NOAH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER VOL.120 ~ 2ND FEBRUARY 2021

The table is mostly set for the big Nippon Budokan show on the 12th! Pre-matches, upcoming press conferences; and just how good of a chance does Keiji Mutoh have? Hisame breaks it all down!

NEWS

The Aggression are back

Since Katsuhiko Nakajima and Masa Kitamiya teamed together on the 26th December 2020 at the Kongoh produce “Diamond 3”, fans have been waiting for them to reform, especially since soon after they began to do it more. Katsuhiko Nakajima started dropping hints that they worked well together, and NOAH had them team together multiple times, usually against Takashi Sugiura. Fans waited for the GHC Heavyweight Tag Title challenge, and it came at the very last moment. After defeating Takashi Sugiura on the 31st January at Korakuen Hall, fans got their wish, when Masa Kitamiya challenged him for the titles. Backstage, Katsuhiko Nakajima confirmed it by announcing that this was “The Aggression restarted”.

The title match, however, will not take place at the Nippon Budokan on the 12th February. NOAH are prolonging it until the 7th March at The Yokohama Budokan.

The final pre-matches

The final pre-matches for all the titles (except of course the GHC Heavyweight Tag Titles) took place at Korakuen Hall on the 31st January.

GHC Junior: Daisuke Harada and Seiki Yoshioka faced off in a six man in the main event. Despite the intense fight between them, their match ended in a stalemate as neither got the win over the other. Harada gave Yoshioka one of his piercing looks, as Yoshioka stared back from the apron where he was crouching.

GHC Junior Tag: STINGER (HAYATA, Yuya Susumu and Yoshinari Ogawa) won over their challengers (Kotaro Suzuki, Ikuto Hidaka and NOSAWA Rongai), when HAYATA virtually knocked Kotaro unconscious with The Headache. Afterwards, Ogawa stood over a fallen Kotaro, as he and HAYATA held the belts up. Then they vanished from the ring, with no intention of coming out of the shadows until The Budokan.

GHC National: Kenoh teamed with Manabu Soya against Masato Tanaka and Masakatsu Funaki. The match went to a referee stop when Funaki choked Kenoh out. Kenoh’s face went purple (but not with rage this time). Lying on the mat, Kenoh knew this was a challenger like no other and very different to the MMA fighters he had fought before, and he was going to have to come up with something quick.

GHC Heavyweight: Instead of working on Go Shiozaki’s arms, Keiji Mutoh concentrated on his legs, which is something that he was helped with by teammates Naomichi Marufuji and Seiki Yoshioka. Mutoh locked the Figure Four in three times: first time the hold was broken by Kaito Kiyomiya, the second time Shiozaki made it to the ropes, but the third time, he tapped out.

After the match, in true Kobashi style (or true stubborn NOAH born style), he refused to be helped by Atsushi Kotoge and Junta Miyawaki, and limped backstage. Mutoh said he hoped he had gotten into Shiozaki’s head. Shiozaki admitted that they had, but he had no choice but at The Budokan but to win.

The “NOAH Generations” match: Naomichi Marufuji continues to worry about how Kaito Kiyomiya and Yoshiki Inamura will fare against Jun Akiyama. Marufuji recalled his own youth, remembering how long it had taken him to defeat Akiyama, and how unlike himself, Akiyama was not going to be as tolerant of their youth and generation. Jun Akiyama (Marufuji’s senior), will be the closest that either will ever come to being in the ring with any of The Four Pillars.

Championship signing & press conference coming up

Pro Wrestling NOAH will hold the championship signing and the press conference (for the non title match, i.e. “The NOAH Generation’s Match”). The event will be streamed live on their official YouTube on the 5th February 2021 at 18:00 JST.

Attendees will be:

• Go Shiozaki
• Keiji Mutoh
• Kenoh
• Naomichi Marufuji
• Jun Akiyama
• Kaito Kiyomiya
• Yoshiki Inamura
• Daisuke Harada
• Seiki Yoshioka

STINGER are not listed, as no doubt they wouldn’t show up with some kind of excuse (“illness” and “traffic problems” were the last ones), so NOAH have probably given up including them. No doubt the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag signing will happen before the Budokan match. Then again, six NOAH junior all in one room, is probably not a good idea.

NOAH logo to change

NOAH will unveil their new logo at midday on the 12th February. The reason for the change is two fold; firstly, they want a new logo to represent their voyage to The Budokan and beyond, and secondly although they remain on good terms with LIDET, LIDET no longer own the promotion, and they designed the old logo. It was Naomichi Marufuji who had designed the original logo, when Mitsuharu Misawa took advantage of his graphic design skills and asked him to come up with one, and so the iconic ark and dove flying from it was born.

The Nippon Budokan

On the 31st January, a few hours after the Korakuen Hall event, Naomichi Marufuji and NOAH CEO, Narihiro Takeda, gave an interview regarding The Nippon Budokan. Marufuji said that due to the difficulties caused by the new restrictions thanks to Corona, (i.e. any place were people gather from cafes to restaurants to Snacks to Izakaya must shut by 8pm), he did think about cancelling or postponing the show, but NOAH had worked so hard and it meant so much to both NOAH and their fans, that the show simply had to go on. Therefore, they came up with the solution that they would split the day into two halves; the first four matches will be held from 16:30, with the second half (the title matches and the NOAH Generation Match), starting at 17:45. They aim to close the show by 8pm.

In addition, they also announced that there will be special guests at The Budokan (other than Kenta Kobashi). You can find broadcast details below.

 NOAH Tour Dates: April & May 2021

NOAH have announced tour dates for April & May 2021, including two events back to back at Korakuen Hall.

Hajime Ohara negative on repeat testing

After testing positive for Coronavirus, Hajime Ohara underwent a test at an independent medical facility, and the results came back negative. He had false positive. As a precaution, NOAH kept him off of the 31st January show, and he will return on the 12th February at The Nippon Budokan.

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH PROMOS

Event recap: Higher Ground 2021 (31st January, Korakuen Hall)

Post match interviews: Higher Ground 2021 (31st January, Korakuen Hall)

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

~ Tadasuke used the cornerpost camera as a mirror, adjusting his glasses and smoothing his hair. He has also been putting on weight and then trimming it down to a size that he can comfortably work with. It has been noted that Tadasuke has grown bigger.

~ Yoshiki Inamura said his favorite book is on Lanternflies

~ NOAH held their own tribute to Giant Baba (the man whose wrestling NOAH continues, and whose philosophy the company runs along), by playing “I Look Up As I Walk“, which is a song that Baba used to play to close out All Japan shows.

~ Keiji Mutoh told Seiki Yoshioka that although they were both away from W-1, they were still going to the same ring, and he was cheering for him backstage.

~ Fans would like to see a ABEMA Budokan version poster with the GHC National, GHC Junior and GHC Junior Tag

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

• GHC Heavyweight Champion: Go Shiozaki
  Challenger: Keiji Mutoh (12th February 2021, Nippon Budokan)
• GHC Junior Champion: Daisuke Harada
  Challenger: Seiki Yoshioka (12th February 2021, Nippon Budokan)
• GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba)
  Challengers: The Aggression (7th March 2021, Yokohama Budokan)
• GHC Junior Tag Champions: STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA)
  Challengers: Kotaro Suzuki & Ikuto Hidaka (12th February 2021, Nippon Budokan)
• GHC National Champion: Kenoh
  Challenger: Masakatsu Funaki (12th February 2021, Nippon Budokan)

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

Friday, 5th February: Pro Wrestling NOAH will hold the Nippon Budokan Press Conference & Championship match signing.

Saturday, 6th February: YO-HEY (33)

BROADCASTS

Please see the below regarding The Nippon Budokan:

• ABEMA will show for free all five matches of part 2 only
• Whole event on ABEMA PPV (paid, not recommended if you live outside of Japan and do not have a VPN you know is compatible with ABEMA)
• FITE TV ($19.99, English commentary)
• WRESTLEUNIVERSE (will show the part 2 matches only live, with English commentary)
• The first four matches will only be available via ABEMA or FITE TV, who will also broadcast the whole event.
• The second half (the four title matches, and the “NOAH Generations Tag”) you can view on ABEMA for free or on WRESTLEUNIVERSE.

*Please note that it is not recommended that if you are outside of Japan, and do not have a working VPN, that you attempt to purchase the ABEMA PPV. Getting a VPN that works with ABEMA, can be notoriously hard. I suggest you purchase the FITE TV PPV and watch it that way if you want to see the whole show. The FITE TV PPV is not available in Japan.

LINKS

“Watch the battle of the GHC change The Budokan”, Kenoh focuses on “Beyond The Budokan”

Kenoh’s Origin (Part 1) ~ “Make A Rival”, as taught by Jinsei Shinzaki (“NOAH’s Nippon Budokan Series”)

Katsuhiko Nakajima’s “Origin” a conversation between Kensuke Sasaki and Akira Hokuto heard at the front door

“Show The Fight” ~ The late Masa Saito’s teachings to Katsuhiko Nakajima

“Pain is the real thrill of pro wrestling” ~ Katsuhiko Nakajima’s “Pro Wrestling Philosophy”

“I thought I would lose if I looked away” GHC Champion, Go Shiozaki’s revelation, the truth of the thirty-one minute stare down in the Fujita fight

“I want to protect NOAH”, Misawa’s soul is carved in his heart, determined to be the best against Keiji Mutoh ~ Interview with Go Shiozaki

“Head on and with full power”, Go Shiozaki reveals “NOAH’s Bible” (12th February Nippon Budokan Serialized)

Of “Fate” and a “Starting Point” at the Budokan on the 2nd February, interview with Naomichi Marufuji

Picture credit: NOAH GHC

GIF Credit: ABEMA