(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: N-1 VICTORY 2021 NIGHT 3 (19th September 2021, Noah Special Arena)

Night three was held once again empty arena at Club Citta, and as it was pre-taped it was broadcast at (again) the later time of 8pm JST on WrestleUniverse. The event will be available to view if you click on the link, however, you must be a subscriber to view. 

Due to Kazuyuki Fujita's insistence (and probably in response to Kenoh's growling about "old men" and their "pocket money") Noah have announced that there will be a cash prize for the N-1 Winner. In past years Noah awarded prizes not only to the winners of leagues, but also the runners up. 

MATCH ONE

BLOCK D

Kazuyuki Fujita vs Akitoshi Saito

Akitoshi Saito came out tonight to fight, not to be funky. Kazuyuki Fujita too, paused for a moment to size up his opponent. Their history together might not be something that Noah factors in, and its true until now they have had very little interaction, but they are well known to each other through multiple matches in New Japan, their last being in 1998 two years or so before Saito left for Noah. After the bell rang they circled each other and then Fujita took Saito down to the mat and after that worked on submissions to wear Saito down and out. Saito's own attacks on Fujita was like attacking a wall, but physically similar to Fujita, he did not go down easily. It took a headbutt and a slam to floor him. It was the choke that really made Saito fired up and angry, and an attack on Fujita left him with the paste that Fujita had on his arm and chest when he came to the ring on his face, which gave him a somewhat demonic look, not like Muta or Magical Immortality, more like something you would see on an old Edo stage in a demon battle scene. 

Fujita was forced to  try to floor Saito multiple headbutts on Saito, they never stopped and since Saito did not either, he went for a choke/submission, which was even more extreme than Takashi Sugiura's, much to Saito's credit he did not tap out. It was the referee who stopped the match. 

WINNER: Kazuyuki Fujita with the Front Neck Lock (13 minutes, 12 seconds)

(Kazuyuki Fujita 4 points, Akitoshi Saito 0)

With four points under his belt, and the chance to win the block with 6, Fujita backstage said his "whole body is a weapon" and was looking forward to his last league match, which would be with Masakatsu Funaki on the 26th September at Korakuen Hall. 

MATCH TWO

BLOCK C

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Kotaro Suzuki

*MOTY*

Katsuhiko Nakajima came to the ring with the usual smirk, which remained on his face for most of the match (aside from when Kotaro fought back), and proceeded to take Kotaro down with a sliding kick to the knees. The last time they had fought was when they were juniors and back in those days they had fought over titles, but Kotaro has never beaten Nakajima in a singles match and trying to do that to heavyweight former GHC Champion was going to be a tall order, not like the junior match in 2011 (their last singles match) when Nakajima took the GHC Junior. Nakajima may have described this match as "Nostalgic", but another description may be that Kotaro was "hunted" as Nakajima in full lupine mode stalked and then nipped, tugged and sank his teeth in. 

There were shades of Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada from old, and not least because Kotaro was seen to be using very Misawa like mannerisms, and not just in the ring. 

Despite the disadvantages, Kotaro gave as good as he got, although at times was not able to match the heavyweight strength and weight sometimes caught him off guard. Both needed to win this match as a win meant hope for the future in the league, a loss would send them crashing out with no chance of catching up, unfortunately the deck was stacked against Kotaro. 

WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima with the Vertical Spike (18 minutes, 31 seconds)

(Katsuhiko Nakajima 2 points, Kotaro Suzuki 0 points)

With just one match left in the league and no chance of winning his block, Kotaro's dream of winning the league and facing Naomichi Marufuji for the title looks to be pretty much over. However, he has shown the pride and the power of the Noah Juniors, and as he himself said "this isn't over". 

MATCH THREE

BLOCK B

Kenoh vs Daiki Inaba

The sight of Daiki Inaba generally annoys Kenoh, and so any attacks that Inaba did on Kenoh irritated him even further. Both came into the match at 0 points and with one match left each, both had to win here. A draw with 1 point was not an option, a loss unthinkable. Inaba didn't make the fight easy for Kenoh, not the type to say he was angry about Kenoh saying he was a "lost child" outside of the ring, he showed it inside wearing Kenoh down with a flurry of elbows and dodging the PFS. After a series of failed submissions, pins and kick outs from Kenoh, Inaba started to lose his cool, and he came very close at times to picking up those two precious points that signifies so much in a short hard league. 

Kenoh however has the ability that when he loses his temper, he does not his head and so unlike Inaba when he grew frustrated, he could capitalize on that. 

WINNER: Kenoh with the PFS (14 minutes, 59 seconds)

(Kenoh 2 points, Daiki Inaba 0 points)

Backstage, Kenoh's angry promo about this win leading to "hope" and taking the belt from Marufuji, was interrupted by none other than his stalker, Kendo Kashin. Kashin in usual irreverent style told Kenoh (who had a look of terror) that he had given thought to the name of Noah's retirement home, and it should be "Care Home Funded by Kongoh". Kenoh told him it that was stupid, and it should be "Noah's Care Home".  Kendo Kashin aside, Kenoh did have some good to say about Daiki Inaba. He may still be "a lost child, but finally he's starting to look good in Noah".

MATCH FOUR

BLOCK A

Keiji Mutoh vs Manabu Soya

Manabu Soya, "the big useless tree" as Keiji Mutoh had called him, immediately went on the attack making Mutoh when he fell outside the ring, start his feeble old man routine, which is always a warning sign that Mutoh is anything but. Challenging Soya to shoulder tackles probably wasn't very smart as Mutoh was knocked down, but in this way Soya easily came down to Mutoh's level and it was classic Mutoh to strike back when his opponent least expected it, but it seems that Soya had been expecting it as a lariat felled him. Mutoh after that was once again playing seemingly beaten, and reversed a submission into a Figure 4, but Soya dragged himself to the ropes. Mutoh then began working on Soya's knee repeatedly, and with the big tree felled Mutoh set him up in the middle of the ring and dug in the Figure 4. Soya, one leg down submitted. 

WINNER: Keiji Mutoh via Figure Four Submission (17 minutes, 37 seconds)

(Keiji Mutoh 3 points, Manabu Soya 0 points)

The scowl on Soya's face indicated it wasn't over between them. Backstage Mutoh was still playing the old man, talking about his age and saying that his recovery may be a little slower than the others as a result. When talking about Kaito Kiyomiya, who he will face on the 26th September, he dismissed him as "no risk" and said he (Mutoh) would be going to finals. He didn't know who he would be facing, but he just hoped he would be "ready mentally and physically". 

With thanks to: Metal-Noah

GIF taken from WrestleUniverse

Noah's next event: N-1 VICTORY Night 4 (Monday 20th September 2021, Noah Special Arena)