So here it is the big March show for NOAH in Yokohama with the main event seeing Suguira challenge Kenou for the GHC belt which I’ve certainly been looking forward to, so lets see how it goes.
Match 1 – Junta Miyawaki vs. LEONA
Simple match that was well played out, of course with LEONA taking on a rookie he actually gets a win though Junta did certainly comes close with a small package. Enjoyed the little slap exchange they had.
Winner: LEONA (via figure four leglock) **1/2
Match 2 – Hajime Ohara & Hitoshi Kumano vs. Tadasuke & YO-HEY
Decent little Junior tag match. Backbreakers’ get a portion of control working on the back of course, though in the end RATELS pick up the win when YO-HEY hits a diving Meteora.
Winners: RATELS (via Meteora) **3/4
Match 3 – Cody Hall & KAZMA SAKAMOTO vs. Masao Inoue & Ryota Nakatsu
This was ok pretty standard really. Inoue is only in a little bits, so it’s mostly Nakatsu getting beat up by the other team until it’s him an KAZMA in the final stretch with KAZMA getting him with a small package. Not all that exciting to be honest.
Winners: Hall/KAZMA (via Small Package) **1/4
Match 4 – Jay Bradley & KENSO vs. Maybach Taniguchi & Mitsuya Nagai
Another decent undercard tag match. They start out with bit of brawling outside and in the crowd before getting back in the ring where things stay back and forth with Taniguchi & Nagai picking up the win. KENSO certainly seemed very motivated here and did well, whilst Bradley continues to do solid work despite eating the loss.
Winners: Taniguchi/Nagai (via Maybach bomb Zwei) **3/4
Match 5 – Atsushi Kotoge & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Akitoshi Saito & Shiro Koshinaka
Last of the undercard tag matches and it was pretty fun. Kotoge gets taken control of twice by Saito and Koshinaka, but he has the last laugh by getting the win in the end. As always I love me some Koshinaka hip action which he delivers on in addition to having a couple of nice exchanges with Marufuji. So yeah quite enjoyable overall.
Winners: Kotoge/Marufuji (via Moonsault) **3/4
Match 6 – Go Shiozaki vs. Kaito Kiyomiya
Pretty solid match. I think Go wanted this match to try and motivate Kiyomiya for them partnering up in the Global tag league since Kiyomiya not been doing too well in the opportunities he’s had. At first it’s mainly Go beating around Kaito but eventually Kiyomiya gets comes back and puts in a good effort. Unfortunately though he still doesn’t get a victory, falling victim to a stiff lariat from Go. Poor lad hopefully he’ll gain more success in the tag league.
Winner: Shiozaki (Burning Lariat) ***
Match 7 – GHC Junior Tag Title Match: Hi69 & Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Minoru Tanaka & Yoshinari Ogawa
Good match. Throughout the build-up to this, the veterans have been pretty dominant with the champs focusing alot on their arms, which is the exact strategy they keep here, giving them a lot of control and leading them to a win with the belts, as they lock both opponents in arm submissions with Ishimori tapping out in the end. Sadly this is the last match that Ishimori had with NOAH as he’s now decided to go freelance. The guy has been a great asset to the company for almost 12 years and one of the best talents they had so it’s quite the loss for them but I’m sure he’s gonna kill it wherever he goes. Anyway I enjoyed the work they did here, nothing flashy but certainly effective.
Winner: Tanaka/Ogawa (via Armlock) ***1/4
Match 8 – GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title Match: Daisuke Harada (c) vs. HAYATA
Really good Jr. Title match. HAYATA does a running Plancha to Harada during his entrance to get things going right away, Harada quickly gets back into it though and slows things down a little with a bit of control but it soon turns back and forth with an exciting finishing stretch that had some good nearfalls. HAYATA definitely tried hard here to capture the title and stay in it, even kicking out of a Katayama german suplex but a second one keeps him down for a 3 count allowing Harada to successfully retain. I guess RATELs can get back to workable team again.
Winner: Harada (via Katayama German Suplex) ***3/4
Match 9 – GHC Tag Team Title Match: Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm (c) vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Masa Kitamiya
Nakajima and Kitamiya finally dethrone the Funky Powers in a super solid match-up. From the outset Nakajima and Kitamiya get the control picking apart Yone for a fair a mount of time. That stuff was fine but pretty standard, once Quiet Storm gets tagged in though the match picks up nicely and they pull-out some good stuff. Storm and Kitamiya end up as the final two with Kitamiya hitting 3 Saito suplexes to pickup the belts. Powers had a decent run a the champs so I think it was the right time for them to lose the titles. good work by all.
Winners: Nakajima/Kitamiya (via Saito suplex) ***1/2
Main Event – GHC Heavyweight Title Match: Takashi Sugiura vs. Kenou (c)
Great main event to end the show, of course there was a good amount of stiffness here with a few strikes being especially harsh. In the beginning Kenou keeps trying to popup quickly from Sugiura offense, so Suguira gives him a hanging neckbreaker off the apron on exposed floor which slows him down considerably and gives Sugiura a small bit of control with him somewhat focusing on the back. Kenou gets back into things though and dishes out his own share of punishment and throws nearly everything at Sugiura but he just couldn’t keep him down with Sugiura even kicking out of a diving foot stomp. The final stretch is mostly them throwing stiff strikes at one another, by the end Kenou is almost kicking Sugiura head off but one final kick gets elbowed away and Sugiura hits an olympic slam and locks in a rolling front necklock and refuses to loosen the grip with Kenou eventually passing out making Sugiura the new champ. Tremendous performance by both guys, Sugiura working at the level he does at his age is just crazy so fair play to him. I was hoping that Kenou would have a much longer reign as champ, but I don’t really have much complaint with Suguira holding the belt for now, he certainly earned it. Anyway enjoyed this match alot.
Winner: Sugiura (via Rolling front necklock) ****1/4
Solid Show from NOAH, definitely recommend the main event and I think the Jr. title match is worth checking out as well as perhaps the tag title one. Nearly everything else was still watchable but easily skippable if you ain’t got the time for it. I enjoyed myself though like usual.
Thanks for Reading.
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