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Pro Wrestling NOAH News: Major Matches for NOAH The New Year

NOAH The New Year

Pro Wrestling NOAH is on the verge of a very big 2022, taking part in New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 16 for Night 3. NOAH will also be having a major opening show on January 1 for the promotion’s return to Nippon Budokan. In this news piece, we will cover the major matches to take place at NOAH The New Year.

NOAH The New Year – Matches Confirmed

ULTIMO DRAGON PARTICIPATES IN PRO WRESTLING NOAH

In one of the major tag team matches for the show, professional wrestling legend Ultimo Dragon will be taking part in a 4-4 match with Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge and Hajime Ohara going against NOSAWA Rongai, Eita, YO-HEY, and Kotaro Suzuki. This is an interesting match, considering how YO-HEY used to be part of Dragon Gate, whereas Ultimo Dragon has returned in more recent years. Meanwhile, Eita is a prominent star of the promotion and a recent tag champion as part of Los Perros del Mal de Japón

In a way, this could be seen as the partnership between both Dragon Gate and Pro Wrestling NOAH. Fans have seen as a theme for the past two years with Masaaki Mochizuki, Eita, and a recent GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match in Dragon Gate earlier this year.

GHC JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE

When it comes to the reign of dominance, HAYATA could be described as one of the most successful NOAH wrestlers of 2021. HAYATA’s reign as GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion that started in June of 2021 saw 7 successful title defenses, with this upcoming title defense being his most important. Not only will he face a partner of his, but someone he’s lost his title to in the past in Yoshinari Ogawa.

Yoshinari Ogawa set his intentions after the match with Tadasuke, attacking HAYATA backstage. This match could be a major turning point for the STINGER faction, including the potential of Ogawa leaving the faction as a whole. Ogawa is someone who is synonymous with the GHC junior heavyweight division and even defeated HAYATA last year. Viewers may see who the true leader of STINGER is after this match.

GHC TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE

In October, Keiji Mutoh and Naomichi Marufuji defeated Kaito Kiyomiya and Masa Kitamiya to capture the GHC Tag Team Championship. Since winning the titles, they’ve yet to make an official defense but were active in tag team and trios competition. After a few events, Masaaki Mochizuki and Masato Tanaka set their sights on the titles. This match will see friendly competition, as all four are part of the faction M’s Alliance.

Maasaki Mochizuki and Masato Tanaka are wrestlers synonymous with the year 2021 in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Tanaka even challenged for every heavyweight title in the company this year. It could be said with all of this bad luck, one event could change the tide in crowning new tag champions at Budokan. Regardless of who wins, M’s Alliance will hold tag team gold in the heavyweight tag division.

KENTA RETURNS TO NOAH, TEAMING WITH NO MERCY STABLEMATE

At NOAH The Best, it was announced that KENTA would be taking part in the upcoming Budokan show. This would be first appearance for the company since 2018, when he was in WWE as Hideo Itami. It’s been revealed that KENTA will make his return to NOAH in a trios match with Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba to go against Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba, and Yoshiki Inamura. KENTA will reunite with Sugiura, his old stablemate in their former faction, No Mercy.

It is unknown if this is a one-off appearance for KENTA; he’s part of NJPW and the current IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion. This match’s entire existence is due to the partnership between NJPW and NOAH, so it might become something major going into 2022. It’s a major deal for fans of KENTA because, besides the aforementioned 2018 appearance, he hasn’t been seen in Pro Wrestling NOAH since 2014. 

GHC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE

When it comes to rivals synonymous with certain wrestlers, Kenoh and Kaito Kiyomiya are among the notable pairings. This rivalry was responsible for the rise of Kiyomiya to the main event scene with a series of matches from 2018 to the present. The last bout that they had was a victory for, Kenoh leading him into the 2021 N-1 Victory finals. Kenoh even defeated Kiyomiya, defending his GHC National Championship against the latter.

For the past two years, Kaito Kiyomiya has been known for his inadequacy in getting major victories. With his tag team title run not seeing a successful title defense, failure seem to follow Kiyomiya. He looks to complete the trifecta of heavyweight championships by attempting to win the GHC National Championship. However, every time he’s fought for it, he’s failed. Will Kiyomiya fail on the biggest stage and lose his wish?

Kiyomiya’s entire downfall began when he lost his GHC Heavyweight Championship almost around the same time in 2020, of all places where Kaito could finally awaken. Nippon Budokan may awake the true Kaito Kiyomiya or it could see Kenoh as a dominant force, as Kongo would still have gold regardless of the main event.

GHC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE

After Katsuhiko Nakajima retained his GHC Heavyweight Championship in a time-limit-draw against Kenoh, the latter would be interrupted by a returning Go Shiozaki. Having been out for months nursing an injury, Shiozaki set his sights on the GHC Heavyweight Championship. For those unfamiliar, Shiozaki and Nakajima were a tag team called AXIZ. This duo dominated most of NOAH throughout 2019 and most of 2020, enjoying 3 GHC Tag Team Championship reigns.

As 2020 seemed to be improving in Shiozaki’s rise as GHC Heavyweight Champion, Nakajima would turn on his partner and join Kongo. After the match they had, which saw Shiozaki’s reign ended, Nakajima would gain the attention of NOAH by being one of its most dominant and impressive stars in 2021. This would be capped off during the N-1 Victory, winning the tournament 2 years in a row and proceed to capture the GHC Heavyweight Championship about one week later.

After two successful title defenses, Go Shiozaki wants his shot at Nakajima. In the days since his return, Shiozaki has even pinned Nakajima in tag team action. Since the return of Shiozaki, he has been dominant in his two matches. This could be similar going into this GHC Heavyweight title match at Nippon Budokan. Will Go Shiozaki reclaim his GHC Heavyweight Championship, possibly leading to his fifth reign, or will Nakajima’s reign continue? We will learn more at Nippon Budokan on January 1, 2022.

Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. You can watch Pro Wrestling NOAH as well as DDT, TJPW, and more on Wrestle Universe.

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