Literal Mayhem at NOAH SPRING MAYHEM RYOGOKU 2026 Press Conference

By: Ian McCord

Punches were thrown and tables were broken on April 28th as literal mayhem ensued at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s press conference for SPRING MAYHEM RYOGOKU 2026.

As to be expected, OZAWA took the opportunity to throw more verbal jabs at both GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura and his opponent on May 2nd, Tetsuya Naito. OZAWA shared how shocked he is on how close the Fan Vote results currently are, claiming that things would be more in his favor if Naito was in better condition. OZAWA added that fans are rejecting Naito in the main event due to a bad taste left from Kota Ibushi vs. Naomichi Marufuji in the main event of NOAH The New Year 2024.

From OZAWA:

“Inamura vs. Shane at 44% and me vs. Naito at 56%? That’s an incredibly close margin. Before this fan vote took place, I had a feeling that Inamura vs. Shane was at about 20% and OZAWA vs. Naito was at about 80%. I called for this fan vote convinced I had the win in the bag, but when the results came in, it turned out to be this close. I wondered what the cause could be. I figured it out. The reason is definitely the Marufuji vs. Ibushi storyline from about two or three years ago. When a wrestler who can’t move properly gets the main event slot, pushing aside title matches, it causes a huge uproar and generates an insane amount of hate among NOAH fans. NOAH fans are remembering that and having an allergic reaction to it. So, as you can see, and as you know, this former charismatic Tetsuya Naito is in a state where he can’t move at all. Seeing him like that, I suppose the fans all thought, “Hmm,” and that’s why the result is 56%.”

Things would break down as TEAM 2000X and Los Tranquilos de Japon were leaving the interview area. Jun Masaoka, whose match with BUSHI is now No Disqualification, destroyed BUSHI’s autobiography, resulting in a face full of black mist.

Photo Credit: Pro Wrestling NOAH

The misting would lead to an All-Out brawl between LTJ and T2000X ahead of their All-Out Battle this weekend. GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura would be the one to step in and attempt to restore order; unfortunately for the champ, that turned into him having water spit in his face by OZAWA for his troubles.

Photo Credit: Pro Wrestling NOAH

Inamura, who has had his own issues with OZAWA and his main event aspirations for SPRING MAYHEM RYOGOKU, did not take kindly to the face full of water and planted the Real Rebel with a Muso through a nearby table.

OZAWA would respond to his own and Inamura’s actions on social media after the press conference, claiming he was just trying to cool the champ down with the face full of water.

From OZAWA:

“A champion who realizes his presence is too faint and tries to make a splash with a cheap, disruptive move. Have some shame. I tried splashing water on him to cool him down, but he just got angry instead. I sure don’t want to end up like that.”

(English Translations via DeepL)

As for NOAH’s SPRING MAYHEM RYOGOKU 2026 on May 2nd, the main event of the evening will be decided on the day of the event.

Here is the full card for NOAH’s SPRING MAYHEM RYOGOKU 2026 courtesy of purolove.com:

• Atsushi Kotoge, Hi69 & Hajime Ohara vs. Yuto Koyanagi, Hiroto Tsuruya & Midori Takahashi
• Eita vs. Katsumi Inahata
• KENTA, Tetsuya Endo DDT & HAYATA vs. Mohammed Yone, Kazuyuki Fujita & Daiki Odashima
• Handicap Match: Knull vs. Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II
• 3 Way Match: Kaito Kiyomiya, Harutoki & Alejandro vs. Masa Kitamiya, Takashi Sugiura & Tadasuke vs. Manabu Soya, Saxon Huxley & X
• L.T.J vs. T2000X ALL-OUT BATTLE I: Angel Reyes & RYUSEI vs. Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura
• L.T.J vs. T2000X ALL-OUT BATTLE II: BUSHI vs. Jun Masaoka
• Special Tag Match: Naomichi Marufuji & Kenoh vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows
• GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title: AMAKUSA (c) vs. Dragon Bane
• L.T.J vs. T2000X ALL-OUT BATTLE III: Tetsuya Naito vs. OZAWA
• GHC Heavyweight Title: Yoshiki Inamura (c) vs. Shane Haste