(NOAH) Event recap "CyberFight Festival 2021" (Saitama Super Arena, 6th June 2021)

*Please note that although the event itself featured DDT, TJPW and Ganbare Pro, this report will only concentrate on Noah*

The big day of the inaugural "CyberFight Festival" finally arrived, and by the end of it Noah was trending, along with "Kenoh on a bike" and Sanshiro Takagi was talking about holding another festival next year with either the same or a different format. A song "Fight of Cyber" was also specially created for the show today. 

Before the doors opened and long queues formed for the gatcha machines and the merchandise tables, Momo No Seishun took us round the tables to see what fans could buy; Hajime Ohara once again the sensible one, and Daisuke Harada modeled the Noah shorts. Momo No Seishun also sang "Happy Birthday" to Junta Miyawaki. Who will celebrate his birthday on the 14th June. Not today. Still, perhaps it was better that they wished him it today.
While Momo No Seishun busied themselves at the merchandise stand, Yoshiki Inamura and Kaito Kiyomiya appeared in the VIP lounge where the special guest commentators had gathered to do a YouTube pre show broadcast. Yoshiki Inamura showed off his new haircut (cut to look like tire tracks), and he and Kiyomiya spoke quietly and politely.  

When the doors did open, fans (some who hadn't been to the arena for 19 years, others for whom today was their first time watching wrestling), found a green arena, and a mat lined with multiple promotion logos. The event was shown live on both WrestleUniverse and ABEMA, but you will only be able to watch the replay on WrestleUniverse as ABEMA have now changed their policy and you can only watch shows live for free, not replays.   

Funky Express take part in a fifteen man Battle Royale
Funky Express entered together, with Masao Inoue wearing a little pink hard hat and balancing on one leg. DDT it seems are no fans of Disco either, as Mohammed Yone was throttled with his blue boa and had his glasses knocked off the moment he entered. Akitoshi Saito also seemed highly displeased with Hirata's dancing. 

The main story of the match was the friction between Shuhei Taniguchi and Yuji Hino. Once upon a time, they had been in a heel unit called "The Hooligans", who were led by Mitsuya Nagai, and they had also teamed together in Global Tag League following this. Until Kongoh came along, Noah didn't really know how to have a heel unit so to speak, and so all "The Hooligans" where (apart from a silly flag) where a unit who didn't really know what to do aside from irritate a grumpy overworked Naomichi Marufuji, bloody up Go Shiozaki and push around the then trainees (Kinya Okada & Yoshiki Inamura), and disbanded as easily as they formed after being defeated by Takashi Sugiura (along with Masao Inoue, Akitoshi Saito and the two aforementioned trainees), and fortunately were forgotten quickly. However, old rivalries came to the surface today as the two laid into each other and continued to lay into each other even after they had both been eliminated.     

With Akitoshi Saito eliminated by Masao Inoue (accidentally, although Saito's beating up of him was not accidental), and Taniguchi also eliminated by this point, it came down to Mohammed Yone and Masao Inoue. Inoue got his ass kicked by a Joshi called Saki Akai before Yone came to his rescue, but then he got caught up in a nipple pinching contest and lost the match after Yone himself was eliminated, due to a low blow. 

Junta Miyawaki & Kinya Okada vs Yuki Iino &Toui Kojima.

The card had to be changed from a six man to a four man due to Yasutaka Yano having to miss the event due to having to isolate due to being near Kotaro Suzuki who has tested positive for Coronavirus. Despite the change, Kinya Okada and Junta Miyawaki were all business, Okada standing up to Iino's shoulder tackles and using kicks. Junta Miyawaki had his second breakthrough match, and his first win over someone not in Noah, when he made Toui Kojima tap. Miyawaki walked away from the match in the same manner as his seniors, cool and hard.

WINNER: Junta Miyawaki with an Inverted Cross armbar (7 minutes, 39 seconds)

SUGI & SAKU Championship
Super Sasadango Machine & Danshoku Deino vs Takashi Sugiura & Kazushi Sakuraba

Super Sasadango Machine, true to form, introduced a powerpoint presentation on how to beat Takashi Sugiura & Kazushi Sakuraba, which involved such things as a match where you spun around on the hilt of bats and distracting Sakuraba with a picture of his favorite actress, in a title match for belts which were not officially sanctioned championships. For this very special match, Sugiura and Sakuraba both came out wearing masks. Sakuraba had the joy of starting against Deino, who lets just say, doesn't aim to grab his opponents hands when locking up initially, and has a very specific way of breaking up a pin. 

The PowerPoint came true like all good PowerPoint presentations do. The baseball bats came out, but instead of both teams spinning round on them, Sugi used his to hit Sasandango with. They also tried the tactic of Deino putting on the mask of Sakuraba's favorite actress and then trying to make himself more alluring by lying on his back with his legs open, and Sasadango holding up a picture on the ring apron. 

Eventually Sugiura and Sakuraba were unmasked, and Dieno went for the big kiss on Sakuraba, which was rebuffed. When Sugiura was in the ring, he ended up with some pantyhose over his face and attempt by Dieno to choke him out with it. 

The match finished with Takashi Sugiura, GHC National Champion, wearing pantyhose over his head giving the Olympic Slam to another guy with pantyhose over his head, while Sakuraba thought this was the funniest thing ever, as he held Dieno in a lock.

WINNER: Takashi Sugiura with the Olympic Slam on Super Sasadango Machine (9 minutes, 25 seconds)

Afterwards, and still with the pantyhose over his head, Sugiura apologized to the crowd for having such a crappy match. He then kept the pantyhose on, wearing them backstage in an interview after the match and then at the end of the show when almost everyone came out to celebrate the day. Jurina Matsui dubbed him "Pantyhose Sugiura".

Masa Kitamiya vs Hideki Okatani

Due to Masa Kitamiya deciding that he hated Katsuhiko Nakajima so much that he could not bear to tag with him anymore, and leaving Kongoh as a result, the card was changed to a singles. Reverting back to the Masa Saito black, Kitamiya came down to the ring holding the tag belt he refused to give up, although he didn't want to team with the co-holder of it, forced Okatani to quit in a squash.

WINNER: Masa Kitamiya with the Prison Lock (2 minutes, 25 seconds)

Momo No Seishun (Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada & Hajime Ohara) vs STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, HAYATA & Seiki Yoshioka)

A funny thing happened on the way to the match as someone had the title cards wrong, and stated their team was "Daisuke Harada, HAYATA & Seiki Yoshioka". This was brilliant booking, as Daisuke Harada did pin Seiki Yoshioka and won the match, which meant that technically Yoshioka was pinned by a member of his own team! Joking aside, everyone was all business. There might have been a rivalry, but everyone was determined to put on a great Noah Junior match to showcase to the crowd and those watching at home who didn't normally watch Noah. It was also the case that for the occasion, Daisuke Harada debuted a new costume, which was white. The effect was stunning as Harada has worn mainly black or purple for the last few years. 

Yoshinari Ogawa gave the command to attack Hajime Ohara's knee, and for STINGER it was open season, and so while Ohara had his knee attacked, and Junta Miyawaki banged on the apron in support, Daisuke Harada vs Seiki Yoshioka was a pure fast moving technical masterpiece which was made even more better by the stare out between them. Yoshioka has gone from a nice boy with slicked back hair, to a wild man who looks unshaven and shaggy. 

WINNER: Daisuke Harada with the Katayama German Suplex on Seiki Yoshioka (13 minutes, 33 seconds)

After the match, where once again Daisuke Harada got the win, and not Hajime Ohara, Yoshinari Ogawa stood with his hands on his hips looking at Momo No Seishun and looking thoughtful before walking off. Usually when Ogawa does this it means that he's got something in mind, which usually involves pulling a few strings to make one of his puppets dance. In such a situation, trust no one. 

As for Momo No Seishun, backstage Daisuke Harada commented that along with Junta Miyawaki, the four of them would create the Noah Juniors. I can well imagine what and who Ogawa has in mind. 

Kongoh (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya, Manabu Soya, Haoh, Nioh & Tadasuke) vs DDT (Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Naomi Yoshimura, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okaya)

Rockstar Tadasuke led Kongoh to the ring looking excited. No one else in Kongoh looked like this, and Kenoh came out looking like someone had a rifle trained on him. Katsuhiko Nakajima, however, didn't care either way. To him it was just a match and the only meaningful one was the one coming up with Kitamiya later in the month. Nakajima wasn't going to be totally distant from the match, it's not his style. What is his style is what he did, making sure he knew where the camera was so he could pose for it and stare directly into it. At one point he even went for the cocky pin on the president, which the referee refused to even recognize. 

Sanshiro Takagi hadn't even set one foot towards the top of the ramp when Kenoh started spitting venom at him, DDT, CyberFighter, ABEMA or anyone else that Kenoh feels has wronged him. Takagi came to the ring and before getting in, gave Kenoh two fingers. This triggered a mass brawl (the Noah Juniors had somehow waited for the bell), in which Kenoh tore into Takagi. Slap wars broke out between the two periodically throughout the match. 

Soon after Kenoh and Takagi had been separated, Manabu Soya and Kazusada Higuchi got into the ring and began a hoss fight, however, attention was diverted to outside the ring where Kenoh and Yukio Sakaguchi where butting heads, Takagi got involved and Kenoh's screaming loudly at him bought the referee over to separate them.

Takagi was the main focus of Kenoh (and Kongoh's) wrath, but Yoshihiko, the blow up doll got attacked by Kongoh and was rescued. Yoshihiko, however, would play a part in the evenings events.
The other member of the team to play a significant role in the evening was Yukio Sakaguchi who got into a kick fight with Nakajima, and in usual style, Nakajima even threw himself down to be kicked. Then it was Kenoh's turn and he was at his most loud, angry and belligerent. 
Soon after this however, Takagi donned bat wings and holding a bucket went to jump from the top turnbuckle. Kenoh moved, but that didn't save the match from swerving off the beaten path as referee Nishinaga was blindfolded with a rabbit mask and his leg trapped in a man-trap, and a big fist bought out to biff Kenoh with. It kind of bounced off of him, but then Kenoh found that if he couldn't soar on to him, Takagi would run him over with a bike. Kenoh moved out of the way and returned the favor, leading to the trending hashtag "Kenoh on a bike". Takagi then experienced the "Endless Love". Kenoh's humiliation didn't end there as Yoshihiko was used to choke him out, and he could only watch helplessly as Takagi won by pinning Haoh.

WINNER: Sanshiro Takago with the Sit Down Sunflower Power Bomb on Haoh (19 minutes, 59 seconds)

Kenoh left in anger, turning the steel barrier over in a tantrum as he stalked backstage, the rest of Kongoh followed looking like their tails were between their legs. Takagi addressed Kenoh saying that although it was a great match, he still hated him (throwing in "dumbass" for good measure), and then saying he thought his jaw might be dislocated. Kenoh later parodied the ever sulking Kaito Kiyomiya by posting on Twitter that he didn't understand wrestling anymore, to be trolled by Sugiura. 

Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura vs Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno

Yoshiki Inamura debuted his new outfit, which is very much a tire motif. As stated earlier his hair has been cut to look like treads, he has a tire track on the back of the new singlet, has a tire on the front of it and carries a tire to the ring. Kaito Kiyomiya also had a new jacket, and he came out sulking as ever. 

The match was very much a Yoshiki Inamura showcase as it is becoming apparent that it is Inamura who is carrying the team and in any case, teaming with such a despondent Kiyomiya is not bringing him any results. Kiyomiya's spark once again failed to ignite, and fans are wondering if he may find it by fighting Inamura, a same generation rival, rather than teaming with him.

WINNER: Yuki Ueno with the BME on Kaito Kiyomiya (17 minutes, 51 seconds)

GHC Heavyweight Championship
Keiji Mutoh vs Naomichi Marufuji

Green lights where shining as Naomichi Marufuji walked out to the ring. There was a slight stare off with between himself and Keiji Mutoh, and it looked as if the ref had to take it off of him to stop him from shoving it in his face. 

The match was technical. Mutoh knew he had to keep Marufuji down and worked on his knees and elbows. Mutoh's psychology in the title match was not to play the old man as he had done with Go Shiozaki, frustrate into mistake (Kaito Kiyomiya) or wear down (Masa Kitamiya), but to attack the weapons. There was also an element of nostalgia as this was the closest Mutoh was ever going to get to a singles match with Mitsuharu Misawa. Each time Marufuji got up, Mutoh pulled him back down. Each submission and hold sapped something from Marufuji, but as Kenta Kobashi on commentary had put it, he had come to the ring with "the weight of Noah on his back", and he refused to submit. Marufuji even took three Shining Wizards, he kicked out of these and remained with his shoulder raised.

Mutoh's damage had done its work, slow to pin after high impact moves such as the Shiranui, but it wasn't enough and while he didn't grow frustrated, Mutoh did. He even bought out The Moonsault, but Marufuji stubbornly kicked out. It was Marufuji who was playing Mutoh at his own game. 

WINNER: Naomichi Marufuji with The Tiger King Zero (23 minutes, 30 seconds)

Staring across the mat at each other, after a few seconds they did the M's alliance pose, and Mutoh rolled out of the ring. Jun Akiyama (DDT Champion) and Miyu (Tokyo Joshi Princess Champion) came down to celebrate with Marufuji. On the microphone, they all thanked everyone for coming, and Marufuji thanked Mutoh for joining Noah. Backstage he said that he could never surpass him and wanted to keep working hard with him. 

The roster (with some people missing such as the angry Kongoh, the reclusive STINGER and the sulking Kiyomiya, although I did not see Inamura either) had come out to celebrate the first big supershow, which Takagi hinted afterwards would be a once a year thing. Kazushi Sakuraba was in fits of laughter, because Takashi Sugiura still had the pantyhose on his head. Marufuji led the roster in a bow before everyone excited the stage. He was seen to glance up to the heavens, where he knew Misawa would be watching and proud that he was now on his 5th title reign, which had not only beaten his own (at three), but also that of Takashi Sugiura and Go Shiozaki, both tied at four. 

With thanks to: DDT\TJPW update, Metal-Noah
GIF credit: WrestleUniverse
Noah's next event: Sunday 13th June, Mitsuharu Misawa Memorial