(NOAH) CARD PREVIEW: STAR NAVIGATION 2023 (Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Friday 24th November)


BROADCAST DETAILS
Doors open: 17:30 JST 
First bell: 18:30 JST
Broadcast: Live on ABEMA (from 18:20 JST) & WrestleUniverse (from 18:30 JST)

WrestleUniverse will broadcast the event with English commentary, this service is for subscribers only. ABEMA will broadcast the show free of charge, worldwide, and with Japanese commentary. There is no repeat viewing of the show on ABEMA, although it will get uploaded to WrestleUniverse soon afterwards. If you are outside of Japan and you miss the live broadcast, please do not subscribe to ABEMA as finding a VPN that is compatible can be time consuming and expensive as it tends to be random as to whom it works for, a subscription to WrestleUniverse is a far better investment. ABEMA do not show any Noah coverage that is not on WrestleUniverse, and they do not have the rights to show any classic Noah either. 

Current Champions (and challengers)

GHC Heavyweight: Kenoh
Challenger: Manabu Soya
Title match: ABEMA PRESENTS NOAH "THE NEW YEAR" 2024 (Tuesday, January 2nd 2024 - Ariake Arena, Tokyo)

GHC Junior Heavyweight: Daga
Challenger: Shuji Kondo
Title match: STAR NAVIGATION 2023 (Friday, November 24h 2023 - Korakuen Hall, Tokyo)

GHC Heavyweight Tag: Good Looking Guys (Anthony Green and Jack Morris)
Challengers: Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba
Title match:  STAR NAVIGATION 2023 (Friday, November 24th 2023 - Korakuen Hall, Tokyo)

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag: Los Golpeadores (Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf)
Challengers: Good Looking Guys (YO-HEY & Tadasuke) & Ninja Mack & Alejandro (three way match)
Title match: ABEMA PRESENTS NOAH "THE NEW YEAR" 2024 (Tuesday, January 2nd 2024 - Ariake Arena, Tokyo)

GHC National: Jack Morris
Challenger: Hajime Ohara
Title match: NOAH the BEST 2023 (Saturday December 2nd, Yokohama Budokan)

GHC HARDCORE: Masato Tanaka
Challenger: TBA


Noah will also announce a partial card for the Ariake Arena event on 2nd January 2024. 

CARD
(Yoshinari Ogawa will be absent due to symptoms of dizziness) 

MATCH ONE
Junta Miyawaki vs Taishi Ozawa 

MATCH TWO
Los Golpeadores (Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf), X-Treme Tiger & Super Crazy vs Ninja Mack, Alejandro, TERRY YAKI & Hajime Ohara

Wild pre match on what will no doubt be a wild night at Korakuen following a tour in the snowy countryside this month. 

MATCH THREE
Takashi Sugiura, Go Shiozaki & Kazuyuki Fujita vs REAL (Saxon Huxley, Timothy Thatcher & Shuhei Taniguchi)

Takashi Sugiura said that this was an interesting tag with people who he doesn't really team up with very much. No doubt with the three man huddle/bounce between REAL, Kazuyuki Fujita will be lured over to their side, and then much to their irritancy, fight with the team he is on.

MATCH FOUR
HAYATA & Eita vs LEONA & Kai Fujimura

With the absence of Yoshinari Ogawa, young Kai Fujimura has been drafted in to team with LEONA against two former GHC Junior Heavyweight champions, HAYATA in particular, the "absolute champion". LEONA'S obsession with Eita continues, but it is a singles he wants with him, not the tags he has been put in.

MATCH FIVE
*The "Good Looking Gyoza" match*
Good Looking Guys (Jake Lee, LJ Cleary, YO-HEY & Tadasuke) vs Naomichi Marufuji, Titus Alexander, Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69

Jake Lee seems to have relaxed a lot since losing the GHC Heavyweight Championship, and freed from that responsibility, a new playful side has come out. After asking Go Shiozaki how is ass was after eating spicy food, he has now said to Naomichi Marufuji (after Marufuji started a "A Good Looking Gyoza" hashtag) that if he beats him, then he has to come with Good Looking Guys to Tokyo's famous Kameido Gyoza restaurant. Marufuji was less than enthusiastic to begin with, but has since warmed to the idea, although his condition is that he will go if he (Marufuji) wins. Fans are wondering if this could lead to Marufuji's drinking challenge. Elsewhere on the card, Titus Alexander (Kenta Kobashi endorsed), who made his debut at MONDAY MAGIC, will make his debut on a mainstream Noah show.

MATCH SIX
Kenoh, El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr & Stallion Rogers vs Manabu Soya, Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa

So far in the pre-matches, Manabu Soya has not had the direct win over Kenoh, although Kenoh has over him. Kenoh also recently stated in an interview that he does not consider Soya a "rival", and has said repeatedly both on the mic and backstage, that Soya is not "on my level" and needs to work to get there. As well as dealing with Soya, Kenoh also gets the pleasure of Kaito Kiyomiya (who he does consider a rival) and of course Kiyomiya's partner, Ryohei Oiwa.

MATCH SEVEN
GHC Tag Championship Match
Good Looking Guys (Jack Morris & Anthony Green) vs Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba

Anthony Green hasn't been overly successful in the pre matches, the majority of which he has fought in singles, but Jack Morris has and he had fought far less and in tags, I wonder if this will grate on Anthony Green somehow. Morris goes into this match a self satisfied double champion...will he walk out as one?

MATCH EIGHT
GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship Match

Daga, who claims that he is "best junior champion of all time" and Shuji Kondo who says that his aim is to return the Noah Juniors to their golden age and to set an example to everyone, not just Junta Miyawaki. Kondo has powered through the pre matches, even sending Daga a message after a match by giving him the King Kong lariat to both the front and the back of his head, and even doing it to him after the match. With HAYATA, Daga was on a more even level, in that he only had to outwit him, physicality was not an issue, in the match with Kondo he will need to use all his strength, all his speed and all his cunning to make up for this deficit between them. As for the challenger? I get the feeling it may well be Eita. 

Picture credit: ABEMA

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