(NOAH) Event recap ~ Global Tag League Semi Finals (Tuesday, April 30th 2019, Yokohama Radiant Halls, Yokohama)

Yokohama Radiant Hall was once again filled to the brim as it had been on Monday, as people crowded in to every available space creating a very excited atmosphere. As an added bonus, people worldwide could watch the show via Noah's live streaming on the official YouTube channel, which added to the feeling of excitement and expectation (although the broadcast does start with some lag which always manages to correct itself). The arena being in total darkness as the Noah theme played before the screen flickered into life was slightly ruined when someone opened one of the stage doors...

Noah's new trainee is sticking it out (although I have noticed that I haven't seen the other two, and the new boy doesn't look like he has had his head shaved yet), and Kinya Okada was also at ringside too.

This was the last show of the Heisei era with the new regnal era, Reiwa, starting at midnight. It is a new era for Japan, and a new era for Noah.

MATCH ONE
Global Tag League
The Revolutionary Cloak Heroes (Mitsuya Nagai & Atsushi Kotoge) vs THE TOUGH (Yoshiki Inamura & Masa Kitamiya)

Yoshiki Inamura crouching in Sumo pose before running to the ring.
Atsushi Kotoge was a little more restrained today and not as hyper as he normally is. Mitsuya Nagai came to the ring in his cloak, but hidden under his sinister black coat and got shoved by Inamura.

Fight went to the outside, and Nagai used his chain in Inamura. Kotoge didn't attempt to stop him (I guess he has given up). Nagai chased him with the chain and the audience recoiled when he swung it at him, Inamura ducked and the chain thankfully hit the ringpost.

Kotoge's arm is still bandaged from his injury a few months ago, and he also headbutted Kitamiya, but not in the same way he had done Sugiura (Kitamiya probably had a slight headache, and not staples)

Naturally, Nagai started yelling at some "noisy old bags" who were cheering for Inamura, and Kotoge had to apologize for him.

The audience have their own rhythmic clap for when Kotoge does the "Revolutionary Cloak Splash".

Inamura put up a good fight, crowd very much behind him.

WINNER: Mitsuya Nagai with The Stretch Plum on Yoshiki Inamura (11 minutes and 5 seconds)

In the post match interview afterwards, The Revolutionary Cloak Heroes became a permanent team.

MATCH TWO
Stinger (Yoshinari Ogawa & YO-HEY) Vs The Backbreakers (Hajime Ohara & Hitoshi Kumano)

Hitoshi Kumano did not have his "TMDK" sticker on his big rice sponsorship paddle today.

Many people said that Yoshinari Ogawa and YO-HEY made a good team, and they want to see them enter Global Junior Tag League, even more than they want to see Ogawa and Suzuki.

YO-HEY went to use his crazy lock up, so Ohara just got him in a headlock. "GETZ" also failed to scare Ohara, or wind him up in any way. Ohara held the pose, and YO-HEY muttered something like the equivalent of, "wise guy, huh?"

Ohara vs Ogawa was sadly way too short

YO-HEY made out he had an injury to distract the referee from what Ogawa was doing to Kumano outside.

WINNER: YO-HEY with the Super Face G on Hitoshi Kumano (12 minutes and 20 seconds)

After the match Hitoshi Kumano was left lying on the canvas, Ohara just looked down at him and then walked off. Later in the backstage interview he dissolved The Backbreakers, tired of the fire having gone out of the team and their losing streak.
They are now enemies.

MATCH THREE
Naomichi Marufuji & RATELS (Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke & HAYATA) vs Shiro Koshinaka, Minoru Tanaka, Hi69 & Junta Miyawaki

Harada and Marufuji immediately getting off on the wrong foot, when they got into a tussle about doing Tadasuke's pose, and Marufuji decided he was going to climb on Harada's turnbuckle. Later, Harada decided he wasn't going to tag Marufuji in, and tagged HAYATA in. HAYATA (not as childish) got in the ring, and immediately tagged Marufuji in. Marufuji returned the favor, by tagging HAYATA in over Harada (the look on HAYATA'S face was priceless). The tension built between them during the match.
Crowd chanting for Koshinaka to start off against Tadasuke, and the two had a natural chemistry with Tadasuke doing his own butt attack.
Junta Miyawaki got Kawada Kicks from Marufuji (he took them a lot more politely than Kenoh), although Koshinaka did no sell Marufuji's chops. Junta had a very very close win over HAYATA, but he kicked out at the last moment.

WINNER: HAYATA with the Moonsault on Junta Miyawaki (14 minutes and 8 seconds)

After the match, RATELS did their handshake, but Harada wouldn't let Marufuji join in and kept either nudging him away, kicking him away and turning his back on him. In the end, Harada kicked him and threw him out of the ring.
Marufuji slapped his hands on the apron, but as he walked off, he went to pick up the IPW Junior Heavyweight title, but simply put his hand on it and looked back at RATELS.
When RATELS came to leave the ring, they found that Marufuji was blocking one entrance, and wisely Harada said they should take the other.
Marufuji watched them leave and then slowly closed the door (unfortunately the effect was slightly ruined as he was dancing around a bit).

MATCH FOUR
Global Tag League
50 Funky Powers (Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm) vs The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & KAZMA SAKAMOTO)

As Takashi Sugiura's theme "When Love Comes To Town" was muted due to copyright issues, I played the theme from "The Terminator"

Yone's fro has reached mighty proportions (and at one point he even rearranged it), and Sugiura was not impressed by the the Disco Fever ropebreak.
Lets just say about this match, that The Sugiura Army pretty much destroyed 50 Funky Powers, and there was a STIFF AS HELL punch exchange between Yone and Sugiura.
Crowd laughed and clapped when Sugiura imitated KAZMA'S high pitched shriek (it's like "eeeeeeeeeeee").

WINNER: KAZMA SAKAMOTO with the running knee on Quiet Storm (13 minutes and 57 seconds)

MATCH FIVE
KAIOH (Kenoh & Kaito Kiyomiya) vs The Return of The Dark Agents (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue)

The Return of The Dark Agents have been a force to reckon with this year, and not just the comedy act they were in 2017, with Inoue shedding the comedy routine for a while (although he and Kiyomiya did do some light comedy during a ropebreak, and there was some with Kenoh too, like when Kenoh repeatedly kicked him in the ass and the usual Inoue antics, bar falling off the turnbuckle).
Inoue had a lot of calls from the crowd, and lightened up a match that was going to have a dark ending.
Kiyomiya was looking worried and taking a slight deep breath again before getting in the ring.
Kenoh and Saito started off, both have a background in martial arts (Saito Karate and Kenoh Nippon Kempo, which he was teaching children recently), so their starting was very shoot...and Kenoh got things underway by kicking Saito, and a kick exchange followed. They exchanged some pretty stiff kicks when each knelt in turn to be kicked (although he recovered well, I think Saito's first kick took Kenoh somewhat by surprise).

Kenoh's always simmering jealously and resentment started to bubble to the surface when Kiyomiya accidentally caught him with a dropkick, but it erupted when after being knocked down by Akitoshi Saito and kept outside the ring by Masao Inoue (with help from a kick by Saito), he failed to get back in the ring, even though Kenoh tried to pull him back in.
The crowd screamed as Inoue held his legs to keep him out, and Kenoh pulled his arms to keep him in.
Kaioh were now out of Global Tag League.
They looked dumbfounded, and their fragile alliance collapsed. Never friends and never would be, they had not the trust between them to survive this loss.

WINNER: Akitoshi Saito when Kaito Kiyomiya was counted out (18 minutes and 48 seconds)

Then Kenoh's paranoia, his jealousy and his resentment burst to the surface. Getting on the microphone he told Kiyomiya (after grabbing his hair and yelling at him), "Today, we are finished" and he went on to say (voice increasingly arising in pitch) that everything Kiyomiya had been told to say had been told to him by the company...no not by Noah...by Lidet. Kenoh (echoing Ricky Choshu who he referenced) also told The Chairman of Lidet, that he wouldn't be his dog, and bark and wag his tail when commanded. He would make Noah a major group through his own power. Unlike Kiyomiya, who had been made a star by the company, not by his own merit.
Then he threw the microphone at Kiyomiya and stalked off still yelling.
Kiyomiya (upset) basically told him that he was being silly, and the words he spoke, where his own and he would create a new Noah by himself and if Kenoh wanted to fight him for it instead of standing by him, then so be it.

MATCH SIX
AXIZ (Katsuhiko Nakajima & Go Shiozaki) vs The Inferno (Yuji Hino & Maybach Taniguchi)

No smugness or evil grins from Nakajima, he was all business, and AXIZ knew that this was not a team to trifle with. When they were The Hooligans, they had beaten them for the GHC Heavyweight Tags before and left Shiozaki a bloody wreck, and if they wanted to make sure they didn't do it again, they had better concentrate. AXIZ knew that to take down these two monsters, they need to wear them down with kicks and chops, and this was one stiff as hell match as a result. There was nothing overly technical in it, just four guys beating the crap out of each other, and no one held back on anything.
This has made my "Match of The Year 2019" list

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the lariat on Maybach Taniguchi (20 minutes and 27 seconds)

After the match, The Sugiura Army came out and faced off against AXIZ. Sugiura saying that he was looking forward to Korakuen as it would decide "the final battle" and who was the best team in it.
Nakajima told him, "you are a symbol of Noah's strength, but we will show you a new symbol of strength, AXIZ. Yes or No?"
The audience, said "No!"
Nakajima told them that they will say "Yes" next time, as AXIZ would do this for them.
As they left the ring, and Nakajima spoke to the crowd, Sugiura stood in the audience clapping and smiling with them.
Sugiura has two behaviors which mean you should start running before he cmes through walls to find you - standing still and staring at opponents, or smiling at you in or near to the ring.

ATTENDANCE: 360 (super no vacancy)
WITH THANKS TO: Abeshin, Shizushizu
PICTURE CREDITS: Noah GHC, PKDK