(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: ABEMA presents MAJESTIC 2022 ~ N Innovation ~ (Friday April 29th, Ryogoku Kokugikan)

There was a big match feel today, which was enhanced by Noah running footage of the GHC Junior Heavyweight champion, Eita arriving at the arena. They did not show his challenger, however. As Eita arrived at a rainy Ryogoku, fans queued outside for the Gatcha machines. Inside, Noah had installed collection boxes for Yoshihiro Takayama and Shinjiro Otani. 

Noah announced an attendance of 1,585. Among these fans were people who came to Noah for the first time to see the Noah Juniors. 

Both Atsushi Kotoge and Tadasuke celebrated debut anniversaries today. Tadasuke celebrated fifteen and Atsushi Kotoge seventeen. There were pink flowers in the lobby for what would turn out to be a very dark anniversary. 

Jushin Liger was on commentary. He seemed a little more positive than he had done before, calling the juniors a "diamonds in the rough". Also on commentary was Kuniko Yamada and the newest M's alliance member, Rina Matsuki. They were in for an interesting evening, which had them almost huddled together by the end of it. 

MATCH ONE

Ikuto Hidaka vs Kai Fujimura

Young Kai Fujimura went right on the attack. Ikuto Hidaka, the veteran, knew how to handle him however, but the two did come to a brief standstill. Fujimura also used flips in the manner of his older biological brother (Alejandro). This was a classic style of Noah opening, of a young boy versus an old veteran. Fujimura did well, taking Hidaka by surprise and managing to keep him down for a portion of the match. Hidaka soon decided he had had enough soon after Fujimura went for some quick pins and was far more technical than we have seen so far. Hidaka thought enough was enough and Fujimura stood the SC for as long as he was able. 

WINNER: Ikuto Hidaka with the Sean Capture (6 minutes, 37 seconds)

MATCH TWO

SLEX vs Yasutaka Yano

SLEX made a grand entrance, showing off his jacket and himself and pointing warningly to Yasutaka Yano (who looked as if he was straining at the bit) when he got in the ring. The younger strict referee, used to this kind of thing, told him to remove both his coat and his glasses. Yoshiki Inamura waited patiently at ringside. Yano told him to take his glasses off! Later, he also complained of the referees count.

Size, power and experience where the differences in this match. Tonight was Yano's first encounter with a foreign wrestler. His seniors had grown up fighting them in Noah and fighting them abroad, so because their younger wrestlers don't have this experience, their seniors are always very keen for them to have it. SLEX threw Yano around the ring, even throwing him up on to the apron. This strength was what Harada was talking about, and fans certainly wanted to see more of SLEX. For Yano, faced with a more experienced powerhouse, he resorted to his agility, if not his experience and he did not make the match (which should have been higher up on the card) easy. 

WINNER: SLEX with The Business Bomb (8 minutes, 37 seconds)

MATCH THREE

Yuya Susumu vs Kotaro Suzuki

Kotaro Suzuki, the Gundam Wing nut, came out in a very Gundam like mask, with a single green light in it. Yuya Susumu attacked the moment Kotaro's arm left his jacket and the two brawled for a while outside the ring. But, as technical wrestlers they soon got down to mat work, Susumu initially dominant, working on Kotaro's arm and not letting go. Kotaro innovative, he seemed to be wrestling an older style of Noah, perhaps he wanted to demonstrate at an all junior show what he meant by the Noah Juniors of today not having the foundation that he did. As the oldest Noah Born, he's inclined to view the younger in this way. His attacks on Susumu served to wind him, but they didn't stop him. 

Susumu can be just as devious as Kotaro when it comes to countering moves, and you could tell that after rounds of reversals, submissions, kick outs, both where evaluating each other. Susumu was seen to be holding his abdomen, Kotaro was not finished there though, as Susumu lay crumpled on the mat, the ref urged him up, as did Kotaro - who proceeded to drive a knee into his stomach, wearing him down and winding him further, but despite everything, Susumu would not give in.

WINNER: Time out draw (20 minutes)

Kotaro could not believe it, and left kicking the ropes and the barriers. Susumu later commented that this was not going to end in this way. 

 

MATCH FOUR

Perros Del Mal De Japon (NOSAWA Rongai, Texano Jnr & Super Crazy) vs Kongoh (Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Shuji Kondo)

This match could not start in any other way than a mass brawl, the leviathan Shuji Kondo and Texano Jnr squaring up and then trying to knock each other down as they had a Junior Hoss fight, which is something this division (due to it's size) doesn't often see. The match soon descended into chaos, with Tadasuke (who had his hair newly bleached and came in for more "blonde pig" remarks) from NOSAWA, was battered with a plank by him and later enraged by Super Crazy dancing around the ring and taunting him. Texano Jnr had bought a bull rope with him, which was used to whip and choke Kondo.

WINNER: Texano Junior with Road to Texas on Tadasuke (10 minutes, 48 seconds)

Perros cannot just finish a match, and so Tadasuke got the bull rope. After a short stare off between NOSAWA and Kondo (who know each other well from All Japan and W-1), Perros posed together. Backstage, Kondo blasted Tadasuke and Ohara furiously over losing. Ohara (terrified of his senior) apologized profusely. 

MATCH FIVE

Loser loses name & hair match

Haoh vs Nioh

This is one the biggest singles matches that Nioh has had for a while. He looked far more focused (and toned) than ever. He moved with a cold anger, not a sadistic one like HAYATA or an angry furious one like Yoshinari Ogawa. As if to illustrate what was on the line, he had dyed his hair red. Fans thought initially that it was going to be Haoh who lost hair, as it didn't look as if he had a haircut for a while. 

Both had a lot to fight for, but perhaps Haoh had even more. Out of everyone who had left Kongoh, usually Kenoh admires their resolve and lets them go, even Yoshiki Inamura who left to join Kaito Kiyomiya. Right in front of Kenoh. The juniors are not so forgiving. In the end, Haoh's belief and the strength that he had to break away won out. 

WINNER: Haoh with Tatsumaki (16 minutes, 3 seconds)

Nioh now ceased to exist, he was Hirooki (Hi69) again. He symbolically prepared himself, looking as if he were a Samurai defeated in battle and preparing to open his belly and have his head sliced off at the same time, as Haoh got out the scissors and cut off his ponytail, Haoh hesitated, he was emotional too. He then shaved his head. Hi69 got up half way through this. He could not take the humiliation any more, and left suddenly. Backstage Haoh said he was now truly Haoh of the Noah Juniors, but he would never forget Nioh, and he would always carry him with him. 

MATCH SIX

Seiki Yoshioka vs Extreme Tiger

Both had their own agenda behind this singles match. Seiki Yoshioka to engrave memories upon beating a world best and rise in Noah, and for Extreme Tiger to show his countrymen that "Tijuana was the best". They went into a quick lock up into a fast paced match, with Seiki Yoshioka's lighting fast attacks keeping Extreme Tiger grounded. He said he would do this in his interview, but Extreme Tiger too had his own agenda. Proving he was more than just a high flying lucha, he could ground attack with the best of them, and used some particularly nasty looking submissions and vicious ground attack punches. For Yoshioka, this was his kind of match, a style that mixed both. 

WINNER: Extreme Tiger with Tijuana Rock (11 minutes, 31 seconds)

This was a frustrating loss for Yoshioka, especially given the evening that was to come for STINGER. Extreme Tiger said that he didn't want to say he was the best, he wanted to prove that he was the best.

MATCH SEVEN

Noah vs Z-Brats (DragonGate)

The Noah Junior Regulars (Daisuke Harada, Alejandro & Junta Miyawaki) vs Z-Brats (Shun Skywalker, H.Y.0 & SB KENTo)

Z-Brats made their way out looking unconcerned, you would have thought that tea and cake where waiting in the ring for them to devour. Their attitude was that laid back. Daisuke Harada (who debuted new ring wear along with Alejandro, although not as extreme as we will see later), reserved a long hard glare for Jushin Liger before starting the match with Shun Skywalker. 

H.Y.O was up to his old tricks, he tried to offer Junta Miyawaki a handshake, I don't know how it is in DragonGate, but Noah Juniors do not trust handshakes and Miyawaki went berserk. The focus was very much on Miyawaki, who knew he had to prove himself, not only to his team, but to his fans, to Noah and most importantly, to himself. He was their main target, and he bore the brunt of a lot of their humiliation. 

The match was chaos; everyone was everywhere, the referee had his hands full and needed eyes not only in the back of his head but in the side of it too. Z-Brats cheated, Harada and Skywalker got into repeated fights on the ring apron, which distracted everyone from what was going on the ring. You got the feeling that this wasn't going to be solved just by this match, a new branch was growing. Harada was like a whirlwind when he tagged in. Fired up by Liger's comments, his presence at ringside, the comments of Suzuki, even the softer comments of Naomichi Marufuji (who had suggested the new costume), Junta Miyawaki's loss, everything. It was like a fissure had opened and magma escaped.

Liger was seen to clap Alejandro, and he did later admit that he saw some good in the division. 

Speaking of cheating, Alejandro was hit by a chair when it looked like the win was imminent and with the Noah Junior Regulars trapped outside, Skywalker slowly and deliberately got the win

WINNER: Shun Skywalker with the SSW on Alejandro (25 minutes)

Harada screamed in anger. In the ring, H.Y.O and KENTo shook Alejandro's head to rouse him and then a shoving match broke out as Shun tried to tell the Noah Junior Regulars to get out of the ring. Alejandro lay immobile as everyone butted heads and shoved each other of him. Somehow they left without a further fight breaking out. Harada was humiliated. Backstage, H.Y.O said he had "cooked" Alejandro and Miyawaki, and now it was only Harada left. Match has been set for the 14th May. Fans did however want to see Harada vs Skywalker, but it seems that H.Y.O is the most active in Noah. 

MATCH EIGHT

3 WAY MATCH

Dragon Bain vs Alpha Wolf vs Ninja Mack

Naomichi Marufuji was seen watching this competition between three friends and two brothers from the balcony. 

True to Noah form, the two brothers (Dragon Bain and Alpha Wolf) got into an argument and ignored Ninja Mack to fight each other, he tried to break it up and they made up and then ganged up on him. This works well in a promotion based on family, where student brothers tend to have often tempestuous relationships. Ninja Mack took advantage the second time round, instead of separating them, why not fight them? 

I don't know what it is about Kuniko Yamada, but she seems to attract the commentary table getting trashed by high flyers. Yoshiki Inamura had to protect the commentary table from Dragon Bain's legs, which gave Kuniko a fright. Second time around, it was the much more hefty Alpha Wolf who skidded over the barrier, across the table, bought down everything and almost took the commentator out of his chair. Liger turned to watch. He is more able to handle things like this, and I think he probably enjoyed it. 

Dragon Bain eliminated his brother (with his own move, the Alpha Wolf Twister after 15 minutes and 47 seconds), it came down to Ninja Mack and Dragon Bain.

WINNER: Ninja Mack with the Ninja Bomb on Dragon Bain (18 minutes, 3 seconds)

This was an edgy but light hearted relief compared to what was to come.

MATCH NINE

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Championship Match

The Noah Junior Regulars (Atsushi Kotoge & YO-HEY) vs STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway)

STINGER emerged from the shadows looking dark. Yoshinari Ogawa even came out to Chris Ridgeway's music, a high mark of respect. Ogawa took some time to give Liger a long lingering glare and a handshake which was withdrawn.  

When Naomichi Marufuji had suggested that the Noah Junior Regulars change their costumes slightly, I don't think he meant that YO-HEY and Atsushi Kotoge (two naturally flamboyant people) take it to the extreme and come out in new gear such asYO-HEY in a big fluffy elaborate white coat (Fans wondered if Guts Cabaret had made it), a mask and Atsushi Kotoge wearing a chain and with new colorful ring-wear.

STINGERS expressions said it all. 

STINGER did not see the funny side in their entry and Kotoge and YO-HEY soon found there was very little to dance around about. The Noah Junior Regulars may have been there to play, but STINGER weren't.  Ogawa, no respecter of new ring wear, went to attack Kotoge's already fragile knee by ripping off his new boots and then flinging parts into the crowd. He even went to rip off Kotoge's bandage. Ridgeway continued the attack without mercy, doubling up slaps to the face with a bridge. YO-HEY was even used as a weapon to attack Kotoge's knees with. STINGER were waiting round every corner, every bend, every nook, every cranny. There was no escaping them, their attack was so focused, so vicious, so merciless, that Daisuke Harada did the unthinkable during a title match, and climbed up on the apron to complain. Title matches are sacred ground in Noah.  Exhaustion began to set in. The Noah Junior Regulars where worn down, Kotoge was hanging on a thread. Worn down by constant physical attacks and drained by the past weeks, he tapped.

WINNERS: Chris Ridgeway with the Stretch Muffler Hold on Atsushi Kotoge (33 minutes, 41 seconds)

The Noah Junior Regulars were taunted with the belts. Harada looking as if he had a sick taste in his mouth. Even when they had turned and gone, he was taunting them. Ogawa then turned his attention to Jushin Liger and this got physical. Liger threw a bottle of water, and Ogawa kicked the table. A stand off occurred, which ended with Liger telling Ogawa to get lost.

Backstage, Ogawa said that he wanted to defend the belts in England. This seems to been an ambition of his, as he was saying the same thing about the 1PW belt. That was until HAYATA won it and threw it in the trash. Ridgeway said Japan and England. 

This was not a good night for the Noah Junior Regulars, and half of Seiki Yoshioka's prediction, that STINGER would once again be the core, came true. It was now up to HAYATA. 

MATCH TEN

GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship Match

Eita vs HAYATA

HAYATA debuted new ring wear. Fans thought his jacket looked like a black version of YO-HEY's. Eita did not dress up for the occasion. HAYATA, who looked even more otherworldly than usual with his catseye contact lenses and sadistic smile, was humiliated initially by Eita who knocked him outside of the ring and then poured water on him. While HAYATA was down outside of the ring and the ref was checking on him, Eita took the turnbuckle pads off, but this backfired and caused Eita to bleed when HAYATA tripped him. 

It was apt for a challenge that had begun in blood. HAYATA'S eyes lit up demonically when he had Eita in the ring, a crimson mess. A thousand thoughts of a thousand ways to hurt. Eita had said he wasn't going to wrestle a good match, and so HAYATA took him up on his word.

When it came time for the dreaded Headache, NOSAWA interfered by getting up on the apron and this allowed Eita to Imperial Uno kick. HAYATA (fortunately) kicked out. Eita was tough enough to take another three moves which dropped him directly on his head, but there was no kicking out of one final devastating move. 

WINNER: HAYATA with The Headache (28 minutes,  8 seconds)

STINGER where now firmly back at the core, and the three champions posed together. Seiki Yoshioka and Yuya Susumu on the sidelines. Then everyone left, leaving HAYATA to close out the show. HAYATA talked more than usual. Much more. He said that anyone could come for this belt (Ogawa echoed this backstage about STINGER as a whole), and he didn't care what promotion they were from. He also said that he would create the new Noah Junior division. 

While Noah trended second to baseball, something else was happening backstage. Kaito Kiyomiya was finally getting his wish; Noah had agreed that he and Go Shiozaki would fight for the GHC Heavyweight title. A short signing ceremony was held. Kiyomiya said it was important that his generation won it for a new Noah, while Shiozaki reminded him that he too was a challenger, and he was not going to give the belt away so easily. Kinya Okada will replace Kaito Kiyomiya in tomorrow's match against Naomichi Marufuji and the unknown opponent. 

With thanks to: Abeshin, Oshima-san & Metal-Noah

GIF taken from WrestleUniverse

Noah's next event: MAJESTIC 2022 (Saturday April 30th, Ryogoku Kokugikan)