Manabu Soya Reveals Secret Plan For NOAH’s N-1 VICTORY Following Win Over OZAWA

By: Ian McCord

Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 VICTORY 2026 continued on September 15th at Kumamoto Castle Hall Civic Hall, with 590 fans in attendance for a night of B Block action.

On this night in Kumamoto, one-half of the GHC Tag Team Champions, Manabu Soya, picked up his second win of the tournament, defeating former GHC Heavyweight Champion and TEAM 2000X’s Real Rebel OZAWA. Soya was defeated by OZAWA in their last singles encounter back in March of 2025, when the two faced off with both the GHC Heavyweight and National Championship on the line.

Since winning NOAH’s NEO GLOBAL TAG LEAGUE and defeating Los Tranquilos de Japon for the GHC Tag Team Titles back in June, Soya has been riding a passion-fueled wave of momentum that he looks to continue surfing throughout this N-1 tournament.

Soya scored the pinfall victory over OZAWA in just under ten minutes after planting the Real Rebel, who was celebrating his four-year anniversary as a professional wrestler, with a huge lariat.

During his post-match comments, Soya revealed that his secret plan for this year’s N-1 is to let his competitors underestimate him. Soya says that he won’t fight it, simply choosing to give it his all no matter what they think and insisting he do so without weapons or fouls.

From Manabu Soya:

“I did it. Got win number two in N-1 VICTORY. I said I had a secret plan — well, here it is: if they’re gonna underestimate me, let ’em underestimate me all the way. That’s the Manabu Soya way. I’m not gonna fight it — if they wanna look down on me, I’ll let ’em look down on me to the fullest. I’ll use whatever I’ve got! But no weapons, no fouls. Next up is Kitamiya. Chairman, anything goes — I’ll take you on. ‘Cause right now I’m burning with JŌNETSU! I’m in peak form!!”

Next up for Soya is last year’s N-1 VICTORY winner, Masa Kitamiya, on September 17th to decide who will become the current points leader in B Block.

Elsewhere on the card in B Block competition, Masa Kitamiya bested Titus Alexander, KENOH defeated Kouga, and Tetsuya Endo scored a big win over fellow White Raven Squad stablemate KENTA in the main event.

Tensions also ran high in the opening six-man tag match featuring A Block combatants, Kaito Kiyomiya and Shane Haste teaming with HAYATA, taking on fellow A Block competitors Yoshiki Inamura and Chen with Black Mensore. After Haste scored the win for his team, Inamura and Kiyomiya exchanged strikes after the match, giving fans a taste of what to expect in their much anticipated meeting on September 16th in Fukuoka for day four of N-1 VICTORY 2026 competition.

Here are the full results from NOAH’s N-1 VICTORY 2026 Day 3 courtesy of purolove.com:

• Kaito Kiyomiya, Shane Haste, and HAYATA defeat Yoshiki Inamura, Chen, and Black Mensore (5:10)
• Naomichi Marufuji defeats Hiroto Tsuruya (7:25)
• Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, and RYUSEI defeat Mohammed Yone, Katsumi Inahata, and Yuto Koyanagi (8:58)
• N-1 VICTORY – Block B: Masa Kitamiya [4] defeats Titus Alexander [2] (8:42)
• N-1 VICTORY – Block B: Manabu Soya [4] defeats OZAWA [2] (9:28)
• Kai Fujimura, YO-HEY & Jun Masaoka defeat Alejandro, Dragon Bane & Daiki Odashima (12:09)
• N-1 VICTORY – Block B: KENOH [2] defeats Kouga [0] (12:35)
• N-1 VICTORY – Block B: Tetsuya Endo [2] defeats KENTA [0] (17:16)

N-1 VICTORY Standings:

Block A:

• Kaito Kiyomiya [4]
• Yoshiki Inamura [2]
• Shane Haste [2]
• Chen [2]
• Kazuyuki Fujita [2]
• Takashi Sugiura [2]
• Alpha Wolf [2]
• Yuki Iino [0]

Block B:

• Manabu Soya [4]
• Masa Kitamiya [4]
• OZAWA [2]
• Titus Alexander [2]
• KENOH [2]
• Tetsuya Endo [2]
• KENTA [0]
• Kouga [0]