(NOAH) The Green Guide to the current Noah factions

10th October 2020

I have written this guide ahead of the finals of the N-1 VICTORY in Osaka on the 11th October as I have had a lot of requests from newer Noah fans, or those who are returning to the promotion after a while away to know a little more about the current factions in Noah. However, this guide could (and knowing how fast things can change in Noah) and probably will be a little out of date after Sunday, so for now, going into the event, please use it as the most up to date information on who is who. 

FULL THROTTLE

Members: Seiki Yoshioka, Hajime Ohara, YO-HEY

Who they are: Originally formed when Atsushi Kotoge left STINGER (he turned on them out of fury over being left out of things such as HAYATA joining), and was told by NOSAWA Rongai that he wasn't going to be allowed into The Sugiura Army. After a usual junior melee brawl in the ring, Hajime Ohara and Seiki Yoshioka left The Sugiura Army and joined up with Kotoge. They called themselves "FULL THROTTLE" after Atsushi Kotoge's love of motorcycles. After a few squabbles between Yoshioka and Kotoge over who was the leader of the unit (we all know it was and still is Hajime Ohara), Kotoge established himself as the somewhat hyperactive leader after a tournament, but left a few weeks later to join with Daisuke Harada in Momo No Seishun Tag. YO-HEY joined the same night as Kotoge left. 

Kongoh

Members: Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Tadasuke, Masa Kitamiya, Yoshiki Inamura, Haoh, Nioh, Manabu Soya

Note: Yoshiki Inamura and Masa Kitamiya team together as "THE TOUGH". 

(Manabu Soya is not pictured above) 

Who they are: Noah's rebel unit, led by the paranoid Kenoh who is convinced that CyberFighter are out to get him and want to keep Kongoh down. Kongoh like to say they act on their own beliefs and in accordance with how they want. They have been given far more of a heel status in the recent months thanks to the addition of Tadasuke. Katsuhiko Nakajima is the most recent acquisition, much to the misgiving of both fans and Akitoshi Saito in particular as Nakajima is not the type who will gladly have Kenoh speak for him. Kenoh says he has been on the look out for a new member during the N-1 VICTORY. 

Titles held: GHC National (Kenoh) 

The symbology of Kongoh

The Sumo story: exploring Yoshiki Inamura's background

Momo No Seishun Tag

Members: Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada. 

Note: Junta Miyawaki is affiliated with them, as they want to create a new Noah junior as does he, but he is not actually a member of the tag team. The team with the three of them has no name. 

Who they are: The Momo no Seishun tag ("Peaches of Youth") were formed in Osaka Pro, where both Kotoge and Harada were trained, and continued in Noah, holding the GHC Junior Tag belts three times and in the process being the first Noah team to take the belts from the hated Suzuki Army. They were a team until 2017 when Kotoge went to the heavyweight league (Kotoge was also double champion at the time, being the GHC Junior Champion) and therefore vacating the belts. Harada formed RATELS, and they didn't have much to do with each other until Kotoge returned from the heavyweight league in 2019 and was given a violently furious reaction by Harada as he joined the traditional enemy of RATELS, STINGER. Things settled down between them as Kotoge left STINGER, but they didn't have much to do with each other until Kotoge came to rescue Harada from Yoshinari Ogawa and HAYATA during a mass brawl at Korakuen Hall on September 23rd. Just as voluntarily as Kotoge had come out to save him, Harada offered his hand, which Kotoge shook and Momo no Seishun tag were reborn. They have vowed to break the power of STINGER, and then crush all the other junior units, little realising that in the process they will make themselves as unpopular. 

New Hope (?)

Members: Shuhei Taniguchi, Kaito Kiyomiya, Daiki Inaba

The unit doesn't have an official name, but it seems to be the one that has been unofficially given to the team of Kaito Kiyomiya, Daiki Inaba and Shuhei Taniguchi. Taniguchi and Kiyomiya had teamed as "UNCHAINED" during the heavyweight tag league that took place earlier in the year, and Inaba had entered when he intruded into Kaito Kiyomiya's "NEW HOPE" produce shows and teamed with Kiyomiya following a match in which he was defeated by him. They haven't done much as a unit recently, partly because Inaba has not been in Noah much and both Kiyomiya and Taniguchi have been concentrating on the N-1 VICTORY.  

STINGER

Members: HAYATA, Kotaro Suzuki, Yoshinari Ogawa 

Note: It is presumed that Chris Ridgeway will either join STINGER when he returns to Noah, or else go to FULL THROTTLE with Atsushi Kotoge. 

Who they are: The Noah junior's most dominant (and reclusive) unit. Yoshinari Ogawa gives the occasional interview, HAYATA does not. Kotaro Suzuki is the only one out of the three who has social media. Known for being sadistic and thanks to Ogawa, not above cheating and making things difficult for their opponents when it comes to title challenges. 

Titles held: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag (HAYATA & Yoshinari Ogawa), GHC Junior Heavyweight (Kotaro Suzuki) 

The Anti Wrestlers Alliance

Members: Akitoshi Saito, Masao Inoue

Veteran team of the Misawa generation. Usually comedic i.e. Saito pushes Inoue around, steps on him, teases him. Inoue is the usual target of jokes in Noah (and probably has a case for workplace harassment), and even his own teacher (Toshiaki Kawada) has threatened him with divine punishment. All this aside, when they want to be they can be a threat and it never does to underestimate them. 

The M'S Alliance 

Members: Naomichi Marufuji, Keiji Mutoh, Masaaki Mochizuki, Yuko Miyamoto, Masakatsu Funaki

Members who are not wrestlers: Jurina Matsui

Members who are retired wrestlers: Akira Maeda

Members who aren't real: Momtaro

Members who are a company: Morishita Jintan Co Ltd  

Who they are: A unit made up of wrestlers, idols, corporate logos and comic book characters; basically if your first name or your surname begins with the letter M then you can join. They are on the hunt for titles, with Keiji Mutoh keeping the rumor alive that he wants to challenge for the GHC Heavyweight. Simply put, the majority of the unit are veterans and it's an easy and well earned payday for them, which has the added bonus of bringing new people into Noah.

The Sugiura Army

Current members: Takashi Sugiura, Kazushi Sakuraba, NOSAWA Rongai, Hideki Suzuki, Kaz Hayashi, Kazuyuki Fujita, Kendo Kashin, 

Past\inactive members: Dick Togo, KAZMA SAKAMOTO, El Hijo De Dr Wagner Jnr, Rene Dupree, Sekine Shrek Hideki, 

Who they are: A haphazard unit where members seem to come and go. No purpose exactly, and the unit only came together after Takashi Sugiura had beat people up, and they asked to join him. It grew from there and keeps growing. NOSAWA Rongai is kind of like Sugiura's second in command, although he doesn't always do what "The Boss" tells him. One thing they do have in common is a love of dogs with many of them being dog owners and\or dog lovers and appear in orange t-shirts with Sugiura's dog, Kenta on it. In response to Kenoh's anti establishment, Sugiura proudly says they are "Company Dogs". Kenoh claims he came up with that idea, Sugiura stole it, and he will be bringing legal action against him for lost royalties if he persists! 

Titles held: GHC Heavyweight Tag (Takashi Sugiura & Kazushi Sakuraba)  

Unaffiliated (those wrestlers who are not part of any unit in particular)

Go Shiozaki (formerly in AXIZ with Katsuhiko Nakajima) 

Mohammed Yone

Hitoshi Kumano (currently inactive due to needing eye surgery) 

Kinya Okada 

Picture credit: Noah GHC, PKDX