Photo Credit: Pro-Wrestling NOAH
By: H.M. Ryan
Twenty-five years in, Pro Wrestling NOAH remains a promotion defined by legacy. But at Memorial Voyage in Kokugikan 2025, it became clear that legacy alone was no longer enough to chart the path forward. What unfolded inside Ryogoku Sumo Hall wasn’t a celebration. It was a referendum.
Across nine matches, veterans clashed with insurgents, tag teams imploded, ghosts from NOAH’s past returned to confront the present, and the company’s youngest stars proved that violence, charisma, and a little bit of chaos might be the best blueprint for survival.
At the center of it all stood Kazuyuki Ozawa, the self-styled Real Rebel, making his fourth defense of the GHC Heavyweight Championship against one of NOAH’s original icons. Around him moved the other power players in this era-defining moment. Kaito Kiyomiya, trying to reclaim his place in the Ark. KENTA, demanding respect with clenched fists. Naomichi Marufuji, offering a final lesson. Tadasuke, YO-HEY, Kenoh, Sasaki, Galeno, all of them orbit one central question:
What is NOAH now?
This wasn’t just a show about winners and losers. Memorial Voyage was about transformation. Who advanced. Who crumbled. Who grew louder in their loss and quieter in their victory. And who walked into Ryogoku with something to prove and left with the Ark in their hands.
Let’s chart what changed.
AMAKUSA & Junta Miyawaki (c) vs. Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf
The junior tag division has always been a space where NOAH lets style, speed, and spectacle run free. But in the opener, it becomes something else. A treatise on chemistry versus cause.
AMAKUSA and Junta Miyawaki, the unlikely but earnest pairing of sunshine and spirit, enter as champions, beloved if not dominant. Miyawaki, the crowd’s baby brother, gives his orange armband to a young fan in the front row. AMAKUSA, ever the evangelist, radiates intensity beneath his flowing purple-and-white robes. Together, they are earnest. Pure. Maybe too pure for what is coming.
Enter Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf, the Box Office Brothers, reuniting for the first time since November 2024. Clad in Power Rangers-villain gear and dripping with chaotic charisma, they strut into Ryogoku like they own the place. By the end of the match, they very nearly do. Equal parts lucha chaos and instinctual brotherhood, they make clear that no thrown-together team, no matter how well-meaning, can match what comes from bloodline and shared breath.
The match itself is blistering. Miyawaki sells a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker like it takes his soul. AMAKUSA soars with a 450 splash and a hurricanrana on the floor. But the brothers have rhythm, movement, timing. A moonsault off a brother’s chest shouldn’t look that easy. In an attempt to maybe catch a piece of an opponent, Alpha Wolf launches himself through the ropes and ultimately through a table without provocation or permission, leaving a crater in the ringside area and a highlight in the post-match reel.
When Dragon Bane finally plants Miyawaki with Santa Maria and scores the three-count, it doesn’t feel like a loss. It feels inevitable.
By the end, the crowd cheers for the invaders. The titles change hands, but more importantly, the tone shifts. If AMAKUSA and Junta Miyawaki represent the idealistic heart of NOAH’s juniors, Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf bring the heat. And make you like it.
Winners: Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf (new champions)
Masa Kitamiya, Shuhei Taniguchi, Shuji Kondo, Alejandro, and Kai Fujimura
vs.
Muhammad Yone, Kazuyuki Fujita, Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara, and Black Mensore
For a card loaded with personal grudges and emotional baggage, the 10-man tag provides a moment of organized chaos. It doesn’t carry the same narrative weight as the title bouts. It doesn’t need to. It is a proving ground, and no one understands that better than Kai Fujimura.
The entrances say everything. Alejandro’s team walks out to a 2000s Europop vibe, full of brightness and energy. Their opponents arrive to darker, heavier music. What follows is a collision between mid-card personalities and veteran forces, laced with surprising physicality and just enough story to matter.
Alejandro sets the tone early with fast kicks that wipe the grin off Muhammad Yone’s face. Fujita, ever the iron-headed icon at 54 years old, tags in with the same menace he has carried for decades. Taniguchi meets him blow for blow. In one sequence, Taniguchi even uses Fujita’s own teammates as weapons against him, slamming them into Old Ironhead like he is working a demolition derby.
There are moments of levity, like Black Mensore’s rope antics or Yone’s funky lariats, but the standout is Fujimura. He handles the second half of the match like he has been given the keys. His pace is urgent. His execution is sharp. He hits three consecutive brainbusters on Atsushi Kotoge and nearly scores an upset with a springboard forearm. He anchors his side of the match, even as it breaks down into chaos.
In the final stretch, Alejandro hits a leap to the outside while Fujimura and Kotoge trade knees and counters inside the ring. It ends with Kotoge landing a Killswitch and pinning Fujimura, but the message is clear. Kotoge wins the match. Fujimura wins the moment.
What could have been filler turns into a showcase for potential. This match belongs to Kai.
Winners: Yone, Fujita, Kotoge, Ohara, and Black Mensore
HAYATA (Passion RATEL’S) vs. Tadasuke (TEAM 2000X)
This is a match rooted in betrayal.
On March 2nd, 2025, Tadasuke turns on Passion RATEL’S and joins TEAM 2000X. But even before that, Tadasuke and HAYATA share a deep history, having been tag champions in Osaka from summer 2012 to spring 2013.
Tadasuke enters first, carrying a steel chair marked with a signature X before defiantly sitting in the chair and turning his back on referee and former stablemate Manabu Soya. HAYATA, a former five-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, enters next, dressed in gear evocative of Bane. Mask, menace, and all. Soya, curiously styled in mustard yellow pants and combed multi-colored hair, enforces some early order, including throwing out Tadasuke’s chair.
Once the match begins, Soya gets involved early, physically removing his stablemate HAYATA from the turncoat Tadasuke during a rope break. Soya is there to call things down the middle and it shows. Tadasuke lures HAYATA to the outside and throws him into the barrier before flipping off the camera, even slapping his flipped bird against the lens repeatedly. Soya intervenes but inconsistently. He yells for them to return to the ring but shows hesitancy to count them out or penalize further.
Back in the ring, Soya again tries to play fair, though he lifts Tadasuke off HAYATA during a choke, which directly but seemingly inadvertently assists HAYATA’s comeback with a top rope dropkick. This is followed by a suspiciously quick count from Soya, perhaps solely from excitement.
Tadasuke soon stops short of going for a low blow before regaining control by intercepting HAYATA’s springboard handstand with a pounce. It is the match’s most innovative spot. A delayed brainbuster by Tadasuke earns a slower count from Soya. HAYATA hits an enziguri, then a tornado DDT, as the crowd claps both men to their feet.
A series of lightning-fast pinning exchanges between the two competitors leads to Soya visibly tiring from his numerous counts. After HAYATA accidentally hits Soya with a shotgun dropkick, Tadasuke lands a low blow, grabs the chair, and strikes HAYATA in the gut. Soya stops a second chair shot but in the ensuing chaos, Tadasuke accidentally swings the chair into HAYATA again. Tadasuke rolls up HAYATA and Soya, initially hesitating, begrudgingly counts to three, drawing out the third count as long as he can.
Soya is visibly emotional, apologizing to HAYATA. In a bizarre twist to proceedings, Daiki Inaba returns, storming into the ring to scream and flex at both men before realizing that they have already exited. As a bewildered Inaba flexes alone in the ring, he sprints to the back to find his potential future stablemates.
Winner: Tadasuke (via roll-up, after chair-assisted interference)
Saxon Huxlet enters on a mission to win his first singles championship in NOAH. Standing in his way is Galeno del Mal, wearing the red, gold, and silver of the GHC National title he possesses. Galeno, the brother of El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., is 23 years old and 6’3”, matching the challenger’s height. Galeno has held the title since January 1st, 2025, when he defeated Tetsuya Endo in the finals of a 4-man tournament for the vacant belt but enters eager to prove the win was no fluke.
The match begins with early exchanges of shoulder blocks and lariats, with neither man going down until Galeno lands a flying shoulder tackle. Huxley responds with a lariat and a suicide dive to the outside before hitting another lariat inside the ring for a two count. A striking battle in the center of the ring leads to a wild spot where Huxley hurls his own massive body into Galeno to knock both men to the mat.
Galeno soon hits a monstrous superplex but Huxley kicks out at only one. Huxley manages to land a sitout chokebomb for a near fall before Galeno eventually recovers, removes his elbow pad, and hits a lariat, followed up by a Michinoku Driver – near fall. Galeno drops the straps on his singlet, hits a pop-up twisting neckbreaker – the Galeno Special – and pins Huxley to retain the GHC National Championship in a hard-fought slugfest, solidifying his role in the heavyweight division.
Who challenges Galeno next? The GHC National Title often involves self-nominated challengers – will Galeno issue a callout?
Winner: Galeno del Mal (retains; first defense as champion)
Jack Morris & Daga (c) (TEAM 2000X) vs. Kenoh & Ulka Sasaki
This match is loaded with personal animosity and political tension. In the build to this match, Team 2000X disrespected their challengers at every possible opportunity, calling them “a rookie and a YouTuber” and mocking Kenoh at the press conference by stealing his shoulder lion emblem. For Daga, this is psychological warfare. For Kenoh, it’s fuel for rage.
Kenoh and Ulka Sasaki arrive in crimson gear to the shredding anthem of GARLICBOYS. Kenoh is incensed by how TEAM 2000X “stole” the vacant tag belts; Daga claims that ge was given the belts by Omos, and the pair were eventually officially crowned champions on April 6th. The champions come out accompanied by Yoshi Tatsu – face half painted. Jack Morris is now in his third GHC Tag Team Championship reign, which is a NOAH record for international wrestlers.
Daga and Morris attack before the bell and seize the early advantage. Despite this, Kenoh and Sasaki turn the tide briefly before the champions hit synchronized through-the-ropes suicidas on opposite sides of the ring. Sasaki begins as the isolated teammate in peril as Daga hits a snap suplex and Morris toys with him, kicking his head and mocking him. Sasaki manages to respond with a German suplex and a sliding forearm. Daga prevents a hot tag by tripping Kenoh front he apron, and Yoshi Tatsu blatantly interferes to loud boos, lollipop firmly in mouth, by hitting Sasaki.
Daga spits at Kenoh and taunts him to enter, then drops him with closed-fist strikes when he obliges. The champions repeatedly tag in and out, cutting the ring in half. Sasaki survives a counter into a mid-air cutter that floors Morris before completing a hot tag to Kenoh, who flies in knees-first at both champions before stacking them for a double diving knee. Kenoh then applies a double toe hold/ankle lock, igniting the crowd as the champs scream in pain.
Kenoh vs. Daga begins with a brutal exchange of chops and kicks. Kenoh wears down Daga and lands a Pele kick followed by a PK, but Daga survives and nails Diablo Wings; Kenoh manages to kick out. Both men exchange dragon suplexes, which leads to double tags.
Ulka Sasaki nails a German suplex and nearly lands a second sliding forearm, but Morris fires back with a knee to the head. After multiple near falls, Morris eats dual PKs from the challengers. Sasaki gets chopped down with a block and diving elbow combo, but Kenoh saves the pin before being neutralized by a diving Daga.
Morris hits the Bad Looking Knee, but Sasaki counters into a sleeper hold, nearly ending the match. Morris tries to fight out against the turnbuckle but Sasaki deepens the sleeper. Morris fades as Kenoh runs interference before the champion passes out. Kenoh and Sasaki are crowned new champions, walking to the back with their hands raised high.
Rage overcame arrogance on this day, and Sasaki’s growth from rookie to tag team champion is the headline of this match.
Winners: Kenoh & Ulka Sasaki (via submission; new champions)
Eita (c) vs. YO-HEY (Passion RATEL’S)
YO-HEY enters the match with 8 years of experience in NOAH and 16 years of experience overall, though still chasing his first NOAH singles championship at 37 years old. He enters in a dramatic white fur robe, sliding his mask down his face and biting it as he approaches the ring. Sporting red and blonde hair with a blue tongue, he feels he’s not fighting alone.
Eita, once the self-proclaimed face of NOAH juniors, is now truly the standard-bearer of the blue belt. Dressed in black and green and coming off defenses against HAYATA, Alejandro, and Kai Fujimura, Eita won the title after defeating Daga in a best-of-three-pinfalls match. The champion and the challenger both share roots in Dragon Gate, even having previously been in Los Perros del Mal de Japón together at one point. That’s a far-off memory now.
Crisp arm drags start the match until YO-HEY gets the edge and tosses Eita out of the ring. Eita, however, recovers quickly, dragging YO-HEY outside and brutalizing him into the guardrails – twice. He hits an early Imperial Uno – his trademark superkick – and leaves YO-HEY flat on the floor. As the ref checks on the dazed YO-HEY, Eita mocks the moment, sipping water casually before spitting it in the challenger’s face.
YO-HEY eventually finds himself back in the ring only to experience Eita dismissively kicking his opponent in the face. “Is that all you have after 16 years?” the champion asks his downed challenger. YO-HEY shows faint resistance, stirring the crowd into slowly but surely backing him, until he finally connects with a leg lariat followed by a vaulting dive to the outside. YO-HEY builds momentum with a top-rope missile dropkick, then a backstabber, chaining offense. Reversals escalate until Eita counters a Twist of Fate into a brutal top-rope facebuster suplex and PK combo. By this point, the crowd has fully bought into YO-HEY’s resilience. Despite an upside-down piledriver, YO-HEY fights back with a knee slam and double knees off the top; Eita absorbs it and delivers a pumphandle GTS, but YO-HEY still kicks out.
Eita attempts Imperial Uno again, but YO-HEY hits a flurry of dropkicks, forcing Eita to scramble. With the crowd clapping in sync, YO-HEY climbs to the top and hits the Bamboo Dragonfly – his corkscrew senton – for the 1-2-3. YO-HEY wins his first singles title in NOAH and the crowd erupts.
Visibly emotional, YO-HEY shifts between expressions of shock and triumph. He takes the mic in his crowning moment and looks to address the crowd – but is blindsided by Tadasuke, who cracks him across the face with the championship belt. Tadasuke exits to loud boos and middle fingers the crowd while they yell “go home!”
Winner: YO-HEY (via pinfall; new champion)
Jun Akiyama & Takashi Sugiura vs. Tetsuya Endo & Owadasan (TEAM 2000X)
Yoshi-Tatsu leads the 24-year-old “Bad Boy” Owadasan and the 33-year-old Tetsuya Endo to the ring. Endo, a former DDT ace, is now a heel defector aligned with TEAM 2000X. Takashi Sugiura, 54, enters with menace. Dubbed “The Killing Machine,” he’s a towering figure in NOAH history: 4x GHC Heavyweight Champion, 10x GHC Tag Team Champion, 2x GHC National Champion. Jun Akiyama, 55, returns with one purpose: to confront and, hopefully, rehabilitate his former protege, Endo. The two were once aligned in the faction Burning – until Endo “lost his way” in NOAH.
Keiji Mutoh joins commentary, underscoring the generational reckoning about to unfold.
Akiyama vs. Endo opens the match. The younger Endo disrespects Akiyama immediately with a cheap slap; Akiyama responds with stiffness and power before tagging in Sugiura. “The Bad Boy” Owadasan is tagged in as well and shows zero fear, though Sugiura schools him with some grappling. After taunting Akiyama, Owadasan eats a nasty guardrail beatdown outside.
Soon after, while the referee is distracted, Owadasan hits a low blow. Yoshi Tatsu interferes and Endo springboards off the guardrail with a forearm. Back in the ring, Endo delivers a snapmare into a standing moonsault, then attempts six straight pinfalls, showboating with each. Akiyama fights back with a flying knee and manages to tag in Sugiura, who clears house: big boot, running knees, delayed brainbuster – Owadasan barely saves the match.
Endo grabs Sugiura’s groin, then hits a Pele kick. Owadasan tags in, calls Sugiura an “old bastard” in Japanese, and kicks him low, drawing huge heat. Sugiura responds with a lariat and tags in Akiyama. The mentor-protege duel resumes: Akiyama locks in a front neck lock with body scissors-Endo escapes via rope break, then lands a springboard forearm, handspring kick, and the Godly Right Knee for a near fall. With Sugiura neutralized by Owadasan, Endo clumps for a Burning Star Press, but Akiyama gets the knees up. Akiyama surges, a running knee and Exploder suplex leading two a long two count before Yoshi Tatsu pulls out the referee before 3. Tatsu enters the ring, nightstick in hand, but Endo stops him. He considers using the nightstick on Akiyama, then throws it away – a flicker of morality.
Sugiura suplexes Owadasan and clears the ring. Akiyama and Endo trade forearms then dueling Exploders. Endo hits two, but Akiyama dodges the Godly Knee, lands a final Exploder, a brutal knee to the jaw, and a vicious Sternness Dust Omega before getting the pin over his former pupil. After the pin fall, Akiyama leans over Endo and pats his chest – a gesture of disappointment, or maybe hope. Owadasan and Yoshi Tatsu abandon Endo, leaving him alone in the ring. Akiyama walks away, too, having said everything he needed to say in the ring.
As he limps toward the curtain, Endo hears the crowd begin chanting his name.
Winners: Jun Akiyama & Takashi Sugiura (via pinfall; Akiyama pins Endo)
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kaito Kiyomiya (ALL REBELLION)
Naomichi Marufuji, now 45, is a founding figure and one of NOAH’s eternal pillars. Kaito Kiyomiya, now 28, is a 2x GHC Heavyweight Champion, the youngest ever (having won at age 22), and now the leader of ALL REBELLION. The younger man described this match as a battle of “NOAH-ism” and a fight for NOAH’s soul, a match steeped in both the personal and the symbolic.
Not that Kaito Kiyomiya doesn’t have enough on his plate amid his own emotional turbulence.
In any case, Marufuji enters the match leading the singles series between the competitors 4-2; he led the series 4-0 from 2016 to 2018 before Kiyomiya finally defeated him twice in 2021.
The match begins with a handshake – respectful, tense – followed by beautifully fluid chain wrestling that ends with a sharp elbow smash from Kiyomiya that knocks marufuji outside. The veteran counters a kick and flips Kiyomiya face-first on the apron before immediately targeting the arm. Marufuji wrenches the shoulder, slams Kiyomiya into the post, and closes the barricade gate on his opponent’s face. A punishing apron suplex, followed by elbows to the back of the head, underscores his dominance. The crowd sees Kiyomiya’s red chest and wilted body, the young man being systematically broken down by an expert in the field.
Kiyomiya turners the tide with a flying lariat, then rallies with a dropkick, kip-up, and elbow drop. Marufuji hits a side Russian leg sweep and stomps for a near fall. Kiyoyima strings together a dragon screen and his own shinin wizard for a two-count. Marufuji counters a second shining wizard and lands a modified rebound knee strike. Marufuji then hits another vicious knee, but Kiyomiya replies with yet another shining wizard. A technical struggle ensues: as Kiyoyima hunts for pins, Marufuji locks in an arm submission, targeting the shoulder. Kiyoyima reaches the rope, buying a momentary reprieve. Marufuji pulls out the Shiranui, his signature rarely used, but Kiyomiya kicks out.
A hook hick from Marufuji leads into a strike exchange before Kiyoyima hits a flying knee. Kiyoyima lands a Tiger Suplex, but Marufuji stays alive. Kaito hoists Marufuji onto the top rope, teasing a Tiger Driver ‘91-style finish, but Marufuji blocks it with a reverse headbutt. Kaito responds with a jumping European uppercut, then nails a second-rope Emerald Flowsion – a direct homage to Mitsuhara Misawa, the late founder of Pro Wrestling NOAH. Marufuji just barely kicks out.
Kaito ascends again, delivering a huge diving elbow drop, driving it into marufuji’s chest, and covers 1-2-3.
Kaito Kiyomiya stands victorious. He’d promised before the match that if he won, he would inherit all of Marufuji’s 25 years of NOAH history. Marufuji rejects his attempted handshake, instead offering a fist bump – an appropriately less-sentimental gesture of respect. He bows tot he ring and to Kiyomiya, then quietly exits.
For Kiyomiya, this wasn’t just a win – it was an emotional rebirth inside the promotion that raised him.
Winner: Kaito Kiyomiya (via pinfall; post–Emerald Flowsion & diving elbow drop)
Kazuyuki Ozawa (c) (TEAM 2000X) vs. KENTA
Masahiro Chono arrives ringside, joining Keiji Mutoh on commentary – a generational reunion that underlines the gravity of the occasion.
The Returned Man: KENTA, 44, one of the most influential figures in NOAH’s 25-year history, enters to a hero’s welcome, signs his shirt, and gifts it to the crowd. Kazuyuki Ozawa, 28, cocky, fearless, dressed in black with “The Real Rebel” spray-painted on his jacket, is a firebrand in contrast; Rolling Stone cover star and the unshakeable new face of the Ark.
Ozawa plays mind games early, rolling in and out of the ring, taunting KENTA while positioning himself directly in front of Chono and Mutoh. When KENTA finally attacks, Ozawa counters with a headscissors takedown, then showboats with a breakdancing taunt, only to get kicked mid-dance – leading the crowd to boo KENTA. This sets the tone: Ozawa is no longer the villain but the crowd’s antihero. They’re all in on his chaos.
Outside interference from Yoshi Tatsu and Owadasan gives Ozawa an early edge, but they are ejected by the referee. Ozawa hits his toe-tip turnbuckle moonsault with ease, traps KENTA in the ropes, and resumes dancing – this time complete with picking his nose and shoving it into KENTA’s. Ozawa hits a Game Over submission – KENTA’s move – as Chono watches on. KENTA claws to the ropes, but Ozawa continues to taunt: “You okay, KENTA?”
KENTA fires back with a reverse powerslam, tornado DDT, top-rope lariat, and liontamer, but Ozawa shows resilience and cunning – faux-begging for mercy before turning the tables and hitting a missile dropkick and standing shooting star press on the challenger. They exchange sickening face slaps mid-ring before Ozawa backflips out of a suplex attempt. KENTA, though, surges, a corner boot leading to a John Woo dropkick leading to a double foot stomp off the top. KENTA attempts the GTS, but Ozawa claws his opponent’s eyes and bites his neck.
Having previously set up a table on the outside of the ring, Ozawa is sent through it when KENTA delivers a big boot. Back in the ring, KENTA hits a flying knee then lands GTS cleanly – but Daga pulls the referee out before the three count. Jack Morris and Daga – the recently dethroned tag champions – attack KENTA, only to be stopped by Kenoh and Ulka Sasaki – KENTA’s recent allies. A chaotic sequence ends with Sasaki striking Morris so hard his sneaker launches like a bottle rocket into the crowd. Six men down in the ring becomes just two as the crowd now firmly chants for KENTA.
Back on their feet, Ozawa and KENTA collide with double knees, both collapsing once more. Ozawa kips up, hits a handstand backflip, then another running double knee. KENTA kicks out. KENTA rallies with buzzsaw kicks, but Ozawa hits Big Bad Edge for a near fall. Ozawa licks KENTA’s face then lands a devastating dropkick. Finally, Ozawa throws up the X, screams, and hits Real Rebel – his phoenix splash – to retain.
Ozawa desecrates the fallen challenger, putting a boot on his face before sitting on him with full disrespect. Kenoh and Sasaki help KENTA to the back as Kaito Kiyomiya enters the ringside area. Kiyomiya is met with boos, which sting the young man despite his composed smile. He appeals to the crowd: “Please, just listen.” Kiyomiya says that in truth, he respects Ozawa, and that what Ozawa is doing is NOAH, that he’s brought fans to the shows, and that Ozawa raised the roof tonight. He then declares that he is the one who will take out the monster of Ozawa, that he would carry the green belt into the future. Ozawa responds with full control of the room. He acknowledges Kiyomiya’s courage but mocks Kiyomiya’s emotions at getting booed. He accepts the challenge, promising: “At the next Kokugikan, I’ll make you feel the ecstasy of the fight.”
Kiyomiya exits and TEAM 2000X – still including Endo – join Ozawa. Still speaking into the microphone, Ozawa thanks KENTA for his passion, but dismisses him as “all talk.” Ozawa then stares down Chono at ringside. As tension builds, Chono slightly stands…and shakes Ozawa’s hand. After TEAM 2000X pose with Chono, Yoshi Tatsu leaves his lollipop on the desk in front of the legend. The show fades out with TEAM 2000X posing, firmly entrenched as NOAH’s dominant and most dangerous force.
Winner: Kazuyuki Ozawa (via pinfall; retains)
Across nine matches, Pro Wrestling NOAH forced its audience to confront a company in transition. Veterans like Jun Akiyama, Naomichi Marufuji, and KENTA didn’t just appear as tributes to the past. They were measuring sticks. They tested the new blood. They poked for weaknesses. And in some cases, they passed torches with reluctance, or not at all.
But this was Ozawa’s night. Not just because he retained the GHC Heavyweight Championship, but because of what he represents: a new archetype for the promotion: chaotic, fearless, young, and impossibly charismatic. He does not carry the Ark with reverence. He spray-paints it with his name and invites the world to either love it or get out of the way.
Kaito Kiyoyima’s challenge lingers as a question of spiritual ownership: if NOAH is a vessel, who deserves to steer it?
Either way, the world of NOAH has flipped and seems more alive than ever.
Date:
May 7, 2025
Category:
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