NOAH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER VOL.156 ~ 12TH JANUARY 2022

Following the big clash with New Japan, NOAH had some shakes ups in their Junior Division! Hisame fills in all that blanks for anyone not caught up yet!

Published

3 years ago

January 13, 2022

Hi5ame

Following the big clash with New Japan, NOAH had some shakes ups in their Junior Division! Hisame fills in all that blanks for anyone not caught up yet!

NEWS

Masa Kitamiya vs Katsuhiko Nakajima

After a tag match on the 4th January, Masa Kitamiya challenged Katsuhiko Nakajima for the GHC Heavyweight. Kitamiya won the right to challenge after defeating Nakajima. He didn’t just defeat him, he destroyed him with the Saito Suplex. As Nakajima lay on the canvas semiconscious, Kitamiya loomed over him and spoke on the mic to challenge him for the belt. Title match has been set for Sunday the 16th at “BUMPER CROP 2022” in Sendai.

Neither Masa Kitamiya or Katsuhiko Nakajima have had much to say about the challenge. Nakajima has said more than Kitamiya however, calling this (sarcastic or not) a “nightmare” posting the picture of him laying on the mat and intimating later that he hadn’t forgotten having his hair shaved off by Kitamiya, and hinting at other times that this match bought up various emotions. Naomichi Marufuji has summed this up as being a match containing elements that only Nakajima and Kitamiya know about and can understand, which will make it more exciting for the rest of us.

Kongoh vs The M’s alliance

Kenoh might not have left The Budokan as double champion, but an alternative offered itself. In NOAH belts are usually challenged for if you beat the champion, there is a loophole if you are on the winning team…or else make your challenge statement first before anyone else gets there. Manabu Soya went for the third option after Katsuhiko Nakajima had been defeated by Masa Kitamiya. During the match Soya had been wound up by Naomichi Marufuji, and spying those belts, he took the chance to bring them to Kongoh by taking them from Marufuji and Mutoh. Mutoh who had once called him a “big useless tree”. Soya challenged for the belts on behalf of himself and Kenoh. Title match will take place on the 16th January in Sendai.

Masakatsu Funaki challenges Kenoh

On the 5th January, NOAH held one of their mystery cards and a traditional sudden title match in which Daisuke Harada, the second NOAH Junior to challenge for the belt, challenged Kenoh for the GHC National. Harada was unsuccessful, although he came very close, and Kenoh defeated him to retain after 10 minutes and 56 seconds. Harada would soon get his belt, and Kenoh would soon get a new challenger.

Masakatsu Funaki.

Funaki made his way silently to the ring and pointed to the belt. He didn’t speak on the mic. He didn’t need to. He simply motioned his intention, and then returned to the back. Title match will take place on the 22nd January in Funaki’s hometown of Osaka at the Edion 2nd Arena.

NOAH vs New Japan

The first shots in the rivalry were fired when after the show at Korakuen Hall on the 5th January, the entire NOAH roster walked the short distance from Korakuen to the Tokyo Dome to invade New Japan. Treating the ring as if they were tourists (Keiji Mutoh was more interested in his camera and took selfies, as did Naomichi Marufuji, The NOAH Junior Regulars and Perros Del Mal), or else with open disdain, such as Kenoh who claimed that NOAH was there to help New Japan and was soon confronted by Takagi Shingo with Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI. At the end of the exchange and without any violence as Shingo wouldn’t get into the ring although Kenoh baited him, he and Kiyomiya shook hands. Kiyomiya later said that he had no idea that Kenoh was going to do this. They shook hands for solidarity in the fight against New Japan.

In the opening match Yasutaka Yano came to a draw with old friend and fellow Ehime boy, Kosei Fujita. Funky Express (without Masao Inoue) were defeated by The Third Generation, who Mohammed Yone had complained hadn’t been exactly complimentary about them. The dark matches over, Yoshiki Inamura and Tomohiro Ishii got into a massive brawl, and probably managed to knock out the ABEMA feed. Fans wanted to see more of this, and Ishii hinted that it wasn’t over between them. Daisuke Harada square up to Master Wato.

So far NOAH had not done well against New Japan. Atsushi Kotoge was pinned by SHO who hit him with a spanner, and it took HAYATA to score the first blow against the colossus by pinning Taiji Ishimori in a tag match. The focus was on HAYATA and Ishimori as it was Ishimori who had ended HAYATA’S first GHC Junior Heavyweight title reign and it was Ishimori’s reign that HAYATA wanted to overcome, but the focus ended on the spark flying interaction between Ishimori and Seiki Yoshioka. NOAH’s luck took another dip when NOSAWA and YO-HEY took on NOSAWA’S old friends, El Desperado and Douki. NOSAWA’S heart was not torn enough to throw El Desperado’s tag belt outside the ring, but again, it was not this rivalry that became the focus. The first time in the ring together, it was YO-HEY and El Desperado who found an interesting competitor in each other. YO-HEY also found something else interesting about El Desperado, but I’ll let you Google “GinGin Boys” for that.

KENTA sadly did not appear in the event as he had become injured the day before in a ladder match against Hiroshi Tanahashi. His usual cheeky humor surfaced when he sent Tanahashi a picture of a little ladder and said that next time they should use that, and saying that the one good thing about being injured was that he didn’t have to wear “that dumb t-shirt”. That would be The Sugiura Army t-shirt with himself forcibly put on it. The replacement was Toru Yano, the bugbear of the opposing team, who were led by Minoru Suzuki. Yano said that Sakuraba had put a blindfold on him and deposited him at the entrance to the arena. It sounded like a kidnapping. After tearing into Suzuki, Sugiura pinned TAKA Michioku with the Olympic Slam. Backstage Toru Yano was excited about “next time”, to be told by Takashi Sugiura that there would be no “next time”.

Go Shiozaki kept up the NOAH winning streak with a victory over EVIL in a tag match. Fans would like to see Shiozaki challenge for the NEVER Openweight Championship.

In a very poignant match, Yoshinari Ogawa and Naomichi Marufuji took on Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Junior. For Ogawa, everyone in the match has been a pupil at one time or another, and Zack was his tag partner while in NOAH and they even held the GHC Junior Tag together. For Marufuji, it was nostalgic as Kanemaru was his senior and had walked out of All Japan with Mitsuharu Misawa alongside Marufuji all those years ago. Marufuji was targeted more in this match than Ogawa was (respect still remains for their teacher, who could probably have reversed their moves and done something even worse), but it was NOAH who picked up the win. Nothing more came of this match, Ogawa went back to feuding with Perros Del Mal, the NOAH Juniors or whoever else crosses his path, and Marufuji was more interested in drinking with Kanemaru than fighting him.

In the double main event, Kongoh took on Los Ingobernables de Japón. Kenoh, naturally was not impressed by their entrance. Katsuhiko Nakajima had said before the match that he wasn’t interested in Shingo. Shingo was old news, he had fought him and beaten him. His interest was in the person he had never beaten. Tetsuya Naito.

Naito and Nakajima had their interactions, but what fans took away from the match was a new feud, Kenoh vs Naito. Tadasuke was also given his time to shine, when he fought the heavyweights on their own level and Shingo in particular was taken aback by his heavyweight strength. But despite this, it was Tadasuke who took the fall. After the match Nakajima smirked at Shingo and held up his championship belt, the GHC Heavyweight. Shingo, who had lost his to Kazuchika Okada the night before, applauded him sarcastically and then waved him away.

In the main event Keiji Mutoh and Kaito Kiyomiya teamed together to take on Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Kiyomiya had stated over a year ago that he “wanted to experience The Rainmaker” and he did. Much to his extreme disappointment, and even with the new techniques that he bought out, he could not overcome the seniors. The Rainmaker experience bought him to tears when Okada pinned him using his namesake move. Mutoh gently took Kiyomiya from the ring and gave him some sage advice backstage as Kiyomiya curled up on the floor into a bow in shame. He had lost for NOAH. Mutoh reminded him that Kiyomiya’s fight had just started. There would be more and it wasn’t over yet. He also gave him some advice that Antonio Inoki had given him. The phrase doesn’t translate well, but it basically means that sometimes to get something done, you have to go off the rails. Another person who proved helpful to Kiyomiya was Okada, who offered Kiyomiya to come and train in the New Japan dojo and when he felt ready he could go back to NOAH.

On the whole it hadn’t been an overly successful evening for NOAH in terms of results in the ring, but the results outside of it where. Now that New Japan and NOAH have a better working relationship, they can both look to a future that involves each other in a positive way. Feuds were born at the event, even for Yasutaka Yano, a rookie. Kiyomiya said he wasn’t going to be going to New Japan’s dojo, but Mutoh’s advice seemed to have invigorated him and the experience of fighting elsewhere had proved to him that the world he wanted to cherish was the one he was in, NOAH. El Desperado should probably have the last words as he stated in an interview with East Sports that he didn’t think that a long feud that went on week after week would not be interesting, but, a fight with NOAH once every six months or even once a year would be.

You can order the event through ABEMA until the 21st January, after this time it will be placed on WrestleUniverse and New Japan World. If you are having troubles viewing it, please set your computer to Japan Standard Time.

N-Innovation & U-CUP

After the excitement of New Japan vs NOAH, the NOAH Juniors returned to their eternal fighting when the first N-Innovation tournament took place over three days at Yokohama Radiant Hall. The event was designed for the four NOAH Junior units (Kongoh Juniors, STINGER, Perros Del Mal De Japon and The NOAH Junior Regulars) to fight against each other in different forms of matches, including a rumble which was won by Daisuke Harada. STINGER initially took the lead, but were caught up to and overtaken by the NOAH Junior Regulars. The team who inaugurated the event ended up being awarded with the U-CUP.

Night 3 was however the most explosive. The junior rumble had a stipulation that the first four from each unit eliminated would team together. Unfortunately for Yoshinari Ogawa this meant teaming with Eita, not that he cared it was against Tadasuke and Junta Miyawaki, it was his partner he had the issue with. That and Kotaro being the dogsbody that Ogawa had called him, by winding him up and holding open the ropes. Naturally Ogawa objected to tagging with Eita, but he did co-operate with him for a few seconds until Tadasuke caused them to fall out, and Ogawa ended up with water dumped all over him again.

Seiki Yoshioka and Yuya Susumu came to the rescue, and backstage the audience were treated to the sounds of the juniors fighting, which echoed in the hall as STINGER stormed Perros’ interview.

Daisuke Harada defeats “Absolute Champion” HAYATA for the GHC Junior Title

After a reign of 198 days and 8 defenses, HAYATA dropped the championship to Daisuke Harada on the final night of the N-Innovation at Yokohama Radiant Hall. Harada had won the junior rumble and with it the right to challenge the champion. Their one and only pre match had been nothing to write home about, the match standing on its own. Harada defeated HAYATA after 27 minutes and 2 seconds with his new move, “The Dokaaan”, which took HAYATA by surprise. After the match Harada paid tribute to HAYATA’S success by acknowledging the belt now came with more weight than ever before (i.e. he has a lot to live up to and surpass), and telling HAYATA that one day they would do this again. For Harada, it is also a case of now having a weapon with which to overturn the dominant heavyweights and put the juniors in the lead.

NOAH Junior Regular Army tag title challenge, but STINGER set a condition

Atsushi Kotoge set a precedent after winning the N-Innovation U-CUP (Unit Cup), by challenging HAYATA and Yoshinari Ogawa for the GHC Junior Heavyweight tag titles. Ogawa and HAYATA accepted the challenge (yes they are still teaming together and Ogawa admitted he he was disappointed to lose and had acted badly), and it is set for 22nd January in Osaka. However, after going to time out draw with STINGERS Yuya Susumu and Seiki Yoshioka on the third night of the N-Innovation, Susumu threw a spanner in the works and told STINGER that they were introducing a stipulation. If The NOAH Junior Regulars lost in the tag match on the 16th in Sendai, then they forfeited their title challenge to Susumu and Yoshioka. Backstage when STINGER were confronted by this, Susumu pointed out to Kotoge that he had no right to challenge as he (or they) hadn’t even beaten the champions, so they had every right to make this stipulation. Kotoge said he did, as he won the N-Innovation, it was his right. Susumu said that if he really wanted to make things exciting, then he would take on their challenge. Kotoge had no choice but to accept, although he said they were cheating. NOSAWA Rongai then got word of what had happened and said that if STINGER were making that stipulation and The NOAH Junior Regulars were challenging, then Perros would also challenge. Susumu said that a “STINGER showdown” as he termed it, would be interesting.

CyberfightFestival 2022 returns

CyberFight Festival 2022 will return at the Saitama Super Arena on the 12th June 2022. Nothing has been decided yet in terms of cards, but the heads of each promotions seem to be hinting at a possible mixed tag or interleague matches. Naomichi Marufuji joked that it would be Sanshiro Takagi vs Kenoh or Sanshiro Takagi vs Kongoh. So far Kenoh has made no comment, not like last time when he simply said “….”.

EVENT RECAPS AND POST MATCH INTERVIEWS

New Sunrise 2022, January 4th, Korakuen Hall: Event recap Post match interviews

Reboot 2002, January 5th, Korakuen Hall: Event recap Post match interviews

N-Innovation/U-CUP Night 1, January 6th, Yokohama Radiant Hall: Event recap Post match interviews

N-Innovation/U-CUP Night 2, January 7th, Yokohama Radiant Hall: Event recap Post match interviews

New Japan vs NOAH, January 8th, Yokohama Arena: Event recap

N-Innovation/U-CUP Night 3, January 10th, Yokohama Radiant Hall: Event recap Post match interview

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH

– Quiet shy HAYATA was left to close out the show on the 4th January. He simply said “Happy New Year”. Yoshinari Ogawa found it very funny.

– Yasutaka Yano got his first singles win, albeit over fellow rookie Kai Fujimura

– Eita said he doesn’t know and still doesn’t know which one is Haoh and which one is Nioh. NOSAWA said he thought they were both Kenoh. Takashi Sugiura helped out by saying that “Nioh was Hi69”.

– Go Shiozaki was not happy with Kaito Kiyomiya winning the match in NOAH on the 5th January, and then saying basically “NOAH is me”. Like any good NOAH Born, he has sulked. Even worse was Kiyomiya’s prominence at New Japan later that evening when he and Kenoh appeared to lead the promotion.

– Although they acknowledge the difficulties of teaming up together, Mohammed Yone and Masaaki Mochizuki (and yes, Ikuto Hidaka’s name was included, even if he didn’t say he would take part), have vowed that should the time come when they are free from their units for any reason, they would team together. The BattleArts boys would be back.

– Dragon Kid returned to NOAH as a surprise entrance on the mystery card show. He had last been in NOAH in 2007. He teamed with his teacher Ultimo Dragon. Ultimo was not very complimentary towards him. After the match Dragon Kid was told that Hajime Ohara was his student when in NOAH and that mask and name he was using, it was on loan and that loan had expired in 2021 and he didn’t even like teaming with him.

– Super Crazy returned to NOAH as a surprise entrant in the mystery card and a member of Perros De Mal Del Japon. Super Crazy is an original member of the Mexican Group, Perros Del Mal. NOSAWA said that Super Crazy would be a member with an exclusive year long contract.

– Takashi Sugiura has taken to trolling Eita. Eita just ignored him. Tadasuke sadly could not do the same when Eita stood in front of him as he did his pose.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

GHC Heavyweight Champion: Katsuhiko Nakajima
Challenger: Masa Kitamiya, “BUMPER CROP 2022”, Sendai Sunplaza Hall, Sunday 16th January
GHC Junior Champion: Daisuke Harada
Challenger: No challenger as of yet
GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: The M’s alliance (Naomichi Marufuji and Keiji Mutoh)
Challengers: Kongoh (Manabu Soya & Kenoh), “BUMPER CROP 2022”, Sendai Sunplaza Hall, Sunday 16th January
GHC Junior Tag Champions: STINGER (HAYATA and Yoshinari Ogawa)
Challengers: Either The NOAH Junior Regular Army (Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara) or STINGER (Seiki Yoshioka and Yuya Susumu), this will be decided at “BUMPER CROP 2022”, Sendai Sunplaza Hall, Sunday 16th January with the title match on Saturday January 22nd at the EDION Arena 2nd Stadium in Osaka.
GHC National Champion: Kenoh
Challenger: Masakatsu Funaki, “HIGHER GROUND 2022”, EDION Arena Osaka 2nd Stadium, Saturday 22nd January

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

(Full January schedule)

Thursday, January 13th: Tadasuke (36)

Sunday, January 16th: BUMPER CROP 2022 in SENDAI

Start time: 15:00 JST

Broadcast: WrestleUniverse

LINKS

“I will overturn the order of Pro Wrestling on the 8th January in Yokohama” – Kenoh, Keiji Mutoh and NOAH wrestlers invade the Tokyo Dome

NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji, New Japan are “Delicious food for us now”. Overturn the number one in the pro wrestling world at the 8th January fight

GIF taken from WrestleUniverse

With thanks to Metal-NOAH & Flame286

Picture credit: Weekly Pro (many thanks to JenJ for sending me them)

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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