(NOAH) Event recap ~ HIGHER GROUND 2021 (January 23rd, EDION Arena Osaka 2nd Stadium)
Atsushi Kotoge
It was a rainy afternoon in Osaka when Noah held today's event, which attracted 439 people (not a sell out crowd, but a very good one). Sadly, Hajime Ohara could not join FULL THROTTLE\Noah in Osaka today as he has tested positive for COVID-19 during a regulation test, and therefore has to quarantine at home. Fortunately Ohara is not showing any signs so far of fever or malaise. His presence was felt today though, Naomichi Marufuji adding "today is Mui Bien" at the end of his promo, and YO-HEY (who pulled double duty) doing the Mui Bien pose. YO-HEY was the definite MVP of today.
Because of the pandemic, Noah held limited goods at the shop, but that didn't stop the fans from snapping up the "Back To The Budokan" t-shirts. Naturally because of the contagion, and the close call with Hajime Ohara, no autographs were held today.
The event will be shown on WrestleUniverse on Tuesday 26th January. You must be a subscriber to view this event in full, but as Noah today streamed the GHC National and the main event live, you can watch this free and worldwide through Noah's Periscope channel.
MATCH ONE
Kongoh Juniors (Tadasuke, Haoh & Nioh) vs YO-HEY, Daiki Inaba & Yasutaka Yano
YO-HEY came dancing out in outfit 1 (he changed twice) looking very multi-color with bright orange hair, to fight with old RATELS unit member, Tadasuke. Despite the craziness of YO-HEY, Tadasuke (and Osaka which is the individual spiritual home of all the former RATELS), YO-HEY was seen calling advice to young Yasutaka Yano. Who is taller than Haoh. Despite meeting Crazy Tadasuke (who proudly posted a picture of himself with his hair over his face and big grin shining through), Yano was able to counter Tadasuke, although he was no match for Tadasuke's strength. All in all, it was an energetic junior opening match.
WINNER: Tadasuke with the Jidanda Lariat on Yasutaka Yano (10 minutes, 13 seconds)
MATCH TWO
Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Kongoh (Masa Kitamiya & Manabu Soya)
Humorless Spartan Kongoh looked on as Mohammed Yone pulled Disco poses, but it was all business as Shuhei Taniguchu & Manabu Soya had a chaotic test of strength which ended on the ropes, and Taniguchi doing a clean break after he had managed to power Soya back. Masa Kitamiya wore out Mohammed Yone with shoulder tackles.
It was called a "powerful match" but also a somewhat "awkward but interesting" one...especially when Shuhei Taniguchi started dancing a jig again after doing six body slams in a row, slamming Soya onto Kitamiya
WINNER: Manabu Soya with the Ballistic on Mohammed Yone (11 minutes, 26 seconds)
MATCH THREE
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Junta Miyawaki
Katsuhiko Nakajima emerged from the curtain, and sat on the turnbuckle like a sinister bird of prey, staring at Junta Miyawaki. Their last singles match ended in a very very short period of time, and as Miyawaki had vowed not to let this happen again, he attacked before even waiting for the bell. He is a Noah Junior, and we all know the bell doesn't really mean much to that division, it only rings when the match has officially started (usually it's started the moment they are all in the ring together), when it's ended (which causes even more fights) and to tell everyone vainly to stop fighting afterwards. However, Nakajima got the upper hand and Miyawaki found himself being kicked and thrown around outside of the ring.
Miyawaki tried to wear Nakajima down with a volley of slaps. Nakajima simply grinned, no sold them, raised his arms and floored Miyawaki with his own. Regardless of the result, fans agreed that Miyawaki put up a great fight.
WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima via referee stop (Sleeperhold) (8 minutes, 20 seconds)
MATCH FOUR
Momo No Seishun (Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge) vs FULL THROTTLE (Seiki Yoshioka & YO-HEY)
YO-HEY came out in outfit 2, as Daisuke Harada and Seiki Yoshioka got in each others faces, Harada holding the belt up high. Atsushi Kotoge lurked in the background watching them. With the exception of HAYATA, YO-HEY has wrestled most of the former RATELS today.
Daisuke Harada was as brilliant as ever, and seems to have added a a rope flip to his repertoire. Kotoge's chest came in for more abuse, and went a bright pink color as he got into a chop war with YO-HEY, which is kind of unfortunate as YO-HEY is known for the strength of his chops in the junior division. Kotoge should be okay though, considering that more than ever this match showed just how an icy tag team Momo No Seishun are, especially with each other. Despite his exuberance in this match, fans did note that YO-HEY was getting tired, which is understandable.
WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Killswitch on YO-HEY (17 minutes, 49 seconds)
Backstage, Kotoge said he had "various jealousies" caused by what he termed as his, "own lack of abilities".
MATCH FIVE
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, HAYATA & Yuya Susumu) vs Kotaro Suzuki, Ikuto Hidaka & NOSAWA Rongai
I don't really have too much information on this match, but it was described as "Hot, skillful and erotic"
Kotaro took his revenge on Yuya Susumu by working on his shoulder, and Yoshinari Ogawa got his on NOSAWA with shots to the face. Fast paced and bitterly fought, especially between Ogawa and Kotaro, who are the main protagonists here, with Ogawa torturing him at every opportunity he could get.
WINNER: Ikuto Hidaka with the Sean Capture on Yuya Susumu (14 minutes, 20 seconds)
Naturally, a fight broke out after the winning team had their arms raised in victory, Kotaro may also have said something on the microphone (probably inflammatory, but possibly Ogawa got irritated by just the continuing sight and sound of him), but in any case the usual Noah junior fight broke out after the match in which Ogawa and HAYATA threw Kotaro and Hidaka into each other to end it.
MATCH SIX
Kenoh vs Kazunari Murakami
Kazunari Murakami, looking every inch the thug that Tokyo Sports describe him to be, used the usual wind up tactics by strolling round outside the ring (also talking to himself, and tucking the shirt of his sinister looking suit in), after Kenoh had knocked him outside of it. The match itself was almost MMA style in its initial stages, quick jabs and kicks. This kind of ended when Murakami became enraged after a slap by Kenoh on the ropes, and took him to the floor. After this, Kenoh challenged him to a kick war. Not quite "The Kick War From Hell", but Kenoh countered Murakami's by using his background in Nippon Kempo to block. So with Murakami worn down, Kenoh knocked him to the mat with a brutal closed fist punch which got him told off by the referee.
Now, if you have ever seen a movie where a monster pretends to be either dead or asleep and opens one eye, this is kind of what happened next when Murakami unleashed a volley of kicks and punches on Kenoh. Kenoh (after a brief loss of temper) realized then that his greatest weapon was ironically, his size, and so he managed to leap on to Murakami's back and lock in the sleeper. Refusing to let go and with Murakami sinking down, the referee called a halt to the match. Even then, Kenoh had to be pried off of him.
WINNER: Kenoh via referee stop (9 minutes, 40 seconds)
This was not your usual Noah style title match, but the GHC National has a history that needs to be made. It's kind of like The Fool card in a tarot deck, as its the most powerful and goes where it wants, and for some reason matches of this sort (MMA style, shoot style) have always worked in Noah and gone over well with the crowd. The match was no longer that it needed to be, and as it was streamed on Periscope attracted a whole range of wrestlers, from Hideki Suzuki to "brother" YASSHI, who all tuned in to watch.
Fans could breathe easily now that this match was out of the way and Kenoh was going to the Budokan as a champion, but he was given no breathing space, as his next challenger appeared almost right away. It was M'S Alliance member, Masakatsu Funaki, who said "Your next title match, have it against me".
Kenoh, calling him the "strongest challenger", accepted his challenge and has set it for the 12th February at the Nippon Budokan. Their one and only pre-match will be on the 31st January.
MATCH SEVEN
"Osaka New Year Special Match"
Go Shiozaki, Takashi Sugiura & Naomichi Marufuji vs Kaito Kiyomiya, Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada
This match could also be called a generational match as it features the Noah seniors (two from the All Japan walkout, and one from the "Mid Generation", all three knowing Noah in its "Golden Era"), and three from "The Turbulent Era" of Noah, with Kaito Kiyomiya especially being of the last generation at Differ. Shiozaki is also a Noah born, which makes the grand total of four in this match. In Noah now there are only three wrestlers left from All Japan (Yoshinari Ogawa is the third).
The young hopeful idealistic Noah born team were led by Kaito Kiyomiya, with their seniors giving them wary looks as they came to the ring. Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura that is, Go Shiozaki had a fit of his famous giggles when he gave Marufuji a slap of the hand, and Sugi a deep bow and handshake, and was waved from the ring by a laughing Marufuji.
Marufuji used his nasty submission moves on Yoshiki Inamura's feet, and found that since Inamura now keeps his hair cropped like a trainee, he had to grab on to his ear! Inamura, however, wasn't going to give up so easily and ended up dominating all three of his seniors (even the GHC Heavyweight Champion), and he took out all three in succession as they tagged into the ring. Later Marufuji would use his "Perfect Key Lock", and it took some stamping by Inamura to get him to let go. Inamura came very close indeed to pinning Marufuji, but Marufuji knows after long experience of growing up with and fighting the originator of the move, how to get out of the Musou.
Kinya Okada (who kept pretty much in the background), and is an Osaka boy, used his kicks on Shiozaki, who is used to being kicked, and who just chopped him down and then threw him outside of the ring. Sugi was very helpful, with a big boot to the face. However, Shiozaki did have a struggle with Okada and was almost taken down by him.
WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the Gowan lariat on Kinya Okada (23 minutes, 4 seconds)
To get Shiozaki back for the earlier handshake\handslap, Marufuji decided to playfully withdraw his hand at the last moment when offering one after the match. One his most recent bout of his "hobby" (laughing) had subsided, Go Shiozaki addressed the crowd, thanking "everyone in Osaka", and promising to return from the Nippon Budokan with both a higher value belt, and in "a more energetic manner" (he means he hopes that in terms of Corona, things will be better, and people can cheer again).
WITH THANKS TO: Yuichi, RealNGreen, LUCY!, Kei, Low-Income workers, Dogpaw, Miriam
Picture credit: Official Noah Twitter
GIFS taken from Periscope & Official Noah Twitter
Noah's next show: 31st January at Korakuen Hall
Comments
Post a Comment
Spam will be deleted immediately