NEWS

Returning to empty arenas

Due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in the Tokyo Metropolitan area, the city council have declared a state of emergency and have decreed that sporting events can still go ahead, but they must be done as unattended events. NOAH will hold the 29th April in Nagoya event as planned with an audience as Nagoya is outside the area, but they will be issuing refunds for the 2nd and 3rd May for “NOAH THE OVATION”. These shows will still go ahead and will be broadcast on WrestleUniverse.

Kenoh refuses to take part in CyberFestival

Kenoh has finally broken his silence, and let loose his pent up rage in an interview with “Weekly Pro”. To Kenoh, the festival is pointless because NOAH and DDT should be separate because there is no point in having them on the same show when these types of things are about “crushing” promotions, and DDT should concentrate on their own brand of wrestling, and not try to be like NOAH’s. He isn’t too keen on Jun Akiyama training them either. Branding Sanshiro Takagi as being jealous of NOAH’s success and wanting to give that to DDT, and likening him being like the Emperor who had new clothes, Kenoh has declared that he will never take part in the festival, or indeed any CyberFight Festival. Sanshiro Takagi responded to this on Twitter, branding Kenoh selfish for his behaviour, given how hard everyone was working towards it, and admitting it is a shame that Kenoh feels this way.

Kenoh will probably end up appearing on the show after all, all you need to do is appeal to his vanity. Takashi Sugiura used the same tactic to get him on one of the Sugiura Army produce shows by telling him he had a worthy opponent for him. Kenoh believed him, and the opponent ended up being Chikara Momota.

Takashi Sugiura & Kazuyuki Fujita get drunk. At a match signing. 

NOAH have had some interesting press conferences lately to say the least, Kendo Kashin’s “present” to Kenoh, Kenoh doing the PFS on Kazushi Sakuraba, various fights breaking out, Akira Taue being called in to keep order (again involving Kenoh who told Jushin Thunder Lyger he was a “washed up old cartoon character”), and that time when in response to Takashi Sugiura commenting that Naomichi Marufuji was the ventriloquist and Maybach Taniguchi, his dummy, and them imitating what he had said, no one before has ever bought beer to one, had a drinking contest by downing two 3 pint glasses, drunk a third and then left to get drunk.

Thank Kazuyuki Fujita for this, who soon after signing the contract for the GHC National match, called for beer to be bought in, and then wondered where accompanying snacks were, while true to form, Sugi asked where the bar hostesses were. The reporters vainly tried to get the pair to answer questions, which got more futile as the interview dragged on, with Fujita answering a question “It’s fun, drinking and fighting.” Sugiura said he wasn’t going to lose the title match or the drinking competition, and after posing with flushed grinning faces, Fujita with the GHC National and Sugi with a beer glass, they left to get even more drunk. Sugi said the competition ended in a draw.

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH PROMOS

Event recap: Neo Breeze 2021 (Saturday 24th April, Yokohama Radiant Halls)

Post match interviews: Neo Breeze 2021 (Saturday 24th April, Yokohama Radiant Halls)

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

~ Genichiro Tenryu has revealed that when he had babysitting problems, he would bring his daughter to the All Japan dojo while he trained, with his juniors (Mitsuharu Misawa, Yoshinari Ogawa and Kodo\Hiromichi Fuyuki), becoming her unofficial babysitters. He still recalls herself and Ogawa (who would have been about sixteen at the time), as being young children. If he had to bring her to a hotel, Misawa and Fuyuki would push her about the pool in a rubber ring.

~ Yoshiki Inamura has done weight training with the tires with Yasutaka Yano sitting on them as he lifts them, he has also taken them outside the dojo to find a hill to push them up and down. At night when he goes home, he seems to stop and play the hide and run away game with a local cat.

~ Naomichi Marufuji chopped Atsushi Kotoge, and then wiped his hands on the ref.

~ YO-HEY had hinted he would challenge “a pinkish person” for the belt, but made no challenge at Yokohama Radiant Hall. In any case, Atsushi Kotoge pinned him, but YO-HEY left indicating that Kotoge was a marked man.

~ Katsuhiko Nakajima has vowed he will end Funky Express.

~ Daisuke Harada broke YO-HEY’S crazy lock up by clapping in his face, which made YO-HEY snap to attention.

~ Nioh had a scary flare up of an old injury at NOAH’s event in Yokohama on the 24th. Fans feared it was a knee injury as he was helped from the ring by two trainees and a referee, but it turned out to be a problem with his lower back. Nioh (then Hi69) was badly injured in 2007 which was thought to be career ending, so this is probably what it stems from. In any case he appears to be as well as he could be and will not miss time.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

• GHC Heavyweight Champion: Keiji Mutoh
  Challenger: Masa Kitamiya (“NOAH THE GLORY 2021”, 29th April 2021)
• GHC Junior Champion: Atsushi Kotoge
  Challenger: TBA
• GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: The AGGRESSION
  Challengers: TBA
• GHC Junior Tag Champions: STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA)
  Challengers: NOSAWA Rongai & Ikuto Hidaka  (“NOAH THE GLORY 2021”, 29th April 2021)
•  GHC National Champion: Kazuyuki Fujita
  Challenger: Takashi Sugiura  (“NOAH THE GLORY 2021”, 29th April 2021)

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

Thursday 29th April: Tadasuke celebrates 14 years in wrestling

Thursday 29th April: Atsushi Kotoge celebrates 16 years in wrestling

Thursday 29th April: “NOAH THE GLORY 2021” (3pm JST) ~ WrestleUniverse

Saturday 3rd May: “NOAH THE OVATION 2021” Day 1 (11:30 JST) ~ WrestleUniverse

Sunday 4th May: “NOAH THE OVATION 2021” Day 2  (11:30 JST) ~ WrestleUniverse

*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.

LINKS

“Assess whether he deserves “Masa”, Keiji Mutoh & Masa Kitamiya GHC Heavyweight match signing”

Picture credit: “Weekly Pro”

GIFS: NOAH Official YouTube, Yoshiki Inamura