(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: STEP FORWARD 2022 (Korakuen Hall, Thursday February 10th)
It was a cold night in Tokyo with icy rain mixing with snow flurries, as a result of the inclement weather and the spiking Coronavirus in Tokyo, Noah announced an attendance of 379 which is slightly lower than yesterday. Those who did attend said that they weren't going to be defeated by the cold. The hall was lit not in green bubbles today for Go Shiozaki, but it was splashed red for Kongoh.
You can watch today's event on WrestleUniverse, but you must be a subscriber to view. Japanese commentary only.
MATCH ONE
The Kongoh Juniors (Nioh & Aleja) vs Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura
Kai Fujimura was full of confidence following his first win, and while Aleja had an easier time with him, it was left to the bigger Nioh to deal with Kinya Okada who kept repeatedly knocking him down. Fujimura went for the quick pins over Nioh and had a huge applause when he kicked out of the Michinoku Driver, he didn't kick out of the STUKA Splash however. Kinya Okada may have won on his team in terms of strength, but overall Nioh won on experience.
WINNER: Nioh with the Stuka Splash on Kai Fujimura (8 minutes, 10 seconds)
MATCH TWO
Haoh vs Tadasuke
Haoh had dealt with Nioh yesterday, but today Tadasuke fought with an elemental wildness. Its not to say that Haoh didn't come close, but he was no match for Tadasuke's amped up strength. Haoh took three Jidanda lariats, two he kicked out of and the third had one of the commentators screaming "Haoh...Haoh...Haoh!"
Winner: Tadasuke with the Jidanda Lariat (7 minutes, 54 seconds)
MATCH THREE
Kongoh (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya) vs Funky Express (King Tany, Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito)
Katsuhiko Nakajima could afford to be his usual cocky self today, as I doubt he cared about winning or losing this match. He started off against Akitoshi Saito, who kind of provokes a rage in, and they had a kick war. Nakajima treated Saito as if he was a kickpad. Funky Express paid him back in kind, even though the belt is not available to be challenged for, Noah's strongest was their target. Funky Express may often come across as slightly silly, but they are no joke when they get going. Kenoh was not playing around either, although he did mess up Yone's fro. In defiance Yone pulled the Disco Fever pose at him and Kenoh met this in the most brutal way that anyone has ever done. A massive slap.
King Tany (when he gets going) is one of the Noah monsters who can slam Manabu Soya, Masa Kitamiya or Yoshiki Inamura, but when Soya slammed him it was like the impact of a comet colliding with earth. Saito too joined the fray, lifting Soya up into a long hangtime. Noah fans were behind their interactions in a big way.
WINNER: Manabu Soya with the Ballistic on Akitoshi Saito (8 minutes, 23 seconds)
It was the same story for Funky Express. They could win over younger and less experienced teams, but not the more senior ones. Katsuhiko Nakajima left right away, he wasn't going to stick around and you could see the curtains move as he walked through them as his team members celebrated.
MATCH FOUR
STINGER (HAYATA & Seiki Yoshioka) vs Perros Del Mal De Japon (NOSAWA Rongai & YO-HEY)
As Yuya Susumu is a freelancer, he was not at Korakuen Hall today, so a murderous looking Seiki Yoshioka entered carrying the tag belts. It wasn't just YO-HEY he had to contend with today, it was also NOSAWA Rongai now, who immediately butted heads with him. Yoshioka's focus was still YO-HEY however, and his form of lock up was to shove him. NOSAWA had told YO-HEY that he wanted to see more, although he had seen it, he was almost still demanding it.
With Yoshioka focusing on YO-HEY, HAYATA took on NOSAWA. Specifically, NOSAWA'S arm by pounding his elbows into it. Normally HAYATA has a sadistic smile when inflicting some pain, today it was more of a cold satisfaction. YO-HEY and Yoshioka were less controlled than HAYATA and NOSAWA, HAYATA was more focused on punishment, Yoshioka on anger and revenge, there was more of a human story between YO-HEY and Yoshioka.
WINNER: Seiki Yoshioka with the Crash Driver on YO-HEY (9 minutes, 56 seconds)
Yoshioka had his revenge for both himself and Susumu. He took both the belts and held them over YO-HEY, driving his knee into his neck as he did so. Tomorrow they have a singles match.
MATCH FIVE
Kaito Kiyomiya, Yoshinari Ogawa & Yasutaka Yano vs Perros Del Mal De Japon (Eita, Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy)
Eita bought with him a box of water, which he proudly carried in on his shoulder, and held up triumphantly in the ring. Yoshinari Ogawa immediately got in the referees face about this issue. Kaito Kiyomiya was prepared to be a lot more polite, even offering Eita a handshake. Eita backed off as Kiyomiya advanced. Soon after this Eita, despite his statement that Kiyomiya was his target and not Ogawa tonight, went to tag out. His teammates didn't let him, which probably had something to do with Kiyomiya kicking Super Crazy, and so Eita attacked Kiyomiya once his back was turned. He soon regretted that.
Ogawa attacked Kotaro with a slap to the head, even when on Kiyomiya's shoulders. Perros complaining about something they probably wish they thought of. Eita not wanting Ogawa suited Ogawa just fine, as he could concentrate on Kotaro, but he was seen to provoke Perros and bait Eita. Eita might have chosen Kiyomiya, but this didn't mean that Ogawa was going to do the same and the usual pockets of chaos broke out when Ogawa and Eita went at it.
Yasutaka Yano, the runt of the unofficial STINGER litter, was the target of Perros who had tagged him as the weakest. NOSAWA had never forgiven Yano for the humiliation of pinning him, but Yano today was suddenly looking bigger and older. Kotaro was determined not to share in NOSAWA'S humiliation and while Perros kept STINGER away, Yano made a valiant effort not to tap out of the move he had done yesterday to get to the ropes. This was no Fujimura, a loss that was humiliating but meant little compared to this march. Kotaro (with a very Misawa pose of hands on hips and contemplating the next move) took him out with the Blue Destiny
WINNER: Kotaro Suzuki with with The Blue Destiny (19 minutes, 11 seconds)
Perros posed with their feet on Yano, that was until STINGER attacked. Ogawa and Eita had a water fight throwing open bottles at each other, which went over the crowd in the front row. The usual fights broke out with Ogawa and Eita's going backstage.
MATCH SIX
Takashi Sugiura, Kazushi Sakuraba, Masato Tanaka, Daisuke Harada & Hajime Ohara vs Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba, Yoshiki Inamura, Atsushi Kotoge & Junta Miyawaki
There were two sides of the Noah Junior Army fighting each other today, and both were positive. It gave them the chance to work out any resentments between them, as sometimes there has been a slight flare up of resentment, but it also gave them the chance to work together as a team in a way not to be outdone by the heavyweights who they had to tag with.
Kazushi Sakuraba (who Takashi Sugiura said bought the comedy to the unit) had to be reminded by the referee once again of the rules - no hair pulling, no closed fists. He should also have reminded him that if you are going to do a high knee at Masa Kitamiya, make sure it knocks him down, as Sakuraba kind of bounced off of him but Kitamiya remained standing. Sakuraba's team were frantically pointing behind him as Sakuraba celebrated.
Screaming loudly with rage, Yoshiki Inamura attacked Masato Tanaka. Inamura has a score to settle against Tanaka stemming from Fire Festival 2021, and just before when Inamura and Kaito Kiyomiya where trying to defeat him. During their fight, the non chaotic elements of the Noah Juniors, bought the chaos of their division in out of ring mass brawls, which I think the heavyweights kind of like. Inamura probably could have done without it though as he was being attacked by The Bullet Yankees (Takashi Sugiura and Masato Tanaka) with elbows. One of which thrown back by Inamura made the crowd groan. The interaction in the closing stages of the match between Inamura and Tanaka was intense, you could feel the crowd willing Inamura to win. Sadly, this was not to be the case.
WINNER: Masato Tanaka with the Sliding D on Yoshiki Inamura (18 minutes, 1 seconds)
MATCH SEVEN
Go Shiozaki's "ROAD TO GHC" Series
Naomichi Marufuji vs Go Shiozaki
"Maybe I will give something different, maybe I won't. Doing things the opponent can't imagine, I think will be interesting to see. I want to think properly when it's a big single" - Naomichi Marufuji.
At the start of the match Naomichi Marufuji offered Go Shiozaki a handshake, which Shiozaki took in the usual hesitant style. Misawa's boy vs Kobashi's, except now they were the seniors. The level of the match was akin to a title match. I found it hard to believe that neither was holding a belt.
This match was Naomichi Marufuji's lesson to Go Shiozaki in how to adapt and how to change, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to change your style radically. Shiozaki learned the lesson well and bought out a few new things of his own, and even did some small new things such as lifting Marufuji onto the apron and chopping him, one big thing he did was change the Tiger Driver into an armbar. Perhaps this lesson in reinvention was what Shiozaki needed, nothing as dramatic as a name change or a gimmick, but an adjustment.
Marufuji worked throughout the match in taking out Shiozaki's main weapons, his arm and shoulder, but unusually for him he did not break the hold when Shiozaki was on the ropes. Attacking Shiozaki's most powerful attack points, and even dropkicking his shoulder, didn't mean that a chop battle could be avoided or was going to be even less painful as they chopped each other red raw. Even linking hands to do it so neither of them fell. You could hear the commentators flinching with each chop.
In tribute to his partner, Marufuji pulled out The Shining Wizard, but it was with a new move (as if to prove a point) that he won the match.
Winner: Naomichi Marufuji with the Modified Rotation Technique (22 minutes, 23 seconds)
There was a square up between them, with Marufuji clapping and then doing his M hand sign.
Shiozaki was frustrated, he had now lost three of his four matches. He couldn't probably now challenge for the GHC with such losses, but he had learned something for the future.
MATCH EIGHT
GHC National Championship
Masakatsu Funaki vs Masaaki Mochizuki
Kongoh came out with Masakatsu Funaki. Katsuhiko Nakajima joined them, but as he looked sulky he refused to get on the apron and then stayed away from the ring standing near the steel barriers. With Kenoh (who was by far the most loud and animated) shouting encouragement, Masaaki Mochizuki immediately went on the attack. It was BattlArts Mochizuki vs UWF Funaki in a chop and kick and submission war. The culmination of a promise that Masaaki Mochizuki made six years and 535 kilometers away at a DragonGate show in Kobe, ended in his defeat.
Winner: Masakatsu Funaki via a Rear-naked choke hold (9 minutes, 1 second)
There is often criticism that GHC National matches are over quickly, but all belts have a life and a personality of their own. The GHC National has carved out a nature in that unless this is a GHC vs National match, it does usually finish quickly. It is just it's way.
Masakatsu Funaki was joined by the rest of Kongoh, even a smiling Katsuhiko Nakajima, who clapped him. Funaki spoke on the mic thanking everyone for coming out in the snow, and he caused a ripple of laughter when he gave the microphone to a bemused Kenoh and told him to close out the show. After this, Kongoh all posed together, even Katsuhiko Nakajima. Nakajima has either come to terms with Funaki joining Kongoh, or his smile is disguising a build up of malevolence. Kenoh did mention backstage that he thought it was wonderful that two members of Kongoh, who weren't Noah Born and came in to Noah from the outside, were holding two major belts, but Nakajima was smiling before this though.
Noah return tomorrow for their final night of the three at Korakuen Hall. This is the only night without a title match, but it's a big night for Go Shiozaki as he faces Kenoh in the final match of his series.
GIF taken from WrestleUniverse
With thanks to: Kodamaxmax, Kobayashi Masaki, Metal Noah
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