(NOAH) Kenoh Channel presents Kenoh Debut 15th Anniversary - Saturday June 24th 2023 (Tokushima City Gymnasium, Shikoku)

Despite once deriding Tokushima, Shikoku as "this fucking countryside", Kenoh has returned home to celebrate his fifteenth anniversary in wrestling. Kenoh made his debut at the Tokugin Tomony Arena, which is now known as the Tokushima City Gymnasium. I am unsure of as to how much of a Noah show this will be (i.e. if there will be any title challenges, or if Kenoh himself is going to announce a title challenge, even though Jake Lee isn't in the main event with him) but Kenoh seems to be leaning more to the side of it being one, rather than his own produce, and so some title challenges would set up Noah's July nicely, although the heavyweights are usually preoccupied at this time with the coming N-1. The card tonight has had to be changed for a few reasons such as Shuhei Taniguchi joining REAL and Takashi Sugiura being injured, but fortunately Kenoh's enemies list is long, and he has drafted in replacements. Sadly, the card does not feature Fujita "Jr" Hayato, (Kenoh's old rival from Michinoku Pro), who said he wanted to make 2023 the year he fights Kenoh, but he wanted to have the match in Sendai, rather than Tokushima. The only person to be on the card that is from Michinoku Pro is Gaina. 

Broadcast

Uniquely, Kenoh has arranged to have the show broadcast for free through The Kenoh Channel on YouTube. This will be done by ABEMA, so there will be no static cam, and I believe this may be the first time they have done something like this. Broadcast begins at 16:00 JST, with the broadcast starting at 15:50. 

Prior to the event

For those going, doors open at 15:00 JST, and Kongoh (Kenoh, Manabu Soya, Masakatsu Funaki, Hajime Ohara and Shuji Kondo) will be on autographs. 

Card

(I would imagine that Kenoh will open and close out the show)

MATCH ONE

Hi69 vs Taishi Ozawa

Hi69 is now done fighting Kongoh (everyone except Masakatsu Funaki that is, but I can't see that this is happening anywhere), and so opens the show against Taishi Ozawa.

MATCH TWO

THE TOUGH (Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura) vs Daiki Inaba & Stallion Rogers

This isn't an eight man hoss fight, this is a two on two match, and as we have seen the student (Yoshiki Inamura) is starting to overtake the master (Masa Kitamiya), lets see what tonight brings. 

MATCH THREE

Ninja Mack vs Dante Leon

Things tend to get wild when these two face off, one of the last times they faced off Dante Leon jumped Ninja Mack. There is no title on the line tonight and they are not having a pre match over one, so these two are no doubt going to have a fun match full of shenanigans. 

MATCH FOUR

REAL (Saxon Huxley, Timothy Thatcher, Kazuyuki Fujita & Shuhei Taniguchi) vs AXIZ (Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima), Mohammed Yone & GAINA

There is no Hideki Suzuki tonight to try and control his out of control unit (of which I am including Kazuyuki Fujita) who go up against AXIZ, Mohammed Yone and the tank like GAINA. I can't see REAL having any kind of patience for a stare off between Go Shiozaki and Kazuyuki Fujita, but, I can see perhaps an AXIZ title challenge. 

MATCH FIVE

STINGER (Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway & DAGA) vs Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka & Super Crazy

The new GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Champions make their first appearance after their notorious win at Korakuen Hall on the 22nd. They set the tone for what kind of team they are going to be that night, especially with their sadistic win, as Chris Ridgeway practically shoved Tadasuke in YO-HEY'S face to watch him tap. Their first opponents (or probably victims) are Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka and Super Crazy. Ridgeway said that no team has come forward to challenge, as everyone is probably too scared, so lets see if tonight one team is brave enough. 

MATCH SEVEN

GOOD LOOKING GUYS (Jake Lee, Jack Morris, YO-HEY & Tadasuke) vs El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr, Kaito Kiyomiya, HAYATA & Eita

No pre match tonight for El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr, who was challenged at Korakuen Hall on the 22nd by AMAKUSA, but HAYATA has a belt that hasn't been challenged for and there are two juniors who lost their belts recently. HAYATA has said that he wants to look outside of Noah for challengers, but that may not be the case, especially if by this point the event has become a night when anything can happen. I don't think that Kaito Kiyomiya is going to have any intrusion by anyone in the G1 Climax though. 

MATCH EIGHT

Kongoh (Kenoh, Masakatsu Funaki, Manabu Soya, Shuji Kondo & Hajime Ohara) vs Naomichi Marufuji, Masato Tanaka, Kazushi Sakuraba, AMAKUSA & Alejandro

 

Kenoh finally makes his appearance before his hometown crowd, leading what is left of his unit against opponents Kenoh can only have chosen from his extensive enemies list; Naomichi Marufuji, who Kenoh has long believed is holding him down, Masato Tanaka who Kenoh has been growling about defeating since a ZERO-1 Fire Festival a few years ago, Kazushi Sakuraba who Kenoh says is a "playful old man", which irritates him, and AMAKUSA and Alejandro, who dared leave Kongoh.

Picture credit: Noah.co.jp