[GHC Champion Kiyomiya promises to “COME BACK” after his fourth heated battle in the UK tour, and to face Kitamiya in a “final showdown”]
GHC Heavyweight Champion Kiyomiya successfully defended his title for the fourth time in London, England. He won a heated battle with Knight Jr. to bring NOAH‘s first “UK tour” in 13 years to a close, and a “showdown” with Masa Kitamiya, who has announced himself as the next challenger, has now been set.
NOAH’s first UK tour in about 13 years. In the main event of the final day of the three-match series in London, he faced off against Knight Jr., a talented fighter of the same generation.
At the Manchester event the night before, Knight Jr. had won by pinfall against Kiyomiya. He continued to push Kiyomiya hard in the title match that day as well.
He caught Kiyomiya’s Frankensteiner in mid-air and delivered a Liger Bomb, and in the striking battle he pushed back with a reverse chop. On the other hand, he held him down upside down and delivered a Black Tiger Bomb, and continued to dominate with a combination of hard and soft moves.
Kiyomiya also shot down a Lionsault-style body attack with a dropkick. He also successfully launched a Tiger Suplex on the apron, which caused a huge roar in the arena, but Knight Jr. was not about to stop. He counterattacked and delivered a 450° Splash, which was dodged but landed. On the contrary, he went for the finish with the Good Night Driver (Fire Thunder), which he had used to get the pinfall the night before.
However, tonight Kiyomiya also kicked out. Knight Jr. then went into position for a Reverse Golly Special Bomb, but Kiyomiya desperately spun around to avoid it, and a desperate comeback triple jump Shining landed cleanly. He immediately followed up with a LOVE pose followed by a modified Shining to get the three-count.
Kiyomiya won the Japan-UK new generation showdown and successfully defended his GHC Heavyweight title for the fourth time. Having achieved the first ever simultaneous N-1 and N-2 domination, and standing at the “top” of NOAH in both name and reality, he also put together a fiercely fought V4 final on NOAH’s first UK tour in 13 years.
The London crowd gave an enthusiastic cheer, and before there was any time to bask in the afterglow, the next challenger appeared. It was Kitamiya.
Kitamiya then began his microphone appeal in English, “Thank you for coming today. This is Pro Wrestling Noah. Please forget about my match for the Progress Championship today (which I failed to win in a 3-way match). But Luke Jacobs was a great champion. I’d like to face him in a singles match next time,” he said, handing Kibis back and facing Kiyomiya.
He had just drawn with Kiyomiya in the official “N-1 VICTORY” match at the Sendai tournament on August 18th. “Kiyomiya, the N-1 match ended in a draw after 30 minutes. Let’s settle this. Please accept me with that big heart. The next challenger is Masaki Tamiya!” he declared.
Kiyomiya immediately responded on the microphone in English, saying, “Masa Kitamiya, we drew last month. I’m going to beat you!” As he accepted, the two men raised the belt and glared at each other, deciding that a “decisive battle” for the GHC Heavyweight title between the two men would take place.
After Kitamiya left, the champion took the microphone again and began speaking in English again. When he shouted “Thank you London!”, the crowd erupted in a chorus of “Please come back to England!”
Kiyomiya continued with a smile, “Thank you Ricky (Knight Jr.), let’s wrestle again. How was the NOAH show!? Professional wrestling in the UK is so hot! It’s great! And I promise you, I’ll beat Masa Kitamiya and come back to London again,” and the crowd erupted in cheers as he made his promise. He ended by shouting, “I love London! I love London!” This was his first UK tour in 13 years, and his presence as “the undisputed center of NOAH” was even more prominent.
[Post-match comments]
[Kiyomiya’s story]
“Yesssss! I defended my belt on the last day of the UK tour! First of all, Ricky Knight Jr. is a truly amazing wrestler. I’m so glad to meet someone from my generation, who I can call a comrade, in faraway England, and it’s given me motivation to fight in the future. I don’t know when I’ll be able to fight him again, but I want to fight him again. Ricky, I’ll be waiting for you in Japan too. I felt a tremendous wrestling fever in London during my tour of England. This was my first time in England. I was really looking forward to what the atmosphere was like, but I felt a heat beyond my imagination, and I promised to come back to London as the champion. The next challenger is Masa Kitamiya! We’ve drawn in N-1. I’ll settle things with you! I’ll fight you in the title match with this belt on the line! And I’ll come back to the UK again. Thank you!”
[Failed to take the Progress title… Inamura declares he will resume overseas training: “I want to experience the world more first-hand”]
Inamura, who lost in the British Progress Championship match at the London tournament, declared that he would not return to NOAH and would resume his overseas training. He vowed to “experience the world more first-hand and become the best in NOAH!”
The final day of NOAH’s UK tour was the London event. In the semi-final, a 3-way match for the British Progress Championship was held, with Kitamiya and Inamura challenging the reigning champion Jacobs.
Kitamiya, who had come to England to win his first singles title, was dynamic, but in the middle of the match, Inamura also showed his skills. He blew Jacobs away with a fierce tackle, then drove the champion into a corner with a heavy diving body press and a spectacular throwing German suplex.
However, the 3WAY took its toll on him and he was unable to finish the match. Instead, champion Jacobs showed skillful maneuvering and slammed Inamura’s massive body with a jumping piledriver, resulting in the three count to signify his defense.
Inamura was defeated once again. Having returned from training overseas, he took part in this summer’s N-1 with a losing record of 3 wins and 4 losses. At the September 1 Osaka tournament he was defeated in a one-on-one match against Josh Briggs of WWE NXT, and was once again directly three-counted out in the championship match.
Inamura said, “I want to change even more, so I requested to go overseas after the match on September 1st in Osaka. NOAH’s UK tour may end today, but I’m not going back to NOAH. I want to become even stronger.” He once again declared the “resumption” of his overseas training for the first time in about three months.
During his last training, he was based at Progress in the UK, but he said, “I don’t intend to stay here forever,” and vowed, “When I lost to Josh Briggs in Osaka, I really learned how big and powerful the world is. So I want to experience the world more first-hand, and I will definitely become the best in NOAH!”
[Post-match comments]
[Jacobs’ story]
“Kitamiya, Inamura… they were both big and their attacks were powerful. They may have given it their all when they came to PROGRESS, but they must have realized that the strongest in Europe is the PROGRESS World Champion. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Now you know just how strong we are.”
[Kitamiya’s Story]
“I can’t help losing… I can’t! I’m not happy with it at all. I can’t just forget about it and move on… I didn’t come all the way to England to lose, you idiot! I’ll bring back something at least! That’s all!”
[Inamura’s story]
“Damn it! Luke… I want to change again, so I requested to go overseas after the match at the Osaka tournament on September 1st. NOAH’s UK tour may end today, but I’m not going back to NOAH. I want to get stronger and stronger. But I don’t intend to stay here forever. When I lost to Josh Briggs in Osaka, I really realized how big and strong the world is. So I want to experience the world more firsthand, and I will definitely become the best in NOAH!”
[Blonde couple defend GHC Junior Tag for the first time in London, eager to invite Lycos Gym to Japan]
The GHC Junior Tag Team Champions, the “blonde couple” HAYATA & YO-HEY, successfully defended their title for the first time at the London event, which was the final day of the NOAH UK tour. They expressed their desire to invite challenger team “Lycos Gym” Kid & Lycos II to Japan.
On the second day of the UK tour, YO-HEY was pinfall-beaten by Kid at the Manchester event. The blonde couple, who had regained the title only a week earlier, were suddenly required to defend their title for the first time in London against “Lykos Gym” Kid & Lykos II.
The heated battle between the experienced tag teams continued, but in the final stages YO-HEY found himself in a difficult position. He was hit with a sharp thrust kick from Kid, and then the package DDT that had gotten him the pinfall the night before.
But tonight, his “wife” HAYATA made the cut. Wanting revenge, YO-HEY countered the second package DDT with a hurricanrana, then launched a thrust kick in return. As Kid continued to charge forward, he countered with a powerful drop kick. HAYATA immediately eliminated Lycos II with a spinning neckbreaker, while YO-HEY also stormed in with a super G to the face from the corner to get the three count from Kid.
The blonde couple succeeded in winning their first British title just one week after taking the title. They capped off a tough three-race UK tour with a brilliant first defense.
After the match, he personally asked for a handshake with the “Lycos Gym” duo and made a gesture for “one more time.” YO-HEY said, “The opponents we defended against today were Lycos Gym. They’re a really fun opponent! I really want them to come to NOAH. If they come to NOAH Junior, I think they could have some really fun fights with all kinds of people. Invite Lycos Gym to NOAH. They’re definitely fun. We guarantee it!”, expressing his desire to invite Kid & Lycos II to Japan. Will the day come when he can unexpectedly meet his “rivals” on foreign soil?
[HAYATA & YO-HEY after the match]
YO-HEY: “Oww! I told you yesterday, right? Our first title defense was held in London as a blonde couple, and we did a great job defending it. That’s so romantic, isn’t it? You really criticized me a lot yesterday, but… thanks, my wife. Thank you.”
HAYATA: (※For some reason, he doesn’t seem to get it) Is today the title match?
YO-HEY: “What? There was a title match. I did a title match. I defended it.”
▼HAYATA: (※Finally seems to understand the situation) OK, OK.
YO-HEY: Well, my wife, since I won, let me just say one thing. It all started yesterday. I teamed up with Jack Morris in Manchester and faced the strong, strong Lycos Gym, and bang! I was beaten, one, two, three. The two from Lycos Gym said, “Hey, let’s challenge for the tag belt,” and I thought, “They’re really fun, let’s take them on!” So the title match was decided. But my wife didn’t know anything about it. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.
▼HAYATA: Ah (with a confused look on his face as he leaves)
YO-HEY: “My wife might be angry, but after this UK tour, all that’s left is to take this belt home. We’re a blonde couple in London, what a great remarriage trip!! And the opponents we defended against today are Lycos Gym. They’re really fun, really fun opponents! I really want them to come to NOAH. If they come to NOAH Junior, I think they’ll be able to have really fun fights with all kinds of people. I don’t have the power to invite them, but it’s free to say! Let me say it. Lycos Gym, invite them to NOAH. They’re definitely fun. We guarantee it!”
(Text provided by Pro Wrestling/Martial Arts DX)
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GHC Champion Kiyomiya Promises to “COME BACK” after His Fourth Heated Battle in the UK Tour, and to Face Kitamiya in a “Final Showdown”
Kaito Kiyomiya, the GHC Heavyweight Champion, successfully defended his title for the fourth time in London, England, bringing NOAH’s first UK tour in 13 years to a close. The exciting match saw Kiyomiya face off against Ricky Knight Jr., a talented fighter of the same generation. Despite Knight Jr.’s strong performance, Kiyomiya emerged victorious, solidifying his position as the undisputed center of NOAH.
The match was a back-and-forth battle, with both wrestlers giving it their all. Knight Jr. caught Kiyomiya’s Frankensteiner in mid-air and delivered a Liger Bomb, and in the striking battle, he pushed back with a reverse chop. On the other hand, Kiyomiya shot down a Lionsault-style body attack with a dropkick and successfully launched a Tiger Suplex on the apron, causing a huge roar in the arena. However, Knight Jr. was not about to stop, and he counterattacked with a 450° Splash, which was dodged but landed. Kiyomiya’s desperate comeback triple jump Shining landed cleanly, and he followed up with a LOVE pose and a modified Shining to get the three-count.
After the match,
