(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: Kenoh Channel presents Kenoh Debut 15th Anniversary - Saturday June 24th 2023 (Tokushima City Gymnasium, Shikoku)
Fans travelled from all over Japan to come to Kenoh's 15th anniversary show in his hometown of Tokushima, Shikoku. Some fans who were new to wrestling even came. They queued up outside early and were rewarded by their local hero, Kenoh, coming out to film for The Kenoh channel. Kenoh gave a short tour of the lobby, and looked at the flowers which had been sent him. These were mainly red, and there were also some red balloons too, and there was a life size cutout of Kenoh for fans to pose with (and NOSAWA Rongai also, who still travels with Noah and is usually backstage). In total, 1321 people attended. Students got in free, as Kenoh had paid for this out of his own pocket.
When fans entered the arena, Kazushi Sakuraba and Kazuyuki Fujita were sparring in the ring, I think Fujita was doing some teaching at the same time. One of the reasons why he came to Noah was because he could do that, even if the training centre overseas he envisioned hasn't appeared. Kongoh also made an appearance on autographs.
The event was broadcast via ABEMA on The Kenoh Channel. I am not sure for how long it will remain here however, so if it is not at the link, please try WrestleUniverse.
Kenoh came out to open the show, and was joined by Niki Hirobumi, who is a member of the House of Representatives, who represents Tokushima. Like Kenoh, he is a local.
MATCH ONE
Hi69 vs Taishi Ozawa
WINNER: HI69 with the Boston Crab (5 minutes, 49 seconds)
MATCH TWO
THE TOUGH (Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura) vs Daiki Inaba & Stallion Rogers
WINNER: Yoshiki Inamura with a massive Musou on Stallion Rogers (8 minutes, 51 seconds)
MATCH THREE
Ninja Mack vs Dante Leon
When these two fight, you know something is going to happen and today they took their fight into the balcony seats, and where Dante half punched/half threw Ninja Mack off of it before diving down himself.
Dante limped back to the ring grinning, while Ninja Mack had to semi crawl. He made it back into the ring and soon after pinned Dante.
WINNER: Ninja Mack with the Ninja Bomb (9 minutes 28 seconds)
Ninja Mack offered a handshake, which Dante took somewhat angrily and then walked off irritated.
MATCH FOUR
REAL (Saxon Huxley, Timothy Thatcher, Kazuyuki Fujita & Shuhei Taniguchi) vs AXIZ (Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima), Mohammed Yone & GAINA
REAL emerged in usual chaotic style, Shuhei Taniguchi slapping his face (and looking a lot happier than he has been for a while), Kazuyuki Fujita handing out his VIPER Tonic and the GHC Heavyweight tag Champions (Saxon Huxley and Timothy Thatcher) parading around the ring wildly. There was the usual huddle before REAL attacked, and then fights went all over the arena with no one in the ring. No wonder the ABEMA commentators used the words "Safari Park". Somehow Saxon Huxley (of all people and this is saying a lot) was the one first back in the ring, and fighting Mohammed Yone, who later scared Timothy Thatcher with "Disco Fever". Gaina, the wrecking ball, took out his opponents with ease.
Go Shiozaki (who was looking very well today) showed another new edge, this time helping to distract the ref while Katsuhiko Nakajima was beating up on Thatcher, and he turned him round when it suited him. Shiozaki and Taniguchi, former partners, went to war. Taniguchi got chopped and then burst out of the corner into Shiozaki's face and delivered some elbows. He also slammed Yone, Nakajima and Thatcher on to Shiozaki, before Huxley got in the ring and slammed him. Unfortunately for Taniguchi, he lost today too.
WINNER: Go Shiozaki with the Gowan Lariat on Shuhei Taniguchi (14 minutes, 37 seconds)
Shiozaki and Nakajima pointed at the tag belts afterwards, as Shuhei Taniguchi was led away by Kazuyuki Fujita, and Thatcher and Huxley snarled like dogs on leashes. There was a semi comical moment after AXIZ posed by the curtain as Katsuhiko Nakajima went first, and then Go Shiozaki a few seconds later, who turned around and looked as if he almost fell over something when he tried to go through. I was reminded at a Sugiura Army produce a few years ago when someone zipped up the curtain, meaning that Kazushi Sakuraba had to crawl under it.
MATCH FIVE
STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway & Daga) vs Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka & Super Crazy
Chris Ridgeway got into the ring and threw his jacket at Atsushi Kotoge. Kotoge was somewhat bouncy, which he is normally is after long bus journeys as he doesn't handle sitting still for long periods well. STINGER were being targeted by Kotoge and Seiki Yoshioka, and they knew it, but Super Crazy also had his own agenda and there was a kind of Mexican standoff when Daga motioned for him to get into the ring. Super Crazy managed to take the young upstart to school, but he wasn't the one that was pinned.
WINNER: Daga with the Diablo Wings on Atsushi Kotoge (13 minutes, 41 seconds)
Daga dusted his hands and his shoulders off after pinning Kotoge, and then STINGER had a rare moment of physical contact with handslaps and hugs. The champions posed, while Yoshinari Ogawa (who doesn't do pictures), left. Ridgeway responded to fans holding out their hands by giving them the heel of his boot. Backstage, Ridgeway kept up the true STINGER spirit by saying he was going home, while Daga had something very unSTINGER like in mind. He said he was going out to the beach and then to dance at a club. Socializing with other people outside of Noah's most reclusive unit.
MATCH SEVEN
GOOD LOOKING GUYS (Jake Lee, Jack Morris, YO-HEY & Tadasuke) vs El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr, HAYATA & Eita
Kaito Kiyomiya squared up to Jake, but I don't think he was interested in the GHC Heavyweight, I think he was probably targeting him because he is the champion and this sent a message to SANADA. There was no stalking by New Japan G1 Block A members today. Eita remained as popular as ever with the crowd, while YO-HEY (who seemed interested in the GHC Junior) tried to drum up some chants for Tadasuke.
WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Double Arm Lock on Tadasuke (13 minutes, 18 seconds)
MATCH EIGHT
Kongoh (Kenoh, Masakatsu Funaki, Manabu Soya, Shuji Kondo & Hajime Ohara) vs Naomichi Marufuji, Masato Tanaka, Kazushi Sakuraba, AMAKUSA & Alejandro
WINNER: Kenoh with the Ring of Fire (22 minutes, 7 seconds)
What happened after the match was more significant that anything that happened in it, as Kenoh announced that since Kongoh had run for four years now, but a Kongoh that had become too stable and too strong over that time, was as he said, "if you want stability, there is no evolution!" and Kongoh would disband today. This might have come as a shock to the crowd, but Kenoh had informed the others of this beforehand, even so, Manabu Soya could not hold back his tears. Kenoh emphasized that this break would enable all the remaining members of Kongoh to take Noah to the top of the industry individually and with their own strong beliefs. Backstage Masakatsu Funaki said that "red was everywhere" he and Kenoh would fight again, he was sure of that, Hajime Ohara said he would keep wrestling with what he believed in as he went forward, Shuji Kondo said he was glad he joined Kongoh, even if it was only a short while, and Manabu Soya was still emotional. When they had gone Kenoh said that he had spent his first ten years thinking of him, the fifteenth was spent thinking of Noah, but now in his sixteenth, he himself was going to the top of the pro wrestling world.
With thanks to Kei and Metal-Noah
Picture credits: BBM-Mobile, Pro Wrestling DX
Noah's next event: SUNNY VOYAGE 2023, Sunday July 9th (Tokyo Tama Mirai Messe) - live on WrestleUniverse
Comments
Post a Comment
Spam will be deleted immediately