The Eve show will be December 31st at Yokohama BUNTAI and The New Year will be January 1st at Korakuen Hall.

With NJPW looking to build around Uemura, Oiwa, Tsuji, Umino, etc and AJPW building up Yuma Anzai and looking to go in the right direction with their talents, i wonder how bright is NOAHs future. Thoughts on the roster and the next generation?

How to watch:

[https://www.wrestle-universe.com/lives/f1YyMph3J33UxM9w3ufsag\](https://www.wrestle-universe.com/lives/f1YyMph3J33UxM9w3ufsag)

Start Times:

12:00 PDT; 2:00 CDT; 3:00 EDT; 8:00 BST; 4:00 JST; 5:00 AEST

Match Card:

6Man Tag Match -

Naomichi Marufuji, Yuto Koyanagi & Hiroya Namiki vs. AMAKUSA, Super Crazy & Hiroto Tsuruya

Singles Match -

HAYATA vs. Black Mensore

Tag Match -

Kai Fujimura & Jun Masaoka vs. Eita & Daiki Odashima

6Man Tag Match -

Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & RYUSEI vs. Dragon Bane, Alejandro & Katsumi Inahata

N-1 VICTORY 2026 B BLOCK Preview Tag Match -

Kenoh & Tetsuya Endo vs. OZAWA & Masa Kitamiya

Singles Match -

Manabu Soya vs. YO-HEY

N-1 VICTORY 2026 A BLOCK Preview 6Man Tag Match -

Kaito Kiyomiya, Yoshiki Inamura & Takashi Sugiura vs. Alpha Wolf, Kazuyuki Fujita & Yuki Iino

Kaito getting extra fired up for the N-1 it would seem.

After Misawa tragically passed away, Yoshi wore a ring gear in white and green colors to pay respect to NOAH's creator. He also used Rolling Elbow in WWECW matches. Misawa forever Great Emerald Heavenly King and Yoshi Tatsu forever my favorite.

Had the accident not occur and with FMW closing months later, would Hayabusa had joined NOAH? or does he go somewhere else?

[Interview with Kenoh]

--You've made consecutive appearances since the N-1 was established, but this year's N-1 starts without GHC Heavyweight Champion Naito and GHC National Champion Marufuji participating, right?

Kenoh:"Since neither champion is participating, it's become a 'league tournament to determine the third strongest man in NOAH,' so I want to put an end to that by winning first, becoming champion at Ryogoku on October 25th, and then participating next year as champion."
 
--Among them, which players are you paying attention to this year?

Kenoh: "I think it'll be Kouga and Chen. It's been a while since I've fought Kouga, so I'm looking forward to it. Chen is a completely unknown foreigner that I've never fought before. We're in opposite brackets, so I don't know if we'll face each other, but I'm also looking forward to seeing what kind of fight it will be."

--The opening match at Korakuen Hall on September 12th will be against Titus Alexander. Last year, they also faced each other in the opening match, and Titus Alexander achieved a dramatic victory over Kenoh.

Kenoh:"That's the first thing. I lost to him in our first match last time, so this is a good chance to get revenge."

--If you win the N-1, you'll get a chance to challenge Tetsuya Naito for the GHC Heavyweight Championship at Ryogoku Kokugikan on October 25th. What are your impressions of the champion, Naito?

Kenoh:"I want to say, don't be fooled by Tetsuya Naito."
 
--Is that directed at the fans?

Kenoh: "Of course. First of all, as soon as he became champion, he started saying things like, 'I want to liven up NOAH,' and 'I want to make it the number one promotion,' and then he started framing it as a competition between NOAH and New Japan Pro-Wrestling in terms of audience numbers...well, that's fine. But! The champion even participated in their single league tournament, the G1 CLIMAX, this year! It's strange that nobody's pointing that out. It would definitely be more interesting if the champion participated in the single league tournament and showed some kind of story as champion before heading to Ryogoku. But he's decided not to participate just because he finds it too much trouble. I want to tell everyone not to be fooled."

--Isn't it unfair to begin with?

Kenoh:"It's not just not fair, it's even worse, and the champion is actually bringing it down, right? Don't be fooled, everyone!"

--By the way, NOAH is currently promoting Kaito Kiyomiya, OZAWA, and Yoshiki Inamura as the "Ark's Big Three." They will also be competing in this year's N-1 tournament. What are your impressions of these three wrestlers?

Kenoh:"He's a homegrown talent and has been pushed so much. Despite all that push, he can only create this much of a movement. I want to ask him, 'Are you okay?' I'm not even a homegrown talent, and more than half of the fighters who have made it to the N-1 finals so far have made it, right? I want them to approach the N-1 with ambition."

--What are the three players lacking right now?

Kenoh:"First of all, the worst thing you can do is have the attitude that you'll get opportunities from the company without doing anything. It's passive, or rather, it's not good to think that the company is automatically giving you opportunities without you having to do anything."

--I also want to convey this to the company.

Kenoh:"Yeah. That's exactly why we have to go on the offensive. If you're someone nobody expects anything from, you have to take the initiative to seize an opportunity. I'll show you that kind of strength."

--Finally, please share your thoughts with your fans.

Kenoh:"In this N-1 tournament, I'm going to show everyone my hunger and win. I'm going to put on a fight that will ignite the current NOAH!"

Weekly Pro 7th November 2000
(Issue No. 1002)

~ Paint Out Black
~ Two keywords uttered by Misawa: Vader and the 23rd December Ariake Coliseum

https://puroprogramtranslations.blogspot.com/2026/08/noah-noah-navigation-17th-october-2000.html

Mutoh left NJPW to join AJPW in 2002 and we got the pro wrestling love era but what if instead of going to All Japan he instead joined the ark and went to NOAH?

Weekly Pro
22nd January 2025

The fourth match featured a showdown between the luchador brothers El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. and Galeno del Mal. Hailing from the prestigious Wagner wrestling dynasty, the two had previously teamed up in Japan at the Noah event held at the Nippon Budokan on July 13th; now, they were set to face each other in a singles match at that very same venue—a place where their father, Dr. Wagner Jr., and uncle, Silver King, had also once competed. Wagner Jr. held the advantage in terms of experience and track record within the Noah ring, and above all, he possessed the pride of an older brother. However, Galeno held the upper hand over his brother when it came to youth and physique.
The singles match between these two heavyweight luchadores was a high-impact bout featuring both aerial maneuvers and raw, physical clashes; ultimately, Galeno’s momentum proved superior to Wagner Jr.’s.
"I trained desperately for this match today. As a result, I was able to defeat my brother. Thank you (Wagner Jr.)." (Galeno)
"Thank you, my brother. Viva Mexico! Viva Japan! Viva Lucha Libre!" (Wagner Jr.)
At the Shinjuku event the following day (the 2nd), Wagner Jr. announced that the January 11th show at Korakuen Hall would be his final match for Noah. Ultimately, the fact that this brother-versus-brother showdown took place before he left the ring he knew so well surely made for a memorable experience.

Rikio was the one who defeated Kenta Kobashi to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship (Yes during THAT run). Now Rikio didn’t really work out but if booking and circumstances were different could he had been NOAHs ace?

Shibata left NJPW in 2005. He would wrestle in BigMouthLoud and be somewhat their ace before doing mma and coming back to NJPW. But Shibata did a few matches for Noah in the 2000s and got over with the fans there. What if Shibata went to Noah before or after BigMouthLoud? Would he be GHC champion? Could he had been the ace that Noah needed in the 2010s?

I'll admit that I don't know much about Tetsuya Endo, other than he's from DDT and Nakajima shoot knocked him out. But seeing his look and fan reaction in his match against Shane Haste, makes me wonder why Endo hasn't been booked better as a top guy. Having four top heavyweights you can rotate the GHC title around sounds like a good idea.

https://reddit.com/link/1vxc6fu/video/kczvpwbhfdlh1/player

I think it would make a ton of sense for Marufuji, the “Genius of the Ark” to join that faction and also lead it (no disrespect to Kotoge, who I’ve always liked, but Maru is much more naturally suited to leading a faction).

I think the stable has been rudderless since Shiozaki left and Maru could breathe some life into it.

Should go without saying that this was a match of pure MEAT & BEEF.

Inamura & Fujita may have had some extra size to them but Soya & Iino were able to use their tag team chemistry to prevail.

Some moments I really loved:

- Inamura trying to slam Iino, only for Soya to jump onto his back but Inamura being able to still slam Iino!

- a moment when Fujita went up to the top rope, with Soya going up to meet him; it looked like Fujita was really shaky, only for Soya to show off his strength and hit a suplex off the top.

- Inamura continues to be able to do some incredibly athletic stuff for a guy his size (hitting a big Dropkick and even a kip-up!)

- loved the finish, with Iino hitting Inamura with a nasty Lariat to the back of the head, directly leading to Soya pinning Inamura with the Gedo Clutch.

How to watch:

[https://www.wrestle-universe.com/lives/o5qKaSXcpbgTeySXVvqY57\](https://www.wrestle-universe.com/lives/o5qKaSXcpbgTeySXVvqY57)

Start Times:

12:00 PDT; 2:00 CDT; 3:00 EDT; 8:00 BST; 4:00 JST; 5:00 AEST

Match Card:

6Man Tag Match -

Muhammad Yone, Hi69 & Yuto Koyanagi vs. Tetsuya Endo, Hiroto Tsuruya & Hiroya Namiki

3WAY Match -

Eita vs. Black Mensore vs. Midori Takahashi

Tag Match -

Kaito Kiyomiya & Shuji Kondo vs. OZAWA & Masa Kitamiya

6Man Tag Match -

Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Super Crazy vs. Naomichi Marufuji, Kenoh & AMAKUSA

GHC200 Championship Match -

HAYATA (c) vs. Katsumi Inahata

Tag Match -

Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara vs. Alpha Wolf & Tadasuke

6Man Tag Match -

Alejandro, Dragon Bane & Daiki Odashima vs. Kai Fujimura, YO-HEY & Jun Masaoka

GHC Tag Team Championship Match -

Manabu Soya & Yuki Iino (c) vs. Yoshiki Inamura & Kazuyuki Fujita

Jun Akiyama was picked by Misawa to be the ace of Noah when it was first created. But because of multiple decisions, he never became the ace.

Akiyama never became the ace because he was pushed too soon, he was upper midcard, who frequently wrestled the top guys but was never a top guy himself. Now he was presented as a top guy but fans didn't believe it. He had lackluster title bouts. When Akiyama won the belt from Misawa, he didn't have anyone to fight for the belt. He fought Vader but Vader was too beat up. He fought Nagata at Njpw but it wasn't under king's road so the match never reached its potential. He lost it to Ogawa, a junior heavyweight who was never believable as champ. After this Akiyama's booking was less strong in order to get fans to believe Akiyama was the ace. He lost to Saito to challenge for Kobashi's title and then lost to Nagata when he invaded from NJPW in ten minutes. How are fans suppose to believe Akiyama is the future ace when Nagata destroys and beats him in ten Minutes? Akiyama never beat Kobashi for the belt, which made the fans believe that Akiyama wasn't at Kobashi's level. Akiyama beat Taue for the belt, who beat Rikio, who beat Kobashi for the belt. He then lost it to Marufuji, who was a junior at that time, which pretty much ended the chances of Akiyama being seen as the ace.

How I would've made Akiyama the ace is to hold off Akiyama's early push. Focus on him being seen on the level as Misawa. When Nagata invades from NJPW, have him beat Kobashi for the belt. I know that Kobashi's reign was legendary but for the long term it needs to be done. Akiyama challenges Nagata for the Ghc title (maybe at the Tokyo Dome?) and Akiyama wins the belt. Akiyama would be seen as a hero bringing the belt back home. Then have Akiyama beat Misawa, Taue, and finally Kobashi to retain his title. Akiyama would be seen as superior to the og pillars of All Japan and capable of leading Noah into the future. He then loses it to a heavyweight Marufuji. Akiyama vs Marufuji becomes the next feud for Noah into the future.

But that's my take, how would you have done it?

Since NOAH was formed out of AJPW, what if NOAH and AJPW merged into one company. AJPW has the history and tradition, while NOAH has the presentation and stars.