(NOAH) The Green Guide to STINGER

Current Members: Yoshinari Ogawa, Kotaro Suzuki, HAYATA, Chris Ridgeway 

Past Members: YO-HEY, Atsushi Kotoge, HAYATA 

Formed: March 2019

Background

Noah's first born Kotaro Suzuki (Mitsuharu Misawa named him "Kotaro" as he wanted the "Ko" in his name to resound like a drum, with "taro" pointing to the proud fact he was Noah's first born), returned home after walking out in protest over the firing of Kenta Kobashi in 2012, when he came to Naomichi Marufuji's "Flight" in September 2018 after six years away. Known for being a troublemaker amongst the Noah juniors and using tactics like sneaky chair shots, the use of fake blood (until busted by the ref and reported to Joe Higuchi), and generally winding everybody up (especially KENTA) with heel tactics, Kotaro showed that he had not changed at all, if anything, he was going to be even worse but in a different way. After the match in which Kotaro had defeated Hitoshi Kumano after eight minutes and fifty-nine seconds, Hajime Ohara invited him to take part in Noah's "Global Junior League". It was to be a fateful decision to invite him back into Noah (although he remains a freelancer), and one most of the juniors were going to regret. Kotaro said he would compete, and he would take the victory as he was disgusted with how weak he found the current crop of Noah Juniors to be, especially compared to his day (he also said that Hitoshi Kumano was "all blubber" and that you couldn't grab Tadasuke's hair because he had it bleached so often). And so, in this fashion, causing trouble in his typical style (and much to the despair of Naomichi Marufuji, his older brother, who he used to run to about title shots the others wanted and he didn't want to do and who told him he had to do it while reminding him that he hadn't stayed to protect what Misawa left behind), Kotaro returned home to Noah. 

It was Daisuke Harada who told the Noah Juniors to uphold their pride in themselves, and not lose to Kotaro Suzuki at "Global Junior League", he wanted to show them how strong they were. What happened was that Harada lost to him (twice), and to add insult to injury, Kotaro won the league and in the process took his belt.   

Yoshinari Ogawa was meant to appear at "Flight", but a concussion kept him out of the ring. He had been Kotaro's teacher and senior. On Kotaro's return, they stared at each other for a few moments, then shook hands and hugged. In November of that year, Ogawa ditched his team "SPECIAL 4" (himself, Minoru Tanaka, Hi69 (now Nio) and Seiya Morohashi), to team with Kotaro Suzuki and in true Ogawa fashion said "I don't remember that" when he was reminded of both the fact that he'd ever been in this team, or that he had ever been the GHC Junior Tag Champion with Minoru Tanaka.  

There was going to be no other team, however, aside from RATELS (Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke, YO-HEY & HAYATA), who they caused so much trouble with and damage to. Not happy with their authority being challenged, friction immediately flew between the two teams which had its roots in Daisuke Harada being the unofficial leader of the Noah juniors which Kotaro the senior felt that he should be, the fact that Ogawa and RATELS had long hated each other, and Daisuke Harada being the GHC Junior Champion and therefore the face of the junior division all didn't sit well with Kotaro. After defeating Harada for the belt (and ending his epic reign of 394 days) and then seeing off both HAYATA and Tadasuke in succession, Kotaro was asked for rematch. Kotaro told Harada that he could have a rematch under one condition; if he lost, then RATELS broke up. Kotaro allowed his bitterness and jealousy to spill out during the championship signing, telling Harada that he, Kotaro, was Noah born and Harada forgot his place that he was not, he was someone who had come in from outside, taken his spot, and now thought that he was part of Noah. It was also ironic that to fans RATELS were more Noah than Kotaro was, which irked him. 

Harada and Kotaro fought for the belt on the 16th December 2019, in Yokohama. Suzuki, schooled by master manipulator, Yoshinari Ogawa, had made vague comments about Harada being his "puppet" and how his "beautiful plan" was coming to fruition, and although he lost the belt, the final laugh belonged to Kotaro when in what is known as "The Yokohama Incident", YO-HEY turned on RATELS and aligned with Ogawa and Kotaro grabbing a chair and knocking Harada out, before kicking down Tadasuke and HAYATA. There was never any reason given as to why YO-HEY did what he did, but Suzuki hinted that he may have appealed to YO-HEY'S ambition to get him to come over to them, and YO-HEY said he was going to show a more serious side. The three of them announced in March that they were calling themselves "STINGER". If RATELS were going to be a fierce creature that was good in a fight, then they would be the creatures who defended themselves with the poisonous sting. A sting that would come when you least expected it, and would destroy you slowly with their toxins. 

STINGER & RATELS were now at loggerheads, but three against three were now going to be four against three, when HAYATA joined STINGER to be with YO-HEY after YO-HEY'S invitation, and for Daisuke Harada this was the hardest part to swallow, and he never really forgave either of them for it, reflecting on it bitterly when in interviews. HAYATA, however, would later return to RATELS, but as we will see it wasn't going to be the last time he betrayed them. 

The story of STINGER vs RATELS at this point, gives a sense of something that was going to happen, but never actually did happen (i.e. Harada shaking hands with Ogawa, and a tease that Harada may also join STINGER) due to Ogawa having flu in January and then YO-HEY having a collapsed lung in April, which eventually bought him back to RATELS when Ogawa and Kotaro didn't take well to his suggestion that he team with HAYATA at Global Junior Tag League, himself as a member of STINGER and HAYATA as a member RATELS. RATELS took him back, and STINGER (who beat YO-HEY  & HAYATA in Global Junior Tag League and destroyed their third consecutive win in the league) took a new member afterwards, Chris Ridgeway. Ridgeway was the perfect member for STINGER, both in terms of style and in personality. More of a technical wrestler than YO-HEY, his technique fitted in better with Yoshinari Ogawa and Kotaro, as did his sadistic streak which enabled him to get under the skin of the usually unruffled HAYATA and wind him up in a way that no one else had or indeed, ever has since, even to the point that fights between them took place at ringside which had to be seperated. Ridgeway enjoyed a summer of torturing both Harada and HAYATA. Harada he had a personal beef with as at the IPW Junior Heavyweight tournament, Harada had both knocked him out of the tournament and won the belt. Ridgeway remains eager to bring it back to the United Kingdom. 

In the late summer of 2019, Kotaro Suzuki announced to Kongoh that he was leaving the heavyweight division and returning to the juniors. He was met by two things on his return, Daisuke Harada's unending hatred (Harada never forgives anyone for defecting to the hated heavyweights and then thinking they can return to the juniors, and he never forgave Kotoge for having to vacate both the GHC Junior and the GHC Junior Tag which he held with Harada at the time), and a membership into STINGER. Kotoge would take the IPW championship from Harada (eventually losing it back to him) and the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag from himself and Tadasuke, further increasing the bitterness between the two teams. Yoshinari Ogawa then started cryptically saying that he was going to "destroy STINGER and RATELS". Daisuke Harada said RATELS were stronger than ever and he would like to see him try, but Kotaro was a little more cautious knowing Ogawa as he did saying that he would need to see the look on his face when he said it, and later admitting that you never knew what was going on in Ogawa's head. There is a reason why Ogawa is called "Puppet Master".  

While the war between the four went on with title challenges, belts passing between them (STINGER refusing to defend against YO-HEY & HAYATA and Ogawa winding Harada up with his non committal to giving him a title match after Harada won Global Junior League), and the ever growing bitterness all this caused, it was going to be HAYATA winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight from Minoru Tanaka that was going to change everything. After taking the belt from Tanaka on his 32nd birthday in August, HAYATA was challenged first by YO-HEY, and then again by YO-HEY, then by Chris Ridgeway (who wound him him in a way that no one had ever seen before), and then by Yoshinari Ogawa. HAYATA, after weeks of being tortured, dropped the belt to Ogawa in January and on winning, shook hands with him. RATELS were not too happy with this, but things seemed to settle down and be almost forgotten until STINGER had a major falling out when Kotaro challenged Ogawa for the GHC Junior, which led to very bitterly ice cold comments from Yoshinari Ogawa such as he "didn't bring Kotaro up" to be a wrestler that copied others, defeated him for it, and then challenged YO-HEY & HAYATA for the tag belts, nominating Ogawa as his partner. YO-HEY & HAYATA having taken the belts from Kotoge and Kotaro.  

It was YO-HEY who told them to reunite for their own sakes, but he could have had no idea as to how "reunite" meant not only Ogawa & Kotaro, but also HAYATA, who attacked him during the title match, threw down the belts vacating them, and then aligned with STINGER. Furious, hurt and sad, and with one betrayal too many, Daisuke Harada dissolved RATELS and vowed to crush HAYATA. 

The reason for HAYATA'S betrayal has never been given, and due to the fact that HAYATA doesn't talk and Ogawa never gives a reason for anything, it will most likely never be known. 

But, there was another person who could be described as "furious, hurt and sad" and that was Atsushi Kotoge, as Kotaro had somehow forgotten to tell him that STINGER were back together, despite saying that he would, that HAYATA was joining them, and that Ogawa and Kotaro were challenging for the tag titles that Kotoge and Kotaro had once held. Ogawa, in his usual manner, said that Kotoge was no loss, he had never wanted him anyway, and left him to Kotaro. Kotoge left STINGER by attacking Kotaro after a tag match, and after unsuccessfully trying to join The Sugiura Army, he formed FULL THROTTLE with former Sugiura Army members Hajime Ohara and Seiki Yoshioka.  

At the time of writing, HAYATA and Yoshinari Ogawa are the GHC Junior Heavyweight tag champions (having defeated YO-HEY & Tadasuke for the empty belts, with HAYATA pinning YO-HEY, who looked as if he was clinging to his legs and staring pleadingly afterwards), RATELS have split up, and Kotaro Suzuki is the GHC Junior Heavyweight champion, which means that STINGER are now the dominant junior force and Kotaro is what he wants to be, the face of the Noah juniors; but there are units gathering against them, FULL THROTTLE, Kongoh, the anger left behind in Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke (and to a lesser extent) and YO-HEY, (who seems to just want to just get over this grudge against HAYATA). Chris Ridgeway has not yet returned to Noah so its unknown whether he will side with STINGER or with his good friend, Kotoge in FULL THROTTLE. It also remains to be seen if Yoshinari Ogawa will have any further use for HAYATA once they lose the tag belts, or whether STINGER will take Daisuke Harada's IPW belt from him.  One thing is for certain, Kotaro's return blew a much needed fresh air into the Noah juniors, who are between them building their own new second "Golden Age", which is just as strong as the first.