Pro Wrestling NOAH 2/21/2023 Keiji Muto Grand Final Pro-Wrestling Last Love Hold Out

Pro Wrestling NOAH 2/21/2023 Keiji Muto Grand Final Pro-Wrestling Last Love Hold Out

I skipped three of the juniors matches here.

Masa Kitamiya and Daiki Inaba vs Yoshiki Inamura and Yasutaka Yano

Masa and Ina go at it and stand off early. Yano dropkicks Masa then gets slammed. Masa sentons him for 2 then Inaba slams Yano. Masa back body drops him then Inaba backdrops him for 2. Yano hits a nice dropkick then top rope dropkicks him. Ina spinning slams and splashes Inaba.

Inaba cannonballs Ina in the corner then Ina deadlift suplexes him. Inaba then suplexes him. Yano hits dropkicks to Masa's knee then flying forearms him. Yano top rope crossbodies him for 2 then is dropped on his knees. Yano tries roll ups then is hit with a stiff samoan drop for 2. Masa hits a saito suplex and wins it.

This shouldn't have been on the pre-show as Masa, Ina and Inaba are main event guys. It wasn't anything too special and while I'm sure they liked being at the Dome, their placement was a burial.

Miyu Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi, Shoko Nakajima & Yuka Sakazaki vs. Maki Ito, Miu Watanabe, Mizuki & Yuki Arai

Shoko and Arai start us off. Shoko is slammed then she throws Arai. Arai gets snapmare'd by Miyu then kicked in the back. Rika gets in and chokes Arai then elbow drops her for 2. Arai running facekicks Rika then Itoh gets in the ring with her microphone. She hits punches on Rika then tornado ddt's her. Itoh misses a falling headbutt then takes a butt bump.

Yuka rolling snapmares and sliding lariats Itoh for 2. Shoko slingshot sentons Itoh and tries to hit her head off the buckles but Itoh isn't affected. Itoh hits her own head off the buckles and headbutts her. Itoh hits her falling headbutt. Miyu shoulders over Shoko then pops her up into a giant swing. Shoko dropkicks her and bodyscissors her over. She botches a top rope 619 then Miyu hits a nice double bodyslam.

Rika hits a dragon screw on Miyu then running butt bumps her for 2. Miyu drops Miu with a kick then flying lariats her. Miu swinging backbreakers her then Mizuki hits a top rope crossbody on Miyu. She double stomps Miyu's back then double stomps her through the ropes. Mizuki takes a Miyu wheelbarrow suplex then Miyu steps off the middle rope to kick her. Yuka brainbusters Mizuki for 2.

Mizuki rolling spears Yuka then does her corkscrew crossbody. Arai dropkicks and facekicks Yuka then she pumpkicks her. Yuka spinning drops her and Itoh flips her off. Ito tornado ddt's her. Yuka takes a powerslam and a top rope Mizuki double stomp. Arai full nelson slams Yuka then takes a northern lights bomb. Miyu spinning back kicks Mizuki in the head and Shoko tope con hilo's Itoh and Mizuki. Yuka jumping flatliners Arai then springboard 450's her for the win.

They didn't have a lot of time and had a lot of people in this one. It was okay but the crowd wasn't into it and they could have gone double this time without any issues.

Sugiura-gun (Takashi Sugiura & Timothy Thatcher) & Satoshi Kojima vs. GLG (Anthony Greene, Jack Morris & Jake Lee)

Koji hiptosses and shoulders over Jack. Koji hits machine gun chops then top rope elbow drops him for 2. Koji ddt's him then Jack spinebusters him. Koji cutters Jack then Jack falcon arrows him for 2.  Jack jumping knees Koji.

Greene and Sugi go at it. Greene cutters him then does his rope walk into a twisting crossbody. Green then flips him on a backdrop and topes him. Sugi 2nd rope superplexes him then Greene superkicks him. Sugi spears Jake. TT gets in and belly to belly suplexes Jake then he armbars him. Jake powerbombs him out of it then wins with a facekick out of nowhere.

It was short, rushed and a waste of everyone's time.

DDT Showcase Eight Man Tag Team Match - The 37KAMIINA (MAO, Shunma Katsumata, Toi Kojima & Yuki Ueno) vs. Burning (Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku), Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada

Ueno and Endo start us off. They do a headlock takeover into a headscissors and then stand off. Toi dropkicks Yuya then takes forearms. Toi corner dropkicks him then hits a nice regular dropkick. We have stereo hurricanrana's then a triple dive to the outside. Shunma springboard swantons Yuya then Yuya forearms him. Masada gets in and gutbusters Shunma.

Yuya hammerlocks Shunma then Shunma hits forearms on Oka. Shunma hurricanrana's Oka then springboard dropkicks him. Mao top rope kneedrops Oka then shotgun dropkicks him. Mao running punches Oka then split legged moonsaults him for 2. Mao punches Oka then Oka springboard lariats him. Yuya backdrops Mao then Endo handspring back enzugiri's Mao for 2. Endo misses a top rope ssp then takes a corkscrew kick. Uentop rope frogsplashes Endo.

Masada hits kicks on Ueno then dropkicks him. Ueno enzugiri's and 2nd rope swinging flatliners him. Ueno dropkicks Masada then Toi full nelson slams Oka. Endo handspring backflip kicks two opponents thne does a corkscrew flying space tigeter. Masada hits kicks on Ueno then takes a rebound german and a dropkick. Ueno then beats Masada with the Ranhei.

It was short and rushed at under 10 minutes. Everyone got a little time to do a spot or two but not much else. Fine for what it was, but it needed triple the time it got.

El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Naomichi Marufuji & Ninja Mack vs. Z-Brats (Diamante, KAI & Shun Skywalker)

Shun and Maru go at it but don't do much. Dia and Doc are next in. Dia armdrags and headscissors him then does a flying headscissors. Kai and Mack are next up and Kai shoulders him over. Mack dropkicks Kai out and Shun blocks his backflip flying space tiger attempt. Mack takes corner moves then takes a never seen before double hiptoss move. Mack gets monkey flipped into wrestlers on both teams.

Mack hits superkicks and a corkscrew kick on Shun. Maru gets in and dropkicks Shun. Shun takes a superkick then does a tiger driver variation him for 2. Shun and Maru trade shots then Maru hook kicks and pumping knees him. Shun dropkicks him. Doc is back body dropped from the ramp to the ring then Dia springboard dropkicks him for 2.

Dia is double back body dropped into a 450 on Doc. Kai germans and superkicks Doc then Kai back enzugiri's Doc. Doc michinoku drivers Kai for 2 then Mack gets to do his backflips into a flying space tiger outside. Maru shiranui's Kai then Doc top rope moonsaults Kai to win it.

It wasn't particularly great but it was okay enough. It was rushed and they didn't have enough time for everything they wanted to do here.

Kongo (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kenoh & Manabu Soya) vs. Zennichi Shin Jidai (Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi) & Suwama

Kento and KN start us off. Kento headlocks him and they stand off after a kick. Soya and Yuma go at it. Yuma rolls through an armlock then hits a nice dropkick. Soya shoulders him over then goes after suwama. Everyone fights outside and Soya is sent into the rails then kicked over them. Suwama and Kento grab each other and both go over the rails. They continue to brawl outside wiht KN getting facekicked over the rails.

Yuma hits ofrearms on Soya then dragon screws him. Soya takes a stiff lariat from Suwama then he trades chops and loses it to Suwama. Suwama corner lariats and belly to belly suplexes him. Soya flying lariats him then KN and Kento trade forearms. Kento flying kicks him then KN double footchokes him in the corner. KN cartwheel elbows him then does a bulldog. Kento takes kicks from Ken and KN then Kento pumping knees KN. Kento lariats KN then Kento release germans him. KN comes back with a kick.

Ken and Yuma trade euros for kicks then Ken chest kicks him. Ken tries to kick Suwama on the apron but is grabbed by the neck and then slapped down. Suwama chops Soya and Ken at the same time then Ken facekicks him over. Ken release germans Yuma then Suwama hits a stiff kick on Ken before being speared by Soya. KN germans Kento then takes a pumping knee. Yuma germans Ken multiple times then fisherman busters him for 2. Soya hits a stiff lariat on Yuma. Yuma comes back with forearms then takes slaps and a high kick for 2. Ken top rope double stomps Yuma and wins it.

This was a fun and heated 6-man. They went at a fast pace here and it was really stiff with everyone getting beaten up some. The Nakajima/Kento sections were real fun and it really made you want to see them go at it.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kaito Kiyomiya

They trade forearms early and Kaito is thrown out. He gets back in and hits forearms on Okada then is thrown out again. He gets back in and is german'd on his head. Okada kicks him out of the ring and slams him on the floor. Kaito is then ddt'd on the floor. Back in and Kaito hits euros then takes a back body drop. Okada top rope elbow drops him then does his rainmaker pose. Kaito takes forearms and knocks him down with one. Kaito decks him again and then euros him on the floor. Okada is sent into the rails ouside.

Kaito is back body dropped over the rail then Okada is suplexed on the floor. Kaito then flips over the rail onto him. Kaito top rope dropkicks him then hits a nice german. Kaito is flapjacked then Okada shotgun dropkicks him. Kaito no sells it and flying knees him then Okada dropkicks him. Okada spinning tombstones him then hits a spinning lariat. Kaito knees the arm then hits dropkivcks on it.

Kaito dropkicks him in the air then top rope arm dropkicks him. Kaito shining wizards him then Okada dropkicks him. Okada hits a short arm lariat then hits a nice dropkick. Okada goes for a rainmaker but gets a shining wizard and a tiger suplex for 2. Kaito goes for a shining wizard but takes a fire thunder and a rainmaker. Okada lifts his head up on the two count then enzugiri's him. Okada spinning emerald flowsion's him then hits a rainmaker. Okada then wins it with a cocky pinfall.

It was a fun main and all but they buried Kaito here. They didn't treat him as an equal from the start and he took an extra embarrassment by Okada pinning him in dominant fashion then just walking out. I'd like to think that this is part of some long term storyline where it's all going to make sense, but I don't think it's the right call and who knows if there will ever be a rematch. Kaito's the champ here and got made to look like a jobber.

Keiji Mutoh Retirement Match - Keiji Muto vs. Tetsuya Naito

Masa Chono comes out before he enters. Mutoh had a cool entrance with all of his various themes. Mutoh grabs an arm early and then keylocks him. Mutoh does a nice suplex then flashing elbows him. Mutoh's face is bleeding for some reason then he stf's him. Naito baseball slides him and poses after Mutoh rolls out.

They go on the ramp and Naito baseball slides his back. He then runs the ramp and does it. Naito puts his legs around his neck and pulls. Naito does his slingshot swinging dropkick in the corner. Naito pulls on the leg outside. Mutoh dropkicks him in the leg when he gets back in and dragon screws the leg between the ropes.

Mutoh hits another dragon screw into a figure four. Naito ropebreaks. Mutoh dropkicks him in the knee then Naito eye rakes and enzugiri's him. He then puts his legs around his neck again and pulls. Mutoh hits chops then Hahsimoto ddt's him. Mutoh then hits an emerald flowsion for 2. Mutoh hits a shining wizard for 2. Mutoh backbreakers him and goes up for a moonsault but opts out of it. Naito ddt's him then Mutoh dragon screws him. Mutoh figure fours him then hits another dragon screw. Mutoh then shining wizards him and hits a shining wizard to the back of the head. Mutoh then does a normal shining wizard for 2.

Mutoh backbreakers him and goes up for the moonsault but backs off again. Naito dropkicks in the knee then dragon screws him. Naito's bleeding then shining wizards him. Naito figure fours him then shining wizards him in the back of the head. Naito hits a normal shining wizard for 2 then hits destino and wins it.

It was nice to Mutoh to put over Naito in the end (though who knows how much say he had over it). Mutoh matches aren't particularly great and it was okay as a main but not super special. You know what you are getting with Mutoh in 2023 with dragon screws and figure fours and that's what we got there.  He was my favorite wrestler for a long time but he got older, slowed down and was overexposed. I'm okay with him retiring.

They shake hands and Naito leaves. Mutoh gets on the mic and says thanks for the big crowd. He said wrestling will be explosive without him and asks the crowd to keep coming going forward. He then calls out Masa Chono and asks him to fight him in Chono's retirement match. He calls out former ref, Tiger Hattori as well. Chono's mouth is wide open and he's shocked. Mutoh tells Tiger that we need a ref. Chono's old Power Hall theme then hits. Chono and Tiger get in the ring.

Masa Chono Retirement Match - Keiji Mutoh vs Masa Chono

Chono takes off his sunglasses and the crowd pops for it. The bell rings and they get a big pop for the lock up. Chono eye rakes him and chest slaps him. Chono then does a sliding yakuza kick. Chono then rolls him over and stf's him and Mutoh taps out. Masa Chono wins.

It was a very cool and surprising moment. Even if it was just kind of silly and for fun, it was nice to see Chono get a final goodbye as well with his buddy. It was a beautiful and magical moment that showed the wonder of pro wrestling. 

Mutoh then sits down on a stool and someone talks about Mutoh. Mutoh walks up the ramp and does his puroresu love pose as fireworks hits.

Overall thoughts: The show was mostly filled with short, multi-man matches where we didn't really get the best of anyone. The Kongo trios match was good. Kaito/Okada was fun but buried Kaito. Mutoh/Naito was your usual Mutoh match that wasn't fine but not particularly special. The Mutoh/Chono surprise match was a wonderful and beautiful moment that showed the magic of wrestling. It wasn't a fantastic show, but it was nice to see all the big stars come out for this one and it was a fun event overall.