(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: STAR NAVIGATION 2022 (Friday July 22nd, Korakuen Hall)

Go Shiozaki was absent from the event today due to suffering a neck injury in the match yesterday. Judging from Shiozaki's Twitter post, he probably won't have to miss the N-1 VICTORY, and he is still on the card for the 30th July. Naomichi Marufuji was on commentary (I think he had a dual purpose to both commentate and to assess), and Ninja Mack was on autographs. The stadium rock was also playing again, with Slash coming out of the speakers as fans waited for the event to begin. 

Attendance was 442. This down from yesterday, but it should again be noted that Noah do not make all the seats available in the hall, some sections were completely blocked off. 

You can watch the event on WrestleUniverse (Japanese commentary only). Please note, you have to be a subscriber to view. 

MATCH ONE

Daiki Inaba vs Kinya Okada

The crowd were behind Kinya Okada, applauding every move and every kick out. He used a relentless attack against Daiki Inaba, screaming loudly as he did so. Inaba was seen to use the Rolling Elbow. The current theme seems to be inheritance of moves, and Misawa's has become a sacred one that many in Noah use, even if they have come from elsewhere. 

WINNER: Daiki Inaba via Boston Crab (7 minutes, 48 seconds)

MATCH TWO

HI69 VS Super Crazy

Super Crazy was very funny, tapping his wrist and telling HI69 to get on with it when he did his pose. 

Rare singles match, very much a brawl with stiff punches and kicks. It does showcase what HI69 and Super Crazy can do when they are not in singles matches, so it made it an enjoyable early card match. 

WINNER: Super Crazy with the Samsung Clutch (8 minutes, 48 seconds)

There were fans in the crowd who were waving a Mexican flag. Super Crazy excitedly got out of the ring and pointed them out saying what sounded like, "Long live Mexico! Mexico to the world!"

MATCH THREE

Takashi Sugiura, Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito vs Masa Kitamiya, Shuhei Taniguchi & Yoshiki Inamura

Somehow Mohammed Yone managed to dance to Takashi Sugiura's rock entrance music. For his part, Takashi Sugiura wanted no part of his funky partners, and kept in the corner. Shuhei Taniguchi it seems wasn't interested in Disco either and got in Yone's face when he pulled Saturday Night Fever. Disco however triumphed, as Taniguchi later was knocked down by it. 

For the N-1 rivals (Takashi Sugiura and Masa Kitamiya) they faced off in the brutal shoulder tackles that Masa Kitamiya vs Takashi Sugiura are known for. 

WINNER: Masa Kitamiya with Saito Suplex on Mohammed Yone (9 minutes, 33 seconds)

Although this match had gone on as long as the last two, it somehow felt shorter. It seemed that no one had really gotten a look in, and THE TOUGH seemed to get on okay. Masa Kitamiya had sent a message in the ring to all his opponents and everyone who was going to be in the league. Backstage he termed himself as "a man who does not give up". 

MATCH FOUR

The Noah Junior Regulars (Daisuke Harada & Seiki Yoshioka) vs Kongoh Juniors (Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara)

Seiki Yoshioka made his Noah Junior Regular Unit debut, by wearing the white Noah shirt. Daisuke Harada followed on looking approving. Yoshioka was out to prove in his first match that he belonged with the regulars, but it was Harada who won the match.  

WINNER: Daisuke Harada with the Katayama German Suplex (10 minutes, 47 seconds)

When it came time for Yoshioka to shake hands with his new teammates, Alejandro went first, Atsushi Kotoge went second, and then came YO-HEY. There was a brief pause between Kotoge and Yoshioka, but Kotoge it seems is happy to let the whole FULL THROTTLE issue go, but YO-HEY was a little more cold. He was not his usual bouncy self, and it looked like he was swallowing a bitter pill. Perceptive Atsushi Kotoge realized this, and he and Harada kind of asked YO-HEY if he was okay. Seiki Yoshioka too was unsure, and kept looking behind him at YO-HEY as they left the ring. Let's see how this plays out at Noah's next show on the 30th July when they have to tag together. Against STINGER. 

MATCH FIVE

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. 

MATCH SIX

Ninja Mac, Atsushi Kotoge & Anthony Green vs Dante Leon, YO-HEY & Stallion Rogers

Despite his earlier sulks, YO-HEY was excited to fight Anthony Green, who he made brief guitar motions at. Dante Leon did some comedy with Kotoge, he seems to get on very well with the Noah Junior Regulars. Innovating wrestling from Green and Leon and usual Noah divisional chaos, but in a different way as everyone seemed to be having too much fun to pay much attention to the referee. There was no feeling of bitterness, not like the match before it. Even Green and Stallion got in on the competition of trying to outdo each other and everyone else. 

WINNER: Ninja Mack with the Rear Naked Choke Hold on Dante Leon (12 minutes, 52 seconds)

MATCH SEVEN

Masato Tanaka & HAYATA vs Manabu Soya & Shuji Kondo

Shuji Kondo has vowed to wage this war against HAYATA using mind games. His first way to get inside HAYATA'S mind, was to simply and calmly deflect his attacks and toss him from the ring where he was thrown into the barriers by a wild-eyed Manabu Soya. Inside of it, he used his size and strength to his advantage, and again simply throwing HAYATA's attacks aside. HAYATA got his breakthrough when he utilized what he had learned yesterday i.e. kicks were effective, but again, Kondo's mind games of not being where HAYATA thought he was or putting HAYATA aside, worked.

WINNER: Masato Tanaka with the SLIDING-D on Manabu Soya (13 minutes, 32 seconds)

Mutually disappointed that neither had won the match over each other, HAYATA offered a handshake to Kondo when they were both alone in the ring, Kondo took it and HAYATA attacked and slid out of the ring. 

It was a warning not to think that he could anticipate what HAYATA was going to do. If Kondo could play mind-games, then so could HAYATA. He took the mic and said growled quietly "To be continued, August 8th, Korakuen". Fans are wondering when he is going to start talking like Kenoh! 

MATCH EIGHT

N1 scramble 6-person tag match

Kongoh (Kenoh, Masakatsu Funaki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima) vs Kaito Kiyomiya, Satoshi Kojima & Masaaki Mochizuki

Satoshi Kojima and Kenoh started arguing over the belt, with Kojima ending it by waving the Kongoh fist at him at the end. Kenoh wasn't finished with him, and at the end of the match was seen dangling the belt over him outside the ring. Despite Kenoh being champion, Kojima was looking forward to fighting "Katsuhiko" (as the veterans call him, having known him from when he was a young teenager) there was even a whistle from the crowd for Kojima's pec flex, which Nakajima countered. 

It is natural that as the majority of the guys in this match were people who are kickers (Masaaki Mochizuki and all of Kongoh), they would use them against each other. What this meant was three on one, and Mochizuki was kicked by all three at once. Nakajima was not above cheating by kicking the ropes when Mochi had his foot on it. It is unusual for the heavyweights to do this, but they tend to go a little wild when it's N-1 time. As for their opponents, Kaito Kiyomiya and Mochi weren't above faking tags either to get in the ring. 

WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima with Vertical Spike on Kaito Kiyomiya (18 minutes, 52 seconds)

Looming over Kaito Kiyomiya, who was spreadeagled on the mat, Nakajima spoke on the microphone. 

"Hey, Kiyomiya! It appears that you got a surprise win at the Nippon Budokan, and what that "I'll show you our professional wrestling?" Don't fuck around."

He then threw Kiyomiya out of the ring, and continued on the mic;

"Is there something hot ahead? Do you understand? It's the N-1. Noah's ring is hot now, but the N-1 will get hotter. You know why, my N-1, this year will be hot because it burns. The N-1 of Katsuhiko Nakajima is awesome."

With thanks to: Gong EX

GIF taken from WrestleUniverse

Noah's next event: Sunny Voyage 2022, Saturday July 30th, Shizuoka (broadcast at a later date)