(NOAH) EVENT RECAP - "DIAMOND" The Kongoh produce show (14th December 2019, ShinKiba 1st Ring)

This was a produce show with a difference, in that in the past produce shows have had an element of what is happening in current Noah, but they have never blended them in like this one as you will see. Neither has there ever been a produce show before with a stipulation that if you don't sell it out, then the unit has to break up and the leader leave. Fortunately, today's show was sold out, so Kongoh (who added two to their unit), didn't break up, and Kenoh does not have to leave Noah.
However, it remains to be seen if LIDET will do their part and book "that place", which is popularly believed to be The Budokan, but has never been stated definitively as that, and Noah could well announce that they are running Sumo Hall again for their 20th anniversary show.
We shall see.

The event was sold out with little ShinKiba having a long line stretching past the building and down the road, despite the chilly weather, as Kenoh's theme "Heartbreak Mosh" could be heard playing. If you couldn't make it to ShinKiba, Noah streamed the event live on YouTube, and fans tuned in from all over the world. You can watch the replay by the link above, however, Noah only keep this up for about 48 hours before chopping them into individual matches, so if you are reading this a few days weeks or months after the event, it may not be there.

Inside the venue, fans were given a welcome pack with the clear file of Go Shiozaki chopping Eddie Edwards, some glow sticks (in angry red and yellow colors), streamers and a little Kenoh cookie.

There was a sense of excitement and anticipation among the crowd even before the event started. It was only a small card, with the show lasting probably only an hour and a half to a couple of hours, but as we will see, this produce was going to be eventful. The crowd were on fire since the first match.

Yoshiki Inamura vs Daisuke Sekimoto

Yoshiki Inamura entered the ring with a loud roar in this red hot opener with Big Japan's Daisuke Sekimoto. If you can imagine two large objects colliding (I can imagine that this must have been similar to the meteor that hit earth and wiped out the dinosaurs), then you can probably get an idea of what this match was like, pure hoss fight with two guys built like tanks slamming into each other, and trying to beat the hell out of each other.

The crowd were very much behind Inamura, and they would remain so throughout the evening, and this rose in pitch when Inamura was struggling to the ropes in Sekimoto's submission as he yelled, "Give up! Give up!"

There were several near pinfalls from both competitors, but ultimately Inamura could not prevail against the veteran

WINNER: Daisuke Sekimoto via German Suplex Hold (13 minutes, 16 seconds)

Afterwards Daisuke Sekimoto posed with his foot on Inamura's face to the boos of the crowd afterwards, told everyone "fuck you", held up his middle finger, and walked off. 

Inamura left to chants of his name.

Kongoh (Kenoh & Masa Kitamiya) vs The Anti Wrestlers Alliance (Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue)

Masao Inoue came limping out in a red YOSSHA t-shirt (don't worry, he was not revealed one of the mystery men who would be joining Kongoh in the next match), and holding up the mask of The Destroyer that he had won. Saito didn't try to force it over his head this time.

Kenoh and Masa Kitamiya entered, with Kenoh standing in the corner looking very unimpressed at his rebellious rivals, who also happen to be the hated veterans.

Masao Inoue and Masa Kitamiya took the first lock up, with the crowd split between cheering for Masa Kitamiya and Masao Inoue. Inoue made the mistake of knocking Kenoh off the apron, and then he and Saito double teamed Kitamiya for a while, and then Saito worked to keep Kenoh out of the ring. Inoue used tricks like eye poking and foot stamping, and while he had Kitamiya in the corner, Kenoh did a moment of light comedy as he crept back into the ring, crept up behind Inoue, and then tapped him in the shoulder... when it did come down to Inoue vs Kenoh, Inoue held his own against Kenoh, but he only succeeded in making him mad, and Kenoh slapped him so hard the building shook.

WINNER: Kenoh with the diving footstamp (now known as PDF) on Masao Inoue (11 minutes, 49 seconds)

Afterwards, Saito dragged Inoue (who was complaining) out of the ring by his ears. Inoue shook him off, and then wouldn't then let him touch him, and Saito reassured him he wasn't going to harm him! 

XX (Unknown junior wrestlers, TBA) vs Junta Miyawaki & Seiya Morohashi

Despite the speculation of it being either Naomichi Marufuji or Takashi Sugiura entering Kongoh (which is unlikely as despite the fact that Marufuji wouldn't want to play second fiddle to Kenoh, and Sugiura having his own dog loving gang, and in some areas it was thought it might even be Yoshinari Ogawa who would join), it turned out to be Michinoku Pro's Yuki Sato and Noah's Hi69. Hi69 appeared with bleached blonde hair, and looking very toned, new ringwear and surprisingly for him, no t-shirt.
This was a fast paced energetic match, with Kongoh's new junior heavyweight tag team dominant, and showing a nasty edge.

WINNER: Yuki Sato with the Firebird Splash on Seiya Morohashi (10 minutes, 42 seconds)

From now on Hi69 & Yuki Sato will be known as individually Haō (Sato) and Niō (Hi69)

The name Haō means "High King" while Niō does not have a direct translation, being more the name given to the guardian gods of Buddhism who stand at the temple gates. Tadasuke has also called them this). Haō & Niō have challenged for the GHC Junior Tag titles, with the match taking place on 4th January 2020 at Korakuen Hall. With  Haō entering Global Junior League, and Hi69 already entered, this now means that there should be another junior announced.

Hideki Suzuki, a member of The Sugiura Army, wants everyone to know that the new member of Kongoh, is not him.

After this, Peta (who was the lead singer of The Garlic Boys, who do Kenoh's theme), got into the ring and sang Kenoh's theme live, with the crowd joining in. The heavyweight Kongoh members then appeared towards the end, and did their pose to the live theme.
PETA joined in much to the crowds delight.

Kongoh (Kenoh, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura) vs Kaito Kiyomiya, Takashi Sugiura & Go Shiozaki

There was so many dynamics going on in this match - Takashi Sugiura holding up the belt to Masa Kitamiya when he got in the ring, Kenoh squaring up to Kaito Kiyomiya, Go Shiozaki keeping his distance from Kaito Kiyomiya, Kaito Kiyomiya trying to be civil to Go Shiozaki, Go Shiozaki and Yoshiki Inamura sowing the seeds of a rivalry...

Shiozaki made it clear right from the start that he wasn't going to have anything to do with Kiyomiya, he refused to speak to him, and waited on the apron during the pre match discussion about who was going to start the match (Sugiura and Kitamiya did, to loud chants for Kitamiya). He shook hands with Takashi Sugiura when Sugiura offered, but didn't offer one himself to Kiyomiya. Sugiura found himself having to play the adult in the match, as later when it came to tagging in, Shiozaki refused to ever tag Kiyomiya, although Kiyomiya did offer at one point, and he even looked away and completely ignored him. Sugiura seeing that this was going nowhere, tagged himself in. However, Shiozaki didn't ignore Kiyomiya completely, he fixed a cold stare on him when he was beating up on Inamura outside the ring.

Towards the end of the match Kongoh went for a new tandem move (Inamura had Sugiura on his shoulders, with Kitamiya and Kenoh on the turnbuckles prepared to pounce), but Kiyomiya ruined it by knocking Kenoh off.

There were even more chants for Inamura, especially during the fight against Sugiura at the end, as Inamura would not quit.

WINNER: Takashi Sugiura with the Olympic Slam on Yoshiki Inamura (20 minutes, 48 seconds)

Afterwards the three heavyweight champions had their arms raised in victory, Shiozaki reluctant. Kenoh and Kiyomiya faced off with Kenoh yelling something, and Kiyomiya walking off. Kiyomiya was being polite to Shiozaki right towards the end and let Shiozaki leave the ring first.

Then Takashi Sugiura spoke on the mic, he told Kongoh they were all weak, but he wants them to come to the produce show, because sarcastically it will sell 300 more tickets.

Then after Kenoh had screamed into the microphone and thanked all you bastards for coming to ShinKiba, all of Kongoh did the pose, with Niō (Hi69), not doing it right the first time. Afterwards, all five of Kongoh signed merchandise for fans, something that LIDET do not let them do.

ATTENDANCE: 350 (sold out)
WITH THANKS TO: Metapokocatch, Metal Noah, Nodapooh, AbeShin
GIF CREDIT: Noah.co.jp