(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: STAR NAVIGATION 2022 (Korakuen Hall Night 1, 7th June 2022)

The first night of Noah's two nights at Korakuen Hall, took several turns. Noah announced an attendance of 455, which while not great, wasn't bad for a Tuesday evening and some seating in the hall being blocked off. You can watch the event on WrestleUniverse, but you must be a subscriber. 

Naomichi Marufuji is absent due to knee issues, but he said he would be at the event today, and he was photographed by several fans watching from the balcony. Yasutaka Yano remains absent due to facial injuries. 

The event

Akitoshi Saito made his choice between Mohammed Yone and Shuhei Taniguchi, by choosing to stay in Funky Express. There was an audible shriek from someone in the crowd at the impact of Yone's punches on Kai Fujimura. Shuhei Taniguchi met Yone's defiant Disco Fever poses by edging closer and closer to him. During the match he acted as a mentor to young Fujimura. 

HAYATA found that the YO-HEY he was fighting today, was not the YO-HEY he had known in the past. HAYATA caught him off guard, however, with an eye rake and then tagged Kinya Okada in. There was a note of frustration that such a familiar opponent had done so well against him. Fans were expecting YO-HEY to challenge HAYATA, but as we will see, YO-HEY had another purpose that evening and in any case, the match was won by HAYATA when he pinned Kinya Okada, and YO-HEY left in frustration after protesting the pin. 

Tadasuke watched Haoh humiliate Hi69 during the match (Haoh dodging his swipes, encouraging the crowd to clap for him, not falling for Hi69 walking off when he went for a dive) and then attempt it on himself when he went for a pin which turned out to be a little clumsy due to the size weight ratio between them. Haoh was not above playing a little dirty by tripping Tadasuke when he was on the apron. Tadasuke, who seems to have started using kicks, got the match thrown out when the referee (who had a long and exhausting evening) was thrown aside. Tadasuke even used Haoh as a weapon to throw on to Harada. After the match, Tadasuke had a stipulation. God forbid he was going to put his precious locks on the line as he said his hair was "his life" (although Kotaro Suzuki once said that Tadasuke had slimy hair from having so much peroxide treatment), but he was willing to bet his place in Noah and challenged Haoh to a "Loser leaves Noah" match. Backstage, Daisuke Harada said to Haoh that as he had fought to keep his name (and his hair), he was confident he would keep his place. Match will take place on the 23rd June. 

I think something must have gone wrong with the lights when STINGER entered as they came out in the dark. Ironic as this is for a team who are known for being reclusive, Yoshinari Ogawa (who probably couldn't see at all) complained to the ref. You have to pity the poor man as not only did he have Ogawa complaining, when he attempted to pose with the two teams while balancing three title belts, a fight broke out in about a second of them having to go near each other. 

I don't think anyone took much notice of the rules (DragonGate use the No Touch rule which means that a partner is the legal man when his partner is outside the ring), which even in a Noah tag match under Noah rules, is normal. Yoshinari Ogawa was a whirlwind and went on a slamming spree to the loud applause of the crowd, and unusually posed for the cameras after taking out all of STINGER. 

Seiki Yoshioka had threatened that his feet would do the talking, and they did so very loudly, his gunshot sounding kicks making the crowd gasp. Especially the last one on Kotaro Suzuki for the win. In a recent interview, Yoshinari Ogawa had said that should they win then he was nominating The Noah Junior Army (Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge & YO-HEY) as their challengers. This is exactly what happened, as the Noah Junior Regulars appeared, and a fight broke out. Harada accepted their challenge, and this will take place tomorrow at Korakuen Hall. For YO-HEY, winning a DragonGate title would mean a lot. 

Masato Tanaka defeated Masakatsu Funaki via submission in a match of kick fights and submission reversals (and Simon Gotch and Kenoh each using their feet to beat the other in the head, for all his grouchiness, Noah's own Oscar does love things like this) and therefore won the right to challenge for the GHC National Title. The match will take place on the 19th June. 

Daisuke Sasaki did not turn up, Kenoh couldn't believe that he hadn't. Sasaki had threatened to turn up in Niigata (in a cab called by YAMATO), but didn't and he hadn't appeared tonight either. It was a shame I guess, as Kenoh had said sarcastically that he had hoped the master craftsman would come to Korakuen, as his body needed an electric shock.

The mystery partner was revealed to be Timothy Thatcher, who will also appear in CyberFight Festival. His first opponent in the Noah ring was Go Shiozaki, and he won the match by making Yoshiki Inamura submit, while making a rival out of Kaito Kiyomiya on the day. Yoshiki Inamura and Hideki Suzuki had beef, while the former GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions took on the team who took the titles from them. Rene Dupree in particular, enjoying his interactions with Kaito Kiyomiya who he no sold with relish. The only sad part of the match was Takashi Sugiura, but this is understandable. Even at the end, he didn't really want to do much other than go backstage. Normally he would have joined in with Suzuki's scolding of Kazushi Sakuraba's seconding abilities, but that was left to Hideki Suzuki. Backstage, Thatcher announced he was part of The Sugiura Army and had come to Noah on the invitation of Hideki Suzuki, a good friend of his. Rene Dupree did much of the talking, using the complete dig to their former employers by saying that Thatcher had come to Noah because, "He comes from a far away land, where he wasn't given the right opportunities.."

Results

1. Alejandro vs Hajime Ohara (Hajime Ohara wins with the Mui Bien, 7 minutes & 48 seconds)

2. Funky Express (Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito) vs Shuhei Taniguchi & Kai Fujimura (Akitoshi Saito wins with the Suikurudesu on Kai Fujimura, 11 minutes & 35 seconds)

3. HAYATA & Daiki Inaba vs YO-HEY & Kinya Okada (HAYATA wins with the Cross Fix on Kinya Okada, 9 minutes & 47 seconds)

4. Atsushi Kotoge vs Xtreme Tiger (Atsushi Kotoge wins with the Killswitch, 7 minutes & 24 seconds)

5. The Noah Junior Regulars (Daisuke Harada & Haoh) vs Kongoh Juniors (Tadasuke & Hi69)

(Haoh wins as Tadasuke assaulted the ref, 12 minutes & 1 second)

6. Satoshi Kojima vs Manabu Soya (Satoshi Kojima 2ins with the Western Lariat, 8 minutes & 43 seconds)

7. OPEN THE TRIANGLEGATE - STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, Yuya Susumu & Seiki Yoshioka) vs Perros Del Mal De Japon (NOSAWA Rongai, Kotaro Suzuki & Eita) (Seiki Yoshioka wins with the Buzzsaw Kick on Kotaro Suzuki, 12 minutes & 11 seconds)

8. Kongoh (Kenoh, Masakatsu Funaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima) vs Masato Tanaka, Masaaki Mochizuki & Simon Gotch (Masato Tanaka wins with a submission on Masakatsu Funaki, 16 minutes & 26 seconds)

9. Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya & THE TOUGH TRIO (Michael Elgin, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura) vs The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura, Hideki Suzuki, Rene Dupree, El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr) & X (Timothy Thatcher wins with the Fujiwara Arm Bar on Yoshiki Inamura, 22 minutes & 53 seconds)

GIF credit: ABEMA

With thanks to: Metal-Noah

Noah's next event: STAR NAVIGATION 2022 (Wednesday June 8th, Korakuen Hall)