Kouga Visits Animal Hamaguchi Ahead of Tag Match Against LTJ at N-1 VICTORY 2026 Final on 10/4

By: Ian McCord 

At Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 VICTORY 2026 Final on October 4th, Kouga and Daiki Odashima are set to take on the LTJ duo of Tetsuya Naito and RYUSEI in a special tag team match.

Kouga took to social media following the match announcement to question if the bout was put together due to the fact that both he and Tetsuya Naito were trained by Animal Hamaguchi. Kouga then gave his honest opinion, claiming that unlike others he trained with, he didn’t join Hamaguchi’s gym to follow in Naito’s footsteps, revealing that he actually dislikes the current GHC Heavyweight Champion.

From Kouga via X:

“Maybe the company set up this match because I’m from the Hamaguchi Gym? Just to clarify, there were plenty of guys who joined the Hamaguchi Gym because they looked up to Naito, but I didn’t join because I admired him. Just as Tetsuya Naito doesn’t admire the GHC title, I’ve never looked up to Naito either. If anything, I actually dislike Tetsuya Naito.”

(English Translation via DeepL)

A few days later, on October 1st, Kouga posted a photo on social media of himself and Animal Hamaguchi at his legendary gym in Tokyo. The post simply stated that Kouga is fired up, possibly after getting some inspiration from his and Naito’s old stomping grounds.

Kouga and Daiki Odashima vs. Tetsuya Naito and RYUSEI will take place at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 VICTORY Final on October 4th at Yoyogi National Gymnasium 2nd Gymnasium in Tokyo. This event will air live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE streaming service.