OZAWA Injured in Opening Round of NOAH’s N-1 Victory 2025 Tournament

By: Noah Leatherland

Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 Victory tournament kicked off today, but misfortune struck part-way through the show at Korakuen Hall. There had been a lot of hype for OZAWA in his first N-1, though it seems the rest of his competition is now in doubt.

OZAWA’s 2025 has been electric so far in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Returning from excursion in late 2024, OZAWA kicked off the year by winning the GHC Heavyweight Championship on January 1st, 2025. His reign lasted 199 days, including a brief run as GHC National Champion, winning the belt and discarding it immediately. So, OZAWA’s first N-1 Victory tournament looked primed to be another highlight in his landmark year. His opening match in B Block pitted him against NOAH legend Naomichi Marufuji in their first ever singles encounter.

A few minutes into the bout, OZAWA went for a springboard moonsault to the outside. OZAWA cleared the ringside barrier and struck his opponent, but also came down hard on the seats. OZAWA was unable to stand after the hard landing. He was counted out by the referee and left the arena on a stretcher.

There were no comments from OZAWA after the match, and Marufuji also kept his post-match interview brief.

The night continued in a big way with NJPW’s Hiromu Takahashi winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship from YO-HEY, and Kaito Kiyomiya defeating reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion KENTA in the main event.

Here are the full results of the opening round of the N-1 Victory tournament, courtesy of purolove.com:

• A Block: Daga [2] defeated Tetsuya Endo [0] (10:26)
• B Block: Jack Morris [2] defeated Daiki Inaba [0] (5:34)
• B Block: Galeno [2] defeated Harutoki [0] (7:40)
• A Block: Masa Kitamiya [2] defeated Manabu Soya [0] (8:20)
• B Block: Ricky Knight Jr. [2] defeated KENOH [0] (11:11)
• A Block: Kazuyuki Fujita [2] defeated Ulka Sasaki (4:44)
• B Block: Naomichi Marufuji [2] defeated OZAWA [0] (7:33)
• GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi defeated YO-HEY (c) (17:47)
• A Block: Kaito Kiyomiya [2] defeated KENTA [0] (13:49)

These are the current block standings as of September 8th:

A Block

• Daga [2]
• Kaito Kiyomiya [2]
• Kazuyuki Fujita [2]
• Masa Kitamiya [2]
• KENTA [0]
• Manabu Soya [0]
• Tetsuya Endo [0]
• Ulka Sasaki [0]

B Block

• Galeno [2]
• Jack Morris [2]
• Naomichi Marufuji [2]
• Ricky Knight Jr. [2]
• Daiki Inaba [0]
• Harutoki [0]
• KENOH [0]
• OZAWA [0]