Tag: noah

The Keiji Muto Retirement Road series continued in Pro Wrestling NOAH today with the second of his 5 final events, capping off a busy week for Muto that saw him return to the US for a special appearance by The Great Muta in All Elite Wrestling, which set up longtime US icon Sting for a return visit in January. It was also announced after the event that the opponent for Muto’s 3rd retirement series match will be announced at a press conference tomorrow at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET. It will be streamed live on YouTube.

Today’s event was held at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. You can also watch the first 3 matches FOR FREE on YouTube for a limited time.

The announced paid attendance was 1933. Because the venue was limited to 50% capacity, and the setup probably reduced that further, this number isn’t as bad as it sounds.

Match 1: Manabu Soya beat Taishi Ozawa.

Match 2: NOSAWA Rongai & Eita beat Yasutaka Yano & Kai Fujimura. Eita pinned Fujimura after a low dropkick to the face.

Match 3: Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura beat Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito. Inamura pinned Yone after Musou.

Match 4: Ninja Mack, Extreme Tiger & Alejandro beat Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Hi69 by DQ. Tadasuke DQ’d. Mask removal from Alejandro.

Match 5: Naomichi Marufuji, Jack Morris & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Masato Tanaka, Masaaki Mochizuki & Daiki Inaba. Morris pinned Inaba after Shooting Star Press.

Match 6: Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka beat GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway to win the titles. Kotoge & Yoshioka become the 51st GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Yoshioka pinned Ogawa after Buzzsaw Kick. Next up: Possibly Tadasuke & Hi69 (or Hiroki if you prefer, that’s what he is announced as), who attacked the new champs immediately after the match (Tadasuke broke a chair on Kotoge’s already busted open head with the initial assault).

Match 7: Takashi Sugiura & Satoshi Kojima beat GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Hideki Suzuki & Timothy Thatcher to win the titles. Sugiura & Kojima become the 62nd GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Sugiura pinned Suzuki after Olympic Yosen Slam.

Match 8: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion HAYATA beat YO-HEY to retain the title. V6 for HAYATA.

Match 9: Keiji Muto Retirement Road Match 2: Keiji Muto & Kazuyuki Fujita beat Masakatsu Funaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima. Muto pinned Nakajima after Shining Wizard.

Main Event: Kaito Kiyomiya beat GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenoh to win the title. Kiyomiya becomes the 41st GHC Heavyweight Champion. Next up: Fujita. That will happen on 10/30 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

The next event is Friday at Bandaijima Multipurpose Square Ogama in Niigata. The event will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (no live broadcast).

UPDATE: After the event, it was announced that HAYATA would next defend the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship against Ninja Mack on 10/30. That is also when the next GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match will occur as Kotoge & Yoshioka will defend against Tadasuke & Hi69.

Based on the post-match comments just posted by the promotion (late evening US time), it looks like Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. is finished with NOAH for now as he is on his way back to Mexico.
Kiyomiya wanted Fujita as the next challenger for the GHC Heavyweight Championship because Fujita beat Kiyomiya in the N-1 VICTORY Tournament, which Kiyomiya won to get this title shot.

Pro Wrestling NOAH ran an N INNOVATION event today, resuming the monthly Jr. Heavyweight showcase series after a break last month due to the N-1 VICTORY Tournament.

Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 360, a full house/near sellout. That suggests the venue was allowed to be at full capacity-this number would represent about 80% full.

Match 1: Yasutaka Yano Return Match: Kai Fujimura beat Yasutaka Yano.

Match 2: Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Hi69 beat NOSAWA Rongai, Eita & Super Crazy. Tadasuke pinned Crazy after an Eita dropkick backfired.

Match 3: Kotaro Suzuki vs. Shuji Kondo went to a 30 minute time limit draw.

Match 4: Ninja Mack beat Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf, Extreme Tiger & Alejandro in a 5-way elimination match. Order of elimination: Tiger by Wolf, Wolf by Alejandro, Alejandro by Bane, Bane by Mack.

Main Event: In an Elimination Match, Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka & YO-HEY beat HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway. Order of elimination: Kotoge by Ridgeway, Ogawa by Yoshioka, Yoshioka by Ridgeway, Ridgeway by YO-HEY, HAYATA by YO-HEY. YO-HEY remains and wins.

The next event is Muto Retirement Road-GRAND SHIP 2022 in NAGOYA PRO WRESTLING LOVE FOREVER 2 ~OUT BREAK~ Sunday at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya. This is a blowout event with 4 title matches and the second of Keiji Muto’s 5 final career matches, which will be Muto & Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Masakatsu Funaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima. The main event will be GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenoh vs. Kaito Kiyomiya for the title, coming out of Kiyomiya winning the N-1 VICTORY 2022 Toournament. There are also GHC Heavyweight Tag Team and Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship matches and HAYATA vs. YO-HEY for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship.
Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Sunday at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

Pro Wrestling NOAH resumed the SUNNY VOYAGE 2022 Tour today with an event representing the final build to Sunday’s blowout event in Osaka, the second stop of 5 on the Keiji Muto Retirement Road Tour.

Today’s event was held at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 269.

Match 1: Masa Kitamiya beat Taishi Ozawa.

Match 2: Masato Tanaka beat Yoshiki Inamura.

Match 3: Hideki Suzuki & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi. Suzuki beat Taniguchi with Royal Stretch.

Match 4: Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Daiki Inaba.

Match 5: Kaito Kiyomiya & Jack Morris beat Kenoh & Manabu Soya. Morris pinned Soya after a tiger driver.

Main Event: Timothy Thatcher beat Satoshi Kojima by submission.

The next event is an N INNOVATION event Wednesday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo, the return of the monthly Jr. Heavyweight showcase series after a break last month. This month’s installment will feature the return of Yasutaka Yano from injury. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the STAR NAVIGATION 2022 Tour today with the second half of a Tokyo doubleheader to continue the build to the 9/25 blowout event.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese.

The announced paid attendance was 554.

Match 1: Shuhei Taniguchi beat Taishi Ozawa.

Match 2: Extreme Tiger beat Kai Fujimura.

Match 3: Satoshi Kojima, Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito beat Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura. Kojima pinned Inaba after Western lariat.

Match 4: Alpha Wolf beat Dragon Bane.

Match 5: Hideki Suzuki, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., NOSAWA Rongai, Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy beat Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya, Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Hi69. Wagner pinned Hi69 after Wagner Driver.

Match 6: HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway & Jack Morris beat Naomichi Marufuji, YO-HEY, Seiki Yoshioka & Alejandro. HAYATA beat Yoshioka with a modified armbar.

Match 7: Kenoh & Shuji Kondo beat Kaito Kiyomiya & Atsushi Kotoge. Kenoh pinned Kiyomiya after Shining Wizard. TOUCHE.

Main Event; Timothy Thatvher beat Takashi Sugiura by submission. UPSET ALERT!

The next event is Monday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama, which will be the resumption of the SUNNY VOYAGE 2022 Tour. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the STAR NAVIGATION 2022 Tour today with the first half of a Tokyo doubleheader, beginning a quick 2-week sprint to the next Keiji Muto Retirement Road event on 9/25.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNVIERSE in Japanese. The live broadcast was only on ABEMA. You can also watch the first 3 matches FOR FREE on YouTube. Skip to about the 33 minute mark of the replay if you want to jump ahead to the start of the matches.

The announced paid attendance was 538.

Before the event, the promotion announced a change to the card because Yuya Susumu was a late removal from the event. Cervical sprain. Out at least 3 weeks-he will miss the rest of this month’s events, then there’s a one week break before the October schedule begins.

Match 1: Taishi Ozawa Debut Match-Yoshiki Inamura beat Taishi Ozawa. Ozawa is the first rookie to debut in NOAH since Yasutaka Yano.

Match 2: Super Crazy beat Kai Fujimura.

Match 3: Masato Tanaka & Shuhei Taniguchi beat Naomichi Marufuji & Mohammed Yone. Tanaka pinned Yone after Sliding D.

Match 4: Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf, Extreme Tiger & Alejandro beat Shuji Kondo, Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Hi69. Tiger pinned Ohara after a reverse face bomb.

Match 5: Takashi Sugiura, Satoshi Kojima & Masaaki Mochizuki beat Hideki Suzuki, Timothy Thatcher & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. Kojima pinned Wagner after Western Lariat.

Match 6: HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway beat Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka & YO-HEY. HAYATA pinned Kotoge after 403 Impact.

Main Event: Kaito Kiyomiya, Jack Morris, Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba beat Kenoh, Masakatsu Funaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manaby Soya. Kitomiya pinned Kenoh after a transformed Shining Wizard. Expected pre-major title match building outcome where the challenger beats the champion in a tag match.

The (finally) tour-ender is tomorrow. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

Oops…Pro Wrestling NOAH has announced their official English language Twitter account has been suspended aka banned. Apparently a post made with post-match comments from Great–O-Khan, who appeared at the 9/3 event to team with The Great Muta, was deemed a “violent threat” and thus Twitter shut down the account. The promotion has appealed and is trying to get the account restored. Khan, who is based in New Japan, clearly showed no love for NOAH in the match and got a surprise mist blast from Muta after the natch., likely leading to the comments. Comeuppance?

More as it becomes available.

Pro Wrestling NOAH wrapped up the N-1 VICTORY 2022 Tournament today with a major event, which would determine who gets the next GHC Heavyweight Championship opportunity. The Great Muta also would make his final Osaka appearance among other big matches.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. YOu can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube for a limited time.

The announced paid attendance was 2988, a full house/near sellout. A very badly needed strong number. Between capacity limits (Osaka has been among the strictest with limits during the pandemic) and the setup today, that likely was close to a legit sellout.

Match 1: Hajime Ohara beat Super Crazy.

Match 2: Jack Morris & Daiki Inaba beat Anthony Greene & Stallion Rogers. Morris pinned Rogers after a tiger driver.

Match 3: Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY & Seiki Yoshioka beat HAYATA, Yuya Susumu & Kai Fujimura. Kotoge pinned Susumu after Kill Switch.

Match 4: Masakatsu Funaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & SHuji Kondo beat Masa Kitamiya, Mohammed Yone & Alejandro. Nakajima pinned Yone after Vertical Spike.

Match 6: Takashi Sugiura & Satoshi Kojima beat SHuhei Taniguchi & Yoshiki Inamura. Kojima pinned Inamura after a Western lariat.

Match 7: Dragon Bane beat Alpha Wolf.

Match 8: Kazuyuki Fujita, Kendo Ka Shin, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Timothy Thatcher beat Naomichi Marufuji, Go SHiozaki, Masato Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki. Thatcher beat Shiozaki with a Fujiwara armbar.

Match 9: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway beat Eita & Kotaro Suzuki to retain the titles. Ridgeway beat Suzuki with Ridgeway Clutch 2. V1 for the champs.

Match 10: The Great Muta (Keiji Muto), Great-O-Khan (New Japan Pro Wrestling) & NOSAWA Rongai beat Kenoh, Manabu Soya & Tadasuke. Khan pinned Tadasuke after Eliminator.

Main Event; N-1 VICTORY 2022 Finals: Kaito Kiyomiya beat Hideki Suzuki to win the tournament. As a result, Kiyomiya will get the next shot at GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenoh. That match will happen on 9/25 at Aichi Prefectural Gym.

The next event is 9/15 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. This is scheduled to be an ABEMA live broadcast in Japan ONLY, and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later time/date. (UPDATE: WRESTLE UNVIERSE will have a live broadcast in English)

As usual with a major NOAH event, lots of post-event news:
Injury Report: Daisuke Harada, who was tentatively scheduled to return to action today, did not and remains out indefinitely due to a neck injury.
Shiozaki was injured during his match, likely at or near the end. Unspecified but appeared to be left arm/elbow/shoulder based on his reaction after the finish, he was clutching what appeared to be his elbow or bicep area and clearly looked in pain. Out indefinitely with more details to come.
THe second match of the Keiji Muto 5 Match Retirement Series was revealed today: On 9/25 it will be Muto & Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Masakatsu Funaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima.
Daishi/Daiji/Taishi (not sure of his exact first name from translation) Ozawa, the first new NOAH wrestler since Yasutaka Yano 2 years ago, will make his Debut on 9/15. Ozawa, 25, is from Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture and has been training at the NOAH Dojo for just over one year. He became a pro wrestling fan after watching on TV as a child and began gymnastics in high school, citing Mexican wrestler Mistico as inspiration. His Debut Match will be against Yoshiki Inamura. The promotion has launched a special support campaign for Ozawa’s debut-fans and sponsors in Japan can go to NOAH’s online shop and, for 30,000 yen (around $225 US) can submit a support message to Ozawa and it will be published during the opening of the 9/15 event and on NOAH’s official Teitter account, and at a later date an autographed portrait and program will be sent. This promotion starts today in Japan and runs through 9/10. Special Project Sponsor The Reeve (one of NOAH’s main sponsors) has already posted a support message from Representative Director Kazuhiro Sato.
GHC National Champion Masakatsu Funaki vs. Masa Kitamiya for the title has been announced for 9/30 in Niigata.