(NOAH) CARD PREVIEW: ABEMA presents DEMOLITION STAGE 2023 in FUKUOKA (Fukuoka International Center, Fukuoka, October 28th)

Broadcast details

Doors open: 14:30 JST

Start: 16:00 JST

Broadcast: ABEMA & WrestleUniverse

The ABEMA broadcast will be free to view worldwide, but please note you cannot watch any replays should you miss part of the event, also the commentary will be in Japanese. WrestleUniverse will have English commentary, but you will need a subscription to view. For the fans outside of Japan, WrestleUniverse is a much better investment as ABEMA can be notoriously difficult in finding a VPN to work, and in any case, they do not show any Noah shows that WrestleUniverse do not. The stream (WrestleUniverse at least) will begin at 16:00 JST, ABEMA may start a little earlier. 

Current Champions (and challengers)

GHC Heavyweight: Jake Lee

Challenger: Kenoh

Title match: ABEMA presents DEMOLITION STAGE 2023 in FUKUOKA (Saturday, October 28th, Fukuoka International Center, Fukuoka)

Media: Jake Lee gives an exclusive interview to BodySlam.net

GHC Junior Heavyweight: HAYATA

Challenger: Daga

Title match: DEMOLITION STAGE 2023 in NIIGATA (Saturday, November 4th, Niigata City Gymnasium)

GHC Heavyweight Tag: Good Looking Guys (Anthony Green and Jack Morris)

Challengers: Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa

Title match: DEMOLITION STAGE 2023 in NIIGATA (Saturday, November 4th, Niigata City Gymnasium)

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag: Los Golpeadores (Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf)

Challengers: Good Looking Guys (YO-HEY and Tadasuke)

Title match: ABEMA presents DEMOLITION STAGE 2023 in FUKUOKA (Saturday, October 28th, Fukuoka International Center, Fukuoka)

GHC National: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr

Challenger: Jack Morris

Title match: ABEMA presents DEMOLITION STAGE 2023 in FUKUOKA (Saturday, October 28th, Fukuoka International Center, Fukuoka)

GHC HARDCORE: Masato Tanaka

Challenger: TBA

Recap of Noah's last event

Card

On the card tonight we have Katsuhiko Nakajima's farewell, Seiki Yoshioka's last Noah match before his break, and three title matches. 

MATCH ONE

(DARK MATCH)

Akitoshi Saito, Stallion Rogers & Kai Fujimura vs Mohammed Yone, Taishi Ozawa & Yu Owada

MATCH TWO

Shuji Kondo, Seiki Yoshioka, Ninja Mack, Alejandro & TERRY YAKI vs Atsushi Kotoge, Hi69, Hajime Ohara, X-Treme Tiger & Junta Miyawaki

This will be Seiki Yoshioka's last Noah match for 2023. He himself says he is taking a break after fifteen years on the go as a Pro Wrestler. He hasn't made up his mind what he wants to do yet, but he has hinted that he may like to return. 

MATCH THREE

Good Looking Guys (Anthony Green & LJ Cleary) vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa

Ryohei Oiwa hasn't done well in the pre matches recently, being beaten twice by both Jack Morris and Anthony Green recently, plus the elimination by Green in the rumble at Monday Magic Episode 2, this is unfortunate when you consider he went into this somewhat successful. Kaito Kiyomiya is back by his side tonight, which may make the matter better or worse.

MATCH FOUR

Masa Kitamiya, Manabu Soya & Daiki Inaba vs REAL (Hideki Suzuki, Saxon Huxley & Shuhei Taniguchi)

Two beefy units go to war.

MATCH FIVE

HAYATA & Eita vs STINGER (Daga & Yoshinari Ogawa)

Since HAYATA played Daga at his own game and cheated to win (HAYATA had his feet on the ropes, which the referee didn't see), Daga has used other underhand tactics to win, namely getting the match thrown out by claiming that HAYATA used a chair on him or kicked him in the groin. HAYATA is yet to sink to this level, but he has been getting frustrated, throwing the referee out of the ring in Kumamoto and giving Daga the 403. To Daga this method of winning is clever, to HAYATA, this is just petty.

MATCH SIX

Katsuhiko Nakajima's last Noah match

AXIZ (Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima) vs Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura

Katsuhiko Nakajima makes his last Noah appearance (they are saying "for now", but this will be for a long time) and teams with AXIZ, before they have what they are calling their own break. They take on their seniors, Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura, both who have known Nakajima since he was a chubby faced freckled teenager, who came to Noah with Kensuke Sasaki. There is talk from AXIZ of their opponents being their "wall", but there is also a shared history between the four of them; the "Golden Era" of Noah, the darkness that followed, and the long awaited dawn that finally broke. This is going to be an emotional match for everyone involved, not just the fans. 

MATCH SEVEN

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

Los Golpeadores (Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf) vs Good Looking Guys (YO-HEY & Tadasuke)

If YO-HEY and Tadasuke can recover the belts tonight, then the Good Looking Guys unit is on the way to dominating both the heavyweight and the junior divisions. If not, the Lucha brothers already have their challengers waiting in the wings of Ninja Mack and Alejandro. The brothers have become targets for teams wanting revenge. 

MATCH EIGHT

GHC National Championship

El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr vs Jack Morris

When Jack Morris made this challenge, El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr was bloody, his mask torn, and emotional following the match against Psycho Clown. That match bought out a new dynamic in him, and hardened him towards Morris's challenge. Friends and rivals, the last time Morris challenged, he was hurt by it. Now he is treating Jack's challenge as just another bump on his championship road.

MATCH NINE

GHC Heavyweight Championship

Jake Lee vs Kenoh

Noah ran a small poll at Korakuen Hall asking fans who they thought would win out of Kenoh and Jake Lee. Overwhelmingly, fans voted for Kenoh. Jake I think was a little hurt by this, but is ready to capitalize on it, saying that he won't let those six who voted for him down (thirty one voted for Kenoh). Fans are looking to Kenoh to take the belt and steer Noah to the top of the mountain, as he himself has been saying that he will do, saying in the process that there is nowhere Jake can take Noah. This title match has become known as "Stop The Jake" (which is similar to "Stop The Matsunaga" from a few years ago). This is going to be an emotionally charged match in a highly emotionally charged evening.

Picture credit: WrestleUniverse