(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: N Innovation (Thursday February 17th 2022, Yokohama Radiant Hall)

One lucky fan today managed to get hold of an N Innovation t-shirt that Noah where making available for one night only. The t-shirt had been signed by all five members of the Noah Junior Regulars. Today's event would make that a very valuable thing indeed. 

As today's event was 99% Noah Juniors and 1% heavyweight (I guess Daisuke Harada has no problem with Kaito Kiyomiya appearing on the show), you can well imagine what happened in a volatile division in a show that sees Yoshinari Ogawa fight Eita. But there was another surprise on the card too, one that fans thought would happen, but not in the way that anyone imagined. 

You can view todays event on WrestleUniverse. You must be a subscriber to view. 

MATCH ONE

Junta Miyawaki vs Kai Fujimura

Kai Fujimura managed to get the upper hand, but Junta Miyawaki very much dominated the match. Miyawaki (who did something seniors often do with their juniors when they get obstreperous, which is to pin them repeatedly a few seconds after they kick out and he even did the "hit me" motion), was very Yoshinari Ogawa like, turning the screws in submission holds. This has given him a nastier edge.  Fujimura did not have the knowhow to escape from this, although he valiantly made his way to the ropes. He is progressing, and is somewhat like Miyawaki used to be. 

Winner: Junta Miyawaki with the Falcon Arrow (7 minutes, 38 seconds)

MATCH TWO

HAYATA & Yasutaka Yano vs Perros Del Mal De Japon (NOSAWA Rongai & Kotaro Suzuki)

NOSAWA Rongai (like many before him) tried to shake hands with HAYATA. HAYATA just turned his back. Naomichi Marufuji had to clap at him to try and get him to shake hands, but NOSAWA didn't go as far. He did try to offer HAYATA a handshake again at a later time, and was again unsuccessful. 

Yasutaka Yano showed off his acrobatics to Kotaro Suzuki, and the two wrestled to a standstill to the applaud of the fans. Kotaro introduced Yano to a move his own teacher had used for the win. 

Winner: Kotaro Suzuki with the Rolling Elbow (10 minutes, 28 seconds)

Aside from NOSAWA taunting HAYATA on the win, fans were suspicious that somehow this match had ended so quietly and calmly. No fighting afterwards, no other members (or other units) storming the ring. This was the calm before the very big storm. 

MATCH THREE

YO-HEY vs Yuya Susumu

YO-HEY has evolved to using submissions, which Yuya Susumu naturally countered, attacking YO-HEY'S arm. YO-HEY was without the bandage today, but this didn't stop Susumu from dropping him on his head from time to time. Although Susumu won and he was in control (again) for most of the match, he knew that he would have to look out for YO-HEY'S swift sudden movements, in particular, the YO-ROLL.

WINNER: Yuya Susumu with the Front Crash (12 minutes, 11 seconds)

HAYATA, who had been at ringside, got into the ring and with his sadistic smile, he threw YO-HEY out. Susumu commented on his Twitter that today's match would be just the same in Nagoya. 

MATCH FOUR

Kaito Kiyomiya vs Aleja

Very rare match between a heavyweight and a junior. Almost like Kai Fujimura and Junta Miyawaki earlier, in which the smaller guy was not going to be pushed around by the bigger one. Kiyomiya towered over Aleja, who bounced off him from time to time with a sickening thud. Very fast paced match. 

Winner: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Jumping Knee (11 minutes, 3 seconds)

MATCH FIVE

The Noah Junior Regulars (Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara) vs Kongoh Juniors (Tadasuke & Nioh)

After Hajime Ohara's uncharacteristic coldness towards YO-HEY, fans had been speculating about what would happen. Nothing out of the ordinary happened during the match; Rockstar Tadasuke posed for the cameras, things got pretty wild quickly, and Ohara and Atsushi Kotoge worked well together. Nioh is continuing his streak of being more animated that he has been for a long time, even stepping on Kotoge's face, and doing a new tandem move with Tadasuke (double elbow drop). 

If Popeye has his spinach, Tadasuke has the crowd. At one point the referee told him to remove his boot from Kotoge's chest. So Tadasuke pulled the same pose to the crowd. He was later seen headbanging wildly when holding one of the opposition in the corner.

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Killswitch on Nioh (13 minutes, 59 seconds)

Tadasuke got into a scuffle with Ohara and Kotoge after the win, and then squared up to Ohara. 

Then somehow something calm happened. In the Noah Juniors. 

Hajime Ohara walked away from Tadasuke, and spoke on the mic. 

"From now on, I am going to be in Kongoh. Nice to meet you" 

Atsushi Kotoge was pushed aside as he attempted to talk to Ohara. But Ohara didn't want to listen. He's not usually one for rudeness or fights, and so he simply brushed Kotoge off and left with Kongoh. 

Kotoge could do nothing but watch. The Noah Junior Regulars are yet to say anything about this situation, but backstage Ohara explained that he had wanted to chase the tag titles with Kotoge, but Kotoge had chosen to do that with YO-HEY. YO-HEY, who had screwed him over before on this issue. Ohara also warned Harada, Kotoge and YO-HEY about trusting each other, as each was liable to change depending on their mood. Ohara then sounded like a true member of Kongoh when he added "They don't have belief..." 

MATCH SIX

Yoshinari Ogawa vs Eita

While the last match might have achieved something in an unusually calm and ordered manner, this match was anything but. HAYATA and Yuya Susumu came out to the ring with Yoshinari Ogawa, and HAYATA immediately started complaining about Perros presence on the apron. The match started, with Ogawa and Eita (who in response to Kaito Kiyomiya calling Yoshinari Ogawa his "textbook", said he was going to "scribble" on that textbook), reversing each other. Things went on like this until Eita threw Ogawa out of the ring and then into the crowd, using a chair on him. Ogawa got his own back, and Eita found himself on the receiving end of being choked with a chair. At ringside Perros had stayed out of the action, until NOSAWA got in the ring with triggered STINGER doing the same, with melee brawls breaking out and in the midst of all of this, Ogawa and Eita were still rolling around on the mat. Somewhere the bell rang, as the referee threw the match out due to NOSAWA'S intrusion.

WINNER: Yoshinari Ogawa due to NOSAWA Rongai attacking him (6 minutes, 53 seconds)

When the dust semi settled, Eita was not going to let them leave, and challenged them to a three on three. 

MATCH SEVEN

STINGER (HAYATA, Yuya Susumu & Yoshinari Ogawa) vs Perros Del Mal De Japon (NOSAWA Rongai, Eita & Kotaro Suzuki)

The match started in typical Noah Junior style. Melee brawls outside the ring. NOSAWA and Eita targeted Ogawa, while Kotaro kept Yuya Susumu away, HAYATA already being knocked down. The referee knowing that he could do nothing, tried to keep control as best he could. He knew he was trying to control a barn fire. Yoshinari Ogawa let loose his rage; Kotaro had his head slammed into the ring bell, and he even took off the turnbuckle pads to hit his opponents with. After a fight outside the ring involving Eita's water, Ogawa choked him with his t-shirt.  

WINNER: HAYATA pinned NOSAWA Rongai in the midst of all this chaos (12 minutes, 42 seconds)

In fury, NOSAWA attacked the ref, and threw him out of the ring when he refused to reverse the decision. It says a lot for how much Ogawa hates Eita, if he would willingly attack him rather than Kotaro during the brawls that broke out following the win. 

Eita ended up being tortured by Susumu and Ogawa, while NOSAWA and Kotaro did nothing to help. A roughed up Eita, his shirt ripped, his hair wild, spoke on the mic and said that he wanted a singles with Ogawa. STINGER attacked him again, but still no help from NOSAWA and Kotaro. Once everyone had gone, the seconds put the ring back together again and the hall recovered itself. Backstage, Eita complained that Ogawa had ruined his new shoes. NOSAWA said that their dogsbody, Kotaro, could polish them for him. On the more serious side, NOSAWA once again hinted he would be bringing someone from his "place of origin" (i.e. his spiritual home), which means this person will probably be from Mexico. NOSAWA had hinted to Kotaro also that he would be bringing over the original Perros Del Mal.

MATCH EIGHT

The Noah Junior Regulars (Daisuke Harada & Haoh) vs Perros Del Mal De Japon (Super Crazy & Ikuto Hidaka)

After being absent from Noah for a while, fans were delighted to see Ikuto Hidaka return. Atsushi Kotoge didn't return at that point, and I don't think YO-HEY came to ringside at all, but The Noah Junior Regulars were determined to show unity and concentrate on the task in hand. Daisuke Harada and challenger started, Harada keeping Super Crazy away from the ropes by an impossible twisting of his arm. Harada held on like a dog with a bone, even when Super Crazy countered it. Even in this match the referees had their hands full, as the match kept threatening to disintegrate. The finale of the match came when Daisuke Harada was trapped in the corner by Hidaka, as Super Crazy pinned Haoh.

WINNER: Super Crazy with the Liger Bomb on Haoh (19 minutes, 24 seconds)

Super Crazy and Daisuke Harada squared up over the belt, and for good measure, Super Crazy also gave Harada a Liger Bomb. Then Hidaka threw Harada out of the ring. 

As Yoshiki Inamura helped Harada up, Super Crazy taunted him on the mic that he was going to win that championship. 

Attendance: 112 

Noah's next event: GAIN CONTROL 2022 in NAGOYA (Wednesday 23rd February, Aichi / Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall)

GIF taken from: Wrestle Universe