So, pretty good show except for the zombie bullshit. Sorry guys, I know it’s a Netflix movie tie-in and WWE gets some money out of the deal (as if they need more) so we’re supposed to be supportive for the sake of business, but, as the kids say, that was just so cringe. Embarrassing nonsense that fits in well on Raw where it’s easier to ignore it.

WWE PPV Schedule Shakeup

There’s been a slight change in the WWE PPV schedule, which I feel like is being overblown the same way the NFL schedule is being overblown, but then I’ve always been a guy that doesn’t look too far down the road when it comes to things like that. Which makes me a perfect fit for a wrestling company’s booking team, come to think of it. As alluded to previously, Hell in a Cell is WWE’s next PPV event, taking place on June 20. Money in the Bank was previously scheduled for that date, but is being moved to July 18 so it can be one of the first WWE shows on the touring schedule.

See, WWE is going back on tour July 16. AEW’s going back on tour July 7. It’s full steam ahead for these companies, as the pandemic is now officially over in America and we don’t have to wear masks anymore if we’ve had both of our shots. Or if we act like we’ve had both our shots, which a whole mess of people will be doing. But let’s not dive into that, as I’m already avoiding talking about the Sami Zayn issue because I don’t want people yelling at me about Israel & Palestine.

The bottom line is that a couple of PPVs changed dates, and in spite of my complaining about the dumb MITB briefcase booking every single year, it’s coming back for another year. Here’s hoping for a repeat victory for Ot-oh, who am I kidding, that’s not happening again.

AEW Backstage Hubbub!

If you know me, you know there’s few things I love more than juicy gossip. When I first started reading the works of the Internet Wrestling Community, it wasn’t for the star ratings or match recommendations. It was for that hot backstage newzzzzzzzz. Back in my day, that’s what most of the writers were about too.

Today’s wrestling writers? They’re all about the star ratings & the performance. They don’t particularly care about the backstage stuff or the business news, they’re all about which pro wrestler is doing the most flips or the best matwork. The ones that do report the news? They’re more concerned with making friends & not being controversial. They actually want to be considered journalists, which is commendable to a degree, except they don’t hold anybody’s feet to the fire when it’s asked for.

Me? I’ve never pretended to be anything more than a longtime wrestling fan with opinions & a healthy amount of curiosity. If you don’t have anything nice to say about somebody, come sit next to me and let’s talk about it!

Apparently, some folks in AEW’s upper management don’t have anything nice to say about each other. This comes to us from Wade Keller & Jason Powell, two names that I remember from back in the day, but don’t really hear from much now. Let’s see what they had to say on a podcast last week about the Executive Vice Presidents. Transcription via 411 via whoever they got it from.

Keller: “There’s gonna a book written someday by some of these EVP’s or someone else closely observing and we’re gonna learn about a lot of dysfunction. We’re gonna learn what a very short honeymoon period there was between certain key people in the company, who aren’t even talking to each other anymore. I think we’re gonna find that out. I know there are people in other wrestling companies saying The Bucks and Cody and Kenny it’s not gonna be long at all before they want to have nothing to do with each other. The honeymoon period is going to be short. It seems like it is. It seems like there’s some disengagement and people going off into their own that is showing up in certain ways.”

Powell: “If that is not happening, they need to clear up that misconception. I do think it’s happening, but if it’s not? I’ll just say; there’s a would-be difference maker who could go there that has that opinion that there’s all this in-fighting and this person, for that reason, is hesitant to go there.”

OK, so there’s a bit to unpack here. First of all, the following absolutely has to be said before we go any further into this: Every business venture is going to have some disagreement between members of management. It’s unavoidable, unless everybody happens to agree on every single thing ever. We haven’t gotten there yet, even though certain news outlets are doing their darndest to make it so. As much as hardcore AEW fans might not like to think so, the odds are really good that Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, Nick & Matt Jackson don’t agree on every single thing.

Heck, you can tell that from watching the show. Unlike WWE, where there is one singular vision dictating everything and setting a particular tone for each show, AEW has conflicting styles and directions. Not saying that’s a bad thing, as a viewer that likes different styles & presentations I like how AEW tries to do different things. I’m just saying the tone of a segment Cody’s involved in is different from something with Omega & the Bucks.

Cody’s got his stuff going on and has his trainees he wants to feature. Kenny’s got his stuff going on and wants more time for the women’s division he’s booking. The Bucks wanna do their stuff & get all their longtime indy wrestling friends on TV. Tony Khan gets to decide who gets to do what, and not everybody’s going to be happy all the time. This isn’t some revelatory stuff here, it’s common sense.

Are they “not speaking to each other”? I assume they communicate through text & group chats like the rest of us these days. Who has time for actually talking to people? I refuse to do such a thing unless I’m getting paid.

I will say that I disagree with Powell’s assertion that these people need to clear up this misconception that didn’t really take hold until he started talking about it. The fact of the matter is that it behooves these guys to not air their dirty laundry in public, and to let people think whatever they want to think. From a wrestling perspective, the idea that these guys don’t get along can always come in handy somewhere down the road if they’re short on ideas.

It’s all baseless gossip and the truth is somewhere between “they all hate each other” and “they’ve never had a cross word”. One thing I can guarantee? There will be a joke on this week’s BTE about it.

Speaking of Executive Vice Presidents…

Fightful Select & the Talking Nonsense About Impact Wrestling YouTube channel noticed something last week. Don Callis is no longer listed on Anthem Sports & Entertainment’s website as an Executive Vice President of Impact Wrestling. Scott D’Amore is listed in that role, and has been doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes for some time now, so it’s not like there’s been a tremendous change in how the company’s running.

As a casual observer, it’s seemed like a matter of time before Callis was going to be spending the lion’s share of his time in AEW anyway. They could use the help since their EVPs aren’t talking to each other, the format sheet each week is a flaming mess & Tony Khan is too busy helping Tim Tebow learn how to play tight end.

Am I doing it right?

New Jack

R.I.P New Jack!
Loool, wrestling was so wild back in the day. "Special shout out to my Homeboy OJ Simpson. Keep up the good work" #NewJack #ECW pic.twitter.com/wBmkOPOe8Z

— HGIC (@HGIC_) May 15, 2021

The Original Gangsta wasn’t exactly what one would call a “good person”. He wasn’t known for his charity work or his kindness to others. His off-work activities weren’t what we would consider morally upstanding. Some might even tell you he was difficult to work with on a professional level. Worked a little snug, if you catch my drift. A bit unpredictable at times. No wrestler ever called a New Jack match a “night off”.

We knew a bit about Jerome Young through his various shoot interviews, his appearance in Beyond The Mat & his Dark Side of the Ring episode. There didn’t seem to be much of a difference between the real person & the character, which is why he had no problem connecting with the audiences he wrestled for. Either in a really good way with ECW’s blood mark fans or in a really bad way with SMW’s rebel flag waving fans.

New Jack had a wrestling style that entertained people. Not so much with the five star matches as with the hitting people with plunder and jumping off of high places. He could also entertain on the microphone. We don’t know if he could have done either of these things in a way that could have gotten him on WWE television, although his team with Shark Boy in TNA was a glimpse of what they could have gotten out of him. It’s a moot point anyway, as you can imagine what would have happened when any of WWE’s sponsors or business partners learned anything about New Jack.

There were several incidents in New Jack’s career that have been well-covered on various platforms. Mass Transit. Vic Grimes. Gypsy Joe. The dude in Florida he stabbed a bunch of times. New Jack wasn’t shy about taking liberties with his opponents. He caused some very disturbing incidents, and he wasn’t sorry for a single one of them.

With all that being said, I never really got mad at New Jack. Sometimes we get mad at these wrestlers for these problems they cause for others, but I was always fine with the guy. It probably helped that I never had to meet him, but what can I say? The guy was one of the focal points of ECW, and really only could have made it as big as he did in that environment. Anywhere else, wasn’t going to happen.

Frankly, I’m shocked that he passed away at 58, because guys like New Jack either die super young or in their nineties.

Thanks for reading. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

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.194 ~ 12TH MARCH 2023

Pre-matches, retirements and cross promotion challenges! NOAH keeps things interesting going into Spring!

Published

1 week ago

March 13, 2023

Hi5ame

NEWS

Daisuke Harada’s retirement

Daisuke Harada wrestled his last match at Korakuen Hall on the 9th March, bringing a seventeen year career to a close. The match was only a minute, and Harada took no bumps and took no damage to his neck. The last move of his career was Misawa’s Rolling Elbow, although he did set up The Katayama German Suplex. Fortunately, time ran out then and the referee looked as if he had to hold Harada back from continuing. His opponent, Atsushi Kotoge (who he calls his “eternal rival”) had come to the ring highly emotional and had buried his face in the turnbuckle when Harada’s music sounded, he was in tears again when Harada made his speech;

“Are you kidding me, aren’t I the one who wants to cry the most? My pro wrestling life started with you, and I’m really happy that it ended with you. Because of you, I was able to come to NOAH and continue wrestling because you were here, and because of you I was able to wrestle for one last minute. I am really grateful to you. From the day I entered Osaka Pro Wrestling, I was cocky junior, but until today have been indebted to you. Thank you for your help today!”

Kotoge left soon after, and Harada addressed the crowd thanking everyone and hoping that they would be happy with the match (the fans were just as emotional as Kotoge), he thanked NOAH, the medical team and everyone who came today. There was to be no ten count bell or ceremony (Harada finds them a little gloomy) but he wanted to end his career with a bang. Harada left the ring for the last time, raising the arm of the person he said had saved his life (NOAH’s trainer, Nagahama) and shaking hands with the wrestlers at ringside, which included Hitoshi Kumano, before he disappeared one final time behind the curtains. In the lobby, Harada had been sent flowers from Osaka Pro, HUB, Zeus (they sent flowers in his colors of blue and white), Meiko Satomura, THE LEAVE, GLEAT, DDT, Satoshi Kojima – the list went on. Harada hasn’t decided what he is going to do next, but he has vowed to support NOAH as a fan, and has referred to himself as becoming a “Wrestling Genie”. However, he doesn’t seem to be ready to leave NOAH behind just yet, as he still has one final NOAH Junior Space to do.

“Don’t end up like me” – Daisuke Harada, who has announced his retirement, thinks about the unexpected doctor stop without subjective symptoms, the retirement match is a one minute exhibition with a doctor present

“My past matches will be streamed. Please receive Daisuke Harada’s pro wrestling! – free matches released on YouTube that Daisuke Harada has chosen himself

“What to do with Taniguchi?” Takashi Sugiura to “retrain” him

The question of “What to do with Taniguchi” is one that NOAH have wondered periodically over the years, and now the question has arisen again following his six man match when he teamed with Naomichi Marufuji and Masaaki Mochizuki against The Sugiura Army of Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita and Hideki Suzuki. Suzuki had said that he wanted to see Maybach Taniguchi, but instead they got apathetic Shuhei Taniguchi, who ended the match by getting choked out by Takashi Sugiura and the ref called for the bell. After the match Sugiura, stood over Taniguchi, and then left the ring. Marufuji and Mochizuki were a little kinder, Marufuji rolling him out, but they both exchanged knowing glances and Marufuji gave him a weary look as they walked to the back. Takashi Sugiura vented about Taniguchi’s performance, and said he would “retrain him” in their singles match in Yokohama.

All Japan World Heavyweight Tag Challenge accepted

After winning the first pre match against the GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions, Masa Kitamiya and Daiki Inaba, Kenoh and Manabu Soya where confronted in the ring by the All Japan World Heavyweight Tag Champions, Yuma Aoyagi and Naoki Nomura, who (throwing off Managing Director SUWAMA’s threat) accepted the challenge of Kongoh for the belts. Kenoh said that when Kongoh win them, having already won the GHC Heavyweight Tag Titles, they would unify them into what they had named “GHC World Tag”. Title match will take place on the 21st March at All Japan’s show at the Ota Ward General Gymnasium.

STINGER all out war; Eita bloodied, Ogawa taps

Following the emotion of Harada’s retirement and the frustration of Taniguchi’s performance, STINGER went to war. Eita faced off in a singles match against HAYATA, and Chris Ridgeway and Yoshinari Ogawa fought in the match after. Eita had threatened HAYATA that he would make him feel the same pain he caused him the night he bloodied him up and took the belt back at NOAH Junior Night at Ryogoku Kokukigan, but in the event of things, HAYATA jumped him, bust him open by using the belt on him and then attacked him savagely afterwards. The ref was shoved down by HAYATA three times, and on the fourth shove away, he stopped the match. HAYATA gave Eita the 403 Impact on the belt, and shoved his boot into his face as he held the championship up. Backstage, HAYATA (who ironically was the only person out of STINGER, ex STINGER or whatever the tag with Eita is called), said that he had no intention of teaming with Eita, and that in Yokohama, Ogawa will come to his senses. Eita later posted on Twitter a picture of HAYATA standing over him and asking whether HAYATA was proud of himself (I would imagine he was) and saying that if he thinks that Ogawa is going to “come to his senses”, then that’s what HAYATA needs to do, so “get real”.

Ogawa and Ridgeway had a match that Ogawa had both predicted would be different from HAYATA vs Eita (he doesn’t give Eita much credit in using his brain, while he did admit he has to work hard when it’s Ridgeway) and would be “technique vs technician”. Ridgeway called it “master vs pupil” and demonstrated that Ogawa’s teaching had taught him not only how to attack, but also how to deceive and like a latter day Charlemagne, how to make everything around you into your army. Ridgeway won the match by doing something that very few people have done; he made Ogawa tap. The war between STINGER has just gone up another notch.

“Let me be clear” – crowned tag with Eita, Yoshinari Ogawa breaks the silence on the HAYATA & Ridgeway interception (part 1)

Kaito Kiyomiya loses the first pre-match against Jake Lee

Kaito Kiyomiya’s woes continued when he lost the first pre match to Jake Lee. However, that being said, Kiyomiya was not the person pinned, it was Atsushi Kotoge. Jake Lee had been making comments about Kiyomiya’s somewhat worried demeanor ever since he came to NOAH, back then it was he looked so glum he would probably scare little children, and now it had developed into making exaggerated smiles on his face using two fingers to prop up his mouth (in the manner of “turn that frown, upside down”) and then motioning at Kiyomiya to do this. Kiyomiya wore a faint smile, but Jake even took it one step further, and rearranged Kiyomiya’s lips and cheeks into a grin when he did a rope break. After the match, Jake took the mic and told Kiyomiya that “Kiyomiya, for you, that (GHC Heavyweight) is a bit of a burden I guess. Boo, applause, whatever. Come and see the 19th March, I’ll change NOAH”.

AMAKUSA retains

AMAKUSA retained the GHC Junior Heavyweight title against Hi69. Hi69 let loose in the match, and he looked as if he was wild eyed and drunk on revenge. Fans said that this was one of the best matches that they had seen out of him for a while, although he does tend to be very good in singles matches, especially title ones with a backstory as in depth as the one against AMAKUSA. No challenger has come forward yet, but AMAKUSA has promised that he will “guide this junior treasure to the heavens”

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH INTERVIEWS

Star Navigation 2023 (Thursday March 9th, Korakuen Hall)

Post match interviews (Thursday March 9th, Korakuen Hall)

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

– Naomichi Marufuji had a Twitter conversation with Satoshi Kojima about a lost phone. He said he had lost his phone once and “everyone was searching for it”. From Kojima’s reaction that suggested that he was there and remembered this, I wonder if “everyone” was the roster at one point.

– Katsuhiko Nakajima held his 35th birthday fan event, “Team Katsu” on the 12th March. The event included photos of Nakajima in his two most favorite ring-wear (his current red one and his wolf skin), homemade Chanko, autographs, a chat with Nakajima and fans could even wear one of the costumes if they won a competition. A lot of reviews contained the phrases “when I came around” or “when I regained consciousness”, which refer to Nakajima’s presence.

– Keiji Mutoh took part in Japan’s version of “Are you smarter than a 5th grader?” It turned out that he wasn’t and went home without the money he hoped to use for his retirement. He says that next time he goes on the show, he will bring Riki Choshu.

– Lanzelot, Super Crazy’s nephew, made his NOAH debut on the 9th March at Korakuen Hall.

– Kenoh said he doesn’t remember the name of Naoki Nomura, as his presence was insignificant.

– Tadasuke wrist flicked Kinya Okada away when he got into the ring. Not that Okada was in his way or had any intention of being in the Kongoh pose.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

GHC Heavyweight Champion: Kaito Kiyomiya
Challenger: Jake Lee, Great Voyage in Yokohama, Yokohama Budokan, 19th March
GHC Junior Champion: AMAKUSA
Challenger: None at the time of writing
GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: Masa Kitamiya and Daiki Inaba
Challengers: Kongoh (Kenoh and Manabu Soya), Great Voyage in Yokohama, Yokohama Budokan, 19th March
GHC Junior Tag Champions: Yoshinari Ogawa & Eita
Challengers: HAYATA & Chris Ridgeway, Great Voyage in Yokohama, Yokohama Budokan, 19th March
GHC National Champion: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr
Challenger: None at the time of writing

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

SUNNY VOYAGE 2023

Date: Tuesday, March 14th

Venue: Yokohama Radiant Hall

Start time: 18:00 JST

Broadcast: WrestleUniverse (you must be a subscriber to view)

Yoshiki Inamura will be having the singles match against Kento Miyahara on this day at Shinjuku Face. The All Japan event starts half an hour after NOAH’s does, and while Masa Kitamiya is on the card he is in the second match, so I guess there is plenty of time for him to get to Shinjuku.

ARTICLES

Kenoh advises GHC champion Kaito Kiyomiya to retire, “shocked” by “forbidden words” after the battle with Okada

Fan event recap – Kenoh gives a talk in Hachinohe

NOAH FROM THE VAULT

“Donmai, Donmai” – Mitsuharu Misawa’s diary

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

(NOAH) NOAH NEWSLETTER VOL.193 ~ 5TH MARCH 2023

After the retirement of NOSAWA and Keiji Mutoh, it seems someone else is being forced to retire for health concerns! Hisame brings us all of the Emerald Updates!

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2023

Hi5ame

After the retirement of NOSAWA and Keiji Mutoh, it seems someone else is being forced to retire for health concerns! Hisame brings us all of the Emerald Updates!

NEWS

Daisuke Harada announces retirement

NOAH held a press conference/title match signing on the 2nd March, in which Daisuke Harada announced that due to the neck injury that has seen him away from the ring since August 2022, he would be retiring. The decision sadly was come to when investigations in August revealed that Harada was in danger of developing what is known as spinal cord compression (cervical atlantoaxial subluxation), which can cause paralysis, respiratory failure and even death. Harada had no symptoms at all and was still training as much as he could (and with the usual weights he used), although for three months he had to wear a neck brace. Sadly, nothing did any good, and the issue failed to resolve. The specialist called Harada and NOAH’s trainer into his clinic and told them the sad news, Harada would have to retire. Unsurprisingly after an emotional press conference in which Harada announced he would wrestle his final match on Thursday 9th March at Korakuen Hall against his oldest friend and eternal rival, Atsushi Kotoge, he went home and couldn’t stop crying. The other two juniors at the press conference, Hi69 and AMAKUSA, were both visibly moved. Hi69 in particular never attempted to hide the fact and AMAKUSA was lost for words when asked about Harada’s news.

Harada’s final match will be a one minute exhibition match, with the doctor at ringside. The match needs to be short in duration as very sadly now, Harada cannot take any further bumps, so don’t be expecting any top turnbuckle Katayama German Suplexes. Harada himself said he is disappointed to have to retire, but preserving his life is more important. Very sadly he will not be staying on in NOAH, although he was offered the position of a coach or backstage agent. Harada says he had to decline as he knew that it would be hard for him to watch the NOAH Juniors and not be able to join in, but he won’t be abandoning them entirely, he will be watching as a fan. However, President Zeus of the new Osaka Pro, has wondered if Harada might like to come and do some guest commentary, and it is known that (unofficially) Harada did want to make an appearance there, but what Harada will do after retirement remains to be seen.

Related articles

Daisuke Harada, from becoming a professional wrestler until retirement at NOAH’s 9th March Korakuen

“I will write about Harada’s absence up until now” – note by Pro Wrestling NOAH trainer, Kento Nagahama

Daisuke Harada shock retirement, Doctor stop due to neck injury, 9th March retirement match with Kotoge at Korakuen

Kenoh’s fifteen year anniversary

“Maybe every five years; debut as a newcomer, ten years to be fully fledged, 15 years is your mid career, twenty years to be a veteran, and thirty years a legend. There is such an image in pro wrestling.”

Kenoh’s chronology of a pro wrestler.

Kenoh celebrated fifteen years in Pro Wrestling on March 2nd. His goal for his fifteenth anniversary was to celebrate it as GHC Heavyweight Champion, which sadly he was not able to do. As is customary for a “mid career” anniversary, Kenoh will be holding his own show, which will take place in his hometown of Tokushima, Shikoku (aka “this fucking countryside”) on 24th June. No card has been announced as of yet, and Kenoh has hinted he will give details on his YouTube channel. But when asked about the handshake with his Michinoku Pro rival, Hayato “Jnr” Fujita, who has been calling for a match with Kenoh, Kenoh said coyly that he is “still waiting to hear from him about that”

Kitamiya no show, enter Inamura

Following on from the friction between the Kensuke Office boys (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kento Miyahara and Masa Kitamiya), Miyahara demanded that Masa Kitamiya come to All Japan’s event on the 27th February, dressed in a suit and apologize formally to him for not greeting him. Kensuke Office was very strict on this, and his former “errand boy” broke the rules. It may be best that Miyahara doesn’t know what Kitamiya was saying about him on commentary. Anyway, the 27th came and Masa Kitamiya did not show up.

But, whenever someone throws down for NOAH, Yoshiki Inamura will answer the call, and that is exactly what happened. Inamura came to the ring and told Miyahara (loudly) that time had moved on and the new generation of NOAH wasn’t just Kitamiya, it was himself, Yoshiki Inamura and if Miyahara wanted a fight then Inamura would give him one. Miyahara (calling Masa Kitamiya by his real name “Mitsuhiro”) said that Kitamiya didn’t show up because he was scared, and therefore he had sent Inamura in his place. Inamura said he came of his own accord. Miyahara kind of liked this, and said that Inamura sure did know who to attack in All Japan and as he had come here on his own accord, he would give him a match. But, he had his own stipulation, Masa Kitamiya comes with him as a second. Miyahara had earlier said that Kitamiya had grown conceited and needed to be taken down a few pegs. The match has been set for March 14th in Shinjuku. Miyahara said sarcastically after their confrontation that this could turn into “NOAH vs Miyahara”, although probably he basically wants revenge on Katsuhiko Nakajima and Masa Kitamiya above all.

Related articles

Inamura makes a sudden appearance, and requests a match against Miyahara. One on one match in Shinjuku on 14th March decided.

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

– Kaito Kiyomiya revealed in a recent interview that his post title match treat is to go out and basically eat whatever he wants. He listed ramen, hamburgers and candy, which he would stuff himself with to the point of “not being able to move”.

– Since his retirement, Keiji Mutoh is feeling a lot better and his injury has gotten a lot better. He ran into Tomoaki Honma in a local gym, and then said he fled quickly from him when he heard that Honma had been cheering for him until he was hoarse at his retirement match.

– Kenoh says that he and Manabu Soya will no longer he challenging for the All Japan World Tag Titles thanks to President Suwama bursting in and attacking one of the champions with a chair and demanding that the Voodoo Murders come before Kongoh. Suwama said Kenoh was “talking stupid”

– Junta Miyawai has returned to Mexico following his loss at the Mutoh retirement show. He says he will swallow down that bitter pill and return stronger.

– Naomichi Marufuji and the now retired NOSAWA Rongai made one of their annual road trips to Shizuoka to attend a physiotherapy treatment clinic. Marufuji posted a picture to his Instagram with an arrow pointing to NOSAWA saying, “Retired, but still in need of maintenance”. NOSAWA at that time was photographed smoking and looking out of the window following their traditional stop over meal of eel.

– Satoshi Kojima has left NOAH for the time being. Takashi Sugiura demanded to know if “our love was just a contract” and then likened himself to being “Koji’s gigolo” in that case.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

GHC Heavyweight Champion: Kaito Kiyomiya
Challenger: Jake Lee, Great Voyage in Yokohama, Yokohama Budokan, 19th March
GHC Junior Champion: AMAKUSA
Challenger: Hi69, Star Navigation 2023, Korakuen Hall, 9th March
GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: Masa Kitamiya and Daiki Inaba
Challengers: Kongoh (Kenoh and Manabu Soya), Great Voyage in Yokohama, Yokohama Budokan, 19th March
GHC Junior Tag Champions: Yoshinari Ogawa & Eita
Challengers: HAYATA & Chris Ridgeway, Great Voyage in Yokohama, Yokohama Budokan, 19th March
GHC National Champion: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr
Challenger: TBA