(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: N-1 VICTORY 2022 (Sendai Sun Plaza Hall, Wednesday August 17th)

The show started with The Noah Junior Regulars doing their usual N-1 VICTORY Instagram Live series. As usual, YO-HEY wandered around with the Styrofoam head he took from the merchandise table (it has Yoshiki Inamura's headband on it), which he even did a dance with. He left the head by the N-1 VICTORY winners trophy, and Daisuke Harada had to be the one to retrieve and return. Atsushi Kotoge watched a long with fans on Instagram. This was to be the only time in the night that the three of them were not haunted by Kendo Kashin. Kashin struck when they were signing autographs. Fans coming down the stairs saw what looked like a tussle between a Noah staff member and a man in a Alejandro mask (which he probably stole). It turned out that Kendo Kashin crashed the session, asked where Haoh was and threw a sign. A big sign. Fortunately, no fans were hurt. Kashin I believe, may also have posed for pictures as the Noah Junior booth as Alejandro.

Today's event was broadcast on WrestleUniverse (English commentary is available), but you must be a subscriber to view. You can watch the dark match on Noah's Official YouTube.

MATCH ONE

(DARK MATCH)

Yoshiki Inamura vs Kai Fujimura

Yoshiki Inamura shook hands with Kai Fujimura before the match. Fujimura lasted just under ten minutes, but he did well and it was no squash match. Fujimura managed to get in some offense and defense, and he even tried to steal the win a couple of times.  

Winner: Yoshiki Inamura with Boston Crab (8 minutes, 11 seconds)

MATCH TWO

N-1 VICTORY - B BLOCK

Kinya Okada vs Jack Morris

Jack Morris put Kinya Okada through the wringer, and the match went back and forth between them. Personally, I thought this match was Okada's last chance to get points, as I don't see it happening with the three matches he has left (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya and Kaito Kiyomiya) unless there is a huge upset. The crowd were behind Okada with every punch, every kick, every kick out, every move he made, but sadly he was to end with no points. 

WINNER: Jack Morris with the Tiger Driver (11 minutes, 6 seconds)

(Jack Morris advances with 4 points)

MATCH THREE

N-1 VICTORY - A BLOCK

Masaaki Mochizuki vs El Hijo Del Wagner Dr Junior

 El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr used some very unorthodox submissions, biting Masaaki Mochizuki's hand which I guess would guard against the palm slap he could potentially deliver, but he also put his fingers at each corner of this mouth and pulled. In frustration, as this out of character for him (at least, he's not done it in Noah as far as I am aware), he went to pull El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Junior's mask off.

WINNER: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr with a Hurracanrunna (13 minutes, 18 seconds)

(El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr advances with 4 points)

Mochizuki put his head down on the mat in horror, he had slid so far down the league that even if he did score some points, it was unlikely he was going to break even. El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Junior was victorious, he had won another one. Angry, Mochizuki was seen taking up the win with ring announcer Ally. 

MATCH FOUR

N-1 VICTORY - B BLOCK

Masa Kitamiya vs Satoshi Kojima

Back in 1996, Satoshi Kojima had four matches in New Japan, where he teamed with Masa Saito. So I wonder if that experience was helpful today when facing Masa Kitamiya. There was nothing overly technical in the match, as the bull like Kitamiya bought out the brawler in Kojima, and the match was characterized by chops, big boots, machine gun chops, punches, elbows and slams. The main aim was to wear the other down. Kitamiya was banging his chest along with the roar of the crowd as he roared and locked the Prison Lock in. 

WINNER: Satoshi Kojima with the Western Lariat (12 minutes, 36 seconds)

(Satoshi Kojima advances with 6 points)

MATCH FIVE

The Noah Junior Regulars (Daisuke Harada, YO-HEY & Seiki Yoshioka) vs Perros Del Mal De Japon (NOSAWA Rongai & Super Crazy) & Kendo Kashin

Kendo Kashin did not enter with Perros Del Mal De Japon, which is always a warning sign as you don't know where he is or more to the point, where he is and what he is up to. Fortunately for both teams, Kashin made his own entry and en route to the ring pulled out two cardboard tubes from under the ring. 

When The Noah Junior Regulars did appear, Kashin was still asking loudly where Haoh was. 

As this is the Noah Juniors, the match started with a melee fight which involved Kendo Kashin dragging Daisuke Harada off somewhere backstage, and for once Perros were left wondering what was going on. As you never know where Kashin is, or where he is going to appear from,  they checked under the ring and even under the commentators and ring announcer/time keeper table. As they were searching, Kashin and Harada reappeared. 

Time limit draw

The crowd and The Noah Junior Regulars all wanted the match restarted. Harada then got on the mic and got a chant going. Perros were not too keen, but had no choice. Kashin (true to form as he appears to be a kleptomaniac) even tried to steal a chair when getting back into the ring. He also tried to do the same thing, but Harada was wise to him this time, and stayed in the ring until later they got into a melee brawl outside of it. 

Winner: Seiki Yoshioka with the Buzz Saw Kick on NOSAWA Rongai (11 minutes, 1 second)

Kashin contested the win. For whatever reasons. No one knows. No, he never used the cardboard cylinders either. Perros Del Mal De Japon left without him, not that Kashin seemed to notice, he was off to scare The Noah Junior Regulars by materializing in front of them backstage in the comment booth and demanding to know where Haoh was. He also told them that if they didn't know, then they should find out. 

MATCH SIX

N-1 VICTORY - A BLOCK

Kazuyuki Fujita vs Hideki Suzuki

This was like the mythical Greek "Gigantomachy", when the Olympian Gods clashed with the giants, but which one would emerge a Heracles? This was very much mat wrestling, and it appears that Hideki Suzuki with his size and his strength, has the ability and the power to compete with Fujita at his own level. It's rare that Fujita however, does get this technical. Technicality soon gave way to brute force with Suzuki using his power to German Suplex Fujita, and Fujita using his own to do the same to Suzuki. 

Winner: Kazuyuki Fujita with the Dojime Sleeper Hold (19 minutes, 5 seconds)

(Kazuyuki Fujita advances with 4 points)

The volcano had definitely been thrown over Enceladus.

Fujita pulled Suzuki up and the two shook hands, he also applauded along with the crowd Suzuki for the match they had today. Fans said they have never seen Suzuki look so defeated like this before. 

MATCH SEVEN

N-VICTORY - B BLOCK

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Takashi Sugiura

Katsuhiko Nakajima started the match by being cocky and irritating, a huge grin on rolling out of the ring after first lock up and wasting time outside of it. Takashi Sugiura, however, is used to such behavior from him (he once said "He won't be smiling when he gets an elbow to the face"). Sugiura got Nakajima in the ankle hold while Nakajima was on the apron, which was the start of the attack on Nakajima's knees and feet. Sugiura capitalized on this to knock Nakajima back during the elbow war by kicking his knee. Later Sugiura modified the hold especially for Nakajima. Fans applauded, some for Sugiura to hang on, others for Nakajima to reach the ropes.  The pain that Sugiura inflicted on Nakajima meant he missed some crucial chances for the pin, and it also gave Sugiura time to recover. But exhausted as he was, Sugiura turned the Vertical Spike into the choke, which Nakajima reversed back into the Vertical Spike. 

WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima with The Vertical Spike (16 minutes, 35 seconds)

(Katsuhiko Nakajima advances with 4 points)

MATCH EIGHT

N-VICTORY - A BLOCK

Kenoh vs Go Shiozaki

When he is in a big match, Kenoh will pull out some acrobatics, which he did today when taunting Go Shiozaki who was outside the ring. But acrobatics had to be short, as they didn't have an hour in which to destroy each other, they had to pack it into half that time and the epic wars between them took another turn. Kenoh, who has been learning an older style of wrestling from Akira Maeda (Showa and Heisei i.e the period from the 1920s to the 1980s roughly) which he utilized today. Shiozaki is also evolving and instead of aiming chops at Kenoh's chest, he went for his knees. 

Kenoh went for a sleeper the first time by jumping on Shiozaki's back, the second time he went and dragged him down to the mat with it, he broke it when Shiozaki was almost out, and did the PFS. The combination worked, and the champion won

WINNER: Kenoh with the PFS (20 minutes)

(Kenoh advances with 6 points)

If last night was a bad one for Kongoh, then tonight was a very good one and Kenoh got on the mic to express how happy he was to the Sendai crowd. Returning to the city as the GHC Heavyweight Champion meant a lot to him as someone who had come from Michinoku Pro, who were based in the city. 

"Today I defeated Go Shiozaki, and I have a record of 3 wins and 1 loss. For the first time in the history of the N-1 VICTORY, you will see the GHC HEAVYWEIGHT champion winning. And, all you Sendai bastards, a warm round of applause now...thank you!"

With thanks to: Sekidon, Oshima-san, Kei & Hichan

GIF taken from WrestleUniverse & Noah Official Twitter

Attendance: 505 people

Noah's next event: Friday 19th August 2022 (N-1 VICTORY, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo)