(NOAH) CARD: N-1 VICTORY 2022 (Aichi-Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall, Saturday August 27th)

Tonight in Nagoya is the second to last night of the N-1 VICTORY. 

Current scores 

BLOCK A

Kenoh = 7 points (3 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw)

Hideki Suzuki = 7 points (3 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw)

Kazuyuki Fujita = 6 points (3 wins, 2 losses) 

Masato Tanaka = 6 points (3 wins, 2 losses)

Go Shiozaki = 6 points (3 wins, 2 losses)

El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr = 4 points (2 wins, 3 losses)

Anthony Greene = 2 points (1 win, 4 losses)

Masaaki Mochizuki= 2 points (1 win, 4 losses)

As you can see, Kenoh's position is hardly secure and all Hideki Suzuki and all Kazuyuki Fujita need to do is win to surpass him (and each other)  and of course the the top three are threatened by Go Shiozaki and Masato Tanaka. El Hijo Del Dr Wagner too is an issue as he still has two matches left. For Anthony Greene and and Masaaki Mochizuki, who can only score four points at maximum now, it's a case of finishing with as much points as possible. 

BLOCK B

Takashi Sugiura = 8 points (4 wins, 1 loss)

Satoshi Kojima = 8 points (4 wins, 1 loss)

Katsuhiko Nakajima = 6 points (3 wins, 2 losses)

Kaito Kiyomiya = 6 points (3 wins, 2 losses)

Jack Morris = 4 points (2 wins, 2 losses)

Masakatsu Funaki = 4 points (2 wins, 3 losses)

Masa Kitamiya = 4 points (2 wins, 3 losses)

Kinya Okada = 0 points (5 losses) 

Noah's killing machine leads the block, but he ties with the ever affable Satoshi Kojima, both need to win not only to get ahead, but to prevent Katsuhiko Nakajima or Kaito Kiyomiya rising up and overtaking them. Jack Morris, Masa Kitamiya and Masakatsu Funaki are in a grey area, with only two matches left all three can only score eight points if they win both tonight and tomorrow, which means that they can only tie in the top three or four, they can't win the league (even if the top four all lose, they still lose on win loss ratio), and poor Kinya Okada looks to finish the league with dust. Fans are hoping for a shock win. You never know what will happen in this league. 

Daisuke Harada is absent tonight due to a neck injury, he will return in Osaka and Naomichi Marufuji is in New York. The doors will open at 15:30 JST with the event starting at 17:00. The dark match starts at 16:40. Broadcast will be on ABEMA, which will start at 16:30. Please note that while ABEMA is free to watch overseas, you can only watch it live, you cannot watch any repeats should you miss it. Unless you are in Japan, I do not recommend subscribing. A subscription to WrestleUniverse is far better for the overseas fan. 

Card

MATCH ONE 

Dark Match

Akitoshi Saito & Stallion Rogers vs Yoshiki Inamura & Daiki Inaba

Noah fans love a hoss fight and tonight Akitoshi Saito and Yoshiki Inamura, two of Noah's ultra-heavyweights, paw the ground and charge at each other. 

MATCH TWO

N-1 VICTORY - A BLOCK

Kenoh vs Anthony Greene

Kenoh might be leading the block and the GHC Heavyweight Champion, but he cannot afford to grow complacent and underestimate Anthony Greene. While a win for Greene her tonight would be the jewel in his N-1 crown, for Kenoh it would be equal parts disaster and equal parts humiliating. 

MATCH TWO

N-1 VICTORY - B BLOCK

Masa Kitamiya vs Kinya Okada

This is going to be a hard to watch match. Masa Kitamiya is not in a good mood, so Okakin is likely to be destroyed, but if the N-1 has taught him anything it's how to survive and fans are behind him for a big win. 

MATCH THREE

N-1 VICTORY - A BLOCK

Hideki Suzuki vs El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr

Hideki Suzuki will have a lot riding on this match, no matter what the outcome of Kenoh's match, he needs to win and he knows what an unpredictable and dangerous opponent he has, El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Junior may be down, but he's not out.

MATCH FOUR

N-1 VICTORY - B BLOCK

Masakatsu Funaki vs Jack Morris

Unless something happens to the four people at the top of the block, Masakatsu Funaki and Jack Morris have no chance of making the finals due to their win/loss ratio, a crucial factor in the N-1, so tonight is about getting as high up the table as you can. 

MATCH FIVE

Dragon Bane, Alejandro & YO-HEY vs Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka & Alpha Wolf

A break from the N-1 as Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf return to Noah, and in true Noah Style, they are two brothers who are going to fight with each other. The Noah Juniors have left the warring state era behind tonight as no other Noah Juniors are on the card as "Hey you! Let's fight!" becomes "Hey y'all, watch this". Expect chaos as everyone tries to outdo each other. 

MATCH SIX

N-1 VICTORY - A BLOCK

Kazuyuki Fujita vs Masaaki Mochizuki

The N-1 gets back to business with Masaaki Mochizuki who has found his second wind with two points gained late in the league, and Kazuyuki Fujita, The Beast, who like Akitoshi Saito asked "Is this the calm before the storm?"

MATCH SEVEN

N-1 VICTORY - B BLOCK

Kaito Kiyomiya vs Takashi Sugiura

Kaito Kiyomiya posted on his Twitter some pictures of himself and Takashi Sugiura throughout the years. Their first singles match where Sugi destroyed him, their GHC Heavyweight title match when Kiyomiya won the title, their league match last year when Kiyomiya won and now this match. Can lighting strike once again in the same place for Kiyomiya? 

MATCH EIGHT

N-1 VICTORY - A BLOCK

Go Shiozaki vs Masato Tanaka

Masato Tanaka has defeated Go Shiozaki twice in singles matches and tonight the adrenaline is flowing more than ever because it's not just about who wins tonight, because whoever wins rises up in the block a big way and who knows what that is going to mean with pretty much everyone in A Block having had their matches for the evening. 

MATCH NINE

N-1 VICTORY - B BLOCK

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Satoshi Kojima

Katsuhiko Nakajima said that this match was the one that he had been looking forward the most to in the league. When he was a young boy, he used to watch Satoshi Kojima, and as a wrestler himself he is amazed to see that Kojima has lost none of the luster he had back then. But niceties over, Nakajima is here to win. Unfortunately for him, so is Kojima, but Nakajima has never been one to back away from a fight. This show and no matter what has come before, and what both A block and B block look like by this point, is going to close in an eruption. 

Picture credit: ABEMA