(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: STAR NAVIGATION 2023 (Saturday April 29th, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo)

Tonight was a wild night at Korakuen Hall for Noah; the juniors were chaotic, even the heavyweights were somewhat out of control, and the audience were charged up from beginning to end, which unfortunately included a somewhat unfortunate downside when a woman intruded into the ring. Event was broadcast on both ABEMA and WrestleUniverse.  

MATCH ONE

HAYATA & Super Crazy vs Ninja Mack & Lanzelot

Ninja Mack made belt motions the moment HAYATA'S music sounded, and then when starting off the match, Ninja Mack got a chant going. HAYATA kind of looked as if he wanted to get one going for himself, but didn't really know how as was too shy, but it didn't matter as he was attacked and knocked down. 

Super Crazy's semi feud with his young nephew outdoing him continued, the look he gave him after some flips was hysterical, especially when he (Super Crazy) followed it up with a dropkick. 

WINNER: Ninja Mack with the Phoenix Splash on Super Crazy (8 minutes, 35 seconds)

So in the final pre match, Ninja Mack had managed to outwrestle HAYATA and win the match, albeit he did not get the win directly over him. HAYATA got back in the ring, and the two butted heads, after which HAYATA called for the microphone and (as Ninja Mack made belt motions and said audibly, "next champion") growled that he would be the one that won at Ryogoku Kokugikan. 

Backstage, Ninja Mack said that he had beaten HAYATA "one, two three times" and the fourth would b for the championship.

MATCH TWO

Kongoh (Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hajime Ohara) vs Daiki Inaba & Atsushi Kotoge

Katsuhiko Nakajima and Daiki Inaba started the match. Inaba has had a grudge against Nakajima since the whole Nakajima wins the W-1 title and disrespects it drama a few years ago, so the match was very much a story between Nakajima and Inaba. Nakajima naturally loved this. Atsushi Kotoge got the brunt of Kongoh's attacks, but he was the one to pick up the win with a slight modifier to the Killswitch by using a knee to the chin or face beforehand. 

WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Killswitch (10 minutes)

MATCH THREE

Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway (STINGER?) vs The Noah Junior Regulars (Seiki Yoshioka & Alejandro)

There was a tense moment when after Yoshinari Ogawa and Chris Ridgeway had entered, and Ogawa looked as if he was ignoring Ridgeway, Ridgeway offered a handshake, which Ogawa accepted after a moment of him standing there staring. While this was going on, Seiki Yoshioka was being held back by Alejandro and then the referee, as he was chomping at the bit to start against Ridgeway. They then had a kick war which made the audience groan with each one. They then each sat down and dared the other, before they butted heads and moved on to other moves. Together, they managed to steal the whole match, and made Ogawa and Alejandro audience members. 

Winner: Chris Ridgeway via Onslaught submission on Seiki Yoshioka (9 minutes, 57 seconds)

Eita showed up after the match, crawling out from under the ring where he had been hiding (Weekly Pro said he "stretched sleepily", so had he been sleeping under there!?), and for reasons known only to him decided to attack Yoshinari Ogawa. Now this was a bad idea as Chris Ridgeway was in the ring, and as Daga wasn't there for whatever reason, he got beat down and Ridgeway drove his boot into Eita's face, as the bell rang furiously. 

MATCH FOUR

Good Looking Guys (Jake Lee, Jack Morris & Anthony Green) vs Naomichi Marufuji, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura

Naomichi Marufuji started the match against Jake Lee to a huge "Marufuji" chant, which Jake conducted. Some girls in the crowd screamed at Jake's poses, which caused Marufuji to comically go and look in the crowd to see who was doing this. He didn't need to worry as girls started screaming when he lifted Jake's chin to chop him. For the heavyweights, this was a wild match, as everyone threw each other around inside the ring (Yoshiki Inamura and Anthony Green) and outside of the ring, (Marufuji and Jake). 

WINNER: Naomichi Marufuji with the Tiger King on Anthony Green (14 minutes, 42 seconds)

Marufuji had Green while imitating Jake's "shooting" pose. The battle outside the ring had been so vicious, that Jake was seen checking his mouth for blood when he got back into the ring. Afterwards, when the two squared up, Marufuji smoothed out Jake's chest for chopping. He stood on the turnbuckle to watch the champion leave, as Jake turned back and "shot" at him.

MATCH FIVE

Kaito Kiyomiya, Sean Legacy & AMAKUSA vs Kongoh (Kenoh, Manabu Soya & Shuji Kondo)

Kondo didn't have the DG belt with him, Kenoh didn't seem pleased

Fan invasions into the ring are rare in Japanese wrestling, and the last time Noah had one Takeshi Morishima was a champion, Makoto Hashi was still competing and Noah were still at Differ Ariake. Today a young lady jumped the barrier and started dramatically saying that Kiyomiya was "the savior of Noah" and to "show us a stronger Noah!". She was removed from the ring by the referee, Daishi Ozawa and even Kiyomiya gently saw her out. Toru Yano has spoken about fan behavior, (fans harassing wrestlers at hotels and airports, in the street, in restaurants etc) and I did notice a few weeks ago that Noah had stated that if anyone was caught yelling abuse at wrestlers, then they would be asked to leave. I would imagine that this young lady had the police called and an attendance ban. Other than the fan invasion, the match was not very remarkable, save Shuji Kondo forgetting his DragonGate TwinGate tag belt, and Kenoh asking him where it was. Kondo looked bashful and looked at the floor.

WINNER: Shuji Kondo with the King Kong Lariat on AMAKUSA (9 minutes, 34 seconds)

After the match All Japan's Suwama invaded the ring when Kongoh were posing. Kondo got thrown from the ring and Soya shoved aside before Suwama scooped Kenoh up and gave him The Last Ride to  a chorus of boos. He then bent over him yelling and making it clear to all, that he was here to challenge for the All Japan World Tags, which Kenoh had said he couldn't unless he was willing to do it in a Noah ring (I'm still trying to imagine Baba's reaction as to someone daring to call All Japan "a dump"). Backstage he confirmed that he and KONO would be challenging for the titles, and as he did so, the infamous Korakuen lift opened the doors to reveal an old man inside. Suwama told him to hold the lift!

The All Japan World Tag Match will indeed take place in Noah, the championship will be defended on the 21st May in Kobe between Kongoh (Kenoh and Manabu Soya) and Suwama and KONO.

MATCH SIX

Hi69 vs Junta Miyawaki

The focused and stoic looking HI69 took on a more grown up and rapidly developed in terms of in ring skills Junta Miyawaki. Junta debuted not only new (aerial) skills but also a new look and a new costume and picked up his first big singles win. Fans where left with the impression that Junta was now at the level he was always meant to be. 

WINNER: Junta Miyawaki with the Modified Guillotine Drop (8 minutes, 23 seconds)

Backstage, Junta said he would be challenging for the GHC Junior Heavyweight, so I can imagine he will be challenging the winner of HAYATA vs Ninja Mack at "MAJESTIC". 

MATCH SEVEN

El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr, Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi vs REAL (Hideki Suzuki, Timothy Thatcher & Saxon Huxley)

Although Takashi Sugiura had said this was "Shuhei's pre-match", he couldn't stay out of it too much, especially as he had defeated Saxon Huxley in Kyoto recently and so Huxley made a beeline for him. In an opening worthy of a junior match, in that a mass brawl broke out, while Sugiura and Huxley fought as did Shuhei Taniguchi and Timothy Thatcher, Hideki Suzuki and El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr stood in the maelstrom staring at each other. Although no self respecting Noah Junior would stand and stare at his opponent while the others fought around him, tonight the heavyweights became as chaotic as the juniors. After order was restored (an easier thing to do with the heavyweights), Sugiura suggested a test of strength with Huxley, but as Huxley towered above him, Sugi sarcastically suggested "down low" as in on the mat. The test of strength did take place, and it turns out that Sugiura, "Noah's Killing Machine", is the wall that Huxley is finding it hard to break down. 

Winner: Hideki Suzuki with the Japanese Leg Roll Clutch Hold on El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr (12 minutes, 36 seconds)

Having defeated the champion in what was the final fight before the title match, the new unit, Real, put their t-shirts on, Thatcher had his around his neck, and left the ring jubilantly. Backstage, Thatcher and Huxley cut a very old school style American promo. 

MATCH EIGHT

GHC JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TAG CHAMPIONSHIP

Good Looking Guys (YO-HEY & Tadasuke) vs Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf (challengers)

The title match, which was signed for earlier, rounded off a lively and florid evening. Both teams matched each other well, with Alpha Wolf and Tadasuke being of similar size and strength, with YO-HEY and Dragon Bane also complementing each other. For Tadasuke, this was not only a title match, this was also his sixteen year anniversary in pro wrestling, and the crowd were behind him all the way. Like they had done in the pre matches, the brothers ran the champions into the ground almost, even at one point going for a double pin, but YO-HEY won on pure grit and momentum. 

WINNER: YO-HEY with the Boston Crab Pin on Dragon Bane (18 minutes, 16 seconds)

Normally Noah Juniors do not shake hands with each other, and it is usually advisable not to shake hands with Tadasuke, but this was exceptional circumstances and the two teams congratulated each other on a match well fought. YO-HEY spoke on the mic and said that thanks to Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf, he had gained a lot of importance experience and become stronger, and it wasn't just the GLG juniors who had become stronger, the heavyweights had too. Alpha Wolf and Dragon Bane also thanked the crowd in a mixture of Japanese, Mexican and English, thanking Japan, thanking the champions and "Viva Mexico! Viva Japan!" No challengers for the GHC Junior Tag titles have come forward yet (not even backstage). 

Attendance: 1028

Picture credit: BBM Sports (Eita)

With thanks to: Metal Noah

Noah's next event: ABEMA presents MAJESTIC 2023, Thursday May 4th, live on WrestleUniverse and ABEMA