(NOAH) NOAH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER VOL.138 ~ 21ST AUGUST 2021

 With the N-1 Victory tournament on the horizon, Hisame shows us how the landscape looks before we find a number one contender for the GHC Heavyweight Championship!

NEWS

NOAH return to The Budokan and make history, “The Puroresu Golden Week”

From the moment that NOAH announced that they had a big announcement that would “make every fan happy”, fueled by the NOAH roster themselves who were also making predictions, fans were kept guessing as to what it would be. The announcement was made on the 15th August at Kultz Kawasaki that NOAH would be returning to The Budokan for a super show on the 1st January 2022. Never before in Japanese wrestling has a wrestling promotion run a show at The Budokan, and so this is big news, especially as it heralds a new tradition of the week of New Year shows by NOAH, New Japan and other promotions, similar to WrestleMania week, which has been dubbed “The Puroresu Golden Week”.

NOAH were originally not planning to run The Budokan at New Year. This came about when NOAH’s director, Narihiro Takeda, was looking into booking the venue for next year and the concert promotion company who represent NOAH came back to him and said that they could run The Budokan on New Years Day if they wished. Takeda went to consult with NOAH President, Sanshiro Takagi, who said “Let’s do it”.

Kazunari Murakami out…Kendo Kashin in

Due to a sciatic nerve condition Kazunari Murakami has had to leave the N-1 VICTORY 2021, creating a space in B Block. King Tany declared that he would enter, but his stalker, Kendo Kashin also decided that he would too. Narihiro Takeda sanctioned their match (ignoring their protests that they already had matches at Kultz Kawasaki), and after the traditional scuffle at the press conference, where Kendo Kashin hit Tany with a GHC belt he had stolen from someone (probably not Takashi Sugiura though), they met in a qualifying match on the 15th August. Kashin was up to his usual tricks such as throwing a ladder at Tany when he entered the ring, not letting the ref check him and later using his Perspex plastic sheet spot. Tany may have had size and power on his side, and his Greco Roman may have been used to counter Kashin’s MMA style, but unfortunately his crown may have squeezed his common sense as he actually accepted a handshake from Kashin, although to be fair, Kashin was very insistent. Then, Kashin being Kashin, took the fight outside the ring, backstage and then up to the bleacher seats and they both got counted out. The furious referees (it took two of them) told them both to get back in the ring and the match was restarted. Kashin went for the same tactics, but Tany kept him in the ring, throwing him from corner to corner. Kashin wasn’t finished yet and took the ref out, which meant his getting pinned by Tany’s splash gave him time to kick out as it was delayed. King Tany royally complained about the count. No dancing from the King though, he was riding into battle and not at a court ball. Kashin in true fashion of court jester (although perhaps more cursed Jack-In-The-Box than the Lord of Misrule) stole the win and will be entering B Block in the N-1 Victory.

Kaito Kiyomiya & NOSAWA Rongai

If there is one thing that makes Kaito Kiyomiya lose his temper, then it’s being made to bleed. The incident occurred when Kiyomiya was not only made to bleed by The Great Muta but was humiliated by NOSAWA Rongai. Kiyomiya was meant to get his grudge match at Kultz Kawasaki but this didn’t happen due to the card being changed due to Great Muta having to self isolate. Sulkily (and throwing his coat aside in anger), Kiyomiya had to take on Hajime Ohara, but he wasn’t finished with NOSAWA just yet and appeared at ringside when STINGER (HAYATA & Kaito Kiyomiya) took on Magical Immortality (Naomichi Marufuji) and NOSAWA. In fury and frustration, Kiyomiya attacked NOSAWA almost right away, dropkicking him out of the ring.

Too polite to interfere in the match, although the referee did order him off the apron once, Kiyomiya lurked outside the ring waiting for NOSAWA and attacking him every time he could. Yoshinari Ogawa attempted to cool the young man’s temper, once by holding him by the hair to let HAYATA attack NOSAWA, and another time a little more gently. At the end of the match, Kiyomiya got into the ring and very politely checked on HAYATA (who had gotten mist blown in his face) and then went to attack NOSAWA. A singles match has since been made (Kiyomiya, a highly stubborn NOAH born, finally gets his own way) for 3rd September in Yokohama, but NOSAWA says he can see no value in a singles with Kiyomiya, unless of course his win means he gets to enter the N-1 VICTORY in Kiyomiya’s place…

YO-HEY & Nioh return

NOAH announced that YO-HEY would return from having Coronavirus on the 28th August, and Nioh a little later (although he too was advertised for the 28th) in early September. Nioh has a slight cough still and NOAH have taken the precaution of keeping him off the card. Nioh hasn’t said anything about his return although Haoh has said that Nioh must be feeling frustrated. YO-HEY seems his usual chirpy self though, but has not posted any pictures online.

Takashi Sugiura, double champion

Takashi Sugiura made history on the 15th August by defeating Masato Tanaka for the ZERO1 World Heavyweight and becoming a double champion, as he already holds the GHC National belt. After an utterly brutal match, in a moment of supreme sportsmanship and grace, Masato Tanaka took both belts from the referee and handed them to Sugiura himself. After the match Sugiura spoke on the microphone and told Tanaka that they were The Bullet Yankees, and one day would reunite. So far no challenger has come forward for either of the belts; ZERO1 have held an emergency meeting and the NOAH heavyweights are gearing up for the N-1 Victory which starts in September. This doesn’t however completely rule out some heavyweights who are not in the league (Mohammed Yone, King Tany namely) and of course the NOAH Juniors, although I can’t see anyone other than perhaps Tadasuke (who has a heavyweight strength, loves fighting heavyweights and is usually wild) and perhaps Daisuke Harada at a push, challenging.

Junta Miyawaki enters ZERO1’s Tenkaichi Junior Heavyweight Tournament.

On Friday the 20th August, Junta Miyawaki was training at NOAH’s dojo when on getting up he did a double take and noticed a small box had been left on the ring apron. Opening it he found he a crystal ball inside, which signified he had been chosen to enter the Tenkaichi Junior Heavyweight Tournament. His first match will take place on the 24th August when he takes on Takumi Baba.

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH PROMOS

Event recap: Kawasaki Go! (15th August 2021, Culttz Kawasaki)

Post match interviews: Kawasaki Go! (15th August 2021, Culttz Kawasaki)

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

– Daisuke Harada and Atsushi Kotoge returned to NOAH on the 15th August following having to self isolate, Harada got the win over enemies Kotaro Suzuki and Ikuto Hidaka and completely failed to see that Kotoge was sad he did not. Harada has a tendency to do this, and it usually leads to people turning on him eventually.

– Momo No Seishun are not the only team with cracks appearing, unusually for them HAYATA and Yoshinari Ogawa did not come to the ring together at Culttz Kawasaki, but instead made separate entrances. It will be interesting to see what happens when the rescheduled HAYATA, Ogawa & Kiyomiya vs Great Muta, NOSAWA Rongai & Magical Immortality match takes place on the 29th August as Ogawa seems to be drifting away from STINGER and towards Great Muta/Keiji Mutoh, his own generation.

– Naomichi Marufuji was on the cover of “Weekly Pro” due to the Budokan on New Years Day announcement. Kenoh naturally is never pleased with anyone being on the cover, being convinced that he should be perpetually on it, and even went as far as to post a picture saying that as the 1st January falls on his birthday, then HE should be on the cover. So Naomichi Marufuji changed the graphics did just this, and Kenoh even retweeted it.

– Tadasuke is still winding Daisuke Harada about the meaning of “Dokan”. Harada told him loudly that was what he was going to beat him with.

– Daisuke Harada’s older brother said he would be free on New Year’s Day to come to The Budokan. So Harada told him he knew how to ride the train doesn’t he? Response was yes, but there was ticket fees for both the show and the train….Harada says he doesn’t have a brother!

– Tadasuke says he can’t tell the difference between Yuya Susumu and Seiki Yoshioka, so Yoshioka simply calls him “the tanned blonde with the sunglasses”, which kind of makes Tadasuke sound like Claudia Schiffer.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

• GHC Heavyweight Champion: Naomichi Marufuji
  Challenger: Winner of the N-1 VICTORY 2021
• GHC Junior Champion: HAYATA
  Challenger: Kotaro Suzuki, 3rd September, Yokohama Radiant Halls.
• GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: Masa Kitamiya & Kaito Kiyomiya
  Challengers: TBA
• GHC Junior Tag Champions: STINGER (Yuya Susumu & Seiki Yoshioka)
  Challengers: TBA
• GHC National Champion: Takashi Sugiura 
  Challenger: TBA

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

Saturday, 28th August: Naomichi Marufuji celebrates 23 years in Pro Wrestling

Saturday, August 28th: NOAH the SPIRIT 2021 Masa Kitamiya 10th Anniversary Event*

Takaoka Ecourt, Toyama

Starts: 17:00 JST

Viewing: WrestleUniverse (broadcast on 31st August)

*His debut was on September 25th, but NOAH have bought the event forward by a month due to the N-1 Victory starting in September.

Sunday, August 29th: PREMIUM SUMMER DREAM 2021

Ishikawa Industrial Exhibition Hall No. 3, Ishikawa

Starts: 16:00 JST

Viewing: WrestleUniverse (broadcast on 1st September)

LINKS

“The top wrestlers, the young people and the trainees are united” – Naomichi Marufuji discusses the decision for the 2022’s New Years Day Nippon Budokan event

“Fucking asshole fans have given me the best birthday present” – Kenoh on the New Years Day 2022 Nippon Budokan event

“On New Years Day go to The Budokan instead of the first New Year’s shrine visit” – Keiji Mutoh talks the 2022 New Year’s Day Budokan event

NOAH is the first to hold a “New Year’s Day Nippon Budokan” show in the history of puroresu! The director reveals a miracle thanks to the “collapse of tradition”…

GIF Credit: NOAH Official YouTube, WrestleUniverse, NOAH Official Twitter

Picture credit: Naomichi Marufuji