Pro Wrestling NOAH 1/1/2025 The New Year 2025

Pro Wrestling NOAH 1/1/2025 The New Year 2025

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match - RATEL'S (HAYATA & YO-HEY) (c) vs. AMAKUSA & Junta Miyawaki vs. All Rebellion (Alejandro & Kai Fujimura)

Kai, Yo and junta go at it to start. We get an early stand off, a double headlock spot then Yo takes a double dropkick. Jun armdrags Kai then Yo flying headscissors an opponent. Haya shoulders ama over and double stomps his back. Ale bounces off the ropes and does an armdrag then he spinning bodyscissors Haya. Ale and Kai hit stereo dropkicks then do stereo tope con hilos.

Yo takes corner attacks and a double superkick to the head for 2. Aam slips on the ropes and does a headscissors + armdrag takeover. Jun does a double corner dropkick on Haya and Yo.

Jun and Kai trade. Kai tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. Ale slingshot pslashes Kai then ddt's Yo. Ama springboard headscissors Haya. Kai flying forearms Ama. Jun hits a top rope double dropkick. Kia jumps up on the 2nd rope and dives out. Ama does his tornillo tope outside. Ama hits a 450 on Yo. Kai does a spinning sitout shoulder throw on Yo for 2. 

Ale rolls into a code red on Jun for 2. Kai hits a springboard lariat. Kai springboard double stomps Haya's back and Ale hits a hard ddt on Haya. Ale top rope frogsplashes Haya for 2. Ama takes a double superkick. Ale misses a spiral tap off the top. Kai springboards and takes a Yo dropkick.

Ale is held in the air for a cutter for 2. Haya hits a high elevated ddt on Ale to win.

Thoughts: I liked it. They didn't overdo it and they did a bunch of flying at a fast pace. WE had a decent amount of people slipping on the ropes though.

Atsushi Kotoge, Go Shiozaki, Hajime Ohara & Mohammed Yone vs. Black Menso-re, Kazuyuki Fujita, Shuji Ishikawa & Tetsuya Endo
 
KF and Go go at it. They lock up. Go side headlocks him. They shoulder battle. KF shoulders him over and misses a kick. Endo and Kotoge go at it. Kotoge wristlocks him. Endo rolls through and wristlocks him. Kotoge hits headbutts on him. Ohra wristlocks Endo. Endo powerbomb backbreakers Ohara. Ohara hits a double basement dropkick then a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Endo. Menso comes in and gets one as well.

Yone corner lariats Endo. Endo facekicks him and handspring corkscrew kicks him. Shuji corner lariats Yone then 2nd rope double footstomps him. Yone armbars Shuji. Endo is sent into the rails. Yone conrer lariats Shuji. They trade forearms and lariat battle. Both go down.

Yone shoulders Menso over. Go chops up Menso. Go lariats him for 2. Endo does a corkscrew flying space tiger drop outside. Menso eye pokes Go, walks the top rope and hits him. Menso backslides him. Go hits a big lariat on Menso for 2. Go then pins him with another lariat.

Thoughts: It was alright here with us getting to see a little of everyone and not a lot of anyone. Shuji and Go's section was fun.

1-minute time limit - Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Daiki Odashima

Dai hits forearms on KF. KF shoves him then takes him down. KF misses a kick to the head then Dai hits a hard running soccer kick to the head. KF hits a hard lariat then hits a dangerous looking powerbomb. The time limit expires and it goes to a draw.

Thoughts: We only got  minute of this. Despite that, they both took some pretty hard shots here. I was surprised Dai was allowed to survive one minute.

El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Galeno Del Mal

Mal had a cool samurai entrance jacket on. Mal and Hijo look identical but Mal has blue on and Hijo has green on. They lock up. Hijo wristlocks him and side headlocks him. Mal is flipped over on the wristlock. Mal shoulders him over. Hijo chops him Mal top rope diving armdrags Hijo. Mal flying headscissors Hijo out.

Mal tope con hilos Hijo outside. Hijo guillotines Mal. Mal boots him out of the corner and Hijo boots him back. Hijo springboard armdrags him and then bodyscissors him over the top. Hijo top rope moonsaults Mal outside.

Hijo eye pokes him and is caught on a crossbody. Hijo pumping knees him then hits soul foot. Hijo walks up the buckles and diving codebreakers him. Hijo michinoku drivers him for 2. Hijo step up knees Mal in the corner and does another michinoku driver.

Hijo triple jump moonsaults Mal for 2. Hijo urakens him and takes a headbutt. Mal back body drops him and hits slaps. Hijo slaps back and takes a facekick. Hijo rebound lariats him then takes a spinning lariat. 

Mal 2nd rope moonsaults Hijo for 2. Mal double underhook twisting ddt's him for the win.

Thoughts: It wasn't as a bad as I expected but the selling was non-existent here. They just did the moves they wanted to do then moved onto the next thing they wanted to do. I liked it at first but liked it less as it kept going on.

KENTA vs. Kenoh

I didn't like the build to this one. It's a bigger match than the spot it will get on this show. I feel like it would have been better saved for another show. Ken has black hair here instead of his usual blonde hair.

Kenoh slaps him on the break. Kenta slaps him back and then Kenoh drops him with a slap. Kenta is thrown into the rails and is kicked outside. Kenoh misses a 2nd rope double stomp on the floor. Kenta powerslams Kenoh on the floor.

Kenta hits chest kicks and back elbows him. Kenta headscissors him and Kenoh ropebreaks. Kenta hits knees to the face. Kenta ddt's him then knee drops him. Kenta hits kicks to Kenoh's chest and head while he's down. Kenta hits chest kicks and Kenoh chest kicks him back.

Kenoh legsweeps him into a double stomp on the back. Kenoh flying knees him in the back of the head. Ken ankle locks him. They trade forearms and chest kicks. Kenta running facekicks him. Kenoh pele kicks him and they facekick each other down at the same time. Kenta ddt's him then corner facekicks him. Kenta hits a corner dropkick.

Kenta hits a top rope double stomp for 2. Kenoh ankle locks him then PK's him. Kenoh misses a top rope double stomp. Kenta facekicks him. Kenta crossfaces Kenoh and Kenoh ropebreaks.

Kenta leg lariats Kenoh on the ropes. Kenoh high kicks him then dragon suplexes him for 2. Kenoh hits two PK's for 2. They hit each other at the same time. They slap each other at the same time. Kenta hits a couple of hard slaps in a row then does a busaiku knee for 2. Kenta facekicks Kenoh for 2. Kenta hits a go to sleep and pins him.

Thoughts: Noah booked themselves into a corner with this one. NJPW probably wasn't going to let Kenta lose and Kenoh didn't really need to lose this one but he did. Kenoh losing was clearly the worst of the two outcomes especially since Kenta is a lowcarder in NJPW but that's what we got. Noah is horrible at protecting their stars against other companies stars and this was a great example of it. The match gave you some of the things you would want with the kicks and slaps but it wasn't as good as it could have been 10 years ago or so. Kenta's not injured or that old, but he just doesn't try and doesn't care enough to go try to put a classic on.

Kenoh begs for a handshake after and Kenta walks away, further burying Kenoh.

GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match - Daga (c) vs. Eita

1st fall - Daga shotgun dropkicks Eita in the corner then hits boots and punches. Daga flips over his back and takes a headscissors out. Eita goes to dive and gets stopped with a kick. Daga tornado ddt's him on the floor using the rail. Daga topes Eita into the rail. Daga top rope double stomps Eita then does a double underhook codebreaker. Daga wins the fall.

2nd fall - Daga baseball slides him out. Daga bites Eita on the rails. Daga gorilla press throws Eita onto the apron. Daga hits Eita with a table. Daga gotch style piledrivers Eita through a table. Eita jack knife pins Daga in the ring and pins him.

3rd fall - Daga hits a basement dropkick and chokes him in the corner. Eita step up enzugiri's him in the corner. Daga gets a 2 count on him. Eita hits 3 dropkicks, sending Daga out. Eita tope con hilos Daga through the ropes. Eita is caught coming off the top. Daga superkicks him then germans him for 2. Daga spinning lariats him then Eita superkicks him.

They trade chest chops. They trade shots and Daga powerslams him. Eita gets a 2 count on him. Daga does like a final cut for 2. Eita superkicks him. He then does like a Z360 out of the abdominal stretch for 2. They fight on the buckles. Eita bodyscissors rolls him down and wins.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. Daga did a piledriver through a table that not only meant nothing but lead to him getting pinned soon after in the 2nd fall. There was no way I was putting this over after that. I don't really understand the point of them doing 2/3 falls here when the first two falls were short and basically a waste.

GHC National Title Match - Manabu Soya (c) vs. Masa Kitamiya

They charge at each other then trade forearms. Masa gets knocked into the ropes with one then forearms him down. They trade more forearms. Masa side headlocks him. Soya shoulders him over then knee drops him for 2.

Soya suplexes Masa for 2. Soya hits punches and chops. Masa shoulders him over. Masa corner lariats him, samoan drops him and sentons him. Soya flying lariats him then corner lariats him. Soya 2nd rope powerslams him for 2.

Masa clips Soya then facebusters him. Soya's knee is banged off the mat. Soya hits chops while put in the prison lock. Masa suplexes Soya. Masa spears him, Soya no sells it and Soya spears him. Masa no sells it and they lariat each other down at the same time. They hit lariats and Masa lariats him over.

Soya hits double chops then Masa ddt's him. Soya does a high backdrop for 2. Masa clips him thne Soya hit a big lariat for 2. Masa drops Soya on his knees and piledrivers him. Masa prison locks him and Soya ropebreaks. 

Soya guillotines him then does a short ddt for 2. Soya hits headbutts on Masa then jumping ddt's him for 2. Soya then gets the win.

Thoughts: The jumping ddt finish was a bit weak for these guys when they are no-selling germans. We've seen this match before and it was what you would expect with lots of fire and hoss style wrestling. I liked it but it went a little longer than it needed to and I thought they could have done a little better. I would have liked to have seen a big high spot or two and a bit more drama.

GHC Tag Team Title Match - Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura (c) vs. Team 2000X (Jack Morris & Omos)

Omos stares down some sumo wrestler in the front row. I don't know who that rikishi is but I'd like to see that one.

Omos and Sugi stare down. Sugi offers a test of stregnth but he can't come close to reaching Omos. Sugi bends down and Omos boots him. Sugi hits headbutts to the chest and forearms. Omos corner splashes him. Jack clubs on Sugi and Sugi suplexes Jack.

Maru chops and back elbows Jack. He runs into Omos then Jack hits Maru from behind. Maru tries to stare down Omos and just goes to his chest. Maru chops Omos and Omos laughs at him. Maru double boots him out of the corner and is facekicked off the buckles to the floor.

Omos throws Maru in from the apron. Jack clubs on Maru. Maru hits a kick combo on Jack and drops him. Sugi corner facekicks Jack then running knees him in the corner. Sugi hits a shot on Omos on the apron and Omos wants in.

Sugi 2nd rope suplexes Jack for 2. Jack flyng knees him for 2. Sugi gordbusters Jack and running knees him in the gut. Jack takes a double back elbow. Maru flying back elbows Jack then Jack spinebusters him for 2. 

Jack gets on Omos' shoulders and splashes Maru for 2. Omos chokeslams Sugi on the apron. Maru pumping knees Jack and Jack flying knees him. Omos hits a high back body drop on Maru then does a double arm chokeslam for the win.

Thoughts: It wasn't great, but I liked it. They really put Omos over here and made him look like a total force. Omos did his part too. If you were looking for a wrestling classic, this wasn't it, but they did a goob job with this.

Jack poses on Omos' shoulders after with the titles.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ulka Sasaki

Ulka has dyed red hair. SN got traditional japanese drums and horns for his entrance. SN also came out with a samurai helmet and mask with a cool remix of his theme. This is not for the WWE US Title, which SN currently holds. 

SN goes for kicks and hits some to the leg and body. SN blocks a takedown and waistlocks Ulka. Ulka goes for a guillotine. SN takes him down. Ulka goes for a leglock and SN goes out. SN facekicks Ulka off the apron. Ulka is sent into the rails. Ulka hangs over the apron and SN running knees him. SN hits knees ot the body and spinning heel kicks him. Ulka is laid on the top buckle and SN running knees him. Ulka hangs over the top and gets kicked.

Ulka hits chest kicks. SN knee drops Ulka for 2. SN arm and chinlocks Ulka. Ulka flying kicks him. Ulka strike combos him then SN knees him in the gut. Ulka hits a cutter. They trade forearms. Ulka slaps and germans him for 2.

SN comes off the buckles and gets hit with a flying kick from Ulka. Ulka flying triangles him. SN hits a knee to the chest. SN reverse slams/release backdrops him. Ulka gets on his back with a sleeper.

Ulka catches him with another triangle. The ref gets hit. SN black mists him and hits a styles clash type of move. SN hits a kinshasa and gets the win.

Thoughts: I didn't like it much. As I said earlier, Noah is bad at protecting talent. SN treated Ulka like a jobber rookie here early on and had his way with him. Ulka got some comebacks in and we had a dirty finish with a weak ref bump and SN using the mist to win. It didn't make Ulka look like a star and it wasn't the spirited match you would hope for. Now Ulka has to wrestle again regularly in Tokyo from now on and SN will go back to the US where Noah can't capitalize on the win.

GHC Heavyweight Title Match - Kaito Kiyomiya (c) vs. Taishi Ozawa

Tai stalls outside to start, rolls out of a lock-up and does taunts. Tai backs off on a lock up and KK grabs him by the hair. Tai stalls outside more. KK chases him around the ring. Tai side headlocks him in the ring and is forearmed over. Tai hits armdrags and headscissors KK.

Tai breakdances in the ring while waiting for KK to get back in. Tai backflips, picks his nose and puts it in KK's mouth. Tai backrolls KK then PK's him. Tai standing moonsaults him and rests on him to try and pin him.

KK dragon screws him then flying knees him. KK boots Tai out. Yoshitatus hits KK with his stick outside and KK's buddy stop Yoshi. Tai hits KK with a crutch and Kenoh stops him. Tai hits Ken with the crutch. Tai shoves the crutch into KK's face. 

KK is sent into the rails. Tai is sent into the rails. KK charges at him but goes into them. Tai cravates him in the ring. KK hits a flying shot. KK  slips on a springboard and elbows Yoshi off the apron. KK flying shotgun dropkicks Tai out. KK tope con hilos him.

Tai tries to hit KK with a weapon and gets dropkicked. KK hits corner punches. KK germans him for 2. Tai blocks a shining wizard. Tai rolls through a sunset flip and hits a basement dropkick.  Tai corner dropkicks him. Tai top rope dropkicks him for 2. Tai corkscrew kicks him for 2. Tai hits forearms and KK fires back.  Tai facekicks him and takes a spinning forearm. Tai spinning heel kicks him and takes a shining wizard. KK tiger suplexes him for 2. KK double underhook hims and tiger suplexes him to the side. Tai does a pop-up flatliner.

Tai finlay rolls him, misses a top rope moonsault and does a running ssp. Tai powerbombs him for 2. KK crotches Tai up top and gets booed for it. Tai 2nd rope liger bombs him for 2. Tai misses a top rope phoenix splash.

KK dropkicks him. KK hits flying shining wizards for 2. KK steps up the buckles and hits a shining wizard for 2.  KK goes for a shining wizard and Tai pushes the ref in his way. KK blocks Tai's low blow. KK then low blows Tai. KK hits a shining wizard but the ref is out.

Omos then comes out to big pops. Tai kicks KK in the nuts. Tai shining wizards KK for 2. Tai dropkicks him then does a sitout bomb for 2. Tai hits a phoenix splash and pins KK to win.

Thoughts: This was a big upset and shocker. This stuff doesn't happen in Noah usually. The first half was all stalling and shenanigans from Tai. Then in the 2nd half they had more of a normal match with finishing trading and big moves. The crowd was really into Tai and even booed Kaito over him so they did something right here. It don't think it was a great match but was something really different from the usual Noah fare and kept my attention.

Tai grabs the mic after. He poses on Kaito, says he's the real rebel and stomps on him. Tai calls out Kenoh after for a match. Why Ken gets a title match after losing today, I don't know.

Overall thoughts: It was a long one that went over 3.5 hours. The first two undercard matches were okay. Wagner/Mal wasn't good. I didn't care for Kenta/Kenoh and Ulka/Nakamura. In both cases, the regular Noah wrestler got beaten by the outsider, which doesn't help anyone. The Jr title match wasn't that good. Soya/Masa was fine. Omos' tag did what it was supposed to but wasn't great. The main was a different match from usual and Noah took a big risk in letting Ozawa win. The crowd liked it though so maybe it worked. I was surprised the women didn't make the show, especially Kouki who is the Women's GHC champ. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 mostly because it was a big show and they tried but the booking here really left a lot to be desired. Whatever you were looking for on this show, you probably got some of it. You probably should see the main in this one.