NOAH(NOAH) Taichi Ozawa betrays Kiyomiya and makes a series of prohibited statements! Demands a GHC Heavyweight Challenge on January 1st at the Nippon Budokan. Expose type pro wrestler is born!

Weekly Pro

4th December 2024 (No. 2329)

It was the worst possible bad ending. 

On this day, the competitors in the Akitoshi Saito Retirement Memorial show fought with their hearts filled with thoughts of the great man who had graced the ring since Noah's launch. In the semi-final, at the end of an emotional match, that bore the weight of "The History of The Ark", Naomichi Marufuji performed a brilliant act of execution for Saito.* 

The main event, with the afterglow lingering, saw Takashi Sugiura declare his challenge saying, "I want to show Saito-san the belt", and after winning the number one contenders match against Marufuji, he challenged Kaito Kiyomiya and put up a fantastic fight. It was a great match, where we could see glimpses of Sugiura's resolve, blowing away the words the champion had said before the match, "I'll crush you so much, you'll think about retiring." After his retirement match, Saito, who was watching from the corner of the venue, was nodding in agreement. Despite suffering from injuries sustained in an accident early on when the ropes got tangled around his neck, Kiyomiya fought hard and defeated Sugiura, and then closed out the show on the microphone. The next moment, Taishi Ozawa, who seemed to be celebrating as a member of ALL REBELLION, suddenly attacked the GHC Heavyweight Champion from behind with his crutches.

The stadium was in uproar.

Ozawa had returned to Japan from his UK tour, and joined ALL REBELLION at Korakuen Hall. He was forced to miss matches after being injured in practice for his triumphant return, and diagnosed with a "fracture of the cuboid bone in his left foot." On that day, he rushed over as Kiyomiya's second, but perhaps he was waiting for the right timing to attack. As the TEAM200X theme song played, Jack Morris and Daga, furiously eliminated ALL REBELLION. The ring, where a tear jerking, emotional story had been unfolding just a few minutes ago, is now filled with the exact opposite feeling of despair. In the midst of all this, Yoshi Tatsu gave Ozawa some black crutches, which he used to beat up Kiyomiya. He then put on a TEAM2000X T-shirt, dragged Kiyomiya to his feet, rolled his eyes, and stuck out his tongue in a brazen manner. Kiyomiya had formed ALL REBELLION, and started a revolition in Noah, trying to enliven it with young energy. After that Yoshiki Inamura, Ulka Sasaki and Harutoki emerged, and at the "N INNOVATION" show, Junta Miyawaki, Kai Fujimura, Yuto Kikuchi and Yu Owada also made their presence felt. It felt like a fresh wind was blowing through the whole promotion, but...in a sense, Ozawa seems to be planning to assert himself in a completely different, violent way. Backstage, he accused Kiyomiya of bullying, claiming that he was also a victim, and to get revenge and to liven up the future of Noah with young talent, he declared that he would take the GHC Heavyweight Championship, and specified the venue as the Nippon Budokan on January 1st. Ozawa also delved into Kiyomiya's private life, revealing the existence of a "girlfriend he lives with". Regardless of whether these statements are true or not, Ozawa's strong personality was certainly exposed in the "Ozawa Rebellion", which could cause a tectonic shift in Noah. 

In response to this, Kiyomiya proposed a non title singles match, rather than a GHC Heavyweight Championship, as "There's no point in putting the belt on the line against a guy like that". A few hours later, neither of their names were on the additional card for the Nippon Budokan on the 1st January, and Ozawa will not be taking part in the 30th November or the 8th December Numazu events. Judging from his condition today, it seemed that the injury to his left leg had not fully healed. 

I can't help but wonder what will happen next. 

Translated from Weekly Pro, original article by Inoue 

Picture credit: Weekly Pro      

Notes

Act of execution: "Seppuku", the Samurai act of suicide. Naomichi Marufuji was the one who figuratively swung the sword.