(NOAH) Event recap: SUNNY VOYAGE 2023 (Yokohama Radiant Hall, Saturday October 14th)

Noah announced an attendance of 340 people today at the little but beloved venue of Yokohama Radiant Hall, which saw a dismal night for Good Looking Guys in particular. Event can be viewed on WrestleUniverse (you must be a subscriber to view).

MATCH ONE

Manabu Soya & Taishi Ozawa vs Daiki Inaba & Yu Owada

The two young boys raced to the ring, while their seniors followed at a more sedate pace. Yu Owada (who seems to have suddenly grown a full head of hair) and Taishi Ozawa started the match, putting into practice what they had learned recently when training with Takashi Sugiura at the Gloria Wrestling Club (where Sugi also teaches). 

Rather than fight each other too much, Daiki Inaba and Manabu Soya left the majority of action to the youngsters with Soya once getting into the ring, not breaking the pin, but urging his young partner on. 

Winner: Taishi Ozawa with the Boston Crab on Yu Owada (10 minutes, 13 seconds)

MATCH TWO

Ninja Mack & Alejandro & Terry Yaki vs Atsushi Kotoge, Hi69 & Hajime Ohara

A minor incident at the start of this match illustrated the sad fact that there are no trainees in the Noah dojo, when Hajime Ohara found there was no one at ringside to give his t-shirt to, so he threw it on the apron. That aside, this was a somewhat quirky match with Atsushi Kotoge randomly returning Ninja Mack's (by far the loudest person in the match) bow and Alejandro (whose name the crowd have shortened back to "Aleja") getting a "Terry Yaki" chant going. Fresh from his Noah debut at MONDAY MAGIC Episode 1, Terry Yaki tonight made his mainstream roster Noah debut by facing some of the seniors in the junior division, and winning.

Winner: Terry Yaki with the Yaki Crusher on HI69 (11 minutes, 57 seconds)

Ninja Mack and Alejandro got another Terry Yaki chant going after the match as their seniors limped off. 

MATCH THREE

Go Shiozaki & Junta Miyawaki vs Masa Kitamiya & Kai Fujimura

Kai Fujimura continues his uphill journey as not only did the feud between himself and Junta Miyawaki come to the fore, he also got chopped in midair when he tried to dive at Go Shiozaki from the top rope. Fujimura was not the main target however, Masa Kitamiya also came in for his share when he charged at Shiozaki, however his chops did not deter him and he carried on going. Shiozaki threw some pretty mean lariats, but like Kitamiya, Fujimura was not going to be deterred and almost stole the win by rolling up Shiozaki on momentum (twice). He paid for his folly by getting knocked down with (and kicking out of) the rolling elbow and then being pinned.

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with a (prolonged) Go Flasher on Kai Fujimura (13 minutes, 18 seconds)

MATCH FOUR

HAYATA vs Stallion Rogers

This was a rare singles match for both. Stallion Rogers offered a handshake, but HAYATA being HAYATA, went and stood in a corner. Stallion, who has been in Noah long enough to know what HAYATA is like, walked off smiling and nodding. As the heavyweight, Stallion tended to dominate, but HAYATA's strategy was to wind him up and drive him into a rage as he wouldn't allow himself to be pinned, a strategy that worked. 

WINNER: HAYATA pinned Stallion Rogers (9 minutes, 50 seconds)

HAYATA sassed Rogers by holding up three fingers and then posing with the belt, quietly nodding at him, Rogers had to both acknowledge defeat and HAYATA as the absolute Noah Junior champion. Backstage, HAYATA said simply that he would defeat Daga and then go overseas. 

MATCH FIVE

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

LJ Cleary made his Noah debut at MONDAY MAGIC Episode 1, and on the same night screwed over Ryohei Oiwa to join Good Looking Guys. So this was a grudge match that ended in a title challenge for the GHC Heavyweight Tag. The match fell into Kaito Kiyomiya (who had just returned from overseas, you can read an interview of his time there here) targeting Anthony Green and Oiwa naturally focusing on Cleary. Cleary made sobbing motions at Oiwa and then ran off when he went for him when the began, he repeated this to the groans and boos of the crowd. Oiwa did manage to get hold of Cleary eventually, during which he made some kind of Vogue type movements. 

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Transformed Shining Wizard on Anthony Green (12 minutes)

After the match, Kiyomiya challenged Anthony Green (and partner Jack Morris who was absent today) for the GHC Heavyweight Tag. His partner will be Ryohei Oiwa. Oiwa had said he was going to destroy not only Cleary by Good Looking Guys too, but backstage today he said that he was going to be the one to win the titles, not Kiyomiya. Title match will take place on the 4th November at the Niigata City gymnasium. 

MATCH SIX

Dragon Bane vs YO-HEY

After their initial skirmish, Dragon Bane offered YO-HEY a handshake, YO-HEY initially ignored him (although Dragon Bane was kind of chasing him around the ring) and when he took it, he kicked him in the stomach. During the match they went into the crowd following a dive from Dragon Bane, YO-HEY remained down and seemingly dazed (this was made worse when Bane dragged him up and stiffed him), while Kotoge was taken down too. Naomichi Marufuji later commented that Kotoge, as a second, had been taken out twice.

Winner: Dragon Bane pinned YO-HEY (with a series of reversal maneuvers in 12 minutes and 15 second) 

YO-HEY contested the loss with the referee, who said no, his shoulders were down for three and then he and Dragon Bane got into a slight shoving match before YO-HEY flounced off. Now it was up to Alpha Wolf to complete the evening for Los Golpeadores, and either him or Kenoh to ruin the evening completely for Good Looking Guys. 

MATCH SEVEN

Good Looking Guys (Jake Lee & Tadasuke) vs Kenoh & Alpha Wolf

Kenoh let Alpha Wolf go to the ring before him, and stood at the door making his fist pose. Jake Lee came to the ring pausing every now and again to give fans some mints that came from his hometown, Kitami (where he has been made the Tourism Ambassador of), while Tadasuke paraded around wildly. Jake would later find out that he had to keep wild Tadasuke focused, especially when they were ganging up on Kenoh. In the ring, Jake and Kenoh squared up, while Alpha Wolf pointed at Tadasuke. Poor Tadasuke found himself very much the target of his opponents, even more than Jake, at one point Kenoh held his arm out for Jake to tag in (he also worked to keep Jake out of the ring when Alpha Wolf was fighting Tadasuke). 

Winner: Kenoh with the Kenoh Special on Tadasuke (17 minutes, 34 seconds)

Kenoh closed out the show, starting with an interaction with Jake;

Kenoh: Hey, Jake! Congratulations on being the Kitami Tourism Ambassador! I have just one thing to say to you about that, you look really good!

Jake (confused): Thank you...

Kenoh carried on as Jake left hurriedly (as he usually does when humiliated);

"Looks really good as Tourism Ambassador, but, the GHC Heavyweight belt doesn't suit him at all, right? If he's the champion, and has the helm of Noah, where will he take it? He might be able to take Noah to the curling ring where there are a lot of Olympic athletes, but can he take Noah to a place where you can see the spectacular scenery of the pro wrestling world? I will defeat him on October 28th in Fukuoka, and I will take the helm. I once again promise that I'll take all you assholes to a place where you can see the spectacular scenery of the pro wrestling world! The next time I come back here to Yokohama, I will be the new GHC Heavyweight Champion! As I become the new GHC Heavyweight Champion, from now on....follow me!"

(Note, Kitami, Hokkaido is known for it's curling team)

Afterwards, Kenoh and Alpha Wolf posed together, fist bumped and Alpha Wolf indicated to Kenoh that he believed that he (Kenoh) would be the next GHC Heavyweight Champion.

Noah's next event: STAR NAVIGATION 2023, Korakuen Hall (Friday, October 20th 2023) - live on WrestleUniverse.

Picture credit (Owada/Ozawa): Weekly Pro Official