DEMOLITION STAGE 2023 in FUKUOKA, Pro Wrestling NOH’s end-October blowout event, is now in the books. Today marked the farewell to Katsuhiko Nakajima, who is leaving the promotion, and possibly Seiki Yoshioka, who is sitting out the rest of the year and possibly moving on too.
Today’s event wqs held at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English. The Japanese broadcast was an ABEMA exclusive and will be available soon as well. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1309. In spite of probably greatly reduced venue capacity due to the setup, and the fact the venue is primarily designed for sumo, this unfortunately continues a trend of bad major event attendance outside of Tokyo. (The venue’s max capacity for sumo and some pro wrestling is 7500, I figure today’s setup reduced it to around 4000)
Pre-show Match: Akitoshi Saito, Stallion Rogers & Kai Fujinura beat Mohammed Yone, Taishi Ozawa & Yu Owada. Fujimura pinned Owada.
Match 1: Shuji Kondo, Seiki Yoshioka, Ninja Mack, Alejandro & Terry Yaki beat Atsushi Kotoge, Hi69, Hajime Ohara, Extreme Tiger & Junta Miyawaki. Yoshioka pinned Miyawaki after Crash Driver. This is possibly Yoshioka’s last match in NOAH as he is taking a hiatus for the rest of the year and may move elsewhere.
Match 2: Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa beat Anthony Greene & LJ Cleary. Oiwa pinned Greene.
Match 3: Masa Kitamiya, Manabu Soya & Daiki Inaba beat Hideki Suzuki, Saxon Huxley & Shuhei Taniguchi. Soya pinned Huxley after a jumping DDT.
Match 4: HAYATA & Eita vs. Daga & Yoshinari Ogawa went to a Draw. Double Pinfall.
Match 5: Katsuhiko Nakajima Final NOAH Match: Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura beat Go Shiozaki & Katsuhoko Nakajima. Sugiura pinned Nakajima after Olympic Yosen Slam. Nakajima is leaving NOAH after 7 years to continue his career elsewhere. Where is not yet known.
Match 6: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf beat YO-HEY & Tadasuke to retain the titles. Bane pinned Tadasuke after Twister Bane. V1 for the champs.
Match 7: Jack Morris beat GHC National Champion Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. to win the title. Morris becomes the 10th GHC National Champion. UPSET ALERT!!!
Main Event: Kenoh beat GHC Heavyweight Champion Jake Lee to win the title. Kenoh becomes the 43rd GHC Heavyweight Champion. They went just short of 30 minutes. The Fist King is now a 3-time champion. Next up: Soya. Kongo Bongo! That match will happen on 1/2/24 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo to open the mew year. Before then, Kenoh will team with Jinsei Shinzaki to face Soya & Tatsumi Fujinami on 12/2 at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama.
The next event is DEMOLITION STAGE 2023 in NIIGATA on 11/4 at Niigata City Gym with 2 more title matches-GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Jack Morris & Anthony Greene vs. kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa for the titles and GHC Junior Hevayweight Champion HAYATA vs. Daga for the title. Unfortunately, for those not in attendance, there will be no live broadcast, You’ll have to wait until at least 11/7 for on demand.
