By: Michael Cervino

While wrestling fans with international taste tend to focus on the two big wrestling promotions in Japan, AJPW and NJPW, a lesser-known company with a rabid fan base is making waves. Its reputation for intense, physical but beautiful pro wrestling is what makes Puroresu so special. Cinematic storylines and soap-opera elements take a backseat to hard- hitting and innovative wrestling. And nowhere has this been more prominent than over the past two decades than in Pro Wrestling NOAH, the brainchild of a GOAT in Japanese wrestling.

Named after Noah’s Ark in the Bible, the promotion has had a long and storied history since being founded by puroresu legend Mitsuharu Misawa in 2000. He was able to form the revolutionary company when 24 of the 26 contracted AJPW wrestlers defected for financial and creative reasons. Misawa quickly gained immense popularity, moving NOAH into All Japan’s former time slot and selling out most of its shows.

Legends like Kenta Kobashi, Naomichi Marufuji, Kenta Kobayashi and Misawa himself have all called the promotion home, putting on classics that will go down in history as some of the best bouts to occur in the Land of the Rising Sun. While All and New Japan dominated in the ‘80s and ‘90s, NOAH made a strong mark in the early 2000s. The promotion frequently sold out the Nippon Budokan Arena, received 5-star ratings from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and had a roster that combined legends with vibrant up-and-coming talent.

Things were looking great for NOAH until 2009, when founder and ace Misawa lost his life after a belly-to-back suplex in the ring injured his spinal cord. After losing its founder, the company fell into more controversy when allegations came out that the promotion had ties to the infamous Yakuza crime syndicate. Consequently, NOAH lost its TV deal and live attendance dropped dramatically. The theme for the next few years was low attendance and low exposure. NOAH seemed to get back on its feet a few years later when it partnered with the King of Sports, NJPW, leading to some amazing interpromotional feuds. Unfortunately, this did not last long as by 2017, NJPW had pulled all its talent from NOAH due to what was reported as an irreparable business relationship. With NJPW on the road toward forming its own destino, NOAH was left for dead by a busy society that had more flavors of puroresu to pursue than ever before.

It wasn’t until 2020 that the second rise of NOAH started taking shape.

With more eyes on the product, NOAH was purchased by CyberFight – the parent company of DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro – in order to form a mega-promotion with a deep talent pool. With new leadership, NOAH began streaming its shows on WrestleUniverse.

The promotion has consistently put on top-notch shows through wrestle-universe.com or their rock solid TV partner, ABEMA. For the first time in its history, NOAH has found serious popularity in the West. Fans can even tune in by streaming pay-per-views via the largest combat sports streaming service, FITE TV, which broadcasts shows with English commentary.

And the proof is in the pudding: their talent received the first 5-star rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter since NOAH’s glory days of Kobashi and Misawa.

With some success, they are right back at Nippon Budokan for “Destination” in February 2021, a venue that has been unattainable for NOAH in all of recent memory. The promotion’s current ace, Go Shiozaki, has been widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers on the planet, o ten headlining as the promotion’s GHC Heavyweight Champion. NOAH has also built solid tag team divisions both in the junior and heavyweight divisions, something that seems to be lacking in All & New Japan. This year, Go Shiozaki won the Outstanding Performance Award from Tokyo Sports, along with ace tag team Sakuraba & Suguira winning Best Tag Team. With NOAH on the rise again, competitor promotions like DDT & All Japan will be hard-pressed to find an audience outside of Korakuen Hall. Combined with NOAH’s recent headway with audiences abroad, the question becomes whether they can capitalize on the momentum in order to be considered serious competition for NJPW. The biggest test, as the global pandemic rages on, will be how many tickets they can sell in Budokan at this year’s Destination PPV.

This article first appeared in Monthly Puroresu Issue #3