(NOAH) NOAH NEWSLETTER VOL.201 ~ 18TH MAY 2023


NEWS

Kongoh vs Voodoo Murders continues
Following being knocked unconscious and being stuffed into a body bag by Voodoo Murders on the 7th May, Kenoh cut a promo on "The Kenoh Channel", where he appeared by the side of a river, wrapped
in a black trash bag (which he said he had to trek Tokyo to find as Japan tends to use white bags) and yelling about what had happened. Kenoh being Kenoh, before he got to the threatening Suwama part, said that he wasn't "ashamed at all" of how he looked (and there was a bus driving past) and that he "really liked this look". Furthermore, Kenoh later told Tokyo Sports that his plan was to defeat Suwama/Voodoo Murders, and then bring Suwama into their camp. As Kyohei Suwama (Suwama's alter-ego) is an executive, Kenoh plans to have Suwama help transfer the control of the belts from PWF to Noah. Suwama, however, gave no indication that he was going to be doing anything of the sort as much to Kenoh's rage, he stuffed Manabu Soya into what Voodoo Murders call "the murder bag" following a match on the 18th May, and said that he was going to make an extra big one for the title match, which he would stuff both Kenoh and Soya into at the end when they won the belts back. Title match will take place on May 21st in Kobe. The event will not be streamed live, but Noah will probably stream the title match through Instagram. 


HAYATA & Eita form a tag?!
Eita found himself not only fighting Yoshinari Ogawa at their singles match at Korakuen Hall, but his former friend Daga and Chris Ridgeway. Daga and Ridgeway attacked Eita outside the ring, in the ring and distracted the ref from all that was happening. The match was somehow not thrown out (despite the ref getting roughed up, twice) until HAYATA entered the ring, at which point Eita was standing with a chair about to hit Ogawa, and stood in front of Ogawa with his arms stretched out as if to protect him, but then turned on Ogawa and kicked him in the face. Tearing off his STINGER jacket and throwing it aside, HAYATA turned back to Eita. Eita slowly offered HAYATA his hand, HAYATA thought for a few seconds, and then shook. 


Daga and Ridgeway got into the ring, and a fight broke out which left them lying with Ogawa on the mat. Backstage, STINGER had nothing to say, but HAYATA and Eita did. HAYATA (before leaving) said that he and Eita would be the core of the Noah Junior and Ogawa's era was over. Eita wondered that this was a new scenery for him, and vowed that in Kobe on the 21st May, that he would make the match with Daga not only "a bloodbath", but as Kobe was his hometown, he would "drown" Daga in "an ocean of blood". 

AXIZ return
AXIZ made their return to the ring picking up from where they left off as they came out wearing their old gear but with the costumes they were wearing the night they split. Katsuhiko Nakajima had shaved off his goatee which made him look like the chubby faced kid he used to be. Unfortunately, their return match ended in much the same way, with Go Shiozaki being defeated. This time it was by an enraged Kenoh, who had baited Nakajima and kicked Shiozaki around the ring. Once they had gone, Kenoh went on an epic rant which was not just aimed at Nakajima, (although you could hear him yelling at him when he and Shiozaki left the ring). Kenoh's rant included Suwama, tagging with Kazuchika Okada who he considers an enemy (he also threw in some expletives), and the DragonGate tag challenge. Kenoh himself reflected that everything considered, he was a man with a lot of enemies, and he actually quite liked that! 

Josh Barnett to make his Noah debut
Noah announced that the match between Masakatsu Funaki and Josh Barnett, will take place on September 3rd in Osaka at "ABEMA presents N-1 VICTORY 2023", which is the final night of the league. Josh Barnett has spoken on his coming to Noah terming it as "Noah's concept of embarking on a new journey suits me as being able to participate in Noah is a new journey for me." When asked if he was interested in the GHC Heavyweight, he admitted that he was, as he was "a belt collector", but he's also interested in the champion as well as the belt as he feels that he and Jake Lee, with his background in MMA, have a lot in common. For now he is concentrating on the match with Funaki, but following that he wants to look around at the other wrestlers in Noah. 

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TITLE NEWS

GHC Heavyweight
While Kaito Kiyomiya might have thought that Jake Lee was going to nominate him as challenger, or else he was putting himself forward when he stood in front of him (almost in his face) at Korakuen Hall on the 14th May, Jake had other ideas. Takashi Sugiura, who had fought against Jake and Good Looking Guys in a brutal tag match which saw him almost choking Jake out with the dreaded front neck lock, found himself nominated by Jake to be challenger. Somewhat tongue in cheek, Sugiura acted in surprise, and made a "Me?!" motion, pointing to himself when he heard Jake on the mic. 


Sugi said that he was surprised it was him (and he made an analogy to his extensive experience in nightlife in the water trade, saying that he was like a hostess who wasn't popular enough to be requested often) and wasn't Kiyomiya. Sugiura said he was honored to be nominated, but warned Jake that he didn't want him to think that after two defenses he knew Noah, he was going to teach him to be aware that there was someone like him in Noah. The match they had just had was very different from Jake's past matches with Kiyomiya, Katsuhiko Nakajima or Naomichi Marufuji. Jake revealed to Tokyo Sports that he has a lot of respect for Sugiura, who he says is "Noah's magnificence". Jake reflected on how Sugiura maintains his body at his age, the fact that he has stayed with Noah through the best times and the absolute worst of times, and how he has overcome what happened with Shinjiro Otani. Title match will take place at "GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in NAGOYA" on Saturday 17th June.

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GHC Heavyweight Tag
Saxon Huxley met his match in Yoshiki Inamura, the man he has been growing a rivalry with, when Inamura delivered a massive Musou at Korakuen Hall on the 14th May, which almost put him through the canvas. Inamura picked up the win and challenged Saxon Huxley and Timothy Thatcher for the GHC Heavyweight Tag titles. He announced that his partner would be Masa Kitamiya and that they would challenge as their old tag team, "THE TOUGH". Title match will take place at "GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in NAGOYA" on Saturday 17th June. The title challenge caused the already wound up champions to attack them, Inamura getting Huxley's Hanging Neck Bomb. 

GHC Junior Heavyweight
HAYATA and Dante Leon's first pre match ended with HAYATA pinning Sean Legacy who Dante was tagging with. HAYATA took it as a win over him though, even if he was not the one pinned.

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag
Atsushi Kotoge defeated Good Looking Guy's member, YO-HEY, at Korakuen Hall on the 14th May and challenged for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag with Seiki Yoshioka as his partner. The title match will take place at "SUNNY VOYAGE 2023" on the 31st May at Shinjuku Face. 

GHC National 
No news as of yet. El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr does not look to be returning to Noah for the rest of May 2023. 

EVENT RECAPS & POST MATCH PROMOS

STAR NAVIGATION 2023 - Korakuen Hall, Sunday May 14th

ELSEWHERE IN NOAH
- Chris Ridgeway and Daga made their first appearance as a tag team, and got on very well. Their attack was so sustained that Hajime Ohara lost part of his costume. 
- Atsushi Kotoge is determined to keep Daisuke Harada's legacy alive by inheriting the knee kicks Harada used, and incorporating them into the Killswitch. 
- HAYATA refused to shake hands with Naomichi Marufuji, even when Marufuji persisted and smacked his arm. Then Marufuji ignored him when HAYATA went to tag him in. 
- Kenoh's trash bag costume gave rise to multiple fan art, animations, comparisons to No Face from Spirited Away and fans posing in black trash bags. Sadly, no one came to Korakuen Hall dressed in one.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS

GHC Heavyweight Champion: Jake Lee
Challenger: Takashi Sugiura
GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in NAGOYA (Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall - Saturday, June 17th)

GHC Junior Champion: HAYATA
Challenger: Dante Leon
GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in NAGOYA (Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall - Saturday, June 17th)

GHC Heavyweight Tag Champions: REAL (Saxon Huxley & Timothy Thatcher)
Challengers: THE TOUGH (Yoshiki Inamura & Masa Kitamiya)
GREEN JOURNEY 2023 in NAGOYA (Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall - Saturday, June 17th)

GHC Junior Tag Champions: Good Looking Guys (YO-HEY & Tadasuke)
Challengers: Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka
"SUNNY VOYAGE 2023" (Shinjuku Face - Wednesday, May 31st)

GHC National Champion: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr 
Challenger: TBA

THIS WEEK IN NOAH

SUNNY VOYAGE 2023
Date: Sunday May 21st
Venue: Kobe Sambo Hall, Kobe
Start times: Doors 15:00 JST, Bell 16:00 JST
Broadcast: Broadcast at a later date on WrestleUniverse

May 24th 2000: KENTA debut anniversary (23)

NOAH FROM THE VAULT
"Donmai, Donmai" - Mitsuharu Misawa's diary
Interviews with two people in the middle of turmoil: (1) Mitsuharu Misawa (the first interview from July 2000, following the press conference where Misawa announced he was creating a new promotion)

Picture credits: Weekly Pro

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