(NOAH) EVENT RECAP ~ NOAH "NEW HOPE" DAY 2 (MAY 31ST 2020)

Noah held the final night of "NOAH NEW HOPE DAY 2" at the AMEBA Studio today. Kenoh, not in a good mood after not getting his singles match with Sanshiro Takagi as he hoped, told Inamura that he had better take the lead in his match against Kiyomiya, who was "spoiled" and "being pushed". In the event of things, Kongoh were not going to have a good evening and Kenoh was going to be the least of Kiyomiya's worries. 

The arena was noted to be a lot better lit than last time, and the watching Narihiro Takeda (Noah's CEO), said that he was very particular about how the venue looked. 

Go Shiozaki returned as the special commentator for the evening as 4.3K people tuned in worldwide. 

You can watch the event here, as it will be free for seven days only from the 31st May. 

MATCH ONE

FULL THROTTLE (Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara) vs Kongoh (Hao and Nio)

This is the first shot fired in the erupting war between the juniors, so both teams knew that to establish any kind of dominance first off, they had to win. Kongoh came out looking all business in a match that had there been an audience, they would have been screaming. 

Atsushi Kotoge looks a lot happier in FULL THROTTLE, I think this is because he now has more freedom to be himself, rather than he did under the more staid STINGER.

Hao worked very well with Ohara (there was an audible crunching noise when he caught Hao in a backbreaker), and in fact both teams worked well together, FULL THROTTLE looking good for their first outing. There were some very close wins for Kongoh (Hao mainly), especially after Kotoge seemed to be knocked out when kicked in the face, but the victory went to FULL THROTTLE, who walked away from the ring having fired upon their own Fort Sumter. 

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Killswitch on Hao (16 minutes and 19 seconds) 

MATCH TWO

Mohammed Yone vs Kinya Okada

Stiff match in which Mohammed Yone punched, and I mean punched, Okada. There was an audible smack upon impact, which made even the commentators go "oof" when they heard it. Okada, much to his credit, refused to stay down, so Yone resorted to kicks. It gets overlooked, but true to his BattleArts roots, Yone can work stiff. It was no surprise therefore that Okada was bleeding from the mouth. Okada got his own back with the kicks that Nakajima taught him. 

Despite his statement after the match that "momentum, technique and power are still insufficient!", there were some parts to Okada that are starting to take root such as the aforementioned kicks, and the bridging suplex that he used as a pin. But, after being stopped by the "Disco Fever" pose (which gets Yone beaten up by his fellow seniors as it enrages them, the funniest time being Quiet Storm's reaction), the match belonged to the veteran. 

WINNER: Mohammed Yone (Kinniku Buster, 9 minutes and 43 seconds)

Kinya Okada limped off clutching his shoulder as Yone struck three separate disco poses before leaving the ring. 

Then Masao Inoue's theme sounded, and wearing his pink judo suit, he limped into the ring and picked up the microphone. Taking out his glasses from an inside pocket, he read solemnly his intentions to challenge Katsuhiko Nakajima for the GHC National Championship. If anything, Inoue's own way of doing it was far more Showa than Akitoshi Saito's as he kept it short and simple, and didn't use words like "Homies". Nakajima has accepted his challenge, and the match has been set for the same night that Go Shiozaki defends the GHC Heavyweight against Saito, at "NOAH GO FORWARD DAY 1" on 14th June. Day 2 will be broadcast on the 21st. Backstage Inoue said, "What? It's no lie that anyone can challenge, can't they?". 

MATCH THREE

Shuhei Taniguchi vs Rene Dupree

The commentators spent the first few minutes laughing over Inoue's challenge. 

Part technical, part brawl, part mat wrestling this was a singles match stemming from their Global Junior League match. Both were well suited to each other in terms of size and power, although Dupree has been wrestling longer, and it was even noted that to make his chops hurt even more, he licked his hands. 

WINNER: Renee Dupree with Body Press (9 minutes, 59 seconds) 

The dominance of one half of the GHC Tag Champions continues. 

MATCH FOUR

Kaito Kiyomiya vs Yoshiki Inamura

Kaito Kiyomiya came to the ring with flashing green lights, and shedding white feathers from his robe everywhere. 

Another notch was carved in their ongoing rivalry as Yoshiki Inamura attacked as soon as the bell went with a massive shove that sent Kaito Kiyomiya flying to the corner, which he followed up with punches. When the tide of the match swung round to him, Kiyomiya used a shoulder attack which looks to have been modified from Toshiaki Kawada (which Naomichi Marufuji also uses) when an opponent is pulled to their feet, only to be knocked down, Kiyomiya turned this into using Inamura's arm and pulling him towards him, which means that he drives his shoulder into him. The move he won the match with also seemed to be new too. 

Inamura worked on Kiyomiya's knees to keep him grounded, just as much as Kiyomiya did to him, splashing his legs at one point and then using a submission whereby he wrapped his legs around his neck and shoulders, and lifted him into the air. 

The fight between the two Noah born was won by the senior. 

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with a vertical drop type reverse DDT (15 minutes, 30 seconds)

Kaito Kiyomiya was speaking about changing Noah's ring with his "Supernova Expectation", when someone came menacingly into ringside and stood on the apron. 

It wasn't however, Kazuchika Okada who Kiyomiya had said he wanted to face, and for that matter it wasn't anyone that Kiyomiya had been expecting to see, or really someone that anyone had been expecting to see. 

It was Daiki Inaba from W-1, who was standing glowering at him. He and Kiyomiya had last and first met at "WONDER CARNIVAL" in December 2019 when they had tagged together. 

Kiyomiya came over and they faced off, neither speaking. 

Later Kiyomiya wondered why Inaba had come to Noah, but reflected that it was going to give him a new stimulation. Words or no words, Kiyomiya knew he had come to confront him. 

Noah will be back next with the junior heavyweight focused "NOAH THE SPOTLIGHT" which will be broadcast on WRESTLE UNIVERSE on the 10th, 11th and 12th June. 

Picture credit: PKDX