KENOH Emerges Victorious From Lumberjack Deathmatch With Help From Maybach Taniguchi

By: Ian McCord 

On October 15th at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s LEGACY RISE 2026 at Korakuen Hall, KENOH sought to get revenge on Masa Kitamiya and TEAM 2000X for costing him a trip to the N-1 VICTORY Final by battling his foe in a Lumberjack Deathmatch.

The violent match stipulation came to be after TEAM 2000X’s actions back on September 27th, when KENOH’s chances at advancing to the N-1 VICTORY Final were spoiled by the stable in a match against Masa Kitamiya. After a brawl on the outside, Kai Fujimura, who was hidden under the ring, halted KENOH from re-entering the ring, causing Kitamiya to win the via count out, ending KENOH’s N-1 right then and there.

From the second KENOH made his entrance for the Lumberjack Deathmatch, it was clear he had an uphill battle ahead of him if he hoped to walk away with the win. After Kitamiya made his way to the ring with eight members of TEAM 2000X, KENOH entered Korakuen Hall with only three allies to watch his back, Naomichi Marufuji, Shuji Kondo, and Tsuruya Hiroto. KENOH needed a miracle if he hoped to get the revenge he seeked.

As expected, the numbers game almost became too much for KENOH to handle, with TEAM 2000X able to use their advantage to take out his lumberjacks. Just when things were looking grim for KENOH, with Kitamiya piling chairs on top of him looking to set up for a devastating senton off the top rope, the miracle KENOH needed took place. Out of nowhere, the soon to be retiring Maybach Taniguchi made his way to the ring to make a huge save for KENOH.

Taniguchi hit the scene like a bull on parade, taking out TEAM 2000X and using his patented trident-like weapon to toss Kitamiya onto the pile of chairs. After more assistance from Taniguchi, KENOH was able to hit his signature foot stomp off the top rope onto Kitamiya to score the pinfall victory.

After the match, KENOH thanked Taniguchi for his help and gratefully asked if he would have his last match for Pro Wrestling NOAH at WRESTLE ODYSSEY II on October 25th, in which Taniguchi simply responded with a smile.

During his post-match comments after letting out a victorious battle cry, Taniguchi, who was fully decked out in his No Mercy shirt, was approached by the former leader of the No Mercy stable in KENTA. Taniguchi’s former stablemate declared that he wants to fight alongside him in Ryogoku on the 25th.

Maybach Taniguchi: “Uwaaah! Aaah!”

KENTA: “Maybach Taniguchi. If you are going to appear at Ryogoku, stand next to me in the end! If you are wearing that T-shirt, you must have feelings for that team, for our team. In the end, side by side, KENTA, Taniguchi-gumi, no, KENTA, Maybach Taniguchi-gumi, and let me settle things with Maybach Taniguchi in the end! What do you say?”

After the event, it was announced that Maybach Taniguchi and KENTA will team up at WRESTLE ODYSSEY II on the 25th, taking on the Team 2000X duo of Masa Kitamiya and Takashi Sugiura in a special tag team match.

Image Credit: Pro Wrestling NOAH