(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: NOAH the BEST 2022 (Wednesday November 23rd, National Yoyogi Stadium 2nd Gymnasium)

Noah announced an attendance of 872 people.

Event can be viewed on WrestleUniverse. English commentary is available, but you must be a subscriber to view. 

Tonight wrapped up a short but eventful November for Noah and laid the groundwork not just for December, or the Nippon Budokan on New Years Day, but also for 2023 itself. 

MATCH ONE

Funky Express (Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito) vs Kongoh Juniors (Tadasuke & Hi69)

Wild Tadasuke started early, even before the match had begin and his maniacal grin remained throughout the whole match. As cheering was allowed Mohammed Yone danced along, HI69 complained and then beat him up. Yone soon had enough, and wasn't going to take this from a junior.  Neither was Saito, who held Hi69 upside down for so long, he looked as if he was going to pass out. 

Tadasuke was a different matter as he is the one with the heavyweight strength. Despite the unevenness of the juniors compared to the heavyweights, Tadasuke and Hi69 did very well in keeping Saito and Yone apart and working together in tandem. 

Winner: Akitoshi Saito with the Iron Claw Slam on Hi69 (10 minutes, 22 seconds)

By using this finisher, Saito paid tribute to his former partner, Bison Smith, who he had called "The Blue Eyed Samurai". Smith sadly passed away suddenly on the 22nd November 2011. 

MATCH TWO

Hideki Suzuki vs Shuhei Taniguchi

This was probably one of the best matches that Shuhei Taniguchi has had in a while, as it meant he was able to draw on his background of amateur wrestling, which worked well with Hideki Suzuki's style. Tempers got heated between the two and the ref was constantly warning Suzuki about closed fist punches or else trying to separate them when they got into corner fights. The crowd loved it. Akitoshi Saito had said to expect big things from this match, and he was right. The ref stopped the match when Suzuki was battering Taniguchi, he tried to pull him off, but Suzuki got him in a sleeper. Even then he wasn't finished, following this up with kicks and elbows before he left the ring. Fans want to see round two.

Winner: Shuhei Taniguchi  (Referee stop due to repeated elbows to the side of the head by Hideki Suzuki, 12 minutes, 56 seconds) 

MATCH THREE

PERROS DEL MAL DE JAPON FINAL

STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, Yasutaka Yano & Kai Fujimura) vs STINGER (NOSAWA Rongai, Eita & Super Crazy)

Perros used their last entry to shill their merch (NOSAWA has a shirt which reads "Perrito" on the back, which means something cute like "Doggie", "Puppy" etc) and wind up the girls on commentary by offering their towels and then snatching them away at the last moment and even pointing out a Kotaro Suzuki fan sign, which they slapped away. They then decided to go back to the top of the ramp and waste even more time when their music stopped, and then restarted. 

If Perros could waste time, then so could Yoshinari Ogawa. Except in his case it was the start of mind games, not wandering around. When he did eventually appear, he was carrying a weapon (a Singapore cane), Kai Fujimura had a baseball bat, which he brandished in the manner of going to smash up someone's car, and Yasutaka Yano held a metal bin. Out of all four, Ogawa looked the most threatening.

The bell, as expected, started after the traditional Noah Junior melee brawl.

Round 1

Everyone got counted out.

(1 minute, 5 seconds)

Round 2

Ogawa threw the trash can lid in the ring and then left, despite NOSAWA speaking on the microphone for the match to be restarted. Since Ogawa had gone, Perros attacked the two boys, Fujimura now minus the baseball bat unfortunately. Much to NOSAWA'S violent frustration, the two boys managed to keep all three of Perros (veterans) outside the ring and this ended in a draw. By the time Ogawa came back to the ring, NOSAWA was throwing a complete tantrum, slapping the mat, kicking the barriers and throwing things. Eita spoke on the mic and demanded the match be restarted.

"This is the last time! Is it okay for Perros to end like this? Hey, Ogawa! Can you hear the fans?"

(53 seconds)

Round 3

NOSAWA offered a handshake to Yano, Yano a polite Noah Born went to take it, but as a Noah Junior he knows never to accept a handshake and attacked NOSAWA. NOSAWA of course wasted time outside the ring following this being irritating by sitting in the crowd, and then making a drama about getting in and out of the ring. Perros worked on the young boys first, and then Yano managed to tag Ogawa in, who was like a whirlwind. Even the seconds joined in the fight then, Kotaro getting slapped off the apron. Eita used the trash can, Ogawa moved, and he hit Kotaro. Even the Singapore cane was thrown in, but this went wrong as Ogawa caught it and then gave the dogs a well deserved and furious whipping. NOSAWA, in the fray knocked the ref down, so the tag feud ended as it had begun, in chaos. Ogawa took everyone out by smacking them with the trash can lid as his music played, saving the brunt for NOSAWA and Eita before leaving.

Winner: Yoshinari Ogawa thanks to NOSAWA assaulting the referee (11 minutes, 36 seconds)

Rubbing their bruised heads, NOSAWA and Eita both spoke on the mic. NOSAWA asked for forgiveness from Eita as to how the match ended, and then Eita challenged Ogawa to a singles match. In fact, they will both get their singles matches, NOSAWA on the 14th December and Eita on the 23rd. NOSAWA also announced today that Perros Del Mal De Japon had officially disbanded, and after embracing Super Crazy, he joined the others in one last pose. 

MATCH FOUR

Daiki Inaba vs Jack Morris

This was a technical grudge match, as these two still have a lot to settle since the N-1 VICTORY. It was naturally not as wild as the Noah Juniors before them, and might not have had the same feeling of bitterness, but the feeling of needing to overcome was there. 

WINNER: Jack Morris with the Tiger Driver (13 minutes, 54 seconds)

MATCH FIVE

The Sugiura Army (Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita & Timothy Thatcher) vs Naomichi Marufuji, Masaaki Mochizuki & Masato Tanaka

This match was notable for more of what happened after it, than anything that happened in it. 

Kazuyuki Fujita bought a box of Red Viper with him, which he handed out to his team, they had a toast and downed them together at the top of the ramp. Hideki Suzuki included, who came as a second. On the way to the ring, Fujita (who I think is a generous man who likes giving gifts), handed them out to the audience on the way. Naomichi Marufuji was also given a bottle, which he downed, and then looked somewhat startled by the potency of what is considered to be an old man drink, and fanned his mouth. 

WINNER: Naomichi Marufuji with a rolling black clutch on Takashi Sugiura (17 minutes, 27 seconds)

Takashi Sugiura looked stunned that Marufuji had gotten a momentum win, and Thatcher left complaining with Fujita trying to calm him, but Sugiura remained in the ring as Naomichi Marufuji got on the microphone, and made a huge announcement;

"Taka, ever since you won the tag belt with Satoshi, I have been aiming for it. Taka, I won today, so can I challenge you?" 

Marufuji's M's alliance partners were hanging over the ropes, holding out their hands and hoping that he would chose them. Marufuji continued,

"I'm going to take this belt in one go, my partner is....KENTA! Taka & Satoshi vs MaruKen...will you do it?"

The venue by this time was in an uproar, and although Sugiura looked as if he wanted to say, "KENTA? KENTA?! Are you fucking kidding me?! he accepted the challenge. Which has been set for the Nippon Budokan on New Year's Day. KENTA, however, as Marufuji later revealed hadn't exactly been asked, but he evidently has agreed to it. When asked why he chose KENTA, Marufuji explained that he wanted to do something interesting and had been thinking about this since he was in America, and while he "wasn't interested in old memories" (and neither did KENTA as Marufuji supposed), next year was also his (Marufuji's) 25th year in wrestling. KENTA has typically made no comment, even though Marufuji said he wanted him to "go wild on the Noah mat", and simply posted a picture of the match. To explain for the newer fans, MaruKen (Marufuji and KENTA) where a much beloved junior tag team who hold the record for the longest reign. They had gone their separate ways as a team as heavyweights, but did challenge for the belts as juniors, when they took on (and lost to) Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa (see "Heir To The Ark" for more on this).

MATCH SIX

Dante Leon & YO-HEY vs AMAKUSA & Alejandro

Fast paced match, with sparks flying between Dante Leon and Alejandro in particular as everyone was aiming for the champion, but it was AMAKUSA who stole the momentum. 

WINNER: AMAKUSA with the rolling back clutch on Dante Leon (11 minutes, 13 seconds)

AMAKUSA (who does not seem to talk too much) sent a message to Dante Leon that he was interested in the belt, by pointing and intimating. Leon nodded and left, and the title match has been set for the     N-Innovation on the 23rd December at the N-Innovation at Shinjuku FACE. 

MATCH SEVEN

Kaito Kiyomiya, Satoshi Kojima & Masa Kitamiya vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya)

Kenoh and Kaito Kiyomiya faced up right away, but cooler heads prevailed and Katsuhiko Nakajima and Satoshi Kojima started the match, but not right away as Nakajima was wasting time. Kongoh enjoyed roughing up the champion on behalf of Kenoh. Kenoh even sat on the top turnbuckle to attack Kiyomiya, and didn't even look like he felt it when Kiyomiya aimed a flying punch at him in retaliation.

Nakajima asked for someone to wake him up (from his jetlag), I'm pretty sure that the Kojima chops did just that, and his poor hostile younger brother, got the Shutter Chance. 

Kenoh even at one point smashed Kiyomiya's head into the mat repeatedly and then strode around the ring telling the fans to cheer for Kiyomiya who was "trying his hardest". Fans did just that and chanted "Kai-to! Kai-to!" loudly.  Kenoh seemingly has found out two ways to counter the Shining Wizard, but on the third, Kiyomiya also countered him, and did one to the back of Kenoh's head

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Transformed Shining Wizard on Kenoh (18 minutes, 6 seconds)

Kiyomiya, who had a bloodied nose, spoke on the mic to Kenoh, who was sprawled out on the mat;

"What are you? Losing to the guy who you say is "just trying his best?" In the end, you are all mouth, aren't you?"

Before the title matches began, Noah made an announcement regarding The Great Muta's match on the 22nd January at the Yokohama Arena. Darby Allin, who had been teaming with Sting the night Great Muta rescued Sting from Buddy Matthews, would be joining them. They will team together as a trio (I think Keiji Mutoh may be saving himself in a singles for his retirement match) with their opponents to be announced. It would not surprise me if Buddy Matthews was involved, especially as he was given The Green Mist. 

MATCH EIGHT

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match

Kongoh Juniors (Shuji Kondo & Hajime Ohara) vs Noah Junior Regulars (Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka)

This title match had the themes of redemption (Seiki Yoshioka, who had lost the titles originally) and I think some sort of reckoning on the part of Atsushi Kotoge, who kind of wanted them back to prove to the absent Daisuke Harada that the Noah Junior Regulars did not need him to bring momentum to the team. 

Seiki Yoshioka had called this match, "facing heaven and hell", and the challengers did just that. Shuji Kondo decimated them, but they kept fighting back. Both times each challenger was put in the Mui Bien, and both times each challenger was being held by Kondo. Somehow they managed to escape and break either pins or the submission. Kondo, however, was not above cheating when the referees back was turned. 

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Killswitch on Hajime Ohara (23 minutes, 40 seconds)

YO-HEY got on the microphone (as no doubt Hajime Ohara left in utter terror as to what was waiting for him) and challenged his teammates; 

"I'm in a disappointing situation with no results to speak of at all. To overcome this situation, I want the belt. With the belt in hand, I can reach even higher heights. I want to do this, so please let me challenge for the tag belt next". 

Kotoge responded that he would accept the challenge on behalf of the team, but, who was YO-HEY'S partner? As YO-HEY looked around smiling, fans for a few seconds thought he would be nominating HAYATA (even though HAYATA is injured and of course, a member of STINGER), but no, YO-HEY announced he would be teaming with DragonGate's Kzy. Title match has been set for the 23rd December at the N-Innovation at Shinjuku Face. 

MATCH NINE

GHC National Championship Match

El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr vs Yoshiki Inamura 

I don't think that ever before El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Junior has had someone throw him around as much as Yoshiki Inamura did. Inamura caught Wagner Jnr in a top rope dive and threw him, he also did the same when he tried to dive through the ropes at him. He even knocked Wagner our of the ring, and he kind of slid between the middle ropes. The match was insane, and the crowd were firmly behind Inamura, getting even more worked up with each kick out, each slam, each dive, each punch. For a man only five years into his career, it was an impressive main event. Inamura sadly did not win, but I like to think that Noah were testing his capabilities as a main eventer, and surely he passed with flying colors.

Winner: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Junior (Moonsault press, 18 minutes, 6 seconds)

"I have something to say to all the fans and to Inamura-san, thank you, gracias, arigato! Viva Japan! Viva Noah! I'll will be right back, so see you soon!"

Noah's next event: Sunny Voyage, Wednesday December 14th, Aizuwakamatsu City Cultural Center

GIF credit: Weekly Pro