N-1 VICTORY Night One

Kazuyuki Fujita defeated Masa Kitamiya via the soccer ball kicks to the face.

Kendo Kashin had preyed on Kenoh’s already destroyed nerves at the press conference by not turning up, having it announced to “Daiki, Masaaki and Daisuke” that he was “next to them” which made everyone search for him (Masaaki Mochizuki even searched under the table), until Kenoh got on the microphone and made the music come to a scratch finish by screaming to him to stop messing around. Kenoh vowed he was going to beat Kashin up so badly in the first match that he couldn’t wrestle any others, but Kashin (as ever) had a few tricks up his sleeve. During the match he and Kenoh almost got counted out when the fight went to the back, Kashin used his face squish move on Kenoh by using something like a frame on his face, and then he caused a distraction by undoing his boot, slipping out of a mask he had pulled on over his usual one when Kenoh was distracted by the boot, and then pinning Kenoh with a sneak pin. Kenoh couldn’t believe it, and lots of pictures were taken as a result of his standing there open mouthed with a Kashin mask in his hand. When he had recovered, Kenoh confronted Kashin backstage and they had the following exchange;

• KASHIN: You lost
• KENOH: Stop your bullshit, I didn’t lose!
• KASHIN: A care home, build a care home
• KENOH: You came out of an old people’s home, right?
• KASHIN: You should build one, so you can care for us all the time.
• KENOH: WHY DO I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!?

In usual Kashin style he was wearing one slipper and one boot, which Kenoh demanded to know why and then it got to Kashin telling Kenoh he needed to get the necessary care qualifications. Kenoh of course started getting even more irate and kicking the door.

Masato Tanaka defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima, and said that it was true he had lost to Takashi Sugiura but warned Naomichi Marufuji that in defeating last years league champion (who let hubris cloud his chances), he was now the strongest person in the league.

Takashi Sugiura and Keiji Mutoh’s first ever singles match ended in a time out draw. Sugiura was forced to wrestle Mutoh’s pace, with Mutoh playing the confused old man which his opponents always seems to underestimate the meaning of. It means that Mutoh knows full well what he is doing, and lures his opponents in to a false sense of security. This was a very different match for Takashi Sugiura to have as it was very vintage style, which highlighted how versatile he is. Sugiura commented after the match that he was disappointed by the draw as it was a “little like losing”.

Points

• BLOCK A: Keiji Mutoh vs Takashi Sugiura
  30 minutes time out draw (1 point each)
• BLOCK B: Kenoh vs Kendo Kashin
  Kendo Kashin via sneak pin (12 minutes, 46 seconds)
• BLOCK C: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Masato Tanaka
  Masato Tanaka with the Sliding D (14 minutes, 8 seconds)
• BLOCK D: Masa Kitamiya vs Kazuyuki Fujita
  Kazuyuki Fujita with a kick to the face (9 minutes, 29 seconds)

New GHC Junior Tag Champions & New Challengers

Yuya Susumu said in typical sarcastic fashion that he was so moved by Atsushi Kotoge’s interview, that he was going to grant them a title match. The match took place on the 12th September at Korakuen Hall, it was a very fast paced match with Hajime Ohara bringing out new submissions, and Yuya Susumu applying everything he could to Ohara to wear him down. STINGER were determined to end the match quickly, but it was a match full of near falls and pin breaks, swinging between both STINGER and their opponents quickly. Each time it looked like it was over, it started up again with Kotoge wrestling on pure momentum until he decided to pull out the finisher as his last resort and won with the Killswitch on Seiki Yoshioka. The new champions didn’t have time to celebrate for long as NOSAWA Rongai appeared from nowhere, to challenge for the titles on behalf of himself and Eita;

• NOSAWA: I hate your wrestling. Next is myself and Eita.
• KOTOGE: Everyone and you hate it. I will continue to burn my body to make the Noah Juniors hotter!

Then NOSAWA walked off, leaving The Noah Junior regulars to celebrate in the ring. NOSAWA said later he thought he had done a very boring thing by challenging the boring champions with their boring wrestling with their boring microphone work. Yuya Susumu said that this was not the end. He posted a picture of himself butting heads with Kotoge indicating that that his target would not necessarily be the titles, but someone who was once an old friend.

The GHC Junior Heavyweight title match has been set for the 10th October at the Osaka Edion Arena 1st stadium. It will be the night when the winner of the N-1 VICTORY faces Naomichi Marufuji for the championship, and HAYATA defends the GHC Junior against Daisuke Harada.

The first pre-match between NOSAWA, Atsushi Kotoge and Hajime Ohara saw NOSAWA team with YO-HEY as Eita was absent. The match took place at Club Citta on the 15th September, and was “won” by NOSAWA who held the ropes for the win. The most furious about it seemed to be Junta Miyawaki, as the high spirits of the tag champions could not be quenched even by this.

HAYATA & HARADA

Daisuke Harada and HAYATA had their long awaited singles pre-match on the 15th September at “Club Citta”. The two juniors managed to conjure up the magic of Baba’s All Japan with fans leaving reviews of the match such as saying it had the intensity of The Four Pillars. Neither wanted to (or would let themselves) be beat and so the match was a rollercoaster of emotion with submissions (HAYATA using far more than he usually does) and Daisuke Harada growing more vicious than he ever is, both were goading each other into wrestling in desperation, and by the time the match time ran out, both were spent. There were no words at the end, only a stare off each holding up a finger to symbolize “next time”. Backstage Daisuke Harada said he had always wanted to beat HAYATA and would be “preparing measures” for the title match. While the event was not streamed live, the match was and you can watch it for free on Noah’s official Twitter.

WrestleUniverse to be updated

CyberFight have announced that WrestleUniverse will be updated on the 1st October. Not too many details have been given out (aside from the Noah site saying that an upgrade will make the site easier to use), but there will be a premier of the changes made held on Noah’s official YouTube channel on Tuesday September 21st at 21: 00 JST.

“LEGACY”

“I want you to learn by watching the pro wrestling of your seniors, I want you to carry the pro wrestling world in the future” – Naomichi Marufuji to Yasutaka Yano, Kinya Okada and Junta Miyawaki.

 At the event to celebrate seventy years of pro wrestling in Japan, Naomichi Marufuji teamed with Junta Miyawaki against Kinya Okada and Yasutaka Yano. Much to Marufuji’s credit, it was Junta who got the win via a perfect Falcon Arrow on Yano. After the match Kinya Okada said that while he was nervous to be wrestling in front of so many great seniors, he is proud along with Yano to be part of the young people who are making new history in puro. The event can be viewed on WrestleUniverse (you must be a subscriber).

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH PROMOS

Event recap: Night 1 of the N-1 Victory (12th September 2021, Korakuen Hall)

Post match interviews

Event recap: Noah Sanctuary (15th September 2021, Club Citta)

Post match interviews

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

– Daisuke Harada’s older brother said that the precious “Dahara” (Daisuke Harada) towel that was given to him will be used as a precious family heirloom to clean the toilet, the bathroom floor and the ventilation fan.

– Did Hajime Ohara fall over Atsushi Kotoge at Korakuen Hall on the way to the title match?

– HAYATA edged slowly to the back wall while taking pictures with fans at Club Citta, meaning that he looked small and they looked big.

– Jumbo Tsuruta and Giant Baba (from whom Noah’s wrestling descends) where inducted into the Japanese Wrestling Hall of Fame by Kyohei Wada and Genichiro Tenryu on the 15th September at “LEGACY”

– Yasutaka Yano was trolled by Takashi Sugiura when he asked for questions to answer for his PKDX column. Sugiura used the phrase that all the Noah seniors seem to do whenever any of their juniors do anything live, “Where is your girlfriend?” Yano politely did not answer.

Daisuke Harada has made no comment, neither has YO-HEY and Tadasuke has said something  along the lines of “What the hell…” as it features all four of the former RATELS for a show on the 28th November in Yoyogi. Yoyogi is not a place associated with any of them, RATELS, and the 28th November is not a debut anniversary. It remains a mystery that has caused many tears just by seeing the four of them back together in some form.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

• GHC Heavyweight Champion: Naomichi Marufuji
  Challenger: Winner of the N-1 VICTORY 2021 – (GRAND SQUARE 2021 in OSAKA, Edion Arena Osaka 1st Stadium, October 10th)
• GHC Junior Champion: HAYATA
  Challenger: Daisuke Harada – (GRAND SQUARE 2021 in OSAKA, Edion Arena Osaka 1st Stadium, October 10th)
• GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: Masa Kitamiya & Kaito Kiyomiya
  Challengers: TBA
• GHC Junior Tag Champions: Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara 
  Challengers: Perros De Mal Del Japon (Nosawa RONGAI & Eita) – (GRAND SQUARE 2021 in OSAKA, Edion Arena Osaka 1st Stadium, October 10th)
• GHC National Champion: Takashi Sugiura 
  Challenger: TBA

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

Saturday, September 18th: N-1 VICTORY 2021

Noah Special Arena (empty arena)

Starts: 20:00 JST

Viewing: WrestleUniverse

Sunday, September 19th: N-1 VICTORY 2021

Noah Special Arena (empty arena)

Starts: 20:00 JST

Viewing: WrestleUniverse

Monday, September 20th: N-1 VICTORY 2021

Noah Special Arena (empty arena)

Starts: 20:00 JST

Viewing: WrestleUniverse

* A guide to the N-1 VICTORY can be found here

Please note you must be a subscriber to watch WrestleUniverse as these will not be free broadcasts.

LINKS

“I want to destroy it”, interview with Katsuhiko Nakajima towards the unprecedented N-1 consecutive championship

Proving “Junior Power” to Sakuraba, Tanaka and Nakajima in his N-1 Participation – interview with Kotaro Suzuki

Atsushi Kotoge opposes Yoshioka & Susumu’s non title notification

N-1 Press Conference Block A: Mutoh confesses “upset”, Kiyomiya “I will grasp something”

N-1 Press Conference Block B: Kenoh’s rage at Kashin’s tactics, will “Destroy you in the first match”

N-1 Press Conference Block C: For consecutive championships Nakajima appeared with bright blonde hair, Sakuraba said “I wonder if everyone can be choked”

N-1 Press Conference Block D: “N is for “Nothing” Beast Fujita’s venomous interjection

“Masa Kitamiya is one of the cute juniors” – interview with Katsuhiko Nakajima

GIFs taken from Noah Official Twitter

Picture credit: Noah GHC