(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: SUNNY VOYAGE 2024 (Kumamoto Castle Hall Civic Hall, Kumamoto - Sunday 10th March)

The Victory Challenge Tag League wound up tonight in Kumamoto, which is the hometown of both Go Shiozaki and Daiki Inaba. Noah announced an attendance of 465 people. Event can be viewed on WrestleUniverse, but you must be a subscriber to view (commentary is in Japanese). 

MATCH ONE

TEAM NOAH (Mohammed Yone, Akitoshi Saito & Hi69) vs Hajime Ohara, Alejandro & Super Crazy

Following on from yesterday when Mohammed Yone was helped to the back by his teammates, and then did not appear with TEAM NOAH later, Yone seemed to be okay though in today's match. 

WINNER: Mohammed Yone with the Kinniku Meat Buster on Alejandro (7 minutes, 21 seconds)

MATCH TWO

VICTORY CHALLENGE TAG LEAGUE

Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba vs Takashi Sugiura & Ulka Sasaki

Being at the bottom of the table with four points, Takashi Sugiura and Ulka Sasaki knew that they couldn't go to the finals, but there was nothing to stop them winning and getting the last two which would take them above their opponents, and so while the crowd called for Daiki Inaba (the aforementioned hometown boy), Sugiura left Ulka to fight for those two points. 

WINNER: Ulka Sasaki with the Triangle choke on Daiki Inaba (11 minutes, 19 seconds)

Final scores: Takashi Sugiura & Ulka Sasaki 6, Daiki Inaba and Masa Kitamiya 5

MATCH THREE

VICTORY CHALLENGE TAG LEAGUE

Manabu Soya & Shuji Kondo vs Los Golpeadores (Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf)

Dragon Bane was the one at the disadvantage here, as he did (and does) not have the size and power of Shuji Kondo, Manabu Soya or even his older brother, but he does have the speed that his opponents don't and he used this to his advantage, but his opponents also used the fact that he didn't have their size or strength to their advantage. Manabu Soya, who has proven to be very adaptable when the situation calls for it, had a few of his own tricks, although naturally he was not on the same level as Los Golpeadores. 

WINNER: Dragon Bane with the TwisterBane on Shuji Kondo (12 minutes, 25 seconds)

Final scores: Los Golpeadores 9, Shuji Kondo & Manabu Soya 5

Alpha Wolf couldn't get into the ring as he was on the floor at ringside with a back problem, but he was able to walk unassisted. Los Golpeadores with a score of 9 points were now potentially going to the finals. 

MATCH FOUR

LJ Cleary vs Junta Miyawaki

An odd moment occurred when LJ (who had been posing, something he had been doing since he came to the ring) seemed to dive at the ropes and accidentally crotch himself, which gave Junta the advantage, but not for long.

WINNER: LJ Cleary with Cow Killing (6 minutes, 23 seconds)

MATCH FIVE

VICTORY CHALLENGE TAG LEAGUE

Kenoh & Yu Owada vs REAL (Saxon Huxley & Timothy Thatcher)

This was probably the toughest test for young Yu Owada, and the toughest test for Kenoh too, as he had to guide him through this match. Kenoh blew out his cheers and let Owada start, but he was back in the ring in a few seconds as the unblinking Saxon Huxley and Timothy Thatcher, soon attacked the boy, and Kenoh had to break the pin. More than ever, Kenoh had to keep an eye on Owada, assisting with pins and breaking pins, but the match couldn't last long as Kenoh couldn't be everywhere at once. The match was easy for REAL, but very difficult for Kenoh, but at least he and Owada could take solace in the fact that they had won something and didn't finish with nothing.

WINNER: Saxon Huxley with the Neck Hanging Bomb on Yu Owada (3 minutes, 28 seconds)

Final scores:  REAL 10, Kenoh & Yu Owada 5

Los Golpeadores were there to greet REAL, as for now, both teams were the highest scorers and looked as if they were going to go to the finals. It all depended on the next match, however. Thatcher had to restrain Saxon, and left pointing at them. Backstage, Kenoh said that he was disappointed not to have gotten to the finals, but he reflected that the experience of the league had been good for Owada. Perhaps it was as Genichiro Tenryu had once said, "This one win is more important than The Dome". 

MATCH SIX

VICTORY CHALLENGE TAG LEAGUE

TEAM NOAH (Go Shiozaki & Atsushi Kotoge) vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa

Kaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa acted like a pair of wolves in this match, tying with TEAM NOAH, nothing was going to stand in the way of their dream of holding the GHC Heavyweight Tag Titles together. Atsushi Kotoge was their target, and they practically ripped him apart. He fought back like hell, but you got the impression that he was being kept away from the herd. He was encouraged at ringside by TEAM NOAH, but there was also an element of protectiveness (or was it determination not to rely on his heavyweight partner) in not letting them get to Shiozaki, as everyone noticed it when he kind of pushed Kiyomiya away from Shiozaki. 

WINNER: Ryohei Oiwa with the Doctor Bomb on Atsushi Kotoge (16 minutes, 52 seconds)

Final scores: Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa 9, TEAM NOAH 7

With three teams finishing on 9 points; Los Golpeadores, REAL and now Kaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa, Noah took the decision to announce the finals would be Kaito Kiyomiya vs REAL. Los Golpeadores were heartbroken, but have vowed that they will try again. 

MATCH SEVEN

Good Looking Guys (Jake Lee, Jack Morris & Anthony Green vs Naomichi Marufuji, HAYATA & Ninja Mack)

For the first time in a while, Ninja Mack came out wearing the GHC Hardcore, and HAYATA came out and ignored everyone, and refused to shake hands with his teammates. Jack Morris started the match, shouting loudly for HAYATA to get in the ring. HAYATA, after a few seconds of being stubborn, tagged Ninja Mack in after a split second, and so Jack tagged in Jake. Throughout the match, HAYATA wound Jack up by doing things like tagging in when he wanted, but not against Jack, and preventing Anthony Green from tagging in Jack, (fans said that HAYATA was very Ogawa-like). Jack grew increasingly more angry during the match yelling at HAYATA, "COME HEEEERE!"

WINNER: Jack Morris with the Tiger Driver on Ninja Mack (11 minutes, 33 seconds)

Despite Jack telling him to get into the ring and challenge, HAYATA just waved at him dismissively, and walked off. Backstage, HAYATA was as cryptic as ever, saying he didn't know about whether or not he was aiming for the GHC National. When asked about using the Tiger Driver in Hiroshima, he now said that it didn't mean anything, he had just never used it before. 

MATCH NINE

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

GOOD LOOKING GUYS (YO-HEY & TADASUKE) VS STINGER (Daga & Yoshinari Ogawa)

Yoshinari Ogawa was on the attack even before the bell rang, and went to tear the belt off from around Tadasuke's waist, this was before biffing him in the head when Tadasuke had pushed him away. For YO-HEY, this was the final night of torture that he had to endure at their hands, and they really put him through the ringer, at one point Ogawa slammed him on to the concrete, and Daga even used him as a weapon to attack Tadasuke with. Tadasuke led a big YO-HEY chant as YO-HEY had to dig deep down, even when STINGER cheated by removing the turnbuckle pad which backfired when YO-HEY threw Ogawa into them, and then delivered a massive dropkick to him. GLG however had a few tricks of their own, and Ogawa (without any self awareness) was seen to complain to the ref from the apron)

WINNER: YO-HEY pinned Yoshinari Ogawa with a momentum pin (22 minutes, 15 seconds)

On being pinned in this way, Ogawa went mad, complaining to the ref that the count wasn't three, and even throwing down the turnbuckle pads in anger. I thought that given Daga's trust that Ogawa would always be with him, that he would turn on him, but YO-HEY kind of diffused the situation when he challenged Daga for the GHC Junior. Daga spoke Mexican to this, saying what can be roughly translated as "Let me tell you this one thing first of all, Viva La Raza!" (this basically means that he as the GHC Junior Champion, El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr as the GHC Heavyweight Champion and probably even Los Golpeadores, are united), agreed to YO-HEY's request, but warned that if Tadasuke wasn't good enough, did he think he was? He said he was going to "break" YO-HEY. Backstage, YO-HEY warned Daga that the YO-HEY who was going to appear before him, was going to be a very different YO-HEY. Title match has been set for the 17th March at the Yokohama Budokan, the same night as El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jnr will defend the title against Jake Lee, the leader of Good Looking Guys. 

MATCH EIGHT

VICTORY CHALLENGE TAG LEAGUE WINNERS

Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa vs REAL (Timothy Thatcher & Saxon Huxley)

Timothy Thatcher, after being chased from the ring by the exuberant Kaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa, told them to "play by the rules". His habitual scowl only changed when Kiyomiya seemed to be knocked for six and lay not moving. This wasn't going to be the easy victory that he thought, even after he softened him up with some knees to the back and submission moves, as Kiyomiya, as groggy as he was, refused to quit. Oiwa showed his inventive side during the match as when Kiyomiya was caught in the Fujiwara armbar, and Oiwa was being held back by Huxley, Oiwa managed to break the hold by breaking free and throwing himself at Kiyomiya. Kiyomiya (complete with hand signs) channeled Keiji Mutoh to get the win.

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya with the Transformed Shining Wizard (22 minutes, 24 seconds)

Kaito Kiyomiya an Ryohei Oiwa had won the Victory Challenge Tag League, and with it the chance to challenge the tag champions. Small trophies were handed to them, which is not something you see much in Noah these days (there used to be a time when Noah handed them out after every title defense), as Kiyomiya's music planed, and then stopped as the tag champions (Jack Morris and Anthony Green) came out to the ring. Anthony clapped sarcastically, and Jack pointed as if to say "Look at them there". The music was then cut with Anthony's very American wrestling phrase, "Cut the music!". Anthony said sarcastically they came out to say "congratulations", Jack told them to go celebrate as next week they were going to kick their asses and walk out the same way they came in, as champions. Then when the two teams squared up, he said their trophies were "probably made of chocolate" whereas the championship belts that they had, were made of gold.

When the smug champions had gone, Kiyomiya closed out the show. It had been seven months since he and Ryohei Oiwa had teamed up, and he felt like they had finally turned a corner and were now seeing results. The league had started with a loss to Saxon Huxley and Timothy Thatcher, but now here they were, defeating them and winning the league. He thanked everyone for coming and everyone for watching WrestleUniverse, and spoke about dreams coming true if they continued to look to the future, no matter the situation. A week from now would be the title match (it has been set for the Yokohama Budokan on 17th March), and they would walk away with the belts. 

Noah's next event: SUNNY VOYAGE 2024 (Monday March 11th, KDDI Ishin Hall, Yamaguchi) ~ Live on WrestleUniverse.