(NOAH) Event Recap: THE OVATION 2021 Day 1 (Sunday 2nd May, Korakuen Hall)

Noah opened the show today on a dark and silent Korakuen Hall with only the ring lit, and the adverts they displayed as an extra form of revenue, lighting the arena. The card was advertised as a mystery, which is usually a Noah New Year tradition, and it certainly came as a surprise, leaving behind more questions and once again proving that nothing in the Noah Junior division can ever truly be predicted. It also left fans wondering that if this happened on the first night, what is going to happen tomorrow? 

Today's show was broadcast live on WrestleUniverse. You will be able to view it by clicking here, but you must be a subscriber as the stream was not free. 

MATCH ONE

Yasutaka Yano vs Kai Fujimura

Good young boy match to open the show, and the first of only two on the card which didn't have any kind of repercussion in or after it. Two things were obvious in this match, the first was how much Kai Fujimura has improved since he started receiving regular training at The Noah Dojo. A check on the official Noah site reveals that sadly, he has not joined the roster as a full time member yet. The second thing that was noticeable was the different styles of throwing an elbow, and as expected, Yano's was purely Noah. 

Fujimura used more submissions than Yano, who for the first two times got to the ropes, but after a very Hajime Ohara style submission, he tapped out. 

WINNER: Kai Fujimura with the Boston Crab (6 minutes, 24 seconds)

MATCH TWO

Kinya Okada & Yoshiki Inamura vs Funky Express (Mohammed Yone and Shuhei Taniguchi)

Yoshiki Inamura (looking immense today) had a test of strength with Shuhei Taniguchi, and as you can imagine, this was very much on the side of the man who is known for doing strongman training with tires and Atlas Stones, this didn't stop Taniguchi from slamming him later though. Taniguchi was not the only person who was taken aback by Yoshiki Inamura, Mohammed Yone was too and started to look worn down by both Inamura's attacks, and the fact that his attacks didn't seem to be going anywhere. The match was in no way a squash match, although the Noah Born were more dominant than their seniors, for Kinya Okada in particular there is a feeling that he is going to have a break out match soon. It was also significant for the two Noah Born that while they didn't win, they weren't defeated either. 

WINNER: Neither. 20 minutes time out draw

Funky Express decided that they had won, and pulled their Disco Fever pose. Anyone else would have shoved them or yelled at them. Everyone except a Noah Born, who politely left the ring after Inamura made a polite protest. 

MATCH THREE

Kotaro Suzuki, Ikuto Hidaka and NOSAWA Rongai vs Momo No Seishun (Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada & Junta Miyawaki)

As soon as Momo No Seishun got in the ring, NOSAWA and co (including Ikuto Hidaka who NOSAWA said he had fired, and even the commentators were wondering when he had been rehired), were straining at the bit and somehow a six man Noah Junior tag started on the bell, and not in a mass brawl beforehand, with amazing exchanges between Kotaro and Harada. It didn't stay so restrained however, as it disintegrated into chaos with everyone fighting in the ring or outside of it, with the referee protesting in vain. In the middle of all of this, Junta almost pinned Hidaka. 

WINNER: Ikuto Hidaka with the Sean Capture on Junta Miyawaki (13 minutes, 40 seconds)

Because this is the Noah Junior division, and it's chaotic, two mass brawls took place after the match. Kotaro was at one end of the ring, shoving the GHC Junior belt into Atsushi Kotoge's face, with NOSAWA and Harada squaring up to each other. NOSAWA and Harada then intimated that this could be settled by the match being restarted. The match was restarted, and Harada charged across the ring at NOSAWA who slipped out at the last moment, and walked off with his teammates. 

All is normal. 

Backstage NOSAWA said he was going to go after Daisuke Harada, Kotaro said to leave Atsushi Kotoge to him, with Hidaka commenting that left him to sort out Miyawaki. 

MATCH FOUR

Takashi Sugiura vs Masao Inoue

Most people when they come out sit on commentary, enter through one of the side entrances and don't stand in the ring en route. However, if your name is Kendo Kashin the way to do this is to enter by the main curtain, get into the ring and then leave to take your seat and put on the headdress. Masao Inoue therefore thought he was his opponent, but much to his horror, his real opponent was Takashi Sugiura, Noah's "Killing Machine", who knocked him out of the ring with a big boot to the face soon after the bell rang. Inoue then challenged Sugiura (who was trying not to laugh) to shoulder tackles, which Sugiura soon grew tired of and knocked Inoue down with swift shoulder tackles. Inoue tried to run after getting the upper hand for a few seconds after treading on Sugiura's toes and eye raking, and he fled to the safe haven of outside the ring. However, each time he tried to roll out of it, Sugiura threw him back into it. Begging for mercy didn't work, and neither did the wind-up punch when he did eventually get the upper hand again. Inoue can be dangerous when he goes for his flash pins, and Sugi, not taking any chances for potential embarrassment (and probably social isolation), played Inoue at his own game.

WINNER: Takashi Sugiura with the Schoolboy pin (13 minutes, 37 seconds)

Leaving commentary, Kendo Kashin came to the ring and climbed up on the apron. Sugiura was convinced that he was going to challenge him, but Kazushi Sakuraba had already challenged him for the GHC National, and so perhaps Kashin was challenging him for his "Sugi" belt. 

Kashin might be nuts, but he's not nuts enough to challenge for a belt which isn't sanctioned, and so he said to Masao Inoue 

"Sugiura, no, Takashi! Can I express my challenge here? At the WrestleUniverse event that 8,000 people around the world will be watching tomorrow...Kendo Kashin and Masao Inoue in a singles match!"

Sugiura said he had never heard of anyone challenging the loser of a match...

MATCH FIVE

FULL THROTTLE VS STINGER

From the moment STINGER arrived in the ring, Yoshinari Ogawa made sure that YO-HEY wasn't going to go anywhere near HAYATA, by standing in front of him and showing him the title belt. YO-HEY wanted to start against HAYATA, but Hajime Ohara and Yuya Susumu started. Ohara tagged in YO-HEY for HAYATA, and HAYATA looked as if he was thinking about tagging out, but he stayed until Ogawa put a stop to the situation and tagged in. 

You would have thought that as his best weapons are his legs, that STINGER would have wanted to take out his knees, but today they worked on his arm. This, and the issues between HAYATA and YO-HEY made Ohara be protective. HAYATA and YO-HEY naturally know each other well, and so when HAYATA went for a moonsault and YO-HEY moved, he had a real look on his face of "Ha! I knew you were going to do that!" YO-HEY and HAYATA may have known each other well, but HAYATA also knows Yoshioka well, and well enough for STINGER to persuade him to kick YO-HEY in the head (which is how HAYATA betrayed YO-HEY for STINGER), and join them. 

Winner: HAYATA with the 403 Impact on YO-HEY (21 minutes, 11 seconds)

As HAYATA and Susumu held Ohara, Yoshioka got on the microphone and said that he wanted to be at the top of the Noah Juniors, and hearing words he didn't understand like "Peron" or "Mui Bien" wasn't helping, and he wanted more than that, then he aimed a super-kick at Ohara's face and left the ring with old friends HAYATA and Susumu, (who he goes way back with), and Yoshinari Ogawa, who has scored another point over YO-HEY.

YO-HEY and Ohara didn't have long to console each other, as NOSAWA Rongai materialized in the ring with Kotaro Suzuki and Ikuto Hidaka. Not interested in Ohara, NOSAWA offered his hand to YO-HEY, and YO-HEY took it. After shaking hands with NOSAWA, Hidaka and even the hated Kotaro, YO-HEY left the ring without a backwards glance at Ohara. Ohara was heartbroken, and sat with his head in his hands. 

But, there was one last group left in the Noah Juniors to come to the ring and offer assistance, Momo No Seishun. Offering condolence to the brokenhearted Ohara, Kotoge told him "You are very familiar with what the promotion thinks, team thoughts, fan thoughts and so on. Hey. Is FULL THROTTLE gone? Ohara, we need your strength. Do this with us. We need your ability. Lets excite the Noah Juniors together."

Ohara then joined Momo No Seishun, the team he had likened to "a wake" once, and the balance in the Noah Juniors changed again. Before now it was three on three, now with the addition of each of FULL THROTTLE to every team other than Kongoh, the juniors have split into four man units. The new war begins on the 3rd May. Ohara wrote later in his blog that he was grateful to Momo No Seishun, but his heart hurt over Yoshioka's kick, even if the pain in his face had faded. 

Once the juniors and their never-ending drama went backstage, fans (although they were in a whirl over what had just happened) had a treat as Kenoh came to the ring. He was dressed in a suit which looked a little large for him, looked tired (and worryingly even more so when getting out of the ring like the whole effort had exhausted him), he looked flushed as someone who has had a fever has just had, and slightly bloodshot eyes. Kenoh spoke on the microphone to say;

"I was infected with the Coronavirus, and I deeply apologize for any inconvenience or concern. I'm really sorry. I had a fever of 39 degrees for a week, and was hospitalized. I am grateful to the medical staff and the health center. Thank you. 

I have something to say to the fuckers watching WrestleUniverse. Corona is really severe. Young people, don't think "I'm okay", you don't how easily letting your guard down and getting infected is easy. Please be really careful. I am also full of regrets for Manabu Soya, Haoh and Tadasuke, who often traveled with me and ate together having to miss time being certified as close contacts. I'm really sorry.

I had a lot of thoughts these past few weeks. This is the first absence I have had in thirteen years of my career. It was really disappointing for me to watch the event I was supposed to wrestle in, at home. I made me reflect on a lot of things. But, I only have wrestling, right? I will evolve further and return to Noah's ring. On May 15th, all of Kongoh will return at Korakuen Hall. Hey! Fuckers watching WrestleUniverse! Kongoh, who will evolve further from now on, and Kenoh...follow me!"

Kenoh spoke a little more on his illness backstage; he said he caught it when he attended a small gathering of people as a friend was having a housewarming. Three of the six who attended came down with the virus, which for Kenoh had resulted in a week long fever, a headache he couldn't shift (I think he is prone to headaches anyway having made reference to them before), and pneumonia which meant he couldn't breathe when he moved, even a little bit. He had also lost about 6 - 7 kilograms in weight, which for Kenoh not being one of the more heavyweights, is significant.

MATCH SIX

Kongoh (Nioh, Masa Kitamiya & Katsuhiko Nakajima) vs The M's alliance (Naomichi Marufuji,  Masaaki Mochizuki and Yuko Miyamoto)

Naomichi Marufuji has come up with a new move, and so he has been eager to practice it on opponents leading up to the title match with Keiji Mutoh, and today was no exception with Nioh tasting the Tiger King Zero, but much to his credit he gave Marufuji in no way a helpless or push over victory. 

Katsuhiko Nakajima needs only fans and a camera, it didn't matter to him that the fans were watching at home, if anything it gave him an added bonus because it meant that no one was going to miss his big smile, The Shutter Chance or the time he went to kick Marufuji, and Marufuji took his foot and placed it slowly on the floor before chopping him. 

There was kind of a story to this match, not that anyone challenged for the GHC Heavyweight Tag Titles, and I thought that Mochi and Miyamoto might have done, but it was more related to Kongoh than it was the belts as Akitoshi Saito was on commentary, and it almost seemed as if Nakajima was giving him a demonstration of something he could be doing instead of halfhearted disco dancing. 

WINNER: Naomichi Marufuji with the Tiger King Zero on Nioh (19 minutes and 35 seconds)

MATCH SEVEN

Kaito Kiyomiya vs Masato Tanaka

Kaito Kiyomiya and Masato Tanaka have clashed in the ring before now several times, but this is their first singles match. Kiyomiya (who fans felt was sluggish today), was dominated pretty much by the tough veteran, Tanaka, someone who has come from a completely different world than anyone he has met before. Tanaka used vicious submission moves on Kiyomiya, one moved looked like he was going to rip Kiyomiya's hair from his scalp. It's true Kiyomiya has experienced Tanaka before, but he has never experienced him or anything else quite like this. Kiyomiya saw it as growth and experienced and hoped he could find the spark he was looking for, but to be honest, for himself and Yoshiki Inamura (as we will see), this is going to be a new and interesting learning curve and a young vs veteran battle, especially as Tanaka commented backstage that he wasn't going to "lose to the young".

WINNER: Masato Tanaka with the Sliding D (19 minutes, 21 seconds)

After the match an angry looking Yoshiki Inamura got into the ring. He didn't square up to Tanaka exactly, more glared threateningly at him. Tanaka knew he had come to challenge him to a match, and told him that strength in wrestling "did not come from lifting tires". The match between them will take place on the 3rd May. 

With everything that has happened tonight - another full shift in the Noah Juniors leading to total war, Kashin chasing Masao, Saito's growing awareness that there may be a way out of being "Funky", and Inamura and Kiyomiya unleashing a war with Masato Tanaka, Kotoge and Kotaro, and the yet unchallenged GHC Heavyweight tag belts, just what will happen tomorrow? 

With thanks to: Metal Noah, Abeshin

GIFS taken from WrestleUniverse

Noah's next event: NOAH THE OVATION DAY 2, 3rd May 2021