Pro Wrestling NOAH opened their 2024 with NOAH THE NEW YEAR 2024, their year-opening blowout event.
Today’s event was held at Ariake Arena in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. The live broadcast was in English only due to ABEMA exclusivity.
The announced paid attendance was 5135. Like with All-Japan’s event, it’s not known how much potential attendance was affected by the major earthquake on the western coast northwest of Tokyo.
Pre-show Match 1: Yu Owada beat Taishi Ozawa.
Pre-show Match 2: Mohammed Yone, Atsushi Kotoge, Super Crazy & Terry Yaki beat Akitoshi Saito, Hajime Ohara, Hi69 & Kai Fujimura. Kotoge pinned Fujimura after a moonsault press.
Match 1: YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Dragon Bane & Apha Wolf and Ninja Mack & Alejandro in a 3-way, when YO-HEY pinned Wolf after pinning Mack, to win the titles. YO-HEY & Tadasuke become the 60th GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. This was an elimination match.
Match 2: Jake Lee, Jack Morris & Anthony Greene beat Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Vinny Massaro & Titus Alexander. Morris pinned Massaro after M-83.
Match 3: Tomohiro Ishii (New Japan) beat Masa Kitamiya.
Match 4: Go Shiozaki beat Satoshi Kojima (New Japan).
Match 5: Haruka Umesaki & Miyuki Takase beat The Great Sakuya & Nagisa Nozaki by DQ. Sakuya DQ’d. Ref assault.
Match 6: Ulka Sasaki Debut Match: Takashi Sugiura beat Ulka Sasaki.
Match 7: Zack Sabre Jr. (New Japan) & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Hiroshi Tanahashi (New Japan) & HAYATA. Sabre pinned HAYATA.
Match 8: GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Daga beat Eita to retain the title. V2 for Daga.
Match 9: In an Elimination Match, Kaito Kiyomiya, Shota Umino (New Japan), Ryohei Oiwa, Daiki Inaba, Shuji Kondo & Junta Miyawaki beat EVIL, Ren Narita, Divk Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Yodhinobu Kanemaru (New Japan). Kiyomiya won as the only one remaining, last eliminating EVIL.
Match 10: GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenoh beat Manabu Soya to retain the title. V1 for Kenoh. Next up: Shiozaki. That match will happen on 1/13.
Main Event: Kota Ibushi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Naomichi Marufuji.
The next event is 1/13 at Korakuen Hall for the first STAR NAVIGATION 2024 event, continuing that never-ending series of usually monthly events. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only will begin at 1:15 AM PT/4:15 AM ET. This is another ABEMA exclusive broadcast so Japanese will only be available on demand after the event.
UPDATE: Ibushi was reportedly hospitalized after the event. Possible broken ankle from fan accounts and ankle injuries via Ibushi himself. Official statement from NOAH is they are waiting for official diagnosis.
