​"Osaka is a special place for us!" 
Atsushi Kotoge

It was a rainy afternoon in Osaka when Noah held today's event, which attracted 439 people (not a sell out crowd, but a very good one). Sadly, Hajime Ohara could not join FULL THROTTLE\Noah in Osaka today as he has tested positive for COVID-19 during a regulation test, and therefore has to quarantine at home. Fortunately Ohara is not showing any signs so far of fever or malaise. His presence was felt today though, Naomichi Marufuji adding "today is Mui Bien" at the end of his promo, and YO-HEY (who pulled double duty) doing the Mui Bien pose. YO-HEY was the definite MVP of today.

Because of the pandemic, Noah held limited goods at the shop, but that didn't stop the fans from snapping up the "Back To The Budokan" t-shirts. Naturally because of the contagion, and the close call with Hajime Ohara, no autographs were held today. 

The event will be shown on WrestleUniverse on Tuesday 26th January. You must be a subscriber to view this event in full, but as Noah today streamed the GHC National and the main event live, you can watch this free and worldwide through Noah's Periscope channel.

MATCH ONE
Kongoh Juniors (Tadasuke, Haoh & Nioh) vs YO-HEY, Daiki Inaba & Yasutaka Yano

YO-HEY came dancing out in outfit 1 (he changed twice) looking very multi-color with bright orange hair, to fight with old RATELS unit member, Tadasuke. Despite the craziness of YO-HEY, Tadasuke (and Osaka which is the individual spiritual home of all the former RATELS), YO-HEY was seen calling advice to young Yasutaka Yano. Who is taller than Haoh. Despite meeting Crazy Tadasuke (who proudly posted a picture of himself with his hair over his face and big grin shining through), Yano was able to counter Tadasuke, although he was no match for Tadasuke's strength. All in all, it was an energetic junior opening match. 

WINNER: Tadasuke with the Jidanda Lariat on Yasutaka Yano (10 minutes, 13 seconds)

​MATCH TWO
Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Kongoh (Masa Kitamiya & Manabu Soya)

Humorless Spartan Kongoh looked on as Mohammed Yone pulled Disco poses, but it was all business as Shuhei Taniguchu & Manabu Soya had a  chaotic test of strength which ended on the ropes, and Taniguchi doing a clean break after he had managed to power Soya back. Masa Kitamiya wore out Mohammed Yone with shoulder tackles. 

It was called a "powerful match" but also a somewhat "awkward but interesting" one...especially when  Shuhei Taniguchi started dancing a jig again after doing six body slams in a row, slamming Soya onto Kitamiya

WINNER: Manabu Soya with the Ballistic on Mohammed Yone (11 minutes, 26 seconds)

MATCH THREE
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Junta Miyawaki

Katsuhiko Nakajima emerged from the curtain, and sat on the turnbuckle like a sinister bird of prey, staring at Junta Miyawaki. Their last singles match ended in a very very short period of time, and as Miyawaki had vowed not to let this happen again, he attacked before even waiting for the bell. He is a Noah Junior, and we all know the bell doesn't really mean much to that division, it only rings when the match has officially started (usually it's started the moment they are all in the ring together), when it's ended (which causes even more fights) and to tell everyone vainly to stop fighting afterwards. However, Nakajima got the upper hand and Miyawaki found himself being kicked and thrown around outside of the ring. 

Miyawaki tried to wear Nakajima down with a volley of slaps. Nakajima simply grinned, no sold them, raised his arms and floored Miyawaki with his own. Regardless of the result, fans agreed that Miyawaki put up a great fight.

WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima via referee stop (Sleeperhold) (8 minutes, 20 seconds)

MATCH FOUR
Momo No Seishun (Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge) vs FULL THROTTLE (Seiki Yoshioka & YO-HEY)

YO-HEY came out in outfit 2, as Daisuke Harada and Seiki Yoshioka got in each others faces, Harada holding the belt up high. Atsushi Kotoge lurked in the background watching them. With the exception of HAYATA, YO-HEY has wrestled most of the former RATELS today. 

Daisuke Harada was as brilliant as ever, and seems to have added a a rope flip to his repertoire. Kotoge's chest came in for more abuse, and went a bright pink color as he got into a chop war with YO-HEY, which is kind of unfortunate as YO-HEY is known for the strength of his chops in the junior division. Kotoge should be okay though, considering that more than ever this match showed just how an icy tag team Momo No Seishun are, especially with each other. Despite his exuberance in this match, fans did note that YO-HEY was getting tired, which is understandable. 

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Killswitch on YO-HEY (17 minutes, 49 seconds)

Backstage, Kotoge said he had "various jealousies" caused by what he termed as his, "own lack of abilities". 

MATCH FIVE
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, HAYATA & Yuya Susumu) vs Kotaro Suzuki, Ikuto Hidaka & NOSAWA Rongai

I don't really have too much information on this match, but it was described as "Hot, skillful and erotic"

Kotaro took his revenge on Yuya Susumu by working on his shoulder, and Yoshinari Ogawa got his on NOSAWA with shots to the face. Fast paced and bitterly fought, especially between Ogawa and Kotaro, who are the main protagonists here, with Ogawa torturing him at every opportunity he could get. 

WINNER: Ikuto Hidaka with the Sean Capture on Yuya Susumu (14 minutes, 20 seconds)

​Naturally, a fight broke out after the winning team had their arms raised in victory, Kotaro may also have said something on the microphone (probably inflammatory, but possibly Ogawa got irritated by just the continuing sight and sound of him), but in any case the usual Noah junior fight broke out after the match in which Ogawa and HAYATA threw Kotaro and Hidaka into each other to end it. 

MATCH SIX
GHC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Kenoh vs Kazunari Murakami

Kazunari Murakami, looking every inch the thug that Tokyo Sports describe him to be, used the usual wind up tactics by strolling round outside the ring (also talking to himself, and tucking the shirt of his sinister looking suit in), after Kenoh had knocked him outside of it. The match itself was almost MMA style in its initial stages, quick jabs and kicks. This kind of ended when Murakami became enraged after a slap by Kenoh on the ropes, and took him to the floor. After this, Kenoh challenged him to a kick war. Not quite "The Kick War From Hell", but Kenoh countered Murakami's by using his background in Nippon Kempo to block. So with Murakami worn down, Kenoh knocked him to the mat with a brutal closed fist punch which got him told off by the referee. 
Now, if you have ever seen a movie where a monster pretends to be either dead or asleep and opens one eye, this is kind of what happened next when Murakami unleashed a volley of kicks and punches on Kenoh. Kenoh (after a brief loss of temper) realized then that his greatest weapon was ironically, his size, and so he managed to leap on to Murakami's back and lock in the sleeper. Refusing to let go and with Murakami sinking down, the referee called a halt to the match. Even then, Kenoh had to be pried off of him. 

WINNER: Kenoh via referee stop (9 minutes, 40 seconds)

This was not your usual Noah style title match, but the GHC National has a history that needs to be made. It's kind of like The Fool card in a tarot deck, as its the most powerful and goes where it wants, and for some reason matches of this sort (MMA style, shoot style) have always worked in Noah and gone over well with the crowd. The match was no longer that it needed to be, and as it was streamed on Periscope attracted a whole range of wrestlers, from Hideki Suzuki to "brother" YASSHI, who all tuned in to watch. 

Fans could breathe easily now that this match was out of the way and Kenoh was going to the Budokan as a champion, but he was given no breathing space, as his next challenger appeared almost right away. It was M'S Alliance member, Masakatsu Funaki, who said "Your next title match, have it against me". 
Kenoh, calling him the "strongest challenger", accepted his challenge and has set it for the 12th February at the Nippon Budokan. Their one and only pre-match will be on the 31st January.

MATCH SEVEN
"Osaka New Year Special Match"
Go Shiozaki, Takashi Sugiura & Naomichi Marufuji vs Kaito Kiyomiya, Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada

This match could also be called a generational match as it features the Noah seniors (two from the All Japan walkout, and one from the "Mid Generation", all three knowing Noah in its "Golden Era"), and three from "The Turbulent Era" of Noah, with Kaito Kiyomiya especially being of the last generation at Differ. Shiozaki is also a Noah born, which makes the grand total of four in this match. In Noah now there are only three wrestlers left from All Japan (Yoshinari Ogawa is the third). 

The young hopeful idealistic Noah born team were led by Kaito Kiyomiya, with their seniors giving them wary looks as they came to the ring. Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura that is, Go Shiozaki had a fit of his famous giggles when he gave Marufuji a slap of the hand, and Sugi a deep bow and handshake, and was waved from the ring by a laughing Marufuji. 

Marufuji used his nasty submission moves on Yoshiki Inamura's feet, and found that since Inamura now keeps his hair cropped like a trainee, he had to grab on to his ear! Inamura, however, wasn't going to give up so easily and ended up dominating all three of his seniors (even the GHC Heavyweight Champion), and he took out all three in succession as they tagged into the ring. Later Marufuji would use his "Perfect Key Lock", and it took some stamping by Inamura to get him to let go. Inamura came very close indeed to pinning Marufuji, but Marufuji knows after long experience of growing up with and fighting the originator of the move, how to get out of the Musou. 

Kinya Okada (who kept pretty much in the background), and is an Osaka boy, used his kicks on Shiozaki, who is used to being kicked, and who just chopped him down and then threw him outside of the ring. Sugi was very helpful, with a big boot to the face. However, Shiozaki did have a struggle with Okada and was almost taken down by him. 

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the Gowan lariat on Kinya Okada (23 minutes, 4 seconds)

To get Shiozaki back for the earlier handshake\handslap, Marufuji decided to playfully withdraw his hand at the last moment when offering one after the match. One his most recent bout of his "hobby" (laughing) had subsided, Go Shiozaki addressed the crowd, thanking "everyone in Osaka", and promising to return from the Nippon Budokan with both a higher value belt, and in "a more energetic manner" (he means he hopes that in terms of Corona, things will be better, and people can cheer again). 

WITH THANKS TO: Yuichi, RealNGreen, LUCY!, Kei, Low-Income workers, Dogpaw, Miriam
Picture credit: Official Noah Twitter
GIFS taken from Periscope & Official Noah Twitter

Noah's next show: 31st January at Korakuen Hall ​

​"A burning main and semi"

New fans, old fans, fans who hadn't been to see Noah for a while, all came together today (albeit under circumstances which sadly dictate no cheering, only what Noah fans call "Deep Bass Stomping" and clapping), to help sell out Noah's event in Yokohama. Veteran visitors to Yokohama were surprised to find that due to the worsening situation of Corona, Noah have taken the additional step today of putting up a barrier, so fans are seated even further back from the ring. A barrier is rare for Yokohama.

No Kaito Kiyomiya today who is recovering post operatively after having a metal plate removed from his chin. 

The event today was not streamed live, but it can be viewed on WrestleUniverse from the 19th January. This will not be a free stream (although the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag held today was via Periscope), so you will need to be a subscriber to view. 

MATCH ONE
FULL THROTTLE (Hajime Ohara, YO-HEY & Seiki Yoshioka) vs Junta Miyawaki, Yasutaka Yano & Kai Fujimura

There were four youngsters in this match; the three young boys who made a speedy entry to the ring (with Junta Miyawaki leaping over the ropes), and the much younger referee, who found himself in the unenviable position of dealing with Noah's chaotic junior division (he seems to be spared the grumpy heavyweights though). 

Yokohama got going in an energetic way from the first event with the young boys flying off the top turnbuckles, and later Fujimura and Yano using a double team move on Hajime Ohara, which was like a double Boston Crab with both of them holding a leg each. This was broken up by Yoshioka, but it wasn't to be the first or last time the much younger team threatened their seniors.   

WINNER: YO-HEY with the Facial G (11 minutes, 29 seconds)

YO-HEY with usual dance from the ring on leaving apparently, but not before he had held up three fingers to the young boy team as they passed FULL THROTTLE. Looks like a mini feud of seniors & juniors developing, and realistically, Junta Miyawaki is the only one who can win. 

MATCH TWO
The Anti Wrestlers Alliance (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue) vs Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada

I don't know if Masao Inoue's poor gouty toes were stamped on (probably not as both Yoshiki Inamura and Kinya Okada are too polite), but Okada and Inamura were certainly not too afraid to gang up on him and give him a double clothesline and then a backdrop. More seriously, Yoshiki Inamura and Akitoshi Saito had a series of big shoulder tackles, and there was a long hang time on Saito's holding brainbuster on Okada, it was so long that Inoue had to keep Inamura out of the ring.

Despite the rough handling he took from the much younger wrestlers, Inoue was not completely helpless, using his usual pins like sneak pins etc, but ultimately he was driven back by Yoshiki Inamura using Rikio's sumo attack and then almost put through the ring mat by the Musou. 

WINNER: Yoshiki Inamura with the Musou on Masao Inoue (10 minutes, 26 seconds)

Backstage, Inamura declared that the Musou would be hunting Jun Akiyama at The Nippon Budokan.

MATCH THREE
Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Kongoh (Katsuhiko Nakajima & Masa Kitamiya)

"The Aggression" or "Kongoh", call them what you will, were on form in this match; Masa Kitamiya challenging Mohammed Yone to a shoulder tackle, Yone pulling the "Disco Fever" and knocking him down, and then an unappreciative Kitamiya getting up and charging at Yone, bouncing off him once before he knocked him down.

Katsuhiko Nakajima was typically irritating, especially when Shuhei Taniguchi kicked him on rope break, and when Taniguchi went to throw him at the ropes on the opposite side of the ring, Nakajima held on to them instead of bouncing off. This later triggered "Monster Taniguchi", who slammed them both, and then later stood up after being soccer ball kicked by Nakajima and roared. However, fans were disappointed with the Yone-Taniguchi team, it wasn't really anything to do with Yone, more Taniguchi. Taniguchi attempted some kind of dancing, although it looked more like a jig than disco from what I could make out, but I think fans preferred it when he was a monster who attacked, and didn't waste time hopping around. 

​WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima with the Vertical Spike on Shuhei Taniguchi (9 minutes, 36 seconds)

After their traditional fist to elbow bump in the ring, backstage, Kitamiya fumed against Takashi Sugiura, and Katsuhiko Nakajima made comments about how natural it felt to team together again...fans are waiting to see if this is going to lead to a Budokan tag title challenge. 

MATCH FOUR
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura, Kazunari Murakami & NOSAWA Rongai) vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Manabu Soya & Tadasuke)

Naturally, the champion and his challenger (i.e. Kenoh and Kazunari Murakami) started the match off, which began with Murakami taking Kenoh down to the mat, and then taunting him on several occasions afterwards, like when he was ordered to release the hold on the ropes. Murakami continued to get into trouble during the match, by repeatedly being told off for punching with a closed fist. He took no notice, and did it repeatedly. 

There was a shoulder tackle challenge between Manabu Soya and Takashi Sugiura, with Soya bouncing Sugiura around the ring. Remembering NOSAWA'S comments on it once, Sugiura turned to NOSAWA and sarcastically asked him if he had any advice that he wanted to give? Later, they had a test of strength, which made one fan comment that they looked as if they were two gorillas. 

The match ended with Murakami hammering on Tadasuke, who was lying flat on his back, before dragging him up after shoving the ref away, Kenoh tried to separate them but got knocked out with a closed fist punch.

WINNER: Referee stop as Kazunari Murakami choked out Tadasuke (16 minutes, 8 seconds)

After a face off between the two teams, Manabu Soya carried an unconscious Tadasuke from the ring, in the style that suggested he was going to Avalanche Slam in somewhere along the way. Fans want two things to come out of this match - for Kenoh to go to the Budokan as the GHC National Champion (the title match takes place at the next Noah show on the 23rd), and for Takashi Sugiura and Kazunari Murakami to team up. 

MATCH FIVE
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Championship 
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA) vs The Kongoh Juniors (Haoh & Nioh)

Noah streamed the match "guerrilla broadcast" by streaming it live and unannounced on Periscope. I don't know how long these stay up for (so if you are reading this some time after the event it may not be there still), but in any case the whole event will be put up on WrestleUniverse on the 19th January.

Kongoh were hungry for the belts and for the win and this permeated the whole of the match, their desire for the championships. It bought out the best in Nioh (who admittedly I haven't seen at this level for a few years), and it also bought out the best in HAYATA, who fans were saying was "independent" of Yoshinari Ogawa now. It seemed that perhaps Ogawa knew this too, but only after the match. During the match Ogawa was furious that someone had dared challenge him for the belts (it always makes him angry), and used tricks like using Yasutaka Yano as a human shield to prevent Nioh from diving outside the ring at him, grabbing Haoh by the hair when he bounced off the ropes, and sneak attacking Nioh in the few second interval when he complained to the ref about the pin. Nioh, however, can be just as devious as Ogawa (which is new), when he pretended to be dazed and crawling around before knocking HAYATA down. 

Haoh's arm was worked on by STINGER; HAYATA stamping on it, Ogawa introducing it to the steel ringpost a few times, and then the part where he looked as if he was going to rip it clean from its socket. 

​It was a chilly day in Tokyo, but with a clear winter blue sky. Noah announced an attendance of 488 people, which contained a mixture of older fans, new fans, and some fans who had not been to see Noah at Korakuen Hall for years. 

Due to the ongoing COVID situation, the show was a very fast paced one. It kind of reminded me of when Noah did a show a few years ago with a typhoon warning bearing down, and they announced there would be no interval (the urgent nature of the event was probably the reason why six Noah juniors left the ring without a fight breaking out). The big excitement for the card tonight was Daisuke Harada vs Hajime Ohara (which did not disappoint), but the card was to contain other excitements. 

The event was streamed live on WRESTLEUNIVERSE, and will be available to view in perpetuity. You must be a subscriber to the service to watch as this was not a free stream. 

MATCH ONE
FULL THROTTLE (YO-HEY & Seiki Yoshioka) vs Yasutaka Yano & Kai Fujimura

The two young boys, Yasutaka Yano and Kai Fujimura, made a quick entry, running to the ring at top speed. The two of them were not going to be completely pushed over by their more experienced opponents, and several times came close to getting the win. especially Yano with the roll up on Seiki Yoshioka. Fans were into this match in a big way, at times you could believe that they were going to get the victory. 

Seiki Yoshioka started the match against the former W-1 trainee, Fujimura. Yano (who has the potential to be just as aerial as YO-HEY), was spared YO-HEY'S crazy lock up. However, although they both came close to the victory, the veterans did no sell them at times, with YO-HEY chopping Yano. 

WINNER: Seiki Yoshioka with the Tornado Strike on Yasutaka Yano (10 minutes, 47 seconds)

MATCH TWO
Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada

Mohammed Yone was in complete "Disco" form today; disco dancing to the ring, and then pulling posing when the referee checked him (this reminded when of when Skorpio would pull poses too), and then doing a kind of disco dance around the ring at one point. It should also be mentioned here that the referee for this match was the much younger and less experienced one, and so he took an element of teasing from Yone, who was not above stopping the ref from counting than breaking a pin on Shuhei Taniguchi.  

With his growing skills in the use of kicks, it was only natural that Kinya Okada would face off against BattlArts Yone in this form, so their first lock up took this form. Yoshiki Inamura and Shuhei Taniguchi went for shoulder tackles, which Inamura won. On the whole, Inamura did a lot better against Taniguchi than he did Yone (tremendous selling when Yone felled him with a punch), but Inamura was beaten down by his seniors, with Yone pointing to Okada and telling him he was next. 

Because he is a wrestler who prides himself on modelling himself on the Showa era, Okada used a very technical pin, which considering the speed he did it with, it looks like he needs to refine it a little more.

WINNER: Shuhei Taniguchi via Wyvern Catch Submission on Kinya Okada (10 minutes, 57 seconds)

MATCH THREE
Momo No Seishun (Atsushi Kotoge & Junta Miyawaki) & Daiki Inaba vs Kotaro Suzuki, Ikuto Hidaka & NOSAWA Rongai

Ikuto Hidaka, no longer the "Part Time Guy", took his place in the endless Noah Junior war, in a fast paced match against a twitchy hyper Atsushi Kotoge, a Junta Miyawaki who almost had the pin and took him by surprise, and Daiki Inaba. As usual NOSAWA was not above cheating from the outside, but fortunately STINGER stayed away from NOSAWA, and NOSAWA stayed away from STINGER, so we were able to get something done concerning the next two matches without fights and ring intrusions. It was NOSAWA who saved Hidaka from tapping to Junta, Junta was naturally not pleased and with the tables reversed, ended up tapping to Hidaka

WINNER: Ikuto Hidaka with the Sean Capture on Junta Miyawaki (8 minutes, 55 seconds)

​After Atsushi Kotoge complained to the ref and the winning team had their arms raised, NOSAWA high-fived Hidaka, but dissed Kotaro who complained about it!

Although they couldn't have a interval like they would have had once, Noah took a short break to make an announcement on the monitor that Jun Akiyama and Naomichi Marufuji would team together at the Nippon Budokan to take on the young team of Yoshiki Inamura and Kaito Kiyomiya. 

MATCH FOUR
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, HAYATA & Yuya Susumu) vs The Kongoh Juniors (Haoh, Nioh and Tadasuke)

Yoshinari Ogawa and HAYATA are odd champions, it needs to be said; Ogawa likes being a champion but hates being challenged, HAYATA likes the level of championship matches, doesn't mind being challenged, but doesn't seem to enjoy being champion, especially a singles champion. Ogawa threw down his championship belt at the focused looking Kongoh, as if to say "You want them? Come and take them. The only way you are getting them is if I give them to you." 

Although this didn't get as out of control as many Noah junior matches are apt to be, especially when you have more than two in the ring at the same time, the ref still had trouble keeping control as melee brawls kept breaking out. Tadasuke loved it, especially when he got to take down STINGER with one of his lariats, he also seems to have come up with a nasty move which involved stretching HAYATA'S leg out and then twisting it. STINGER worked well together (without unwanted interruption) with Susumu working very well with Ogawa. 

Haoh discovered that using speed is one thing against Ogawa, but he has something for that i.e. wrenching your arm out of your socket, the abuse of his arm was something that HAYATA continued, but perhaps Nioh should not have been neglected for Haoh, as during the light speed reversals between HAYATA and Nioh, it was Nioh who picked up the second pin on him in a row.

WINNER: Nioh with the reverse of the Cross Fix on HAYATA (13 minutes, 56 seconds)

STINGER started protesting that it was two, but both Nioh and the ref agreed it was three, as did the gesticulating Tadasuke. 

MATCH FIVE
GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship
Daisuke Harada (c) vs Hajime Ohara

Hajime Ohara came to the ring first as the challenger, accompanied by YO-HEY and Seiki Yoshioka. YO-HEY started dancing, and Yoshioka gave him the same look that HAYATA used to. Daisuke Harada was accompanied by Atsushi Kotoge. 

There was a typically technical lock up to start, which ended with the applause of the crowd, and their staring at each other from across the ring. Harada had called Ohara his "rival" and made the statement that no one at all could drain your strength in a match like Ohara could. For good reason too, Harada had to find ways out of Ohara's complicated lock ups, at one time physically pulling his arms apart when he attempted to lock in either the Mui Bien or the Tres Fleur. Harada even repeated the spot where he leapfrogged the ref to dive on Ohara who was outside the ring. Harada had been told repeatedly not to do this, but you know, this is the Noah Juniors. 

As well as submission moves, there were other ways to wear each other down, Harada using those sudden quick attacks which can be so devastating, and Ohara being very good at concealing weakness and counterattacking. Combined what they did at times, seemed to defy description. The match with all these elements entered a phase of desperation, and then it all came down to momentum.

WINNER: Daisuke Harada with the Katayama German Suplex (18 minutes, 39 seconds)

​There is no rest for a champion, someone somewhere will always be coming for the belt, and Seiki Yoshioka was not going to miss his chance, and so he made his challenge. Yoshioka challenged Harada saying he was fired up by what he had just seen, Harada accepted his challenge acknowledging how strong "your leader" had been. Match is set for 12th February at The Nippon Budokan.

MATCH SIX
New Year Tokyo Special Match
Noah (Go Shiozaki, Takashi Sugiura, Naomichi Marufuji & Kaito Kiyomiya) vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya & Manabu Soya)

Noah will be continuing these "New Year Special Matches" with the popular tag of Naomichi Marufuji and Go Shiozaki in Osaka and Yokohama. They don't get much of a chance to team together, but since neither Keiji Mutoh or other members of the M'S Alliance are in Noah at the moment, it seems to work and for Shiozaki who therefore cannot have pre-matches, it gives him something to do of significance. 

Katsuhiko Nakajima made his entry with Kongoh, lifted his hood, stared into the camera and made the "watching you" motion. Once in the ring, the green lights from the fans started waving for Kaito Kiyomiya, who came bouncing to the ring shedding white feathers everywhere. The lights were red for Naomichi Marufuji, who got into the ring and counted how many members of Kongoh there were. Takashi Sugiura appeared in a Sugiura Army\ARISTRIST hoodie, with the hood up. He looked somewhat street considering he was wearing a chrome belt and a chain. Sugi claimed that one of the referees had made him wear the hood up.
Go Shiozaki made the least dramatic entry, but it was noted that he was breathing heavily and favoring his arms as he came out. Former partner, Katsuhiko Nakajima, would attack them during the match.

You would be hard put to decide just who Kenoh hated more out of his opponents, and he himself would probably find it hard to answer, but he started the match with a brief glare off (not a stare down) with Shiozaki, who he hates just as much as the others (except for Kiyomiya who he has a complicated emotional relationship with). When Marufuji's turn came, he was in the ring with Manabu Soya (Kongoh have the powerhouses, Kitamiya and Soya, but Team Noah have two guys who can chop), who he bounced off and back into the ropes in the Kongoh corner. He decided to complain to Kenoh about him, Kenoh was naturally unsympathetic. I have no idea why he chose to go for a test of strength with Soya after that, but it wasn't just Marufuji that Soya dominated, it was all of the opposition, although Marufuji was given a nasty looking neck hold, and Kongoh beat him down. 

While Katsuhiko Nakajima might not have done anything obvious with Masa Kitamiya (although his trouble making ways were complained of by Sugiura), there were subtle signs that something was definitely brewing between them. The most obvious was when he walked to the corner, and casually held out his hand to tag in Kitamiya. Kitamiya then had the traditional shoulder tackle exchange with Sugiura. 

Go Shiozaki had stated that after Katsuhiko Nakajima had betrayed him, it would never be over between them, and in any ring he would get his revenge. Tonight they faced off in a kick and chop war, in which Nakajima kicked Shiozaki in the jaw and made a sound which bounced off probably every corner of the arena. 

No one was going to interrupt Kenoh from beating up on Kaito Kiyomiya, and he even went to use the choke on him that he had used to defend the GHC National title against him. It's a smart move by Kenoh because it takes into account their size difference, all Kenoh needs to do is jump on to Kiyomiya's back and hang on. Fortunately this time he was saved by Shiozaki (who ended up being kicked between Nakajima and Kenoh), but nothing was going to save Kiyomiya from the PFS. 

WINNER: Kenoh with the PFS on Kaito Kiyomiya (32 minutes, 15 seconds)

Nakajima did not stay with Kongoh to celebrate the win, he walked off immediately, and Kaito Kiyomiya found himself in the doghouse with his partners who left looking angry. Kenoh cut a promo, but not about Kazunari Murakami and his challenge, or even his paranoia over various things, but more about the state of emergency that had been issued, and thanking everyone for coming. Despite the threat of COVID that hangs over everything, Kenoh vowed that his dream, and that of all you assholes i.e. The Budokan was also done in an emergency, and if we all banded together, we could beat this horrible infection one by one.

Noah's next event will be on Sunday 16th January 2021 at Yokohama Radiant Halls
With thanks to: Abeshin & Metal-Noah
GIFS taken from WRESTLE UNIVERSE

​Noah's first show of 2021, was held on a rain swept night at Korakuen Hall. Fans rushed from work, and Noah announced a capacity of 680 people. Once this would be considered a disaster for Korakuen (and sadly, numbers less than this were once a fact), but people were willing to come out given the circumstances, and snapped up what seats were available. Due to Coronavirus, fans cannot cheer, so they bought with them both their signboards and colored glowsticks, green for Kaito Kiyomiya & Go Shiozaki, red for Kongoh,  and fittingly, a cold blue for Ogawa.

It is fast becoming tradition that the first show of Noah's year is always a mystery, and so we won't know the matches in advance, and today delivered some sizzling ones. The event was broadcast live on ABEMA, with the ever exuberant Kuniko Yamada on the team, who was the commentary star, wearing a beautiful, but somewhat startling Kimono, and no one else got much broadcast time. You can watch the show on ABEMA for six days after the time of writing, after that it will be put on WRESTLEUNIVERSE, which you must subscribe to. Although I was at work, I managed to watch via the ABEMA APP, by putting my phone on my desk and hiding it behind my pen holder and mug. It was like trying to sneak watch it at the Mad Hatter's Party as I was watching it through a  teacup handle. 
Then Atsushi Kotoge and YO-HEY appeared and the image was complete. 

MATCH ONE
Momo No Seishun (Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge & Junta Miyawaki) & Yasutaka Yano vs FULL THROTTLE (Hajime Ohara, YO-HEY & Seiki Yoshioka) & Kai Fujimura

FULL THROTTLE made a typically chaotic entry, YO-HEY looked like he was about to slip over and then Kai Fujimura came barging past him to get to the ring, much to YO-HEY'S surprise. Hajime Ohara smiled, and Seiki Yoshioka almost burst into laughter. Then, as YO-HEY mimed singing along to Momo No Seishun's music, (and Junta Miyawaki was the only young boy who did not run to the ring), fans were treated to a pre-match between Daisuke Harada and Hajime Ohara. Title matches, pre-matches, league matches, simple tag matches; Hajime Ohara vs Daisuke Harada never fails to disappoint. Throughout their interactions today, which was a masterpiece in technical wrestling, Harada had his shark face on, with that eerie glow on his face. 

​It was a suitably chaotic junior beginning, with the two young boys, Yasutaka Yano and Kai Fujimura, starting off. Harada could be seen on the apron instructing Yano. Away from his rivalry with Daisuke Harada, there seems to be a definite rivalry building between Yano and Ohara, especially as Yano kept kicking out of repeated pins, and Ohara had to ask the ref what was going on. If Harada had Yano, then Ohara had Fujimura, who he put a protective arm around during the FULL THROTTLE tandem move.  However, no amount of advice from Harada, could prevent Yano from being chopped by YO-HEY, and while he might have the best chops and the best dropkicks in the division, Junta Miyawaki took out the master repeatedly with his own. In many ways, the three juniors in this match were on par with their seniors, which is especially promising when you consider that Yasutaka Yano has not yet celebrated six months. 

WINNER: Daisuke Harada with the Diving Elbow Drop on Kai Fujimura (9 minutes, 48 seconds)

Daisuke Harada addressed the crowd, thanking them for coming out today and giving a message of hope and support in the face of the growing Coronavirus issue. That day the Tokyo City Council had announced all restaurants, Izakaya, snacks, bars and Cafes, must shut by 8pm. Sporting events were okay. For now. 

Unlike FULL THROTTLE, who left supporting Kai Fujimura and in almost a huddle, there was a sense of cold distance between Momo No Seishun. Kotoge and Harada stood far away from each other, with Junta and Yasutaka Yano, almost as the buffers. Never a close team, this was very marked. 

MATCH TWO
Yoshiki Inamura & Daiki Inaba vs Kongoh (Tadasuke & Manabu Soya)

Tadasuke is a junior heavyweight, who can wrestle as a heavyweight, and isn't scared to go toe to toe with them, even when staring down the larger ones like Yoshiki Inamura, plus he can pull off heavyweight moves (such as the Kodo Fuyuki lariat), while maintaining a junior move set. Tadasuke has always had this potential when it comes to fighting heavyweights, but I don't think that until the Kongoh produce that both he and Noah properly realized this. Tadasuke isn't also scared of the camera, and he took advantage of the static ring one to adjust his glasses. The referee was not as enamored of his Aviator shades as he was, and spent a few seconds telling Tadasuke that he had to take them off. 

The match started with Tadasuke (slightly crazy grin on his face) offering Daiki Inaba a handshake. Inaba for some reason trusted Tadasuke, but looked like he was going to go for a slap of the hands. Tadasuke was prepared for all eventualities, and attacked him after pulling his hand away at the last moment. 

Yoshiki Inamura and Manabu Soya had a shoulder tackle competition, which involved both of them screaming at each other, having a brief muscular pose down when neither succeeded and then carrying on, which made the camera in the corner shake dangerously. 

WINNER: Daiki Inaba with the DDD on Tadasuke (8 minutes, 4 seconds)

Looking thoughtful, Manabu Soya watched his old W-1 rival, Daiki Inaba leave before he turned back to the squished Tadasuke, and helped him from the ring. 

MATCH THREE
Kazuyuki Fujita vs Masao Inoue

Prior to the match Naomichi Marufuji had joked that he hoped the mystery card bought him a singles match with Masao Inoue. Takashi Sugiura said that he wanted a singles match. Marufuji said that they should both gang up on him. When it came to the match it wasn't Marufuji or Sugiura who came out of the curtain. 
Masao Inoue froze in terror when he heard the theme music of Kazuyuki Fujita (although somewhere Sugiura, Marufuji and most likely Akitoshi Saito, where laughing). The crowd certainly were. 

So Fujita got in the ring, took off his t-shirt, the bell rang, Inoue charged at him, Fujita got him a headlock and Inoue tapped out. Fujita didn't even break a sweat.

WINNER: Kazuyuki Fujita. Front neck lock. 6 seconds. 

MATCH FOUR
Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Shiro Koshinaka & Akitoshi Saito

This was the first teaming between Mohammed Yone and Shuhei Taniguchi, and sparks flew between them and their opponents, particularly between them and Akitoshi Saito. Saito (unsurprisingly) is more productive when away from Masao Inoue, and Shiro Koshinaka is a good partner for him. Saito did hint backstage that they would be teaming together more in the future.   

Shuhei Taniguchi was in monster mode, ever since the bell rang, roaring loudly, with Koshinaka (enraged by Disco Dancing), charging Yone. Yone and Taniguchi also unveiled their tandem move, which involves Yone throwing punches, while Taniguchi does his headbutt to the chest. 

Winner: Shiro Koshinaka with the Running Suikurudesu on Shuhei Taniguchi (8 minutes, 35 seconds)

Akitoshi Saito was not done, beating up on Taniguchi and Yone after the match. Yone threw himself protectively over Taniguchi, and Saito left shouting loudly. 

MATCH FIVE
Osamu Nishimura vs Kinya Okada

While perhaps having missed the Showa era by two years (it ended in 1989, and he debuted in 1991), Osamu Nishimura put on a somewhat old fashioned style match with Kinya Okada, who is known for wrestling what has been called a "Showa Era style". 
Okada (who hadn't even been born by the time Nakanishi debuted), gave good offence and defense against the veteran who had been wrestling for longer than Okada had been on earth. A couple of times, Okada managed to knock Nishimura out of the ring, and Nishimura knew that further measures were needed against this young man who was chewing on the bit between his teeth. Naturally, the victory belonged to the veteran, but Okada had given them both a match to be proud of.

WINNER: Osamu Nishimura with The Grand Cobra Twist (4 minutes, 36 seconds)

MATCH SIX
STINGER (HAYATA & Susumu) vs Kongoh (Haoh & Nioh)

Although they were still the same dour Spartan Kongoh, a new unity seems to have sprung up between Haoh and Nioh. They seemed closer now that they had the fight at the Kongoh produce out of their system. They weren't the only people to find a new unity, HAYATA and Susumu teamed together for the first time in four years, and HAYATA being HAYATA, came out with hood up, mask on and staring at the floor. He pulled his hood even more down over his face as he approached the camera. I get the impression that HAYATA and Susumu are going to team more together, after all, there are a lot of trainees going to be joining the dojo this year, and Yoshinari Ogawa needs to be able to teach. 

Typically fast paced junior match, HAYATA enjoying his moments of sadism, such as driving his boot into Haoh's face. Unlike his interrupted showing in Nagaoya, Susumu was given time to shine, and he is a thousand times better without the mask. Nioh won by using HAYATA'S momentum against him to get the win.

WINNER: Nioh pinned HAYATA (7 minutes, 44 seconds)

​Shrieking in the style of Kenoh, Nioh challenged STINGER (HAYATA & Yoshinari Ogawa for the titles). Having jettisoned YO-HEY last year, Ogawa not in the match, and Susumu slightly standing in his way so he couldn't leave and imperceptibly nodding towards the ring, it was up to quiet shy HAYATA to speak as there was no one else to do it. HAYATA deviated from the norm when (somewhat sulkily)  he said three words, "Next...100 Wrestlers" (what he means would be translated into "Uniform wrestlers", as what he means is that Haoh and Nioh are as featureless and as different than, for example, a pack of pens or a pile of boxes which look all the same and do the same thing without any redeeming features.) Nioh said that HAYATA was going to pay for that remark. Title match has been set for 16th January in Yokohama. 

MATCH SEVEN
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura, Kazushi Sakuraba & Kazunari Murakami) vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Masa Kitamiya)

If the Noah referees thought they had problems with Tadasuke refusing to remove his glasses, a mass junior brawl, or Yoshinari Ogawa's tactics, then they found that they would probably have willingly exchanged Murakami for them. Right from the start, Murakami started being difficult about being checked by the ref. He would remain arguing with them throughout the match. He should have followed the advice of Takashi Sugiura though when it came to Kenoh, as while he and Kenoh got into a screaming match, Sugi knows better how to deal with him and just ignored him when he was yelled at. Murakami, however, wanted a reaction from Kenoh and wound him up by kicking his head, they then had a slap exchange in an MMA style. 

Katsuhiko Nakajima was very pleased to see Murakami. A big grin spread over his face while he slammed Murakami's head into the turnbuckle when he noticed the static camera watching him. Nakajima is as bigger camera hog as Tadasuke. The former AGGRESSION looked to be slowly working together again, with Kitamiya coming in to save Nakajima at one point. 

Masa Kitamiya and Takashi Sugiura had one of their trademark shoulder tackle challenges, but there was a twist, as Sugi nipped it in the bud by using a knee on Kitamiya, and then busting him open with headbutts. The Sugiura Army worked on the wounds, with Kazushi Sakuraba repeatedly busted for using a closed fist, so he pretended to use slaps, and went back to using closed fists away from the referee. 

WINNER: Referee stopped the match after 17 minutes and 10 seconds, as Kazunari Murakami was choking Kenoh out. Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba had to pull him off of him. 

Katsuhiko Nakajima stared at Kazunari Murakami, before bending over Kenoh, while in the background, Kitamiya and Sakuraba butted heads. Backstage, Murakami challenged Kenoh for the GHC National. Kenoh grumbled that no one had consulted him, but he wasn't going to back away, and the match has been set for the 23rd January in Yokohama. 

MATCH 8
Yoshinari Ogawa vs Kotaro Suzuki

No lock ups, no handshakes, no scoping each other out, Kotaro Suzuki attacked Yoshinari Ogawa right away, and it was on in a bitter technical match, which had a strong element of a wild brawl. Naturally, NOSAWA Rongai with his masked friend, "Part Time Guy", was at ringside, and naturally as Noah law dictates that when you have more than two Noah juniors in any one place, brawls have to break out, the seconds outside the ring (NOSAWA, "Part Time Guy", HAYATA & Susumu), started fighting. Inside the ring, Ogawa was not above using young Yasutaka Yano as a human shield, and then he threw him aside on to NOSAWA and friend. 

The brawls between the juniors at ringside generally diffused, and this in itself would have been okay, as it didn't affect the action in the ring. That was until NOSAWA pulled the referee out of the ring, and then he got Kotaro Suzuki disqualified, as he decided to get in the ring, attack Ogawa and throw the ref out. I think fans would have preferred to see Ogawa and Kotaro go full time. 

WINNER: Kotaro Suzuki thanks to NOSAWA (7 minutes, 33 seconds)

​With the fights after the match going on outside and inside the ring, "Part Time Guy" found himself isolated from Kotaro and NOSAWA, who had been knocked down. Susumu and HAYATA held his arms, as Ogawa ripped the mask off of him. The man under the mask, always bundled up in a black hoodie or coat and who never spoke, turned out to be Hajime Ohara's old friend of all people, Ikuto Hidaka. Hidaka said later on the mic (before even more fights broke out), that he was not going to be a "part time guy" anymore, he was waging war on ALL the Noah juniors. 

MATCH NINE
Go Shiozaki, Hiroshi Hase & Kaito Kiyomiya vs The M's Alliance (Naomichi Marufuji, Keiji Mutoh & Masato Tanaka)

Keiji Mutoh slightly played the old man, which started with his leaning on the shoulder of Referee Shu Nishinaga to get into the ring. I get the impression that with that, and how Mutoh was acting during the match, the pretense that he is just an old man is to lure Go Shiozaki in to a sense of false security and confidence. During the match, Mutoh differed from Shiozaki's other title challengers in that he wasn't interested in attacking his arms, he went for his legs (he also did the same to Kaito Kiyomiya), but it's not Kiyomiya who he is challenging, and this match turned into their one and only pre-match. 

Both teams introduced their newest member, Kuniko screamed as old friend Hiroshi Hase came out for Go Shiozai's team introduced Hiroshi Hase (an old friend of Kuniko Yamada, at the end of the match they shared a first bump, and Hase blew a kiss)...but The M'S Alliance introduced someone very special and whom we last saw in Noah team with old friend, and fellow Dangan Yankee (and "two tanned old Dads"), Takashi Sugiura; it was Masato Tanaka. Watching the energetic exchanges between Tanaka and Hase, was like watching two old sinew's stretched taut. Mutoh pit Marufuji against Hase, Hase wrestled him to the mat in a very older style, and when he wasn't wrestling him, he knocked him down easily. It will be good to see if Kinya Okada ever gets a look in here. 

Kaito Kiyomiya, young and idealistic and with the capacity to seek out and enjoy experiences that youth brings, bounced into the ring against Masato Tanaka. The last time they met was in 2018, and this was a very different Kaito Kiyomiya, although I don't think that despite their past three matches (never had a singles), this was a very different and far more confident Kaito Kiyomiya than then. Kiyomiya also had the audacity to try and knock his seniors off of the apron, Marufuji ducked, held on and waved him away. The second time, he shook his head at him. Kiyomiya was punished for this disrespect by a Marufuji high knee, which almost knocked Kiyomiya out. Out of everyone, it was Shiozaki who was the most changed for Marufuji, after Shiozaki bested him in a chop war (by no selling him, which is something people rarely do), it was rapidly dawning on Marufuji that this was not the Shiozaki who could never beat him in a singles match, the times that Shiozaki had beaten had not just been a case of Shiozaki getting lucky. He realized that although Shiozaki has always been tough, the title matches in the run he was meant to have, has made him grow even tougher. 

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the Moonsault Press on Keiji Mutoh (22 minutes, 36 seconds)

Go Shiozaki said somewhat sternly on social media, that next time he expects more of Keiji Mutoh. However, in the ring he was all smiles and giggles, especially with Kiyomiya who was hovering near him. Shiozaki spoke on the microphone and said he would raise Noah even more in 2021, by defeating Keiji Mutoh at The Nippon Budokan. "I AM NOAH! WE ARE NOAH!". 
Kaito Kiyomiya, the sweet child of summer, promised to bring smiles to everyone with professional wrestling. 

Naomichi Marufuji also had something to say, but he said it backstage. He asked Jun Akiyama to team with him at The Nippon Budokan. Akiyama had made Marufuji a promise when he left Noah, that he would wait for him "in any ring". Akiyama had been at "Flight", he and Marufuji had faced each other at "Champions Carnival 2018", but they hadn't yet teamed together. Akiyama is yet to give a sensible answer, but he has joked that if Marufuji wants to team with him, he will do it on one condition, that they face Masao Inoue. 

Noah will be back at Korakuen Hall, on Sunday January 10th 2020

With thanks to: Metal-Noah
GIFS taken from ABEMA

Noah held their last event of 2020 at Korakuen Hall today. It felt more like a Noah show than a produce, but I think that was because you had things happen that you wouldn't traditionally have at a produce, which Mitsuharu Misawa had created to allow his juniors experience in booking and producing their own shows. Throughout out the event Noah had various members of the roster appear on commentary, NOSAWA Rongai appeared first, then Shuhei Taniguchi, Atsushi Kotoge (who somehow managed to sit still) and Kaito Kiyomiya took the main event duties. 

Because December is the month when Takashi Sugiura celebrates twenty years in wrestling (his anniversary was on the 23rd), the lobby was full of flowers, backstage Go Shiozaki (as Chairman of the Noah Wrestlers Association), presented Sugi with a caricature of himself with his two dogs. In the ring, as there was no Yoshinari Ogawa today and therefore no classes, so Kazuyuki Fujita and Hideki Suzuki took the opportunity to do some sparring together.   

The event was broadcast on ABEMA, however, it is not available to view now. At the time of broadcast unless you bought the PPV (which is summarized below), you could only view the first hour. However, thanks to fans at the venue (mentioned below), Noah and Noah fans clipping moments and uploading them, you did get the feeling that you were watching live. Hopefully it should be on WRESTLEUNIVERSE in the New Year.  

MATCH ONE
Yasutaka Yano vs Kai Fujimura

Very much a young boy match, which isn't surprising as Yano only debuted in October, with Fujimura a year and five months ago. 

WINNER: Kai Fujimura with The Boston Crab (6 minutes, 18 seconds)

MATCH TWO
Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi vs The Anti Wrestlers Alliance (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue)

Masao Inoue came limping to the ring with a blackened chest, thanks to the "Christmas Present" from Naomichi Marufuji and Go Shiozaki. Mohammed Yone and Shuhei Taniguchi were waiting to give him their New Years gift, which was again full of chops and going to stop Masao Inoue from being able to take a bath. Yone was a little kinder though, stroking Inoue's chest before chopping him.

WINNER: Mohammed Yone with the Kinniku Meat Buster on Masao Inoue (13 minutes)

After the match, Mohammed Yone, who says he has been looking for a partner for a while, and who hasn't really done anything since Quiet Storm left Noah in early 2020, asked Shuhei Taniguchi, (who has been somewhat shuffled out of teaming with Kaito Kiyomiya due to Daiki Inaba and Yoshiki Inamura), to team with him, saying "Tani, this year may be over, but lets team together next year!". Taniguchi gave Yone his answer. By loudly screaming into the microphone, "let's do it!!" 

MATCH THREE
Momo No Seishun (Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge & Junta Miyawaki) vs FULL THROTTLE (Hajime Ohara, Seiki Yoshioka & YO-HEY)

"The old and new leader showdown"

If there is one thing that Noah fans love, then its the rare occasions that we get to see Hajime Ohara vs Daisuke Harada, and we are about to get much more of that. The matches between them are always brilliant and highly anticipated, and they were about to give us the best New Year's gift, ever. Elsewhere in this match, it was said that although he lost, this was a real breakout for Junta Miyawaki who broke out of his shell in a big way. 

WINNER: Hajime Ohara with the Tres Fleur on Junta Miyawaki (15 minutes, 31 seconds)

Then it happened, Hajime Ohara got on the microphone as Daisuke Harada was leaving the ring, and as everyone either at Korakuen Hall, watching at home, or following on Twitter, let out a collective scream either internal or external, when Ohara said, "Harada, please wait! Fight with me, lets fight for Noah Juniors. Accept my challenge!" 
Harada said that he had been waiting for Ohara to put his name forward, and that he wanted him to show him his strength, not the strength of his support. Accepting his challenge, Harada warned that he would defeat him and defend the title. 
This much anticipated title match between two wrestlers that Noah only ever bring out very rarely, will take place on the 10th January at Korakuen Hall. 

MATCH FOUR
Naomichi Marufuji & Kinya Okada vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Daiki Inaba

The big story of this match was the budding rivalry between Naomichi Marufuji and Daiki Inaba, which came full bloom today. Elsewhere, Kaito Kiyomiya started wrestling what one fan called, "Misawa Style". 

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Stretch Plum Facelock on Kinya Okada (17 minutes, 42 seconds)

A brawl happened outside the ring between Daiki Inaba (who also had a "Christmas Present" in the form of a bright red chest) and Naomichi Marufuji, at one point Inaba punched him half way across the floor. Backstage, Inaba said that he wasn't running off and he wasn't backing down. Marufuji said he was happy to hear he wasn't running off, and he liked the face that Inaba was pulling when he attacked him. This was not over. 

MATCH FIVE
The Sugiura Army (Kazuyuki Fujita & Hideki Suzuki) vs Go Shiozaki & Yoshiki Inamura

Ten months after their epic thirty minute title match stare down, Go Shiozaki and Kazuyuki Fujita met in the ring again. They parodied that moment by staring at each other again, only to have it broken up by Hideki Suzuki after about three minutes. The rivalry between them went on throughout the match, and there was a square up afterwards indicating that they are going to clash again at some point. Fans want to see them have a singles match with an audience this time, this seems likely given Fujita's comments that the last time, he was the loser. 

While Shiozaki and Fujita faced off, Yoshiki Inamura (looking now much younger than he did when he had his mohawk and red costume), fought Hideki Suzuki and they had some stiff exchanges, not least the excruciating submission of Suzuki's that looked like it was going to tear Inamura's face in half.   

WINNER: Hideki Suzuki with the Double Arm Suplex on Yoshiki Inamura (18 minutes, 11 seconds)

​MATCH SIX
"SHOWDOWN" ~ Takashi Sugiura 20th anniversary match: The Sugiura Army vs Kongoh (7 vs 7 elimination match)
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura, Kazushi Sakuraba, Kendo Kashin, NOSAWA Rongai, Kaz Hayashi, Daisuke Nakamura* & Kazunari Murakami) vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya, Manabu Soya, Tadasuke, Haoh and Nioh)

"Korakuen shook"

Notes on the elimination match
~ ALL of The Sugiura Army helped hold the ropes open for Takashi Sugiura
~ Daisuke Nakamura was introduced to both Noah and The Sugiura Army. He is an MMA fighter. Tadasuke said that although he himself has no background in MMA and therefore their styles are different, he would like a singles match with him.  
~ Match started with something akin to the Noah Juniors, with a mass brawl, which gave the main event a feeling of chaos. Kenoh making a beeline for Takashi Sugiura. When order was restored, The Sugiura Army threw Kendo Kashin in. Kashin didn't appreciate this, and left soon after he was eliminated. He would show up, however, for the Sugiura Army aftershow party. 
~ Katsuhiko Nakajima really stuck it to Kazunari Murakami, biggest grin ever on his face as he did the "Shutter Chance". 
~ Kenoh eliminated Murakami in typically violent fashion following a fight on the ring apron. 
~ Masa Kitamiya was bust open by a Takashi Sugiura headbutt

ELIMINATION LIST
Kazushi Sakuraba eliminated Haoh (Powerplant, 10 minutes 58 seconds)
Daisuke Nakamura eliminated Tadasuke (Arm Cross, 12 minutes 6 seconds)
Manabu Soya eliminated Daisuke Nakamura (Boston Crab into pin, 13 minutes 10 seconds)
Katsuhiko Nakajima eliminated Kazunari Murakami (Over the top rope, 16 minutes 22 seconds)
Kenoh eliminated Kendo Kashin (Over the top rope, 19 minutes 5 seconds)
Nioh eliminated Kaz Hayashi (Over the top rope, 21 minutes 30 seconds)
Kazushi Sakuraba eliminated Nioh (Full Nelson Hold, 22 minutes 57 seconds)
Kazushi Sakuraba eliminated Kenoh (Over the top rope, 26 minutes 1 second)
Masa Kitamiya eliminated Kazushi Sakuraba (Senton, 30 minutes 40 seconds)
Katsuhiko Nakajima and NOSAWA Rongai eliminated each other (Over the top rope, 34 minutes 50 seconds)
Takashi Sugiura eliminated Manabu Soya (Frankensteiner, 36 minutes, 31 seconds) 
WINNER: Takashi Sugiura with the Olympic Slam on Masa Kitamiya (45 minutes, 10 seconds)

After the match, Takashi Sugiura led the crowd in applauding the fight that Masa Kitamiya had put up. He then got on the microphone, and told all The Sugiura Army to gather round. However, Kendo Kashin wasn't there. I am unsure of what he said, but presumably he thanked everyone for coming, spoke about Noah in 2021 and addressed The Sugiura Army. 

After being presented with flowers backstage, and speaking to the press, it was time for The Sugiura Army PPV. Kuniko Yamada presided over the party, in which everyone ate food, drunk alcohol (Sakuraba apparently turned up with Tequila, or else he was looking for it), and due to COVID, sat divided by plastic screens. Although he is no longer a member of The Sugiura Army, Kinya Okada was invited (and he tore into a hunk of meat). Hajime Ohara was not invited. I get the feeling he probably would not have approved of drinking. 

Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba got the party started by doing the traditional anniversary breaking of the Sake barrel. It may be best that Tadasuke is not a member, and although Sugi got progressively more drunk, he didn't reach Tadasuke levels (and probably much to the relief of various Noah executives, clothes stayed on). Daisuke Nakamura said he had cycled to Korakuen Hall, lets hope he had a safe journey home. 

Sugi was presented with various gifts; NOSAWA presented him with two big bags of Royal Canin dog food, which was bought with the proceeds of the PPV, and from himself he gave gift certificates. Kazuyuki Fujita gave Sugiura a New Japan "Team Japan" jersey. 
Moving on. 

Kendo Kashin slunk back in, perhaps he had been to a local store because he had bought beer with him. He failed to enter into the party spirit, and remained somewhat a grouch in the corner. This didn't get any better when putting on their big bowties (of Mohammed Yone proportions), Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba, got up to do their comedy skit which took place in the style of two old entertainers with an old fashioned microphone in the middle of them. Now, I don't know if Kashin was the subject of it, or else he was mentioned in it, but he apparently didn't find it funny. I can imagine that Kenoh was highly unamused by the this entire thing too.    

Noah will be back in 2021 on Monday, January 4th with "NEW SUNRISE 2021"

With thanks to: Metal Noah, Naoki_Slam, Gong EX, Oshima-san, Kei
Image credits: PKDX
GIF'S taken from Noah GHC ​

Kongoh held their third produce (and second in six months, the last being in July 2020)  at Korakuen Hall today. Noah streamed the event live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE (the event will still be there when you click on the link, but you must be a subscriber to view). Kenoh's erstwhile enemies (and the subject of his paranoia as Kenoh has only ever trusted one company president, the much put upon Akira Taue), LIDET sent bright red flowers. Kenoh only had kind words and gratitude to them, however. 

Naomichi Marufuji decided to wind up Kenoh prior to the produce by saying  that it's been a long time since Jinsei Shinzaki called him to say that he was going to entrust him with Kenoh. Kenoh naturally was not amused, basically saying that if Marufuji wasn't so fucking irritating, then it would be a sign he, Noah's Vice President, was growing up. Marufuji gave no further signs of this, saying he had color co-ordinated his clothes as part red and part black for the produce. 

I am unsure of the exact turn out today, but despite initial fears that it looked empty, I think Noah managed a generally good one. I don't blame people for not wanting to go out and preferring the safety of watching the produce from home, as Tokyo today announced a record high of 949 new Coronavirus cases. 

MATCH ONE
Junta Miyawaki vs Yasutaka Yano

Yasutaka Yano keeps looking more and more muscular every time he appears, today we could see the beginning of some serious looking abs. Good technical wrestling which drew applause from the crowd, Yoshinari Ogawa has certainly taught them well, and because of this and due to Yano's advanced skills, the match felt like it went longer than it did. However, he is a rookie still and as the ending showed, he still has little in the way of resilience to pain, although he did keep kicking out which drove Miyawaki into a rare fury (rare I guess because he's usually in matches against seniors, and he wouldn't dare show that). 

WINNER: Junta Miyawaki with the Kimura Lock (7 minutes, 39 seconds)

​MATCH TWO
Manabu Soya vs Tadasuke

Kenoh had put this match together as knew while Manabu Soya is a powerful heavyweight, Tadasuke is (and the commentators also mentioned this) the "power fighter" of the juniors. He is probably someone that NOSAWA Rongai would class as a "mid-heavyweight". I think Tadasuke loved this match, juniors cannot often match his strength, so this gave him a chance to test out his full capability. He was even able to lift and slam Soya, which drew a gasp from the crowd, who followed this up with an applause.

The first lock up (after Tadasuke had scoped out Soya by walking around the ring), saw Tadasuke forced to the ropes, but Soya had a hard time in getting him there. Tadasuke might not have been able to force Soya back, but he was certainly like a rock. The shoulder tackles proved this. However, it is Soya who is the heavyweight, and he began to wear him down with no sells of his chops (his own felled Tadasuke in one) and other heavyweight moves, Tadasuke took advantage of the momentum at point to propel Soya out of the ring. Crazy Tadasuke then appeared, and was taken out with a spear, but he would appear once more with one of his massive lariats, but the match would ultimately belong to Soya. 

WINNER: Manabu Soya with the Ballistic (11 minutes, 31 seconds)

There were no hard feelings as they shared a handshake after the match, with Tadasuke leaving with still a slightly crazy look on his face. 

MATCH THREE
Go Shiozaki & Naomichi Marufuji vs The Anti Wrestlers Alliance (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue)

Naomichi Marufuji had told Masao Inoue prior to the match, that he and Go Shiozaki had a Christmas present for him. They were going to give him a nice red chest. Inoue said that was something he neither wanted or needed. Marufuji naturally took no notice as he came bouncing into the ring, and started looking menacingly at Inoue. 
Go Shiozaki, who is looking a lot more healthier since he has had time to rest at the end of the year, came out to fans waving green glow sticks. He is still taped though. Everyone in the match, except for Masao Inoue, has challenged him for the GHC Heavyweight that year, and that was probably why at first he was a little hesitant to shake hands with Marufuji, but Marufuji insisted and as ever, got his own way. 

Masao Inoue's "Gift" was actually started by his fair weather tag partner, Akitoshi Saito, tagging him in by a chop. Marufuji made lunging movements at Inoue to scare him as he climbed through the ropes, and then he tagged in Shiozaki. Shiozaki limbered up (much to Inoue's horror) by blowing on his hands. Inoue was determined not to be chopped and kept ducking Shiozaki, but it did no good. Akitoshi Saito was very helpful, distracting the ref and at one point even gripping him so he couldn't turn around, while both Marufuji and Shiozaki took turns in pinning Inoue's arms back so the other could chop him. If you listened very carefully, you could probably hear Takashi Sugiura laughing. Inoue tried pleading with them, but it did no good. Inoue also got the machine gun chops, his countering them with lariats, meant he took about eighteen in total. Chopping Saito wasn't as easy as he kept blocking Marufuji, who in the end hook kicked him.

​The match ended in typical Inoue style, with Saito getting a taste of the Inoue medicine. Outside the ring, as Shiozaki did a moonsault on Inoue, Marufuji somehow managed to trap part of Saito's pants under the steel barrier. To get out of this, Saito had to take his pants off. 

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the Moonsault on Masao Inoue (16 minutes, 28 seconds)

Saito held them up to the ref, and yelled as if to say "Look what he has done!". Inside the ring, Shiozaki hauled Inoue to his feet by his ears. Inoue thought he was going to chop him, but he only wanted to shake hands. Then Marufuji slid into the ring, Inoue looked like he was going to bolt, but he too only wanted a handshake. Outside the ring, Inoue's torments were hardly over, as Saito knocked Inoue down and...

​MATCH FOUR
Katsuhiko Nakajima & Masa Kitamiya vs Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada

The much younger team of Yoshiki Inamura and Kinya Okada gave as good as they got, and they got good. Kenoh had intended this to be a dojo vs dojo match as both Katsuhiko Nakajima and Masa Kitamiya had trained in the Kensuke Office\Diamond Ring dojo and with Inamura and Okada being Noah born, and both dojo's being located in Saitama, but it was more like a master vs pupil match with Inamura and Okada being trained by Kitamiya (although the focus was on Inamura) and Okada being trained in kick techniques by Nakajima. 
For the fans, this was a chance to see the reunited AGGRESSION, but they didn't really give any sign of this until the end when they were in the ring along together, and they did their elbow bump. Events transpired, however, to prevent anything further, but despite their somewhat indifferent entry with Kitamiya striding ahead and looking a bit uncomfortable, this was perhaps a sign. 

Inamura and Kitamiya had a complete "Hoss Fight" to the delight of the fans, with Inamura shoving Nakajima down when his opponents tried to double team him, and expelling Kitamiya with a shoulder tackle. Despite this, Nakajima spent most of the match looking like a wolf who spies a lone bison to rip apart. 
As mentioned above, Nakajima had been the one who taught Okada how to kick, and now he had the chance to assess him one to one and see how he was doing. They had a kick war, with Okada managing to stand up to him, but Nakajima is the master. Okada did manage to knock him down to a loud applause from the crowd. 

WINNER: Masa Kitamiya with the Saito Suplex on Kinya Okada (16 minutes, 20 seconds)

Kitamiya threw Okada out of the ring, which left him alone with Nakajima. 
Fans wondered if this was the moment, the moment when THE AGGRESSION would reunite? 
NOSAWA Rongai appeared to change this into a completely different direction, and he wasn't alone, he had a tall slender man with him. Kazunari Marukami. Marukami and NOSAWA climbed up on the apron, as Nakajima smirked at Marukami. NOSAWA announced he had decided to announce the mystery member of The Sugiura Army to be introduced at their box office here. Nakajima goaded Marukami to get in the ring, he almost did, but was stopped by NOSAWA. 

There is history between Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya and Kazunari Marukami in Diamond Ring\Kensuke Office, and Kazunari Marukami and Noah. The most strong history, however, is with Nakajima. The two have never had a singles match (unlike Marukami and Kitamiya, in which Kitamiya lost), but rather they had a series of tag matches against each other in which Marukami only ever won once. Marukami competed sporadically in Noah between 2006 and 2010 (he had eight matches), which included a GHC Heavyweight tag title challenge, and single matches with both Naomichi Marufuji and Mitsuharu Misawa. Fans are saying this is his return to wrestling following a knee injury. 

MATCH FOUR
Haoh vs Nioh

Kenoh had warned them both at Noah's last proper event of the year in Nagoya, that he would be watching their match and they had both better stand out. The bitter slaps they exchanged backstage then, were just as bitter at the start of the match. Never a close tag team (not in the sense that YO-HEY & HAYATA were, or how AXIZ had been, or even the somewhat distant Momo No Seishun), this match erupted as the rivalry and frustration between them spilled out. Kenoh had intended them to fight each other for those reasons, but it is going to make things difficult for all, especially since this match seemingly resolved very little. Kenoh's meddling did the trick however, and the match was pretty brutal as they tried to destroy each other, with the referee finding he had to do multiple concussion tests on both of them, plus the check on Haoh when he had a coughing fit thanks to a rope kick to his throat by Nioh, and Nioh almost being knocked out when the back of his head slammed into the bottom of the steel barriers. There was also a vicious apron spot, which caused Haoh to genuinely scream.

As the match grew steadily more desperate they grew even more savage, what more could they do to win this? No one wanted to go full time. The Trans Rave did not work, the Firebird Splash did not work, there were visible finger marks from slaps coming up as welts on Nioh's neck. Nioh having the advantage in both weight and size was the one who picked up the win, leaving Haoh lying groggy and spread-out on the mat. 

WINNER: Nioh with the Michioku Driver β (17 minutes, 57 seconds)  

I thought Haoh might have been concussed, but he was just very groggy. Nioh pulled him to his feet, but Haoh slapped him. Nioh, shook his hand forcibally before slapping him back (either in a way of saying "We know this isn't over" or "let it go, it's over") before storming off. 

Fan opinion has it that Nioh is now ready for a singles belt. 

MATCH FIVE
Kenoh & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Daiki Inaba

This has been Kenoh's first time teaming with his teacher, so naturally he was on his very best behaviour; no angry swearing (at least at the beginning) and squaring up to Kaito Kiyomiya. I think Kenoh just wanted to show Shinzaki how far he had come, and happily he had gotten to see him this time with a belt, something he has not been able to do so far with the GHC Heavyweight.  
 
The match was started by the young Kaito Kiyomiya (for whom the fans bought the green glowsticks out for) and Jinsei Shinzaki. Shinzaki and Kiyomiya had a technical showdown, Kiyomiya was able to reverse the veterans moves, but as ever, the veteran found a way out. Kiyomiya loved the experience, even by taking the prayer rope walk. It has gone unmentioned, but this is also the first time that Jinsei Shinzaki and Daiki Inaba have met in the ring, as well as the first time between himself and Kiyomiya. Inaba used some inventive submissions on Kenoh, this was followed up by a giant dropkick from Kiyomiya. 

Inaba and Kiyomiya had a different atmosphere than Kiyomiya and Inamura. With Kiyomiya and Inamura you had a sense of a more younger (and more hungry) team, plus there is a sense of togetherness as both are Noah born, with Inaba it somehow seems a team put together to learn from each other, not really to progress or chalk up wins. As for Shinzaki and Kenoh, Kenoh was seen to take the backseat somewhat letting his teacher control the match and give him directions, with Shinzaki wrestling a more older style, which is always welcome in Noah who pride themselves on their descent from Giant Baba. Shinzaki, however, was not trained by Baba, his training came from New Japan, and therefore through Antonio Inoki, the other Rikidozan student. Keiji Mutoh described the differences as,  "always aggressive Inoki and always passive Baba".  

WINNER: Kenoh with PFS on Daiki Inaba (21 minutes, 38 seconds)

Tadasuke and Manabu Soya had accompanied Kenoh at the start, but all of Kongoh had come out by the end, and everyone gathered in the ring as Kenoh spoke on the microphone in the usual loud and aggressive way. Kenoh thanked everyone for coming, thanked his teacher for coming, and then handed the microphone to Shinzaki, saying that he knew people wanted to hear from him. Shinzaki thanked Kenoh, and talked of his sense of their both coming from Michinoku Pro and their shared hometown of Tokushima (plus a shared love of Ramen and the sharing of many dishes). Kenoh was overcome somewhat, and as Nakajima lurked in the corner, Kenoh talked about following your dreams to the end, like his of going to the Budokan. Finishing with a loud request for everyone to watch and follow Kongoh from now on. Always game to do such things (even once doing the "Team No Respect" dance), Shinzaki joined in with the Kongoh pose, although you couldn't see his clenched fist as Kitamiya was in the way.

Noah's final event of 2020 (although not a proper show) will be the Sugiura Army produce on the 29th December.

GIF'S taken from WrestleUniverse.

​Today's show in Nagoya, Noah's last proper show of 2020 (not counting the two produce shows of Kongoh and The Sugiura Army), was a mixed bag. There were some highlights and some low points, but I think we can all agree that for one group of people in particular, i.e. the Noah referees, it was a rough evening at the hands of the juniors. However, fans at the venue (some of whom traveled from Tokyo and another one who was Jurina Matsui) seemed to come away happy enough, especially praising the main event and Yoshiki Inamura in particular who was given time to shine. 

Akitoshi Saito and Nioh both celebrated anniversaries today, although Saito's was held a day early. Nioh celebrates twenty years in wrestling today, and Saito celebrates thirty on the 20th December. As a member of an anti-establishment rebel unit, Nioh could hardly be handed flowers, and Kongoh aren't the gift giving type, but the seniors presented Akitoshi Saito with a cake before the event started. 

FULL THROTTLE were on autograph duty, with Hajime Ohara overseeing things. It was not going to be the last time he was almost clucking over them as we will see. 

The event was streamed live on WRESTLEUNIVERSE. It will still be available to view by clicking on the link as these events stay up in perpetuity. However, you will need to be a service subscriber to view.

MATCH ONE
Hajime Ohara vs Yasutaka Yano

Yasutaka Yano is leaving behind that skinny phase, and is putting on some muscle tone. He did as well against Ohara as can be expected, using a series of elbow drops which bought a gasp from the commentators as these are something you don't much see now. Being the technician that he is, Ohara locked Yano into various submissions, and both the crowd and Ohara applauded him when he didn't give up. There was a slight error from Yano when he went for a diving body press from the top turnbuckle, but this is to be expected of someone of his age and experience. 

WINNER: Hajime Ohara with the Tres Fleur (6 minutes, 13 seconds)

MATCH TWO
Kongoh (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya & Manabu Soya) vs The Anti Wrestlers Alliance (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue) & Masashi Aoyagi

Masao Inoue came limping out of the curtain in his pink martial arts uniform, followed by two people in martial arts uniforms, who had done martial arts. Namely Karate, which was what Katsuhiko Nakajima was looking forward to...and of course, beating up his seniors. 

Kongoh came out to Katsuhiko Nakajima's thirst videos, with Manabu Soya looking so grim he looked like he was planning a murder. Nakajima lurked behind them, and a big grin spread over his face when Director Aoyagi (he is called this as he runs a martial arts school), pointed at him. I have no idea why Aoyagi attempted a handshake, as Nakajima just put his hands on his hips. They then fought in a Karate style way with kicks and raised fists. The start of the match, and especially the brawl, was somewhat clunky and a bit awkward with Aoyogi and Inoue not being able to match the speed of the much younger Kongoh, but the match soon settled down. The Aggression did do a few moves together, but on the whole they seemed unaware of each other. 

The old men got the upper hand, that was until Nakajima kicked Inoue in the face, and then went for the cocky pin on him, and Soya started committing old man abuse. Nakajima however wasn't finished with Inoue, kicking the ropes to crotch him when he got into the ring, and then daring him to hit him. Inoue also screamed "NO!" at first when getting the soccer ball kicks. 

WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima with a rear naked sleeper hold on Masao Inoue (9 minutes, 25 seconds)

It's rare to see Nakajima choke someone out and get the finish this way. Normally he knocks people out and waltzes off grinning about it.

MATCH THREE
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA) vs MOMO NO SEISHUN (Atsushi Kotoge & Junta Miyawaki)

The match started off normally enough; hyper Atsushi Kotoge dropped his cap when walking out of the curtain, Yoshinari Ogawa was out for revenge against Junta Miyawaki for pinning him (according to Kotaro Suzuki rules), Miyawaki kept both Ogawa and HAYATA down with repeated dropkicks.
And then NOSAWA stormed the ring with his masked friend, and cost everyone the match by kicking Miyawaki. 

WINNER: Junta Miyawaki because NOSAWA intruded in the ring (3 minutes, 37 seconds)

Ogawa was naturally furious. Not only had NOSAWA interfered in a match which was nothing to do with him (he has no issues with Momo No Seishun), he had also caused him a second loss to Miyawaki. A fight broke out which went backstage. Fans are and where not too happy with this. 
It's not Noah booking. Noah have tried these interference in matches story-lines before, and they never work. It didn't work with Suzuki Gun, it didn't work with the short lived and fortunately little remembered now "Hooligans", and it didn't work this evening. Sadly, this was not going to be the last time NOSAWA magically appeared. 

MATCH FOUR
Go Shiozaki & Kinya Okada vs Shuhei Taniguchi & Mohammed Yone

Go Shiozaki is going to have a quieter end to the year, starting with the match today which after the two title matches he has been through and the build ups to them, was mercifully a lot easier, although the lariat he did to get the win practically tore Mohammed Yone's head from his shoulders. He might still be taped, but he could do the Machine Gun chops when Taniguchi dared him, but although he is taped his shoulder was seen to be bothering him after the win. 

Kinya Okada continues to rise, although he is still running to the ring like a rookie. He was able to dominate Yone somewhat, although naturally the veteran (who came to the ring disco dancing, which his partner, Shuhei Taniguchi did not), was able to eventually get the upper hand, but it is significant that Okada was not the one who was pinned. 

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the Gowan lariat (10 minutes, 35 seconds)

MATCH FIVE
Kotaro Suzuki vs Yuya Susumu

Kotaro Suzuki came out accompanied by NOSAWA and the Part Time Guy, got into the ring, threw down his mask, grabbed Susumu by the throat and without even taking his jacket off, the fight began.
Soon after this NOSAWA naturally had to get involved by beating up on Susumu outside the ring, which caused STINGER to come out to keep them both out of the match, and get revenge. Then STINGER decided to get involved in the match (Ogawa smelt the blood of Kotaro), and as fights went on around him, Kotaro complained to the ref and a melee brawl broke out. In the lull between the two teams fighting repeatedly, Kotaro got in the microphone as somehow the ref managed to keep everyone back, and one on one became a three man tag. 
A three man tag in name, as no one was going to take any notice of the rules for too long. 

Kotaro Suzuki, NOSAWA Rongai & Part Time Guy vs STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, HAYATA and Yuya Susumu)

​Kotaro and Ogawa started the match, but brawls started breaking out left, right and center and all the ref could do was walk around with his arms held up deplorably. He was later thrown out of the ring by Kotaro, and when he came back, Ogawa threw him out of the ring. Soon after this the ref stopped the match meaning that no one had really won in any significant way either the original match or the six man tag match, and yet another brawl broke out with the bell ringing in an attempt to restore order. Kotaro was triple teamed by STINGER, especially Ogawa who was out to pin him to the match and choke him repeatedly. There then followed a pattern with the increasingly harassed referee finally restoring order, only for it to disintegrate again because Kotaro and Ogawa kept going at each other. Kotaro finished it by knocking Ogawa down with the rolling elbow.  NOSAWA tore the lid off again by announcing, "The next step is war", and another fight broke out on the way to the back and went through the curtains. 
In total both matches had lasted no longer than 6 minutes, 58 seconds. 

I will say it again; this is not Noah booking, and it has never worked. Fans found it boring. Noah booking is very much done on the lines of Giant Baba's All Japan, and while there are some things that can't and generally aren't played with (i.e. title match intrusions) and others which can, booking matches like this do not work for Noah. Kotaro knew how to wind Ogawa up in a way that fans accepted, and it wasn't by doing this.

MATCH SIX
Naomichi Marufuji & FULL THROTTLE (Seiki Yoshioka & YO-HEY) vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Haoh and Nioh)

Someone (I think it was probably someone in The Sugiura Army), made the comment to the affect that Kenoh didn't stand out and was something like a uniform wrestler, which sent Kenoh into the match saying he was cross about it. It didn't matter that the Sugiura Army were not in the match, but the sight of Naomichi Marufuji was enough to irritate Kenoh, who started yelling loudly because he decided he was going to start the match against him. Marufuji, knowing how to wind Kenoh up, looked at him over his shoulder. He later offered him a handshake, which Kenoh ignored. There were good reversals between them, Marufuji because he can read Kenoh, Kenoh because Marufuji is one of his obsessions.

Haoh and Seiki Yoshioka worked well, with Yoshioka in particular working at top speed, so much so he was like a silver blur. 

The big drama of the match wasn't really what happened in it, although it was a catalyst. Nioh's twentieth anniversary was meant to be a time of celebration, instead he found himself dealing with YO-HEY'S crazy lockups (YO-HEY also took the opportunity to taunt Kenoh by holding out his fist), and then almost being knocked out by Marufuji when he was pulled off the turnbuckle into a knee (Marufuji says he came up on the spot with this and has named it "Tiger King"), he managed to kick out of some of his combos, but in the end fell to the Pure Tiger King.

WINNER: Naomichi Marufuji with the Pure Tiger King on Nioh (15 minutes, 5 seconds)

Kenoh left swearing loudly, at Marufuji, who dared do his fist pose at him. Then Marufuji got pulled into lighter things, such as FULL THROTTLE who he briefly did the pose of. He also shared a Hi-Five with Hajime Ohara, who was looking on, in the manner of a "hang in there". 

​YO-HEY and Seiki Yoshioka left the ring and went to the wrong gate, which they found was locked. Hajime Ohara had to retrieve them, and as YO-HEY passed Marufuji he made a "brum brum" motion, and so YO-HEY ran off riding an imaginary bike, with Yoshioka chasing after him, and Ohara bringing up the rear looking as if he needed to do supervise whatever it was they were going to do next. 

Things for Kongoh were not as lighthearted (they rarely are), as backstage Kenoh stirred up Haoh and Nioh into a fight, and then said he was looking forward to the Kongoh produce to see what would happen between them. 
I get the feeling that Kenoh may have just written the demise of the unit by setting members against each other. 

MATCH SEVEN
GHC JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Daisuke Harada vs Tadasuke

While Kenoh made his puppets dance, Tadasuke was making his way to the ring. Finding that no one was coming out to second him, he turned back and raised his middle finger before carrying on. Daisuke Harada came out to his singles music, with a face like a thunderstorm. Tadasuke should know that expression. It never means good. Later both Atsushi Kotoge and Haoh would appear at ringside. 
Both actually waited for the bell, but then it was on. 

Tadasuke being Tadasuke, started being irritating and refusing to get in the ring once he was knocked outside of it. Harada eventually got so annoyed with Tadasuke's messing around, that he leapfrogged the ref and went out there himself.  The referee cautioned Harada for his behavior, not that Harada really cared though. It's rough being in the Noah Juniors, its even rough if you have to be the one who tries to control them. 

Tadasuke has a heavyweight strength, and this can be dangerous. He uses it to use moves that junior wrestlers generally don't, especially when he gave Harada a massive powerbomb to the ring apron, the effects of which Harada felt for a while. Tadasuke's heavyweight strength gets both better and worse when he becomes crazy; better for the opponent because he gets too caught up in things and doesn't pay the attention he should because he's gone even more mad, and worse because his strength is amplified. Harada took the better for the opponent option, and with a slight twist of his body, was able to reverse things. The through the ropes dive was spectacular.    

WINNER: Daisuke Harada with the Katayama German Hold (15 minutes, 8 seconds)

Tadasuke couldn't believe he had lost and complained to the referee, but no, Harada pinned him with three. The two of them had a stare off before Tadasuke left the ring, and Harada posed alone and then left. No one has challenged for the title at the time of writing. 
 
MATCH EIGHT
GHC HEAVYWEIGHT TAG
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Kazushi Sakuraba) vs Yoshiki Inamura & Kaito Kiyomiya

"One more step, one more step.
Inamura, you really climbed the stairs tonight"

If this match belonged to anyone, it was Yoshiki Inamura. Fans came away full of praise, mentioning the stiff elbows he threw at Takashi Sugiura and how much they wanted to see him in next years N-1 VICTORY. 

The Sugiura Army came out in their custom made tag belts, the GHC tag belts, their Chono glasses and their black and white company dog shirts. There was a lot to look at, and when he removed the glasses, Sugiura had a stern gaze for the young team of the shaved head simplistic Yoshiki Inamura and the more flashy Kaito Kiyomiya. The veterans had tricks up their sleeves that their opponents fell for, such as distracting the ref by making it look as if Kiyomiya was going to come into the ring, so they could double team Inamura. Kiyomiya had his moments, especially the mat wrestling with Sakuraba, and the elbow flurry with Sugiura. 

As stated, the match was very much focused on Inamura, especially the last ten minutes or so when he fought one one with Takashi Sugiura, he had done so before in the match, but up until now no match against his idol had been more important. The crowd were behind Inamura, clapping away. Sugiura went for the choke, but Kiyomiya managed to get in to break it. Splash Mountain worked, but Sugi kicked out, Sugi turned the Musou into a front neck lock, but he himself broke the hold to pin Inamura. Inamura fought until there was no light left, but he got his second wind when Sugi's elbows seemed to fire him up and not knock him down, but despite his loss to the Olympic Slam, fans said that this is the start of Inamura's blooming. 

WINNER: Takashi Suguiura with the Olympic Slam on Yoshiki Inamura (23 minutes, 59 seconds)

On the microphone, Sakuraba poked fun at the fact that the two of them are combined 101 years old, but had yet won the best tag (backstage Yoshinari Ogawa had said that he was of the opinion that STINGER should have won it). Sakuraba also started singing. No one could quite work out why, not even Sugiura who thanked everyone for coming, especially in both Noah's 20th year and how hard this year has been for, and then drove home the fact that The Sugiura Army were having both a produce and a pay-per-view, which he repeated.  

Noah's next show: DIAMOND 3 (The Kongoh Produce), 26th December, Korakuen Hall 
Noah will be back properly on 4th January with "NEW SUNRISE 2021"

With thanks to: Kei, Metal Noah, Abeshin, Teddy106
Gifs taken from WrestleUniverse
Picture credit: PKDX

​It has been sixteen years since Noah came to the Yoyogi Gymnasium #2; when they last came here in 2004, Go Shiozaki was only a few months into his career, Kotaro Suzuki barely remembers it (he won't forget tonight in a hurry), and Naomichi Marufuji was a double champion. The hall has been renovated since then, but it did look a lot like Differ Ariake back then. Suitably for Noah's 20th anniversary, the hall looked very green. The floor is green in any case, but Noah added to this by giving the ring a kind of sea green trim which gave the impression that all of Noah's twenty years had come together. 

Kenta Kobashi and Jurina Matsui were the special guest commentators. Mohammed Yone was the special guest English commentator (the headphones caused his afro to be heart shaped). Jurina bought two support boards with her, a M's Alliance sign, and a Kenta Kobashi board. Kobashi turned a little pink! His generation did not know such things. Jurina was also wearing Sugiura Army\Chono glasses after the Chono slapping footage was aired. 

To mark Noah's final anniversary event of 2020, and to thank Noah for continuing during a difficult year, Noah bought torches and glow sticks to the venue, green for Noah and various in the color of their favorite wrestler. For those who couldn't attend we lit up our timelines with pictures of green lights to symbolise that no matter where we were, who we were, or how long we have supported Noah, "WE are Noah" 

The event was streamed live on ABEMA. You will be able to watch it free and worldwide for seven days after broadcast. After that it will be place on WrestleUniverse. A PPV version from FiteTv, with English commentary, can also be purchased. 

“No matter where your interest lies, you will not be able to accomplish anything unless you bring your deepest devotion to it.”
― Matsuo Bashô

Noah had announced that they were going to be making a big announcement in Yoyogi on the 6th December. Fans guessed the reason, that Noah would be announcing their return to the Nippon Budokan, but still there was speculation as to what the announcement would be, some said it would be The Tokyo Dome. In breaking with tradition as they normally announce things in the middle of the show, and I think also because they were very excited, to loud applause, Noah announced that yes, they would be making their return to the Nippon Budokan on the 12th February 2021. To give some context for the newer fan as to Noah's history with The Nippon Budokan, and why it means so much for them to go back, I would direct you to my "Green Guide to The History of Noah", unfortunately it stops at 2018, but it will give you an overview of Noah in The
"Golden Era", and just how far they have had to climb since then to get back to this point. Noah last ran The Nippon Budokan in 2013 when Kenta Kobashi retired. 

MATCH ONE
Kinya Okada vs Yasutaka Yano

Despite the differences in experience, Yasutaka Yano seems to be fast becoming Kinya Okada's rival, although it is very early in his career and he cannot possibly get a win just yet. Okada seemed to sense this too, and he had an evil look on his face during the match. Yano put up a fight, which at times got him a victory over Okada, albeit brief and at ringside, Jurina was very impressed by Yano's dropkicks.

WINNER:Kinya Okada (Blockbuster Hold, 7 minutes)

Backstage, Okada said that if Inamura could challenge for a title, then he could too. 

MATCH TWO
Momo No Seishun (Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge & Junta Miyawaki) vs The Kongoh Juniors (Tadasuke, Haoh and Nioh)

Kongoh were good enough not to attack straight away and to wait for the bell to sound, and Tadasuke went in for the attack immediately with a big boot and knocking Daisuke Harada down. Throughout the match Tadasuke wore a big crazy grin, which could probably have been seen from space. Kongoh were not above triple teaming Momo No Seishun, Tadasuke eye raking Harada (and Nioh with some strong language when he knocked down a hyper Atsushi Kotoge), and they bought out their a new tandem move. The move involves Tadasuke and Haoh lifting an opponent (in this case, Kotoge) by his legs and arms off of the mat, with Nioh doing a Lionsault on him. 

This was a fast paced match which mainly focused on Harada vs Tadasuke for the upcoming title match in Nagoya next week, but there was a sweet moment away from the fighting former RATELS when Junta Miyawaki was seen to pause for a moment during a fight outsider the ring, as Haoh seemed to have hurt his shoulder. 

Back in the ring, Tadasuke's devastating lariat to the back of the head was not going to work this time
as it was Harada who got the spectacular win, that Tadasuke could not believe.

WINNER: Daisuke Harada with the Katayama German Hold on Tadasuke (8 minutes, 51 seconds)

Harada's face was twisted into its demonic form as he stared at Tadasuke, as the ref raised his arm in victory. To rub this victory in, Harada kept it up long after the ref had left go. Tadasuke couldn't believe that Harada had pulled something out of thin air to beat him with, and then the pair went back to taunting each other with numbers. Harada leant through the ropes and held up four fingers to Tadasuke, who was being held back by Haoh and Nioh on the outside (Nioh later rubbed Tadasuke's shoulders as if he was a prizefighter in a boxing ring). 

Backstage, Harada said that he didn't care that Tadasuke had said that he was "Number 18", as Tadasuke didn't seem to realise that "Number 18" was "the number of an Ace". 

MATCH THREE
FULL THROTTLE (Hajime Ohara, YO-HEY & Seiki Yoshioka) vs Kongoh (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya & Masa Kitamiya)

YO-HEY knew that against such ultra heavyweights like Masa Kitamiya and Manabu Soya they had no chance of victory, although it might be easier against the smaller and slimmer, Katsuhiko Nakajima, but their chances of winning were still slight. The dour Kongoh (who when stood together probably took up more room than FULL THROTTLE), were not impressed by these three snowflake heavyweights.

YO-HEY decided not to go for the crazy lock up with Kitamiya and tried shoulder tackling him, but Kitamiya knocked him down, until YO-HEY went for a drop kick and managed to make him stagger, but then Kitamiya knocked him down again. It was thanks to YO-HEY'S natural buoyancy, that he was able to get through a difficult situation, although taunting Kongoh was not a good idea, especially when Soya started throwing them about and YO-HEY found himself having to restrain Kitamiya somehow. 

Katsuhiko Nakajima got in the ring smiling like a wolf that has found a flock of sheep, and wisely YO-HEY (after ducking a move), tagged in one person who could go head to head with Nakajima, Seiki Yoshioka and a kick war broke out. For Nakajima it was all fun until Hajime Ohara started fighting back, and the smile snapped off.  

WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima with the Vertical Spike on Hajime Ohara (9 minutes, 13 seconds)

MATCH FOUR
GHC JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TAG CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA) vs Kotaro Suzuki & Sarubahe de Oriente

No one had any "traffic problems" today evidently as STINGER and Sarubahe de Oriente all turned up for the match. NOSAWA Rongai also turned up, and he and his still unnamed masked friend sat at ringside. 

Kotaro took some cheap shots at Yoshinari Ogawa initially, but this only led to him being double teamed, and when it did come down to them Ogawa told Kotaro to hit him, but then became enraged when Kotaro using the disrespect that he had seen Ogawa use many times on others, stepped over him, treading on his head and then back kicked him. For this supreme insult, Kotaro found himself tortured by a man who probably went on excursion to one of the many Hells at one point in his career. 

Sarubahe stayed out of the match somewhat, he seemed to be nervous at times, but he did pull out some very good moves, especially the aerobatic pin tandem with Kotaro, but this was not the only tandem he was going to be in when, as fans had predicted on hearing that he too had "traffic" problems, he turned on his partner and joined STINGER.   

WINNER: Yoshinari Ogawa pinned Kotaro Suzuki following the Oriente crash by Sarubahe de Oriente (17 minutes, 5 seconds)

​The normally non outgoing HAYATA was the one who unmasked Sarubahe, and with good reason, he was revealed to be his old friend and former tag partner, Yuya Susumu. Susumu and HAYATA had teamed together in WrestleGate and also in FREEDOMS, holding the King of FREEDOM tag championship. 
During this chaos,  NOSAWA got into the ring, and then offered a handshake to STINGER, Ogawa accepting first. They all celebrated together (HAYATA hiding behind his belt), but as ever in the Noah juniors the law means that any more of four at one time, will turn into a mass brawl, and this was happened as NOSAWA and friend turned on STINGER, with NOSAWA laughing at the fallen Ogawa, before they aligned with Kotaro who now realised that he had no choices left. It is now three on three.
The balance of power has once again shifted in the Noah juniors. 

MATCH FIVE
GHC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Kenoh vs Kazushi Sakuraba

Kenoh is generally a loud and angry person, but he seems to get worse and his paranoia seems to grow whenever he has a title belt, even going so far as to believe that Kazushi Sakuraba, who seems to be someone who enjoys life (which seems to be a trait in people Kenoh hates), turned off the microphone deliberately when he went to yell back at him at Korakuen following a Kenoh rant. So Kenoh, as furious as ever, came marching to the ring and started yelling at Sakuraba after doing his pose, until the referee separated them.

In retaliation for Kenoh's attack on him during the match signing in Tokyo, and to prove that the "bloodthirsty" Sakuraba was always present under his somewhat affable outward appearance, "The Gracie Killer" of the 1990s, immediately felled Kenoh with a strong MMA attack. If Kenoh had wanted to see this Sakuraba from the PRIDE era he had so loudly shrieked about, he had gotten him. 

​For Kenoh, this was a very different style of match as rather than wrestle in his usual style, it was somewhat MMA and he was forced to grapple. There were also many more submissions than usual, with Kenoh over the screaming of the commentators, the applause of the crowd and Kongoh pounding the apron, making it to the ropes a couple of times, the final time he reversed the move and turned it into a pin which got him the win. I think the kick war was more to his liking, as he came away from the match looking very thoughtful as if he was reflecting that this wasn't as easy as he thought it was going to be. It was almost the same look he had after facing Kiyomiya.   

WINNER: Kenoh with a submission reversal (10 minutes, 3 seconds)

Kongoh were delighted with the win, but Kenoh was more thoughtful. Sakuraba left looking deflated (he had hoped to be a double champion), and warning Kenoh that this wasn't over. He would see him again. Backstage Kenoh addressed Noah finally getting The Budokan (he's been saying this since about 2018), saying that it was a dream come true, and he wanted to be in the main event. 

MATCH SIX
The M's Alliance (Naomichi Marufuji, Keiji Mutoh, Masakatsu Funaki & Yuko Miyamoto) vs Kaito Kiyomiya, Shuhei Taniguchi, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura

This was initially seen as a match to bridge the gap between the tense National championship and the emotional GHC Heavyweight, and to give the fans time to use the facilities, but it would have been a mistake to see this match as just the plain between the mountains, as it was going to have a long awaited ending to it. 

Despite having a red glow stick for Naomichi Marufuji, Marufuji ticked Jurina off about wearing the Masahiro Chono glasses. Jurina laughed. Keiji Mutoh clambered into the ring, and then went to take his t-shirt off, but his teammates hurried to tell him to keep it on, the M's Alliance wanted to pose together. 

The match came down to Shuhei Taniguchi grappling with Masakatsu Funaki, and erupting against Naomichi Marufuji. Because Taniguchi is staid, he gets teased for it, and his seniors (mainly Marufuji and Sugiura) try and provoke him during matches into exploding, but in a very non Misawa provokes Kawada kind of way. With the presence of some ultra heavyweights, there was a lot of roaring the match, the loudest being Taniguchi and then Yoshiki Inamura. 
Kaito Kiyomiya fought again with Keiji Mutoh, using submissions on the old man. Mutoh went to the ropes and tagged his partners in, Marufuji had this strange look of "Well, don't look at me about his behaviour". However, Marufuji was far more interested in Daiki Inaba than anyone else, using a vicious knee on him which the referee had to check he wasn't knocked out after. Mutoh also took down his former employee. Kiyomiya also got to fight Masakatsu Funaki like he had hoped, it was very similar to the fights that he has with Kenoh, except there was no complex emotional strings attached. 
 
Yoshiki Inamura was the star of the match, and Kenta Kobashi said he reminded him of "Dr Death", Steve Williams when he hoisted one of his opponents on to his shoulders and ran him into the ring posts. Kiyomiya and Inamura also have come up with a team move which involves Kiyomiya throwing Inamura on momentum. Inamura bought the emotion and made the match important, as fans were on the edge of their seats waiting for him to get his first big win, each time there was a kick out, he was beaten down or someone broke the pin, the feeling intensified until in the end he got that moment. 

WINNER: Yoshiki Inamura with the Musou on Yuko Miyamoto (21 minutes, 47 seconds)

At the end of the match, Marufuji and Inaba were still fighting outside the ring, with the seconds trying to seperate them and the bell ringing like it does when the juniors get into a melee brawl. I have to admit that it was odd seeing the heavyweights fight like this. Backstage, bolstered by his win, Inamura promised to train harder than ever before so he and Kiyomiya would win the tag belts. 

MATCH SEVEN
GHC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Go Shiozaki vs Takashi Sugiura

Takashi Sugiura debuted new ringwear (yellow and white) and new music, which was generic and no way as individual or terrifying as his last music. He offered a handshake to Go Shiozaki, who took it to loud applause, and some whistles. Speaking of the applause the fans gave, they didn't stop at just clapping, they also stamped their feet so much that the whole building shook. It was apt that there was a Budokan atmosphere. 

This was not just another Go Shiozaki vs Takashi Sugira stiff-fest, this was an amplified "Golden Era" championship match, which many people said rolled all of Noah's twenty years into one, combining both its past and its future. For Shiozaki, more than any other opponent even more than the fearsome and physically intimidating Fujita, this was like fighting someone made of steel. 

If Shiozaki's opponents have all had one thing in common, then it is to work to take out his arms. If you do, it makes his hard for him to chop (Sugiura dusted them off at times, although his chest was bust open by them), lariat, and if you get him in a submission he can't get to the ropes because his arms cannot support him well. When this happened, the crowd got into a frenzy of clapping. 

There were a few times when the match went outside of the ring (Shiozaki getting in at the count of 18 after a neck screw to the floor when Sugiura ripped up the mats or when Shiozaki did an over the top rope dive), and it looked as if the match was going to end in a count out and we see a title change, but this is not Noah booking. Giant Baba would rarely if never have allowed a title match to change hands via a count out, and as Noah bought these ideals from All Japan, Misawa would never have allowed it either, and this continues to this day. 

With Sugiura reading Shiozaki enough to meet the Misawa rope dive with a spear, Shiozaki using Tamon Honda's top turnbuckle choke, Sugiura battering Shiozaki with punches while he was still semi conscious from the neck screw to the floor, Shiozaki with the rolling elbow, even the Limit Break from the top turnbuckle, and the Olympic Slam, what more could be done? Both kept kicking out. Shiozaki went for the moonsault, but Sugiura put his knees up and then locked in the dreaded choke. Reaching the ropes didn't work as he didn't have the power in his arms and Sugiura kept pulling him away, Shiozaki tried to reverse the move but Sugiura hung on. Shiozaki then turned it into the Go Flasher. In the end there was nothing left but increasingly stiff chops and punches, and the Gowan Lariat that ended it all. 

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the Gowan Lariat (51 minutes and 44 seconds)

He may have lost the match, but Takashi Sugiura showed his spirit by briefly pulling the "I am Chono" pose for the camera as he was leaning on Junta Miyawaki to go backstage. 

Then something happened which we had all heard hinted about for a long time; Keiji Mutoh came to challenge Go Shiozaki for the GHC Heavyweight title. 

"Hey Shiozaki! I was just curious about your belt, that GHC or whatever it is. You know what I mean, don't you? The next challenger is me, Keiji Muto, and at the Nippon Budokan!"

Shiozaki accepted his challenge, and then when Mutoh had gone he addressed the crowd himself, thanking Takashi Sugiura for a meaningful fight on the anniversary of their first, and thanking everyone who came today. 

As the lights came back on, fans left the arena to the strains and the ironic opening lines of Ozzy Osborne's "Mama"...

"Times have changed and times are strange
Here I come, but I ain't the same
Mama, I'm coming home"

With thanks to: Metal Noah, Abeshin
GIFS taken from ABEMA TV
Noah's next event (and last proper event of 2020, as after that are two produce shows): 19th December 2020, THE GIFT 2020 in NAGOYA

​The last Korakuen Hall before Noah's final anniversary show of its 20th year, had fans hurrying to finish work in time and then make the commute to Suidobashi station and on across the bridge to Korakuen Hall. No one if they could help it wanted to miss this event. There was a sense of anticipation in the air, everyone had a feeling that something was going to happen. 

Inside Korakuen, Noah had set up the merchandise booth where fans could purchase limited edition items (mainly products signed by Momo No Seishun or the increasingly insane, FULL THROTTLE). ABEMA streamed the show, which if you did miss, you can view for seven days from today, but after that it will be placed on WRESTLEUNIVERSE (which you must be a subscriber to view). There was no Jurina Matsui or Kuniko Yamada on commentary today, but a Japanese comedian, Bibiru Ōki, stepped in. 

MATCH ONE
FULL THROTTLE (Seiki Yoshioka, YO-HEY & Hajime Ohara) vs Junta Miyawaki, Kai Fujimura & Yasutaka Yano

Junta Miyawaki, now the most senior out of his team, was the one who WALKED sedately to the ring, leaving young Yasutaka Yano and the returning ex W-1 trainee, Kai Fujimura, to run ahead. Miyawaki might be the leader of his team, and thanks to the three way held a few days earlier to decide who would be at the steering wheel of FULL THROTTLE, Hajime Ohara was the leader of his. He had his eyes firmly on the new boy, even going so far as to call him out, and when he did get him he tied him into submission hell. It was an energetic opener, with the flavor of old Noah in that it mixed a team of the younger with a team of the older, although perhaps not to the extent that the broken down old vets were wheeled out. 

Naturally, FULL THROTTLE as the veteran team dominated, but the younger team did have their moments; Miyawaki in particular had good offence and did his string of dropkicks that kept FULL THROTTLE out of the ring. Being not as experienced as the other teams who usually face FULL THROTTLE, it was easy for FULL THROTTLE to keep them apart and out of the ring most of the time. It was also noted that Miyawaki is still very shy with his seniors. Yano shows signs of being a little more outgoing, he even shoved Seiki Yoshioka back, although he got kicked down.
YO-HEY as ever, looked as if he was having the time of his life. 

WINNER: YO-HEY with the Camel Clutch on Yasutaka Yano (12 minutes, 45 seconds)

​As they left the ring, YO-HEY started doing a kind of hopping dance while holding the FULL THROTTLE pose, Hajime Ohara joined in. Seiki Yoshioka did not, and stood and watched them. The dance continued outside the ring and during the walk to the back. 

MATCH TWO
Mohammed Yone & Yuko Miyamoto

"The veteran singles match"

Mohammed Yone started with a bow, Yuko Miyamoto laughed and did not bow back. What ties these two together was that their early career involved FMW; Mohammed Yone was in the promotion from September 1998 until May 1999, and Yuko Miyamoto had been trained by FMW wrestlers. But like everyone else, Miyamoto does not appreciate disco, although he pulled "Disco Fever" to mock Yone.

WINNER: Yuko Miyamoto with La Mahistral (10 minutes, 21 seconds)

MATCH THREE
Momo No Seishun (Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge) vs The Kongoh Juniors (Haoh & Tadasuke)

The Kongoh Juniors attacked the moment that Momo No Seishun (or Daisuke Harada in particular), set foot in the ring, they were still in their t-shirts once the match got going. Tadasuke as ever was the crafty villain, and was on top form in the match; the crazy faces, the eye rakes, and his awesome heavyweight power came to the fore, lariating Daisuke Harada so hard at one point you could see the impact on the ringside camera (he also apparently has a new one which goes to the back of the head\neck). Harada was as brilliant as ever. 

​Atsushi Kotoge's job was very much in keeping Haoh out of the way so that Harada and Tadasuke could fight, and when he wasn't doing that, he was backing up Harada. 

WINNER: Tadasuke with the lariat on Daisuke Harada (10 minutes, 32 seconds)

Harada was calm after the defeat by Tadasuke (Tadasuke kind of won it on pure momentum), and he sat quietly and listened to what Tadasuke had to say. No tantrums or throwing chairs (which Harada is prone to when he gets really angry, and he left the steel barrier alone on the way out and didn't kick it), what Tadasuke had to say was mocking. He told Harada that if he (Tadasuke) had been "number four" (in RATELS) then Harada was "number 18" in the Noah juniors; what Tadasuke means is that out of everyone, Harada is the lowest number possible, even lower than the rookie Yano. Then, smiling his manic smile, Tadasuke left the ring. Unlike all the other titles being defended on the 6th December, Tadasuke and Harada still have one final night to even any scores before the title match. 

MATCH FOUR
Kongoh (Kenoh & Nioh) vs The Sugiura Army (Kazushi Sakuraba & NOSAWA Rongai)

From the moment Kazushi Sakuraba got in the ring, Kenoh started stalking his every movement, and then yelling loudly. Naturally they started the match with stiff kicks, and Kenoh slapped Sakuraba on the first rope break, which he no doubt thought was firing him up. When fighting Sakuraba (and I think this was probably part of the reason that Kenoh wanted Kiyoshi Tamura), Kenoh got to use a lot of his martial arts background Nippon Kempo, which shares a lot of similarities with MMA, so much so that Kenoh commented on it afterwards.

WINNER: Kazushi Sakuraba with the Back triangle cross lock on Nioh (8 minutes, 17 seconds

The final pre-match between the two ended with either failing to get a win over the other, which led to Kenoh throwing one of his verbal tantrums as he got on the microphone, and started screaming at Sakuraba, first asking about his using Nippon Kempo and then accusing Sakuraba of not taking the match seriously, and then he touched on the PRIDE era asking where all the intensity that Sakuraba had felt then had gone? 
Sakuraba, listened patiently and then made the "Time Out" motion, before picking up the mic himself, however, it wasn't on. He screamed like Kenoh, and then left the ring. Kenoh was not impressed and they had a row on the apron, Kenoh worked up and Sakuraba winding him up. NOSAWA thought it was very funny. On leaving the ring, Kenoh looked like he was going to storm to his room and slam some doors.

Noah took a small interval here to make some announcements. The first being was that the Noah's Ark fan club has overgone a complete overhaul, with the logo being redesigned and the perks for members being updated. After that they announced the full card for The Sugiura Army produce. There will be a special broadcast of the after show party, with the custom made belts that Sugiura and Sakuraba wear being given away in a prize draw, and a mystery member will be taking part in the main event, a fourteen man elimination tag which will see The Sugiura Army (plus Daisuke Nakamura, another MMA fighter) take on Kongoh. 

MATCH FIVE
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA) & Kinya Okada vs Naomichi Marufuji, Kotaro Suzuki & Sarubahe de Oriente

Kotaro & Sarubahe attacked the moment the bell went.Now this was unfortunate as it left rookie Kinya Okada to attack the veteran, Naomichi Marufuji (probably not ideal), although to his credit Okada did manage to knock him down twice and held his own while a melee fight was going on outside. If the match was tough for Okada, it was even more tough in a way for Yoshinari Ogawa, who was hook punched by Kotaro, and chopped down by Marufuji. Marufuji seemed angry at STINGER for how they had treated Kotaro, but nevertheless as ever, he loved fighting with and against the Noah Juniors. Ogawa got his own back by torturing Okada and then making sure (along with HAYATA) that Kotaro was not going to get the chance to get any kind of upper hand. 

Sarubahe was better than he was the last time he was in Noah, and appeared much more confident, and young Okada put up a great fight against Kotaro. 

WINNER: Kotaro Suzuki with The Tiger Driver on Kinya Okada (12 minutes, 48 seconds)

​With Kotaro getting the win, Ogawa saw red and started fighting after the match, which HAYATA then joined in with. Then the proverbial bad penny, NOSAWA Rongai appeared. NOSAWA was not alone this time, he had bought his own mysterious masked person with him. NOSAWA'S companion was masked, and wore a hood and a black long sleeved jacket, only his hands were visible. He did not speak afterwards, which gives the impression that either he is a silent wrestler, or Japanese is not his native language. NOSAWA (and friend) got into the ring to save Kotaro, but that wasn't really his mission. Kotaro didn't want his help, so what about aligning with STINGER? NOSAWA is not looking to leave The Sugiura Army, he just wants muscle as they don't really have a junior presence, the only regular junior being him, and so he asked STINGER for a handshake. Ogawa told him to get lost, and STINGER left the ring. I have no idea why NOSAWA has asked Noah's most reclusive tag team for an alliance, but knowing NOSAWA, he won't take "get lost" for an answer.  

MATCH SIX
Kaito Kiyomiya, Yoshiki Inamura & Daiki Inaba vs Kongoh (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya & Manabu Soya)

Katsuhiko Nakajima with a big grin, started the match against Kaito Kiyomiya. This was one of the first times since the dissolution of THE AGGRESSION in 2018, that he and Masa Kitamiya had teamed together so closely, there was a sense of distance at first, but this was gradually papered over as Kongoh started to realise that they had new rivals; Kaito Kiyomiya, Yoshiki Inamura and Daiki Inaba. Nakajima naturally had a bone to pick with both Inamura and Inaba; Inamura as he wanted revenge for the walking brainbuster that Inamura had given him previously, and Inaba as he was the one who Nakajima had defeated for the W-1 Championship, a belt that Nakajima didn't want, but enjoyed going to W-1 and causing trouble. Inaba hasn't forgotten it, and Nakajima went so far as to refer him to him as being the "newcomer" who had changed since he last met him in the ring. 

Yoshiki Inamura and Masa Kitamiya had a shoulder tackle battle, which ended with Inamura knocking Kitamiya down and then slamming him. Fans want Inamura to take the next step and change his ring attire and hair (they miss the Mohawk).

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Tiger Suplex Hold on Manabu Soya (17 minutes, 31 seconds)

​There was a moment after the match when the three teams stood and stared at each other, and something unsaid passed between them; this wasn't over. Nakajima left grinning and looking closely at Inaba, which usually means he has had another one of his evil ideas. 

Backstage and bolstered by their win, Kaito Kiyomiya suggested to Yoshiki Inamura, that they should challenge for the GHC Heavyweight tag titles. If they do challenge, I am expecting the statement to take place either in Yoyogi or Nagoya. 

MATCH SEVEN
Go Shiozaki & Shuhei Taniguchi vs The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki)

Hideki Suzuki and Shuhei Taniguchi started the match, both drawing on their amateur wrestling and judo backgrounds, this was most obvious in the style of the lock up and the attempted take downs. Their later interactions were a pure Hoss fight, with Monster Taniguchi emerging from his cave. 

Between Takashi Sugiura and Go Shiozaki, the match grew red hot as they fought for the final time in true "Golden Era" style (although they will pull out the big hits for the 6th December), Shiozaki determined to show Sugiura that he was going to "give him more" that Sugiura had taunted him with after choking him out in Ibaraki. Sugiura might be older than Shiozaki, and his senior, but the fact is is that Sugiura is in far better shape, and once again Shiozaki's arms became the target with both Suzuki and Sugiura working on them. Suzuki's style was different from Nakajima's previously, and different from Sugiura's, as he applied lock holds which worked not just on Shiozaki's arms, but his hands too. Shiozaki attempted at one point to chop Suzuki, who simply punched his arm away, but with a very Kenta Kobashi like grimace, Shiozaki kept going. His arms are damaged, the right worse than the left, but he refuses to admit the fact saying backstage that he is the GHC Heavyweight Champion, and therefore, he cannot allow anything to be wrong as he champion has to always appear in great shape.

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the short range Gowan lariat on Takashi Sugiura (22 minutes, 55 seconds)

Takashi Sugiura had rolled out of the ring and limped off, but he paused by the cream curtains on one side of the hall to listen as Shiozaki addressed him;

"Takashi Sugiura! Your 20 years! I will rob you of it and stand in the ring at the end of the 6th December! I AM NOAH, and I will not be destroyed!"

With thanks to: Metal Noah, ABESHIN
GIF's taken from ABEMA

Noah's next show: Saturday 6th December, NOAH the BEST ~FINAL CHRONICLE 2020

​"It's the most suitable card for the name of "NEW HOPE."

There was little singing and dancing today at Club Citta as prior to the show Pro Wrestling Noah held an open audition to recruit new trainees; out of the sixteen people that attended three where chosen. You can read about that here. The three boys got to watch the show, and were seen sitting near ringside. 

There was a special feeling at the venue today as it is the first time that Noah have held an audience attended event for NEW HOPE as they used the premises for it during the spring when Corona locked down live events. Kaito Kiyomiya in particular was very excited by it, and spoke about it in his promo at the end of the show. Noah have been here since with a live audience, but NEW HOPE is special to Kiyomiya. 

As this was not strictly a Noah show, more a Kaito Kiyomiya produce, things were a little different as like with SEM the production was changed slightly (and this kind of has become Noah's new SEM with its main showcasing of younger & rookie talent), with a different song playing at the start, but no matter how things change some stay the same, with TEENS HEAVEN opening the show. NOSAWA was also in attendance, sighted watching from the second floor, although he himself was not on the card.    

As the venue is built for the purpose of being a club, the sound was amazing, and the ring was lit in the colorful lighting which gave it a special ambiance. 

MATCH ONE
Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada vs Junta Miyawaki & Yasutaka Yano 

Twenty-three year old Junta Miyawaki is the most senior man in this match, but that didn't stop Yasutaka Yano from saying he would start. Miyawaki, with a worried look, was seen (and heard) giving instructions to him. Later they worked together in the ring, most memorably with a double dropkick

The opening match worked well despite the differing levels of skills, age and experience with Yano managing to keep the increasingly bigger looking Yoshiki Inamura down. Yano is growing and growing.

WINNER: Kinya Okada with the Blockbuster Hold on Yasutaka Yano (15 minutes, 53 seconds)

MATCH TWO
Atsushi Kotoge vs Kai Fujimura

Seiki Yoshioka looked on from the balcony as former W-1 trainee, Kai Fujimura met Atsushi Kotoge, who was talking to himself in the ring and making twitchy movements. 

Naturally as Fujimura only debuted in July 2019, his moveset was more basic than the more experienced Kotoge, but he was able to throw some stiff elbows. Kotoge was the winner, and he finished the match in a rare technique for him. 

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Texas Cloverhold (11 minutes, 18 seconds)

In the post match promo afterwards, Fujimura said that he wanted to do more in Noah, and hinted that his participation with the promotion might not be over. 

MATCH THREE
Daiki Inaba vs Manabu Soya

No pose for Manabu Soya, he was all business; hulking physique and angry scowl at Daiki Inaba, which did not change. Soya demonstrated the difference in power, no selling Inaba and chopping him back to the ropes, and both of them screaming each others names as they threw elbows. According to the official Noah site, Soya is a contracted member of Noah, which is why the match I think worked so well and appealed to the fans, rather than it being a fight between two freelancers who used to belong to the same promotion. Noah tried that once before, and it wasn't too much of a success. 

WINNER: Daiki Inaba with the DDD (16 minutes, 38 seconds)

MATCH FOUR
FULL THROTTLE (Hajime Ohara, YO-HEY & Seiki Yoshioka) vs Kongoh (Haoh, Nioh and Tadasuke) 

The more staid Kongoh juniors (although Tadasuke has a manic tendency) watched FULL THROTTLE do their crazy admission (i.e. one is sane, the one in the middle is pretty sane but has his moments, and the third person is most definitely insane) complete with YO-HEY pose. By the end of the match and after a few more by YO-HEY one fan commented that, YO-HEY has a lot of strange poses". 
YO-HEY has also decided that since he is the leader of FULL THROTTLE, then he was going to start the match. 

I don't have much information on this match, but from what I can tell it was your typical Noah juniors; fast paced, and at times out of control. 

WINNER: Tadasuke with the Outcast on YO-HEY (12 minutes, 18 seconds)

MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya vs Daisuke Harada

Daisuke Harada has a contradictory relationship with the heavyweight division; first of all he doesn't like them as he feels that they push the Noah juniors aside, but secondly he has also hinted that one day he will become one of them, last year pointing to the GHC Heavyweight and saying, "That is my final goal in Noah". Whatever the reason, Harada refused to shake hands with Kaito Kiyomiya when he offered. 

Fiercely fought match, neither wanted to give up or give in (Harada would kick out of the Tiger Suplex), and at times it was technical, with the much smaller but more experienced Daisuke Harada able to out wrestle Kaito Kiyomiya at times, former GHC Heavyweight Kiyomiya may be, but Harada is still his senior and had a hand in training him. Kiyomiya also displayed a tendency to showboat to the crowd, which allowed Harada to get a sneak pin from behind. Hopefully, like Nakajima's being cocky or Tadasuke's being crazy, this won't start costing him in the future. 

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with a German Suplex Hold (18 minutes, 44 seconds)

Harada was seen to at ringside by Okada and Kotoge, as Kiyomiya spoke on the microphone. His first words were to thank him. Kiyomiya then recalled how Club Citta had started with no spectators, and here he was now at NEW HOPE, speaking in front of them. He may not have gotten a belt, but he would continue to press forward without it in his quest for his "new view". 

WITH THANKS TO: Fujiwara Armbar, Abeshin, Kei, Pekehoko
PICTURE CREDIT: Noah GHC, Pro Wrestling DX
NOAH'S NEXT SHOW: Tuesday December 1st, Korakuen Hall