(NOAH) "As a former GHC Heavyweight Champion, it is a disgrace" Kenoh condemns Kaito Kiyomiya, who lost in the New Japan G1 preliminary round.

Tokyo Sports

12th August 2023

Noah's Kenoh (38) cut down Kaito Kiyomiya (27) who was eliminated in the preliminaries at New Japan's Midsummer Festival, the G1 Climax. 

Kiyomiya missed Noah's singles tournament, N-1 VICTORY, to enter the G1. With 2 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws in A Block, he did not advance to the quarterfinals. For that reason, Kenoh said harshly, "As a former GHC heavyweight champion, failing in the preliminaries is a disgrace. That defeat seriously must be taken seriously, and never forgotten." Furthermore, after the defeat, Kiyomiya commented, "I don't think the road to the leading role is over yet for me. G1 Climax, I'll be back!" Kenoh said, "From what I can see from his comments, rather than frustration, the feeling of relief at finishing the G1 preliminaries seems to be stronger, and he doesn't even talk about Noah at all." To Kiyomiya's desire to participate in the G1 next year, he encouraged the ace, who is also his rival, "If there will be an N-1 at the same time, I don't know about that of course. If you think there will be another chance next year, then you are probably naïve. If he was really frustrated, he would have been able to get into the N-1 the moment he was eliminated from the qualifying rounds. That's what I wanted to see."

In the N-1 Block A official matches at Korakuen on the 11th, he defeated Yuki Yoshioka of DragonGate, and won his second victory. Kenoh declared, "I'll keep winning like this and win the championship", and take Kiyomiya's place.

Translated from Tokyo Sports

Picture credit: Tokyo Sports