(NOAH) Event recap ~ "ALL FOUR SIDES, DAY 1" (19th June 2020)

I guess you could call the two nights of this event a Katsuhiko Nakajima produce, as he planned the tournament as a way to choose a number one contender for the GHC National Belt. When talking about the cards, Nakajima said that the beauty of the GHC National was that it allowed complete freedom in matchups, and tonight certainly gave interesting combinations. Fourteen wrestlers answered the call, and were split with an even number of heavyweights and junior heavyweights giving rise to some rare cards. 

All of FULL THROTTLE were on the card tonight, with two making it through to the second night, with everyone except Kenoh participating in Kongoh (the former RATELS, The M Alliance and STINGER did not take part.) Kenoh grumbled that "somehow" he wasn't part of it, although I seem to remember that he said he had no interest in the GHC National, and said that Kongoh would take the belt from "that cheeky champion". 

The winners from today will go on to the finals night tomorrow, and face off in elimination matches with the winner of Rene Dupree vs Nio getting a bye. As to why this is has never been exactly confirmed, I believe it is because Dupree is one half of the GHC Heavyweight Tag champions. 

The event was broadcast on WRESTLE UNIVERSE, and will remain on the backlog to view. Please note that you will need to be a subscriber to watch this as the stream is not free. Subscription is 900 yen per month, with the first month free. 

SHUHEI TANIGUCHI vs SEIYA MOROHASHI

Shuhei Taniguchi came out to the ring yawning. Seiya Morohashi took exception to this and squared up to him. Taniguchi, without rearranging his expression, kind of swivelled his eyes to what was standing in his way chest to chest with him. Morohashi was just small fry to him, despite the fact that Morohashi is the more experienced of the two having wrestled eight years longer than Taniguchi. Experience might not have been a handicap, but size and weight were. Despite this, Morohashi refused to give up, even when Taniguchi knocked him flat, but he managed to get in some techniques, so it wasn't a total squash. 

WINNER: Shuhei Taniguchi with the Diving Body Press (6 minutes, 37 seconds) 

SEIKI YOSHIOKA vs HAO

Not so much a size and weight difference, better matched than Morohashi and Taniguchi before them (although Hao has been wrestling for longer.) It was a fast paced match with similar skills shared between them, although Hao does not throw the kicks that Yoshioka does, which has made him the one that Nakajima really wants to face. 

WINNER: Seiki Yoshioka with the Crash Driver (12 minutes, 19 seconds)

MASA KITAMIYA vs HAJIME OHARA

Naturally as this was Hajime Ohara, it was somewhat of a technical match with Kitamiya using his massive power to reverse Ohara's moves, not something Ohara often comes across in the juniors, proving that he is far more than just a powerhouse or a brawler. 

Ohara discovered earlier in the match that the best way to take Kitamiya down was by decommissioning his arms, which he systematically worked on. He also came very close to the win at a few points during the match, but Kitamiya, driven by his hatred of Katsuhiko Nakajima perservered. 

WINNER: Masa Kitamiya with the Side Suplex (14 minutes, 46 seconds)

Katsuhiko Nakajima, (who once told his younger brother that "I have known you since you were born"), saw Masa Kitamiya's comments about winning the tournament, including "prepare yourself asshole", and facing him for the title and said on Twitter, "He's so cute", and followed this up with heart-in-the-eyes ikons. 

YOSHIKI INAMURA vs ATSUSHI KOTOGE

Atsushi Kotoge made a typically manic entry, waving his arms around, making jerky movements and talking to himself. Earlier he had described Inamura (who he helped train as) as "ultra heavy". 

It seems a lot of the juniors have been on weight loss diet, Atsushi Kotoge has been no exception, and while he couldn't compete with the sumo weight and power of Inamura, he would have to use his speed and his experience. Kotoge is very clever wrestler, turning an standing armbar which Inamura had him in to his advantage by hopping through the ropes and reversing it. Inamura might not have had the experience (yet) but he took good advantage of the one thing he does have more experience in than Kotoge, by using a sumo like knee press when Kotoge was in the corner, and the one thing he has over Kotoge, his strength when he knocked Kotoge across the ring and later using a bear hug.

Much to the fans delight, it looked very much like Inamura was going to get his first singles win, but in the end, the veteran this time won out. 

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Buzzsaw Kick (14 minutes, 15 seconds)

Kotoge celebrated his win, then went backstage in typical madman style. 

MANABU SOYA vs KINYA OKADA

Okada is fast being known as "The Showa Wrestler", practicing his kicks on entry and when he did get to use them, he had a slight smile on his face when he did it. 

I wonder who he got that from? 

Manabu Soya came to the ring looking grim as befits a member of Kongoh, and he then struck his pose to strike fear into Okada. Okada, however, displayed a rapidly growing ice cold persona, and while hd didn't get too many moves in, a leg lock was one of them, as was a chop battle which ended badly. 

For most of the match, Soya overpowered the rookie, throwing Okada round the ring from time to time, but in the face of all this, Okada held his own until Soya made him tap. 

WINNER: Manabu Soya with the Scorpion lock (12 minutes, 34 seconds)

MOHAMMED YONE vs RICKY KAWAMURA

The last time we saw Rocky Kawamura, he had been beaten up by Takashi Sugiura, so either he has never recovered his injuries, or else he's really not a popular guy, because he came limping to the ring with a bruised face, doing the Rocky "Victim as Hero" routine. 

Then the disco ball started spinning, and Mohammed Yone entered. 

Somewhat a comedy match in which Rocky biffed Yone's fro as Yone was leaning outside the ring (Yone does not simply get a haircut, he has "afro maintenance"), and went for the pin after that. 

WINNER: Mohammed Yone with the Kinniku Meat Buster (8 minutes, 17 seconds)

As Rocky made his dramatic exit, on his way out he paused and had a fist bump with fellow boxing enthusiast, Mohammed Yone, who took his name from Mohammed Ali. 

RENE DUPREE vs NIO

Rene Dupree came out wearing the belt upside down, he then also held it upside down not realising (although I am sure that if you ask him he would say that he was hungover having been partying all night).  

Nio came out taped on the shoulder, which is something that Dupree capitalized on as with his size and strength he dominated most of the match, although at one point Nio hid under the ring, Dupree went to look for him, so Nio ambushed him from the other side with a through the ropes dive. 

WINNER: Rene Dupree with the Diving Elbow (7 minutes, 26 seconds)

Dupree celebrated his win by playing electric guitar with the GHC Heavyweight Tag belt.

The following wrestlers have gone through to the quarter finals;

Seiki Yoshioka

Shuhei Taniguchi

Atsushi Kotoge

Masa Kitamiya

Mohammed Yone

Manabu Soya

Renee Dupree

The next (and final) night will be on the 20th June 2020, at 3pm JST on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. 

GIF CREDIT; WRESTLE UNIVERSE

PICTURE CREDIT: Noah.co.jp