​Noah held the final night of "NOAH NEW HOPE DAY 2" at the AMEBA Studio today. Kenoh, not in a good mood after not getting his singles match with Sanshiro Takagi as he hoped, told Inamura that he had better take the lead in his match against Kiyomiya, who was "spoiled" and "being pushed". In the event of things, Kongoh were not going to have a good evening and Kenoh was going to be the least of Kiyomiya's worries. 

The arena was noted to be a lot better lit than last time, and the watching Narihiro Takeda (Noah's CEO), said that he was very particular about how the venue looked. 

Go Shiozaki returned as the special commentator for the evening as 4.3K people tuned in worldwide. 

You can watch the event here, as it will be free for seven days only from the 31st May. 

MATCH ONE
FULL THROTTLE (Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara) vs Kongoh (Hao and Nio)

This is the first shot fired in the erupting war between the juniors, so both teams knew that to establish any kind of dominance first off, they had to win. Kongoh came out looking all business in a match that had there been an audience, they would have been screaming. 

Atsushi Kotoge looks a lot happier in FULL THROTTLE, I think this is because he now has more freedom to be himself, rather than he did under the more staid STINGER.

Hao worked very well with Ohara (there was an audible crunching noise when he caught Hao in a backbreaker), and in fact both teams worked well together, FULL THROTTLE looking good for their first outing. There were some very close wins for Kongoh (Hao mainly), especially after Kotoge seemed to be knocked out when kicked in the face, but the victory went to FULL THROTTLE, who walked away from the ring having fired upon their own Fort Sumter. 

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Killswitch on Hao (16 minutes and 19 seconds) 

MATCH TWO
Mohammed Yone vs Kinya Okada

Stiff match in which Mohammed Yone punched, and I mean punched, Okada. There was an audible smack upon impact, which made even the commentators go "oof" when they heard it. Okada, much to his credit, refused to stay down, so Yone resorted to kicks. It gets overlooked, but true to his BattleArts roots, Yone can work stiff. It was no surprise therefore that Okada was bleeding from the mouth. Okada got his own back with the kicks that Nakajima taught him. 

Despite his statement after the match that "momentum, technique and power are still insufficient!", there were some parts to Okada that are starting to take root such as the aforementioned kicks, and the bridging suplex that he used as a pin. But, after being stopped by the "Disco Fever" pose (which gets Yone beaten up by his fellow seniors as it enrages them, the funniest time being Quiet Storm's reaction), the match belonged to the veteran. 

WINNER: Mohammed Yone (Kinniku Buster, 9 minutes and 43 seconds)

Kinya Okada limped off clutching his shoulder as Yone struck three separate disco poses before leaving the ring. 

​Then Masao Inoue's theme sounded, and wearing his pink judo suit, he limped into the ring and picked up the microphone. Taking out his glasses from an inside pocket, he read solemnly his intentions to challenge Katsuhiko Nakajima for the GHC National Championship. If anything, Inoue's own way of doing it was far more Showa than Akitoshi Saito's as he kept it short and simple, and didn't use words like "Homies". Nakajima has accepted his challenge, and the match has been set for the same night that Go Shiozaki defends the GHC Heavyweight against Saito, at "NOAH GO FORWARD DAY 1" on 14th June. Day 2 will be broadcast on the 21st. Backstage Inoue said, "What? It's no lie that anyone can challenge, can't they?". 

MATCH THREE
Shuhei Taniguchi vs Rene Dupree

The commentators spent the first few minutes laughing over Inoue's challenge. 

Part technical, part brawl, part mat wrestling this was a singles match stemming from their Global Junior League match. Both were well suited to each other in terms of size and power, although Dupree has been wrestling longer, and it was even noted that to make his chops hurt even more, he licked his hands. 

WINNER: Renee Dupree with Body Press (9 minutes, 59 seconds) 

The dominance of one half of the GHC Tag Champions continues. 

MATCH FOUR
Kaito Kiyomiya vs Yoshiki Inamura

Kaito Kiyomiya came to the ring with flashing green lights, and shedding white feathers from his robe everywhere. 

Another notch was carved in their ongoing rivalry as Yoshiki Inamura attacked as soon as the bell went with a massive shove that sent Kaito Kiyomiya flying to the corner, which he followed up with punches. When the tide of the match swung round to him, Kiyomiya used a shoulder attack which looks to have been modified from Toshiaki Kawada (which Naomichi Marufuji also uses) when an opponent is pulled to their feet, only to be knocked down, Kiyomiya turned this into using Inamura's arm and pulling him towards him, which means that he drives his shoulder into him. The move he won the match with also seemed to be new too. 

Inamura worked on Kiyomiya's knees to keep him grounded, just as much as Kiyomiya did to him, splashing his legs at one point and then using a submission whereby he wrapped his legs around his neck and shoulders, and lifted him into the air. 

The fight between the two Noah born was won by the senior. 

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with a vertical drop type reverse DDT (15 minutes, 30 seconds)

Kaito Kiyomiya was speaking about his plans for Noah and how he would explode Supernova, when someone came menacingly into ringside and stood on the apron. 
It wasn't however, Kazuchika Okada, and for that matter it wasn't anyone that Kiyomiya had been expecting to see, or really someone that anyone had been expecting to see. 

​It was Daiki Inaba from W-1, who was standing glowering at him. He and Kiyomiya had last and first met at "WONDER CARNIVAL" in December 2019 when they had tagged together. 
Kiyomiya came over and they faced off, neither speaking. 

Later Kiyomiya wondered why Inaba had come to Noah, but reflected that it was going to give him a new stimulation. 

Noah will be back next with the junior heavyweight focused "NOAH THE SPOTLIGHT" which will be broadcast on WRESTLE UNIVERSE on the 10th, 11th and 12th June. 

Picture credit: PKDX

"The wall is large, but there are many dreams"
Kaito Kiyomiya 

The "NOAH NEW HOPE" shows are kind of like mini produce shows, which Kaito Kiyomiya seems to have put together to showcase the next generation of Noah. Naturally, Kenoh is disgusted by this, described it as "Bullshit programming", wondered how Kiyomiya even did this without being the champion, and said he wasn't going to watch (I think he must have forgot that Kongoh were on it), but he would watch the news later to hear all about the crisis that Kiyomiya had caused.

Go Shiozaki was on double duty (well, triple duty) as it turned out as both guest commentator and official Noah GHC reporter (their account has been hacked). This being Shiozaki, he started giggling after the first few minutes.

Noah filmed the event today at an ABEMA TV studio (4K people tuned in), it was smaller than usual and so the ring was smaller. The wrestlers, used to spartan conditions since they were trainees, quickly got used to it.

The event was broadcast free and worldwide on ABEMA, and will be available to view for seven days only.

MATCH ONE
Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke vs Kongoh (Nio & Hao)

Daisuke Harada came out looking angry, and for some reason patting the IPW belt.

Nio & Hao have a new entry where they stand and face each other their heads bowed, when their names are announced they lift their heads, then they strike the Kongoh pose. Kongoh in this sense means that they imitate the protector statues that flank shrine gates.

The two teams were well suited in terms of size and ability, although Hao found that he couldn't haul junior heavyweight heavyweight Tadasuke to his feet or hurricanrana him, which Tadasuke turned into a powerbomb. He was also thrown around the ring by Harada. 

A small ring was not doing to stop a crazy Tadasuke, and neither was the empty arena, and he managed to spook Hao, who I don't think is used to either crazy or sneaky Tadasuke (but knows enough not to shake his hand).

Fast paced opener with the new junior incentive of the warring states with Nio hitting a double Lionsault, Tadasuke lariating Harada by accident, and Hao coming so close to getting the win as he and Harada rolled around on the mat trying to pin each other as the clock ran out and the nostalgic old Noah Junior music played.

WINNER: Neither, time out draw after 20 minutes. 

Daisuke Harada stalked off frustrated, and punched the curtains as he went through them.

MATCH TWO
Hajime Ohara vs Kinya Okada

Hajime Ohara helped train Okada, so you could say that today was a teacher vs pupil match. Ohara has always looked toned, but today he looked really toned.

Although Okada is shaping up to be a good technical wrestler, the match was pretty much dominated by the far more experienced Ohara and he was outwrestled by him. He did get the upper hand at times though and managed to reverse a couple of moves, but he was frustrated by the referees count when he went for the pin.

It was a good fight, but Okada was no ultimately no match for Ohara.

WINNER: Hajime Ohara with the Mui Bien submission (10 minutes and 2 seconds) 

After the match, Go Shiozaki who has been missing for the whole of May due to acute appendicitis, came to the ring to announce that he would be returning on June 14th. His speech was interrupted by Akitoshi Saito who came to the ring waving the "Anti Wrestles Alliance" flag. In the ring Saito, in a very Heisei era gesture, produced a letter of challenge and read it out (it also included the word "Homies") to announce his intention. Go Shiozaki accepted his challenge, shook his hand and said (as Marufuji said to Sugiura) that they would put on a match "that only we can do". 

Backstage, Saito called this match very important for himself and Shiozaki, while Shiozaki called it "Destiny". The last time Shiozaki and Saito fought over the GHC Heavyweight was in 2009 a few weeks after Mitsuharu Misawa had died; the match was very sad, very difficult and was not auspicious for either Shiozaki's title reign, Saito's challenge and especially the circumstances it happened under. Like Sugiura & Marufuji having a match to make up for the one that happened under the Sugiura Army, this is their chance to put that particularly painful past to rest.

MATCH THREE
Shuhei Taniguchi vs Yoshiki Inamura 

Yoshiki Inamura came out looking toned, still big, but toned. I get the impression he has reached a weight he can work with, and has started working on himself around that.

The initial stages of the match was Shuhei Taniguchi working Inamura down to the a mat in a Greco-Roman style, which is not one of Inamura's strengths, but his skills in this department appear to have risen. Later things got back to more his style with a punch battle which led to a knock down war. During this Taniguchi got knocked outside the ring, and then refused to get back in until Inamura backed off. When he was on the apron he tried to lift Noah's tank over the ropes to the floor, but it was Inamura who reversed this and slammed him into the ring. Somehow the studio remained standing after Inamura came flying off the top turnbuckle and hit the mat like an explosion, and after he launched Taniguchi into the air during "GEKITOTZ". However, the match belonged, like the one before it, to the veteran.

WINNER: Shuhei Taniguchi with the Diving Body Press (13 minutes and 6 seconds)

Backstage, Shuhei Taniguchi said that he "would not lose to Inamura's growth", what this means is the equivalent of Cleopatra's saying, "I will not be triumphed over".

MATCH FOUR
Kaito Kiyomiya vs Rene Dupree

Kaito Kiyomiya's entry was very face of\I am Noah, as he made a point of looking at the Noah logo and then at the camera. Although he said he wasn't watching, Kenoh probably was screaming obscenities somewhere at the sight of it.

Both Kiyomiya and Dupree are well matched in size, (Dupree being one of the few people that Kiyomiya doesn't tower over), and in power. Only thing Kiyomiya doesn't have is the experience, but Dupree said after the match he predicted that Kiyomiya would become a superstar.

A good technical match to close out the show which ended with Kiyomiya avenging his Global Tag League loss.

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with The Tiger Suplex (13 minutes, 37 seconds)

After the match, Kiyomiya spoke on the microphone and outlined a couple of his future dreams; not only did he want to take Noah to the next level, but he has two ambitions; to face Keiji Mutoh in a singles match and "I want The Rainmaker". "The Rainmaker" of course being New Japan's Kazuchika Okada. It may sound a little odd given all that has happened between New Japan and Noah a few years ago, but both companies three years later are not what they had been then, and the younger generation don't want to be hampered in their own future by the mistakes their seniors made in the past. 
"Part 2" of "NOAH NEW HOPE" will be broadcast on Sunday May 31st at 19.00 JST via ABEMA TV.

With thanks to Metal Noah
Picture credit: PKDX
GIF Credit: ABEMA TV

Noah's "NEW HOPE" will be broadcast on ABEMA TV on Sunday May 24th at 19.00 JST. The event will last until 21.30 (two hours and a half). ABEMA have kindly started broadcasting Noah during the COVID-19 pandemic free of charge and worldwide, should this still be the case for this show, you will be able to view it live by clicking here, and for seven days after that.

The event aims to show Noah's new\younger generation of wrestlers, but naturally some of the veterans will be appearing on the show.

Card
Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke vs Kongoh (Nio & Hao)
Hajime Ohara vs Kinya Okada
Shuhei Taniguchi vs Yoshiki Inamura (this is a big match for Inamura, especially if he can overcome Taniguchi)
Kaito Kiyomiya vs Rene Dupree

Part 2 will take place on the 31st May, at the time of writing the match line up is yet to be announced. 

Picture credit: Noah.co.jp

NWA Powerrr 6/19/20: NWA 'Carnyland' Debut! NWA Powerrr May 19 2020 | Weekly Podcast w Jacob Grondy... 
#NWAPowerrr 6/19/20: NWA #Carnyland Debut! NWA Powerrr May 19 2020 | #NWAWeekly Podcast w Jacob Grondy Published May 19 2020 By Jacob Grondy of wrestlingwithwrestling.com NWA Powerrr May 19 2020,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWZpkWPW2Z4

Naomichi Marufuji and Eddie Edwards had a half an hour talk on Noah's official YouTube on the 19th May 2020 in the midst of COVID-19 shutting down the majority of wrestling and what wrestling there is, being held empty arena. This was a chance for the fans (and Marufuji) to catch up with Eddie. I have omitted the part when Edwards talks about his family, as I have a personal policy to try not to talk about personal lives unless I have to. 

Prior to the broadcast, Kenoh (who hates Marufuji and everything about Marufuji, but seems to have a grudging toleration for Edwards), said that he didn't want to see Marufuji's face, and so he covered his face up in the picture of the event with a hand. During the broadcast he said he covered Marufuji's face, so it looked like Edwards was talking to himself. I wonder if Kenoh heard Marufuji's repeated "Kenoh, are you watching?" or "Kenoh, please watch".

Marufuji welcomes us to the chat (done via ZOOM which Edwards says he uses to speak to family), and the conversation starts in Japanese to begin with, i.e. "How are you" etc. The majority of their talk is done in a mixture of both Japanese and English, which they both get by in well (Edwards says in response to a fan question that he doesn't think it is very good), although at times Noah's interpreter has to join in. Edwards sounds like he either has hayfever or a bit of a cold as he is sniffing, concerned Marufuji asks if he is okay, but he's fine.

Marufuji comments on Edward's beard, Edwards says in Japanese that it has grown long (he says that since the quarantine its the longest it has ever been, he hasn't had a haircut either and he used to be what he described as "baby-faced"). As far as Noah is concerned, he hasn't been there since last November, but he is still in contact with Marufuji, Yoshinari Ogawa and Noah's interpreter. Like Marufuji he is training at home because the gyms are shut, however, unlike Marufuji he does not have a dojo to go to. His exercises include using kettlebells and sandbags. He watches Noah on YouTube and Daily Motion.

So, what teams are there in Noah? Edwards recalls there are STINGER (who he jokes he would like to join), Kenoh's team "Kongoh" (he doesn't remember the name at first), and RATELS (who Marufuji counts although they have broken up). In the heavyweights there is AXIZ and The Sugiura Army. Regarding Takashi Sugiura, he recalls fighting him in a singles match once (it was in 2011). He knows that Nakajima is the current GHC National Champion, which he won from Sugiura. He would like to have another match with Nakajima and also Kiyomiya, and as for Marufuji, "maybe one more tag match".  Edwards also touches on Okada and Inamura (Noah's latest debuts), and says that he is impressed by Inamura's heavyweight style.

Marufuji asks about IMPACT, and wants to know who the current champion is. Edwards tells him that for the first time in IMPACT history, it's a woman; Tessa Blanchard. He says he thinks she is a "cool champion", and explains how she won it. Marufuji asks if he knows who the current GHC Heavyweight champion is, Edwards says it is old dojo friend, Go Shiozaki. The famous "Team Chop" (when he and Shiozaki teamed up) is bought up, and along with Marufuji they were a "three way Team Chop". From IMPACT Edwards says he would like to bring The North, Moose and Tessa Blanchard to Japan. Tessa would be interesting, as this would be the first time a woman has ever had a match in a Noah ring. Edwards has an ambition to hold Noah vs IMPACT, both in the USA and in Japan; for America he would like to bring over Naomichi Marufuji, Go Shiozaki, Takashi Sugiura, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kenoh and Yoshinari Ogawa.
Fans say "yes please" to Noah vs Impact.

So, when is Marufuji coming back to the USA? Marufuji says that at the moment it is no good. Edwards says that in America currently the indies have stopped, and it is only really WWE, IMPACT and AEW that are running shows and all empty arena.

"Do you know another Marufuji?"
"Another Marufuji?"
"You know, the painting, the mist"

Edwards gets what he means and mentions Marufuji's demonic alter ego, "Magical Immortality", he says he likes him, thinks he is very good, but "very sneaky". Marufuji says, "Like Sami Callihan!".

Fan question time

How is Moose?
Edwards said he is an idiot!

Fans say they want Eddie to come back to Japan, and when he does, what is his favorite Japanese food? Edwards said that he loves everything about Japanese food, especially Natto (fermented soybeans which are usually eaten for breakfast), and kimchi chanko.

"Noah TV match, lets go!"

The event today was streamed live on ABEMA, who once again made it available to all to view worldwide. Its hoped they will continue doing this for Noah events going forward (even after Coronavirus).

The ring was fully disinfected with the ropes being wiped down, I think this probably caused them to be slippy as Nio went for a lionsault, and had to abandon it.

At the end of the event Noah announced two new dates for their next shows "NOAH NEW HOPE" on May 24th and May 31st; these will be broadcast on ABEMA (24th) and probably Samurai (31st). The event seems to be focused more on Noah's younger generation, and Kenoh has already started complaining of Kiyomiya being in the picture, saying that he isn't even the champion and he is STILL the centre of attention. 

MATCH ONE
Daisuke Harada vs Kinya Okada

Daisuke Harada came out looking grim, and prepared to work out all his frustrations and anger over the past 24 hours on poor Kinya Okada, and he did just that. Although the match was not a squash, and Okada used kicks (he's used to being kicked, and harder too) and came very close at a few points to getting his first win, and even complaining about the count in the process, it was the veteran who won throwing in a shoulder charge which winded him and using an old school Elbow drop finisher.

WINNER: Daisuke Harada with Diving Elbow Drop (5 minutes, 50 seconds)

Harada stormed of afterwards, and didn't even wait for his arm to be raised. He had nothing to celebrate today, and it was only going to get worse.

MATCH TWO
STINGER (Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Kotoge) vs The Sugiura Army Juniors (Hajime Ohara & Seiki Yoshioka)

The match up of Kotaro Suzuki vs Seiki Yoshioka worked well, with the commentators praising the speed. Ohara, who doesn't have the aerial ability that his partner does, tortured Atsushi Kotoge. It was the usual tag team antics, riling up the other team by knocking them alternately off the apron, keeping each other out of the ring during submission holds, and yes, Atsushi Kotoge started talking to the camera on his own rope submission hold, which the commentators thought was cool.

During the match the Sugiura Army Juniors debuted a new tandem move, which involved a kick to the head from Yoshioka diving off the turnbuckle, as Ohara held the opponent and turned it into a backbreaker after impact.

WINNER: Kotaro Suzuki with the Endless Waltz on Seiki Yoshioka (12 minutes, 17 seconds)

Afterwards, everyone stood around in the ring, and Kotoge edged closer towards Kotaro very slowly.
Something was about to happen. You could taste it.
Kotaro offered Kotoge his hand, Kotoge took it and then headbutted him. As Kotaro staggered he used The Killswitch on him.
Addressing the fallen Kotaro on the mic, Kotoge said that he wasn't happy about HAYATA joining STINGER, and no one at all had even told him about it, or the fact that STINGER had gotten back together. He then asked if he could join The Sugiura Army.
NOSAWA Rongai appeared from nowhere (seriously, it was like he appeared in a puff of smoke), and basically said no, Kotoge was too shady for The Sugiura Army. It was then that Yoshioka knocked NOSAWA down with a kick, and joined Kotoge. Hajime Ohara, attempting to keep the peace at first, then relented and joined too. They posed triumphantly with their feet on Kotaro and NOSAWA, before leaving the ring. Backstage they announced they would breathe fresh air into the Noah juniors, as a team called "FULL THROTTLE".

MATCH THREE
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Rene Dupree) vs Kongoh (Yoshiki Inamura & Nio)

Poor Nio, he really got it from the heavyweights today; Rene Dupree using sharp jabs,  and naturally there was no effect when he attacked Takashi Sugiura. Inamura, while he doesn't have the experience that Nio does, he has the weight and the size, and is even managing to dwarf Sugiura. There was a massive chop war between Inamura and Dupree, and they had a collision which shook the ring when they smashed into each other in middair.

WINNER: Rene Dupree with Diving Body press on Nio (7 minutes, 46 seconds)

MATCH FOUR
Katsuhiko Nakajima, Shuhei Taniguchi & Mohammed Yone vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Masa Kitamiya & Manabu Soya)

Katsuhiko Nakajima came strolling out to make his first appearance with the GHC National. He posed with it on the ramp, and did a modified version of his apron pose for the cameras. Inside the ring, Kenoh was waiting with Masa Kitamiya and Manabu Soya, who dwarfed him.

No disco today for Mohammed Yone (Kongoh are not exactly its biggest fans), but he got into a kick war with Kenoh, and although it does get overlooked, Yone can kick. He also gave Kenoh the look he gives the younger generation when they try to do that to him, which tells them that he came from another era (an era where he got kicked by KENTA) and what they do means very little.

The feud between Manabu Soya and Shuhei Taniguchi grew another notch, as they started the match by slamming into each other. Soya continued his dominance by knocking Nakajima down as if he was a freight train.

The Diamond Ring brothers (Katsuhiko Nakajima is the senior student of Kensuke Sasaki), faced off in a flurry of punches, which culminated with Nakajima doing the shutter chance on Kitamiya. Manabu Soya was very helpful, kicking Nakajima in the head to make him break the hold, which he took no notice of.

The match came down to Kenoh and Mohammed Yone. Yone with a big grin, he knew exactly what Kenoh was going to do when he kicked him, and he caught his leg. Not to be stopped, Kenoh fought back with a roundhouse kick and caught Yone square on with a perfectly landed PFS.

WINNER: Kenoh with the PFS (12 minutes, 2 seconds)

Then there came an unintentionally funny moment.
While all this was going on inside the ring, Manabu Soya were having a shoving match and squaring up to each other. The ref had to break it up, and Soya got back inside the ring to find that Kenoh and Kitamiya were in position and patiently waiting for him so they could to their victory pose.

During the intermission, NOSAWA Rongai had burst in on Sugiura's post match interview, and told him that not only he was going to bring in new people (temporarily) to fill the gap left by the departing Sugiura Army Juniors, and he also broke the news about Kendo Kashin coming in to join The Sugiura Army.
Sugiura, by this time to weary with telling NOSAWA not to do bring in more people and having him ignore him, wasn't too pleased. Rene Dupree saved the situation by suggesting they all go out for a beer.

MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya vs Hao

Fast paced match, which revealed interesting things about Hao in that although he loses out to Kiyomiya massively in size (he came up to about his chin), he has his speed, and he also has something of his strength. Kiyomiya seemed to enjoy the match today, but I think not only because he dominated the match, but because he got to wrestle as a junior, something ironically that Mitsuharu Misawa also loved, but sadly, only heavyweights can be company aces.

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with a thrown German Suplex (11 minutes, 37 seconds)

MATCH SIX
GHC HEAVYWEIGHT TAG CHAMPIONSHIP
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA) vs YO-HEY & TADASUKE

It was a subdued sad and focused YO-HEY today, not the usual bouncy one. He and Tadasuke came out first, and then HAYATA with Yoshinari Ogawa and Kotaro Suzuki seconding. Daisuke Harada also came out to second Tadasuke & YO-HEY, and he and Kotaro stayed in the background until the end. Tadasuke attacked HAYATA as soon as he entered the ring, choking him with his jacket, as YO-HEY fought Ogawa.

The match went to a brawl outside the ring twice, with YO-HEY having to make the save for Tadasuke as he got carried away, and YO-HEY pulled HAYATA out of the ring, where they fought. HAYATA no sold YO-HEY'S punches, and then threw him into a wall. Ogawa and Tadasuke were also brawling outside the ring, and the time ran out. STINGER were almost ready to leave, when Tadasuke and YO-HEY begged the ref to restart the match. The match was duly restarted, and the fighting continued, this time there was no count out, as Tadasuke thriew HAYATA back in, and proceeded to bite him on the turnbuckle.

HAYATA had his cold sadistic face on, which is made worse by the contact lenses he wears, and was loving fighting RATELS. He didn't seem to have any feeling left for any of them, something which would become clear when the match finished. Tadasuke proved he could be just as cold, when he got into the ring and drove his boot deliberately and slowly into HAYATA'S face.

It was a very close pinfall match with several kick outs at the last moment, and it came down to YO-HEY vs HAYATA. They know each other so well, and managed to reverse moves or predict moves, but it was HAYATA who won the titles with The Headache.

WINNER: HAYATA with The Headache on YO-HEY (16 minutes, 29 seconds)

Atsushi Kotoge got into the ring after the win, with Seiki Yoshioka and Hajime Ohara, and had his hat snatched off his head by Kotaro as Ogawa and HAYATA showed their belts to the camera. Tragically, YO-HEY (who looked tearful) looked as if he was clinging to HAYATA'S leg, HAYATA had nothing but sadistic coldness. Harada pulled YO-HEY away, and squared up to HAYATA, and the juniors had a square off, shoving each other and then everyone backed into their three units; STINGER, FULL THROTTLE, and what was once RATELS and was now simply Tadasuke, YO-HEY & Daisuke Harada. Eventually everyone left, leaving STINGER alone. Harada lingered, and Kotaro swatted Kotoge with his belt.

Backstage, Daisuke Harada said that he wasn't going to be using the RATELS name anymore, HAYATA was gone, and no one betrays them to STINGER twice.
He was never coming back.

MATCH SEVEN
Great Muta & Magical Immortality vs Kazushi Sakuraba & Masaaki Mochizuki

The wait was over to see Magical Immortality, as he ascended from the underworld with a painted black and white face, and a matching costume of black and white. The kanji on one side of his face saying "Dead". The two demons spat mist as they couldn't do it in the match, which left a red around Magical Immortality's mouth.
Sakuraba complained about his demonic opponents, but it did no good.

Magical Immortality moved slowly, almost like Muta, and almost crawled. He also had a grounding in MMA and mat wrestling, as he was able to go up against Sakuraba (chop war too), but for Marufuji's partner Mochizuki, this was an unknown entity.

The two demons seemed to have a fascination with things of this world; Muta attacked a cameraman and stole his camera, Magical Immortality stole ring announcer Ali's Smartphone when the match went to the ring announcers table (fortunately Ali had the presence of mind to keep the hammer away from him), but I think Muta was probably a little less enamored of the cord that his opponents used to bind then choke him with. Then the demons got hold of a fire extinguisher, and tried to work out how to use it. They got one puff, and then Mochizuki kicked it, and it went off in Magical Immortality's face. He then worked out how to use it, used it to break the hold Sakuraba had on Muta, and then went made with it. Sakuraba emerged from this with a mysterious green goo on his face.

The match finished with Muta's flash fire in Mochizuki's face (I remember hearing a kind of clicking sound when I saw it live), and The Shining Wizard for the pin.

WINNER: The Great Muta with Shining Wizard (21 minutes)

The demons vanished back through the curtains, and backstage Muta said that he had "found a friend in this ring".

Picture credit: Noah GHC, YO-HEY, PKDX

Noah held an explosive event today at the "Noah TV arena", again empty audience due to the ongoing Coronavirus. Show was pre-taped and was shown on both DDT Universe and Samurai TV, all the entrances aside from the two title matches were edited out. 

You will be able to view the event on DDT Universe, BUT you must be a paid subscriber. The first month is free, and after that it is 900 yen per month. It is worth subscribing as you get far more than just Noah, and according to DDT\Noah President Shinshiro Takagi, more promotions are going to be added.

MATCH ONE
Tadasuke vs Kinya Okada

Just like Maiko, trainee wrestlers in Japan go through a period called "Minari" when they watch their elders. What this means in their case is that they are at ringside not just as seconds to bring in ice packs and scrape their seniors off the floor, but to observe what happens in the ring, and learn from it, and today this certainly paid off for Kinya Okada. Okada knew enough from watching Tadasuke to know that under no circumstances should you shake hands with him, so he refused, and Tadasuke flicked water at him.

Okada had good momentum, and refused to give up until the last moment when he could no longer fight back, but he was facing a veteran who used veteran tricks  (going to punch, watching Okada duck, then doing another move), and one who has the strength of a heavyweight, although he did catch crazy Tadasuke (and his peroxide hair which needs to be redone) in mid craziness. However, Tadasuke is the veteran and Tadasuke got the win.

WINNER: Tadasuke with the Swanton Bomb (6 minutes, 46 seconds)

MATCH TWO
Shuhei Taniguchi, Mohammed Yone & Daisuke Harada vs Masa Kitamiya, Yoshiki Inamura & Nio 

The match pitched us straight into Daisuke Harada vs Nio, which then came Daisuke Harada vs Yoshiki Inamura. Harada was no match for Inamura's size and weight, and it looked as if you could probably pile four Harada's into Noah's tank. Nio and Harada, despite being on opposing teams, really took it from the heavyweights, especially when Taniguchi got in the ring and started mowing everyone down.

Winner: Mohammed Yone with the Kinnmeat Buster on Nio (13 minutes, 16 seconds)

MATCH THREE
The Suguiura Army (Kazushi Sakuraba, Rene Dupree & NOSAWA Rongai) vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Manabu Soya & Hao)

The Sugiura Army came out in dog t-shirts (NOSAWA wore the t-shirt with his own doggo on it), Rene Dupre came out with the tag belt.

There was an immediate attack as soon as the bell went, with The Sugiura Army attacking Kongoh, but it was Hao who NOSAWA attacked, not Kenoh. However, Kenoh got his revenge when Kongoh stamped him down.

Kenoh and Sakuraba (I get the feeling that they love this) faced off in a kind of part 2, using their martial arts backgrounds. However, it is not Sakuraba vs Kenoh that the fans want to see, they want to see Sakuraba vs Ogawa. During the match, Sakuraba got to do the top rope dive that he didn't get to do during the elimination match.

Manabu Soya (who I keep thinking is Takeshi Rikio) and Rene Dupree got into a heavyweight hoss fight, trading chops when they couldn't knock each other down, and in between all this was the usual heavyweight hoss fight screaming match. During this, NOSAWA tried to help Dupree, and got taken out swiftly.

Hao, being the smallest, got it the worst from the opposition; launched across the ring by Dupree, then tied up in a knot by Sakuraba, who had earlier crunched him in the ribs with MMA style knee shots. There was a momentary respite thanks to Kenoh, but Sakuraba returned to torture him and he tapped.

Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba with the Omoplatter on Hao (11 minutes, 33 seconds)

Kenoh had a complete tantrum against the Sugiura Army afterwards, they all marched towards him threateningly, and he stormed off and let them celebrate.

Afterwards, NOSAWA announced that the Sugiura Army were having a personnel change and were dismissing Hideki Suzuki, KAZMA SAKAMOTO, Dick Togo and Kazushi Sakuraba. No one can get hold of Fujita to tell him his cheque is in the mail.

MATCH FOUR
Naomichi Marufuji & Masaaki Mochizuki vs The Sugiura Army Juniors (Hajime Ohara & Seiki Yoshioka)

This match has been said to have been created in order for Naomichi Marufuji to assess Yoshioka, and he started the match by squaring up to him. Yoshioka was raring to go, but much to his disappointment it would have to wait, with Mochizuki starting the match. Marufuji I think probably wanted to watch and assess first, but Mochizuki and Yoshioka did work well together, and Mochizuki is kind of like a heavyweight Yoshioka.

Naturally Yoshioka and Mochizuki got into a kick battle after the first rope break, thanks to a Yoshioka kick. When Marufuji was tagged in, he got Ohara as an opponent, and it is rare to see Marufuji vs Ohara, and Ohara wrapped his arms and legs up in ways the human body is not meant to bend. As a tag team Ohara and Yoshioka compliment each other, Yoshioka can also do technical, but he offsets this skill with his aerial ability, which Ohara does not have, which brings a new dimension in.

When it did come to Yoshioka and Marufuji, there was a lot of speed from Yoshioka, especially when he ducked his kicks and struck back with his own, but it was Marufuji who won with the Perfect Key Lock.

WINNER: Naomichi Marufuji with the Perfect Key Lock on Seiki Yoshioka (13 minutes, 21 seconds)

Afterwards, Marufuji grabbed Yoshioka's hair and grinned. This ain't over.

On social media Marufuji said that his kicks were sharp and the match was fun, BUT, Noah was Sony not SHARP, which means that there is room for improvements and for him to learn the Noah style.

MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya vs Atsushi Kotoge

Rare singles match between Kaito Kiyomiya and one of the people who trained him. Kiyomiya no sold the now cruiserweight Kotoge, with a slap war breaking out which Kiyomiya won, as Kotoge no longer has that heavyweight strength. However, despite all of Kiyomiya's former glories, the fact remains that Kotoge is still the veteran and so he was able to hold his own to some extent (although I'm not sure with the manic mannerisms seemingly come back, and the reddish pink purple hair, who he thought he was talking to during his turnbuckle choke as there was no one in the arena). There was some concern for Kotoge during the match as he seemed to be limping, but he was okay.

Kaito Kiyomiya won with rare submission move, this is new for him as he doesn't use the stretch plum lock often anyway, and today's move was called the "Indian Death Lock Feather". Kiyomiya did say that with a lot of time on his hands, he did have a lot of time to think.

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Indian Death Lock Feather (14 minutes, 1 seconds)

MATCH SIX
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Championship Match
RATELS (HAYATA & YO-HEY) vs STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki)

Maybe we should have known that something was going to happen in this match, especially if we cast our minds back to January when Yoshinari Ogawa took the GHC Junior from HAYATA, and they shook hands. Added to that today, Ogawa had his thoughtful face on...

All started as normal, HAYATA against Suzuki, YO-HEY against Ogawa (with no crazy lock up from YO-HEY, although I don't think YO-HEY would dare), and the usual torture by STINGER using the ring post. Fast tags between the two of them, which you don't see YO-HEY & HAYATA do, and because the two teams know each other so well, STINGER were able to wriggle out so to speak. 

Then HAYATA turned on YO-HEY, kicking him to break up the pin.
YO-HEY turned around like he couldn't believe it.
The sad thing was that when he betrayed RATELS for STINGER, he had hesitated before kicking HAYATA in the face. HAYATA had had no such qualms. During this moment of fans looking on stunned, Harada and Tadasuke storming the ring, and YO-HEY mentally dividing up mutual property, Ogawa decided to kick the ref, so the match went no contest.

RESULT: No contest

With YO-HEY in shock, Harada fighting STINGER, it was Tadasuke who was the most angry as he attacked HAYATA. HAYATA afterwards unusually spoke on the microphone, but only to return the tag belt which he left in the ring ("Belt...give up"). As HAYATA left with STINGER, Tadasuke took the microphone up and shrieked that he and YO-HEY would challenge Ogawa and HAYATA for the belts and asking HAYATA why he had done this and to "explain everything".

The title match has been set for the 10th May 2020. Tadasuke had a huge tantrum as they left the ring, slamming each of the iron guardrails.

Backstage when their heads were calmer, YO-HEY said he would never forgive HAYATA and that they were now divorced (he called him "Wife" one last time and himself "Husband"), Daisuke Harada has sworn vengeance, and dissolved RATELS by taking his shirt off and laying it on the floor. Tadasuke says RATELS are four people, not three.

MATCH SEVEN
GHC National Championship Match
Takashi Sugiura vs Katsuhiko Nakajima

Katsuhiko Nakajima came out with the usual smirk, and started winding Sugiura up right from the start. Nakajima got his comeuppance after "The Shutter Chance" when Sugiura took out Nakajima's biggest and main weapons, his legs, attacking his knee and wrapping them round the steel barrier and working on his knee throughout the match, Nakajima sold this well, limping and often smacking it to try and get the feeling back into it.

Stiff match as was expected, and although Nakajima's cockiness caught up with him at times, it did not cost him the match as it has done in the past. This is something Nakajima seems to have realised now, but in any case he and Sugiura know each other very well due to past title matches and Sugiura watching Nakajima grow up partially in Noah.

As part of his taking Nakajima down, Sugiura locked in the dreaded ankle lock twice, with Nakajima managing to make it to the ropes the first time. The second time, Sugi dragged him back so Nakajima had to resort to punches until he let him go, despite Sugiura tightening the hold. Nakajima even grabbed hold of the ref at one point.

The end came in sequence; Nakajima with a massive kick on Sugiura when he went for the Olympic slam, and I mean massive, Sugiura crumpled to the mat. When he revived he was groggy, so Nakajima followed this up with further stiff kicks and the terrible soccer ball kicks which echoed around the arena.
Not enough for the pin, Sugi kicked out and went for the neck choke when Nakajima went for the Vertical Spike. Nakajima locked it in, but Sugi still kicked out.
Second ankle lock, followed by a slap war. Nakajima got the upper hand, and with a big Cheshire Cat grin hit the Vertical Spike with a long hang time.

Winner: Katsuhiko Nakajima with the Vertical Spike (28 minutes, 58 seconds) 

Nakajima sat staring at the belt when it was offered to him by the referee, and he didn't take it for a few moments. I half feared that he was going to throw it out of the ring like the W-1 belt, but Nakajima has an analytical mathematical brain, and he just wanted to think about it and what he was going to say and do. When he did take the belt, he put it down on the mat, sat down behind it, propped it up and then spoke on the microphone. He said that this belt opened up a chapter two and a new phase, and he could not wait to consider the possibilities that this belt would bring. Naturally, his first message on social media was to Go Shiozaki. Now they had two singles belts, were two singles champions, and they could stand together side by side.

With thanks to: Metal Noah, Abeshin
Picture credit: PKDX, Hao