Kaito Kiyomiya Strikes First Against OZAWA Ahead Of Their May 18th GHC Heavyweight Championship Showdown

By: Lewis Carlan

On May 18th, Pro Wrestling NOAH will present STAR NAVIGATION 2025 at Korakuen Hall.  The main event will see the current GHC Heavyweight Champion OZAWA defend the title against Kaito Kiyomiya. OZAWA defeated Kiyomiya for the title on Jan. 2nd and has made four successful title defenses, including one against NOAH legend KENTA. Kiyomiya is a former three time GHC Heavyweight Champion.

On May 9th, OZAWA and Kiyomiya participated in their first preliminary match ahead of their May 18th showdown. Kiyomiya teamed with Alejandro & Kai Fujimura as they faced OZAWA, Yoshitatsu & Tadasuke at NOAH SUNNY VOYAGE 2025 at Light Cube Utsunomiya.

Kiyomiya won the match for his team after hitting a Skywalk Elbow on Tadasuke which was enough for the pinfall. The victory in the preliminary for Kiyomiya was important as he was able to gain early momentum on OZAWA.

After his victory, Kiyomiya has a little fun on X at the expense of OZAWA.

From Kiyomiya:

“Winner of the first match of the preliminaries! OZAWA, You don’t like me, do you? Maybe that feeling is fading? Show me more of that mushy stuff inside you.” (Translated via Deepl)

Here are the full results for NOAH SUNNY VOYAGE 2025 at Light Cube Utsunomiya on May 9th courtesy of purolove.com:

• AMAKUSA & Junta Miyawaki defeat Mohammed Yone & Hajime Ohara (10:48) after a huracanrana by AMAKUSA against Ohara.
• Eita & Super Crazy defeat Shuhei Taniguchi & Black Menso~re (8:54) when Crazy Menso~re pinned.
• Masa Kitamiya defeats Atsushi Kotoge (8:19) with a Saito Suplex.
• Naomichi Marufuji, Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf defeat YO-HEY, HAYATA & Daiki Odashima (13:52) after Wolf’s running knee against Odashima.
• KENOH KENTA & Ulka Sasaki defeat Manabu Soya, Saxon Huxley & Yuto Kikuchi (13:11) after a GAME OVER of KENTA against Kikuchi.
• Takashi Sugiura & Kazuyuki Fujita defeat Tetsuya Endo  & Owadasan (12:23) after an Olympic Slam of Sugiura against Owadasan.
• Kaito Kiyomiya, Alejandro & Kai Fujimura defeat OZAWA, Yoshitatsu & Tadasuke (13:40) after a Skywalk Elbow by Kiyomiya against Tadasuke.