Pro Wrestling NOAH 4/30/2022 - Majestic 2022
I really love seeing the random foreigners in NOAH. It just gets boring seeing the same Japanese dudes fight each other every tour and it's nice to see some new matchups. Japan vs foreign wrestlers is what puroresu was built on anyway.
Masato Tanaka and Daiki Inaba vs Renee Dupree and Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
Hijo shoulders Tanaka down then armdrags him. He then hits a decent dropkick and Tanaka avoids a tope. Renee hits a shoulder on Inaba then hip tosses him. Inaba comes back with a shoulder then Renee hits a nice dropkick. Renee and hijo then hit double flying chops on Inaba. Hijo superkicks Inaba then tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him.
Dupree pops up Inaba into a nice knee from Hijo and enzugiri's Inaba. Inaba hits forearms on Renee and gets dropkicked by Hijo. Inaba then takes corner clotheslines and is crotched into the corner post at 5 minutes. Inaba STO's Renee then Tanaka does a ddt/stunner combo on both opponents. Tanaka has his tornado ddt turned into a spinebuster then he and Renee trade clotheslines.
Inaba flying shoulders Hijo then gets enzugiri'd off the apron. Hijo then topes him. Inaba cannonballs both opponents in the corner then Tanaka frogsplashes Hijo. Inaba then hits a blue thunder bomb on Hijo for 2. Hijo gets a double stomp on Inaba then Inaba takes a backdrop + neckbreaker combo. Hijo climbs Renee's shoulders and splashes Inaba off them for 2.
Hijo hits a michinoku driver then top rope moonsaults Inaba for the win.
This wasn't a classic or anything and only got a little over 10 minutes but it was an interesting mix of guys and I didn't have any issues with it.
Michael Elgin vs. Masa Kitamiya
The two trade forearms to start then shoulder battle and pose. Elgin gorilla presses him and slams him. They fight over a suplex and Masa wins that then Elgin hits a release belly to belly on him. Elgin then topes him.
Elgin hits a running corner lariat then northern lights suplexes him for 2. Masa does Masa Saito's old hulking up spot then piledrivers Elgin. Elgin no sells it and takes a dragon screw. Masa then sentons him and ndian deathlocks him but Elgin ropebreaks.
Elgin pump kicks him then Masa comes back with a samoan drop. Elgin leapfrogs to avoid a spear then germans him. Masa germans him back with neither selling then they collide with lariats. Elgin then back rolls him into a german for 2. Elgin lariats him to the back of the head then hits two normal lariats for 2.
Elgin buckle bombs him but Masa no sells it and spears him. Masa lariats him to the back of the head then backdrops him for 2. Masa misses a top rope senton then Elgin backdrops him on the apron. Elgin frog splashes him off the top then hits a big lariat. Elgin then spinning sitout bombs him and wins it.
It went a few minutes long but that's not that big of a deal. They did a ton of no selling though and I didn't like that. Had they not done it, I would have been a big fan of this one, but the no selling brought it down. I like hoss matches and that's exactly what this was with hard lariats and suplexes.
GHC National Title Match - Masakatsu Funaki (c) vs. Simon Gotch
They go to the mat to start and Funaki gets a calf crusher but Gotch quickly escapes it. Gotch slips out of Funaki's headlock and they both put heel hooks on each other. Gotch does a nice roll into a leg and arm lock at 5 minutes.
Gotch facekicks him and Funaki hits a sick cravate but Gotch cartwheels and grabs his arm. Gotch hits some knees to the gut then double underhooks him. Funaki then armbars him and they trade slaps and kicks. Funaki high kicks him then does a tombstone for 2. Funaki then chokes him and gets the win with it.
It was all mat based and shoot style. The second half was okay and they did end up doing some decent technical wrestling but I would have liked more here.
Dragon Bane has some really cool entrance gear. Tiger and Junta fight over a hammerlock then Tiger snapmares him. Tiger rolls him into an inverted figure four and Junta hits the ropes. Junta and Tiger then face a stand off a minute later.
Mack and Yohey go at it. Mack hits some armdrags then Yohey moves on his corkscrew. Ninja goes over Yohey and handstands, but messes up on the headscissors. Alpha Wolf and Kotoge get in and trade forearms. Kotoge neckbreakers him then Wolf stunners him o nthe top rope. Wolf then hits a top rope moonsault for 2. Wolf misses a reverse tope and takes a pump kick.
The Japanese team hits running corner moves then 4 person dropkicks Wolf. Mack hits his corkscrew splash onto Kotoge then Bane moonsaults off of Wolf's shoulders onto Kotoge. Kotoge rolls through the ropes into a cutter on Tiger then Harada overhead release belly to belly's Tiger, Bane, Mack and Wolf.
Tiger rolls Harada into a complicated pin. Mack is on the apron and Harada tries to throw him off it by the leg but Mack handstands and flips off. Mack superkicks him outside then Harada gets his knees up on a springboard 450. Yohey cutters Mack then Mack corkscrew kicks Yohey.
Yohey shoulders Bane and kips up then Yohey hits a flipping dropkick on him. Yohey climbs on Harada and Kotoge up top then splashes Bane for 2. Junta then brainbusters Bane. Junta dropkicks him then Bane messes up a crucifix. He then ligerbombs him for 2. Tiger and Wolf tope on hilo people outside then Mack hits flying space tiger outside. Junta and Bane go for pins then Bane does a spinning electric chair driver and wins it.
They had a bunch of flyers in here and had them do very little flying for some reason. The wrestlers had some communication issues and botches and a lot of the good stuff wasn't until the end of this. It was fast paced and entertaining but I don't think it was anyone's best.
Naomichi Marufuji & Satoshi Kojima vs. Kinya Okada & Yoshiki Inamura
Ina and Koji trade shoulders and Ina goes down. Ina does a nice body slam on him then Okada gets in and forearm flurries Koji. Okada then does the same to Marufuji. Marufuji face kicks him and Okada goes into the rails outside. Marufuji then jumps over the guard rail to bulldog him on the rail.
Koji and Marufuji double back elbow him then Marufuji reverse curb stomps him. Okada comes back with a sunset flip then trades forearms with Koji. Marufuji comes back in and Okada dropkicks him then Inamura gets in. He throws Marufuji hard into the buckles and he goes down then Ina splashes him. Ina does some weird suplex lift/throw then Ina spinning slams Marufuji.
Ina and Marufuji trade chops then Marufuji hook kicks him and pumping knees him. Koji machine gun chops Ina then gets run over with a shoulder. Okada gets in and hits kicks and a backbreaker on Koji then kicks him in the back for 2. Koji hits him with machine gun chops again then top rope elbows him for 2. Koji spinning forearms Okada then ddt's him. Koji then hits a cutter on him then Ina after a Marufuji superkick.
Okada water wheel drops Koji then Ina pushes Koji into the buckles. Okada then suplexes him for 2. Koji hits a big lariat on him out of nowhere and wins it.
Welp, it's Noah. The young guys never win no matter what. It started off slow but got good near the end. The finish was totally random and Koji should not have gone over here. Okada really carried this match with his kicks and fighting spirit and Ina didn't really get to do much here at all.
GHC Tag Team Title Match - Hideki Suzuki & Takashi Sugiura (c) vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kenoh
Ken slaps Sugi early then they face kick each other. They each miss buzzsaw kicks and stare down. Ken is then thrown into the rails and kicks Sugi off the apron. Ken gets thrown into the rails again and face kicks him outside.
Nakajima and Suzuki square off. Naka hits a hard forward kick to the chest. They do little while wrestling and then Ken hits some leg kicks and leglocks him. Naka then gets in and does a kick flurry to Suzuki in the corner. Naka stomps and dropkicks his knee with the knee brace on it. Naka hits more kicks in the corner then Suzuki backbreakers him.
Sugi knees Naka, facekicks him then does a hard running knee on him in the corner. Sugi then superplexes him. Sugi misses forearms and gets countered with kicks due to it then Naka step up enzugiri's him. Ken knee drops Sugi off the 2nd rope then Ken kicks both opponents with a spinning high kick to Sugi. Ken then PK's Sugi. He goes for another and takes an ankle lock then Ken rolls into an ankle lock on him.
Ken misses a top rope foot stomp then Suzuki neckbreakers him. Sugi then spears Naka. Sugi and Ken face kick each other at the same time then Sugi and Suzuki both choke their opponents. Sugi hits some forearms on Ken then olympic slams him for 2. Ken and Sugi slap each other then Ken dragon suplexes him.
Nakajima hits kicks on Suzuki then Suzuki release capture suplexes him. Suzuki doule arm throws Nakajima and tries to pin him, then he backbreakers him. Nakajima takes forearms from Sugi and Suzuki then Ken and Nakajima take turns kicking Suzuki. Naka PK's Suzuki then Suzuki release germans him. Naka kicks the buckle as Suzuki's face is on it then Nakajima kicks him in the face as he is down. Nakajima brainbusters Suzuki for 2.
Suzuki does a tombstone on Nakajima then dragon suplexes him for 2. Suzuki then double underhooks Nakajima and wins it.
The first half of this was a slow waste of time. Suzuki just did nothing at all. Things finally picked up towards the end but it was far from a classic or anything. It was okay and maybe even good, but it would have been so much better with half of the time cut. And in typical Noah fashion, the old guys beat the younger guys again.
Renee Dupree and Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. challenge Sugi and Suzuki after, as they had the titles and were stripped of them due to the plandemic.
GHC Heavyweight Title Match - Go Shiozaki vs. Kaito Kiyomiya
Not much happens early. They battle over a headlock and Kaito goes to springboard on the apron but is chopped down. Go then lariats him off the apron into the rails. Go throws him into the rails and they trade chops outside. Go hits a running knee as Kaito's head hangs off the apron. Go then hits a nice back body drop on the inside.
They trade chops then Go machine gun chops him. Kaito comes back with forearms and suplexes him. Kaito hits a twisting forearm off the 2nd rope then euro uppercut flurries him. He then dropkicks him. Kaito then does a nice tope con hilo over the corner to Go outside. Kaito then hits a nice top rope dropkick for 2.
Go hits more machine gun chops then lariats him for 2. They trade strikes and Kaito dropkicks him. Go hits more chops and they fight on the apron. Kaito reverse ddt's him off the apron onto the floor. Kaito then germans him for 2 inside then puts him in cattle mutilation. They go up top and Go hits a top rope orange crush at 25 minutes.
Go lariats him then hits a go flasher for 2. Kaito hits two jumping knees for 2 then top rope flying knees him for 2. Kaito tiger suplexes him for 2 then takes a big Go lariat. He pops right back up and they trade forearms and chops. Kaito hits a big forearm then takes a hard lariat. Go hits another hard lariat and wins it.
Like most Noah main events, it went longer than it needed to. It wasn't bad but it would have been a lot better with 10 minutes shaved off of this. Kaito did a good job here showing lots of fire.
Overall thoughts: It's Noah. The matches are usually decent but they go too long and they are often really slow. The young guys always lose and it's almost always the same 5 guys. What I saw was overall good, but every match would have been better with less time and a faster pace.
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