(NOAH): Get the competitive spirit going! All Japan vs Noah

Weekly Pro 

5th September 2000 (Issue No.993)

This week All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah held a showdown in the Tokyo metropolitan area. On August 19th at Ariake, Noah drew an audience of 1,800 (sold out), while the following day on August 20th at Korakuen, All Japan will drew audience of 2,100 (also sold out). Whether we like it or not, the two promotions are compared and contrasted. The competitive spirit that arises from this is the main driving force behind All Japan and Noah.

All Japan continues to show extraordinary scenes, Fuchi vs Masahiro Chono announced for September 2nd. 

This week, All Japan and Noah, which have now split into two factions, held a showdown in the Tokyo metropolitan area. 

First, Noah held their third DEPARTURE event on August 19th at Ariake, and All Japan started the "2000 Summer Action Series II" at Korakuen the following day on August 20th. For both promotions, these were shows that really put their worth to the test, because whether it was All Japan's last series, or Noah's two events, it wasn't that hard to arouse the curiosity of the fans. It was only natural that Noah would experience a boom after its launch, but All Japan Pro Wrestling was also forced into a difficult situation with the mass exodus of its wrestlers, and it certainly attracted the attention of fans, partly out of fear and partly out of morbid curiosity. In short, both promotions were experiencing an extraordinary scene that was unthinkable in the old All Japan Pro Wrestling. The problem is that in the future, these extraordinary scenes will become the norm*. In that sense, both All Japan and Noah cannot afford to become complacent. They need to be on their guard. But, just as I was thinking this, both events were held, and both were a huge success. I was particularly surprised at All Japan, where already beforehand there were only standing room tickets, and tickets for elementary and junior high school students left. It's a very All Japan way of firing off arrow after arrow to pique the interest of their fans, and it shows their quick actions.

The teacher-pupil team of Kawada and Tenryu were reunited for the first time in ten years at the Budokan on July 23rd, the final match of the previous series, which marked the start of their full scale collaboration. During the off season, Masanobi Fuchi went to New Japan's Ryōgoku event, and arranged an experimental match between the two promotions. Following this, the main card for the September 2nd Budokan event was announced from the ring as, "Masanobu Fuchi vs. Masahiro Chono of New Japan Pro-Wrestling." Chono was nowhere to be seen, but the whole Korakuen Hall was turned upside down and a thunderous cheer erupted. On the other hand, it is undeniable that the irony is that as new topics are constantly being presented, the previous topics are being blown away. The Kawada-Tenryu tag, which was the talk of the town just a month ago, is now becoming a completely normal sight. The speed of this cycle is incredible.

In the old days of professional wrestling, when there was a big match, people would spend about a month looking forward to the show, and then a month after the match was over enjoying the afterglow. That's how leisurely time passed. 

What about now?

Looking back from last month, just when you thought the revival of Kawada and Tenryu was over, the following week was the Choshu vs. Onita match, followed by Noah's two launch shows, the G1, and now here we are at this week, and we can no longer bask in the afterglow of the G1. In that sense, the speed in which All Japan moved was the right choice. 

By the way, what I've noticed from watching the new All Japan and Noah events so far is that a clear division of fans is beginning to take place. In other words, Noah's fans are overwhelmingly younger. What's more, the shrill cheers of the female fans that can be heard ringing in your ears one after another. This is because the youth of the wrestlers is attractive, and because Noah is making every effort to reform its hardware in order to create a comfortable place for female fans*. I wrote about this in the opening article a few weeks ago, at this point this is just trial and error, and they will keep what is good and discard what is bad. This small attempt, which was announced before the event by a female attendee, may have helped to remove the resistance felt by female fans that is so typical of professional wrestling venues. On the other hand, All Japan is older than Noah and has a higher "male index", so it may be an oasis for old-fashioned All Japan fans. In addition, these days, perhaps because of Tenryu, there were many male fans wearing WAR T-shirts. These two promotions, which came from one, now have such a large difference in their fanbases. 

It was also announced in some sports papers, that Masahito Kakihara will be leaving Noah just two days before the Ariake show. It's a shame. In the inaugural event, Kakihara put on a match that could be called problem-solving. With that in mind, did he end up leaving because Noah didn't have the environment to accept the style that Kakihara wanted to pursue? However, no matter how much Noah is being asked to change from its All Japan days, it is not something that can be changed so suddenly. With that in mind, couldn't Kakihara have taken a longer-term view and gotten his point across? In any case, both Noah and Kakihara brought a UWF-like fighting style that had great potential to the Noah ring, and asked fans about its pros and cons. This may sound irresponsible, but the most should have been made of this. If they could have made a match with Kakihara, who has been in the limelight in some way, I think it would have created excitement and tension for the card itself. However, at the stage when it came to organizing the cards, Kakihara had already left Noah. According to President Misawa, after discussing it with Kakihara himself on August 8th, Kakihara had made up his mind to leave. He was not fired. This point needs to be made clear. For both the promotion, and for the athletes, it is truly disappointing that the two have ended up parting ways in this manner, and I hope that Noah will use the incident with Kakihara as a lesson for the future. 

With Kakihara gone, did Noah lose its martial arts fighting style? Not at all. Takayama fought Shiga to the mat, and after a punch battle in the final stages, he finally choked him out with a sleeper. In any case, both Noah and Kakihara brought a UWF-like fighting style that had great potential to the Noah ring, and asked the fans to question the pros and cons of this.     

Akiyama is Akiyama, inspiring the younger wrestlers to rise up, and coordinating the ring to suit his own tastes. There is no doubt that these two will be the driving force behind Noah, whose tour finally starts in October. For October 8th, a pre sale was held in Yokohama, but all 350 tickets were sold out. Noah's momentum will continue to spread to other regions.

On the other hand, All Japan has Kawada, Tenryu, Hansen, Williams, and Mossman. These are very manly group of guys who practice "pro wrestling that transmits pain" with chops as their main weapon. Kawada's master is Tenryu, but Tenryu's master is Hansen. Tenryu once said, "Hansen taught me the greatness of professional wrestling." In other words, the legitimate lineage of the fierce professional wrestling class in All Japan has been inherited by these three people*. In the main event, a six-man tag team, Mike Burton responded to their style. No matter how many times he was hit with a quick kick from Kawada, Burton remained unmoved, and his toughness was remarkable. In the end, Burton managed to defeat Kawada. 

Now, the focus of attention of the day was whether Chono, who was in the middle of a full on match, would show up at the All Japan venue. However, as mentioned above, only the card for the Budokan was announced that day, and the rumored intrusion by Chono did not occur. Chono was in fact a guest for the J-LEAGUE* event for the Kashima Antlers, so he had no time for that. Judging from the tremendous reaction when the card was announced, if Chono had been there, it would have caused quite a stir. In contrast, Tenryu, who has expressed displeasure with the New Japan match, did not say much about the news of the Fuchi-Chono match, but deep down he must be burning with anger. If so, he will surely be expressing that feeling in the matches of this series. 

The origin of Tenryu's revolution was originally to promote local* professional wrestling by fighting with all his might even in venues with only a few hundred spectators. As wrestling events are increasingly centered in big cities, and regional events* are being neglected, I hope that Tenryu, who is returning to All Japan for the first time in ten years, will return to the origins of that revolution*. Even so, if the old All Japan had remained together, the wrestling world would not have seen such lively activity every week. In that sense, the split of All Japan was the right decision. The competitive spirit between All Japan and Noah will further revitalize the wrestling world!

        

Notes

The problem is that in the future, these "extraordinary scenes" will become the norm. Foreshadowing, as Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama (along with Atsushi Aoki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Kotaro Suzuki and Go Shiozaki) will walk out of Noah and back to All Japan just over a decade later. 

Female fans: Perhaps too comfortable by 2024/2025 given the incidents involving female fans with Kaito Kiyomiya, Go Shiozaki and KENTA. 

Inheritance: When Genichiro Tenryu came to Noah a few years later, he commented on how much like Baba's All Japan it was. Remarking on the sound the wrestlers made when they took moves (Baba knew who was in the ring just by listening), the way they moved (Baba insisted that to run at the ropes was not enough, you had to take a certain number of steps), the way they fell, everything was reminiscent. He attributed this to Yoshinari Ogawa and Jun Akiyama.

Mike Burton: Better known as Bart Gunn

J-LEAGUE: Japanese soccer.

Local: As in smaller regional venues i.e. Yokohama Radiant Hall, ShinKiba etc

Regional events: Smaller rural shows

Origins of the revolution: This may well be another thing that was bought over from All Japan to Noah, in that Misawa loved holding shows in small rural venues, although he was never a member of the unit he may well have been inspired by it. 

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