(NOAH) EVENT RECAP ~ HIGHER GROUND 2021 (31st January, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo)

Pro Wrestling Noah returned to Korakuen Hall today to hold their final show before they make their return to The Budokan for the first time in about eleven years. Today's show was streamed live on ABEMA. You will be able to view this for seven days, free and worldwide, only after the 31st January. After this, it will be placed on WrestleUniverse. 

Hajime Ohara has fortunately tested negative on a repeat testing for Coronavirus, but has been kept off of the event as a precaution. He will return at the Nippon Budokan. 

Due to the Coronavirus situation, the usual Korakuen Hall foyer merchandise table only stocked a limited amount of items, including some one of a kind t-shirts (signed by Go Shiozaki and Kaito Kiyomiya), inside the ring, Yoshinari Ogawa (assisted by HAYATA), was holding a class with Kaito Kiyomiya and Yasutaka Yano. Ogawa apparently started this early, and it was pretty much over by the time fans entered the hall (most likely much to HAYATA'S relief). 

Kuniko Yamada was on commentary today, and in usual exuberant fashion she joined in with the fans bringing an Atsushi Kotoge support board. 

MATCH ONE

Junta Miyawaki, Kinya Okada & Yasutaka Yano vs The Kongoh Juniors (Haoh, Nioh & Tadasuke)

As Kongoh made their entry, Nioh (who was chewing gum), looked as if he had walked out with a mouth full of food, and in the ring, Rockstar Tadasuke used the camera as a mirror. As for their opponents, Yasutaka Yano herded his partners, by way of spreading his arms out and ploughing them back, out of the ring to start the match. He might have been given a rating of ten on ABEMA, but he wasn't able to slam Tadasuke when he attempted to. Tadasuke, with a big grin, showed him how it was done. Throughout the match, Yano would really take it from his seniors, but he was able to fight back, kicking out of a Tadasuke lariat. Following this, Tadasuke went for something unusual for him; a submission move. Fortunately, Yano was saved by his partners. 

Needless to say, Yano did not kick out of the next lariat. 

WINNER: Tadasuke with the Jidan lariat on Yasutaka Yano (10 minutes, 12 seconds)

MATCH TWO

Mohammed Yone, Shuhei Taniguchi & YO-HEY vs Atsushi Kotoge, Yoshiki Inamura & Daiki Inaba

Atsushi Kotoge was slightly hyper, probably because he was free of the ice cold tag with Daisuke Harada. YO-HEY was also his usual crazy self, disco dancing his way to the ring and then the two crazy people started the match. YO-HEY bouncing along with Kotoge, but Kotoge proved the saner person (which he would also do later in the evening), and refused to engage with it. Even when YO-HEY had the pin, he was still insane. 

Yoshiki Inamura threw YO-HEY around like he was made of air, but YO-HEY had a counter to this, by using his speed and his size to duck him. As for the rest of the heavyweight team, Shuhei Taniguchi (fortunately) did not start doing his jig, and he scared the two junior heavyweights out of the ring at one point. Mohammed Yone was more Inamura's nemesis than Taniguchi is or was (and Taniguchi usually is when it comes to Inamura), and he fell today to a massive Musou. Yoshiki Inamura continues to chalk up big wins. 

WINNER: Yoshiki Inamura with the Musou on Mohammed Yone (8 minutes, 58 seconds)

MATCH THREE

The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Kendo Kashin) vs Kongoh (Katsuhiko Nakajima & Masa Kitamiya)

Takashi Sugiura came to the ring, and eyed his opponents suspiciously as he held up both his GHC Heavyweight tag belt, and his fan made "SUGI" belt. It was not his opponents, however, who he should have been wary about, it was his tag partner, Kendo Kashin, who came out wearing the SAKU belt. Kashin, true to form, started arguing with the referee the moment he got in the ring, and it wasn't just the ref he started arguing with, he rowed with everyone. Even Sugi. 

It didn't take long for Kashin to irritate Katsuhiko Nakajima, who is the master of winding people up and being irritating (at one point in the match he dared Sugiura to hit him, and then ducked his elbow. This didn't happen a second time). Nakajima's smile snapped off for a while, but it came back when he gave Sugiura the "Shutter Chance", and he did it on Kashin when he tried to interfere. Kashin would later try his own version of the move in Nakajima, but he didn't really do it very well. 

WINNER: Masa Kitamiya Saito Suplex on Takashi Sugiura (14 minutes, 16 seconds). 

Kongoh (or was it "THE AGGRESSION?") remained in the ring, Masa Kitamiya scaring Junta Miyawaki out when he went to see to Takashi Sugiura, even the referee got caught up in the beat down and thrown to the mats outside. 

Then the moment the fans had been waiting for had come, as Masa Kitamiya got on the microphone and said

"No Sakuraba today? I can't let the stupid old men of The Sugiura Army have the belt forever! We will challenge for the tag! Sugiura, remember! Kongoh will not leave beaten!"

Backstage, Katsuhiko Nakajima said "The only thing I want to say is that The Aggression has restarted."

MATCH FOUR

STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, HAYATA & Yuya Susumu) vs Kotaro Suzuki, Ikuto Hidaka & NOSAWA Rongai

As per usual, the bell didn't get the chance to ring before everyone started fighting, and Yoshinari Ogawa was beaten down while wearing the belt. This didn't break Ogawa however, if anything it seemed to make him even more angry and even more infuriated by Kotaro even going anywhere near him, he even went to grab his hair when he bounced off the ropes near him but wasn't in time, and missed. Ogawa wasn't the only one who could play dirty, NOSAWA used one of his Ogawa-like low blows.  Ogawa did cause some concern when he seemed to be limping heavily, but events would show he was fine. 

Aside from the rivalry between Yoshinari Ogawa, HAYATA and Kotaro Suzuki and NOSAWA Rongai, it looked as if Yuya Susumu and Ikuto Hidaka were also starting a slight rivalry of their own. 

WINNER: HAYATA with the Headache on Kotaro Suzuki (10 minutes, 44 seconds)

As Kotaro lay prone on the mat, Yoshinari Ogawa bent over him, put one foot on his chest and held up the belts to NOSAWA Rongai and Ikuto Hidaka. Then somehow everyone left the ring without a fight breaking out. 

MATCH FIVE

Masakatsu Funaki & Masato Tanaka vs Kongoh (Kenoh & Manabu Soya)

Kenoh and Masakatsu Funaki started the match. There were no crazy lock ups here, more the MMA\martial arts type. Funaki took Kenoh by complete surprise, using locks on him that he hadn't experienced him before. Kenoh soon realized that compared to his past MMA challengers (Kazushi Sakuraba, the thuggish Kazunari Murakami), this one was different. He was kind of like the last boss fight, and unlike the other two, he wasn't going to have long to work out a strategy based on experience in. Kenoh was on firmer ground with Masato Tanaka however, who is another one on Kenoh's paranoia\enemies list. 

It got to the point where Kenoh was barely able to stand, but he dragged himself to his feet, swearing under his breath, bit it seems that he preferred to get choked out, than to quit as Funaki took him down to the mat with a rear naked sleeper hold, Kenoh's face growing purple.

WINNER: Masakatsu Funaki via referee stop (18 minutes, 1 second)

Kenoh lay for a few seconds looking at the ceiling before Kongoh rolled him out. He knew he was going to have to come up with something quick.

MATCH SIX

Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya & Daisuke Harada vs The M'S Alliance (Keiji Mutoh & Naomichi Marufuji) and Seiki Yoshioka.

The more somber Daisuke Harada (especially compared to his teammates), came stalking out with a glare. Got in the ring, and held the belt up to Seiki Yoshioka. 

Naomichi Marufuji and Kaito Kiyomiya were almost in each others faces, although it actually looked more as if they were having a conversation. 

Keiji Mutoh is much to senior for Go Shiozaki to do anything with, other than hold the belt up from a distance. 

The match settled into a format of Kiyomiya vs Marufuji, Mutoh vs Shiozaki, and Harada vs Yoshioka. It didn't really variate between the two teams too much, even in outside brawls. 

Keiji Mutoh and Go Shiozaki started the match, Mutoh not attacking Shiozaki's arms like his previous opponents and taking out Shiozaki's weapons, but rather softening him up for his own as he went for his knees, which was something Marufuji and Yoshioka joined in with. Shiozaki had said that he had "expected more from Mutoh" and he was indeed given "more". Mutoh may have gotten the Machine Gun Chops, to which he retaliated with The Figure Four. The first time this was broken up by his teammates, the second time he made it to the ropes, the third time he was not going to be so lucky. 

Naomichi Marufuji channeled his inner Yoshinari Ogawa, and honed in on Kaito Kiyomiya's damaged elbow, slamming it in the gate door, and working on it throughout the match. He was too busy with Kiyomiya to wind up Harada. Marufuji's attack on Kiyomiya's elbow goes beyond just softening up who is at hand, Kiyomiya is the more experienced member of the team. Injure him in some way, exploit a weakness, this leaves the more inexperienced member vulnerable. 

Seiki Yoshioka's kicks met Daisuke Harada's elbows. The two juniors, sandwiched among the heavyweights (or in his case "two geniuses" as Seiki Yoshioka put it), were united only by the common cause that they didn't want to be lost in the shuffle, and their fight didn't lose an inch to their counterparts. 

Go Shiozaki was not so lucky when after the concentrated attack on his knees by both Mutoh and the rest of his opponents, when Mutoh locked in the third leg lock. With both Kiyomiya and Harada being held outside of the ring by Marufuji and Yoshioka, there was nothing Shiozaki could do. His knees were worn down, his partners were unable to help, he was in too much pain to move. The GHC Heavyweight Champion did the unthinkable. 

He tapped. 

WINNER: Keiji Mutoh via submission with the Figure Four Leg Lock on Go Shiozaki (27 minutes, 15 seconds)

Keiji Mutoh left the ring without looking back. 

Kaito Kiyomiya strode off, cross, and later said on Twitter that the future was not going to be stopped just because Marufuji took out one of his arms.

Seiki Yoshioka and Daisuke Harada stared each other down, Yoshioka crouched on the ring apron. 

Atsushi Kotoge (who true to the glacial Momo No Seishun way, hadn't paid any attention to Harada, who probably didn't know he was there), and Junta Miyawaki saw to Go Shiozaki. For the second time tonight, Kotoge was the voice of reason, when he pointed out to Shiozaki that he couldn't walk. Shiozaki refused to lean on either of them and pushed Kotoge away, and managed to limp painfully backstage. Shiozaki was humiliated that he had tapped out, and there was no speech that night from him.

January 31st is a special day for Noah, as it marks the passing of Giant Baba, the man upon who much of their ideology and wrestling style is formed, and who could be called Noah's Grandfather. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama, Akira Taue, Yoshinari Ogawa and Naomichi Marufuji were his pupils, with his "Kings Road" style bought from the walk out from All Japan, which has formed the bedrock of Noah. As fans left the hall, Noah played "I Look Up As I Walk", a song that Baba had played to close out All Japan shows. 

With thanks to: Fujiwara Armbar, Abeshin, Metal-Noah. 

Attendance: Not announced

Picture\GIF Credit: ABEMA\Noah GHC Official Twitter, PKDX

Noah's next event will be February 12th at The Nippon Budokan