Shota Umino Joins NJPW Invasion Ahead of NOAH The New Year 2024

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Shota Umino has been announced for NOAH The New Year 2024, joining the list with House of Torture, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and such.

By: R. Faliani

With the recent news about New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Shota Umino appearing in NOAH The New Year 2024, we have started to think that so many New Japan wrestlers in a Pro Wrestling NOAH event signify something we have been seeing these past few months, and that’s that NJPW is invading NOAH. This is a conclusion that we have reached reading many reports from Tokyo Sports and such.

【新日本】電撃登場の清宮海斗が海野翔太と合体　両団体の年始ビッグマッチで共闘してＨ．Ｏ．Ｔと抗争へ｜東スポWEB https://t.co/nDzSZNcqLO

— 岡本佑介@東京スポーツ新聞社 (@okamotospo) December 21, 2023

What makes it interesting is that for these New Japan wrestlers to appear NOAH is willing to return the favor with their main stars for a bit. While the word “Invasion” sounds like something bad, this has been from both sides, because for Umino to appear in Ariake, Kaito Kiyomiya will wrestle in Wrestle Kingdom 18. Kiyomiya is the same guy who wrestled two entire tournaments for NJPW this year alone and has taken Ryohei Oiwa as his partner. Oiwa is a New Japan original and has reached a new level thanks to his involvement with NOAH. Both Kiyomiya and Oiwa are part of the team that will face House of Torture in NOAH The New Year 2024.

And House of Torture is a New Japan faction, that has recently invaded NOAH.

NJPW’s House of Torture Destroys NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya

In this situation, we recall the words of Kenoh, the GHC Champion, for Tokyo Sports after the announcement of House of Torture’s involvement in this show.

“The only match card that says NOAH vs. NOAH is the GHC Heavyweight Championship match between me and Soya. I don’t know which company’s card it is. If that’s the case, then New Japan. It’s like a new PPV or something. I guess Kiyomiya will fight with H.O.T. to stand out for himself, considering that there are no pure NOAH vs. NOAH matches. Don’t you have pride as a NOAH wrestler? Hey, NOAH. We’re not New Japan’s second-tier brand! We’re going to have a match between Soya and me that will scream ‘This is Pro Wrestling NOAH!”

【ノア】拳王　H.O.T ら参戦で激高「俺たちは新日本の２軍団体じゃないぞ！よく覚えておけ」｜東スポWEB #noah_ghc #njpwhttps://t.co/HI0VymGYsr

— 東スポ　プロレス格闘技担当 (@tospo_battle) December 20, 2023

Kenoh was certainly in a good mood that day, but as the GHC Champion he needs to stand for NOAH and NOAH only, therefore his position in this context is intriguing. If NJPW is invading NOAH, then we can’t be that far from a New Japan wrestler challenging Kenoh for the GHC Title. This year we saw Kenoh vs Tetsuya Naito, and now Naito will be wrestling in the Main Event of the Tokyo Dome. Who knows if we will see a future rematch between both men?

Narita, Umino, EVIL, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima, Zack Sabre Jr, Tomohiro Ishii, and even Kota Ibushi are bringing the heat to this show, and they’re accompanied by NOAH’s own in Kenoh, Kiyomiya, Manabu Soya, Go Shiozaki, Naomichi Marufuji and many more. It’s truly an exciting time to be a pro-wrestling fan.