(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 (Niigata/Aore Nagaoka, July 29th 2023)

Today's event will be streamed on WrestleUniverse on the 1st August at 18:00. As the event was not shown live, I don't have too much information, but what I do have I am grateful to Gowan, Kei, Saku

and nhiro88 for. 

HAYATA (in yellow catseye contact lenses) and Eita were on autographs. Naturally there was a big queue. Attendance was 345 on the floor seats, as Noah did not put the balcony seating up for sale. 

MATCH ONE

Kai Fujimura vs Yu Owada

Winner: Kai Fujimura with the Boston Crab (5 minutes, 50 seconds)

MATCH TWO

Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69 vs Daiki Inaba & Taishi Ozawa

Winner: Atsushi Kotoge with a moonsault press on Taishi Ozawa (9 minutes, 34 seconds)

MATCH THREE

Yoshinari Ogawa, LEONA & Stallion Rogers vs Adam Brooks, Super Crazy & Seiki Yoshioka

I don't have too much information on team dynamics, but the fight between Yoshinari Ogawa and Adam Brooks was said to be very good. 

Winner: Super Crazy with a rolling clutch hold on LEONA (11 minutes, 52 seconds)

LEONA, who I think was probably hoping for a big win which meant he could get back to fighting Eita, expressed his frustration backstage with his recent run of bad luck. 

MATCH FOUR

Lance Anoa'i vs Shuhei Taniguchi

Winner: Lance Anoa'i with the Samoan Splash (7 minutes, 32 seconds)

Backstage, Anoa'i said it doesn't matter who his opponent is "The Samoan Dynasty will win", and the N-1 was just to prove that. Pro Wrestling DX have dubbed him the "Wild Samoan III". 

MATCH FIVE

Naomichi Marufuji & Hajime Ohara vs Katsuhiko Nakajima & Mohammed Yone

Despite the fact that Mohammed Yone's "Disco Fever" pose enrages everyone else and sends Katsuhiko Nakajima into fits of giggles, he kind of joined in with him today apparently. Yone also had some kind of comedy with Naomichi Marufuji too, when the two got into a duel outside the ring, using what looked like some kind of pictures on boards. Hajime Ohara ended up falling to Nakajima, but was no pushover, as he did manage to get Nakajima into a submission.  

Winner: Katsuhiko Nakajima with the Vertical Spike on Hajime Ohara (13 minutes, 1 second)

MATCH SIX

Good Looking Guys (Jake Lee, Jack Morris, Anthony Green, YO-HEY & Tadasuke) vs Masa Kitamita, Manabu Soya, Yoshiki Inamura, Ninja Mack & Alejandro

In a match seething with N-1 rivalry, the rival heavyweights on the other team were glaring at Jake Lee, Yoshiki Inamura from the ring, and the others from the apron as he did his conductor mannerism. 

Winner: Jack Morris with the Cobra Twist on Masa Kitamiya (17 minutes, 11 seconds)

Despite the show of camaraderie between Jake Lee and Jack Morris, they will be in the same block when the N-1 starts, and they fist bumped on Jake's suggestion of "let's have a good match". Jake praised Jack's win today, but had to realize that his "increasing his own ability" was making him a threat. 

MATCH SEVEN

Go Shiozaki, HAYATA & Eita vs Kenoh, AMAKUSA and Junta Miyawaki

I don't know what Eita did (or whether it was just the sight of him) but somehow he managed to annoy Kenoh (not a hard thing to do) and ended up getting such a kicking that even HAYATA was seen to wince. In the end, Eita ran off and collapsed outside the ring. He also seems to think that he is friends with Go Shiozaki and was heard calling him, "Go!" throughout the match. 

Junta Miyawaki apparently had the hall on their feet as he kicked out of some Go Shiozaki finishers...

Winner: Go Shiozaki with the Strong Arm Lariat on Junta Miyawaki (22 minutes, 26 seconds)

Kenoh, who had been enraged by Eita throughout the match, told him to get into the ring, however, HAYATA pulled him out. Backstage (and the look on HAYATA'S face was comical as he passed him), Eita said that Kenoh's kicks meant nothing as he "was the face of the Noah Juniors." I do wonder how long HAYATA is going to put up with that. 

Back in the ring, after glaring at Kenoh, Go Shiozaki closed out the show

"The N-1 VICTORY 2023 will start in August, but it's not just the heavyweights, the junior heavyweights are also very interesting too. Thank you for your support of Pro Wrestling Noah!"

He continued after a "I am Noah/We are Noah" interaction with the audience;

"I put special effort into Niigata. I wonder why that is? Sacred place? This is a good place for me, but this time in the N-1 VICTORY 2023, a match won't take place in Niigata. B Block is full of exciting wrestlers, and in the N-1 VICTORY 2023, I'll show you a fight worthy of the name of the N-1"

Picture credit: Pro Wrestling DX

Noah's next event: SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 - Ishikawa Prefectural Industrial Exhibition Hall No. 3 (Sunday July 30th) - this event will not be streamed live.