(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: STAR NAVIGATION 2023 (Thursday March 9th, Korakuen Hall)
Daisuke Harada's retirement aside, and Keiji Mutoh's retirement over, this is Noah's new voyage into a new era. Subscribers can watch the event on WrestleUniverse here.
MATCH ONE
Kongoh Juniors (Shuji Kondo, Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara) vs Kinya Okada, Yasutaka Yano & Daishi Ozawa
Kinya Okada returned to Noah today following a jaw injury sustained at the hands (or rather feet) of Katsuhiko Nakajima, about their upcoming match he has said simply "Revenge". Tonight, however, Nakajima was not his opponent, and he had to face the Kongoh Juniors. Rockstar Tadasuke made his entry in usual fashion, even waving away Okada with a flick of the hand. Okada showed he had not missed a step by starting the match and attacking Shuji Kondo with kicks.
WINNER: Tadasuke with a lariat to the back of the head on Daishi Ozawa (5 minutes)
Tadasuke probably hoped he had impressed Kondo enough for a Financier.
MATCH TWO
Noah Junior Regulars (YO-HEY, Seiki Yoshioka & Alejandro) vs Super Crazy, Xtreme Tiger & Lanzelot.
Old friends returned to Noah tonight, and a new wrestler made his Noah debut, as Lanzelot (Super Crazy's nephew which fits in with both the generational story in Noah and the recurring theme of family), made his first in ring appearance for the promotion. Sadly there was a botch from him when he managed to slip on the ropes, but this was about it and otherwise he was pretty awesome and yes as this was high flyers vs other high flyers, the match had elements of not wanting to be outdone
WINNER: Lanzelot with the Lanzelot Fly on Seiki Yoshioka (6 minutes, 23 seconds)
MATCH THREE
Daisuke Harada's retirement
Daisuke Harada vs Atsushi Kotoge (one minute time limit)
Atsushi Kotoge came into what was probably the hardest match of his life not as exuberant as he normally is. He had broken down in tears during the video, pulled himself together although he kept his hood up and hid his face in the turnbuckle, although a camera got shoved in. When Daisuke Harada's music sounded he had buried his face. Korakuen erupted in Harada cheers, fans weeping as this was the last time they would see Harada enter to this music.
Harada and Kotoge got the most they could out of one minute, and it was quite substantial. Kotoge offered a handshake, Harada batted him away and what followed was Harada bouncing the ropes, giving Kotoge sharp blows to his abdomen, and even doing a cartwheel. He took no weight on or damage to his neck. He did go for the Katayama German Suplex, but naturally, he couldn't throw it and with the bell ringing soon after, aptly the Rolling Elbow was the last move of his wrestling career. Someone once said that Misawa had taught Kobashi the value of leaving the ring alive, perhaps it was also his legacy to Harada too. The one minute match being up, Harada wanted to continue, but the referee said no. Kotoge let himself lapse back into tears as Harada made this speech;
"Are you kidding me, aren't I the one who wants to cry the most? My pro wrestling life started with you, and I'm really happy that it ended with you. Because of you, I was able to come to Noah and continue wrestling because you were here, and because of you I was able to wrestle for one last minute. I am really grateful to you. From the day I entered Osaka Pro Wrestling, I was cocky junior, but until today have been indebted to you. Thank you for your help today!"
By this time Kotoge couldn't contain himself, and couldn't or didn't want to stay as he left backstage after this. Harada continued, addressing the fans;
"Thank you! I hope that all the fans will be very happy to accept the match, please. Thank you for coming today. In order for me to wrestle for one minute, there was a lot of support from the trainer, Nagahama, the doctors from the medical team, Noah, the audience who gathered today and the people watching ABEMA. I was able to stand in the ring today thanks to the support of many people. Today is the end of the pro wrestler Daisuke Harada, but from now on, as a Noah fan like everyone else, I would like to see Pro Wrestling Noah return to number one in the industry, so I will continue to support them. Thank you for your support! No ceremony or ten count gong, but with the following words, I, Daisuke Harada, wants to finish being a professional wrestler with a bang! Thank you for the past seventeen years!"
Then it was time to stay goodbye, although he didn't want to. Harada knew he now had to leave the ring for the last time. Those at ringside (Alejandro, YO-HEY and Hitoshi Kumano, who had purchased a ticket to see the show) were emotional during Harada's speech and when Harada said his farewells. Harada said goodbye to everyone he could on the way out, and a long hug with Kumano reduced Kumano to tears, the young boys got a goodbye and good luck and the man who saved Harada's life (Nagahama) had his hand raised.
MATCH FOUR
The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita & Hideki Suzuki) vs Naomichi Marufuji, Masaaki Mochizuki & Shuhei Taniguchi
The question of "What to do with Taniguchi?" arose again, and even fans are now wondering it too. It is no secret his seniors (and Grand seniors) have not been pleased with his direction over the past few years, the Disco King gimmick was not well received (Kenta Kobashi asked "What is this? Is this a King?") and Mohammed Yone even warned him not to push it too much when Marufuji and Sugiura were in the ring) and then his seeming slide into apathy when he ditched it. Hideki Suzuki had asked on his Twitter where Maybach Taniguchi was prior to the match, sadly he was not going to see him.
Kazuyuki Fujita came out with the usual box of tonic, handing it to the commentators, the ref (who mercifully didn't have to drink it then and there and made his excuses as to why he didn't want to) and of course his team. Hideki Suzuki never looks overjoyed, and even Naomichi Marufuji when he has had to drink it, has grimaced and stuck his tongue out, and Marufuji has a strong alcohol competition, which has even defeated former Dove wrestlers.
Taniguchi started the match against Suzuki, then Sugiura tagged in and you could tell he was not pleased with Taniguchi, shoving him with his boot to make him get to his feet, kicking him and giving him elbows when he rose. Taniguchi kind of staggered around the ring, being mauled by the opposition. Taniguchi took the brunt of the beatings, credit that he took them, but the monster did not awake fully like everyone seems to be trying to provoke, which the elbow war with Sugiura went somewhat of the way to doing.
WINNER: Takashi Sugiura with the Front Neck Lock (Referee stop, 12 minutes, 59 seconds)
Sugiura stood over Taniguchi who was spread-eagled after the match and then walked off after taking one further glance back at him. Naomichi Marufuji kind of did the same, but was good enough to roll Taniguchi out of the ring with an air of resignation. Mochizuki, not a member of Noah, but able to read the room so to speak, also sensed this too and the two of them left when Taniguchi was back on his feet. Marufuji turning back to give him a wary look. Backstage, Sugiura said about Taniguchi;
"There's no time left for him. I'm anxious too, is he? Is it okay to stay like this? He doesn't have time. I'll train him again, it's Yokohama. I will train him again."
They will have a singles match at the Yokohama Budokan on the 19th March.
MATCH FIVE
Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya)
Vicious pre match as Kenoh and Manabu Soya are not just fighting for the GHC Heavyweight Tag, but also the All Japan World Heavyweight Tag as they want to unify them. However, at this point in time, no challenge had even been accepted thanks to the actions of Suwama and Kenoh declaring they would have no truck with All Japan because of it. A three man hoss fight broke out between Yoshiki Inamura, Manabu Soya and Masa Kitamiya (the latter two gave the impression of two beasts about to charge when they faced up at the beginning), and Korakuen shook when two of them were in the ring, let along three. Kenoh and Soya bought out a tandem move (kick to the back of the head of an opponent followed up by a lariat from Soya), which bought them the win.
WINNER: Manabu Soya with a jumping DDT on Daiki Inaba (12 minutes, 11 seconds)
The champions limped off and Nakajima made a subdued exit as the the All Japan World Heavyweight Tag champions came to the ring and granted their challengers a title shot. Yuma Aoyagi spoke first
"Hey! Kenoh, Manabu Soya! The World Tag Team Champions Yuma Aoyagi and Naoya Nomura have arrived. You guys want to challenge for this belt, right? We will accept your challenge fair and square. If you have the courage to come to All Japan Pro-Wrestling, why not put this belt on the line and challenge at All Japan's Ota Ward General Gymnasium event on March 21st? How about it?"
Kenoh responded in usual manner;
"You stepped into Noah's ring today. That's how I understood your declaration that you would accept our challenge. I understand your spirit well, and you know more about business than Managing Director Suwama. Certainly, rather than something like Suwama taking on the challenge, it is certain that business will grow if we do. We will challenge for that belt, but before that on March 19th, we will become the GHC tag champions at the Yokohama Budokan. On March 21st, we will be the World Tag Team Champions. We will unify the two belts, the GHC Tag and the World Tag, and become the GHC World Tag Team Champions."
After Kenoh's speech, everyone faced up with each other, the champions holding their belts up as the challengers trash talked.
MATCH SIX
HAYATA vs Eita
Eita had threatened that he was going to do to HAYATA what HAYATA had done to him in their last singles match, which was the bloody GHC Junior Heavyweight title match at Noah Junior night in Ryogoku Kokugikan. Unfortunately for Eita, HAYATA did pretty much the same thing when he jumped him as Eita made his way to the ring, showboating for the crowd, and battered him with the tag belt which made him bleed. Eita hadn't even taken his gown off and the match only started the ref rolled him into the ring and removed it from him. HAYATA roughed up the ref by throwing him aside. This would not be the first time in the evening. With a sadistic smile and his hair dripping over his face, the high quality pictures by fans made the contacts in his eyes glow, which was apt. After countering The Headache, Eita grabbed the belt which had been retrieved and placed back on the table, but his revenge would have to wait, as HAYATA dodged him and then shoved the ref down for the third time and hit Eita with the belt. The ref then stopped the match. For good measure HAYATA gave him the 403 Impact on the belt and stood over him, his boot in Eita's face and holding the championship up.
WINNER: Neither, ref stopped the match at 3 minutes and 47 seconds
Backstage, HAYATA said he had no intention of working with Eita, and at Yokohama Radiant Halls, Ogawa would come to his senses that STINGER was himself, HAYATA and Chris Ridgeway. Eita posted in response to this on Twitter that HAYATA had better come to his senses, and anyway, was he really proud of what he had done?
MATCH SEVEN
Chris Ridgeway vs Yoshinari Ogawa
"I think it's going to be a question of which is better, technique or technology" - Yoshinari Ogawa (interview with Pro Wrestling DX)
As he was making his way to the ring, Chris Ridgeway threw his jacket at Ogawa, who kicked it aside. Then he started stalking Ogawa around the ring and not letting him get in. In the end the strict ref (the young one who doesn't put up with nonsense) had to keep Ridgeway away so the match could start. However, this is the Noah Juniors, and chaos is never far from the surface. Ridgeway started by attacking Ogawa's knees to wear him down, and Ogawa in his turn, working on Ridgeway's arms and legs. Both were able to predict each others moves somewhat, and Ridgeway even going a step further and using what was around him, even the ref to get to the ropes. Ogawa had said this was "technique or technology", but to Ridgeway this was "student vs master" and he did what few have ever done and joined an exclusive club. He made Ogawa tap.
Winner: Chris Ridgeway with the ankle hold (10 minutes, 20 seconds)
The referee finished the evening, by being thrown from the ring by Ridgeway. In total, they had been pushed aside four times by STINGER. As he passed Ogawa, who had been helped out of the ring by Yasutaka Yano, and who was lying on the floor, Ridgeway clapped sarcastically.
SEMI FINAL
Kaito Kiyomiya & Atsushi Kotoge vs Good Looking Guys (Jake Lee & Anthony Green)
Atsushi Kotoge was a little more his old bouncy self, and Kaito Kiyomiya was a little happier too. He seems to have found solace in the fact that he might have lost to Kazuchika Okada, but he had learned a lot in the process. Jake Lee was waiting to rain on his parade however, by pulling a childish face whereby he made himself smile, and he pointed at Kiyomiya to do this. He even twisted Kiyomiya's face into a smile in a somewhat unique rope break when the champion and challenger started the match.
Kiyomiya may have relaxed too soon, as Jake ran roughshod over him and at one point even kicked him up the butt to humiliate him, and probably to make the following Boston Crab worse.
WINNER: Jake Lee with the Skewered front high kick on Atsushi Kotoge (13 minutes, 47 seconds)
Jake took the mic and bent over Kiyomiya, who was lying flat out on the mat;
"Kiyomiya, for you, that (GHC Heavyweight) is a bit of a burden I guess. Boo, applause, whatever. Come and see the 19th March, I'll change Noah"
Kenoh had once said something similar to Kiyomiya, but his was more out of concern, Jake's was sarcasm.
MAIN EVENT
*GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship match*
AMAKUSA vs Hi69
Put him in a title match where he has the backstory of a bitter feud with someone, and he has to think for himself, then Hi69 will give one of his best matches. He came very close to winning on more than one occasion, and I don't know whether this was caused by Haoh/AMAKUSA and his need for revenge or not, but he became wild eyed, something no one had seen from him before.
He was savoring every moment. AMAKUSA alternating between high flying moves and short swift powerful moves that took Hi69 off guard, pulled them out when he least expected it, which got him the win.
WINNER: AMAKUSA with the Kaikoku (12 minutes, 15 seconds)
(Note, AMAKUSA'S move in English means something like "Opening of the country" or "End of national seclusion". This comes from when Japan was forced by Commodore Matthew Perry to open itself to the world following 200 years of the country being closed from 1639 to 1853. America was not interested in trade with Japan which they saw as a poverty stricken and backward place, but they wanted it's resources, i.e. its timber, metal-works and coal, and Japan made a convenient refueling station geographically. Ironically enough, while it was America who had opened the country, it was them who closed it again following Japan's surrender in World War II by decreeing, as the Shogun had done, that no one was to enter or to leave.)
AMAKUSA spoke on the mic afterwards in his usual Heian fashion;
"I asked myself a question that was a foolish one, wasn't it? I pledge to guide this Noah Junior Treasure to the heavens, and move time forwards. My name is AMAKUSA. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this evening."
With thanks to: Metal-Noah, Taka330
Noah's next event: SUNNY VOYAGE 2023, Tuesday March 14th (Yokohama Radiant Hall) - Live on WrestleUniverse
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