NOAH’s N-1 Victory tournament resumed on Thursday, highlighted by the final two matches between two of the promotion’s enduring figures.
Naomichi Marufuji and KENTA each scored points in the final two matches in Okayama while producing the best matches on an otherwise standard card.
Marufuji beat former GHC champion Kenoh in the main event in the show’s longest bout, which clocked in above fourteen minutes and was a satisfying ending, unlike Marufuji’s opening match, which was halted due to OZAWA’s injury.
Current GHC champion KENTA continued his strong NOAH campaign this year in a terrific match with Manaby Soya, bringing the crowd up several decibels from earlier in the card. It was the second consecutive loss for the reigning champion as 40-year-old Soya scored the pinfall win.
Masa Kitamiya and Kazuyuki Fujita are undefeated in the A Block with four points each. Naomichi Marufuji and Jack Morris lead the B Block with four points each.
RESULTS:
*Block B: Jack Morris over Ricky Knight Jr. in 10:24
*Block A: Kazuyuki Fujita over Daga in 3:53
*Block A: Tetsuya Endo over Ulka Sasaki in 10:32
*Block A: Masa Kitamiya over Kaito Kiyomiya in 11:34
*Block A: Manabu Soya over KENTA in 12:07 (Recommended)
*Block B: Naomichi Marufuji over Kenoh in 14:35 (Recommended)
Jack Morris vs. Ricky Knight Jr.
RKJ had some nice offense in the match with his facewash style dropkicks in the corner. After RKJ missed a 450, the two went for identical flying knees and collided in the center. Morris kicked out from a Styles Clash and avoided a Ricky Driver to win after a Good-Looking Knee and a Tiger Driver.
This was a good opening match. Morris is a very solid bell-to-bell performer, while RKJ gelled well and showed some good intensity.
WINNER: Jack Morris in 10:24
Daga vs. Kazuyuki Fujita – Block A
It was your standard Fujita match, where he sold very little and dominated Daga. After sending Yoshitatsu off the apron, the straps came down, and Fujita hit the Beast Bomb. He is the most protected guy in NOAH because of the rep, but your mileage will vary on that philosophy.
WINNER: Kazuyuki Fujita in 3:53
Tetsuya Endo vs. Ulka Sasaki – Block A
There was a sloppy sequence where Endo came off the rope and Sasaki leaped for something approximating a neck breaker, and everything missed. Endo escaped a rear-naked choke by lifting Sasaki for a Torture Rack and into a Blue Thunder Bomb before winning with the Burning Star Press.
On paper, this sounded great, and it did not meet that level, but it was a fairly good match.
WINNER: Tetsuya Endo in 10:32
Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Masa Kitamiya – Block A
Kitamiya attacked members of the staff at ringside before the match began as he’s borrowing from Takashi Iizuka.
Kitamiya repeatedly rammed Kiyomiya’s head into the canvas, but the former champion smiled and no-sold the head damage. Kiyomiya stood up and ate multiple slaps, and fought back with a Busaiku knee and Shining Wizard before hitting a Tiger Suplex. Kitamiya responded with a piledriver and used the Stranglehold Gamma for his second win of the N-1 and a minor upset. |
Kitamiya is getting the makeover since joining Team 2000x with a new look, wearing a singlet, and getting two significant wins out of the gate.
WINNER: Masa Kitamiya in 11:34
KENTA vs. Manabu Soya – Block A
This was a hell of a match.
Soya appeared in a referee’s outfit with these bad ass yellow pants and pretended to be the official as he checked KENTA for foreign objects and tried to sneak a roll-up before the match got underway.
Then, they got serious, and it intensified. Soya sat up from a pair of PKs and ate a baseball slide dropkick in the corner. KENTA called for the GTS, but Soya blocked, and the champion just destroyed Soya with his vicious-looking slaps. KENTA hit a Shining Wizard but lifted Soya, who countered and connected with his jumping DDT to pin the GHC champion.
I would go **** on this one and had a lot of fire from both, and this was one argument in favor of KENTA’s career resurgence campaign.
WINNER: Manabu Soya in 12:07
Kenoh vs. Naomichi Marufuji
This match was as physical as one would expect with Kenoh and his kicks. The two had this wild exchange between Kenoh’s kicks and Marufuji’s chops. The kicks by Kenoh are just brutal, and each man’s chest was red from the striking battle.
Marufuji hit the Shiranui, Kenoh kicked out, and applied a toe hold before hitting a PK. Kenoh went for the Professional Foot Stomp and missed on the first attempt, but landed one on the back. Kenoh decided to go for one more PFS, and he landed it, but Marufuji then grabbed Kenoh and rolled him up while cradling his leg for the flash pin.
I don’t know if Marufuji was supposed to avoid the last PFS because it rendered the move ineffective. That said, it was a great main event and super physical as Marufuji probably felt better about this one than Monday’s errant count-out ending with OZAWA.
WINNER: Naomichi Marufuji in 14:35
BLOCK A
- Kazuyuki Fujita – 4
- Masa Kitamiya – 4
- Kaito Kiyomiya – 2
- Daga – 2
- Manabu Soya – 2
- Tetsuya Endo – 2
- KENTA – 0
- Ulka Sasaki – 0
BLOCK B
- Naomichi Marufuji – 4
- Jack Morris – 4
- Ricky Knight Jr. – 2
- Galeno – 2
- Harutoki – 0
- Kenoh – 0
- OZAWA – 0
- Daiki Inaba – 0
The tournament continues Saturday with the following matches in Hiroshima:
*Block A: Manabu Soya vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
*Block A: Masa Kitamiya vs. Ulka Sasaki
*Block A: KENTA vs. Daga
*Block B: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Jack Morris
*Block B: Daiki Inaba vs. Galeno
*Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara vs. Harutoki & Daiki Odashima vs. AMAKUSA & Black Menso-re
*Dragon Bane, Alpha Wolf & Junta Miyawaki vs. Alejandro, Kai Fujimura & HAYATA
