(NOAH) Going deeper: Kikuchi fought hard in the RATELS title match, but the champions successfully defended their titles...

Weekly Pro 

4th December 2024 (No. 2329)

 The RATELS tag match against fellow teammates for the GHC Junior Tag Team Championship, showed their potential for future success. 

 The showdown was between two teams with no prior history*, but the one who stood out in particular was Yuto Kikuchi, who had only just joined the unit in September. When YO-HEY, who started the match, asked for a handshake, Kikuchi slapped his hand away. YO-HEY grinned and said, "That's how it should be". From there, Yuto went on the offensive with his signature speedy and acrobatic moves, proving once again that in the ring, he is a reliable presence for the other three. He showed good teamwork with Tadasuke at various points, but the Blonde Couple was still too high a wall for him to overcome. In the end he was defeated by a tandem move, followed by a 403 Impact*. Still, Kikuchi showed the potential to take the belt, and his teammates praised him. After the match, the four of them posed again, reaffirming their bond of fighting together in the future. YO-HEY said, with a look of satisfaction, "I think the four of us were able to understand that we are the best team in the ring. I think we will fight them in many different situations, and of course we will win like we did today. But it's just a small difference. The love between us as a tag team and our love as a couple was just a little better than those two, which led to this defense." 

HAYATA next to him of course feels the "same". 

 By facing each other with all their might, they were able to understand each other's depth. This was a meaningful match, that will likely serve as a guide as to how they should proceed in the future. 

 

Notes

Original article by Ishii

No prior history: Not exactly true, as Yuto had grown up on the Osaka indies with all three, particularly YO-HEY.  

403 Impact: HAYATA's move