(NOAH) "Isn't that supposed to be the main event!" on YouTube Kenoh is furious at the semi final of the July 13th Budokan show - Naomichi Marufuji vs AJ Styles

19th June 2024

Hochi News

Pro Wrestling Noah's "ALL REBELLION" Kenoh, updated his YouTube channel, "The Kenoh Channel", on the 19th, and expressed his indignation over the order of matches for the 13th July at the Nippon Budokan.

The main event at the Budokan is a title match between the GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya and Yoshiki Inamura (now known as "YOICHI"). The special singles match between WWE'S AJ Styles and Naomichi Marufuji, which was announced at the 16th June BUNTAI show in Yokohama, has been moved to the semi finals. Kenoh was furious at this, saying angrily "Shouldn't Naomichi Marufuji vs AJ Styles be the main event?" He explained the reason for this by saying that the semi-final match between himself, who was the GHC Heavyweight Champion at the time, and Manabu Soya on January 2nd at the Ariake Arena was infuriating, as the main event was Marufuji vs Kota Ibushi. Kenoh explained that "Those guys in the company said that Marufuji would retire in five years, so they said they wanted to create a path to his retirement, and that's why they made Marufuji vs Ibushi the main event, right? Why isn't it the main event this time? And, this is AJ Styles, a top WWE wrestler who never appears in another promotion. And he's the top of the top. Marufuji is going to fight him, right? I hate to say this, but there are more people who want to see him than Kota Ibushi. There are high expectations, so why isn't this the main event? Make it the main event, when you made it when it was me!" 

Regarding the match order, which could be perceived as a lack of consistency in the promotion's direction, he repeatedly asserted, "That kind of inconsistency is not good. They should have made this the main event and stirred up controversy again. Are you fucking kidding me? Why are you just going to put it there? You are not taking the GHC Heavyweight seriously, are you? This is Marufuji's "Road to Retirement", so I want you to make a proper way for him to go*"

However, after Ibushi in January, Marufuji retracted his plan to retire in five years, and the "Retirement Road" that Kenoh mentioned, has now vanished. Furthermore, viewers pointed out that "I think he reflected on it after what Kenoh said". It was also pointed out that the reason behind the decision to make the GHC Heavyweight as the main event this time, was that Kenoh's opinion from five months ago was accepted. Kenoh reflected, "Maybe he realized how important the GHC Heavyweight is to Pro Wrestling Noah?" Then regaining his composure, Kenoh said, "It feels like I've accomplished one of my reforms. If I hadn't said it back then, it's highly likely that things wouldn't have turned out like this, right? So, I guess it's okay." 

After getting angry, he finally understood and expressed his strong emotions towards the Budokan on July 13th, but sent a message to Kiyomiya saying, "If you could put on a fight that would surpass Marufuji-kun* vs AJ Styles, it would raise the prestige of the GHC even more. Do you understand, Kiyomiya?"

Notes

*As seen on a recent social media exchange between himself and Naomichi Marufuji this week, Kenoh is refusing to believe that Marufuji is now not retiring. 

*Kun: The suffix "kun" in this situation is used by a senior to a junior, and Marufuji and Sugiura sometimes address Kenoh as "Kenoh-Kun" (or Ken-kun) to show the fact that they are his seniors. Kenoh, however, uses it back to them as a mark of (kayfabe) disrespect, as in reality he wouldn't be addressing them as this or referring to them as that in conversation. In the case of Marufuji and Sugiura addressing Kenoh as it, its almost as if they are patting him on the head and treating a grown man like a small child, or else a small child who is playing make believe that he runs a bank or something. Kenoh uses it back to them, "Marufuji-kun" in particular, like he is addressing him as "junior".

Translated from Hochi News

Picture credit: Hochi News