Naito Names NOAH at Tokyo Dome Show as Goal After Losing the Crowd Count to New Japan

By: Thom Fain

The GHC Heavyweight champion beat OZAWA at Ryogoku, called NOAH’s 4,253 against New Japan’s 6,422 a complete defeat, and said he does not think the gap between the two promotions is that big.

Tetsuya Naito set a NOAH Tokyo Dome show as the minimum goal for the promotion after retaining the GHC Heavyweight Championship over OZAWA at Ryogoku Kokugikan on Sunday, saying he does not think NOAH trails his former home, New Japan, by as much as the crowd figures suggest.

Naito, 44, beat the N-1 Victory winner, 30-year-old OZAWA, with a difficult-looking Destino in his first defense. The brawl pulled in both factions’ seconds. He closed the show with the “De-Ja-Pon!” chant alongside BUSHI and RYUSEI.

The GHC champ had declared an attendance contest with New Japan’s Oct. 12 Ryogoku show, and Naito lost the bet.

NOAH announced 4,253 fans on Sunday to New Japan’s 6,422. Naito called it “a complete defeat,” then said NOAH should aim higher and that he would lead it there. NOAH’s crowd was up from its Ryogoku show last October (3,617) and below its May show there (4,539), Tokyo Sports reported.

After the show, Naito continued to focus on his old stomping grounds, stating the goal is to make NOAH the top promotion in the industry. Naito said, at minimum his goal for NOAH is a Tokyo Dome show.

New Japan is the only promotion running the Dome now, he said, and NOAH once drew bigger Dome crowds than New Japan did. He does not count NOAH’s February 2023 Dome show, which was Keiji Muto’s retirement card, and called it a special attraction. The target is NOAH’s first Dome show of its own since July 2005.

Tokyo Sports noted that a Dome date is hard to picture while Ryogoku-size houses are not full, and Naito did not wave that away.

New Japan had such days too, he said, and still ran the Dome consecutively, which he credited partly to its brand. Having worked for both promotions, he said, he does not think the gap is that big, and a trigger or a change in mindset could close it. He added that he does not like leaning on other promotions, but that he is an outsider himself and knows NOAH has ties to major overseas promotions and can offer dream matches.
NOAH board member Arihiro Takeda said that aiming for the Dome is natural as a business. First, he said, NOAH has to show room to grow at every show, and after metropolitan arena shows it needs to run big matches in regional cities. He said the company wants to do the Dome once its young wrestlers have the name recognition, drawing power and record.

Naito, who worked for New Japan from 2005 to 2025, won the title on Aug. 9 at Korakuen Hall by pinning Shane Haste with the Destino. OZAWA earned the shot by beating Kaito Kiyomiya in the N-1 Victory final on Oct. 4.

After the match, Kenoh came to the ring and challenged Naito for a title match on Nov. 9 at Korakuen Hall. Naito waved the challenge off, although at NOAH’s press conference on Monday the company made the match official for Nov. 9th.