Tag: pro wrestling noah

Pro Wrestling NOAH held a post-7/16 press conference early today that also revealed the entire field for the upcoming N-1 Victory Tournament. This year’s N-1 will feature 16 participants in 2 blocks with traditional round-robin tournament rules.
The participants:
Block A: Kenoh, Kazuyuki Fujita, Go Shiozaki, Masato Tanaka, Masaaki Mochizuki, Hideki Suzuki, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Anthony Greene
Block B: Masakatsu Funaki, Kaito Kiyomiya, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Takashi Sugiura, Masa Kitamiya, Satoshi Kojima, Timothy Thatcher, Jack Morris
Nakajima is the defending tournament winner, beating Kenoh in last year’s final. So they could very well have a Finals rematch that could set up a rubber match for the GHC Heavyweight Championship.
The tournament runs from 8/11-9/3. Note that some events will be ABEMA-only live broadcasts and will be on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. The Finals likely will be an English-only live broadcast on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

In terms of 7/16 fallout, GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion HAYATA vs. Shuji Kondo for the title has been announced for 8/5 at Korakuen Hall, as well as the return of Naomichi Marufuji, who has been out the last few months due to injury. Marufuji was on Japanese commentary for yesterday’s event.

Pro Wrestling NOAH’s latest blowout event, DESTINATION 2022, is now in the books. Besides featuring multiple title matches, it marked the return of Keiji Muto for the beginning of the end as The Living Legend began his series of the final 5 matches of his incomparable 40-year career.

Today’s event was held at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. The live broadcast was in English only outside Japan due to it being an ABEMA exclusive in Japan. The first 2 matches can also be watched FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 3215. With everything else happening today including New Japan and other events, and considering capacity limits and the layout of the venue, this sounds like a much-needed good number for the promotion-I’d say this represented around 75% capacity. In addition to the hosts, the guests on commentary included Rina Matsuki, Jushin Thunder Liger, Naomichi Marufuji, Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito. (At this time the replay, which includes pre-show coverage, has a total run time of just over 5 hours) If you want to skip the pre-show, you can jump ahead to about the 30 minute mark.

Also, before the event it was announced that the GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is now VACANT. Previous champions Michael Elgin & Masa Kitamiya vacated the titles because Elgin would miss the event. Unspecified. The scheduled title defense against Hideki Suzuki & Timothy Thatcher would now be for the vacant titles with Yoshiki Inamura replacing Elgin.

Match 1: Shuji Kondo, Tadasuke, Hi69 & Hajime Ohara beat Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY & Extreme Tiger. Kondo pinned Harada after a King Kong lariat.

Match 2: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Rene Dupree, Simon Gotch, Stallion Rogerse & Anthony Greene beat Kazushi Sakuraba, Masaaki Mochizuki, Shuhei Taniguchi, Daiki Inaba & Kinya Okada. Greene pinned Okada after Walkin Talkin Flying. Inamura was to have been in this match but due to the tag title situation, Sakuraba was added as a replacement.

Match 3: Eita & Kotaro Suzuki beat Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susummu. Eita pinned Ogawa after Numero Uno.

Match 4: Ninja Mack beat Dante Leon.

Match 5: In a Hardcore Match, Rob Van Dam & Masato Tanaka beat NOSAWA Rongai & SUper Crazy. Van Dam pinned NOSAWA after 5 Star Frog Splash.

Match 6: Go Shiozaki, Takashi Sugiura & Kazuyuki Fujita beat Masakatsu Funaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya. Fujita pinned Soya after a powerbomb.

Match 7: PRO WRESTLING LOVE FOREVER 1-THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: Kaito Kiyomiya beat Keiji Muto by submission. The proverbial torch has officially been passed to The Supernova.

Match 8: Hideki Suzuki & Timothy Thatcher beat Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura by ref stoppage to win the vacant GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Suzuki & Thatcher become the 61st GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Suzuki beat Inamura with a sleeper hold.

Match 9: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion HAYATA beat Seiki Yoshioka to retain the title. V3 for HAYATA. Next up: Kondo. Kongo Kondo, haha.

Kaito Kiyomiya joined commentary for the final match.
Main Event: Kenoh beat GHC Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima to win the title. Kenoh becomes the 40th GHC Heavyweight Champion. And somewhere deep within CyberFight Corporation, one of Sanshiro Takagi’s worst nightmares has come true…Hahaha.

Next up is the STAR NAVIGATION 2022 Tour starting Thursday at Korakuen Hall. This will be an ABEMA-only broadcast with replay on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later time, meaning there will be no live broadcast outside Japan. The only match announced so far is an Open The Triangle Gate (Dragon Gate) Championship match. Additionally, a post-event press conference for today’s event and match announcements for the upcoming N-1 VICTORY Tournament will be streamed FOR FREE on YouTube beginning tomorrow at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

Pro Wrestling NOAH wrapped up the SUNNY VOYAGE 2022 Tour today with the final event before their next blowout event next weekend. There were a few last-minute changes to today’s lineup as both Michael Elgin & Mohammed Yone would miss the event. Unspecified but perhaps stemming from something happening the day before.

Today’s event was held at Fujisan Messe in Shizuoka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Wednesday at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 328.

Match 1: Rene Dupree beat Kinya Okada.

Match 2: Extreme Tiger beat Alejandro.

Match 3: Anthony Green beat Stallion Rogers.

Match 4: HAYATA & Simon Gotch beat Seiki Yoshioka & Kai Fujimura. Gotch pinned Fujimura adter a Gotch-style piledriver.

Match 5: Go Shiozaki, Akitoshi Saito, Daisuke Harada & YO-HEY Beat Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya, Tadasuke & Hi69. Harada pinned Hi69 with Katayama German.

Match 6: Kaito Kiyomiya, Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susumu beat NOSAWA Rongai, Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy. Kiyomiya pinned NOSAWA after Shining Wizard.

Match 7: Takashi Sugiura, Hideki Suzuki, Timothy Thatcher & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Masa Kitamiya, Shuhei Taniguchi, Yoshiki Inamura & Daiki Inaba. Thatcher beat Taniguchi with a Fujiwara armbar.

Main Event: Kenoh & Hajime Ohara beat Satoshi Kojima & Atsushi Kotoge. Kenoh pinned Kotoge after PFS.

The next event is ABEMA Presents DESTINATION 2022 Saturday at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Keiji Muto begins the road to retirement with the first of his 5 final matches as part of a loaded card headlined by Kojima-Kenoh for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Live streaming in English on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at midnight PT/3 AM ET (This is an ABEMA-exclusive broadcast in Japan).

Developing NOAH news for 7/16: The GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title match that day is now off and has been postponed. Current co-champion Chris Ridgeway is now off the event. Visa issues. Delays in issuance procedures in the UK may prevent him from making it to Japan in time. New date TBA but it will be when Ridgeway can travel to Japan. Yuya Susumu will now team with Yoshinari Ogawa to face Eita & Kotaro Suzuki in a NON-TITLE match.

Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the SUNNY VOYAGE 2022 Tour today with the second half of a weekend doubleheader.

Today’s event was held at Yamagata Big Wing in Yamagata and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Wednesday at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 248.

Match 1: Seiki Yoshioka beat Kai Fujimura.

Match 2: Rene Dupree & Simon Gotch beat Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada. Dupree pinned Okada after a diving elbow drop.

Match 3: Tadasuke & Hi69 beat Atsushi Kotoge & YO-HEY. Hi69 pinned Kotoge after Stuka Splash.

Match 4: Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hajime Ohara beat Mohammed Yone & Alejandro. Ohara pinned Alejandro after Muy Bien.

Match 5: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Extreme Tiger.

Match 6: HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susumu vs. NOSAWA Rongai, Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy went to a no contest. Seiki Yoshioka interference.

Match 7: Kenoh & Manabu Soya beat Satoshi Kojima & Daiki Inaba. Kenoh pinned Inaba after PFS.

Main Event: Takashi Sugiura, Hideki Suzuki & Timothy Thatcher beat Kaito Kiyomiya, Michael Elgin & Masa Kitamiya. Suzuki beat Kitamiya with Royal Stretch.

The next event is 7/10 at Fujisan Messe in Shizuoka. There will be no live broadcast and it will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date.

Pro Wrestling NOAH continued the SUNNY VOYAGE 2022 Tour, this being a rare tour that stretches out over two consecutive months, with the next of a handful of house shows building up the next blowout event in 2 weeks. Today also possibly marked the major promotions’ return to Fukushima after the major earthquake a few months ago that caused some damage in areas affected by the catastrophic 9.1 earthquake near Fukushima in March 2011.

Today’s event was held at Big Palette Fukushima in Fukushima and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Tuesday at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET. There was no live broadcast.

In addition to Go Shiozaki being a late removal from the event (potential coronavirus close contact), it was revealed on the results page that Shuhei Taniguchi was also a last-minute removal from the event. Heat stroke.

The announced paid attendance was 318.

Match 1: Manabu Soya vs. Daiki Inaba went to a 15 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Super Crazy beat Alejandro.

Match 3: HAYATA & Yuya Susumu beat Seiki Yoshioka & Kai Fujimura. Susumu beat Fujimura with a crossface.

Match 4: Michael Elgin, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura beat Timothy Thatcher, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Rene Dupree. Elgin pinned Dupree after a Double Impact type Elgin Bomb.

Match 5: Takashi Sugiura, Hideki Suzuki & NOSAWA Rongai beat Mohammed Yone, Simon Gotch & Kinya Okada. Suzuki pinned Okada with a double arm suplex.

Match 6: Yoshinari Ogawa beat Kotaro Suzuki by DQ. Outside interference.

Main Event: Satoshi Kojima, Kaito Kiyomiya, Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY & Extreme Tiger beat Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Hi69. Kojima pinned Ohara after a Western lariat.

The next event is tomorrow at Yamagata Big Wing in Yamagata. Both Shiozaki and Taniguchi will miss this event as well. The event will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Wednesday at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET. There will be no live broadcast.

Just a few hours before their next event, Pro Wrestling NOAH announced a late No Go…Go Shiozaki is now off today’s event and possibly more. Potential coronavirus close contact. He was removed as a precaution. Several matches were changed and his status for the next event tomorrow (7/3) is uncertain (but a pre-event autograph session is off and he will be replaced there). After tomorrow the promotion is off for a week so at worst he may miss one more event but should be good for the next major event on 7/16.

Pro Wrestling NOAH ran this month’s N INNOVATION event today, and on paper it was a big event with 2 title matches and someone’s NOAH run ending. More potential big shifting in the Jr. Heavyweight ranks.

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 legit advance sellout.

There were a few late changes to the card yesterday and today before the event-first, Alejandro had to be removed from the card due to a fever. He was to have teamed with Kaito Kiyomiya to face Shuji Kondo & Hi69. Extreme Tiger was the telacement. Until…after that Daisuke Harada also had to be removed from the card. Fever. Because he was part of the champion team, it meant the Open The Triangle Gate Championship would now be VACANT. The scheduled title match was now for the vacant titles with Tiger replacing Harada, and TBA again with Kiyomiya in the first match.

Match 1: Kaito Kiyomiya & TBA, which ultimately wound up being Satoshi Kojima (who IS NOT a Jr. Heavyweight), beat Shuji Kondo & Hi69. Kojima pinned Hi69 after a Western lariat.

Match 2: Yoshinari Ogawa beat Kai Fujimura by submission. It only went 51 seconds. (Comment after watching on replay-this may have been a botched finish. Fujimura seemed to clearly have his shoulders up before the 3 count and the ref casually counted. Ogawa had caught Fujimura in a dropkick and was maybe setting up a Figure 4 but sat down for the pin. Very questionable but I think the ref blew this one)

Match 3: Seiki Yoshioka beat Yuya Susumu.

Match 4: NOSAWA Rongai, Eita & Kotaro Suzuki beat Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY & Extreme Tiger to win the vacant Open The Triangle Gate Championship. NOSAWA, Eita & Suzuki become the 81st Open The Triangle Gate Champions. Eita pinned YO-HEY after Imperial Uno.

Match 5: In a Loser NOAH Expulsion match, Tadasuke beat Haoh. As a result, Haoh is done with NOAH.

Main Event: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion HAYATA beat Hajime Ohara by submission to retain the title. V2 for HAYATA. Next up: Yoshioka. That will happen on 7/16 at Nippon Budokan.

The next event is tomorrow at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

UPDATE: Potential correction on the opening match-when I watched the replay, Hi69 was announced as HIROKI, which is a name he later used before becoming Nioh.

Pro Wrestling NOAH returned to Kobe for the first time in some time yesterday, I forgot to post results although I was also feeling under the weather. The event was dubbed BACK IN THE KOBE! LIVE 2022.

Yesterday’s event was held at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE beginning Wednesday at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

The paid attendance was not announced.

Match 1; Mohammed Yone & Alexander Otsuka (Independent/Freelancer) beat Shuhei Taniguchi & Kinya Okada. Yone pinned Okada after Kinniku Muscle Buster.

Match 2: YO-HEY & Extreme Tiger beat Atsushi Kotoge & Alejandro. YO-HEY pinned Alejandro after Face G.

Match 3: Kazushi Sakuraba beat Simon Gotch by submission.

Match 4: Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susumu beat Seiki Yoshioka & Kai Fujimura. Susumu beat Fujimura with a crossface.

Match 5: HAYATA beat Hajime Ohara.

Match 6: Go Shiozaki, Michael Elgin, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura beata Takashi Sugiura, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Rene Dupree & Timothy Thatcher. Shiozaki pinned Wagner after Go Lariat.

Match 7: GHC National Champion Masakatsu Funaki beat Masato Tanaka by ref stoppage (technical submission) to retain the title. V4 for Funaki.

Main Event: Satoshi Kojima, Kaito Kiyomiya, Daiki Inaba, Daisuke Harada & Haoh beat Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya, Tadasuke & Hi69. Kojima pinned Hi69 after a Western lariat.

During the event it was also announced that Yoshiki Inamura participation is set for the upcoming ZERO1 Fire Festival Tournament in July. Inamura was to have been in last year’s tournament but was forced to miss the tournament due to injury.

The next event is an N INNOVATION event Thursday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo with an Open The Triangle Gate Championship match and main event of HAYATA vs. Ohara for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship. Between those matches is a big match of Haoh vs. Tadasuke in a Loser NOAH Expulsion match, meaning the loser is gone from the promotion. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Thursday at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.