(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: STAR NAVIGATION 2024 (Korakuen Hall, Saturday January 13th)

Rain and thunder on the Suidōbashi did not put off the 1,139 people who crowded into Korakuen Hall tonight to see the impromptu GHC Heavyweight title match between Kenoh and Go Shiozaki. Today's event can be viewed on WrestleUniverse. Japanese and English commentary is available, but you must be a subscriber to view.  

Notes

- Tadasuke celebrated his 38th birthday today. 

- Much to fans delight, a new trainee was seen at ringside today. 

MATCH ONE

3WAY TAG MATCH

Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf vs Ninja Mack & Alejandro vs HAYATA & Eita

The match started calmly enough with HAYATA, Dragon Bane and Alejandro. Eita and Ninja Mack had a chant off, and then shook hands and agreed to gang up against Alpha Wolf, with later Ninja Mack causing HAYATA to accidentally hit Eita. Then everyone naturally charged the ring. 

Winner: Dragon Bane with the TwisterBane on Alejandro (9 minutes, 2 seconds)

MATCH TWO

Shuhei Taniguchi vs Ulka Sasaki

Ulka Sasaki offered a short handshake, which was accepted. Shuhei Taniguchi did not go easy on him, and drew the match out. Sasaki did not go easy on him either and struck back with an armbar, which put Taniguchi in some peril, but Taniguchi, bigger and more experienced, soon got to the ropes.

Winner: Shuhei Taniguchi with a small package (7 minutes, 19 seconds)

Backstage Tani did a one man bounce through the comments booth.

MATCH THREE

Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura, Taishi Ozawa & Yuu Owada vs TEAM NOAH (Mohammed Yone, Akitoshi Saito, Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69)

Naomichi Marufuji had made two comments about this match; the first was what possibly could TEAM NOAH show himself and Takashi Sugiura, who has far as he was concerned, were "TEAM NOAH". The second was that he and Sugi were going to aim for Atsushi Kotoge, leaving everyone else to the youngsters, Taishi Ozawa and Yuu Owada. Takashi Sugiura said that as far as he was concerned, everyone he fought or teamed with was "TEAM NOAH". 

TEAM NOAH came out to Mohammed Yone's music. Mohammed Yone was still wearing the blue feather boa and funky glasses, but Akitoshi Saito had shed the disco-wear. He later explained that he was wearing the same gear he wore when he teamed with his "blue eyed comrade" (Bison Smith) when fighting Go Shiozaki. 

As for their opponents, the youngsters zoomed to the ring, while their seniors followed more sedately on behind. The youngsters had the bit in their teeth and were raring to show their seniors what they could do. So when Naomichi Marufuji went to start against Yone, he was pestered by Yuu Owada, who wanted to start. Then, in typical NoahBorn fashion (you get your own way by being stubborn), Taishi Ozawa joined in. Marufuji, who is wise to the ways of the NoahBorn, tagged him in. The seniors pretty much left the match to their youngsters, Ozawa in particular was on fire and came close to pinning Atsushi Kotoge, with Korakuen rising to a fever pitch to chant for him.

Winner: Atsushi Kotoge with the Moonsault Press on Taishi Ozawa (14 minutes, 26 seconds)

Backstage, Naomichi Marufuji responded to Kenoh's claim that he should join TEAM NOAH, by saying that there was no way he would ever join TEAM NOAH, when he was approached by Taishi Ozawa, who begged him to allow him to go on excursion to England. Marufuji said he would arrange things with Noah, but warned Ozawa that he wanted to see him come home changed. Ozawa will leave at the end of month (will Yoichi be coming home?) and will have some high profile singles matches with Kaito Kiyomiya, Jake Lee and Ryohei Oiwa, before leaving at the end of the month. 

MATCH FOUR

El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr & STINGER (Daga & Yoshinari Ogawa) vs Kaito Kiyomiya, Hajime Ohara & Super Crazy

As Daga swaggered around the ring, there were chants all over the hall in cacophony of noise for Yoshinari Ogawa, El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr, for Kaito Kiyomiya. Ogawa had not targeted Kiyomiya today, but nonetheless the two started off the match. Then the three Mexican's got into a fight with El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr repeatedly removing Daga by his leg from attacking Super Crazy. In the end he picked him up and put him over the ropes back on to the apron. Even Yoshinari Ogawa (who has a hidden sense of humor) joined in when he patted Daga's shoulders to calm him down. Daga, however, was insistent that he be tagged in, but when he was, Super Crazy just kicked him down and left the ring.

Winner: El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr with the Aztec Snake on Super Crazy (8 minutes, 11 seconds)

After the bell had rung, Hajime Ohara was seen purposefully striding around ringside to get a microphone. Getting inside the ring, he challenged Daga (who smirked) for the GHC Junior;

"This year, I want to do it by myself and seize the opportunities! Daga, let me challenge you next for the belt" 

Ohara made his challenge in his native Japanese, but also spoke in Spanish afterwards for Daga. Daga granted his request and the title match has been set for 4th February in Sendai. 

MATCH FIVE

Good Looking Guys (Jack Morris & LJ Cleary) vs Titus Alexander & Vinne Massaro

There seemed to be a lot of provocative taunts in this match; Jack Morris was violently enraged by Vinnie Massaro's "get lost" (which is putting it very politely as to the meaning), and later Jack giving Titus Alexander an "Up Yours" arm gesture. As soon as they got to the ring, Good Looking Guys attacked immediately as Jack wanted to send a message to Titus Alexander, the man who is challenging him for the GHC National, but in the event of things, it was him who was sent a message and not the other way round.

Winner: Titus Alexander with the Big Ugly on LJ Cleary (10 minutes, 25 seconds)

Jack might not have been the one that was pinned, but nevertheless he reacted in fury to Alexander's win as Alexander stared him out and made belt motions. Jack later put the loss down to the fact that perhaps he was jet lagged, but he praised Alexander's nerve. Titus Alexander spoke of the fact that twenty years ago his father had teamed with Vinnie Massaro, and that it was his destiny to face Jack Morris for the title. He said that you would have to be blind not to see that he wasn't going to win.

MATCH SIX

Manabu Soya vs Ryohei Oiwa

Winner: Manabu Soya with the Trajectory (11 minutes, 24 seconds)

MATCH SEVEN

Good Looking Guys (Jake Lee, Anthony Green, YO-HEY & Tadasuke) vs Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba, Shuji Kondo & Junta Miyawaki

Jake Lee has added to his costume again, the cane reappeared, but this time he had also added a monocle. Naturally, the Good Looking Guys were accompanied to the ring by their teammates, and LJ Cleary could be seen telling Owada to take care of the belts. As Jake threw Junta Miyawaki around, Shuji Kondo could be seen standing at ringside watching as Miyawaki crawled to the ropes, with Daiki Inaba and Masa Kitamiya shouting encouragement. Kondo also set an example (and a demonstration of his awesome strength) by breaking up a pin with Tadasuke on his back.

Winner: Junta Miyawaki via momentum pin over Tadasuke (16 minutes, 33 seconds)

Kondo actually seemed pleased with Junta, and smiled, while Good Looking Guys were stunned. Jake was furious, and told the cameraman to get the camera out of his face! Good Looking Guys lingered at ringside, and Junta challenged for the titles; 

"Next! Kondo-san and I will challenge for the titles!"

Jake snatched the mic from him and said;

"I don't know what happened, I'll watch WrestleUniverse later. Anyway, I know one thing; you won. It's official it's the two of you, and you'll get your answer, so wait!" 

Angrily he called Kaito Kiyomiya out to the ring. Kiyomiya of course came out, his face grim and scowling. When he got into the ring, Jake blasted him, angrily saying that at Ariake he gave Kiyomiya a wonderful baton, but what did he want to show in the ring? What did he want to convey? People wanted to see his raw emotions, so why was he here? He wanted to hear it from Kiyomiya's own lips. Kiyomiya snatched the mic from Jake and said; 

"What I do is to spread Noah. I don't care what anyone says. What is most important to me is Noah!"

Kiyomiya added that in order to do that, he needed to be the one who stood in the centre of the ring, and for that he needed to end things with Jake first. Jake suggested a six on six match between GLG and Kiyomiya's team, which have been referred to as the "Allied Forces" or "Noah's Main Unit". As there were six people in Good Looking Guys, he nominated Manabu Soya to be the one that made up the numbers in Kiyomiya's team of Kiyomiya, Kondo, Miyawaki, Kitamiya and Inaba. The showdown will take place on the 21st January. 

MATCH EIGHT

GHC Heavyweight Championship Match

Kenoh vs Go Shiozaki

This was a far cry from their one hour epics of GHC Heavyweight vs GHC National double title match, but it had its own charm. Go Shiozaki attacked Kenoh's legs and feet, which is a departure from his usual matches where he relies on chops and slams. This was a clever strategy by Shiozaki as it gave him time to recover while Kenoh tried to get the feeling back in his feet. Kenoh had stated that he had a grudging respect for Go Shiozaki, remarking in a recent interview that he had a good physique and he had an admiration for how he protected Noah during the pandemic. Perhaps this played a role in his decision later. 

Winner: Kenoh with the Flaming Ring (21 minutes, 7 seconds)

Kenoh addressed the crowd, the cameras and the ABEMA/WrestleUniverse cameras as "I AM NOAH" before informing Go Shiozaki that from today he would be leading Noah, but not from today onwards, he had always been leading Noah, but he recognized the life of someone who was going to take Noah to even greater heights. That person had debuted at Differ Ariake, Noah's sacred place. That person was Go Shiozaki. He told TEAM NOAH to raise Noah more and more, and to that end he was making a gift. The gift was the gift he himself had just received, which he was giving back, "I AM NOAH". Once Shiozaki had gone, Kenoh addressed the audience saying that he would lead Noah and take Noah to even greater heights.

Guerrero Azteca

Kenoh's next challenger was both an unlikely one, but a breath of fresh air in a small promotion, which at the moment doesn't have much choices when it comes to challengers. Breaking away from the cycle of the usual heavyweights, El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr came out. Speaking in Spanish he told Kenoh that he had wanted to challenge him in 2019, but now his chance had come in 2024. Kenoh told him that he couldn't understand most of what he said, but he did understand the word "challenge". He rated Wagner highly, and so the answer was yes. Kenoh offered a handshake, Wagner accepted and then pulled Kenoh close so the two were butting heads. The title match has been set for the 4th February in Sendai. Sendai of course is the home of Kenoh's home promotion, Michinoku Pro. 

With thanks to: Metal-Noah

Noah's next event: SUNNY VOYAGE 2024 (Shinjuku FACE, Wednesday 17th January) - live on WrestleUniverse