(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: STAR NAVIGATION 2022 (Friday September 16th, Korakuen Hall)

If yesterday was about grudges, today was all about revenge. In the calm before the maelstrom that was released on and in Korakuen, Naomichi Marufuji signed autographs in the lobby and Noah were still posting good luck wishes to Taishi Ozawa from yesterday. Attendance tonight was 554. Event can be viewed on WrestleUniverse (you must be a subscriber). Please note there is no English commentary. 

MATCH ONE

Shuhei Taniguchi vs Taishi Ozawa

Taishi Ozawa is only marginally smaller than Shuhei Taniguchi at 181cm (Taniguchi is 182), so along with Yoshiki Inamura, who says he wants Ozawa to work on building up his body, this most certainly puts him in the heavyweight category. Ozawa gave hints of the wrestler he will become today, a very tough one (although he did lose via submission), and even his second match he almost pinned Taniguchi. Even in his second ever match, which went on longer than his debut, fans are predicting great things for him. 

WINNER: Shuhei Taniguchi with The Boston Crab (7 minutes, 22 seconds)

MATCH TWO

Xtreme Tiger vs Kai Fujimura

From one talented rookie to another, although he is not Noah Born and did not debut in Noah, but he has come a long way under Noah. The match was very technical, even when they rolled out of the ring Xtreme Tiger did not break the hold on Kai Fujimura. This was countered by both of them into a failed brainbuster and then a shoving match and argument, until the count almost ran out and they scrambled back in. Xtreme Tiger got Fujimura in a seemingly impossible submission, but Fujimura made it to the ropes. Very impressive match for Fujimura, especially as he was doing spots he does not normally do

WINNER: Xtreme Tiger with Reverse Face Bomb (6 minutes, 55 seconds)

MATCH THREE

Funky Express (Akitoshi Saito & Mohammed Yone) & Satoshi Kojima vs THE TOUGH (Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura) & Daiki Inaba

Mohammed Yone seemed to be feeling the funk more than Akitoshi Saito or Satoshi Kojima today. I thought Kojima might join in, but he did not. Yoshiki Inamura stood watching them, Yone in particular. His arms folded and glaring. 

Yone later challenged him, and Inamura took him down. Later in a moment of comedy (all thanks to Yone), Yone kind of peeped around to see Kojima's pec flexing. Later he sent more fighting words to Inamura by walking over, and pumping up the 'fro. He made good his promise, punching Inamura so hard that the commentators and the crowd gasped. 

Daiki Inaba, being the smaller heavyweight, got the brunt of the opposition. The arena was in an uproar when Inaba got Kojima in his Octopus submission, and the chaos was added to by everyone fighting around him and the screaming of the commentators

WINNER: Satoshi Kojima with the Western Lariat on Daiki Inaba (14 minutes, 9 seconds)

MATCH FOUR

Dragon Bane vs Alpha Wolf

There was a handshake between the brothers to a thunder of applause from Korakuen. Today they mixed it up a little, devoting the first half of the match to their Lucha and the second half to a more ground based Noah style attack. Dragon Bane, smaller and lighter, initially outwitted his brother. Alpha Wolf, however, was not to be outdone and went for a somersault. Unfortunately he landed on two trainees and people sitting in the front row. Dragon Bane had amazing light speed reversals in the second half (the more Noah part) of the match, but he was more into the realm of the bigger and stronger Alpha Wolf here. Brothers and best friends they may be, but not in the ring. 

WINNER: Alpha Wolf with The Midnight Wolf (12 minutes, 1 second)

MATCH FIVE

The Sugiura Army (Hideki Suzuki & El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr) & Perros Del Mal De Japon (NOSAWA Rongai, Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy) vs Kongoh (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya, Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Hi69)

Super Crazy came out, carrying a Perros Del Mal De Japon bag to the ring. Usually this means that Perros are up to something (i.e. a "present" for Yoshinari Ogawa, a stolen belt), but this time it was nothing nefarious only a Mexican Flag for Super Crazy, and El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Junior. NOSAWA thinks of Mexico as his spiritual home. 

As there were six Noah Juniors in this match, it started in a brawl, with brawls going on pretty much throughout the whole match. The referee spent most of his time with his back turned as chaos raged around him, NOSAWA cheating and pretending to tag in. Katsuhiko Nakajima even got involved, assisting his team so that the elbows could be dropped on Kotaro. Speaking of Nakajima, an usual feud has grown between himself and NOSAWA Rongai, when they found themselves brawling outside the ring. Nakajima went to do the soccer ball kicks (loud applause from the crowd), but Hideki Suzuki interfered. Suzuki could not rescue him the second time, and to an even louder applause, Nakajima kicked him. 

Suzuki and Nakajima also resurrected their rivalry, Suzuki giving Nakajima the finger and not allowing him to the Shutter Chance. The two eventually squared off in a punch war.   

WINNER: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr with the Wagner Driver on Hi69 (14 minutes, 38 seconds)

Backstage, NOSAWA said he wanted a one on one match with "little bitch Nakajima". His teammates looked at him in horror, with Hideki Suzuki asking him if he was okay and that he did realize that he was probably going to die.

MATCH SIX

STINGER (HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway) & Jack Morris vs The Noah Junior Regulars (YO-HEY, Seiki Yoshioka & Alejandro) & Naomichi Marufuji

The match unusually didn't start in an immediate brawl. The juniors squared up with Naomichi Marufuji and Jack Morris doing the same. Alejandro held back Seiki Yoshioka. YO-HEY stood looking unusually angry and glaring at HAYATA. He did not have long to wait to fight him, HAYATA was good enough to start the match. Unusually for HAYATA though, he started the match pretty brutally, and not with a lock up. 

Yoshioka was once again the target, Ridgeway again attacking the bone by ripping off the bandages on his arm, and even choking him with them. Alejandro didn't escape either, Yoshinari Ogawa went to rip his mask off. 

WINNER: HAYATA with a particularly vicious modified arm lock on Seiki Yoshioka (17 minutes, 41 seconds)

In a night when the heavyweights started acting like the juniors, Naomichi Marufuji made Jack Morris look at something he was pointing at in the balcony, there was nothing there, but when Morris turned to look, Marufuji attacked him and Yoshiki Inamura ran to break up the brawl that was going backstage.

Another one was about to break out in the ring when the juniors finished up their own (Ogawa knocking Alejandro down) and YO-HEY and HAYATA butting heads in the ring. 

When it looked like everyone had left, YO-HEY jumped HAYATA and threw him back in the ring and gave him the GAMEN-G. He took the belt, stood over HAYATA gesticulating and then held it up before draping it back over HAYATA and leaving. Out of all of HAYATA'S challengers, this feud has been the most vicious, the most bitter and the most personal. YO-HEY even pulled a hand sign that he and HAYATA had once used to use. 

MATCH SEVEN

Kongoh (Kenoh & Shuji Kondo) vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Atsushi Kotoge

Kaito Kiyomiya politely waited until Kenoh had finished his pose before squaring up to him. Kenoh shoved him away. The match was very much about the GHC Heavyweight pre match, with Shuji Kondo and Atsushi Kotoge being there to assist their partners, and keep the other away. 

Kenoh has never failed to see Kiyomiya as the young boy he once knew, and he knew it winds Kiyomiya up whenever any of his seniors pat his head condescendingly. Doing this threw Kiyomiya into a rage. Knocked out of the ring by this, Kenoh took the belt up from the stand and held it up. He also thought that Kiyomiya could go in for a closer look and trapped Kiyomiya under the steel barrier and sat on him so he was eye level with the belt. 

Kenoh had sworn that he was never going to be pinned by Kiyomiya using The Shining Wizard or any kind of Shining Wizard variant again. Kenoh reversed the modified Shining Wizard into a choke, but Kiyomiya turned it into a pin. The title match is by no means going to be straight forward. Kenoh got cocky when he broke the pin after doing the PFS, but he achieved his aim by mocking both Keiji Mutoh and Kaito Kiyomiya, by doing his own Shining Wizard for the pin.

WINNER: Kenoh with the Shining Wizard (17 minutes, 47 seconds)

This was a humiliation for Kiyomiya, not only had Kenoh defeated him, countered his Shining Wizard (albeit what followed), but he had pinned him with a Mutoh move. Kenoh then pulled more Mutoh poses as he sat over Kiyomiya with the belt in hand. Kenoh even pulled them as he was leaving the ring, Ally and the English language announcer remained stony faced with their arms crossed. 

MATCH EIGHT

Timothy Thatcher vs Takashi Sugiura

This was like two Cyborgs meeting each other, and all I could think of was the hallway fight from Terminator 2. Timothy Thatcher was worthy of being in STINGER with his attack on Takashi Sugiura's arm. He didn't even allow the poor guy breathing space after he had collided shoulder first with the ring post before with sadistic grin, he attacked. 

WINNER: Timothy Thatcher with The Fujiwara Armbar (10 minutes)

The heavyweights had another square up when Satoshi Kojima got into the ring and squared up with Thatcher. Then a fight broke out with Hideki Suzuki joining in, and Kojima took them both out. 

Kojima spoke on the mic, with Sugi (or "Taka" as Kojima has taken to calling him), looking as if to say, "Why can't this guy just leave me alone?"

"Hideki and Thatcher! We are the world's most dangerous tag team "Taka and Satoshi!" Taka, wait!! Sorry for the delay, but as it's our GHC Tag Title (challenge) in nine days, please lets have lunch just once"

Again they did the fist & finger handshake, which seems to have become their thing. 

Noah's next event: SUNNY VOYAGE 2022 (Monday September 19th, Yokohama Radiant Hall)

GIF taken from WrestleUniverse

With thanks to: Metal-Noah