(NOAH) Must Read! A lineup of fights you definitely can't miss! Here are some highlights from the 16th June Yokohama Buntai.

7th June 2024

Noah.co.jp

After undergoing a rebuild, the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, which was once the secondary home base of Noah where many fierce battles were held, was reborn this year as the "Yokohama BUNTAI". The first big match to be held here will be on June 16th. 

The main event will be a new era showdown, which is fitting for the first time at the newly built arena. Gabe Kidd, of New Japan's Bullet Club, WAR DOGS, will challenge the young GHC Heavyweight Champion, Kaito Kiyomiya. The two rivals faced off at a New Japan G1 CLIMAX match last summer, and both were counted out after a huge brawl. The seeds of conflict continued to smolder, and they flared up again at an unexpected time. On May 6th, Gabe attacked Kiyomiya, who had just concluded ALL TOGETHER at the Nippon Budokan as the new GHC Heavyweight Champion. Not only did he bring ALL TOGETHER to a bad end, but he also carried off the belt. 

Gabe was trained by Katsuyori Shibata, and grew in the LA dojo, making rapid progress since joining WAR DOGS. While his extreme behavior has certainly fueled his bad boy nature, he recently fought a fierce battle with Shingo Takagi for the NEVER Championship, and he also won a fierce fight with Eddie Kingston to become the STRONG Openweight Champion. His status has definitely improved since his draw with Kiyomiya a year ago.

Kiyomiya formed a new unit, "ALL REBELLION," to coincide with the championship, but he remains unarmed without the important belt, so it cannot be denied that a champion who shouts "revolution" without a belt, is not very convincing. 

A new generation showdown across promotions and nationalities has materialized as a grudge match with the GHC at stake. 

Will Kiyomiya's defense promote a revolution? 

Will Gabe's victory lead to a chaotic nightmare?

This will be a match that includes all sorts of themes. 

The GHC Tag Team Championship, held by Jack Morris and Anthony Green, who have established a firm reign, will be challenged by the "Comrades in Arms Tag Team" of Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura. 

In Kobe on May 26th, Marufuji won by pinfall over Green, and announced his challenge with Sugiura. 

Marufuji and Sugiura, who have supported Noah through it's difficulties without ever leaving the promotion, and who call each other "Comrades in Arms", will be aiming for the GHC Tag Championship for the third time in about eleven years. Marufuji is confident that they will win the title in one go rather than go into action, but it is also true that he has been tempted by the current champion's performance. 

Now the undisputed centre of the tag team scene, Morris & Green have been fighting the amazing Lucha brothers, Los Golpeadores, in some of the best bouts of the year. In early spring, they won the VICTORY CHALLENGE Tag League, and not only did they defend the title by defeating the runner-up teams one after another, but they also held three open challenges through "MONDAY MAGIC" after that. On May 4th at Ryogoku, they even defeated "Tenkoji", the team of Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima, and before they knew it, they had reached their 8th defense. If they can break through this time, they will be within reach of breaking the record for the most defenses, which is held by KES (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith) at nine, with their tenth defense being finally within reach. 

Daga, who rules over the Noah Juniors, will be challenged by the extremely unique new star, StarBoy Charlie. Charlie is a 21-year-old wrestler active in the West Coast promotion, "West Coast". He wears denim overalls, has messy hair, and has a boyish, cute look. His special skill is "tree climbing". With his outstanding physical abilities and unbelievable movements, he flies around, sprints up to the corners and unleashes twisting press techniques. It's almost fantastical to see the boy from the woods, who has jumped out of an old picture book, wrestling as he is. 

The champion, Daga, who continues to defend his title with complete victories thanks to his ferociousness and lack of weakness, is nicknamed "Lion". How close can the boy from the woods get to the King of The Beasts? It will be a match that will stir the imagination. 

The first singles match between the "Great Muta's daughter", the Great Sakuya, and Takumi Iroha, will also take place. On May 22nd at Korakuen Hall, Sakuya sprayed poison mist on Iroha, and declared war on her. This is a match that will highlight the contrast between "someone with the blood of the demon world vs. the legitimate successor to Chigusa Nagayo". 

In addition, Kenoh and Jake Lee will also clash in a six-man tag match. Kenoh and Jake, who have had sparks fly between them, will now face off in a unit showdown between ALL REBELLION vs GLG. 

Also, Chris Vice and other members of REAL ZERO1 will take part in a match against TEAM NOAH. This will be the pre match for the title match between World Heavyweight Champion Akitoshi Saito and his next challenger, Vice, at LIMIT BREAK at Korakuen Hall on June 19th. 

Translated from Noah.co.jp

Picture credit: Noah.co.jp