Written by Hisame https://twitter.com/Hi5ame, originally on her blog, used on Puroresu Gate with permission
(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: STAR NAVIGATION 2022 (THURSDAY JULY 21ST, KORAKUEN HALL)
Hideki Suzuki was not on hand for The Budokan fallout show, as Noah announced he was suffering a fever. In true style, Suzuki announced he would be watching on ABEMA along with everyone else. The card was changed, with Mohammed Yone being put on the card and Satoshi Kojima moved into another match. Akitoshi Saito was on commentary, and Anthony Greene was on autographs. Attendance was 537. It should be noted that while this sounds like a dire attendance, Noah did not make all the seats in the venue available to buy with two or so sections of the hall blocked off.
Event is available to view on WrestleUniverse, but you must be a subscriber to view.
MATCH ONE
Shuhei Taniguchi vs Kinya Okada
As he himself stated as he was not in the N-1 VICTORY, Shuhei Taniguchi wanted to get good stimulus that was given to the younger guys. The match came across as a teaching one, and I think Kenta Kobashi would have been pleased with his student returning to a more serious persona and utilizing the lariat, a relatively new thing for Taniguchi.
Kinya Okada had the crowd behind him, and showed good offense in coming very close to the pin, blocking Taniguchi’s chokeslam and evening knocking him down with kicks and kicking out of the chokeslam and the huge lariat. It says a lot that Taniguchi felt the only way to win, was by submission.
WINNER: Shuhei Taniguchi with the Wyvern Clutch (9 minutes, 6 seconds)
MATCH TWO
Ninja Mack & Alejandro vs Dante Leon & YO-HEY
From the moment they entered, it looked as if YO-HEY and Dante Leon had hit it off instantly. Their opponents had no less chemistry, and the commentators called them “The Masked Man Combination”. YO-HEY called himself and Dante “YO-HEY chan and Dante Leon” and felt a new tag had been born.
We will see as current events later in the show, may change things.
Excited YO-HEY started off against Ninja Mack, telling him “YO-HEY, Ninja”. The initial lock up was full of Nina pose offs. Alejandro and Dante Leon did marginally more actual wrestling, that was until Dante told Alejandro to tag in Ninja Mack and then the match disintegrated into a top rope somersault competition. Everyone was loving the vibe of friendly rivalry and junior chaos. Ninja Mack knocked his opponents off of the apron with backflips, and then did one over the top rope, fortunately Dante Leon won the match soon after. The bell was rung to signify the end of the match, and a second time which kind of warned the juniors no more competitions.
WINNER: Dante Leon with the Crusio Cutter on Alejandro (11 minutes, 21 seconds)
The bell was kind of rung as if to signify not only the end of the match, but no more competitions.
MATCH THREE
Daisuke Harada vs Seiki Yoshioka
Unsurprisingly, there was no playful feeling in this match. Both had a score to settle and wrestled to exhaustion as the time ticked down. Highly technical match, in which Daisuke Harada grounded Seiki Yoshioka, not by attacking his legs but by sharp jabs and punches to the abdomen to exhaust and wear him down.
WINNER: Daisuke Harada with DOKAAAN (12 minutes, 27 seconds)
Harada spoke on the microphone after the match, and knowing that Seiki Yoshioka was on his own (Harada does not generally like lone wolves as they inevitably join an enemy unit) offered him to join The Noah Juniors regulars, because he thought what he saw today when they fought, was awesome. Yoshioka accepted his offer. YO-HEY has made no comment so far about his enemy joining, and Yoshioka didn’t seem to mind that YO-HEY was in it, but I guess we will see something later perhaps. Backstage, Harada said the Noah Juniors needed Yoshioka’s strength to grow, while Yoshioka said that he had tried being a lone wolf and failed to get the GHC Junior Heavyweight, but he was willing to try it while doing something he had never done before.
Note: If Hajime Ohara left Kongoh and came back to the Noah Juniors, we would have a FULL THROTTLE reunion of Yoshioka, Ohara, YO-HEY and Atsushi Kotoge. It’s unlikely though.
MATCH FOUR
Kongoh (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya) vs Mohammed Yone, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura
Mohammed Yone’s dancing to the sound of the fans clapping was not appreciated by Manabu Soya, who did not crack a smile. The Disco Fever Rope break went over even less well as Soya just walked off to Yone saying, “Hey! Hey!”. Things weren’t so funky in the shoulder tackle fight that followed with Manabu knocking Yone down.
Kenoh’s target throughout the match was Yoshiki Inamura. Kenoh has said in interviews that he wants to make Noah a place where the young have a voice and when he wins the N-1, he is going to nominate either Inamura or Kinya Okada as challengers. So today, as the only Katsuhiko Nakajima (who Inamura picked up and carried as if he was doll) other person in the N-1, Kenoh saw it as his duty to violently inspire him. Inamura was not to be cowed.
WINNER: Kenoh with the PFS on Mohammed Yone (15 minutes, 25 seconds)
Kenoh’s win was a bit of a damp squib, but he had been lucky because Nakajima had saved him from Yone pinning him. Outside the ring, the heavyweights were having a melee brawl, which broke up the moment the bell rang for them to stop. Nakajima walked off grinning. He hadn’t won the match today, but he didn’t care. He said he would again be number one.
MATCH FIVE
STINGER (HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susumu) & Kai Fujimura vs Kongoh (Shuji Kondo, Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Hi69)
HAYATA let out a big sigh when entering the ring and looking at Shuji Kondo. Kondo has the advantage in almost everyway – he’s bigger, he’s stronger for starters. Kondo actually was initially quite friendly, offering HAYATA a handshake. He might be speaking now, but shaking hands is not something he is going to be doing. Just yet at least.
Kondo proceeded to no sell HAYATA, lifting his arms for him to chop him and even walking towards him arms outstretched, a butt of heads and HAYATA desperately trying to chop him. Kondo did not even break a sweat when he knocked him down. By the end of the match, HAYATA seemed to have worked Kondo out somewhat, in that kicks seemed to be the most effective in wearing him down.
WINNER: Shuji Kondo with the King Kong Lariat on Kai Fujimura (15 minutes, 59 seconds)
Kondo spoke on the mic and went to speak in HAYATA’S face, at that HAYATA snatched the mic from him and growled quietly that he was looking forward to the title match. Kondo agreed, he was too, and offering his hand suggested that they have a straightforward match. HAYATA shook his hand, but when Kondo went to walk off, HAYATA hung on and a fight broke out almost straight away with HAYATA’S sneak attack being dodged.
Kondo later said he would wage “mental warfare” on HAYATA.
MATCH SIX
Satoshi Kojima & Atsushi Kotoge vs Anthony Green & Stallion Rogers
The big story was between Satoshi Kojima and Anthony Greene, who were aware of their N-1 Rivalry. They might be in different blocks, but it doesn’t matter. The heavyweight division act like the juniors when the league comes round. Their rivalry dragged Stallion Rogers and Atsushi Kotoge in, which culminated in a shock win.
WINNER: Anthony Greene with the Alternative Ending on Atsushi Kotoge (13 minutes, 55 seconds)
MATCH SEVEN
OPEN THE TRIANGLE GATE Championship
OPEN THE TRIANGLE GATE
Perros Del Mal De Japon (NOSAWA Rongai, Eita & Kotaro Suzuki) vs HIGH END (YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Kagetora)
Eita came to the ring with the GHC Junior Tag belt, which Yoshinari Ogawa has evidently not retrieved. He even held it up as if he was already champion, and posed with it for the group picture. He then handed to Super Crazy who was at ringside. YAMATO and Kotaro started the match (which was free from any run ins by an angry STINGER looking for revenge) and naturally, Eita started cheating, with Perros doing this throughout the match. It was a fast paced fun match, with NOSAWA and YAMATO winding each other up.
WINNER: Eita with the Imperial Crab on Kagetora (10 minutes, 18 seconds)
The issues between NOSAWA and YAMATO had reached boiling point, and NOSAWA challenged him to a singles match in Noah. In DragonGate the title was moving as had no sooner than HIGH END departed, Masaaki Mochizuki came to the ring with his own unit M3K. M3K consist of his son, Ryoto and a DragonGate wrestler called Susumu Mochizuki (no relation and was formerly known as Yokosuka). They are also dressed in the baggy pants, t-shirts, shades and varsity jackets and floppy hair of 90s college boys, leading NOSAWA Rongai to ask Mochizuki (52) if he was a little old to be dressing that way? And that Ryoto didn’t really want to be dressing that way either.
Their attire was the least of Perros worries, they had come to challenge for the titles. The challenge will take place in DragonGate at KobeWorld next week. With MK3 gone (and no they didn’t bring their scooters) Eita once again proclaimed himself a GHC Junior Tag Champion. Yoshinari Ogawa ran to the ring and started to beat him up, but no help from Perros was forthcoming as they were too interested in arguing with MK3 to notice what was happening behind them. The bell was also ringing, but no Noah Junior takes any notice of that which rings when fighting with other Noah Juniors or invading wrestlers.
When Perros eventually did notice, they saw a tug of war over the belt going on and Ogawa again tasted the Imperial Uno kick. Yuya Susumu came running out and was dealt with much the same when he threw himself over Ogawa. Eita taunted Ogawa with the belt, playing with him as if he were dangling a string to play with a cat. Ogawa did not get his belt back, and another fight broke out near the curtain, which then went backstage. Perros later got jumped by STINGER when in the comments booth.
MATCH EIGHT
N1 scramble 6-person tag match
Go Shiozaki, Masato Tanaka & Masa Kitamiya vs The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Kazuyuki Fujita) & Kaito Kiyomiya
“Noah’s past present and future”
Everyone was united, but everyone was separate as they made their own entrances. Takashi Sugiura and Go Shiozaki started. Sugiura (who was looking a little happier, but he left the ring as soon as he could) offered a handshake to his partners, Kazuyuki Fujita took it, but Kaito Kiyomiya was a little more hesitant.
Kaito Kiyomiya entered in his old black and silver gown, looking more a little like himself. He didn’t use any of the “Three Treasures” that Keiji Mutoh had given to him today (The Shining Wizard, The Figure Four or The Dragon Screw), but he was different. More controlled, more thoughtful. He said later that this was something he had learned from Mutoh. How to think during a match. He later said that he hadn’t used any of Mutoh’s moves as he wanted to find a move unique to him, which he hoped he would find in the N-1.
There were a lot of N-1 preview fights here; The Bullet Yankees (Takashi Sugiura and Masato Tanaka) who love to fight, even though they are in different blocks, Go Shiozaki and Masa Kitamiya, and Masa Kitamiya and Kazuyuki Fujita, who he threw across the ring.
WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Double Armlock on Go Shiozaki (22 minutes, 15 seconds)
What was important was that Kiyomiya won by being Kiyomiya who incorporated what he had learned. Keiji Mutoh’s ghost exorcised, he looked like a breath of fresh air had swept over him. He addressed the crowd and said he wanted to build the pro wrestling of Noah’s new generation.
As Kiyomiya spoke, Shiozaki remained outside the ring. Fans felt something was wrong, as although Shiozaki could move his arm, his arm seemed to hang loosely. A good sign was that he could move his fingers, but his body looked contorted and although he tried to heave himself up and walk out on his own (champion or not, he does not like to be helped) he had difficulty. Noah later announced that due to a neck injury he would miss both tomorrow and the fan events at the weekend. Hopefully, he will not miss the N-1.
(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: STAR NAVIGATION 2022 (FRIDAY JULY 22ND, KORAKUEN HALL)
Go Shiozaki was absent from the event today due to suffering a neck injury in the match yesterday. Judging from Shiozaki’s Twitter post, he probably won’t have to miss the N-1 VICTORY, and he is still on the card for the 30th July. Naomichi Marufuji was on commentary (I think he had a dual purpose to both commentate and to assess), and Ninja Mack was on autographs. The stadium rock was also playing again, with Slash coming out of the speakers as fans waited for the event to begin.
Attendance was 442. This down from yesterday, but it should again be noted that Noah do not make all the seats available in the hall, some sections were completely blocked off.
You can watch the event on WrestleUniverse (Japanese commentary only). Please note, you have to be a subscriber to view.
MATCH ONE
Daiki Inaba vs Kinya Okada
The crowd were behind Kinya Okada, applauding every move and every kick out. He used a relentless attack against Daiki Inaba, screaming loudly as he did so. Inaba was seen to use the Rolling Elbow. The current theme seems to be inheritance of moves, and Misawa’s has become a sacred one that many in Noah use, even if they have come from elsewhere.
WINNER: Daiki Inaba via Boston Crab (7 minutes, 48 seconds)
MATCH TWO
HI69 VS Super Crazy
Super Crazy was very funny, tapping his wrist and telling HI69 to get on with it when he did his pose.
Rare singles match, very much a brawl with stiff punches and kicks. It does showcase what HI69 and Super Crazy can do when they are not in singles matches, so it made it an enjoyable early card match.
WINNER: Super Crazy with the Samson Clutch (8 minutes, 48 seconds)
There were fans in the crowd who were waving a Mexican flag. Super Crazy excitedly got out of the ring and pointed them out saying what sounded like, “Long live Mexico! Mexico to the world!”
MATCH THREE
Takashi Sugiura, Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito vs Masa Kitamiya, Shuhei Taniguchi & Yoshiki Inamura
Somehow Mohammed Yone managed to dance to Takashi Sugiura’s rock entrance music. For his part, Takashi Sugiura wanted no part of his funky partners, and kept in the corner. Shuhei Taniguchi it seems wasn’t interested in Disco either and got in Yone’s face when he pulled Saturday Night Fever. Disco however triumphed, as Taniguchi later was knocked down by it.
For the N-1 rivals (Takashi Sugiura and Masa Kitamiya) they faced off in the brutal shoulder tackles that Masa Kitamiya vs Takashi Sugiura are known for.
WINNER: Masa Kitamiya with Saito Suplex on Mohammed Yone (9 minutes, 33 seconds)
Although this match had gone on as long as the last two, it somehow felt shorter. It seemed that no one had really gotten a look in, and THE TOUGH seemed to get on okay. Masa Kitamiya had sent a message in the ring to all his opponents and everyone who was going to be in the league. Backstage he termed himself as “a man who does not give up”.
MATCH FOUR
The Noah Junior Regulars (Daisuke Harada & Seiki Yoshioka) vs Kongoh Juniors (Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara)
Seiki Yoshioka made his Noah Junior Regular Unit debut, by wearing the white Noah shirt. Daisuke Harada followed on looking approving. Yoshioka was out to prove in his first match that he belonged with the regulars, but it was Harada who won the match.
WINNER: Daisuke Harada with the Katayama German Suplex (10 minutes, 47 seconds)
When it came time for Yoshioka to shake hands with his new teammates, Alejandro went first, Atsushi Kotoge went second, and then came YO-HEY. There was a brief pause between Kotoge and Yoshioka, but Kotoge it seems is happy to let the whole FULL THROTTLE issue go, but YO-HEY was a little more cold. He was not his usual bouncy self, and it looked like he was swallowing a bitter pill. Perceptive Atsushi Kotoge realized this, and he and Harada kind of asked YO-HEY if he was okay. Seiki Yoshioka too was unsure, and kept looking behind him at YO-HEY as they left the ring. Let’s see how this plays out at Noah’s next show on the 30th July when they have to tag together. Against STINGER.
MATCH FIVE
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susumu) & Kai Fujimura vs PERROS DEL MAL DE JAPON (NOSAWA Rongai, Eita & Kotaro Suzuki)
The match got going even before Yoshinari Ogawa’s music ended and the bell rang, as Eita was dangling the belt at Ogawa, which might as well have been a red flag for a bull. Ogawa did finally manage to snatch the belt back, and walked off backstage.
Susumu (true to form) went to check where Ogawa had gone, but the count continued and Susumu eventually ran backstage again to fetch Ogawa. He didn’t need to as Super Crazy came out from the back holding the GHC Junior Tag belt up triumphantly, while Eita dragged Ogawa back to the ring. Eita and NOSAWA (with the help of Super Crazy) taped Ogawa to the ropes using duct tape, so he was helpless to watch poor Kai Fujimura being tortured in a Boston Crab by Kotaro and then tap.
WINNER: Kotaro Suzuki via Boston Crab on Kai Fujimura (7 minutes, 47 seconds)
Susumu was unable to help and Ogawa was pulling against the restraints as the belt was once again dangled in front of him. HAYATA came to the rescue and Perros scattered the moment he entered the ring.
Backstage, another fight broke out when Yoshinari Ogawa threw a bottle of water at Perros when they were in the interview area. During the melee, Eita clutched the tag belt to him and quickly ran off with NOSAWA following on behind.
MATCH SIX
Ninja Mac, Atsushi Kotoge & Anthony Green vs Dante Leon, YO-HEY & Stallion Rogers
Despite his earlier sulks, YO-HEY was excited to fight Anthony Green, who he made brief guitar motions at. Dante Leon did some comedy with Kotoge, he seems to get on very well with the Noah Junior Regulars. Innovating wrestling from Green and Leon and usual Noah divisional chaos, but in a different way as everyone seemed to be having too much fun to pay much attention to the referee. There was no feeling of bitterness, not like the match before it. Even Green and Stallion got in on the competition of trying to outdo each other and everyone else.
WINNER: Ninja Mack with the Rear Naked Choke Hold on Dante Leon (12 minutes, 52 seconds)
MATCH SEVEN
Masato Tanaka & HAYATA vs Manabu Soya & Shuji Kondo
Shuji Kondo has vowed to wage this war against HAYATA using mind games. His first way to get inside HAYATA’S mind, was to simply and calmly deflect his attacks and toss him from the ring where he was thrown into the barriers by a wild-eyed Manabu Soya. Inside of it, he used his size and strength to his advantage, and again simply throwing HAYATA’s attacks aside. HAYATA got his breakthrough when he utilized what he had learned yesterday i.e. kicks were effective, but again, Kondo’s mind games of not being where HAYATA thought he was or putting HAYATA aside, worked.
WINNER: Masato Tanaka with the SLIDING-D on Manabu Soya (13 minutes, 32 seconds)
Mutually disappointed that neither had won the match over each other, HAYATA offered a handshake to Kondo when they were both alone in the ring, Kondo took it and HAYATA attacked and slid out of the ring.
It was a warning not to think that he could anticipate what HAYATA was going to do. If Kondo could play mind-games, then so could HAYATA. He took the mic and said growled quietly “To be continued, August 8th, Korakuen”. Fans are wondering when he is going to start talking like Kenoh!
MATCH EIGHT
N1 scramble 6-person tag match
Kongoh (Kenoh, Masakatsu Funaki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima) vs Kaito Kiyomiya, Satoshi Kojima & Masaaki Mochizuki
Satoshi Kojima and Kenoh started arguing over the belt, with Kojima ending it by waving the Kongoh fist at him at the end. Kenoh wasn’t finished with him, and at the end of the match was seen dangling the belt over him outside the ring. Despite Kenoh being champion, Kojima was looking forward to fighting “Katsuhiko” (as the veterans call him, having known him from when he was a young teenager) there was even a whistle from the crowd for Kojima’s pec flex, which Nakajima countered.
It is natural that as the majority of the guys in this match were people who are kickers (Masaaki Mochizuki and all of Kongoh), they would use them against each other. What this meant was three on one, and Mochizuki was kicked by all three at once. Nakajima was not above cheating by kicking the ropes when Mochi had his foot on it. It is unusual for the heavyweights to do this, but they tend to go a little wild when it’s N-1 time. As for their opponents, Kaito Kiyomiya and Mochi weren’t above faking tags either to get in the ring.
WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima with Vertical Spike on Kaito Kiyomiya (18 minutes, 52 seconds)
Looming over Kaito Kiyomiya, who was spreadeagled on the mat, Nakajima spoke on the microphone.
“Hey, Kiyomiya! It appears that you got a surprise win at the Nippon Budokan, and what that “I’ll show you our professional wrestling?” Don’t fuck around.”
He then threw Kiyomiya out of the ring, and continued on the mic;
“Is there something hot ahead? Do you understand? It’s the N-1. Noah’s ring is hot now, but the N-1 will get hotter. You know why, my N-1, this year will be hot because it burns. The N-1 of Katsuhiko Nakajima is awesome.”
Puroresu Gate 