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(NOAH) EVENT RECAP ~ N-1 VICTORY, NIGHT 7 (KORAKUEN HALL, 29TH AUGUST 2019)

8/29/2019

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​Pro Wrestling Noah returned to Korakuen Hall today to kick off the second part of N-1 VICTORY. Sadly the venue was not sold out with only 835 in attendance, but those who did come were on their feet and enthusiastic since the start.
Personally, I would rather see a small excited crowd, than a small bored one.

Noah also announced that they would be live streaming the show via their YouTube channel, which had about 17,871 people worldwide tune in. Naturally, some of the theme music had to be muted as a result as Noah do not own the rights. However, the technology they use does have a slight lag at times, but on the whole the broadcast went well.

Previous to all of this, NOSAWA Rongai had announced that he would be bringing another "friend" to Korakuen Hall today, which he termed as "The Last Successor", and Noah also had an announcement to make during the interval about a future participant, although this was not announced prior to the event.

Naomichi Marufuji (who celebrated his 21st anniversary in pro-wrestling with a small party at Yamada Maru ((the former "Muscle Grill", which I believe he now owns)), which included Takashi Sugiura (and I like to think KENTA, although I doubt it), was on autograph duty.
Alex Hammerstone took charge of the Noah's Ark fanclub pictures.

MATCH ONE
50 Funky Powers & Sonico vs The Return of The Dark Agents (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue) & Junta Miyawaki.

Lots of calls from the audience for Junta Miyawaki (and Sonico too), when they both locked up.
Energetic opening match with fast paced exchanges between Miyawaki and Sonico, which the crowd got behind. This is something that I think people would like to see more of.

WINNER: Sonico with the Swanton Bomb on Junta Miyawaki (8 minutes, 57 seconds)

At the end of the match, Mohammed Yone (with characteristic kindness), stopped Sonico from exiting the ring after the match and told him to go and stand on the opposite turnbuckle to celebrate his win.
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​MATCH TWO
Yoshiki Inamura vs Kinya Okada

Battle of the big thicc beefy boys, which was dominated by the far more experienced and advanced Inamura. Sadly, Okada's career has been blighted due to injury which prevented him from debuting at the same time as Inamura, and then he had another spell which put him behind further.
The match was short, but the crowd were screaming at the end when Inamura had Okada in the Boston Crab.

WINNER: Yoshiki Inamura with the Boston Crab (3 minutes, 49 seconds)

Okada rolled out of the ring.
Inamura stood and watched him, hands on hips.
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​Then NOSAWA Rongai appeared and got into the ring. He had bought with him "The Last Successor", Kazuyuki Fujita, and he challenged Inamura to a singles match with him at Osaka.
Inamura's response was to first yell into the microphone (he did that afterwards as well) and then attacked Fujita. A fight broke out (with the crowd chanting for Inamura "Ina-kun...Ina-kun"), and which NOSAWA had to break up), which was a nice little taster of the match to come.
This will be a very good experience for Inamura, who says he realizes this is a big chance for him.

MATCH THREE
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, Kotaro Suzuki, Atsushi Kotoge & Chris Ridgeway) vs RATELS (HAYATA, Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke & YO-HEY)

RATELS came out first, and the got jumped by STINGER who did not wait for their own entrance. Kotoge attacking Harada (who hadn't even taken his jacket off). In the end it was Ogawa who helped Harada off with his jacket.
By flinging it into the crowd.
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​Tadasuke got into the ring like a manic whirlwind, knocking STINGER off the apron twice, and YO-HEY joined in with his fist pose on the apron (Harada was on the floor, HAYATA just watched).
Fast paced match, which made you quite understand why people in the countryside said that it was near impossible to take pictures. The crowd screamed when HAYATA did a massive over the top rope somersault.

Harada and Kotoge managed to roll back into the ring on the count of seventeen (everyone was outside the ring), and Harada got the pin.

WINNER: Daisuke Harada with the deformation pin on Atsushi Kotoge (9 minutes, 18 seconds)

The fight wasn't over, as Harada and Kotoge continued to go at it with the ref getting knocked down in the process, and then Kotoge angrily standing over him to protest the decision.
Harada told him to get lost.

Interestingly, Tadasuke didn't stay with the rest of RATELS to celebrate the win, and YO-HEY got into the ring with the GHC Junior Heavyweight on his shoulder.
HAYATA did a double take as he started parading around with it, and then asked for the belt back.
YO-HEY handed it over.
HAYATA was hesitant to take it, despite YO-HEY'S pleadings, but he did.
YO-HEY then tried to kick him.
HAYATA ducked.
YO-HEY made it look like it was all a jest, HAYATA didn't quite believe him.
YO-HEY is probably THE ONLY person who can irritate HAYATA. Many have tried. All have failed.
Thing is, they know each other too well.

MATCH FOUR
Katsuhiko Nakajima, Hi69, Hitoshi Kumano & Minoru Tanaka vs The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura, KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Hajime Ohara) & El Hijo de Dr Wagner Jnr.

As music is not allowed, this makes a good substitute for "When Love Comes To Town"

Katsuhiko Nakajima and El Hijo de Dr Wagner Junior started the match. El Hijo making the mistake of offering his hand to, and then than shaking hands with Nakajima (who kicked him in the stomach).

The former Backbreakers (Hajime Ohara and Hitoshi Kumano) faced off, and Kumano still has a little blue in his hair left over from the Atsushi Aoki memorial show earlier this month.
Kick and chop battle between Takashi Sugiura and Katsuhiko Nakajima.

KAZMA SAKAMOTO did "the scream", which was imitated by both Takashi Sugiura and Hajime Ohara (I think this may be the first time that I know of that Ohara has done it).

Big applause for El Hijo de Dr Wagner Junior during the match, especially the moonsault at the end.

WINNER: El Hijo de Dr Wagner Junior with the Moonsault Press on Hi69 (11 minutes, 38 seconds)

The Sugiura Army then posed together to celebrate their win.
I guess El Hijo de Dr Wagner Jnr is now a member, as he was wearing a "Company Dog" t-shirt.
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"Gore! Gore! Gore!"

During the intermission, Noah made an announcement.
A video package played announcing that IMPACT'S Rhyno would be appearing in Noah at the Edion Arena 1st Stadium Osaka event on 16th September.
Further match details are to be announced.
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During the intermission, RATELS, squabble over (for now) appeared at the merchandise table.

MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya & Alex Hammerstone vs Naomichi Marufuji & Shuhei Taniguchi.

Shuhei Taniguchi had warned Naomichi Marufuji yesterday that they would celebrate his 21st anniversary by taking on "the championship team", and he should take care he does not fall behind. Any feelings of comradeship were short lived, as at the beginning of the match, Taniguchi shoved Marufuji aside to start with Kiyomiya.
Taniguchi also refused to tag him in at one point.
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Kaito Kiyomiya took the time to greet a small child on his way to the ring, while inside of it, Hammerstone and Marufuji squared up.
Kiyomiya got into the ring and held up the GHC Heavyweight to both Taniguchi and Marufuji. There were a lot of alternating and intermingling "Marufuji" and "Kaito" calls.

Marufuji and Hammerstone faced off ahead of their N-1 match (the ever curious Marufuji said at the N-1 press conference that he was only interested in wrestling the gaijin wrestlers), and he got his wish here - Hammerstone threw him around the ring after mocking the "Marufuji" chants.
Hammerstone not only no sold the infamous chops, he knocked Marufuji down in return. The Shiranui was met by Hammerstone picking him up and putting him on the turnbuckle.

WINNER: Alex Hammerstone with the Pendulum Nightmare on Shuhei Taniguchi (16 minutes, 2 seconds)

After the match, the champions posed with their belts.
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MATCH SIX
N-1 VICTORY
Kenoh vs Masaaki Mochizuki
*Hisame's Match of The Year 2019*

Lets get one thing straight.
All they were going to do in this match pretty much was have a stiff kick competition, which got going as soon as the bell rang (at one point I thought Kenoh had been genuinely knocked out). Neither held back at all from anything, and the crowd volume rose in pitch with each kick, punch and anything else in between.
Crowd was on Kenoh's side pretty much, as he might not be a Noah born, and like Mochizuki come from elsewhere, but he is part of the home team.
Utterly brilliant stiff as hell match.

WINNER: Masaaki Mochizuki with the Triangular Kick (16 minutes, 53 seconds)

MATCH SEVEN
N-1 VICTORY
GO Shiozaki vs Masa Kitamiya

Masa Saito homed in on Go Shiozaki's heavily taped elbows and shoulder (which appeared to be giving him some pain at the start of the match). One of his knees is also heavily taped, and I did think that he had picked up an injury at one point, but he seemed to come through the match fine.
Hitoshi Kumano came out to second him.

It is very rare to see Shiozaki pull up the crash mats from outside the ring and expose the floor, (but this is a league), and in the event of things it was Kitamiya who drove his knees into it.
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This match was brute force, full of chops, kicks, elbows and slams (perhaps the most technical thing you got was Masa Kitamiya's "Prison Lock" submission". This was not a technical match, this was a test of endurance and strength.
The crowd were on fire.

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the Gowan Lariat (25 minutes, 23 seconds)

After the match Go Shiozaki cut an emotional promo thanking everyone for coming today. He also said that this is Noah, and at the center of it was Go Shiozaki,

NOAH'S NEXT SHOW: Friday September 6th
ATTENDANCE: 835
WITH THANKS TO: Metal Noah, Abeshin
GIF CREDIT: Noah GHC 

Before Noah chop it up, you may be able to catch the full event here from their official YouTube channel
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(NOAH) EVENT RECAP ~ N-1 VICTORY, NIGHT 5 (TAKAMATSU SYMBOL TOWER EXHIBITION HALL, 24TH AUGUST 2019)

8/24/2019

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Noah had a long drive (about seven hours) from Kumamoto to Takamatsu, Shikoku, where unsurprisingly most of the roster (save Takashi Sugiura, who couldn't sleep, and Atsushi Kotoge who photographed a cute dog), fell asleep. It's not surprising given how grueling and intense this short tour has been. After today's show its a short 2 -3 hours drive to Osaka (Mohammed Yone is sad as it means he can't eat udon noodles), and from there back to Tokyo, and for the majority of the roster (except those appearing in TAKAYAMANIA on Monday), it is three days off until N-1 resumes again on the 29th. ​
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Neither of the Shikoku boys (Junta Miyawaki who's hometown Takamatsu is, and Kenoh, who is from a town about an hour away, Tokushima aka "this fucking countryside"), appeared in the fan events today, with Takashi Sugiura on autograph duty, and Kaito Kiyomiya and HAYATA appearing for the fan club pictures. Kiyomiya looked a lot more relaxed than HAYATA.

MATCH ONE
Hi69 & Junta Miyawaki vs NOSAWA Rongai & Kinya Okada
WINNER: Junta Miyawaki with the Arm Criss-Cross on Kinya Okada (11 minutes, 35 seconds)

MATCH TWO
Go Shiozaki, Akitoshi Saito & Hitoshi Kumano vs 50 Funky Powers (Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm) & Masao Inoue.

Handshake between Dark Agents, but this didn't stop Inoue getting the worst of his opponents (Shiozaki even chopped him when he fell in a heap in the corner), but MASAO WORLD managed to fight back...for a bit...with the wind up punch.

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the short range Gowan lariat on Masao Inoue (10 minutes, 43 seconds) 

MATCH THREE
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, Kotaro Suzuki, Atsushi Kotoge & Chris Ridgeway) vs RATELS (HAYATA, Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke & YO-HEY)

"Collecting shoes every night"

Another blurry fast paced match (a YO-HEY dive over the top rop), and Daisuke Harada getting his revenge on Chris Ridgeway by torturing his ankle outside the ring this time.
However, later in the match, Ridgeway got hold of a chair again and battered Harada with it, and for the third night in a row Harada had his boot removed and his ankle tortured (and Ridgeway swinging the chair at Harada caused the match to be restarted).
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There is only so far that Harada can be pushed, and he threw one of his tantrums (although he didn't throw anything or kick anything this time), and started battering Ridgeway with the chair, and then later trapped him under it while he sat on it.

The match was restarted three times:
1. Mass brawl with the two legal men, Atsushi Kotoge & Tadasuke getting counted out (1 minute, 25 seconds)
2. Chris Ridgeway hit Daisuke Harada with a chair (1 minute, 16 seconds)
3. Chris Ridgeway hit Daisuke Harada with a chair (12 minutes, 7 seconds)

MATCH FOUR
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Hajime Ohara) & El Hijo de Dr Wagner Jnr vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura)

El Hijo de Dr Wagner Jnr took the fight to Kongoh, knocking Kenoh off of the top turnbuckle with what appeared to be a roundhouse kick, and squaring off with Masa Kitamiya.

WINNER: Takashi Sugiura with the Olympic Slam on Yoshiki Inamura (14 minutes, 55 seconds)

Afterwards when his team posed for the win, Sugiura stood with his mouthguard looking like a cigar. Like. A. Boss.
​
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​MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya & Alex Hammerstone vs Naomichi Marufuji & Minoru Tanaka 

"The team of champions, Kiyomiya and Hammerstone"

Hammerstone got chopped by Marufuji, while Kiyomiya was tortured by Minoru Tanaka (who it looks like did his Fireball splash too). I think there was also some kind of test of strength between Marufuji and Hammerstone. Sadly, I don't have too many details on this match.

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Tiger Suplex on Minoru Tanaka (13 minutes, 6 seconds)

MATCH SIX
N-1 VICTORY
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Shuhei Taniguchi

Nakajima had spent most of the past week winding Taniguchi up, and he did this also in the match by doing his usual grin and the rope choke where he poses for pictures for fans.
Taniguchi, however, swore that he would not lose, and kicked out the Vertical Spike at 2. I don't really have too many details on the match itself, but fans are saying that it was intense.

WINNER: Time out draw

NEXT NOAH EVENT: 25th August, Osaka Edion Arena 2
ATTENDANCE: 247
WITH THANKS TO: Peke Poko, Ehime Yosuke, Nodapooh
PICTURE CREDIT: Noah GHC
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(NOAH) EVENT RECAP ~ N-1 VICTORY, NIGHT 4 (KUMAMOTO CITY DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION HALL, KUMAMOTO, 23RD AUGUST 2019)

8/23/2019

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​Kumamoto is Go Shiozaki's hometown, and naturally, he was on autograph duty. There was a long line to greet him, and when he got in the ring for his match he was given flowers.

After the event Akitoshi Saito thanked everyone for coming and (in one of his poetic moments) said, "thank you for the heat that chased away the rain".

I am afraid that it is another one of those times when I don't really have too much information on the opening matches aside from results, and then information on others is sporadic (for example, I don't have much info on the main event, or what Go Shiozaki said on the microphone afterwards).

MATCH ONE
The Return of The Dark Agents (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue) vs Hitoshi Kumano & Junta Miyawaki.
WINNER: Akitoshi Saito with the Suicludees on Junta Miyawaki (8 minutes, 12 seconds)

MATCH TWO
Hi69 & Minoru Tanaka vs The Sugiura Army (NOSAWA Rongai & Kinya Okada)
WINNER: Minoru Tanaka with the Arm criss-cross on Kinya Okada (8 minutes, 44 seconds)
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​MATCH THREE
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura, KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Hajime Ohara) vs 50 Funky Powers (Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm) & Sonico

Fast paced match, and as Hajime Ohara seems to like carrying a towel to the ring, he has now the "Sugiura Army\Company Dog" one, which he proudly displays.

One fan noticed that following a spot to the outside of the ring on Hajime Ohara, Sonico appeared to be injured on landing. Noah later announced that he had suffered a sprained ankle (so hopefully nothing too serious), he says himself that with ice, rest and "watching the best wrestlers in the world", he will get better. There have been a lot of well wishes from fans for his recovery. 

WINNER: Hajime Ohara with the Mui Bien on Sonico (11 minutes, 9 seconds)

MATCH FOUR
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, Kotaro Suzuki, Atsushi Kotoge & Chris Ridgeway) vs RATELS (HAYATA, Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke & YO-HEY)

"I stole a belt & shoe & a SMILE"
(Chris Ridgeway. One fan said that one of Harada's boots signed by him would be a good thing).

Mass brawl outside the ring, both teams so intent on laying into each other that no one seemed to notice the bell. Not that this match lasted for long.
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​Daisuke Harada had his ankle attacked again by Chris Ridgeway. Ridgeway also attacked his leg with a chair (which got him disqualified), and then when Harada was on the floor after being battered with it, sat and laughed at him.

WINNER: Daisuke Harada due to Chris Ridgeway getting disqualified for using a chair (1 minute, 24 seconds)
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​Both fans, RATELS and STINGER requested that the match be restarted, which led a much longer match (13 minutes, 16 seconds) to a double count out between Atsushi Kotoge & Tadasuke.
Outside the ring, Ridgeway again took off Harada's left boot (which he apparently stole later), and then tortured his bare foot again.

Judging by the blurry pictures taken by fans, the match seemed to be another one done at the speed of light.

MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya, Shuhei Taniguchi & Alex Hammerstone vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura)

Except for Kenoh and Kiyomiya, this was a proper hoss match when Hammerstone and Taniguchi collided with Kitamiya and Inamura.
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Naturally at the start, Kenoh started yelling at Kaito Kiyomiya, with Yoshiki Inamura (whose Mohawk appears to be growing as much as he is) attempting to get between them.

WINNER: Alex Hammerstone with the Pendulum Nightmare on Yoshiki Inamura (14 minutes, 23 seconds)

MATCH SIX
N-1 VICTORY
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs El Hijo de Dr Wagner Jnr

KUMAXIZ team member, Hitoshi Kumano (who is kind of like their mascot bear) came out to second Katsuhiko Nakajima today.

There was something of a size difference today...but that didn't stop Nakajima from shaking his hand when Hijo held it up (it looked like he was going to touch the ceiling) and saying, "Welcome to Kumamoto".

WINNER: El Hijo de Dr Wagner Jnr with the moonsault (16 minutes, 16 seconds)
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MATCH SEVEN

N-1 VICTORY
Naomichi Marufuji vs Go Shiozaki

"A match between favorite wrestlers is always bittersweet"

Naturally, this match (which has been called one of the best of the singles between them, and the match of the evening) was a hardhitting chopfest.

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the lariat (27 minutes and 54 seconds)

Naomichi Marufuji said that despite the two losses (Kitamiya and now Shiozaki), he is not going to give up, and is looking ahead to the next tournament, which is in Takamatsu.
Against Kaito Kiyomiya and Alex Hammerstone.

"A win in local Kumamoto over Naomichi Marufuji. 
I got a victory at last
Noah's heart is me"
(Go Shiozaki)
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NOAH'S NEXT SHOW: Saturday 24th August 2019, Takamatsu
ATTENDANCE: 386 (overcrowded)
WITH THANKS TO: Susie Creamcheese, Phantom, Shin-g, Kapibara1210,  
PICTURE CREDIT: Noah GHC, Chris Ridgeway, Atsushi Kotoge
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(NOAH) EVENT RECAP ~ N-1 VICTORY, NIGHT 3 (OITA EVENT HALL, OITA, 2019)

8/21/2019

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"Noah for the first time in 7.8 years! The last time I saw it in Fukuoka, I came to see Trevor Murdoch."
​

Noah continued their journey to Japan's warm south by visiting Oita today.
During the day, Takashi Sugiura filmed Masao Inoue eating (and then wondered why it was fans thought these videos were cute, when Inoue is an old gout ridden man), Daisuke Harada took the Sonic train and went to the countryside to visit his ancestors, and the rest if RATELS went on a wander through the city.
Atsushi Kotoge apparently went shopping.

I am afraid that I don't have too much information on some of today's show, and in some cases have been only able to present results.

MATCH ONE
The Sugiura Army (KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Hajime Ohara) vs Hi69 & Minoru Tanaka
WINNER: Hajime Ohara with the Mui Bien on Hi69 (9 minutes, 42 seconds)

Hajime Ohara left the ring proudly carrying the "Company Dog" towel high.
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MATCH TWO
The Return of The Dark Agents (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue) w\ Junta Miyawaki vs 50 Funky Powers (Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm) w\ Sonico
WINNER: Quiet Storm with 50 CM Lariat on Junta Miyawaki (9 minutes, 57 seconds)

MATCH THREE
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Kinya Okada) vs Kongoh (Kenoh & Yoshiki Inamura)

This is the first time that Kenoh and Yoshiki Inamura have tagged together, and it may be the first time that Okada has tagged with Sugiura. Yoshiki Inamura is well on the way to carving out his own style, but Okada is sadly lagging a little behind, and it showed. At the start of the match Sugiura squared up to Kenoh and Inamura (Kenoh in particular though), while Okada, who I don't think really knew what to do, stayed in their corner looking on.
At one point during the match both Kenoh and Sugiura had each other in the ankle lock.

WINNER: Yoshiki Inamura with The Boston Crab on Kinya Okada (13 minutes, 44 seconds)

There was apparently an altercation between Kenoh and Sugiura after the match, (I think Sugiura might have tried to give him an elbow to the face), and Kenoh being Kenoh stamped off while Yoshiki Inamura was having his arm raised in the ring.
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MATCH FOUR
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, Kotaro Suzuki, Atsushi Kotoge & Chris Ridgeway) vs RATELS (HAYATA, Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke & YO-HEY)

"What is scary about STINGER is that Yoshinari Ogawa is appearing in the front-line as an active leader".

Usual melee brawl before the match, HAYATA, YO-HEY & Tadasuke stamping down Chris Ridgeway, while Kotaro Suzuki attacked Daisuke Harada (who hadn't taken his RATELS jacket off yet).
Ridgeway again went after Harada's ankle, and stamped on it when the bare foot was exposed.

WINNER: Neither, Chris Ridgeway and Daisuke Harada were counted out (15 minutes, 25 seconds)

After the match, Kotoge made a somewhat excitable post on Twitter saying, "Thank you Oita! STINGER is strong! Strong even when apart! Everyone is strong! LOL other than me!"

Tadasuke remains hopeful of victory against STINGER in Kumamoto
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MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya, Shuhei Taniguchi & Alex Hammerstone vs KUMAXIZ (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Go Shiozaki & Hitoshi Kumano)

Taniguchi seemed to get the worse from KUMAXIZ today (especially Nakajima who was intent on winding him up), and he found himself caught between the infamous chop\kick sandwich.
One fan said that the "violent" interactions came from AXIZ, Taniguchi and Hammerstone, Kiyomiya as a result was somewhat weak in presence by it.

Fans hope that Hammerstone will continue participating in Noah.

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with The Tiger Suplex on Hitoshi Kumano (15 minutes, 21 seconds)

MATCH SIX
N-1 VICTORY
Masaaki Mochizuki vs El Hijo de Dr Wagner Jnr

El Hijo de Wagner Junior was said to have pulled out a lot of techniques against Masaaki Mochizuki.

WINNER: Masaaki Mochizuki with the Rotating Cross (12 minutes, 45 seconds)
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MATCH SEVEN
N-1 VICTORY
Naomichi Marufuji vs Masa Kitamiya.

Marufuji offered a handshake before the match, I am unsure of whether Kitamiya accepted it, slapped it away or swore at him.

The match was not won by Marufuji's Key Lock or Kitamiya's Prison Lock (and they did use both), but neither was going to tap out. This match had to be won by either pinfall or knock out.

WINNER: Masa Kitamiya with The Saito Suplex (20 minutes, 36 seconds)

Marufuji wrote after the match, "...lost. The loss with these many people is tough. It is vs Shiozaki in Kumamoto the day after tomorrow."
In his usual stoic style, Masa Kitamiya simply wrote his schedule of opponents and the results.
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Shiozaki is unbeatable in local Kumamoto!
However, Marufuji cannot be thought of as giving up!
Will it be a time-out draw?"
​

NOAH'S NEXT SHOW: Kumamoto Distribution Information Hall, 23rd August, 2019
ATTENDANCE: 343 (full house)
WITH THANKS TO: BB, KO-JI, Michy, 
PICTURE CREDIT: Noah GHC, Quiet Storm, PKDX
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(NOAH) EVENT RECAP ~ N-1 VICTORY, NIGHT 2 (ACROSS FUKOKA, FUKOKA, TUESDAY AUGUST 20TH 2019)

8/20/2019

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​"In each official N-1 VICTORY match, each wrestler fought for the win! But, it's just getting started, and I don't know which wrestler will win!"
Noah decorated the venue beautifully today with a big curtain which had the N-1 official picture on it which made it very striking as it hung behind the ring. It looked really impressive when the venue lights were dimmed, and a single spotlight was shone on it. 

There was a long line of people to see Katsuhiko Nakajima at the merchandise booth. He was videoed signing of the "YES" towel, and then holding it up and grinning.

MATCH ONE 
Yoshiki Inamura vs Kinya Okada

The two rookies turned rivals, Yoshiki Inamura (the ever growing tank from "Kongoh"\"THE TOUGH") and his classmate, Kinya Okada ("The Sugiura Army") opened the show.

WINNER: Yoshiki Inamura with the Boston Crab (8 minutes, 33 seconds)

MATCH TWO
Junta Miyawaki vs Sonico

Fast moving match, which Miyawaki (not a Lucha wrestler), managed to pretty much keep pace in and at one point doing a dive to the outside (not a moonsault or anything though, although it was top rope).

WINNER: Sonico with the AMF (8 minutes, 8 seconds)
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MATCH THREE
The Return of The Dark Agents (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue) & Hi69 vs The Sugiura Army (KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Hajime Ohara) & El Hijo de Dr Wagner Jnr.

Contrary to popular belief and internet rumor, El Hijo de Dr Wagner Jnr has not joined The Sugiura Army, although he is teaming a lot with them outside of his N-1 matches.

Masao Inoue's battle began before the bell went. He had to take his t-shirt off.

WINNER: El Hijo de Wagner Jnr with the Wagner Slam on Hi69 (9 minutes, 31 seconds)

MATCH FOUR
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, Kotaro Suzuki, Atsushi Kotoge & Chris Ridgeway) vs RATELS (HAYATA, Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke & YO-HEY)

When YO-HEY had ditched RATELS for STINGER earlier this year, RATELS developed a tandem move whereby they lifted YO-HEY into the air and threw him, they kind of did the same today with Kotoge when YO-HEY & Tadasuke lifted him.

The focus today seemed to be Kotoge vs primarily Tadasuke and then YO-HEY (at one point he got them in a double rope choke), with Daisuke Harada concentrating more on Chris Ridgeway, and HAYATA filling in the gaps.
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At the end of the match when Chris Ridgeway got Daisuke Harada in the ankle lock, someone (most likely Yoshinari Ogawa) draped the IPW Junior Heavyweight belt over Ridgeway's shoulder.
Ridgeway had a big smile on his face as Harada screamed, and then tapped out. 

​WINNER: Chris Ridgeway with the Ankle Hold on Daisuke Harada (11 minutes, 17 seconds)

MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya & Alex Hammerstone vs 50 Funky Powers (Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm).

Alex Hammerstone (who one fan said thought he looked a little like Gellert Grindelwald from "Fantastic Beasts") continued his dominance in Noah by showing that he is not only very strong, he is also very agile for a man of his size. He manhandled Mohammed Yone, and gave 50 Funky Powers a massive lariat.

WINNER: Alex Hammerstone with the Pendulum Nightmare on Quiet Storm (8 minutes, 57 seconds)

After the match, the two champions held up their belts to each other.
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MATCH SIX
Kumaxiz (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Go Shiozaki & Hitoshi Kumano) vs Naomichi Marufuji, Masaaki Mochizuki & Minoru Tanaka.

Minoru Tanaka said he enjoyed this match, as teaming with Marufuji was a lot of fun.
After the match, Marufuji (the youngest by about ten years on his team), joked that he was very careful with the two seniors.

AXIZ were reunited today, and came out as per usual with the GHC Heavyweight tag belts and the dark sinister jackets (which shed black feathers)

Go Shiozaki's woes did not end yesterday when Hammerstone threw him around, Naomichi Marufuji decided to use a ring barrier on him today when the fight went outside the ring.

Hitoshi Kumano got the brunt of it from the opposition, and although he said he was in a lot of pain (his chin and chest), he got to wrestle Masaaki Mochizuki, which he said he was grateful to the N-1 for. He has vowed to work on his body so he can absorb more kicks easily.

WINNER: Masaaki Mochizuki with the Triangular Kick on Hitoshi Kumano (15 minutes, 21 seconds)
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MATCH SEVEN
N-1 VICTORY
Kenoh vs Shuhei Taniguchi

Shuhei Taniguchi had the advantage today standing 6ft to Kenoh's 5'9, and outweighing him by about 136kg, but Kenoh, as outnumbered as he was by (fractional) size and weight, took Taniguchi down despite the Wyvern clutch and the lariats, with strong kicks to the legs.

WINNER: Kenoh with the diving footstamp (12 minutes, 51 seconds)

Afterwards Shuhei Taniguchi wrote something on Twitter afterwards that indicated either a concussion or else he was drunk.

MATCH EIGHT
N-1 VICTORY
Takashi Sugiura vs Masa Kitamiya

Brutal match which was not an easy fight for either competitor, and it came very close to going to a time out draw before Sugiura got the win at the last moment.
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WINNER: Takashi Sugiura with the Front Neck Lock, referee stop (17 minutes, 51 seconds)


After the match Sugiura spoke on the microphone and after thanking everyone for coming said, "the league started in Osaka..."
It actually started in Nagoya. Sugi apologized for the mistake on Twitter, saying that he was dazed after the big match.

Masa Kitamiya went back to the drawing board, and listed his remaining dates and matches.

"It was really fun! There were many gaijin who I have never seen, and they are really good, Taniguchi is awake, and above all Pro Wrestling is serious!!! Weekeday nevertheless, I am very satisfied!!! Thank you very much"

NOAH'S NEXT EVENT: August 21st,  Oita Event Hall, Oita.
ATTENDANCE: 356 people
WITH THANKS TO: Yui, SixTONES, Phantomu, Tōhō Fuhai, Teika, Iftybb,     
PICTURE CREDIT: Noah GHC, PKDX
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(NOAH) EVENT RECAP ~ N-1 VICTORY, NIGHT 1 (NAGOYA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTER, SUNDAY AUGUST 18TH 2019)

8/18/2019

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​"It was maybe more than ten years ago when I came to Noah last"

Old fans are coming back to Noah.

Noah held the inauguration of the very first "elite" heavyweight league, the "N-1 VICTORY" today. House was not sold out, but it was full, and the crowd was excited.

Some local children gave a karate demonstration in the ring before the event started (Noah usually have a demonstration of some sort going on beforehand, sometimes they let the local children play in the ring, and very often Yoshinari Ogawa holds classes for the roster in technique which everyone, no matter what level, benefits from). They were later joined by Katsuhiko Nakajima, (his background is in Karate, which is part of the reason why he was often at odds with KENTA who did kickboxing).
I'm not exactly sure what he said, but it looks like Nakajima gave some kind of speech.
Speaking of children, after the event a little girl (fourth grade) gave Naomichi Marufuji a handmade card which said that she came to see Noah today for the first time and had a lot of fun.

Mohammed Yone celebrates 25 years in wrestling today.

I am afraid that today was a day of lots of pictures, but not too much saying what was going on, so I have only been able in some cases to give a result, and in others elaborate a little more.

Event will be broadcast on Samurai on Sunday August 25th at 10pm JST.
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​Opening ceremony
As per tradition, the competitors came out to the ring as their names were announced. Everyone was wearing N-1 t-shirts, and they lined up in their respective blocks.
As far as I know everyone managed to behave themselves, there was no arguments or squaring up, Kenoh swearing and stamping off, or Marufuji winding him up by holding the ropes open for him.

MATCH ONE
The Sugiura Army (KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Kinya Okada) vs Junta Miyawaki & Sonico

Not really too much to say about the opening I am afraid, except it was a good match (and Okada and SAKAMOTO wore the dog t-shirts)

WINNER: KAZMA SAKAMOTO with the Pop-Up-Powerbomb on Sonico (5 minutes, 58 seconds)

Sound problems occurred and the event was delayed a little, fortunately it was sorted out quickly.
Atsushi Kotoge was seen peeping out of the curtain during the downtime.

MATCH TWO
STINGER (Atsushi Kotoge & Chris Ridgeway) vs RATELS (Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke)

Atsushi Kotoge is noted to have some weight now that he has become a junior again, and he was semi-hyper again today. He seemed to suddenly cheer up when going to the ring.

Kotoge got the win over Tadasuke, while Ridgeway held Harada outside the ring in a headlock.

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Kill Switch on Tadasuke (10 minutes, 20 seconds)

In his backstage interview, a much happier looking Atsushi Kotoge said that STINGERS goal is to have all the junior belts.
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MATCH THREE
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Hajime Ohara) & El Hijo de Doctor Wagner Jnr vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura)

Wagner Jnr did not wear a Sugira Army t-shirt (he's doesn't have to as he is not a member), but Hajime Ohara was overheard to be speaking to him in Spanish. Hajime Ohara has always been "Noah's treasure", but for the fans today this raised him even further in many peoples eyes.

The match started with the N-1 participants, Sugiura and Kitamiya, having a fierce fight. Sugiura came to the ring with his "I'm going to fuck your shit up" face on, and he got a serious kicking from Kenoh outside the ring later in the match.

WINNER: El Hijo De Wagner Jnr with the Wagner Slam on Yoshiki Inamura (14 minutes, 32 seconds)

MATCH FOUR
GHC JUNIOR TAG CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki) vs Hi69 & Minoru Tanaka

WINNER: Kotaro Suzuki with the Tiger Driver on Minoru Suzuki (13 minutes and 39 seconds) 

After the match, Ogawa said that it would be interesting to defend against Chris Ridgeway and Atsushi Kotoge if there are no immediate challengers.
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MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya, Shuhei Taniguchi, The Return of The Dark Agents (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue), and Hitoshi Kumano vs Naomichi Marufuji, 50 Funky Powers (Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm), YO-HEY & HAYATA

Big fan expectation for Shuhei Taniguchi.

Naomichi Marufuji did the usual bounce into the ring, BUT he ignored Kaito Kiyomiya and headed straight for Taniguchi to square up to. Later, he chopped Masao Inoue. However, he couldn't ignore Kiyomiya forever as he had to face him in the ring, and Kiyomiya sent him flying with a top rope dropkick.
At one point outside the ring, YO-HEY was overheard asking Marufuji if he was okay.

With so many people in the ring, there were naturally brawls breaking out everywhere, and there was one going on outside the ring between Kiyomiya and Marufuji as the bell went.

WINNER: Shuhei Taniguchi with the Wyvern Catch on Mohammed Yone (15 minutes, 58 seconds)

After the match Kiyomiya held up the belt to Marufuji (probably the first time he's even been mildly rude to him), Taniguchi (who was standing just opposite Marufuji) looked up too.
Kiyomiya looked smug!!
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In his post match interview, Kiyomiya showed even more how he has changed and grown from a slightly nervous and overly polite boy, to a manifestly nasty and budding trouble making champion with a growing manipulative mean streak, to say that he was enjoying being surrounded by enemies, it stimulated him.
His facial expression was also smug and demonic, showing how much he was enjoying stirring them up, and watching them fight.

Taniguchi's comment was simply that he would win and challenge for the belt.

MATCH SIX
N-1 VICTORY
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Masaaki Mochizuki

"Nakajima got up first from the double knockdown and won by KO. I got goosebumps!"

Their last singles match was ten years ago (Nakajima later said that their next would be in ten years time in 2029, Mochizuki said by that time he would be 59!)

This was said to be a good opener for the league.
Naturally in the opening moments, it started with Nakajima kicking Mochizuki in the head, and there was a kick war between them that have been described as "shivers" in the ring.
Nakajima was his usual grinning evilly self.

The match finished with a double kick and they both knocked each other out at the same time, it was Nakajima who managed to get to his feet first.

WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima by KO (17 minutes, 22 seconds)

Afterwards, Nakajima did the usual "worship me" pose inside and outside the ring.
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MATCH SEVEN
N-1 VICTORY
Go Shiozaki vs Alex Hammerstone

Alex Hammerstone made his debut today in Noah, and came out wearing the National Openweight Championship belt, shades and white ripped jeans. He did not disappoint.

Go Shiozaki is heavily taped around his left shoulder and elbow, which makes me wonder if the problem that has kept him out twice earlier this year is going to flare up again.

I am afraid that I don't have too many details on this match (my Twitter feed and the Noah GHC hashtag went dead for the duration), but the crowd were said to be on fire throughout it.
Hammerstone's punches were commented on it, one fan calling them a "straight punch" with a lot of power behind them.

WINNER: Alex Hammerstone with the Pendulum Nightmare (17 minutes, 10 seconds)

NOAH'S NEXT SHOW: 20th August 2019, Fukuoka 
ATTENDANCE: 618
WITH THANKS TO: Shiyun, Nomu Sandā, iwasborn1, Seikichi, Koji Yoshimura, Mari
PICTURE CREDIT: Noah GHC
GIF CREDIT: Noah GHC
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(NOAH) "NOAH THE SPIRIT" ~ EVENT REPORT (16TH AUGUST 2019, KASUKABE CONTACT CUBE, KASUKABE, SAITAMA)

8/16/2019

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"Now, a summer full of NOAH excitement begins"
Go Shiozaki

Noah returned from a long summer break (filled with drunken RATELS barbecues, Masao Inoue wilting in the heat and looking "sad and middle aged" according to Tokyo Sports, Atsushi Kotoge and Katsuhiko Nakajima heading to the countryside and Kaito Kiyomiya doing promotional work),  held their interim show before the N-1 VICTORY begins, today to a sold out crowd.

A long queue formed of Noah's Ark Fanclub members to have their pictures taken with HAYATA, and another long queue formed for people to have their merchandise signed by Go Shiozaki. Shiozaki looked a lot more at ease meeting people than HAYATA, who was very nervous, and kept doing his nervous habit of brushing his hair out of his face.

Although not appearing on the card, Alex Hammerstone and Dr Wagner Jnr (who arrived in Noah yesterday) were seen to be watching the event from the back.
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MATCH ONE
Hitoshi Kumano vs Sonico

Sonico made his first appearance in Noah today. I don't think the crowd really knew what to expect, and he was a lot bigger than they expected (and he didn't have his serpents tongue).
Hitoshi Kumano also appears to have blue hair...

WINNER: Hitoshi Kumano with the Argentine Backbreaker (9 minutes, 25 seconds)

MATCH TWO
Fifty Funky Powers (Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm) vs The Return of The Dark Agents (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue)

Masao Inoue's fight started before the bell even rang. In fact it started the moment he got into the ring.
He got into a fight with his t-shirt.
Then there was a test of strength with Quiet Storm....

WINNER: Quiet Storm with the Funky Buster Bomb on Masao Inoue (10 minutes, 8 seconds) 

MATCH THREE
Hi69 & Minoru Tanaka vs The Sugiura Army (Hajime Ohara & Kinya Okada)

Hajime Ohara entered with the Sugiura Army "Yip-Yip Company Dog" towel. Throughout the match he was seen to be giving advice to the rookie Okada, and as for the entry of Hi69 & Minoru Tanaka, it has been noted that their theme music has changed a bit.

WINNER: Hi69 with the arm cross on Kinya Okada (10 minutes, 50 seconds)

After the match Tanaka and Hi69 made championship belt motions.
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MATCH FOUR
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, Kotaro Suzuki, Atsushi Kotoge & Chris Ridgeway) vs RATELS (HAYATA, Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke & YO-HEY)

"It's just the beginning"
Tadasuke

Atsushi Kotoge introduced new ringwear today, and in keeping with the more somber style of STINGER (Chris Ridgeway says that the name must be written all in caps), he was dressed in dark clothes with just a little hint of pink.

The match was said to be a very fast paced one, so much so that fans said pictures were near impossible to take. The action got going when the bell was still vibrating after being rung, both teams not wasting a moment to lay into each other...and crazy Tadasuke also made an appearance.
The moment the bell rang with its chimes still in the air, Kotoge attacked Harada.

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Killswitch on Daisuke Harada (14 minutes, 21 seconds)

After the match, Atsushi Kotoge said in the interview that people were "tired of watching the camaraderie​ of RATELS".

MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya & Junta Miyawaki vs THE TOUGH\KONGOH (Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura)

"Noah's new scenery in green and orange"

Kaito Kiyomiya and Junta Miyawaki teamed up to take on fellow Noah born Yoshiki Inamura, who was with THE TOUGH partner, Masa Kitamiya.
Miyawaki used a lot of judo techniques, and at one point he and Kiyomiya used a double submission on Kitamiya.

WINNER: Masa Kitamiya with the Saito Suplex on Junta Miyawaki (14 minutes, 32 seconds)

After the match Masa Kitamiya spoke on the microphone to say that he would win the N-1.
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MATCH SIX
Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura & Go Shiozaki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima, Shuhei Taniguchi & Kenoh

N-1 VICTORY A block vs B block

The atmosphere was said to be really special, and like the start of dramatic play with, "all the actors in place". Probably a somewhat foul mouthed play, as Kenoh apparently started swearing at Marufuji, and Marufuji just laughed at him. Kenoh did not appreciate the audience cheering for Marufuji either.  
Happily enough, it also looked like the event was being filmed for Noah's YouTube channel...

Kenoh declared on Twitter that EVERYONE in this match was an enemy, and it seemed that AXIZ were the only civil participants as they shook hands before the match (and everyone came out to their own theme music, which did not set the mood of a team on either side). The handshake, however, didn't stop Shiozaki (who is taped again) from giving Nakajima the machine gun chops though (the record incidentally belongs to Kenta Kobashi, who once gave someone something like 200). The resulting red rash on Nakajima's chest stretched from his neck to his mid chest. Shiozaki later complained to the ref when Nakajima did his choke on the ropes when grinning to Marufuji.
Nakajima later posted about being chopped, "Painful! Painful! Painful!"
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Hitoshi Kumano is not the only one to have dyed his hair, Naomichi Marufuji has changed the sides of his head from red to blonde.
And it was apparently, very blonde.

Kenoh and Nakajima once teamed up for one night (and one night only) as a team, and they were named by fans "Kick Tag", and tonight they were back together again, kicking the forty-nine year old Takashi Sugiura between them.
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Shuhei Taniguchi was the one who showed the most momentum in this match (fans said he "woke up"), ignoring Kenoh when he demanded the tag, taking advantage of his size and power, to throw around Marufuji, lariat both himself and Shiozaki, and then and subdue Takashi Sugiura after Sugi had taken the kicks.

WINNER: Shuhei Taniguchi with the Wyvern Catch on Takashi Sugiura (24 minutes 2 seconds)

Yes. You read that right.
Noah's resident porn loving Terminator, tapped out.

Taniguchi made a typically short promo on the microphone after the match, by simply saying that he would win the N-1 (and then thanking everyone for coming today).
Takashi Sugiura said later, "so you got an unexpected win...wait until the N-1 final".

NOAH'S NEXT EVENT: Sunday 18th August 2018, Opening night of N-1 VICTORY, Nagoya
ATTENDANCE: 294 people (full house)
WITH THANKS TO: Maki, Atsuka, Hae, MK Bomber, Naoki, iwasborn, Kei, Lily, Shikazu,       PICTURE CREDIT: Katsuhiko Nakajima, PKDX, Noah GHC, Naomichi Marufuji ​
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Start SummerSlam weekend with Wrestlers Union THURSDAY in Toronto

8/5/2019

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Start SummerSlam weekend with Wrestlers Union THURSDAY in Toronto

The Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers returns at The Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave in Toronto, Ontario on Thursday, August 8 featuring Josh Alexander, RJ City, Space Monkey, Shane Sabre, Addy Starr, and UNION Heavyweight champion Anthony Kingdom defending against Kevin Blackwood.  

Tickets and info available at WrestlersUnion.ca. See the teaser: bit.ly/unionslam

With the world’s leading professional wrestling company bringing their biggest event of Summer to Toronto, the Toronto owned-and-operated UNION of INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL WRESTLERS will showcase some of Canada’s best homegrown talent to local and visiting pro wrestling fanatics THIS Thursday night!

Join a night of cold beers and hot fights at The Tranzac Club (292 Brunswick Ave near Bloor and Spadina) with  “Never Say Never”, a six-fight extravaganza full of hard-hitting, high-flying, no hold barred action.

Doors open 8:30 p.m., bell time 9 p.m.!  Tickets on sale NOW at WrestlersUnion.ca!  $20 for General Admission and only $35 for VIP Front Row (including 8 p.m. entry with an exclusive match and a free Union t-shirt)!

Follow UNION on Twitter/Instagram @wrestlers_union!

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(NOAH) 19TH ANNIVERSARY ~ EVENT RECAP (3RD AUGUST 2019, KORAKUEN HALL, TOKYO)

8/4/2019

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​Noah held their 19th anniversary show at Korakuen Hall in the heat of summer today in the mid morning. It wasn't a sold out crowd, but it was a full house with the usual excited and exuberant crowd.

It was announced on the 2nd August that Harley Race had passed away.
Race had strong connections with Noah which stretched back to before the company was founded due to his time in All Japan, which led to his friendship with Mitsuharu Misawa. During the Golden Era, Noah wrestlers would attend the training camp in Eldon, Missouri, while the wrestlers from WLW\Harley Race's Training Academy, would likewise come to Noah. I'm not sure for how long he retained the position, but after Joe Higuchi's death in November 2010, he was created the chairman of the GHC Heavyweight Championship committee.
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​Akira Taue (making a rare appearance for Noah) did the honors of holding the picture in the ring while a ten bell salute was sounded for him as the roster lined up around outside. Touchingly, Naomichi Marufuji (who Harley Race had called his "Japanese Son"), had kept the dimes that Race had once given him.
During the interval it was announced that Keiji Mutoh would be appearing at Noah's Edion Arena Osaka show. Later on Twitter, Kaito Kiyomiya said that he hoped for a tag with Mutoh, and that there would be another person appearing in Osaka...but it seems that there would be more than one person, Noah have announced it will be a six man tag, and so far only Kiyomiya and Mutoh have been announced. The rest are "X"...
Kenta Kobashi also came out in the interval and talked about Noah's founding event nineteen years ago. I have to say, it was painful watching him get out of the ring afterwards, as Kobashi seems not frail now (not like Akira Taue), but less mobile.

MATCH ONE
50 Funky Powers (Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm) & YO-HEY vs Hi69, Hitoshi Kumano & Junta Miyawaki.

Energetic opener to start the show. As predicted, YO-HEY did do the "Disco Fever" pose, but not at the beginning. At the beginning he did his odd pose with his palms facing down which makes him look like he needs an umbrella to dance round with. He did "Disco Fever" briefly at the end of the match, Yone caught him, he denied it, and in any case he came out dancing to their theme music.

WINNER: YO-HEY with the Face G on Junta Miyawaki (5 minutes, 40 seconds)

MATCH TWO
Yoshinari Ogawa vs Atsushi Kotoge vs RATELS (Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke).

As soon as they entered the hall, RATELS attacked, Harada targeting Atsushi Kotoge (who does look to have lost a lot of weight, but still looks somewhat dead-eyed) who he practically threw around the arena and at one point giving him a brain-buster on a pile of chairs that he had thrown on the floor. However, this was not going to be the last time that Harada would throw chairs that evening. It should also be noted that Kotoge did not enter wearing a cape, or do any "Revolutionary" activities (Stinger do not encourage such things, and Ogawa has made his feelings clear in the past about the cape by wiping his feet on it and throwing it away).
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​Outside the ring, Tadasuke fought Ogawa, and YO-HEY (who had stayed to second RATELS) even got in on the action with Ogawa throwing him into the iron barrier. Pity referee Ben and Seiya Morohashi in trying to keep control in this one, in what looked like a fight in the playground at some point.

Despite the furious beat down he was getting from Harada (who isn't happy about Kotoge thinking he can abandon the juniors for the hated heavyweights and then come back, playing "weird characters" and wanting belts), Kotoge managed to get the sneak win...

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with a kid clutch on Daisuke Harada (10 minutes, 22 seconds)
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​Daisuke Harada threw an epic tantrum on Kotoge winning, throwing chairs and attacking him, and having to be held back by Tadasuke and YO-HEY. Harada managed to escape their clutches (after a few more chair throws) and attack Kotoge in the ring.
Tadasuke and YO-HEY managed to remove him from it as Kotoge watched from the turnbuckle, and was helped down by Ogawa. Ogawa later announced that Kotoge had joined Stinger, which will now set him in direct opposition with RATELS.

The next day Noah announced that Hi69 & Minoru Tanaka had challenged for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles. Match will take place on the 18th August.

MATCH THREE
The Sugiura Army (Hajime Ohara, NOSAWA Rongai & Kinya Okada) vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura)
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​As Kenoh doesn't really have too much of a hatred of anyone in this match, except perhaps Hajime Ohara (but that isn't on the same level as Takashi Sugiura), the tension was built between the two rookies, Kinya Okada and Yoshiki Inamura, who are developing quite a feud between them which Noah can run with for years, and bring to the new and next generation(s) of fans. Even better and more poignant, they are Noah born.

WINNER: Kenoh with the Diving Foot Stamp on Kinya Okada (5 minutes, 53 seconds)

After this relatively short match, Kenoh got on the microphone and went to start yelling. 
However, the microphone didn't work (which will probably make him even more paranoid that LIDET are out to get him), so he was handed another, which worked. The basic gist of Kenoh's promo was to ask why the hell it was that LIDET allowed Kaito Kiyomiya, the champion, NOT to participate in the N-1 (Kenoh seems to refuse to believe that Kiyomiya can be stubborn and once he has made up his mind, that's it, preferring to see it as LIDET controlling him, which is something he has concerns about despite his love\hate relationship with what is termed as his "younger brother"), he also declared that HE himself would win the league. Kenoh it seems has also set a date for the Budokan return, 2020.
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MATCH FOUR
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki) vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Shuhei Taniguchi

Hideki Suzuki vs Shuhei Taniguchi was better in some ways than that of Shiozaki vs Suzuki, as Taniguchi (thanks to his background in JSDF amateur wrestling) had a the grounding in Greco-Roman that Shiozaki doesn't, and therefore was able to counter better the techniques that Suzuki did. The match left Suzuki with a new target beyond Kiyomiya and Shiozaki...Taniguchi.

Kaito Kiyomiya made the BIG MISTAKE of getting in Takashi Sugiura's face before the match with the belt. Kiyomiya seemingly did not realize that when Sugiura stands still and stares at you, its not a good sign, and it wasn't....Sugiura went for the infamous choke hold, which Kiyomiya managed to counter once, but Sugiura managed to reverse it and lock it in again for the win.

WINNER: Referee stop when Takashi Sugiura choked out Kaito Kiyomiya (11 minutes, 52 seconds)

As the seconds were bending over Kiyomiya, Sugiura got on the microphone and said that he wanted to challenge for the belt again, but he realized that with the N-1 starting he would have to win the league, and therefore that was what he was going to do.

MATCH FIVE
GHC Junior Heavyweight Match
Minoru Tanaka vs HAYATA

Interesting match in which HAYATA revealed that he can do technical mat wrestling, as well as his normal high flying. He also revealed that through the league his endurance has grown, but still fans were on their feet (along with YO-HEY pounding the apron) screaming for him not to quit when Tanaka locked in one of his submission holds.

WINNER: HAYATA with the Headache (12 minutes, 36 seconds)
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​After the match, YO-HEY got in the ring and "husband" wished HAYATA ("wife") congratulations on his birthday, gave him a hug to congratulate him on the win, and while he was still hugging him, challenged him for the belt. HAYATA, not one to speak on the microphone, nodded. The match has been set for that traditional RATELS big event city, Osaka at the Edion Arena 1st Stadium on the 16th September.
YO-HEY later said that he knew that HAYATA wanted him to challenge.

MATCH SIX
GHC Heavyweight Championship
AXIZ (Katsuhiko Nakajima & Go Shiozaki) vs The Return of The Dark Agents (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue)

Comedy match which later turned very emotional, and as one fan put it, Inoue was the star of this match. Often the butt of jokes by the roster (Takashi Sugiura and Naomichi Marufuji in particular), Inoue's forte is as a comedy wrestler, but a man who was Toshiaki Kawada's trainee counts for much (even if Kawada did once say of him "his stomach goes before everything" before silently wishing he could have had a Marufuji, a KENTA or a Nakajima as a trainee), and when he puts his mind to it and leaves out the bumbling, Inoue can be a force to be reckoned with. Match started with usual silly spots such as Nakajima bouncing Inoue of the ropes continually (Saito yelled at him), and then as things grew more serious, the tension heightened.
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​At one point Inoue and Nakajima were alone in the ring, and Inoue got Nakajima in an Argentina Backbreaker. Shiozaki was busy outside with Saito, and the audience screamed not for Nakajima to give up; far from being an old vet who has his confectionery stolen, he was becoming a legitimate threat. Fortunately, Shiozaki got back in the ring to break the hold. By the end of the match both Nakajima and Shiozaki had realized this (if Inoue's shock pin in the opening seconds when he almost pinned Shiozaki in a few minutes wasn't enough), and the smirk snapped off. No more playing.  

WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima with the vertical spike on Masao Inoue (16 minutes, 31 seconds)

No challengers have come forward for the title as the majority of the heavyweights are now concentrating on the N-1.

MATCH SEVEN
Special match
Naomichi Marufuji vs Kotaro Suzuki

Both Naomichi Marufuji and Kotaro Suzuki were trained by Mitsuharu Misawa, so the terms "older brother" or "senior student" (Marufuji, who is the senior student, despite being younger) and "younger brother" (Kotaro Suzuki), is often applied to them (Suzuki also calls himself "the prodigal son" as he is Noah's firstborn). Their first singles match together was seventeen years ago, since then they have had tag matches, and Suzuki has left Noah and then returned. When he did, he asked Marufuji for a singles match, which sadly never did come about sooner as Marufuji was injured. Suzuki said that he feels that Misawa has had a hand in the arranging of this; the match would have been ideal for the Misawa memorial event, but it turned out to be better and more poignant at the 19th anniversary.
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​Marufuji admitted in this match that had to reach down deep inside and pull out a lot of things that he hasn't used for a while, and said that he was worn out, but it was fun and nostalgic.
It was a fun nostalgic match, dominated mainly by Marufuji (the heavyweight), who at one point chopped Suzuki (who isn't really used to being chopped and so his chest bust open) and then smeared a line of blood with his finger on Suzuki's cheek....

WINNER: Naomichi Marufuji with the Emerald Flowsion Pole Shift Type (20 minutes, 33 seconds)

After the match, Marufuji gave a long speech, basically thanking everyone for coming, saying he would win the N-1, and finishing by saying "if you want to see Marufuji, come and see Noah".
In his post match interview, Kotaro Suzuki changed this to, "if you want to see Kotaro and Marufuji, come and watch Noah". Suzuki may still be a freelancer, but Noah is his home.

Noah's next show: August 16th  
Attendance: 1,288 (full house, but not sold out)
With thanks to: Metal Noah, Abeshin
Picture credit: PKDX, Noah GHC
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