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NOAH Grand Ship 2022 Review

2 years ago

NOAH Grand Ship 2022 Review

By: Syn Fritz

The Ark has landed in Nagoya today at the Dolphins Arena for Grand Ship 2022. 10 matches on the card with four being championship matches, and just as important, the second match in Keiji Mutoh’s retirement tour. Let’s check in, and see how everyone fared in Nagoya!

Taishi Ozawa vs Manabu Soya

Opening the show today is the ‘NOAH Born’ wrestler Taishi Ozawa’s latest match against KONGO’s own Manabu Soya. This youngster so far has been working with only heavyweights. While he has a long way to go before he is ready for a possible excursion (or championship gold), the the kid has a fire in his soul to prove his worth here against Soya. You do see some small glimmers of a bright future for him in his ground game as well as his standing exchanges though in this contest, but it’s not enough to put away the Ultra-Heavyweight. Manabu Soya puts Ozawa away within 7 minutes with a full Boston Crab for the win.

WINNER: Manabu Soya

 

Yasutaka Yano & Kai Fujimura vs Eita & NOSAWA Rongai

Coming out, Eita and NOSAWA are more focused on the camera man and messing with him, than on Yano and Fujimura. As soon as the bell rings the “NOAH Borns” take advantage and deliver dropkicks to both Eita and NOSAWA. The younger wrestlers take turns picking apart NOSAWA. A knee to the back on the apron from Eita on Yano opens up the chance for NOSAWA to tag in Eita and does, delivering back body drops to both his opponents. A Dropkick later opens it up for Yano to tag in Fujimura, who falls for the same knee to the back, but from NOSAWA sets up Perros Del Mal here to make a double team attempt  n Fujimura for the three count.

WINNER: Eita & NOSAWA Rongai

 

Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura vs Muhammad Yone & Akitoshi Saito

This was completely different form the last match as it was THE TOUGH’s Masa Kitamiya and Yoshiki Inamura reuniting to take on the legends in Funky Express, Muhammad Yone and Akitoshi Saito. This was a hoss fight, as expected from these four men. Heavy forearm strikes, knees,  from both sides as both teams tried to gain an advantage early on. Momentum built as Saito and Kitamiya stood toe to toe, blow for blow. Both teams delivered their best, but once Yone took things seriously, things started to look bleak for THE TOUGH, especially for Inamura— but the young powerhouse was able to come back and hit Muso on Yone for the three count!

WINNER: Yoshiki Inamura & Masa Kitamiya

 

Extreme Tiger, Ninja Mack, & Alejandro Vs Hajime Ohara, “Hi69” Hiroki, & Tadasuke

Noah Junior chaos is the best way to describe this as three of NOAH’s luchadores take on the dour KONGO. Both teams are great at what they do. Extreme Tiger, Ninja Mack and Alejandro are your aerial Jrs. Meanwhile KONGO’s own Ohara, Hi69 and Tadasuke, while more grounded, can take to the air when needed. Sadly, before the match can really pick up, Tadasuke intentionally gets himself and the rest of his team disqualified by ripping the mask right off Alejandro’s head. There will definitely be a rematch or a one-on-one down the line between these two in the future to settle this.

 

WINNERS: Extreme Tiger, Ninja Mack & Alejandro

 

Daiki Inaba, Masato Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki vs Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr., Jack Morris & Naomichi Marufuji

This was a fun match from the get-go, featuring a rivalry between Naomichi Marufuji and Daiki Inaba (plus a smaller one as Masato Tanaka and Masaaki Mochizuki are opponents), and Jack Morris fighting a N-1 nemesis, Hijo Del Dr .Wagner Jr..

Marufuji and Inaba kicked things off trading shots, before Mochizuki and Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr. took over, with Mochizuki taking three brutal chops on the corner. Mochizuki would end up trying to counter a powerbomb by the larger man, only to get countered again, but came back with a counter of his own to deliver a kick on the mat. Tanaka appearance in the match picked up the pace: a Tornado DDT out of the corner, and a suplex to follow it up for a two. Forearm shots, headbutts and more led both men to make a tag to both Jack Morris and Inaba.

It was long into the fight that Inaba was able to slap on the Octopus Hold, but Morris was saved by Marufuji and Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr.. A Jumping Knee and a Flacon Arrow wasn’t enough to put away Inaba, giving Morris only a two count. One shooting star press later and Morris picked up the win for his team.

WINNER: Jack Morris, Naomichi Marufuji & Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr.

 

Seiki Yoshioka & Atsushi Kotoge vs Chris Ridgeway & Yoshinari Ogawa
GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match

Before the bell even rings, Ogawa and Ridgeway are daring the challengers to attack them, as they inch closer to their opponents to jump them. As soon as the bell rings, Yoshioka and Kotoge are pummeled  and Yoshioka is sent to the floor. Kotoge is left in the ring to fend for himself and he does just that, sending Ridgeway to the outside with an axe kick, and Ogawa  as well with a bicycle kick, just as Yoshioka gets back into the ring. At different points for the next 2 minutes, Ogawa tries to regain momentum but is unable to do so against Kotoge, leading for him to tag in Ridgeway.

Ridgeway and Kotoge start off by throwing forearms against each other, but Ridgeway slaps on a side headlock before taking Kotoge over and down to the mat. Gaining the upper hand, Ridgeway takes him back to his feet to send Kotoge off the ropes over to get smashed by his shoulder tackle, but Kotoge responds with a massive boot out of the corner, giving him the chance to breathe and make the tag to Yoshioka. Yoshioka’s presence increases the speed and momentum of the match, as he starts off with a few kicks to weaken the back of Ridgeway, before Ridgeway responds with one of his own. Both men trade snapmares and kicks until Ogawa gets the tag.

From this point, both teams are back and forth until Ogawa takes down Yoshioka, making quick tags back and forth, picking apart Yoshioka’s left knee. After five minutes of submissions onto his knee, Yoshioka finds his opening and delivers a single knee jawbreaker to daze Ridgeway enough to make the tag to Kotoge, who comes in and starts to clean house, striking down Ridgeway and Ogawa (who is on the apron).
An inverted DDT on Ridgeway from Kotoge is only enough for a two count. Ridgeway rebounds from the onslaught, delivering a German suplex for a two count, followed up with a PK for another two. Both men trade blows again, with Ridgeway coming out on top with ferocious open-palm strikes, before taking a nasty headbutt from Kotoge, then delivering another PK to the chest of Kotoge.

Kotoge tags in Yoshioka, who is still favoring his left leg, and after an exchange of kicks, Ridgeway tags in Ogawa. From here on, Ogawa targets that left leg of Yoshioka, from the ridgeway clutch, to the figure four. He doesn’t let up. A DDT for a two count followed up by a Saito suplex for a two again, before Ogawa returns to the figure four, but Yoshioka refuses to give up and grabs the rope. In the final stretches of the Match, Yoshioka delivers an Enzugiri to Ogawa, rocking him. Ogawa reverses an attempted Buzzsaw kick onto a figure four, only to be kicked hard in the head.

It was a long, tough fight, but a final Buzzsaw kick sealed Ogawa’s fate and the three count for Yoshioka and Kotoge to pick up the win and the gold.

WINNERS: Seiki Yoshioka and Atsushi Kotoge

Post match, before the new champions could celebrate, KONGO struck as Hi69 and Tadasuke attacked Yoshioka and Kotoge, sending a message with a chair, that they want the gold.

Takashi Sugiura & Satoshi Kojima vs  Timothy Thatcher & Hideki Suzuki
GHC Tag Team Championship Match

Heading into this match, the champions have the mental advantage with past victories over the challengers. Sugiura and Suzuki start things off for their teams, before each man makes a tag to his respected partner. From the get-go, the whole match is back and forth. Strikes, submissions, suplexes, and more. Neither team wants to give an edge: if Sugiura and Kojima have a tiny miscommunication in the ring, that gives the champions the advantage for a minute. Even though this is the champions’ first title defense, tonight isn’t their night as Sugiura is able to hit a massive Olympic Slam onto Hideki Suzuki for the three count.

WINNERS: Takashi Sugiura & Satoshi Kojima

 

YO-HEY vs HAYATA
GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship

For a long time, even when they were teaming together, YO-HEY had cherished an ambition to defeat HAYATA for the GHC Junior heavyweight Championship and he has never been successful. From the bell, both men have their foot on the gas and it’s a fast-paced match from the start. YO-HEY wisely slows down the pace and takes HAYATA to the mat, where he definitely has been paying attention to his stablemate Yoshinari Ogawa’s work. YO-HEY psychs out HAYATA and sends him to the floor for him to nail a Tope Con Hilo onto the champion.

YO-HEY stays in control with a cravat, into a snapmare and dropkick to the head of HAYATA for the two count. The moment HAYATA is able to drop YO-HEY over the top and down to the floor, he is able to regain control of the match, and focus his attacks on Yo-HEY’s left arm. Once back in the ring, HAYATA keeps up the assault on YO-HEY’s arm. Dropkicks to it, submissions, using the ropes, anything to damage YO-HEY’s arm.

The Challenger is able to regain control of the match by countering a moonsault and a cazadora, sending the champion HAYATA to the floor. Both men brawl on the floor with momentum on YO-HEY’s side, but it swings back to HAYATA with a vicious powerbomb counter on YO-HEY. HAYATA gets back in the ring first, with YO-HEY getting back in at the count of 19. It is anyone’s match at this point. Both men trade blows. HAYATA takes three super kicks to the face, but YO-HEY only gets a 2!

Moments later, YO-HEY hits in inverted Twist of Fate, followed up with a Meteora for a two count again! HAYYATA attacks the arm of YO-HEY again, wearing him down, leaving him open for a moonsault press, but only for a two count again. Back and fourth again both men go, until YO-HEY hits a Gamengin for a two count. Twenty full minutes into the match now, and neither man is willing to falter. Sadly, two minutes and 20 seconds later, HAYATA nails the Headache out of nowhere. Victorious, he has retained the GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion!
Winner: HAYATA

Post match, Ninja Mack came out from the back to challenge HAYATA for the Jr. Heavyweight Championship next.

 

Masakatsu Funaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Keiji Mutoh & Kazuyuki Fujita
Pro Wrestling Love Forever 2 – Outbreak

Katsuhiko Nakajima described the atmosphere of Keiji Mutoh and classmate Masakatsu Funaki reuniting with their underclassman (or junior to them) Kazuyuki Fujita as a class reunion. Nakajima says he is going to destroy that atmosphere and has warned Mutoh that after this match, he (Mutoh) may not even make it to his retirement at The Tokyo Dome. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case.

Another fun one and a nice way to send Keiji Mutoh off from Nagoya, the crowd is visibly excited to see Keiji Mutoh compete one last time in from of them. Photos of some of Keiji’s best moments in his career in Nagoya were shown onscreen during his entrance for a heartfelt touch.

Mutoh, Funaki, and Fujita did a wonderful job giving the crowd everything they could in this match, delivering their greatest hits in the ring. No passing of the torch here either, compared to Keiji’s match with Kitamiya last month. What stood out to me in this match is that Fujita was taking the full brunt of shots that had KO’d Endo and others, but they weren’t fazing Fujita at all. They don’t call Fujita Ol’ Ironhead for nothing. Though to see Nakajima pull out the Space Rolling Elbow was the biggest surprise of the night!

In the end, this was a feel-good match, giving the crowd a moment of happiness to take home. Keji Mutoh picked up the victory for his team with the Shining Wizard.

Winners: Keiji Mutoh & Kazuyuki Fujita

Kaito Kiyomiya vs KENOH
GHC Heavyweight Championship

Kiyomiya came into this match winning this years N-1 Victory tournament, leading to this exact moment, against KENOH. The men are not related by blood, but do look at each other like brothers, and for Kiyomiya to become GHC Heavyweight Champion, he must defeat his “older brother” who has a 7-2 record against him. Both men lock up, with Kaito able to back KENOH into the ropes and deliver the first shot with a chop. They lock up a second time with KENOH gaining control, pushing Kiyomiya into the ropes, and giving a clean break.

They lock up for a third time, exchanging holds but ending up in a stalemate. They exchange holds once again, with Kiyomiya attempting the shining Wizard early on KENO, only to have it blocked and KENOH attempt his own, which misses. Kiyomiya responds with a flashing elbow drop, connecting with KENOH’s chest to gain the advantage. Kiyomiya follows it up with a second flashing elbow for a two count.

Kiyomiya stays on top of KENOH, trying to not give him an inch, as he hit KENOH with a flying back elbow, sending him to the floor. Once on the floor though, KENOH takes the advantage and sends Kiyomiya into the guard rail, followed up with a body slam onto the floor. They head back into the ring, and KENOH goes for the camel clutch on Kiyomiya, working over the back of the young former champion. A few stomps onto Kiyomiya’s back, and a few choice words, KENOH dares Kaito to stand and face him.

He does, only to be met with thunderous kick. KENOH tries for a suplex, but Kiyomiya floats over him and takes a back elbow for countering. KENOH delivers a hard dropkick to the knee after an Irish whip, dropping Kiyomiya to a knee, and starts to pose like Keiji Mutoh, which sends Kiyomiya on the assault, charging at KENOH, delivering forearm strikes, KENOH though, unfazed, delivers a kneeling Flacon Arrow to Kaito for a two count.

KENOH, now in complete control, applies a waist lock, with his legs, applying pressure to Kiyomiya’s waist. Kiyomiya, though, is able to roll for the ropes and get the rope break. Ten minutes into the match, Kaito is able to swing the momentum back his way after a lariat and forearm strike, and missile dropkick from the top for a two count. Both men trade holds, as Kaito tries for a German Suplex, which leads into a dragon screw leg whip attempt, only for KENOH to counter and hit one of his own on Kiyomiya.

An ankle lock applied as KENOH sets up Kaito for a nasty kick to the check, but Kaito counters and lats a massive forearm, with KENOH responding with a kick of his own. Both men trade shots, with KENOH landing a German Suplex high on Kiyomiya’s head, which makes Kaito respond with a massive dropkick, puts the match back at a stalemate. Forearms, a backslide counter, spin kick to the face, ankle lock with a lift and a nasty kick to the chest of an upside down Kaito Kiyomiya swings the momentum back to KENOH. KENOH lands a PK yet again, but only for a two count.

KENOH tries the PFS off the top turnbuckle onto Kaito but misses, then chases Kaito down into the corner for the Double Knees, but Kaito catches him and drops him face first onto the turnbuckles. KENOH rolls to the floor but Kiyomiya takes advantage of the situation and delivers a Tope con Hilo over the top rope onto the champion! He is back into the ring by the count of 12 and Kaito delivers a German suplex with a bridge, but only for a two count. Kaito attempts a Tiger Suplex, but KENOH blocks it and delivers some reverse headbutts to break the hold. KENOH goes for a kick but gets caught in Kaito’s Dragon Screw Leg Whip, setting up for the shining wizard for a two count!

The challenger, Kaito, attempts it again but gets caught in KENOH’s Dogime hold, but counters the move for a two count, forcing KENOH to break the hold. Uppercut after uppercut lands from Kaito, but KENOH delivers a Pele kick in response. Sent into the ropes, KENOH is looking to deliver the final kick to the ribs, when Kaito pulls out a new move, the Jumping Knee of the late Jumbo Tsuruta to count the kick, and again to drop KENOH to the mat, but only for a two count!

Kaito climbs to the top turnbuckle now, only to be met with another kick from KENOH, dazing the challenger and almost sending himself to the floor. KENOH motions to the crowd he is willing to go that far to retain, and delivers an Avalanche Dragon Suplex, climbs back up and delivers PFS onto Kaito but only for a two count again! KENOH climbs back to the top and goes for the moonsault, but Kaito rolls out of the way, Kenoh lands on his feet, and Kaito delivers a beautiful Shining Wizard, to bring the match back to a stalemate.

Both men claw their way back to their feet, forearm strike for kick, European uppercuts for kicks, but then KENOH drops Kaito with an open palm strike to the jaw. The referee checks Kaito and sees he is still conscious, so the match continues. Kaito climbs back to his feet, where KENOH looks to deliver a kick to the head, but Kaito blocks it with the jumping knee again. A 2nd jumping knee connects with KENOH, dropping him to a knee. Kaito takes a running charge only to be met with a high kick, stopping him and a second high kick to the ear, for a two count.

KENOH, frustrated, climbs to the top to deliver PFS, but Kaito moves out of the way, to deliver a Frankensteiner for a two, a wonderful callback to how Mutoh won the championship last year from Go Shiozaki. The challenger delivers a tiger suplex for a two count. Kaito backs into a corner and dares Kaito to stand up, does and delivers a Shining Wizard. Kaito stands back up, and moves to the corner again, looks down at his fingers, shows his Pro Wrestling Love ala Mutoh’s pose and delivers his modified Shining Wizard Knee for a three count!

Match of the night, a must-watch! Both men, each time they face each other, bring out the best in each other.

WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya