(NOAH) Marufuji defeats Kotaro. Misawa's two favorite pupils in clash of souls.

Tokyo Sports
5th August 2019

Noah held its 19th anniversary celebrations at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on the 4th August, in the main event Naomichi Marufuji (39) and Kotaro Suzuki (41), who were the favorite pupils of the late promotions founder, Mitsuharu Misawa (died at 46), had a match in about 17 and a half years. It became a mortal combat with each others history. Marufuji won with the Pole Shift Emerald Type Flowsion.

Marufuji had debuted in All Japan in August 1998, he has been with Noah since its founding. On the other hand, Kotaro made his debut in December 2001 as Noah's firstborn.
After Marufuji, Kotaro served as Misawa's attendant, and they were "fellow pupils" with a mutual recognition.
Their first and last single match was in March 2002; at that time Marufuji was of a higher rank. After that, he turned to heavyweight, and so the common ground between them was gone.

In December 2012, Kotaro resigned from Noah. Together with Jun Akiyama (now the president of All Japan, 49), he went to All Japan the following year, and after that as a freelancer in various promotions. As Marufuji said, "When he left the company, I thought there would never be a reunion. I thought that we would never speak again."
However, the two men reunited in the ring, guided by destiny.

From the start, Kotaro attacked with a strong elbow, with Marufuji fighting back with a heavy reverse horizontal chop. Kotaro's chest was torn early in the match, with blood shimmering on his chest.
After 12 minutes, Marufuji was still attacking. Using the steel pole, he performed a Shiranuhi​ from the apron to outside of the ring. Back in the ring, there was another Shiranuhi​ following corner to corner missile attack, which Kotaro kicked out of with a count of 2.8.
While suffering serious damage, Kotaro recaptured the pace with an elbow and a Deathscythe (elbow butt), a modified Destiny Driver, and then a Tiger Driver for the quick victory.
Marufuji, who showed the meaning of a stubborn senior pupil, immediately returned with a Tiger Driver. He caught him in the arm bar, pulled him to stand and hit the Tiger King and Trace Kick in a row, and pushed him to the verge of a KO. Finally, he won with the Pole Shift Emerald Type Flowsion, which burst forth with the spirit of his late teacher. In this reunion match, Marufuji won in a fierce battle without sentimentality.
After the match, the brother pupils shook hands firmly to celebrate a good match.

Marufuji said with emotion, "If you think about it, there are only three original wrestlers from the start of the promotion left; myself, Yoshinari Ogawa and Takashi Sugiura. I am sincerely grateful to the wrestlers who are fighting in the ring, and I sincerely thank you for coming to see Noah."
 
Marufuji continued with, "I was strong. I won by only 1mm. The fight with Kotaro has not ended. I don't know if it will happen again, but I hope you continue coming to Noah in the future. Today I would like to thank Kotaro".

Link to original article from Tokyo Sports
Picture credit: Tokyo Sports