DEVELOPING: Pro Wrestling NOAH has announced the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is now VACANT. Previous champions Daga & Chris Ridgeway have vacated the titles because Ridgeway had to leave Japan and return home for personal reasons. They were supposed to defend the titles on 9/24 vs. Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf. Bane & Wolf will now face Ninja Mack & Alejandro on that day for the titles. It’s not known when Ridgeway will be able to return.
UPDATE: In a statement on social media, Ridgeway confirmed the situation and thanked NOAH for being professional and allowing him to return home to deal with these issues. Ridgeway did not elaborate as to the reasons and requested privacy but assured fans that he will be back once everything is resolved.
Pro Wrestling NOAH held a special fan event ahead of the N-1 VICTORY Tournament opener today, which included a battle royal with all the tournament participants.
Today’s event was held at Hotel Metropolitan Edmont in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on the Pro Wrestling NOAH Japanese YouTube channel. It also streamed on ABEMA.
The paid attendance was bot announced.
Match Result: Manabu Soya won a 16 man N-1 Rumble battle royal, last eliminating Jack Morris. Order of elimination: Timothy Thatcher, Yoshiki Inamura, Adam Brooks, Daiki Inaba, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Saxon Huxley (DQ’d), Yuki Yoshioka, Masa Kitamiya, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Jake Lee, Lance Anoa’i, Kenoh, Go Shiozaki, Yuma Anzai, Morris. The match went over 53 minutes with the first elimination coming just over 30 minutes in.
The next event is the N-1 VICTORY 2023 Tournament beginning tomorrow at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English Only will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This is an ABEMA-exclusive broadcast in Japan and ABEMA has the Japanese commentary.
Pro Wrestling NOAH wrapped up July with the last SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour event for a couple months today.
Today’s event was held at Ishikawa Industrial Exhibition Hall 3 in Ishikawa and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (likely Wednesday). There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 1125, a full house/near sellout. Keiji Muto attended this event, which no doubt helped bring a lot of fans in.
Match 1: Kai Fujimura beat Yu Owada.
Match 2: Akitoshi Saito & Super Crazy beat Mohammed Yone & Taishi Ozawa. Crazy pinned Ozawa after a moonsault press.
Match 3: Ninja Mack beat Hajime Ohara.
Match 4: Stallion Rogers, Seiki Yoshioka & Alejandro beat Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke. Yoshioka pinned YO-HEY after Crash Driver.
Match 5: Daiki Inaba beat Shuhei Taniguchi.
Match 6: HAYATA & Eita beat Yoshinari Ogawa & LEONA (Dradition). HAYATA pinned LEONA after 403 Impact.
Match 7: Kenoh, Adam Brooks & Lance Anoa’i beat Masa Kitamiya, Manabu Soya & Yoshiki Inamura. Brooks pinned Inamura after Aussie Buster.
Match 8: Naomichi Marufuji, AMAKUSA & Junta Miyawaki beat Kazushi Sakuraba, Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69. AMAKUSA pinned Kotoge after Opening Of The Country.
Main Event: Jake Lee & Jack Morris beat Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima. Lee pinned Shiozaki after FBS.
The next event is an N-1 VICTORY 2023 Eve Festival Saturday at Saturday at Hotel Metropolitan Edmont in Tokyo, This will include autograph sessions, merchandise sales and an N-1 Rumble, a 16 man battle royal with all tournament participants. The match will be broadcast live on ABEMA and the Pro Wrestling NOAH Japanese YouTube channel beginning at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with a house show in Niigata.
Today’s event was held at Aore Nagaoka in Niigata and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (likely Tuesday). There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 345.
Match 1: Kai Fujimura beat Yu Owada.
Match 2: Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69 beat Daiki Inaba & Taishi Ozawa. Kotoge pinned Ozawa after a moonault press.
Match 3: Adam Brooks, Super Crazy & Seiki Yoshioka beat Yoshinari Ogawa, LEONA (Dradition) & Stallion Rogers. Crazy pinned LEONA.
Match 4: Lance Anoa’i beat Shuhei Taniguchi.
Match 5; Katsuhiko Nakajima & Mohammed Yone beat Naomichi Marufuji & Hajime Ohara. Nakajima pinned Yone after Vertical Spike.
Match 6: Jake Lee, Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Masa Kitamiya, Manabu Soya, Yoshiki Inamura, Ninja Mack & Alejandro. Morris beat Kitamiya with a cobra twist.
Main Event: Go Shiozaki, HAYATA & Eita beat Kenoh, AMAKUSA & \Junta Miyawaki. Shiozaki pinned Miyawaki after a short range Go Lariat.
The next event is tomorrow at Ishikawa Industrial Exhibition Hall 3 in Ishikawa. There will be no live broadcast.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with a house show in Gunma.
Today’s event was held at G Messe Gunma C Hall in Gunma and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Wednesday. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 311.
Match 1: Yoshiki Inamura beat Yu Owada.
Match 2: Shuhei Taniguchi beat Taishi Ozawa.
Match 3: AMAKUSA, Super Crazy & Junta Miyawaki beat Yoshinari Ogawa, LEONA (Dradition) & Kai Fujimura. AMAKUSA pinned Fujimura after Opening Of The Country.
Match 4: Masa Kitamiya, Manabu Soya & Daiki Inaba beat Naomichi Marufuji, Mohammed Yone & Lace Anoa’i. Soya pinned Yone after a jumping DDT.
Match 5: Ninja Mack & Hajime Ohara beat Alejandro & Seiki Yoshioka. Ohara beat Alejandro with Muy Bien.
Match 6: Keonh, Adam Brooks, Stallion Rogers, HAYATA & Eita beat Jake Lee, Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke. Kenoh pinned Greene after PFS.
Main Event: Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69. Nakajima pinned Hi69 after Vertical Spike.
The next event is Saturday at Aore Nagaoka in Niigata. There will be no live broadcast.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the never-ending SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with an event in Tokyo.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 389. Sounds close to a full house/near sellout as that’s just under 80% of max capacity.
Match 1: Taishi Ozawa beat Yu Owada.
Match 2: AMAKUSA, Hajime Ohara & Junta Miyawaki beat Yoshinari Ogawa, Super Crazy & Kai Fujimura. Miyawaki pinned Fujimura after a modified guillotine drop.
Match 3: Ninja Mack beat Stallion Rogers.
Match 4: Lance Anoa’i & Adam Brooks beat Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura. Anoa’i pinned Inamura after Samoan Splash.
Match 5: Go Shiozaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hi69 beat Naomichi Marufuji, Kenoh & Atsushi Kotoge. Hi69 pinned Kotoge after Stuka Splash.
Match 6: Eita beat LEONA (Draditon).
Match 7: Jake Lee, Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Manabu Soya, Daiki Inaba, Shuji Kondo, Seiki Yoshioka & Alejandro. YO-HEY pinned Alejandro after a dropkick.
Main Event: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion HAYATA beat Atsuki Aoyagi (All-Japan) to retain the title. V3 for HAYATA.
The next event is Sunday at G Messe Gunma C Hall in Gunma. There will be no live broadcast.
Pro Wrestling NOAH held a special standalone event called One Night Dream today, headlined by a long-awaited match between former partners-turned-rivals Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara. Their careers are linked back to their beginnings under trainer Kensuke Sasaki in his now-defunct promotions from almost 20 years ago.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. The live broadcast was in English only due to being an ABEMA exclusive.
The announced paid attendance was 1515, a legit advance sellout. It sold out way in advance too. It also may be the biggest Korakuen attendance since pandemic capacity limits were lifted.
Match 1: Yu Owada Debut Match: Kai Fujimura beat Yu Owada.
Match 2: Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke beat Jimmy Yang, Super Crazy & Stallion Rogers. YO-HEY pinned Crazy after Face G. Some WWE fans may also remember Yang as Jimmy Wang Yang.
Match 3: Jazzy Yang & Miyuki Takase beat Hibiscus Mii & Yuu. Yang pinned Mii after Moonsault Attack. Jazzy is Jimmy Yang’s daughter.
Match 4: Lance Anoa’i, Adam Brooks, Saxon Huxley & Jack Morris beat Masa Kitamiya, Manabu Soya, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura. Anoa’i pinned Soya after Samoan Splash.
Match 5: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Go Shiozaki beat Jake Lee & Kenoh. Shiizaki pinned Kenoh after Go Lariat.
Match 6: Dralistico, Ninja Mack & AMAKUSA beat HAYATA, Rey Escorpion & Dante Leon. Dralistico pinned Escorpion with La Mystica.
Main Event: Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Kento Miyahara. This was a No Time Limit match and went over 34 minutes.
The next event is Thursday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
Post-event major news:
The Naomichi Marufuji 25th Anniversary Match on 9/17 is set-Marufuji vs. Will Ospreay (New Japan).
The 2024 schedule will open with ABEMA presents NOAH THE NEW YEAR 2024 on 1/2 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. More details TBA.
A new project for later this year called MONDAY MAGIC was announced. It will run every other Monday from 10/9-12/18 at Shinjuku Face and fans can attend live on person, plus every event will be streamed live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE beginning at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET.
Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the never-ending SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 Tour today with a house show in Tokyo. This is the promotion’s first event following Kenoh disbanding Kongo after 4+ years.
Today’s event was held at Tama Mirai Messe in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 557.
Match 1: Hi69 beat Taishi Ozawa. This was to have been Hi69 vs. Atsushi Kotoge but Kotoge was pulled from the card due to a fever.
Match 2: Yoshinari Ogawa & LEONA (Dradition) beat Super Crazy & Kai Fujimura. LEONA beat Fujimura with a Figure 4.
Match 3: Shuji Kondo & Seiki Yoshioka beat Hajime Ohara & Alejandro. Yoshioka pinned Alejandro after Crash Driver.
Match 4: Saxon Huxley, Kazuyuki Fujita, Hideki Suzuki & Shuhei Taniguchi beat Naomichi Marufuji, Mohammed Yone, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura. Huxley pinned Yone after a neck hanging bomb.
Match 5: Adam Brooks & Ninja Mack beat Stallion Rogers & Dante Leon. Brooks pinned Rogers after Aussie Buster.
Match 6: Go Shiozaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, HAYATA & Eita beat Jake Lee, Jack Morris, YO-HEY & Tadasuke. Nakajima pinned YO-HEY after PK.
Match 7: GHC National Champion Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. beat AMAKUSA to retain the title. V5 for Wagner Jr.
Main Event: Kaito Kiyomiya & Kenoh beat Manabu Soya & Daiki Inaba. Kiyomiya pinned Inaba after Transformed Shining Wizard.
The next event is One Night Dream Saturday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo headlined by Nakajima vs. Kento Miyahara with no time limit. The opening match will be the Debut of Yu Owada, a new rookie. The event is already a legit advance sellout and has been for a while. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English only will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This is another ABEMA exclusive broadcast in Japan.
In upcoming events news post-event, GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion HAYATA vs. Atsuki Aoyagi (All-Japan) for the title was announced for 7/20 at Shinjuku Face.
Pro Wrestling NOAH has just announced a last-minute change to their 7/9 event: Atsushi Kotoge is now off. Fever. He was to have faced Hi69. Taishi Ozawa is the replacement. No mention of any potential coronavirus tests done so for now it appears Kotoge will hopefully only miss this event as there is nearly a week until the next event after this.
Pro Wrestling NOAH star Kenoh held a 15th Anniversary Event in his hometown today, which has to make one wonder-would the eternal stone-faced Kongo leader actually smile? Or even force a smirk? Or something else perhaps?
Today’s event was held at Tokushima City Gym in Tokushima and can be watched on demand FOR FREE on the Kenoh YouTube Channel, which also streamed the event live. You can also watch below (the total running time is about 3 hours; the broadcast begins at the 20 minute mark and has Japanese commentary, the matches begin at about the 38 minute mark…note that while the hard camera view is in HD, other ringside camera views will be lower quality: it is not available on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at this time):
The announced paid attendance was 1321.
Match 1: Hi69 beat Taishi Ozawa.
Match 2: Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura beat Daiki Inaba & Stallion Rogers. Inamura pinned Rogers after Musou.
Match 3: Ninja Mack beat Dante Leon.
Match 4: Go Shiozaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Mohammed Yone & GAINA (Independent/Freelancer) beat Saxon Huxley, Timothy Thatcher, Kazuyuki Fujita & Shuhei Taniguchi. Shiozaki pinned Taniguchi after Go Lariat.
Match 5: Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway & Daga beat Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka & Super Crazy. Daga pinned Kotoge after Diablo Wings.
Match 6: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Kaito Kiyomiya, HAYATA & Eita beat Jake Lee, Jack Morris, YO-HEY & Tadasuke. Kiyomiya beat Tadasuke with a double armbar.
Main Event: Kenoh 15th Anniversary Match: Kenoh, Masakatsu Funaki, Manabu Soya, Shuji Kondo & Hajime Ohara beat Naomichi Marufuji, Masato Tanaka, Kazushi Sakuraba, AMAKUSA & Alejandro. Kenoh pinned Alejandro after Ring Of Fire. Then, the huge shocker…Kongo is no more. Kenoh has disbanded the iconic heel faction. This has resulted in the promotion announcing changes to the 7/9 card-and interestingly, one is the main event where Kenoh will now team with longtime archrival Kaito Kiyomiya against Manabu Soya & Daiki Inaba.
The next event is 7/9 at Tama Mirai Messe in Tokyo. Besides the aforementioned changes, the event also features GHC National Champion Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. AMAKUSA for the title, fallout from Thuesday’s event. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.