(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: "That day will never be forgotten" ~ Mitsuharu Misawa Memorial (13th June 2021)

The 13th June is always a very poignant day in Noah as in 2009 the founder of the promotion, Mitsuharu Misawa, passed away following an accident in the ring. Normally Noah hold one memorial for him, but this year there have been two; the hastily rescheduled Oita to Korakuen, and tonight's which was held empty arena, and therefore much longer like a traditional Noah show. The event was shown on both ABEMA and WRESTLEUNIVERSE. 

Kenta Kobashi was the special guest commentator on ABEMA, and the studio had bought in some of Mitsuharu Misawa's items, including his ring gown. In years past Kobashi had actually worn this gown, and when asked what he thought Misawa would say he laughed and said that Misawa always liked surprises. Back in the arena (which I think may have been Noah's go to when they have to hold events empty arena, Club Citta), it was lit green and KENTA appeared in the pre-show video package to talk about Misawa. 

MATCH ONE

Yoshiki Inamura vs Shuhei Taniguchi

Yoshiki Inamura is growing in both size and confidence, especially when it comes to singles matches, and it was because of this physical size that Shuhei Taniguchi (who has Inamura's size but not his power), found that lifting him was not going to be possible unless it was done on momentum, so he was going to have to wear the tire down and stop him rolling by using submission moves, something that Inamura is vulnerable to. While Inamura may have the advantage of physical strength, it is Taniguchi who has the experience, especially against the Musou, but it is much to Inamura's credit and his speedy growth that today the match went to a full time draw. No longer can Inamura be considered any kind of rookie. 

WINNER: Neither (15 minute time out draw)

MATCH TWO

Kongoh Juniors (Haoh & Nioh) vs Momo No Seishun (Hajime Ohara & Junta Miyawaki)

Flush from his victory at CyberFestival, Junta Miyawaki started the match against Nioh. He managed to outwrestle him and Nioh rolled out of the ring in a state of shock, he recovered however and the two of them had a screaming match as Miyawaki was standing up to his moves, something that the Noah Junior division are not used to. Miyawaki is starting to show that he's not going to be pushed around by his seniors anymore. Hajime Ohara attacked hard and fast, his interactions with Haoh leading fans to say that if there is one thing they want to see then it's Haoh in more singles.

WINNER: Haoh with the Firebird Splash on Junta Miyawaki (15 minutes, 19 seconds)

MATCH THREE

Masao Inoue vs Kenoh

Masao Inoue came to the ring, almost fell down the steps and then balanced awkwardly on one leg, and Kenoh came out sulking. Inoue (probably relieved it was not Takashi Sugiura he was facing), was strangely optimistic, even going so far as to offer Kenoh a handshake. Kenoh looked amazed the first time he did it (as he hates everyone and is quite vocal about it, no one ever offers him a handshake), and then the second time decided that Inoue was probably making fun of him and kicked his hand away. Needless to say, Kenoh was not amused by Inoue's antics such as the falling off of the turnbuckle, which got him kicked around, rolling out of the ring and running off almost, which got him sworn at by Kenoh standing on the top turnbuckle, and Inoue thinking he had outsmarted him and attacking with eye rakes. The flash pins which Inoue uses and which can make him dangerous, only served to enrage Kenoh more and begging for mercy after them had no effect.

WINNER: Kenoh with the PFS (4 minutes, 53 seconds)

After Inoue was scraped off the mat and what was left of him was packed into his little pink funky hat, Kenoh started growling on the microphone about it being a year since unattended matches started with all the fuckers watching ABEMA, and how Noah hadn't stopped...when he himself stopped as unknown to him, but visible to all the fuckers at home, a demon had appeared in the ring. 

Sensing he was not alone, Kenoh slowly turned around, reacted in fear and found green mist blown in his face. Then for good measure, Great Muta spat red mist at the camera drone that ABEMA had introduced. Great Muta had said he had an opponent in mind, but no one knew who it was due to communication difficulties on the line between Keiji Mutoh and the underworld, and it turned out that it was Kenoh. Backstage, looking grumpy and covered in green, Kenoh growled that he would do the match, while Muta said he was going to make Kenoh bleed. Match has been set for the 27th June at "MUTA the WORLD". 

MATCH FOUR

Kinya Okada & Masa Kitamiya vs Kongoh (Tadasuke & Katsuhiko Nakajima)

If you are new to Noah then you might want to know that currently a feud is going on between not Kinya Okada and Tadasuke, but Masa Kitamiya and Katsuhiko Nakajima, who happen to be the GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions, and neither want to return the belts. Nakajima being Nakajima, stepped into the ring, found Masa Kitamiya was waiting for him and so let his tag partner start the match. Kitamiya should have expected such behavior. Okada, wisely had no wish to enable Nakajima's evil, and tagged Kitamiya in as soon as possible. Nakajima took the feud with younger brother in typical fashion, big grin, playing up to the camera, taunting him with slaps and kicks on lock up, and daring him to do more. When it was Okada's turn to face Nakajima (Tadasuke was kind of a side note in this match and didn't really feature), he stood up to him until receiving a kick to face which knocked him flat.   

WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima via referee stop (14 minutes, 55 seconds)

With a snarling Masa Kitamiya outside the ring, Nakajima took a further opportunity to taunt him before their cage match with loser looses his hair stipulation

"Hey, Kitamiya! Next is the steel cage! What is this? Words have no significance without might! Next I will break your rotten head!"

MATCH FIVE

Manabu Soya vs Kazuyuki Fujita

Hoss fight and ongoing rivalry match between two behemoths. Just two guys hammering on each other for bragging rights, no unit rivalry, no belt, just a fight. Match was pretty much just that with slams, punches, shoulder tackles, Soya slamming Fujita from his shoulders and Fujita getting the win with a kick to the face and the cocky pin.

WINNER: Kazuyuki Fujita with the face kick (9 minutes, 6 seconds)

MATCH SIX

STINGER (HAYATA, Yuya Susumu & Seiki Yoshioka) vs NOSAWA Rongai, Ikuto Hidaka and...

NOSAWA Rongai had hinted on Twitter that he had found a new friend, "a surprise luchador", and he and Ikuto Hidaka introduced him today. Fans did initially think it was the returning YO-HEY, but it turned out to be a member of the R.E.D faction in DragonGate, the leader in fact, Eita. Eita apparently has history with NOSAWA going back to 2017, but this is his first time clashing with all and any of STINGER. He also seems to fit better than YO-HEY does into a group which is developing a whole Tokyo Gurentai (lit "Tokyo Hooligans") vibe. Eita aside, a lot of the friction in this match came from the somehow more outgoing HAYATA and NOSAWA who made a beeline for each other from the start, with NOSAWA taunting HAYATA at every opportunity. 

During the match Eita showed that he could rival Yoshinari Ogawa in terms of ring psychology, and you could bet that Ogawa was watching this new face in the Noah Juniors (albeit a part time one), especially when he wrapped Seiki Yoshioka's leg over the rope causing Yoshioka to believe he was going to do one move, and then as he was caught off guard, going for another. 

WINNER: Eita with the Trauma on Yuya Susumu (16 minutes, 28 seconds)

After HAYATA and NOSAWA had butted heads and there was general shoving between the two teams, Eita was conducted into the Noah Juniors in the usual manner. A mass brawl between both teams. Once STINGER had been removed (Yoshioka was thrown out of the ring) and they escaped into the darkness of the arena, Eita made an announcement; he had heard there would be a chance to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight by entering the rumble, and so he would be doing that. He was also looking forward to causing trouble in the roster.

MATCH SEVEN

M's alliance (Masato Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki) vs Funky Express

The woes of Funky Express continued tonight in this clash with the tough as stone Masato Tanaka, and his equally hard hitting partner, Masaaki Mochizuki. Tanaka's expression was priceless when Mohammed Yone tried to halt him with the Disco Fever pose. I don't think there was much appreciation for disco in FMW somehow, and Tanaka showed just how much he appreciated it by taking down both Yone and Saito. 

Mitsuharu Misawa made no pretense about how his life was going to end, and he one day wrote a letter to the wrestler he knew was going to be burdened with it. The letter forgave them and urged them to carry on wrestling. The letter was never addressed naturally, but all objects have a life of their own, and this letter was to be for Akitoshi Saito. Saito has never gone to the ring without the letter being bought to the arena with him, and today would have been no exception. No matter what happened during the match, no matter the result, no matter that Yone accidentally knocked him off the apron, to Saito whatever he did in this match was dedicated to Misawa, and afterwards he motioned to heaven to him.

WINNER: Masato Tanaka with the Sliding DK on Akitoshi Saito (17 minutes, 21 seconds)

MATCH EIGHT

Kaito Kiyomiya vs Yoshinari Ogawa

Kaito Kiyomiya came moping to the ring, while Yoshinari Ogawa came out looking thoughtful. This singles match is very rare, and Ogawa had more on his mind than winning. First of all, it was a very special evening, and secondly, he hadn't had much to do with Kaito Kiyomiya for a while and as aware as everyone else in Noah about Kiyomiya's moping, he was going to do something about it. Ogawa didn't bring Kiyomiya or anyone else in Noah up to pity themselves, and he was going to beat him out of him. 

I would recommend this match to anyone who wants to see what true ring psychology is. Ogawa did not have to use chairs or other weapons, all he had to use was his own cunning and the people around him. Like water, Ogawa found his way out from the most tightest of spaces; using the ropes to knock Kiyomiya off when he thought he had the upper hand, going for one move and doing another, using the ref, and in a stroke of genius instead of kicking out, reaching out and grabbing the referees fist to stop the count. Kiyomiya knew he had to be technical, but he was often overwhelmed by Ogawa, who sometimes stopped to taunt him, raising his hands and telling him to come on and fight back. Ogawa got his wish, and Kiyomiya erupted, using a very Kobashi\Shiozaki fist mannerism before unleashing a volley of punches. The match in the later stages was a blind fight, both hoping to get the win by desperate means if necessary, but as ever, Ogawa was in control and Kiyomiya did not know it. Ironically, this match between Noah's oracle and Noah's future, one who knew Misawa and one who didn't but has been entrusted with Noah's future, was happening during 10.10pm, the time that Misawa died. 

WINNER: Yoshinari Ogawa via pinfall (37 minutes, 54 seconds)

For the first time in a long time, Kiyomiya said he had fun.

MATCH NINE

Takashi Sugiura & Daisuke Harada vs Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Kotoge

The GHC Heavyweight and the GHC National are rivals, the belts were created as rivals and whoever holds them is the rival of the other champion. Once in the ring today, both Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura held up their belts to each other. As for the other champions in the team, the GHC Junior Heavyweight and the GHC Junior Tag belts have never been rivals than anything other than the heavyweight division belts, but as people Atsushi Kotoge can now only see Daisuke Harada as a potential challenger thanks to the junior rumble which Harada has been vocal about winning. 

Neither of the juniors in this match were in any difficulty against the heavyweights; Kotoge was once a heavyweight and so he knew how to wrestle them, and Harada (who looked kind of like Jun Akiyama in the blue and the white), is experienced in handling them. Despite this match up, the heavyweights tended to pair off, and there was a handshake between Marufuji and Sugiura at the start. Marufuji had once called Takashi Sugiura "a weapon", and today he discovered again just how much a weapon Sugiura was and is, right up to the point that he tapped to him after being caught in the dreaded chokehold.

WINNER: Takashi Sugiura with the Front Neck Lock (33 minutes, 32 seconds)  

After the match, Sugiura challenged Marufuji for the GHC Heavyweight title;

"For the first time in five years, congratulations on the GHC. But, you understand the circumstances, right? I want to challenge for the GHC belt that Naomichi Marufuji has"

Marufuji has accepted Sugiura's challenge, and set it for the event in Sendai on the 11th July. It will not be title vs title as Marufuji has no interest in the GHC National for now and wants to concentrate on defending the GHC Heavyweight. 

I am going to finish this report by recounting a typical squabble between Marufuji and Harada, who got into one of their usual spats. Marufuji had recently remarked to Harada's older brother that "Dahara" didn't follow him on Twitter, but he was both the champion and the Vice President of Noah. "Dahara's" older brother said that "Dahara had an attitude problem", "Dahara" told his older brother not to call him "Dahara". So today, after the match, Harada wrote a post thanking Sugi for teaming with him and talking about Kotoge, not mentioning Marufuji. Marufuji said that he couldn't get past Harada. Harada coolly replied "Thank you for working hard". Marufuji responded with the expressionless face ikon.

Noah's next event: Cage War, Saturday 26th June

GIF'S taken from WrestleUniverse

With thanks to: Metal Noah