Wrestle-1 Tour 2018 Outbreak Part 1 Results & Review (6/13/2018)

Published

6 years ago

July 1, 2018

We are back at Wrestle-1 as the schedule last month was a bit hectic and had to skip the show due to too much going on.

I’ll just tell you what happened. Last show we did, Manabu Soya and AKIRA won the Tag Team Championships and were challenged by Kumaarashi and Shotaro Ashino in which they won the titles in May and lead to Kumaarashi to be the next challenger for today’s show. As you can see in the title that it says part one and I added that because this is technically day two of this tour since day 1 isn’t aired and the same with day three, so I wrote part one instead of day 2 for that reason. So we got a stacked card and plenty of surprises along with two titles matches, so let us…dive right in.

Singles Match
Ganseki Tanaka vs. Tsugutaka Sato

Review: I’m looking at the match card and I know it says the match is about eight minutes, but they do cut a bit of time from the earlier matches due to trying to make it about two hours for TV and sucks since I wanna see the full matches of the whole card and not just the upper half of it, takes away the feeling of watching a show and feels like I’m watching a recap for the first half. From what was available though it didn’t look too bad at all since it looked like it was the newer talent fighting each other with mostly stiff strikes and submissions, they both looked good while doing what they needed for a simple yet effective opener. Due to half the bout being cut, not much to talk about than what I just said and Tsugutaka won the match with an Elevated Boston Crab.

Recommended: It wasn’t bad, but the match being cut hurt my full opinion so skip it.

Tag Team Match
FUJITA & MAZADA vs. Ryuji Hijikata & Takanori Ito

Review: It started off with Ito and MAZADA going back and forth with punches and once Ito knocked MAZADA down, he kicked his foot up to hit him in the groin to take Ito down with him, clever. Ryuji was only in the ring once during this whole match and it was very brief since it was just FUJITA and MAZADA working on Ito throughout the whole match to get the heat and I actually do like them as a tag team and they flow nicely. MAZADA would try to go for the pin on Ito, but he kicks out at two and Ryuji would hit him with a Shining Wizard before he gets up and goes to the outside to prevent FUJITA from getting in the ring while MAZADA and Ito fight in the ring. Ito would get the upper hand on him with a few kicks to knock him down and would pick him up for the German Suplex Hold to get the win for him and Ryuji.

Recommended: Same problem as above, but this one was watchable at least.

Six Man Tag Team Match
Alejandro, Andy Wu & El Hijo del Pantera vs. Jun Tonsho, Kaz Hayashi & Kotaro Suzuki

Review: We got a six-man match-up with the three masked wrestlers taking on Kaz Hayashi as he leads the team with Jun Tonsho and Kotaro Suzuki.

Pantera and Hayashi start the match off and Pantera starts schooling him with his lucha style and a mix of arm drags, he would then hold his arm while walking on the ropes as Kotaro would try to shake the ropes to knock him down, but Pantera held on and bounced up to flip the both of them and that looks insane. Pantera would jump over Kaz to Dropkick Kotaro and it looked like he was gonna do a Suicide Dive and spins back into the ring before tagging Alejandro. Alejandro got kicked down right away by Kaz and kept going at it till he took an arm drag and he went to go for a tilt-a-whirl, but he slipped when he was going around for the second time and was able to still roll him up for a pin to try and cover it up for a two count and not Kotaro gets tagged in. Alejandro hits a Missle Dropkick and tags in Andy Wu who starts exploding with energy sweeping Kotaro after dodging a Roundhouse Kick, hitting a nice Frankensteiner off the top rope and would get a two count, but now Kaz and Pantera start getting involved in the match with all four of them going back and forth with Kaz and Kotaro first hitting a Handspring Elbow onto both of them, then Andy hits a Wheelbarrel into a Bulldog onto Kotaro, then Kaz hits a Jawbreaker, and then it ends with Pantera hitting a Tilt-a-Whirl Backbreaker to make all four men go down while Alejandro and Jun are standing in their corners until they actually get tagged in.

Alejandro and Jun start to hit each other with punches, but Alejandro would get the upper hand with a Springboard Crossbody and then a Springboard Dropkick and gets a two count. Jun then gets some offense when he dove through the ropes to hit a DDT and goes to the top rope, but Alejandro goes up quick to do an arm drag and then hits a Reverse DDT to go for the pin as the other four men go back in to break it up which ends with Andy and Pantera both doing a Hurricanrana to the both of them and diving to the outside to leave them alone again. Alejandro looked like he was trying to go for that Tilt-a-Whirl DDT which I forget what he calls it, but they both dropped and Jun would hit him with a Dragon Suplex for a two count and for good measure hits a Thrust Kick for the win. After the match, Jun stated that he wants a shot at the UWA Six Man Tag Team Championships.

Recommended: Solid six-man action despite some slip-ups and made me a fan of Pantera.

Tag Team Match
Masayuki Kono & NOSAWA Rongai vs. Koji Doi & Shuji Kondo

Review: Another tag team bout with NOSAWA and Masayuki taking on Koji and Shuji, and of course it started with Shuji and Koji hitting a Shoulder Block onto NOSAWA to knock him down. Part of the match got cut on this one too since it was mostly NOSAWA and Kono knocking down Shuji and it would work for a while until Shuji had one up for a Bulldog while hitting a Lariat on the other so he could tag Koji in for the remainder of the match and would get stopped by Kono as he attempts a Double Chokeslam on Koji and Shoji, but they would jump out of it to push him off for a Double Clothesline and as Koji went for the pin, NOSAWA would hit a Shining Wizard. Eventually, Koji would hit a Facebuster on Kono and then applies the Nankinjogatame to make him tap out.

Recommended: The match was okay, so up to you.

– After the match, NOSAWA was still in the ring as he says that it’s time for there to be some excitement for Wrestle-1 and that is why he called a friend in. Out came CIMA along with several of his wrestlers from OWE (Oriental Wrestling Entertainment), as they made their presence known in the W-1 ring. Joined by T-HAWK, El Lindaman, Takehiro Yamamura, Gao Jingjia & Zackery Wentz (Dezmond Xavier was also announced to join later), the group known as STRONG HEARTS, has declared an all-out war against WRESTLE-1. CIMA stated that he will bring much-needed life to W-1. Which Vice-President Kondo took offense and Hayashi as well was not happy with the call-out against their promotion. CIMA and Shuji Kondo had an initial stare-off, but then T-HAWK got into Kondo’s face to assert himself against the veteran. Jun Tonsho, Hayashi’s current protege, even shoved CIMA to the mat. The OWE boys made a wall in front of Tonsho which lead to Hayashi pulling his boy back. The group will begin compete in W-1 on the June 22nd show at the Shinkiba 1stRING, as President Hayashi stated that the event card will be changed soon. All I can say about this whole ordeal is holy shit. I’m so glad OWE is getting a chance to shine and I feel like this little partnership could help open new doors for the both of them. OWE is a promotion in China which is lead by CIMA himself and is in charge of running it once he left Dragon Gate while still being apart of the company. This feud made me excited and I can’t wait to see what happens. (Credit to puroresuspirit.net for the details as what was said.)

Tag Team Match
Kenichiro Arai & Shotaro Ashino vs. Jiro Kuroshio & Masato Tanaka

Review: Since Kumaarashi is busy with his upcoming title match, his tag partner, Shotaro Ashino had to pick someone else from Enfants Terribles to team up with him and he picks Kenichiro to take on Jiro ‘Ikemen’ Kuroshio and Masato Tanaka which I didn’t see coming. I also love how Masato is also wearing Jiro’s jacket for when he wrestles as his partner, that’s just awesome to me.

Masato and Ashino look to be starting it off and we get some nice chain wrestling for a moment and Masato would get the advantage first while popping his jacket a little, but Ashino gets mad and hits a European Uppercut on him and Masato strikes back and hits a running forearm to the corner before tagging Jiro in as he starts to chop Ashino and while he can to the ropes, Kenichiro opened the ropes up for him to fall to the outside. Kenichiro would attack Jiro on the outside for a moment before putting him back into the ring so he could get tagged in and hits Jiro with the Kitchen Sink to knock him down before going over to the corner where Ashino is sitting on the top turnbuckle as Kenichiro goes up behind him to stand on his shoulders and fall down for a Double Stomp and gets a two count. Kenichiro would run towards Jiro, but Jiro jumps up to make him tackle the turnbuckle post and gives Jiro time to hit a Dropkick off the top and tag Masato in who gets the hot tag and even takes the jacket off, how could you!? Masato would have Kenichiro in a DDT position and Ashino runs in to try and break it, but gets caught in a Stunner while hitting the DDT at the same time, but his momentum would end when Kenichiro hits an Atomic Drop and a Spinning Neckbreaker to knock Masato down. Ashino gets tagged in now and hits a Running Uppercut to Masato and then Masato hits a DDT before he could tag in Jiro who then slaps Ashino with part of his jacket before having him go outside to hit an Asai Moonsault. It looked like Jiro went to go for a Springboard, but Ashino catches him for a German Suplex as they’re both down while Jiro tries to make the tag, but Masato was knocked down before he could reach him which lead to a two on one assault on Jiro with another Running Uppercut while Kenichiro hits an Alabama Slam. Ashino would hit two German Suplexes and he was going for a third until Jiro grabbed the ropes to try and fight it, but Ashino hits his head to make him let go and attempts a third, but Jiro filled out of it and its a Cradle Piledriver and goes to hit his Moonsault Press for the win, but Kenichiro grabbed the referee’s hand to stop the count. Ashino would finally apply his Ankle Lock to try and make Jiro tap and he tried so hard to break out of it, but was unable to for a while until he surprised him with the Ikemen Flash roll-up and gets the surprise victory over Ashino! After the match, Jiro told Ashino that he and Masato want a shot at the Tag Titles at the June 22nd show.

Recommended: Very solid match, worth the watch.

WRESTLE-1 Cruiserweight Title Match
Seiki Yoshioka (c) vs. Yusuke Kodama

Review: Seiki is set to defend his Cruiserweight Championship for the fifth time as his next challenger is Enfants Terribles member, Yusuke Kodama who looks to bring the belt over to his faction so they would have more gold while Seiki is proving that he’s still on top of the division.

It looked like they were trying to see who can outsmart who during the beginning of their sequence with Kodama ducking on of Seiki’s strike to slap him in the face and later on, Seiki would stop himself from jumping over Kodama so he could kick him when he was down, but then Kodama got the upper hand when they were outside and he tripped Seiki from the apron to knock him down as he now gets the heat in the match. Kodama would have Seiki in the corner to chop and punch him around and Seiki would try to turn it around to have him in the corner to go for a kick, but Kodama would duck it to have him back in and hits a Running Forearm along with a Brainbuster for a two count. Kodama went for a Reverse DDT and Seiki would flip out of it as he delivers some kicks to him until Kodama raked his eyes to do an Irish Whip which Seiki reverses and hits a Cruiser Kick to knock Kodama down and tops it off with a stiff Enziguri and an Axe Kick to get a two count. Seiki would have Kodama by the ropes and gets hit to give Kodama time to try and hit a Springboard DDT, but gets pushed off into the corner for Seiki to hit a Shining Wizard, Enziguri, and a Running Dropkick to knock him down, but now they’re on the top rope but Seiki has him down to hit the Tree of Woe for a two count. Seiki would attempt to go to the top rope, but Kenichiro went out to distract Seiki only to get knocked down, but it was enough time for Konada to recover and push him off the top rope to make him go outside where he attack him for a bit and try to get a count out victory and once Seiki got closer, Konada would run and do a flip to the outside onto Seiki to get him back in as he hits a Diving Forearm shades of AJ Styles to get another two count. Konada isn’t done yet as he picks Seiki up for a Powerbomb right away and still gets a two count as Konada now attempts to pick him up, but Seiki would fall back down which leads to Konada to mock him a bit to make him get up as he picks him up again to go for a Fisherman as Seiki fights out of it and hits two Roundhouse Kicks to make them both go down. Seiki would get up first and starts to grab his arms so he could stomp him down for a bit until he picked him up for a Devastation Kick and a Pump Handle Driver for a two count. Seiki looks to end it with the PK but Konada would fall down before he could get a chance to kick him and plays possum by rolling him up for a two count and as Seiki tried to kick him, Konada catches the leg to hit a German Suplex, but Seiki gets back up and kicks him down a few times to try and do it again, but Konada hits a Bloody Sunday for a two count. Konada would pick Seiki up for a Fisherman Buster for another two count, but Konada quickly goes to the top rope so he can hit his Mad Splash and we have a new Cruiserweight Champion!

Seiki Yoshioka has held the belt for 284 days with four successful title defenses under his belt and he definitely had a solid run with the title, but I can’t be mad with Konada winning the belt either since he definitely delivered in this match here to earn this win. After the match, Konada would start to mock and humiliate Seiki a little bit until El Hijo del Pantera came out to not only make the save, but to also assert himself as the next challenger for the championship, but we don’t have the official date for it as of now but I am excited about it.

Recommended: Great match, definitely worth the watch.

WRESTLE-1 Title Match
Manabu Soya (c) vs. Kumaarashi

Review: After losing the Tag Team Championships to Manabu and AKIRA, Kumaarashi would betray his partner to join up with Enfants Terribles to get a rematch for the titles with his new partner and former WRESTLE-1 Champion, Shotaro Ashino and they were able to get the titles together which made Kumaarashi the next challenger for the championship. Enfants Terribles now has all but one title now due to Konada just winning the Cruiserweight Championship and both Ashino and Kumarrashi still being champions, all that’s left for them to take now is Manabu’s title and could make Kumarrashi a double champion if he can somehow pull out the victory here, so let’s see if he can.

We get a bit of a slow start with the two locking up and pretty much a headlock until Manabu pushed Kuma off as they both shoulder tackle each other back and forth for a bit as Manabu was able to knock Kuma down and starts to kick him. Manabu went for an Irish Whip and gets reversed as Kenichiro would grab Manabu’s legs to pull him to the outside and hit him with a chair on his injured ribs while Kuma distracts the referee and before the referee turned around, Kenichiro was on the other side as Kuma would stand on the ring apron to hit a Senton on top of him while Manabu was laying on two chairs.I’m loving the selling with Manabu’s ribs since it’s not over the top and makes it feel like it’s a legit injury while trying his best to fight off Kuma and gets knocked down with a knee in the gut and would even do a Vicegrip on his injured ribs before hitting another Senton for a two count. Manabu would get a small comeback when he runs from the ropes to hit a Flying Clothesline and then a splash in the corner with a Bulldog and then a Neckbreaker right after to only get a two count, but he would pick him up for a quick DDT for another two count and when he tries to throw him into the corner, Kuma would reverse it to throw him in and run after him only to get kicked in the face so Manabu can attempt a Crossbody, but Kuma catches him for a Bearhug and gives him a Backbreaker before Manabu could fight out of it. After applying a Torture Rack onto Manabu, Kuma would attempt to go for a Piledriver a couple of times only for Manabu to flip him over to get some time to regain his stamina and the two would brawl back and forth until Manabu had him dazed with his double-handed chops and ran in for a Spear, but Kuma catches him in time and it looked like he was going for a Suplex, but Manabu reverses it into a Brainbuster and he’s down. Manabu would go for a Spear and a Death Valley Driver to get a two count and it looks like he’s calling for the Wild Bomber, but Kuma would hit his arm twice to prevent him from hitting it and would hit a Lariat of his own, but Manabu would headbutt his arm before the collision and now the two try to Lariat each other to knock the other down and it wasn’t working until Kuma actually hits his first but he calls down with him. Kuma goes to the top rope only for Manabu to get up to fight him off and he hits a Superplex before getting up to try and hit the Wild Bomber, but Kuma catches him to tackle him to the turnbuckle and knocks him down before he climbs up again to hit a Senton off the top rope, but he’s too weak to make the cover otherwise that would’ve been it, but he tries to pin him anyway and it’s already too late as he kicked out. The two would get up slowly and start clubbing each other in the chest until Manabu was too weak to hit him and Kuma picked him up to only get hit with a headbutt, and now Manabu tried to pick him up and gets caught in a Powerbomb instead as Kuma goes for the cover again and Manabu kicks out once more. Kuma went to the top rope to hit one more Senton but Manabu would roll out of the way and hits a Wild Bomber on the back of his head and then one more to go for the pin and Kuma kicks out, but Manabu would hit one more Wild Bomber and this time he gets the win and still champion!

After the match, no challenger came forward, but the W-1 GRAND PRIX will begin on July 1st with the winner earning the right to challenge on September 2nd. Last year we had Ashino taking on Jiro for the WRESTLE-1 Championship on that same show and it was my favorite match of that year, so I’m definitely excited to see who will fight Manabu this September.

Recommended: This was a great match with nice storytelling, definitely give it a watch.

Overall: Aside from the first match being average, this was honestly a great show and one of the better ones that I’ve covered on here for sure. With the invasion of CIMA and OWE, new Cruiserweight Champion, and just a solid main event, I’m very excited to see what the next show brings.

Favorite Match: Seiki Yoshioka vs. Yusuke Kodama

Least Favorite Match: Ganseki Tanaka vs. Tsugutaka Sato

Score: 8/10

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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

2 years 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

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

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

Published

2 years 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