(NOAH) NOAH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER VOL.183 ~ 21ST AUGUST 2022

 *Apologies, I like to keep the newsletter weekly, but with the N-1 VICTORY, it hasn’t been possible*

NEWS

N-1 VICTORY Update

The N-1 is now entering it’s final two nights on the 27th and the 28th August, on the 28th August the finalists who will fight for the league championship 2022 and the right to challenge the GHC Heavyweight champion, Kenoh, will meet. Only two nights are left, but no one in the upper echelons the the blocks can afford to take it easy.

Scores are as follows;

BLOCK A

1. Kenoh = 7 points (3 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw)
2. Hideki Suzuki = 7 points (3 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw)
3. Kazuyuki Fujita = 6 points (3 wins, 2 losses)
4. Masato Tanaka = 6 points (3 wins, 2 losses)
5. Go Shiozaki = 6 points (3 wins, 2 losses)
6. El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr = 4 points (2 wins, 3 losses)
7. Anthony Greene = 2 points (1 win, 4 losses)
8. Masaaki Mochizuki= 2 points (1 win, 4 losses)

BLOCK B

1. Takashi Sugiura = 8 points (4 wins, 1 loss)
2. Satoshi Kojima = 8 points (4 wins, 1 loss)
3. Katsuhiko Nakajima = 6 points (3 wins, 2 losses)
4. Kaito Kiyomiya = 6 points (3 wins, 2 losses)
5. Jack Morris = 4 points (2 wins, 2 losses)
6. Masakatsu Funaki = 4 points (2 wins, 3 losses)
7. Masa Kitamiya = 4 points (2 wins, 3 losses)
8. Kinya Okada = 0 points (5 losses)

As you can see, the league does not depend on only points, it also depends on luck. Neither Kenoh, Hideki Suzuki, Takashi Sugiura or Satoshi Kojima can afford to become complacent; the six pointers have a chance of catching them up and overtaking and even the guys on four points have a chance of catching up. It’s really the guys on two or below (such as Kinya Okada who came very close to pinning Kaito Kiyomiya) for whom the League is pretty much over for, but still have a chance of grabbing some points although for Okada’s final matches, Masa Kitamiya and Katsuhiko Nakajima, this may seem unlikely.

Captain’s Fall match: STINGER vs Perros Del Mal De Japon

During HAYATA’S return match on the 19th August at Korakuen Hall, STINGER were fighting The NOAH Junior Regulars and fans were hoping for a title challenge for the GHC Junior at the end of it, when Perros Del Mal De Japon broke into the match and got it thrown out by attacking Yoshinari Ogawa. Eita (still putting it around that he is the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Champion), challenged Yoshinari Ogawa to a Captains Fall match on the 28th August at Korakuen Hall. Basically what this means is that this is an elimination match with whoever pins leaves the ring (not that that will happen), but one that ends when the captains of the two teams, in this case Yoshinari Ogawa and Eita, are eliminated. In reality, it means that no one is probably going to pay attention to the rules. If Eita wins, he keeps the GHC Junior Tag Belt, if Ogawa wins then he gets the belt back. The match will take place between Eita, NOSAWA Rongai, Kotaro Suzuki and Super Crazy and Yoshinari Ogawa, HAYATA, Yuya Susumu and Kai Fujimura.

Great O-Khan

NOSAWA Rongai says that each year during Obon (the time of year when spirits return to visit with their loved ones, or else come to the overworld in the hope of being helped to paradise), he is plagued by The Great Muta whispering to him as he sleeps. This year, Muta wished for NOSAWA to convey that he would be bringing a friend to Osaka. This friend, “X” would be announced at Korakuen Hall on the 19th August.

The new friend turned out to be New Japan’s Great O-Khan, who had this message;

“Bow down, NOAH fools! I am Great-O-Khan, the ruler of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Now, it appears that The Great Muta has directly asked me to form an alliance with him. Hahahaha! Happily! I will grant that request. Other than that! In Osaka I will take full control of NOAH and The Underworld on September 3rd”

The Great O-Khan will team with Great Muta and NOSAWA Rongai in a six man tag, their opponents are yet to be confirmed.

Please note that The Great Muta will have two farewell matches; Osaka on the 3rd September, as this was the place where Muta was born, and at the Yokohama Budokan on January 22nd. Keiji Mutoh himself will retire in February 2023, but no date has yet been announced.

The Hunt for Haoh

Kendo Kashin (of all people) scolded The NOAH Junior Regulars for not doing anything about Haoh. This followed a day in which he had crashed their autograph session (wearing an Alejandro mask, which he probably stole), got into a scuffle with a member of staff and threw a sign, and a match in which he and Daisuke Harada got counted out. The NOAH Junior regulars tried to explain to him that they had let Haoh go as it was Haoh’s decision, just as it had been Haoh’s decision to have that match. Kashin’s idea was for them to bring Haoh back in a mask, and while Daisuke Harada was not going to have Kashin help them to find Haoh in any form, he did say that crazy as it sounded, Kashin was making sense…

Kazuchika Okada

Keiji Mutoh was voted 4th in the “Pro Wrestling General Election” (for the most amazing active wrestler) on the 13th August. Mutoh said he hadn’t decided who to have his last match against, but suggested it should be the wrestler who came in first place, which was Kazuchika Okada. Okada said that if this was what Mutoh wanted, then he would do his best to make it happen. NOAH and New Japan have not announced anything officially yet. Fans are also hoping for the involvement of Sanada and Hiroshi Tanahashi at some point.

ElSEWHERE IN NOAH

– Kaito Kiyomiya debuted a new colorful look with blonde hair. He says that he changed his image in order to keep people interested and said that he let his hair go dark again as the last time he went peroxide blonde, he did the treatment too much and this caused his hair to fall out. Fortunately for Kiyomiya, his older brother is a hairdresser, and has given him some products to use.

– YO-HEY spent most of the NOAH Junior InstaLive’s wandering around carrying the Styrofoam head that had Yoshiki Inamura’s bandana on it, which he took from the merchandise table. Daisuke Harada retrieved it from where YO-HEY had left it next to the N-1 Winners Trophy one time, and at Korakuen Hall on the 19th ever so subtly took it off of him and put it back on the table. Seiki Yoshioka (often seen looking bemused) also seems to be assisting Harada in keeping control, as he had to remove YO-HEY from standing in front of the camera.

– Hideki Suzuki is insisting that the reporters who interview him after matches speak in English, and he replies back in Japanese with the help of NOAH’s interpreter, who translates in English.

– Stallion Rogers hinted that he and Yoshiki Inamura “The Bandana Brothers”, may be going for the tag gold.

– Kaito Kiyomiya has adapted Keiji Mutoh’s Shining Wizard into his own style. He says he wants to continue to adapt.

– Seiki Yoshioka clung to YO-HEY when Kendo Kashin burst in, threw a chair, and demanded to know where Haoh was.

EVENT RECAPS AND POST MATCH PROMOS

N-1 VICTORY

• Thursday, August 11th (Yokohama Budokan)
• Event recap
• Post match interviews

• Saturday, August 13th (Edion Arena Osaka Second Stadium)
• Event recap
• Post match interviews

• Sunday, August 14th (Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall)
• Event recap
• Post match interviews

• Wednesday, August 17th (Sendai Sun Plaza Hall)
• Event recap
• Post match interviews

• Friday, August 19th (Korakuen Hall)
• Event recap
• Post match interviews

• Saturday, August 20th (Korakuen Hall)
• Event recap
• Post match interviews

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

• GHC Heavyweight Champion: Kenoh
  Challenger: Winner of the N-1 VICTORY 2022
• GHC Junior Champion: HAYATA
  Challenger: TBA
• GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: The Sugiura Army (Hideki Suzuki & Timothy Thatcher)
  Challengers: TBA
• GHC Junior Tag Champions: STINGER (Chris Ridgeway & Yoshinari Ogawa)
  Challengers: Perros Del Mal De Japon (Eita & Kotaro Suzuki), Postponed, replacement date to be advised. Chris Ridgeway says he will be back in Japan soon.
• GHC National Champion: Masakatsu Funaki
  Challenger: TBA

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

(August 2022 schedule)

• Saturday, August 27th
• Start time: 17:00 JST
• Venue: Nagoya Congress Event Centre
• Broadcast: ABEMA (Live)

• Sunday, August 28th
• Start time: 16:00 JST
• Venue: Cultz Kawasaki
• Broadcast: WrestleUniverse (Live)

Notes about broadcasts

– WrestleUniverse will have English commentary for all nights.

Unless you are living in Japan or have a VPN you know is compatible with ABEMA, please do not subscribe to the service. For fans living outside of Japan, a subscription to WrestleUniverse would be better as they show more NOAH shows than ABEMA, and usually the events get uploaded very quickly. ABEMA broadcasts are only in Japanese, you can only watch them live, and this is the only NOAH they show. They do not broadcast old shows as these belong to Samurai TV.

• Sunday, August 28th: Naomichi Marufuji debut anniversary (24)
• Naomichi Marufuji will be fighting Eddie Kingston for House of Glory in New York on this date

LINKS

Great Muta announces the introduction of a “New Companion, X” in Osaka on September 3rd

HAYATA costume research

Kenoh declares “If I win, I will nominate Mutoh”, Sugiura “If I don’t win, this year will be the last” – press conference just before the opening the N-1 VICTORY 2022

“The real thing is different”, Kenoh clashes with Mixed Martial Artist, Yusuke Yachi, under Nippon Kempo rules

HAYATA vs Chris Ridgeway from WrestleCarnival (WrestleUniverse subscribers only)

AKITOSHI SAITO’S N-1 EVALUATION

Kinya Okada

Katsuhiko Nakajima

Kenoh

Go Shiozaki

Kaito Kiyomiya

BOOK CORNER

“Donmai, Donmai” – Mitsuharu Misawa’s diary

GIF taken from WrestleUniverse & NOAH Official TikTok