NOAH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER VOL.72 ~ 23rd FEBRUARY 2020

Please could anyone who is planning to visit Noah during the Coronavirus epidemic read Noah's guidance on hygiene and infection control before going to shows. 

EVENT RECAP

R-VILLAGE PARTY BATTLE LIVE SP VOL.2
While perhaps not a canonical Noah show, as it was done as part of the Noah promotional machine, and for the second year running in what seems to be becoming a yearly tradition, Noah returned to Club Citta in Kawasaki to bring together wrestling fans and idol music fans, and it was a very fun event.
The card had to be changed as HAYATA was announced to have a rib injury and would be absent until the 24th February in Nagoya, and so YO-HEY teamed with Daisuke Harada. Naomichi Marufuji, also injured, made an appearance before the event began with the club owner\promoter.

Each Noah wrestler or team made their own entry as they were sung in by an idol group; Tadasuke walked around the ring with the lead singer of his on his shoulders, YO-HEY & Daisuke Harada wore the pinafores of their group, Kongoh stamped to the ring looking cross, Hajime Ohara and Kinya Okada did a dance routine, which Takashi Sugiura did not appreciate and Okada found himself kicked in the ass, thrown out of the ring and then told to "Watch it"...and AXIZ did the "Hysteric Dance" from last year that Marufuji did with Taniguchi and Kiyomiya. In the ring, Kenoh decided to threaten them by waving his fist, and Taniguchi returned it by dancing.
Kongoh were not impressed. Nakajima looked away, and Shiozaki had to stop watching because he was about to explode with laughter.

HIGHER GROUND NIGHT 5: SHINYURI TWENTY ONE HALL, KAWASAKI ~ WEDNESDAY 19TH FEBRUARY.
The closure of the (in)famous "Demon Staircase From Hell" didn't stop the Yone\Tadasuke women turning out in force to cheer on Mohammed Yone (family member to some, friend of his mother to others) and Tadasuke (who endeared himself to them in 2018 by showing them how tough he was by beating up Minoru Tanaka). They booed both Masao Inoue and Akitoshi Saito for attacking Yone, and STINGER for attacking Tadasuke.

YO-HEY failed to pin Kotaro Suzuki, and while Kotaro Suzuki and Atsushi Kotoge refused to grant YO-HEY & HAYATA  a title match, Yoshinari Ogawa ("unlike those guys"), had something in mind for Harada. If Harada wanted a title shot, then he was going to have to put the IPW Junior Heavyweight on the line against him. Harada later agreed, and it now remains for Yoshinari Ogawa to choose a date.

Kaito Kiyomiya and Takashi Sugiura battered each other with elbows, punches, kicks and slams, but it was Hajime Ohara who lost the match for The Sugiura Army when Kiyomiya made him tap out. Previously, Takashi Sugiura had made a comment that Kiyomiya was too scared to look him in the eyes, so at the end of the match Kiyomiya bent down, looked at Sugiura (who was standing outside the ring), and made the "watching you" motion.

HIGHER GROUND NIGHT 6: SHIMADA SPORTS COMPLEX SUB ARENA , SHIMADA - SATURDAY 22ND FEBRUARY
Kaito Kiyomiya and Takashi Sugiura had their last pre-match before Nagoya on Monday 24th, but it ended with neither getting the win over the other as Kiyomiya made Kinya Okada to tap out to the Stretch Plum Facelock. After the match Sugiura held up the belt, and Kiyomiya (leaning off the ropes on the apron) pointed to it.

YO-HEY (with a little help from Tadasuke, which no doubt STINGER) will capitalize on, pinned Kotaro Suzuki and then posed with the GHC Junior Tag Belts.

Post match interviews
Post Match Interviews: February 16th, Korakuen Hall
Post Match Interviews: February 19th,  Shinyuri Twenty-One Hall, Kawasaki
Post Match Interviews: February 22nd, Shimada Sports Complex Sub Arena, Shimada 

NEWS

"If I gave up, did not act and forgot about it, then nothing would exist" ~ Katsuhiko Nakajima tells the story behind the AXIZ "GOLD" photobook
Katsuhiko Nakajima wrote in his online PKDX diary about the AXIZ photobook.
He wanted to mark the 15th anniversary in Noah by doing something special, a produce or a special match didn't come together for one reason or another, so he came up with an idea of a photobook. The company were at first uncommitted for various reasons, and Nakajima didn't really want to give up or to push them into anything as he knew that Noah had money troubles. He kept on about it the best way he could, but it wasn't until Noah's then President saw the potential and gave it the green light. The story of how the book came together is very touching, and it reveals that past the smirk, past the evil grin and the sarcasm, Nakajima outside the ring comes off as a very gentle person.

(Big thanks to Metal Noah for sending me the article)

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH
~ Noah's owner was given tape for Kaito Kiyomiya, by a fan who didn't recognise him
~ Before his knee operation, Naomichi Marufuji used to push the meniscus bone that jutted out of his knee back in when it popped out.
~ Mohammed Yone found a cake waiting for him backstage for his 44th birthday
~ Go Shiozaki is suffering after his matches with Kazuyuki Fujita; he has a torn eardrum, vision problems, and his jaw is out of place. He is also bruised, swollen and says he has never been slapped like that before.
~ Kinya Okada has started to use a Blockbuster move
~ Japanese fans have shortened El Hijo De Canis Lupus name to "Cani", which in Japanese means "Crab". It seems to have caught on at Noah as well, as referee Shu Nishinaga was heard calling him it.
~ Mohammed Yone was worried that the "Yone\Tadasuke" women were too loud and would disturb other fans.
~ Naomichi Marufuji will be appearing in DDT'S "Peter Pan" in June. Further Noah names may be announced.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

GHC Heavyweight Champion: Go Shiozaki
Challenger: Kazuyashi Fujita (8th March)

GHC Junior Champion: Yoshinari Ogawa
Challenger: Daisuke Harada has won the right to challenge, but Noah have not announced a date yet.

GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: MM (Naomichi Marufuji & Masaaki Mochizuki)
R.E.D (Takashi Yoshida and Diamante), DragonGate, March 5th at Korakuen Hall

GHC Junior Tag Champions: STINGER (Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Kotoge)
YO-HEY and HAYATA have won the right to challenge, but STINGER will not set a date

GHC National Champion: Takashi Sugiura
Challenger: Kaito Kiyomiya (25th February)

IPW Junior Heavyweight Champion: Daisuke Harada

BROADCASTS
24th February 2020 show from Nagoya will be broadcast live on Samurai TV
8th March 2020 show from Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium will be broadcast live on G+

As Noah shows are being uploaded to DDT Universe, please consider subscribing. Please do this on the 1st of the month as you will be charged twice otherwise.

THIS WEEK IN NOAH
Monday 24th February: Noah The Chronicle Vol 1, Nagoya International Convention Centre Event Hall (17:00)
Wednesday 26th February: Kenta Kobashi debut anniversary 1988
Wednesday 26th February: Hajime Ohara appears at Megarage
Saturday 29th February: Katsuhiko Nakajima W-1 Press Conference
Saturday 29th February: Kongoh Fan Meeting
Sunday 1st March: Takashi Sugiura, Zero-1 The Bullet Yankees (Takashi Sugiura and Masato Tanaka) will reunite at ZERO-1's 19th anniversary at Korakuen Hall, when they take on Yuji Okabayashi and Daisuke Sekimoto).

LINKS
The sound and swelling are not uncommon...Kazuyuki Fujita and Noah champion Shiozaki's chop beaten in title pre-match
Sugiura: Unprecedented 50 year old's sixth championship plan
Nagoya 24th February 2020 special - GHC Tag Championship: Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito vs Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima (September 21st 2009)
Yoshiki Inamura comments on his Big Japan Strong Climb participation
Just before Nagoya ~ August 29th 2003, GHC Heavyweight Championship match Kenta Kobashi vs Bison Smith (Nagoya International Convention Centre)
Takashi Sugiura remembers Atsushi Aoki

PICTURE CREDITS: PKDX, Noah GHC
GIF CREDIT: Noah GHC