(NOAH CHRONOLOGY) GHC HEAVYWEIGHT JUNIOR TAG CHAMPIONSHIP: STINGER (CHRIS RIDGEWAY & YOSHINARI OGAWA)

Yoshinari Ogawa says he wants to defend the belts in both England and Japan, and will accept any challengers from anywhere

Won: ABEMA presents MAJESTIC 2022, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Friday 29th April 2022

Number of title reigns as a team: 0

Number of defenses:  1

Lost: GRAND SHIP 2022 in NAGOYA PRO-WRESTLING & KEIJI MUTOH RETIREMENT ROAD - LOVE FOREVER.2 ~OUT BREAK~ (Sunday September 25th, Dolphins Arena, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya)

Total number of days held: 150

Challengers

- STINGER (Yuya Susumu & Seiki Yoshioka) - Noah do not consider this a defense due to the intrusion by Perros Del Mal De Japon. 

1. Perros Del Mal De Japon (Kotaro Suzuki & Eita)

2. Noah Junior Regulars (Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka)

Perros Del Mal De Japon prologue 

WRESTLE UNIVERSE presents MAJESTIC 2022 (Saturday April 30th, Ryogoku Kokugikan)

Perros Del Mal De Japon (NOSAWA Rongai, Eita, Texano Jnr, Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy) vs STINGER (HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway, Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu)

Perros (with a bandaged Eita) looked as if they were prepared for a fight. Eita was armed with the usual bottle of water, and Texano Jnr wielded his bullrope. STINGER got in the ring en masse as a result. Super Crazy wound Ogawa up, and then everyone started arguing, finger pointing, shoving each other, belt shoving and then a melee brawl broke out. Eita attacking HAYATA (who was still in his new coat), Kotaro Suzuki vs Yuya Susumu and NOSAWA battering Seiki Yoshioka with a stick. Eita and HAYATA eventually got in the ring, but everyone kept fighting outside of it. During the eye of the storm, Susumu said he wanted Kotaro as they still had unfinished business. During this match, Kotaro came across old friend Chris Ridgeway. Kotaro soon found out just how on the same wavelength as Yoshinari Ogawa he was. STINGER, Noah's most sadistic unit, enjoyed beating up on Perros. Especially for all the humiliations they had heaped on them. They might have been the champions, and therefore the most dominant unit in the Noah Junior's, but this did not stop Perros humiliating Ogawa by choking him with the Bullrope and whipping Susumu with it. It is wise not to give such a weapon to Yoshinari Ogawa, who when the tide of the match turned, took pleasure in using it on Eita. HAYATA'S sadistic smile was laid on like butter and his eyes glowed (he even looked at the camera and spoke slightly to it). This was a sensual nightmare in equal parts for himself and Perros.  Unsurprisingly, as the match was so chaotic, it was thrown out when HAYATA kicked Eita in the crotch. The referee just left them to fight. 

Match thrown out after 9 minutes and 28 seconds

After more fights, and Seiki Yoshioka beaten up. NOSAWA did what he said he would yesterday, and that was to challenge for the tag belts on behalf of Super Crazy and Texano Jnr. Everyone was yelling in Japanese, Spanish or English at each other in a complete hubbub of noise. 

VS STINGER (Yuya Susumu & Seiki Yoshioka)

TITLE MATCH

DREAM ON 2022 FINAL, Ota Ward General Gymnasium, 21st May 2022

Dream on 2022 (Wednesday May 4th, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo)

STINGER (HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway, Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu) vs The Noah Junior Regulars (Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY, Haoh & Junta Miyawaki)

Compared to the cloud like entrance of The Noah Junior Regulars, STINGER hit the ring like dark thunderclouds, and indeed a thunderstorm was coming. The two teams squared up in usual fashion, but then Yoshinari Ogawa waved for the Noah Junior Regulars to step back. The whole affair was so disorderly, that the referee had to intervene so STINGER could make a rare unit pose. As STINGER had ruined their Kodak moment, so now it was time for the Noah Junior Regulars to ruin theirs and they attacked seconds after. 

The match was a normal one; fast paced match when everyone was in the ring, Chris Ridgeway and Atsushi Kotoge starting off and everyone storming in and then fighting outside. HAYATA'S sadistic smile lighting up (his eyes also appear to be glowing) when fighting YO-HEY. In particular, it seemed to be YO-HEY. YO-HEY would also feature again against Seiki Yoshioka. The two have had a difficult history. Matches have usually culminated with YO-HEY getting the better of Yoshioka, but not today. Today Yoshioka anticipated what YO-HEY was going to do, and he felled him with a massive kick to the head which sent a sickening cracking sound around the hall. 

WINNER: Seiki Yoshioka with the Buzzsaw Kick on YO-HEY (13 minutes, 19 seconds)

Fights broke out when Harada shoved Ogawa. Harada went berserk and then proceeded to throw Ogawa and HAYATA out of the ring. The bell rang for calm, but as ever, Noah Juniors are deaf to this sound. Harada couldn't stay out of the ring and caused the fights. In the end, his own team had to drag him away. Ogawa and Ridgeway told him to get lost. Ogawa held the belts up, indicating that they are still waiting for challengers. 

Challengers were just around the corner. 

Ogawa didn't need to look far. They were standing right next to him when Yuya Susumu attacked him and then Seiki Yoshioka attacked Chris Ridgeway. HAYATA backed into the corner and watched as Susumu and Yoshioka held the tag belts up and Susumu said,

"Hey! There is no rule that the same team shouldn't challenge, right? Myself and Yoshioka will get the belts back that we had to return!"

Susumu and Yoshioka left with the belts. HAYATA left with them rather than staying with Yoshinari Ogawa and Chris Ridgeway. Ogawa had once said that Susumu, Yoshioka and HAYATA shared a background together that he didn't (they have known each other since they were teenagers in Hiroshima based promotion, WrestleGate, hence the reason why the three of them call themselves "The Hiroshima Boys), so it is only natural that HAYATA should side with them. However, Kotaro Suzuki also had said something very apt once, that the only way to make Ogawa understand how serious you are about challenging for a title he has, is to attack him when making your challenge. Backstage, Susumu was talking about the challenge, when Ogawa and Ridgeway burst in and attacked them. 

Dream on 2022 (Thursday May 5th 2022, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo)

While Yoshinari Ogawa and Chris Ridgeway were distracted following a six man tag against the Noah Junior Regulars and Kaito Kiyomiya, they were jumped by Seiki Yoshioka and Yuya Susumu. 

 Yoshioka hit Ogawa so hard in the head with a kick, that he crumpled to the mat and had to be helped out afterwards. Yoshioka stood over Ogawa, while Susumu fought outside with Ridgeway and Gotch. Back in the ring, Susumu squared up with Yoshioka to Ridgeway and Gotch, before leaving the ring. Backstage, Susumu made a semi cheeky comment "Feel free to answer". 

N Innovation (Saturday May 14th 2022, Yokohama Radiant Hall) 

Chris Ridgeway vs Seiki Yoshioka

Chris Ridgeway kept Seiki Yoshioka on the mat, working on his knees and legs so he was going to have a hard time kicking and a hard time. STINGER are unforgiving to challengers (they don't like them) and even more so when it's a member of the same unit, so the match was filled with the usual ice cold STINGER sadistic fury. Ridgeway was everywhere that Yoshioka was and was going to be. He held him that tightly, even provoking Yoshioka at one point into doing momentum pins. But he could not prevent Yoshioka from kicking through, and  often Yoshioka found that he had to be inventive.

WINNER: Chris Ridgeway with a flash pin (11 minutes, 39 seconds)

Yoshioka limped backstage quickly, to say in the comments booth that he saw today as a learning experience for the title match. The he limped back out to second Yuya Susumu. 

Simon Gotch & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Yuya Susumu

And so the STINGER drama continued with an instant brawl as soon as the bell rung. Yoshioka got up on the apron and was knocked down by Yoshinari Ogawa. Ogawa would use Yoshioka's presence to his advantage throughout the match, motioning for Yoshioka to get into the ring, and then complaining to the ref when he did.

When the match settled down, it became a battle of the technicians with Ogawa vs Yuya Susumu and Simon Gotch vs Kaito Kiyomiya. If Kiyomiya was going to try out things that he couldn't do normally in a Japanese ring, then Gotch was going to give him a refresher course. 

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Tiger Suplex hold on Simon Gotch (17 minutes, 32 seconds)

Chris Ridgeway got in the ring after the match to attack Yuya Susumu, who had Yoshinari Ogawa in a headlock. Seiki Yoshioka kicked him in the head repeatedly. Susumu held the belt up to Ogawa as the junior/STINGER chaos rolled on as on the other side of the ring, the referee held up Kiyomiya's arm. If you ever wanted a visual of two divisions, this is a good one. HAYATA did not show himself, but backstage Yuya Susumu commented that "they" meaning Seiki Yoshioka and himself would "be the centre of the Noah Juniors" alongside HAYATA. Weekly Pro are speculating that this may mean that STINGER have split up. 

Title match signing - 18th May 2022

SUSUMU: Now that Perros is gone, currently the Noah Juniors can be said to be centered on STINGER. Even if I say "center", the center is not Yoshioka and me, and although we may be in the same team, I do not intend to be 3rd or 4th. At the centre of it will be the two of us. 

YOSHIOKA: I've knocked out both of them once so far, but it wasn't related to the match, so next time I will show you it in the title match and I will show you a KO. We will take the belt from the two of them*, and prove that we are in the center. 

RIDGEWAY: I thought it was possible that these two would challenge, and they did what I expected. But, I didn't think it would be so quickly and moreover, I didn't think that the same team would sneak up and challenge. In any case, on May 21st, we will defend our belts. 

OGAWA: STINGER doesn't need a 3rd or a 4th. The losing team leaves STINGER. What to do?

YOSHIOKA: Do it!

Q: What is your impression of the Yoshioka & Susumu team, what is the background of your proposal to leave STINGER?

OGAWA: I don't know about them because I haven't done this type of match yet, I can't say anything because I've been in the state of being knocked out. Well...leaving. I've been knocked out, so I would like to push myself somewhat, and because of that I think it would be better for the loser to leave STINGER.  

Dream on 2022 (Thursday 19th May, Yokohama Radiant Hall)

STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway) & Kai Fujimura vs HAYATA, Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu

Out of all the matches this evening, this was the one that made fans feel highly nervous as no one knew quite what was going to happen. Or rather that should read, they knew what was going to happen, but they didn't know when and where it was going to happen. Either way, a split was coming no matter whether HAYATA stayed with his old friends, or stayed with STINGER. 

The atmosphere remained tense, everyone watching for signs. Noah kept fans waiting as Seiki Yoshioka moved at light speed with Yoshinari Ogawa keeping up, as Kai Fujimura held his own, as pins were broken, the two technicians of Ogawa and Yuya Susumu went to war, Chris Ridgeway and Yoshioka traded kicks and then it happened when Yoshinari Ogawa bought the belt into the ring and broke the pin with it.

Match thrown out when Yoshinari Ogawa attacked Seiki Yoshioka with the belt (12 minutes, 5 seconds)

Following a melee brawl, Yoshioka went to hit Ogawa (who was being held by Susumu) with a kick to the head, but HAYATA stepped in front of him. 

Susumu and Yoshioka asked him what the hell he was doing, but he had made his choice and threw them out of the ring with the help of Ridgeway. Afterwards he shook hands with Ogawa and Ridgeway and the three of them stood with the belts raised. Backstage, HAYATA said "WE are STINGER". Interestingly, Susumu and Yoshioka have said very little about HAYATA'S betrayal of them, but both have agreed to look towards the title match for now as there is no time to look back. There is more than just a belt on the line however, the losing team leaves STINGER, which is already fractured beyond repair sadly. Fans have reacted to HAYATA'S betrayal in different ways, some are heartbroken he has betrayed his oldest friends, others are touched as to how he protected Ogawa. No doubt in Ota, more drama is in store for everyone. 

Dream on 2022 FINAL (Saturday May 21st, Ota Ward General Gymnasium)

Title match

For STINGER fans, this was probably the most nerve wracking match of the whole night, as fans 

knew for sure two things; one team would retain, the other would leave and STINGER would split. It was what was going to happen in between and after that was scaring them. No one at all could have seen what (or perhaps who) was coming. 

The match started in the usual way. A brawl. This involved Seiki Yoshioka kicking his former members down and then the technicians Yuya Susumu and Yoshinari Ogawa facing off. STINGER (Ogawa and Chris Ridgeway that is), where cold and furious. A reclusive unit who do their talking in the ring, they had a lot to say. They took out Yoshioka's knees, legs and feet so kicking was difficult and targeted Yuya Susumu's vulnerabilities so he had less power when doing holds. I got the impression that although Yoshinari Ogawa is able to keep pace (and often outpace) opponents, Yuya Susumu exhausted him. Back and forth, ebb and flow of the match, advantage one, advantage the other, the two teams seemed locked in an eternal battle with  what one team gave, the other could counter and so the advantage swung between them. No one wanted to submit no matter what was thrown at them, no one was going to give up. Endurance had to be tested. Fans were wondering just how this would end - would it go full time? Would HAYATA interfere? Would one partner turn on the other? 

No. 

Perros Del Mal De Japon entered wearing masks and beat down on Ogawa and the match went no contest. 

Match went no contest after 21 minutes and 4 seconds. Noah are not counting this as a defense due to the intrusion. 

VS PERROS DEL MAL DE JAPON (Eita & Kotaro Suzuki)

TITLE MATCH

Destination 2022 (Saturday July 16th, Nippon Budokan)

N Innovation (Thursday 23rd June, Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo)

After beating The Noah Junior Regulars for the Open The TriangleGate, Eita announced that he and Kotaro would be challenging for the titles. Backstage, Perros (NOSAWA Rongai, Kotaro and Eita) were attacked by Yoshinari Ogawa, who dealt a massive slap to Kotaro, before being beaten up and dragged out to the ring. This happened during the interval between their match and the next match, causing the trainees in the ring doing disinfectant work to scatter. 

After beating Ogawa down (plus an Imperial Uno kick from Eita following a Kotaro Blue Destiny), Eita put his foot on Ogawa's chest and challenged himself (and Chris Ridgeway) for the GHC Junior Heavyweight tag titles. Kotaro would be his partner;

"Once again, I am going to wear the GHC Junior Tag belt. Ogawa-san, champion! The place is the Nippon Budokan! The next challengers are me and Kotaro!"

The title match will take place at the Nippon Budokan on the 16th July. 

SUNNY VOYAGE 2022 (Saturday July 2nd, Fukushima Big Palette, Fukushima)

Yoshinari Ogawa vs Kotaro Suzuki

 "This won't end normally"

Fans were hoping for a singles match between Yoshinari Ogawa and Kotaro Suzuki, but sadly, Perros Del Mal couldn't stay out of it. Ogawa took care of that, and punched NOSAWA out of the ring, and throughout the match he did a good job in keeping Perros out. NOSAWA naturally was there not to support but to make trouble, and attacked Ogawa outside the ring, raking his eyes. Yuya Susumu (not HAYATA) came out to try and even the score, but it was three on two. 

Kotaro at one point in the match claimed he had a knee injury (which served to enrage Ogawa even more as Kotaro knows how to wind him up, other than the sight of him), but perhaps he should have claimed it was his crotch. The GHC Junior Heavyweight tag was bought into the ring at one point, and Ogawa claimed that he had been hit with it. The match was eventually thrown out when Super Crazy and NOSAWA intruded into the ring to beat Ogawa down.

WINNER: Yoshinari Ogawa via disqualification (10 minutes and 56 seconds)

Three on two in the following melee brawl, meant STINGER where on the losing end. Backstage, NOSAWA told Kotaro to write it down that he wanted Kotaro to try harder and that he was pitiful. Kotaro responded with, "So you are always saying". 

I think there is a limit as to how long Kotaro is going to put up with this. 

SUNNY VOYAGE 2022 (Sunday, July 3rd - Yamagata Big Wing, Yamagata)

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

For a unit whose primary colors seem to be dark (the lightest color is Ogawa's white in Zebra trunks), fans were amazed to see STINGER of all people, emerge wearing green Noah baseball shirts. 

Even more unusually, they kept them on throughout the whole match. Was Ogawa sending a message to Kotaro about who and where he truly belongs with? Or was this a statement that they are the Noah Juniors? Whatever it was (and sadly we where never to know) Ogawa certainly looked like he was trying to rip Kotaro's Perros shirt off of him during a melee brawl outside of the ring. Unfortunately, Seiki Yoshioka intruded into the match and got it thrown out when he kicked down all of STINGER. 

WINNER: No one thanks to Yoshioka (10 minutes, 10 seconds)

ABEMA presents DESTINATION 2022 - Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Saturday 16th July

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

This was one of the uglier matches on the card, while the last two had contained a feeling of rivalry, this was dyed in a feeling of hate. Even Yuya Susumu, a member of STINGER and with someone with enough reasons to hate Perros Del Mal De Japon, felt like he was an outsider in the drama between Yoshinari Ogawa, Eita and Kotaro Suzuki. 

After Ogawa had exchanged a stiff handshake with Jushin Liger at ringside, back in the ring Kotaro was not not happy with Susumu starting, he wanted Ogawa and soon after punched Ogawa on the apron.

Eita naturally took the chance to attack Ogawa too while Susumu was busy in the ring. The match soon deteriorated into a brawl, with Eita flinging water everywhere and Susumu bloodied up and got as wild as expected. Things went up another notch when Eita and Kotaro hit Ogawa with their devastating double move, Kotaro hit the Blue Destiny and Eita an Imperial Uno kick. 

Winner: Eita with the Imperial Uno on Yoshinari Ogawa (5 minutes, 38 seconds)

Susumu came to check on Ogawa, but then things got so heated that Kotaro threw the referee from the ring and with Susumu knocked down, Ogawa was tortured by Eita and Kotaro. Eventually they left, but not before posting over Ogawa with the tag belts which they took backstage. Eita commented that as defeating Ogawa was so easy, this might as well be his belt right now. 

STAR NAVIGATION 2022 (Thursday July 21st, Korakuen Hall)

(This took place during and after the Open The TriangleGate challenge, Yoshinari Ogawa was not in this match)

Eita came to the ring with the GHC Junior Tag belt, which Yoshinari Ogawa has evidently not retrieved. He even held it up as if he was already champion, and posed with it for the group picture. He then handed to Super Crazy who was at ringside. After the match, Eita once again proclaimed himself a GHC Junior Tag Champion. Yoshinari Ogawa ran to the ring and started to beat him up, but no help from Perros was forthcoming as they were too interested in arguing with MK3 to notice what was happening behind them. The bell was also ringing, but no Noah Junior takes any notice of that which rings when fighting with other Noah Juniors or invading wrestlers. 

When Perros eventually did notice, they saw a tug of war over the belt going on and Ogawa again tasted the Imperial Uno kick. Yuya Susumu came running out and was dealt with much the same when he threw himself over Ogawa. Eita taunted Ogawa with the belt, playing with him as if he were dangling a string to play with a cat. Ogawa did not get his belt back, and another fight broke out near the curtain, which then went backstage. Perros later got jumped by STINGER when in the comments booth. 

STAR NAVIGATION 2022 (Friday July 22nd, Korakuen Hall)

STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susumu) & Kai Fujimura vs PERROS DEL MAL DE JAPON (NOSAWA Rongai, Eita & Kotaro Suzuki)

The match got going even before Yoshinari Ogawa's music ended and the bell rang, as Eita was dangling the belt at Ogawa, which might as well have been a red flag for a bull. Ogawa did finally manage to snatch the belt back, and walked off backstage. 

Susumu (true to form) went to check where Ogawa had gone, but the count continued and Susumu eventually ran backstage again to fetch Ogawa. He didn't need to as Super Crazy came out from the back holding the GHC Junior Tag belt up triumphantly, while Eita dragged Ogawa back to the ring. Eita and NOSAWA (with the help of Super Crazy) taped Ogawa to the ropes using duct tape, so he was helpless to watch poor Kai Fujimura being tortured in a Boston Crab by Kotaro and then tap. 

WINNER: Kotaro Suzuki via Boston Crab on Kai Fujimura (7 minutes, 47 seconds)

Susumu was unable to help and Ogawa was pulling against the restraints as the belt was once again dangled in front of him. HAYATA came to the rescue and Perros scattered the moment he entered the ring. 

Backstage, another fight broke out when Yoshinari Ogawa threw a bottle of water at Perros when they were in the interview area. During the melee, Eita clutched the tag belt to him and quickly ran off with NOSAWA following on behind. 

DEPARTURE 2022 (Friday 5th August, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo)

STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susumu) & Kai Fujimura vs PERROS DEL MAL DE JAPON (NOSAWA Rongai, Eita & Super Crazy)

This was by far the most wild match on the card, but then again, how could it be anything different? 

Kotaro Suzuki, who was not in this match or on the card tonight, came out to the ring to second his friends. He came out even before them. When Perros Del Mal De Japon did appear, Eita was carrying their new bag, in which he was storing Ogawa's stolen tag belt. In the ring, while Eita paraded around, NOSAWA Rongai looked as if he was surveying the horizon, and told Kotaro to keep an eye out. STINGER did not appear for a long while, letting Perros's music play through, and Super Crazy got into the groove by dancing to the music. 

When STINGER did appear, a very very grim looking Yoshinari Ogawa came to the ring with a chair and attacked all of Perros. He didn't care about the match. He just wanted his belt, which he grabbed and went backstage, chased by Eita as Susumu and Fujimura beat up Kotaro and tied him up with duct tape to the ringpost. NOSAWA and Super Crazy did little to help, and Kai Fujimura was left to finish up the taping, as Susumu drove them off. 

The referee, used to this from the Noah Juniors, simply left Ogawa and Eita to it, as back in the ring the match continued, and NOSAWA took the chance to untie Kotaro, who complained about the tape. However, they only let him out so he could walk, and NOSAWA even used him as a kind of missile to throw into Fujimura, as he still had his arms taped down by his side. 

Meanwhile, Ogawa was still chasing Eita, who came back to the ring having retrieved the belt. Eita made a fatal delay when NOSAWA was holding Ogawa, by showing off the belt, which meant that Ogawa had time to get free, duck and then drape Kai Fujimura over NOSAWA for the win. 

WINNER: Kai Fujimura pins NOSAWA Rongai (6 minutes, 22 seconds)

Another fight broke out over the belt, which after a tug of war, Eita took from Ogawa. Susumu attempted a rescue and again Perros scattered with Eita teasing Ogawa with the belt as if he was playing with a cat, and both teams ran backstage where another fight broke out as Ogawa threw an object at them, before Eita made off with the belt.

N-1 VICTORY 2022 (Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Friday August 19th)

STINGER (HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susumu) vs The Noah Junior Regulars (Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY & Seiki Yoshioka)

Trust Perros, to ruin everything, as they stormed the ring, attacked Yoshinari Ogawa and the match was thrown out. 

Match thrown out after 9 minutes and 25 seconds

Ogawa was beat down by the four of them until Susumu and HAYATA came in wielding chairs. Eita, who had been carrying the GHC Junior Tag belt which he is parading around as his, in the Perros Del Mal bag, took it out and on the mic demanded a match with Ogawa in Kawasaki on the 28th of August. Backstage, Eita had another idea, but probably because he knew that himself vs Yoshinari Ogawa in a singles match would probably end with him getting ripped limb from limb, so why not make the match on the 28th a "Captains Fall" match? To explain very simply, a Captains Fall match is an elimination which only ends when either of the captains on the teams are pinned. Not that anyone is going to take any notice of the rules probably. 

N-1 VICTORY 2022 - SEMI FINALS NIGHT (Kultz Kawasaki, Sunday August 28th)

CAPTAIN'S FALL MATCH

STINGER (HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa, Yuya Susumu) & Kai Fujimura vs PERROS DEL MAL DE JAPON (NOSAWA Rongai, Eita, Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy)

Kai Fujimura rang to the ring ahead of STINGER and was faced with Perros Del Mal De Japon all alone. He soon slipped out and when he was joined by STINGER, he found that Perros weren't going to let them in. Eita sarcastically held the ropes open for Yoshinari Ogawa, but he refused to get in until one of the trainees took over. When everyone was in the ring,  NOSAWA could be seen pointing to HAYATA and the belt. He didn't make a title challenge however (and at the time of writing, hasn't) as events were to overtake him and them all. 

 Ogawa wanted to start with Eita but NOSAWA tagged in, Ogawa half tagged in/half threw in Fujimura, while Perros messed around tagging each other in until the match started with Ogawa and Eita. Eita got a huge slap for patting Ogawa on the head, and this triggered a mass brawl, which continued for most of the match until things calmed down a little (at least in the ring) and Eita put Ogawa in a submission. Ogawa was never going to tap to him, but yet no one in the team could help him as they were all kept away by Perros. There was only one person left who could, and the shape seen running to the ring, holding a belt, turned out to be Chris Ridgeway, who took out all of Perros.  

Match thrown out after 8 minutes & 40 seconds

With Ridgeway back and STINGER back to full power, it was now four on four as compared to previously when it was three and a rookie versus Perros Del Mal De Japon, Perros were stamped from the ring. Eita got on the microphone and made a challenge for the tag titles, on behalf of himself and Kotaro Suzuki. 

"Look who is here, it's Chris Ridgeway, right? This perfect, Kotaro and I will challenge for the GHC Junior Tag Belts!"

The match will take place in Osaka on September 3rd. Backstage, Ridgeway vowed that he would show them what a true tag champion looked like. Kotaro has warned NOSAWA not to interfere and to "leave the two of them to me".

 N-1 VICTORY 2022 GRAND FINAL & GREAT MUTA OSAKA FINAL (Edion Arena Osaka First Stadium, Saturday September 3rd)

STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway) vs Perros Del Mal De Japon (Eita & Kotaro Suzuki)

Today Yoshinari Ogawa celebrates thirty-seven years in wrestling. Naturally he spent it quietly and with very little fuss (I don't even think there were flowers in the lobby), but he spent it in a suitable way as the playing field against Perros Del Mal De Japon had evened out now, and he wanted revenge and to do that he was going to choke with towels, move turnbuckles out of the way (this backfired) and take Perros to school when it came to playing dirty. Ogawa didn't really need these things as Eita found out when he wrapped his leg around the ropes and his opponents afterwards attacked it viciously, and I mean viciously, Chris Ridgeway even removed Eita's kneepad and drove his knuckle into the bone. Ridgeway seemingly had a thousand hands, each time anyone tried a move, he always had a hand to catch them in and reverse their moves with.  It was no wonder by the end of the match that Eita was limping, and Ogawa took exquisite pleasure in locking in a figure four, and pulling Eita slowly back from the ropes at the very last moment.  

WINNER: Chris Ridgeway with The Ridgeway Clutch II on Kotaro Suzuki (19 minutes, 24 seconds)

The match ended with Kotaro submitting while Eita was hung up on the ropes by his knee. Ogawa took his belt which was finally his, and taunted Eita in the same way he had once done to him. 

VS The Noah Junior Regulars (Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka)

TITLE MATCH: GRAND SHIP 2022 in NAGOYA PRO-WRESTLING LOVE FOREVER.2 ~ OUT BREAK (25th September)

The champions had no time to rest as their next challengers, Atsushi Kotoge and Seiki Yoshioka, came to the ring to challenge. Kotoge made the challenge, or at least started to

"I am here to take back the belt you took in Ryogoku in April! Yoshioka and I...!"

He got no further as STINGER knocked them down with the tag belts and then left the ring making dismissive motions. Despite this, the challenge has been set.

STAR NAVIGATION 2022 (Thursday September 15th, Korakuen Hall)

STINGER (HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway) vs The Noah Junior Regulars (Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka & YO-HEY)

STINGER came out in the usual fashion and contrasting strongly with their animated and colorful opponents, i.e. dressed in dark clothes, silently and entirely unanimated. The bell rung after hostilities had commenced i.e. a typical Noah Junior match where fights break out the moment the the two teams in the ring. In this case it was STINGER who were attacked by the Noah Junior Regulars. Their attack was so sudden, that the tag champions did not have time to even take their belts or their jackets off. During the match, HAYATA even lost a shoe and was wrestling in one sneaker and one black sock. 

YO-HEY and HAYATA had very little interaction compared to the pre match of STINGER vs Atsushi Kotoge and Seiki Yoshioka. HAYATA seemed to take pleasure in preserving YO-HEY in mint condition and beating up on Kotoge and former friend, Yoshioka. Chris Ridgeway had said he was going to hurt them for interrupting the moment of their win in Osaka. Yoshioka got the brunt today. 

WINNER: HAYATA with the 403 Impact on Atsushi Kotoge (16 minutes, 35 seconds)

STAR NAVIGATION 2022 (Friday September 16th, Korakuen Hall)

STINGER (HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway) & Jack Morris vs The Noah Junior Regulars (YO-HEY, Seiki Yoshioka & Alejandro) & Naomichi Marufuji

The match unusually didn't start in an immediate brawl. The juniors squared up with Naomichi Marufuji and Jack Morris doing the same. Alejandro held back Seiki Yoshioka. YO-HEY stood looking unusually angry and glaring at HAYATA. He did not have long to wait to fight him, HAYATA was good enough to start the match. Unusually for HAYATA though, he started the match pretty brutally, and not with a lock up. 

Yoshioka was once again the target, Ridgeway again attacking the bone by ripping off the bandages on his arm, and even choking him with them. Alejandro didn't escape either, Yoshinari Ogawa went to rip his mask off. 

WINNER: HAYATA with a particularly vicious modified arm lock on Seiki Yoshioka (17 minutes, 41 seconds)

N Innovation (Shinjuku FACE, Wednesday, September 21st 2022)

ELIMINATION MATCH

STINGER (HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway) vs The Noah Junior Regulars (Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka & YO-HEY) 

Up until now everything had been more lighthearted and happier, this was going to be a bitter, vicious, cruel and emotional match for everyone. 

Seiki Yoshioka was the victim of STINGER. Yoshinari Ogawa was at his cruel best, mercilessly torturing Yoshioka's arm while staring at Atsushi Kotoge and even daring him to get into the ring and do something about it. HAYATA joined in as well, while Ogawa kept the ref distracted by arguing with Kotoge. It was to be Kotoge who went out first however, and for good measure, Ogawa beat him up before throwing him out of the ring. 

Chris Ridgeway had spoken of Yoshioka's speed and now he demonstrated it by taking out STINGER in a lightning strike attack but Ogawa struck back and Yoshioka found it was now his arm and his knee that was being worked over, Ridgway even used a pipe chair. Yoshioka had a small measure of revenge for what happened over the past few weeks, by eliminating Ogawa and making the score even at two versus two. But he wasn't out of danger yet as Ridgeway loomed over Yoshioka and did not let him tag in YO-HEY, a dented Yoshioka somehow found the strength to counter him by slamming him, but in better condition, Ridgeway was able to get up and knock YO-HEY off of the ropes. Yoshioka's torture continued when Ridgeway took off Yoshioka's boot and attacked his bare foot, unable to take this torture anymore, he tapped. 

It was now one on two and HAYATA threw YO-HEY to the wolves and STINGER did those alternating tags, with HAYATA looking delighted when YO-HEY kicked out, not because he cared, but because it was a chance to hurt him for longer, especially so soon before the title match. YO-HEY hung on in there, and broke through when he tipped HAYATA out of the ring by pulling down the top rope pinned Ridgeway by the FACE G, HAYATA arrived too late to save Ridgeway, and Kotoge told him sternly to get out of the ring. 

It was now just the former "Blonde Couple". HAYATA was savage, hitting YO-HEY far harder than he ever had before. A feeling of hate and anger in each punch. YO-HEY was exhausted and dazed but he clung on. 

WINNER: YO-HEY with the Dropkick on HAYATA (35 minutes, 36 seconds)

GRAND SHIP 2022 in NAGOYA PRO-WRESTLING & KEIJI MUTOH RETIREMENT ROAD - LOVE FOREVER.2 ~OUT BREAK~ (Sunday September 25th, Dolphins Arena, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya)

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway) vs The Noah Junior Regulars (Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka)

STINGER were their usual unemotional selves, ready to cause pain to those who dare challenge them, especially people they don't like, which is pretty much every other Noah Junior. 

The match started in the usual way. A melee brawl, but against the much less battle damaged Atsushi Kotoge. Fans knew this was going to be a hard match to watch and it started to resemble a torture chamber with Kotoge's arm being worked on by Ogawa, while nearby Ridgeway worked on Yoshioka's knee, the air was filled with screams. The Noah Juniors were ragged, but they still held on. Every Noah Junior knows the damage that can be inflicted by STINGER as it is not just bodies they play with, but minds as well, which makes them dread opponents. A submission to STINGER is probably more satisfying than a pin, and with each one emotions in the hall soared, with screams from The Noah Junior Regulars, the sound of STINGER driving the screws in, and the commentators yelling and the crowd clapping.

WINNER: Seiki Yoshioka with the Buzzsaw Kick on Yoshinari Ogawa (26 minutes, 56 seconds)

Next Champions: The Noah Junior Regulars (Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka)

Links:

"Surpassing the serious Yoshinari Ogawa" - interview with Seiki Yoshioka ahead of the "STINGER Showdown" GHC Junior Tag Battle

"Finish it all at once" GHC Junior Tag Team Champion Chris Ridgeway Interview, complete belt and league domination, ambition of GHC National challenge.