GHC Heavyweight Tag Championship Tournament - "GREAT VOYAGE 2022 in YOKOHAMA" (March 13th, Yokohama Budokan)

GHC Tag Team Championship Tournament Round A

Kongoh (Masakatsu Funaki & Kenoh) vs The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki)

GHC Tag Team Championship Tournament Round B

The M's alliance (Masaaki Mochizuki & Naomichi Marufuji) vs Daiki Inaba & Kaito Kiyomiya

Winners of Round A will face the winners of Round B

STEP FORWARD 2022 (25th February 2022, Yokohama Radiant Hall)

Naomichi Marufuji, Masaaki Mochizuki & Daiki Inaba vs Takashi Sugiura, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura

Daiki Inaba and Naomichi Marufuji have not had the best relationship recently, and Inaba refused to shake hands with him. Inaba did let him start the match though, which Marufuji did against Takashi Sugiura, doing a rare flip in the process. Every now and again, Marufuji likes to remind himself and everyone else, that he is still capable of doing some moves from his youth. Yoshiki Inamura was someone that Marufuji was not prepared to go against, and was happy to remind everyone of that, when after pulling a sumo stance together by crouching and placing one fist on the floor, Marufuji tagged in Masaaki Mochizuki to deal with him. If Inamura has a weakness, then it's kicks. Particularly to his legs. Matching him to tests of strength is pointless as Mochizuki found out early on, and Marufuji knew. 

Masa Kitamiya is almost invincible; he refused to be knocked down by Marufuji, posing and flexing each time Marufuji tried. As could be expected of someone who grew up with, teamed with and fights against Katsuhiko Nakajima, kicks have very little effect on him. 

WINNER: Daiki Inaba with the Extreme Warp* on Yoshiki Inamura (19 minutes, 59 seconds)

*Submission*

Daiki Inaba celebrated in Naomichi Marufuji's face. Inaba didn't feel he had won for the team, he had won for himself (and Kaito Kiyomiya who he will team with in a small tournament to compete for the GHC Heavyweight tag titles against Marufuji, Sugiura and Kongoh). Marufuji clapped him and then offered a handshake. Inaba gave him a handslap. Marufuji later wrote that wasn't Inaba the man who was at the top of his previous promotion? Well then, he should show him that, and something that made his former colleagues jealous. 

Kaito Kiyomiya & Atsushi Kotoge vs Kongoh (Kenoh & Hajime Ohara)

Fans had been waiting for the reunion of Kenoh and Hajime Ohara, who had been known as the "Kenohara" during Kenoh's junior days. Hajime Ohara had probably waited for this moment to switch to his red costume, and it made an effect when he and Kenoh shook hands. Kenoh and Kaito Kiyomiya did the usual round of verbal threats and trash talking when Kiyomiya got in the ring. I think Kiyomiya needs a little more practice at it...

In a wild match, Kiyomiya and Kenoh had a vicious and bitter fight. The crowd screamed as Kenoh and Kiyomiya kind of threw each other out of the ring. But they were both fine and the fight continued. Neither of them would get the win leaving them at a stalemate for now.

WINNER: Hajime Ohara with the Finnish Forearm on Atsushi Kotoge (20 minutes, 12 seconds)

Great Voyage 2022 in Yokohama (Yokohama Budokan, Sunday March 13th)

Block A: GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Tournament

M's alliance (Naomichi Marufuji & Masaaki Mochizuki) vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Daiki Inaba

Kaito Kiyomiya walked to the ring, pointing out people in the crowd. It does not matter whether he knows them or not, it makes a good effect. Naomichi Marufuji debuted new ring-wear, with Hayabusa like shoulders on his gown. The change in ring wear was only the beginning of what changes where to come. Daiki Inaba squared up to Naomichi Marufuji, who left the ring and left Masaaki Mochizuki to Kaito Kiyomiya. Marufuji was being irritating, because after all, hadn't Kiyomiya said that he wanted Mochi? Inaba was not going to let this go, and baited Marufuji throughout the match. An angry stare when he had Mochi down on the mat in a headlock. When he did get the chance to face Marufuji, he refused to be knocked down by kicks. Marufuji, a veteran, was not going to take this from the next generation of heavyweights, and for good measure knocked Kiyomiya off the apron after knocking Inaba down. Inaba paid for his impudence by having his head repeatedly stamped into the mat. Mochi too did a "hit me" challenge. The seniors underestimated their juniors (here meant as younger wrestlers) and Daiki Inaba reversed the Shiranui for the win.

WINNER: Daiki Inaba via Shiranui Reversal on Naomichi Marufuji (15 minutes, 30 seconds)

Marufuji couldn't believe he had lost, and the poor ref was threatened. The two seniors left in disbelief and backstage Marufuji broke some news that overshadowed their loss of being knocked out of the tournament and advancing to the next round. 

The M's alliance where going on hiatus. 

Marufuji was at pains to explain that they weren't splitting up, but since they were so fractured (Masakatsu Funaki left for Kongoh, Keiji Mutoh on long term injury and possibly facing surgery, Yuko Miyamoto and Jurina Matsui not around and Masato Tanaka doing his own thing),  it made more sense to for now just go their own ways and regroup later. He and Mochi had both known this for a while, and symbolically they both removed their M's wristbands and laid them on the floor. As for Inaba, Marufuji will deal with him in a singles match on the 24th March at Korakuen Hall. 

Block B: GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Tournament

Kongoh (Kenoh & Masakatsu Funaki) vs The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki)

Hideki Suzuki returned to Noah today. Kenoh naturally gave him a warm welcome, marching to the ring and then verbally abashing him after posing with Masakatsu Funaki. Kenoh demanded that Suzuki start against him and then broke the hold on the ropes in usual manner. Funaki and Suzuki mat wrestled, with Funaki realizing Suzuki's power as soon as Suzuki stood up with Funaki wrapped around him, as if Funaki weighted nothing. Everyone in this match has some kind of background in MMA or a branch of it, and it showed. Kenoh and Takashi Sugiura, while fighting Suzuki and Funaki respectively in that form, didn't carry it through when it came to them and had a brawl of punches, kicks and throwing each other into the barriers. 

In the closing stages of the match, Suzuki went to choke out Funaki, his hands were like a coil on a tightening rope, Funaki later did the same, but he had more of an impression of iron. Kenoh kept Sugiura away and as soon as Suzuki reversed (and Sugiura too reversed to keep Kenoh away), the tide of the match turned. 

WINNER: Hideki Suzuki with the Double Arm Suplex Hold on Masakatsu Funaki (16 minutes, 24 seconds)

Kenoh, disappointed with the result, stalked off after yelling at his departing opponents. Fans noted he did not wait for Funaki, and did not seem very pleased with him either. 

GHC Heavyweight Tag Match

The Sugiura Army (Hideki Suzuki & Takashi Sugiura) vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Daiki Inaba

The younger generation where fighting for their future, with a strategy to wear the veteran ream down and as much as the younger generation did this, their seniors did it back to them. The difference between them was shown in the early stages when Kaito Kiyomiya got Takashi Sugiura in an arm submission, which he skillfully got out of when Sugiura went for his beck. Sugiura made sure that when he did the same to Kiyomiya, there was no such chance for escape. Throughout the match, the venue was very much on the side of the youngsters. Inaba, who had attacked with the same intensity but not the same anger he had shown against Naomichi Marufuji, was caught eventually in the Takashi Sugiura front neck choke. Kiyomiya was trapped outside the ring by Suzuki, and so could do nothing. Inaba attempted to stand, but Sugi held on. In the end, the ref stopped the match. 

WINNER: Takashi Sugiura via referee stop (28 minutes, 27 seconds)

Afterwards, they spoke on the mic to the crowd. Sugiura was playfully calling Hideki Suzuki "Hachi" after his NXT/WWE name. Suzuki seems to not mind talking about his time there and poking fun at it by pointing out that he was fired, so this was hardly a triumphant return, but by right of his earlier win over Masakatsu Funaki, he challenged for the GHC National. The match has been set for 24th March at Korakuen Hall. For Masakatsu Funaki, whose 53rd birthday today was, it has not been a very happy day.  

Next champions: The Sugiura Army (Hideki Suzuki & Takashi Sugiura)