Pro Wrestling NOAH 9/3/2023 N-1 Victory 2023 Day 9
Here's what I saw. This is the official end of the N-1.
Mohammed Yone & Yu Owada vs. Kai Fujiwara & Taishi Ozawa
Yu and Ozawa start us off. Ozawa wristlocks him then headlock takeovers him. Yu puts a headscissors on him and they stand off. Yu armdrags Kai. Yu is backed up into the ropes and hits a dropkick on Yone. Yone shoulders him over.
Kai dropkicks Yone in the gut then they trade chops. Ozawa shoulers Yu over then does some headlock takeovers. Oawa shoulders him over again and they armdrag each other. Ozawa hits a big hiptoss on Yu then Yu crossbodies him. Yone running lariats Ozawa then Ozawa hits chest forearms. Yone knocks him back with a forearm. Yone running lariats and running double forearms him.
Yu gutwrenches Ozawa then top rope crossbodies him. Ozawa hits a nice dropkick and slams him. Ozawa suplexes him for 2. Ozawa top rope dropkicks Yu and wins it.
Its your basic young lions match though they got to do some more moves than usual. Nothing wrong with this and there's only so much you can say.
El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. & Lance Anoai vs. Adam Brooks & Stallion Rogers
Doc = El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
Rogers got a short haircut. Adam refuses to shake hands and footslaps Lance. Adam hits Lance in the back of the head and gets himoutside. He kicks him from the apron then topes him. Adam 2nd rope knees him over the neck. Lance headbutts Rogers then Rogers dropkicks Doc. Lance tries to sunset flip Rogers but gets double stomped. Adam pump kicks Lance and says, "acknowledge me, uce".
Adam spinning elbows him and Lance pop-up samoan drops Adam. Doch its chops and punches on Adam then takes a corner boot. Doc slaps, headbutts and cutters Adam. Adam pump kicks him and running forearms him for 2. Rogers germans Doc then F-5's him for 2. Doc back body drops him out of a move and hits a step up enzugiri. Lance splashes Rogers in the corner then Adam takes a double superkick. Fatu and Doc hit cannonballs in the corner on Rogers. Lance topes Adam outside.
Doc hits a michinoku driver on Rogers and wins it.
It was a shorter match and kind of sprinty. It was fine but nothing memorable.
Psycho Clown came out after and he seems to be the mystery man they have been teasing social media.
Hibiscus Mii, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yuu vs. Maya Yukihi, Miyuki Takase & Sumire Natsu
MT = Miyuki Takase
Mii is the former Apple Miyuki and she looks awful with the blonde hair. Hiroyo and MT start us off. Hiroyo side headlocks her and they grab each other by the hair. Hiroyo shoulders her over hard. Natsu swings a whip at Yuu and hits her with it. Yuu blocks Natsu's bronco buster then hits a double side slam. Mii top rope crossbodies Natsu then takes a stunner.
Natsu low blows Mii then bronco busters her and northern lights suplexes her. Maya hits kicks on Mii then Mii flying neckbreakers her. Hiroyo lariats Maya against the ropes then casadora backdrops her. Hiroyo is lariated then takes a double basement dropkick. Maya sliding knees Hiroyo through the ropes then Hiroyo superplexes her at 5 minutes.
MT lariats Yuu and gets nowhere. Yuu double chops her then MT top rope dropkicks her. MT puts her in an octopus then Yuu swings her off. Yuu swinging side slams her then misses a senton. MT top rope legdrops Yuu. Hiroyo hits a double backdrop. Mii holds MT down in the corner then Yuu cannonballs both in a dumb move. Yuu does her seated, bouncing splash off the top and wins.
It was a short little sprint. Nothing was wrong with it and everyone got their highlight spots in before going home.
Four Way Survival Match - Alpha Wolf vs. Alejandro vs. Dragon Bane vs. Ninja Mack
Alpha Wolf was first eliminated by Alejandro. Mack eliminated Alejandro with a pheonix 630 and Bane picked up the win over Mack.
It was total spot fu with a very fast pace and tons of various flips and dives. If they had cut it off about halfway, I would have been cool with it but thye did too much here.
GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles - Chris Ridgeway and Daga vs Atsushi Kotoge and Hi69
69 pop up euros Chris then takes a spinning back high kick. Daga dragon suplexes Kotoge then step up enzugiri's him. Daga backcrackers him then flying kicks him. Kotoge slingshots and rolls in and Daga handstands to avoid a cutter. Daga then powerbombs him on the knee. Chris brainbusters Kotoge for 2. Chris takes an elbow and a knee then 69 hits a Hiroki bomb. Kotoge tope con hilos 69 then 69 top rope splashes Chris for 2.
Chirs germans 69 then Daga double stomps 69's back. Daga pop-up shoulderbreakers 69 for 2. Daga double underhook drops 69 on his knees and wins it.
I felt like it had ups and downs here with action happening then everyone stopping. It wasn't great or well thought out, but it didn't go too long and they didn't overdo it too much, so it was somewhat watchable.
Takashi Sugiura, Masa Kitamiya and Naomichi Marufuji vs Yuma Anzai, Yoshiki Inamura and Yuki Yoshioka
Masa and Ina lockup. Ina's going on an excursion after this, after many years as a pro and at the age of 30. Masa shoulders him over then Ina shoulders him over. Ina slams Masa. Maru gets in and asks for Yuma Anzai to get in. Maru and Yuma traide chops for forearms. Maru hits Kawada kicks then facekicks him. Yuma then dropkicks him.
Sugi and Yuki trade forearms. Yuki hits dropkick. Ina gets in and Sugi throws him over the top. Masa then throws Ina into the rails outside. Maru boots Ina around to mess with him then hits chops. Ina spinning slams him. Yuki suplexes him. Ina drops him on both knees then bulldogs him. Ina sentons him then top rope crossbodies him.
Yuma running forearms Ina then hits a nice belly to belly for 2. Yuma double underhook suplexes Masa then Masa spears him. Sugi running facekicks Yuma then running knees him. Sugi 2nd rope suplexes Anzai and they trade forearms. Sugi facekicks him then takes a jumping knee. Ina suplexes Sugi for 2 then splashes him. Sugi knees Ina in the gut. Ina shoulders over Maru then powerslams Ina. Yuki lariats Sugi then Ina running sumo pushes him in the corner. Ina then powerslams him for 2 and hits a belly to belly overhead.
Sugi knees Ina in the gut then hits forearms and a lariat. Masa comes in and backdrops Ina. Sugi then olympic slams Ina and wins it.
It went 18 minutes and was long with Inamura being in there for the majority of this. They didn't really go all out here and I didn't think they got the most of everyone despite having enough time. I'm never a fan of Inamura getting punked around and beaten up, but he sure was here by taking the fall.
GHC Martial Arts Rules - Masakatsu Funaki vs Josh Barnett
Funaki takes a leg kick and Funaki leglocks him. Funaki body scissors him. Josh goes for a kneebar and Funaki ropebreaks. Josh facelocks him and throws him back like a ddt. Funaki goes for a leg lock and Josh ropebreaks. Josh hits a hard palm strike then takes a stiff knee to the face.
Funaki guillotines him then Josh picks him up and slams him from that position. The ref then calls for the bell, giving Josh the win via knockout.
I wasn't a big fan of the first half of this as they didn't do a lot. It got better in the last few minutes before the sudden knockout. Shoot style is the hardest type of wrestling to do because it's so limited. Because of it, I think you should be stiff, keep the action moving and keep it short. A lot of wrestlers tend to think that going slow, doing little and having a long match is the best way to do shoot style, and I don't agree with it.
Josh challenges Funaki again after while his nose bleeds.
Kaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa vs Yoshinari Ogawa and Zack Sabre Jr.
Oiwa's not wearing young lions gear anymore and he has hair cut. This is a total downgrade in my opinion. He looked great as is and now just looks like everyone else. Kaito poses on the buckles and is pulled down by Ogawa. If this was on an NJPW card, it would probably be the opener but Noah makes this a semi-main.
Zack and Kaito trade holds and stand off. Zack shoulders him over then drags him down off his leapfrog. Kaito cartwheels through a snapmare and armdrags him. Oiwa and Ogawa go at it. Oiwa side takes him over then Ogawa headscissors him. Ogawa hammerlocks him.
Ogawa and Kaito get in. Ogawa shoulders him over then Kaito hits a nice dropkick. Kaito hits a jumping flashing elbow then forearm flurries him in the corner. Kaito is thrown into the buckles and flips over down to the floor. Zack sends him into the post outside then forearms and euros him in the seats. Zack twists his neck then stomps him. Zack bangs Kaito' knee off the mat then twists his arm in the hammerlock. Zack running facekicks him off the apron.
Zack and Ogawa walk around Kaito and twist his various limbs. Kaito crossbodies him then hits a sunset flip. Kaito then misses a crossbody. Ogawa throws Kaito out then Kaito slingshot sunset flips him. Ogawa holds the rope and the ref goes to kick his arm then Ogawa moves it, making the ref fall. Kaito's chest is banged off the apron then Zack puts him in a hold on the apron. Ogawa suplexes Kaito then Kaito hits a double dropkick on both opponents. Oiwa gets in and hits dropkicks then Oiwa shoulders him over. Oiwa slams Ogawa then splashes him.
Oiwa hits karelin's lifts on Ogawa. Zack hits euros on Oiwa when he gets in. Kaito gets in and 2nd rope twisting forearms Zack. Kaito top rope dropkicks him for 2. Kaito hits a euro flurry on Zack then is armwringered down. Kaito dropkicks Zack then Kaito's shoulder is thrown into the post. Ogawa chinbreakers Kaito then Kaito dragon screws him. Kaito figure fours him and Zack PK's him to help Ogawa turn it over.
Kaito flying shining wizards Ogawa then does a normal shining wizard for 2. Ogawa takes a double dropkick then Oiwa flying shoulders Zack off the apron. Kaito shining wizards Ogawa and wins it.
This went 24 minutes for some unknown reason. This was long and Kaito got beaten down like a young lion for a lot of this. Kaito also got the win over Ogawa, and not Zack here, which hardly did anything for him. I don't know what Noah was going for here but putting this as the semi-main made them look bad.
N-1 Victory 2023 Final - Kenoh vs Go Shiozaki
Ken kicks him while he's on his knees then takes a spin kick to the gut after chops. Ken trips him into a camel clutch. Ken double knee drops him. They trade forearms for kicks and Go flying shoulders him. Go hits machine gun chops then Ken kick flurries him in the corner. Go hits more chops and ridge hand chops him.
Go fisherman busters him. Ken legsweeps him into a double stomp on the back then hits double flying knees to the back of the head. Ken does a falcon arrow then takes a german. They then have a fun sequence then ends in a lariat. They trade chops for kicks. Go bolo punch flurries him then hits a sitout powerbomb for 2. Ken drops Go with a kick. Ken lifts him and kicks him in the body.
Ken walks the top rope and M. Bison stomps him. Go rolling cradles Ken around the ring then hits a go flasher. Ken is lariated over the top. Go suicide dives him then 2nd rope twisting suplexes him. Ken hits a stiff knee to the face and hits slaps, then is lariated. Go hits a top rope moonsault but Ken gets his knees up. Ken goes for the crossface but Go ropebreaks. Ken dragon suplexes him three times for 2.
Ken superkicks him and top rope double stomps him. Ken misses a top rope moonsault then is lariated. They trade chops for kicks. Ken does a back spinning high kick then buzzsaw kicks him. Ken slaps him while he's down. Go hits a forearm combo then running forearms him. Go hits an emerald flowsion for 2 and hits a top rope moonsault for the win.
I liked this one. They ended it at the right time and things didn't slow down until the end. They didn't overdo it and they worked it like a big match. It probably could have used another big spot to put it over the top, but it was a very good effort otherwise. Solid final.
Overall thoughts: A long show with a lot of matches and variety. The main delivered and some of the undercard matches were fun. I thought the Kaito tag and the Inamura tag ran long and I didn't like them being bullied around in both. We knew what we were getting with the women, the 4-way and the mma match and they were what you would expect. I don't think it's a must see show, but it has something for everyone and it was overall good.
N-1 Victory thoughts: I wasn't a fan of the N-1 Victory. Big names like Sugiura, Marufuji and Kaito were out. Jack Morris, Timothy Thatcher, Yuki Yoshioka and Jake Lee bored me to death. Yuma Anzai had the same match 8 times. Kenoh underperformed and Katsuhiko Nakajima was not putting anyone over but himself. Wagner Jr. had a decent tournament, Soya was pretty good all throughout and Lance Anoai' really impressed me. It didn't have the interference and shenanigans of the G-1, which I appreciated, though it didn't have the high points of it either. So far, I'd say the Stardom 5 Star Grand Prix was the best of all of these tournaments.
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