(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: BACK IN THE KOBE! ~ Live 2022 ~ (June 19th, Hyogo / Kobe Sambo Hall)

In a very hot venue, there was a long queue for the Satoshi Kojima autograph session. Naturally it had to be very quick because of the sheer amount of people (today's attendance was 800 in total), but Kojima was naturally friendly and had a smile for everyone. Fans had also noticed that more seats had been put out than when Noah came here three years ago, then again, there was a typhoon rolling in. 

With Masakatsu Funaki also signing autographs, it was a rare case of the Tokyo fans being jealous of the provincial ones. 

The GHC National title match was signed for quietly before the event between Masato Tanaka and Masakatsu Funaki, and a group calling themselves "Team Wakayama" came across the bay to see their hometown hero, Tanaka. Funaki too bought groups of his own fan, being from nearby Osaka. As Kobe is DragonGate territory, local fans where amused to see the three Noah wrestlers who are the Open The TriangleGate Champions (YO-HEY, Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada) being announced as that. 

Today's event was not streamed or even live streamed over Twitter or Instagram. Fans were a little annoyed by the lack of communication from Noah on this, but it will be shown on WrestleUniverse on the 22nd June from 18:00 JST. You must be subscriber to view. 

MATCH ONE

Mohammed Yone & Alexander Otsuka vs Shuhei Taniguchi & Kinya Okada

"The venue resounds with Okakin's kicks"

As ever, Mohammed Yone defiantly pulled the Disco Fever at Shuhei Taniguchi. Kinya Okada attacked Alexander Otsuka (an old friend of Yone's and the person who Kenoh made his debut against) almost right away. The venue resounded with not only Okada's kicks, but also Yone's elbows. 

Winner: Mohammed Yone with the Kinniku Meat Buster on Kinya Okada (10 minutes, 59 seconds)

Despite his loss, fans felt that Okada was turning a corner. 

MATCH TWO

"Happy YO-HEY"

YO-HEY & Xtreme Tiger vs Atsushi Kotoge vs Alejandro

There was a shake of hands before the match, then Atsushi Kotoge and YO-HEY went wild when they got in the ring. For YO-HEY (and like he said after the match emotionally) being in Kobe as a DragonGate champion was something very special. The match was said to be exciting.

WINNER: YO-HEY with the Facial G on Alejandro (11 minutes, 12 seconds)

YO-HEY and Xtreme Tiger had fun after the match pulling the Tiger poses. YO-HEY naturally looking into the cameras. 

MATCH THREE

Kazushi Sakuraba vs Simon Gotch

Simon Gotch entered the match in normal fashion, and then when Kazushi Sakuraba was announced, he made a clothing switch in some way to reveal that he was wearing Sakuraba style orange as a mark of respect. He had been looking forward to this match for a very long time. 

WINNER: Kazushi Sakuraba with the Scorpion Leg Lock (7 minutes, 28 seconds)

After the match, Sakuraba teased Gotch that his legs were too long!

MATCH FOUR

STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susumu) vs Seiki Yoshioka & Kai Fujimura

To prove to both STINGER (and the fans) that he was resolute in his decision to leave the unit, Seiki Yoshioka came out wearing a version of his former ring clothes. He and Yuya Susumu glared at each other. Fans however, want him to return to STINGER. The match was apparently so fast paced (even by the taped up mid fifties Yoshinari Ogawa) it was hard for fans to take pictures. Ogawa was merciless with Yoshioka, even attacking him when they didn't have to be in the ring together. Ironically, the last time Noah had come to Kobe in 2019, Ogawa had been the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Champion then too, and without his partner. 

WINNER: Yuya Susumu via crossface submission on Kai Fujimura (13 minutes, 22 seconds)

Susumu offered a handshake to Yoshioka afterwards, but he was shoved away and Yoshioka stalked off.

Susumu offered a handshake to Yoshioka afterwards, but was shoved away. Yoshioka stalked off. Afterwards Yuya Susumu said (and he repeated this on Twitter) that Yoshioka still needed STINGER, and Susumu next to him. He hoped that when they fought their singles at Shinjuku FACE next week, he would understand. Yoshioka's reaction was one of anger, saying that it sounded like Susumu was making fun of his resolution to leave STINGER. He regretted not destroying him today, and so he would kick him in the head to make him see he meant what he said next at the N-INNOVATION. 

MATCH FIVE

HAYATA vs Hajime Ohara

"Virtual title match"

The match didn't go even five minutes. Hajime Ohara went for the Mui Bien soon into the match, which HAYATA countered for the win. 

WINNER: HAYATA in 4 minutes and 5 seconds

Fans were left wondering what the hell was going to happen next week at Shinjuku Face if this happened in the one and only pre match. HAYATA shrugged it off saying, "Easy victory. Recruitment of next challenger. Champions of other promotions, overseas wrestlers, Ninja Mack. Whoever". Ohara called the loss "a mock exam"

MATCH SIX

Go Shiozaki & THE TOUGH TRIO (Michael Elgin, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura) vs The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura, Timothy Thatcher, Rene Dupree & El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr)

There was marked friction between Go Shiozaki and Rene Dupree, including brawl outside the ring, which Thatcher got involved in and Dupree smirked at Shiozaki. After the match the two butted heads. Their rivalry was something that was budding at the time the pandemic broke out.

Winner: Go Shiozaki via lariat on El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr (21 minutes, 54 seconds)

MATCH SEVEN

GHC National Championship

Masakatsu Funaki vs Masato Tanaka

Said to be an amazing atmosphere when watching the match

WINNER: Masakatsu Funaki via stranglehold (Referee stop, 12 minutes, 30 seconds)

It is unusual these days for wrestlers to be presented with a trophy on a successful title defense, but the award came from a sponsor. Backstage (and holding his trophy) Funaki talked about the match and said for his next challenger, he wanted to experience a foreign wrestler, preferably what he termed as a "power wrestler". 

MATCH EIGHT

Satoshi Kojima, Kaito Kiyomiya, Daiki Inaba & The Noah Junior Regulars (Daisuke Harada & Haoh) vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya, Tadasuke & Hi69)

"Katsuhiko is on fire"

Fans had been concerned about Katsuhiko Nakajima, and they really wanted to cheer for him today to let him know they supported him, but Nakajima was defiant, and slapped Daiki Inaba to the floor. Smug as ever and with that gleam in his eyes, he stood with his foot on Inaba's chest. He at one point even told Inaba (or one of his opponents at least) to hit him, and even asked the audience "How about an applause?". Since the incident with Endo, Nakajima has been silent and not on social media. Was this his response to Jun Akiyama fans wondered? As one fan said "don't worry what outsiders say". It seems a little odd to think of Jun Akiyama as an "outsider", but I guess that is what he is now.

As for the GHC Heavyweight Champion and his challenger, Kenoh (who entered using his robe from CyberFight Festival, minus the hair fortunately) mocked him by pulling Kazuchika Okada's Rainmaker pose. Fans are wondering whether this is not just a provocation to Kojima. It is no wonder that Kojima said he felt battered after the match as he got kicked between Kenoh and Nakajima. Kaito Kiyomiya was interested too in Kojima seeing him as a good resource to research for the match against Mutoh, rather than any desire to fight in the future as of yet, although I guess that will come, and so watched him steadily. 

Winner: Satoshi Kojima with the Western Lariat on Hi69 (19 minutes, 35 seconds)

As Soya hauled Hi69 out of the ring and carried him backstage on his shoulders, Kojima was holding the belt up to Kenoh. On the microphone, Kojima thanked everyone for coming today, and said that he felt that he couldn't lose because of all the people who came to the autograph session. As for Kenoh, he swore he would take the belt back and then send Kojima back to New Japan. Asked what he meant by the Rainmaker pose, Kenoh answered "I'll leave that to your imagination". 

As for the Noah Juniors in the match, and the whole situation around Haoh and Tadasuke and their "Loser Leaves Noah Match", I don't have much information on their fight today. Only that afterwards Haoh said that he had fought to keep his name (and his hair) and he would fight to stay in Noah and fight another day with The Noah Junior Regulars. 

With thanks to: Kenchan, Takun, Jiyun, Kei, Real N Green, t.ogawa, Ikkyunikukyu, Pravda, Mark Lewin, Witan, Wakapro45, Fujimaru ☺︎ Shun Go, Yuppe    

Picture credit: ShuproMobile, Seiki Yoshioka, Pro Wrestling DX