(NOAH) Kenoh makes an angry suggestion about the "issue of the main" of ignoring fans: "We should just do it in an empty arena."

6th December 2023

Tokyo Sports

If so, there will be no audience. 

Noah's GHC Heavyweight champion Kenoh (38), has expressed his thoughts on the "issue of the main" of the show to be held at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on January 2nd next near. At the same event, Kenoh will make his first defense against Manabu Soya (38), but Noah announced that the first singles match between Naomichi Marufuji and Kota Ibushi (also known as "Golden Star"), will be the main event, which has stirred up controversy among fans. 

Kenoh, who has been objecting to this situation since the beginning, dropped a bombshell as fans voiced doubts about the selection of "Marufuji vs Ibushi", Kenoh also posted on his YouTube channel. Expressing anger and saying things like, "Is the GHC Heavyweight belt really that light?" In response to the situation, CyberFight director, Narihiro Takeda, who oversees Noah, announced in the promotion's official "Note" on the 4th, that he had decided on the main himself. Furthermore, he paid tribute to the achievements of Marufuji, who declared on the radio in November that he would retire in five years, emphasizing that "The Ariake Arena event will definitely be a turning point in the final chapter of Naomichi Marufuji". When Kenoh saw this he pointed out, "All of Noah's wrestlers are aiming for the GHC belt, but from looking at that note, it seems like the company thinks that Marufuji's retirement road is more important." 

At the Nippon Budokan show on New Year's Day of this year, he fought Kaito Kiyomiya, the reigning champion, for the GHC Heavyweight, but the main event was given to the match between The Great Muta (the incarnation of Keiji Mutoh, who retired in February of this year), and Shinsuke Nakamura. In light of this Kenoh said, "Even if I gave way for the sake of argument this year, it would be wrong to make a retirement road in five years the main thing next year." He added sarcastically, "However, it's going to be tough for Marufuji-kun from now on. If you read the Note, all the big matches for the next five years will be Marufuji in the main. Good luck with that." Moreover, he is proud of his activities both inside and outside of the ring, laughing derisively at himself he said, "For the past year, I have been busier than Marufuji-kun, working almost non-stop. But even so, I couldn't match Marufuji-kun's level of contribution, so it's natural for my motivation to be low, right?" It will be interesting to see if the match order is a double main, a semi or something else, but Kenoh laughed and announced an unexpected plan, "It would be boring to do something as mundane as a fan vote. If you are going to ignore the voices of the fans this much, then why not have a dark match? Or better yet, do an empty arena before the doors open"/ 

How will the "issue of the main" that is causing ripples be resolved? 

Translated from Tokyo Sports

Picture credit: Tokyo Sports