Amakusa was never supposed to show his face in Pro Wrestling NOAH again, after losing a ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match to Kongo member Tadasuke in mid-2022. Throwing the persona of Hao away, he would reinvent himself and return just three months later. He would get revenge against Tadasuke, before finding himself in a match for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, taking down Dante Leon to win the belt. This was just nine days ago, and tonight he steps into the iconic Nippon Budokan to face ‘Orange Riot’ Junta Miyawaki. Having stepped away from NOAH in May to develop himself with some time in Mexico, Miyawaki is looking to start 2023 with the biggest win of his career – having never even challenged for a championship before.
Undercard From Pro Wrestling NOAH The New Year Sees Return Of Hiroshi Hase, Debut Of Jake Lee
While the big title matches and Great Muta vs. Shinsuke Nakamura are the biggest matches on this card, everyone on the roster was keen to make this one of the best NOAH shows of the year. The results from the undercard are as follows.
Yasutaka Yano Defeats Taishi Ozawa [4:01]
Daiki Inaba, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura Defeats Funky Express (Akitoshi Saito & Mohammed Yone) & Shuhei Taniguchi [8:48]
Alejandro, Dante Leon & Ninja Mack Defeat Kongo (Hi69, Shuji Kondo & Tadasuke) [8:11]
M3K (Masaaki Mochizuki, Mochizuki Jr. & Susumu Mochizuki) Defeat Atsushi Kotoge, El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. & Seiki Yoshioka [10:11]
Sugiura-gun (Kazuyuki Fujita, Kendo Kashin & NOSAWA Rongai) & Hiroshi Hase Defeat Kongo (Hajime Ohara, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya & Masakatsu Funaki) [16:36]
Jack Morris Defeats Timothy Thatcher [12:16]
This was the first match Hiroshi Hase wrestled since 2021, and given his status as a governor of the Ishikawa Prefecture? No one expected him to show up, his spot in the match being a mystery. Hase proved he can still go by getting the victory using the Northern Lights Suplex, a move he innovated.
Given his history with The Great Muta, being half of the gory match that coined the term “The Muta Scale” in 1992 – we might see him involved in the upcoming final match of the Great Muta persona later this month, which already will involve Sting & Darby Allin. Hase entered semi-retirement in 2006, and this was his seventh match since then.
Jack Morris gaining another big singles win after previously defeating Katsuhiko Nakajima & Daiki Inaba sets him up for a potentially huge 2023. Morris previously beat current GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya in 2022 as well. Former AJPW Triple Crown Champion Jake Lee made his NOAH debut following Norris & Thatcher, aligning with Norris.
Junta Miyawaki Enters His First Ever Title Shot
Despite only being nine days into his reign, Amakusa is a seasoned veteran – meaning Miyawaki has his work cut out for him tonight. Miyawaki would shoot for a takedown as this match began, with Amakusa able to stop him. They’d reach a quick stalemate on the mat, before Amakusa would pick up the speed – leapfrogging over Miyawaki and being dropped with an arm drag and headscissor takedown.
Sent to the floor, Amakusa would barely have a chance to breathe as Miyawaki soared over the top rope with a corkscrew plancha. Back into the ring, the challenger would go after the arm of Amakusa, showing that he picked up mat wrestling as well as high flying during his time in Mexico – able to keep Amakusa on the mat. Amakusa broke free and looked for a flying armdrag, but was taken down instead.
Moving to the apron, Amakusa would hit a springboard hurricarana to send Miyawaki to the floor, and kept the pressure on with a high speed twisting suicide dive. Right back into the ring, a corkscrew crossbody would get the two count – despite being the move that won him the title from Dante Leon. Pressing his knee into the lower back, Amakusa would pull back on the chin of Miyawaki, but was unable to force the submission.
Miyawaki would throw some forearm smashes to the face of Amakusa before a picture perfect dropkick took the champion down. A quick armdrag would follow, before he’d send Amakusa to the floor and look for a dive off the apron. Amakusa would block, before being set up for a triangle armdrag, sending the champion to the floor with a thud.
Amakusa Ends A Worrying Trend For GHC Junior Heavyweight Champions
Fighting to get the champion back into the ring – Miyawaki would look to finish things with a springboard lariat, but only got a two count. An elevated DDT in the middle of the ring would follow, but again Amakusa would hold onto his championship. Amakusa would again be a second away from losing off a Sunset Flip, but was able to block an attempt at the German Suplex with some elbow strikes.
Back suplex was blocked with a head scissor takedown, before Amakusa avoided a dropkick near the ropes – leaving Miyawaki tied up in the ropes for a Swanton Bomb. Hook kick would follow, getting a near fall. Miyawaki was set up in the drop zone, but the Tailspin Rolling Senton from Amakusa would be avoided.
Spinning powerslam was blocked with a DDT from Miyawaki before a Kumagoroshi would get a two count. Both champion and challenger were seemingly running out of tricks, as Amakusa was placed on the top rope. Top Rope Kumagoroshi would have ended this, but a headscissor counter was followed by a tight roll up to keep the belt around the waist of Amakusa, ending a trend of GHC Junior Heavyweight Champions losing in their first defence.
Will Junta Miyawaki become a champion by next year’s New Years event? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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