Pro Wrestling NOAH: One Night Dream 2 May 22nd 2024

Welcome back and today I’m going to be taking a look at the very recent Pro Wrestling NOAH show called One Night Dream…2! The premise of the show is interpromotional bouts and the first one was headlined by my match of the year in Kento Miyahara vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima, and we’re continuing with that trend of NOAH stalwarts versus outsiders with Kenoh vs. Minoru Suzuki…which uh, is much less of a dream match for me. Anyway we got almost 1500 people in Korakuen Hall, so I NOAH we’re in for a good time.

Hikaru Sato vs. Ulka Sasaki

Background: Hikaru is a guy I mostly recognize from All Japan, but he’s worked GLEAT as well and has a background as a shoot fighter. Ulka also was an UFC guy and is my pick for rookie of the year even though he’s debuting at 34. Anyway, we have a solid vet in Sato and a rising star in Sasaki. Sato is wearing the blue gi to the ring with the facial covering and the creepy undercut hair and his pale kinda pudgy body with tons of cupping marks on the back. He really is one of the least visually appealing wrestlers in the business to me. Ulka has his tengu mask on and he’s wearing tights with tons of sponsorship logos on it, he has a nice mop of wild hair and a healthy tan.

The Match: Both guys circle each other and do some grappling before we get a clean ropebreak. They take it to the mat and Ulka is comfortable working in guard and takes over with some chokes before hitting Sato with a shoulderblock. HIkaru goes for the armbar but Ulka gets a kick to set up some knees to the gut to keep control. Sato responds with some kicks to the arm and Ulka sells it in a way that might be the story of the match. Sato works the arm over in the ropes as commentary is just going over these guys respective MMA and wrestling careers in a pretty informative fashion. Ulka gets some strikes and an ugly lariat which I don’t mind considering his arm is hurt and he’s not really a lariat sorta guy, next he gets a jumping kick and a flying knee into the corner. Appreciate commentary putting over that newcomer Ulka is trying more ‘wrestling’ moves. Ulka keeps this up and gets a jumping cutter but can’t lock in the guillotine though and Sato uses a closed-fist to break that up, that cheating cad! Strike exchange from both of them follows but three running boots can’t put Sato down. Enzuigiri from Hikaru breaks that up and a judo toss sets up his keylock until Ulka counters with a slam of his own. Sato breaks a suplex attempt with a Fujiwara armbar but Ulka gets out and reverses into a standing arm triangle thing for a second and when Sato tries to break it he puts his guard down and Ulka gets a jump kick for 3.

**½

I really enjoy Ulka and while I mostly think that Sato is just kind of a solid if boring hand, letting him stretch his wings with the MMA stuff helped him be a more imaginative and creative wrestler. Commentary also did a marvelous job and probably gave this match a quarter star of enjoyment. Ulka has a lot of work to go but I’m serious when I’m calling him the easy ROTY so far.

Daiki Inaba, Junta Miyawaki, Ryohei Oiwa & Yu Owada vs. GLG (Anthony Greene, Jack Morris, LJ Cleary & YO-HEY)

Background: Okay so we got a lot of guys here for me to introduce. Daiki is a seasoned vet who was a star of sorts in Wrestle-1 but is definitely an undercard guy in NOAH. He’s one of the many solidly built short-ish NOAH midcard babyfaces, he has blue and orange tights and short hair. Junta is one of the few NOAH guys under 30 that actually gets to do anything, he’s got nice early 90s color vomit tights and the floppy 90s haircut that’s dyed orange. Yu is just a rookie and is a well-built young man in black trunks and plain hair, he did team with Kenoh recently as his pin-eater but that’s what he is so far. Ryohei is a New Japan young lion on excursion in NOAH where he’s had a number of showcase singles matches and tag runs, including teaming with the ace of NOAH, Kaito Kiyomiya before dramatically breaking with him on the prior show. He’s jacked to the gills and has a blonde fringe and silver tights.

Good Looking Guys (GLG) are a top stable in NOAH of dubious moral character, they’re led by Jake Lee (we’ll learn more about him later). Anthony Greene looks like every budget Shawn Michaels cosplayer that’s ever existed with the stringy hair, the sunglasses, the bandana and the jeans style-tights. He has a white vest and was in NXT for a spell. Green is also one-half of the current GHC Heavyweight Tag-Team Champions along with Jack Morris. Additionally Jack is a former GHC National Champion and has had some major singles wins. Jack is Scottish, in excellent shape and has long hair and a well-manicured beard, he’s wearing white and black biker shorts. LJ Cleary is Irish and is one of their smaller wrestlers, he has long curly hair, is wearing white tights with It’s A Beautiful Life (yes the Ace of Base song) in red lettering on the side, and from what I understand is currently in a relationship with WWE wrestler Lyra Valkyria. YO-HEY is the only Japanese wrestler out with GLG and he’s a very credible junior wrestler for them and is one-half of the current GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag-Team Champions. He’s in great shape, though quite lean and has blonde hair, a dyed tongue, and baggy dark gray pants.

The Match: Jack and Oiwa start and trade some power stuff before Ryohei gets a monster back suplex and in comes Anthony Greene with the fakeout chop into a low kick to boos. Ha. Anyway Oiwa crushes the American and brings in Daiki to do basic stuff. Greene tries to do some double-teaming but gets hit with a back suplex and in comes Junta. Greene actually gets control with some feints and dodges and tags in YO-HEY who immediately eats some armdrags and a dropkick from Miyawaki to bring in Yu…who gets dominated with hiptosses from YO-HEY. Cleary comes in and Owada busts out some impressive athleticism. Cleary stops to preen however and gets double-teamed by the Japanese team. And that double becomes a quadruple-team. However when it resets to Cleary and Owada a YO-HEY kick and some corner boots have Owada playing face in peril. Anthony Greene doesn’t stay in control for long however when a nice Owada springboard reverse crossbody wipes out Greene and in comes Oiwa to just dropkick and suplex the hell out of the American. Some cheating lets Jack Morris come in and he gets a falcon arrow for 2 and sets up his Tiger Driver but Oiwa counters with a gutwrench suplex and tags in Daiki. Inaba gets a corner clothesline and a Blue Thunder Bomb but Cleary comes in with a roundhouse kick and everybody hits everybody with everything and we reset back to Junta and LJ. Miyawaki’s Diamond Dust gets 2 but Cleary’s jumping knee wipes out Junta and the other three members of GLG hit topes to Junta’s partners. Springboard kick from LJ and a Michinoku Driver Suplex (it’s like he picked up Junta for a driver but when he drove his head down LJ went with it and landed on his back like a neckbreaker) gets 3.

**¾

Well when all else fails, go fast. Clearly this was designed to get Ryohei over as a top-level butt whooper and it mostly and clearly did so. But at the end of the day GLG are a dominant faction and their superior teamwork can and should crush other teams.

Miyuki Takase, Nagisa Nozaki & Takumi Iroha vs. Brooke Havok, Great Sakuya & Yuu

Background: So a lot of these women have showed up for the weird women’s matches NOAH runs on their undercard. Brooke Havoc had a cup of coffee in AEW before tearing her knee and is a Nightmare Factory graduate, she has a rocker thing with fishnets and the crimped hair and a leather vest and some of those light-blocking glasses. Great Sakuya is the ‘star’ of NOAH’s women’s division and is in kayfabe the daughter of the Great Muta, she was a baby he found in a mountain and Muta weaned her on mist. She’s wearing a full baggy outfit and has red facepaint and does an elaborate pre-match dance routine with fans, uh the things you cool yourself off with, not people who buy tickets. Yuu is a mountain of a woman who has wrestled in Stardom and still reps Pro Wrestling EVE of all places as her ‘home’ promotion. She’s wearing a singlet and came out to the ring wearing a mess of furs as a coat.

Takumi Iroha is one of the best wrestlers in the joshi teeny-tiny indie scene, just a really charismatic, quality babyface. She’s out in her fur-lined robe and silver and red flying Elvis gear with floppy 90s hair and a rattail. Nagisa is dressed in the weird multi-colored animal print/camo combo stuff. And Miyuki has a red lace robe, she’s the Phoenix of Osaka and is wearing midriff baring gear and shorts with some red fringe down the back and a ponytail. All three are decked out in titles as they hold belts from Diana, Marvelous, SEAdLINNNG, and some American indie promotions as well.

The Match: Yuu and Brooke shake hands with their opponents to start the match and Sakuya does not. Nagisa and Sakuya start with a lockup and a slap from Sakuya out of the break. Sakuya gets some kicks and pops and locks it before getting a handspring back elbow into the corner. Nagisa responds with some of her own kicks and 3 Indian Deathlock stomps. Miyuki comes and uses her speed to avoid an immediate double-team from Yuu but Sakuya reverses the followup by doing a tiger feint into an armdrag. Iroha and Nagisa come in to triple team Sakuya though. Brooke Havoc in for a second but Miyuki just sorta shuts her down and brings in Iroha after a bodyslam. Iroha comes in and gets rapidfire kicks on Brooke and a snap suplex. Brooke gets a desperation tilt-a-whirl DDT though and Yuu comes in with a massive senton on Iroha. Iroha solo, and then Iroha and Nagisa try to whip Yuu but are foiled by the giant’s chops.They dodge a running crossbody however and then the vets triple-team Yuu. Takumi goes for the German but Yuu flexes out of it. Takumi gets space with a spinning heel kick however and Takase follows that up with a missile dropkick. Miyuki goes up again and pays for it when Yuu catches and slams her a few times. Nagisa comes in for backup but Yuu slams her and Takase. Yuu’s rolling log tope then takes out the opposing trio. Brooke comes in and we get some neckbreakers and needlessly complicated offense from her. Havoc botches a flying headscissors on Takase but Yuu gets the cannonball on Miyuki and then the senton and Sakuya contributes with a lionsault but Brooke only gets 2 off of that. We get some run-ins that ends with a diving leg drop by Takase on Brooke, but dodges Yuu’s interference who ends up accidentally sentoning Brooke. Good spot there. And another good spot as Iroha superkicks Sakuya to interrupt the mist and we get a Samoan Driver from Takase on Brooke for the pin.

***

I might be a tad overrating this but the Iroha/Nagisa/Miyuki team are all good to great and Yuu is really fun in this sort of environment. Sakuya is still obviously green but she has real upside with her athleticism and the Muta mannerisms. Brooke is…well she’s a Nightmare Factory graduate and we know what that means. I hope she gets better in this Japan stint. Fun pacing, fun spots, nice finish.

Post-match Sakuya lands the mist on Iroha and dances some more.

Starboy Charlie & Titus Alexander vs. All Rebellion (Alejandro & Kaito Kiyomiya)

Background: Starboy Charlie is an indie journeyman guy, he’s got a mess of dark hair and he’s wearing overalls that have been airbrushed. Titus has had somewhat of a push on NOAH’s Monday Magic shows and is clearly presented as a guy they care about. He’s wearing black and gold tights. All Rebellion is Kaito’s new stable that just formed. Kaito is the GHC Heavyweight Champion and the ace of NOAH, the Supernova, Kiyomiya is a bleach blonde, athletic, clean-cut super face who is trying to honor the legends of puro (Misawa, Mutoh) and represent the future as well. Kaito has as white, silver, and shorts in a similar color. Alejandro is Japanese but has a lucha mask and tights in the silver, white, gold and red-trimmed colors of All Rebellion.

The Match: Titus shows respect to Kaito to start and we get a lockup and then headlocks. International and a dropkick from Titus as he’s shown off his athleticism. Kaito comes back with his own athleticism and hits a crossbody, dropkick, and kipup. Starboy Charlie comes in and I realize he’s wearing bright yellow boots and this guy’s gear is a hot mess. Anyway Starboy does some athletic stuff to get a wristlock on Kaito but Alejandro comes in. Starboy takes control with speed, including a standing SSP and a rolling thunder knee drop. But Kaito comes in to destroy Charlie with basic stuff. Alejandro back in who keeps control and hits a nice springboard on Charlie. Kaito comes back in and he’s just stomping and uppercutting Charlie. Starboy pulls the straps down but just tags in Alexander who hits a massive diving crossbody on Kaito. The mega-indie offense comes in with the kip-up kick, a handspring cutter and a package backbreaker. Kaito gets a desperation knee and tags in Alejandro who gets some rope-assisted kicks and a tope to gain control. Kaito comes in for some double-teams but Titus comes back with a toss neckbreaker on Alejandro. Charlie tags in and trades flips. After a super frankensteiner from Alejandro, Titus breaks it up and Charlie gets more flippy stuff that ends in a 450 splash and the pin.

**

Well, that was a lot of flip. I think Titus has some potential, Kaito is good. Charlie is good at what he does and I just don’t like that thing and Alejandro isn’t even really good at the thing I don’t like.

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Masa Kitamiya

Background: You know who Ishii is, New Japan stalwart, has no neck, shaved head, the Stone Pitbull. Masa is a beefy NOAH boy who is a 7-time tag-team champion and is technically part of the weird adopted family of Hokuto and Kensuke though obviously he was never as successful as Kento and Nakajima. He’s got 3/4ths length black tights and a blonde fauxhawk. They have similar gimmicks as barrel shaped midcard gatekeeper types that are tough and bruising, Masa’s t-shirt says Go For Broke. They’ve wrestled in the past and Ishii won the first bout. Oh, and apparently Dave gave this match 5 stars if you care about that.

The Match: And we have a slobberknocker to start as both guys just brutalize each other with forearms. Shoulderblock exchange next that Ishii wins. Now they trade chops. Commentary mentions that Kitamiya traces his training lineage from Masa Saito (hence the name) and Ishii comes from Tenryu and Chosu. We’re getting more chops as Masa has cornered Ishii and knocks him down. Masa’s senton misses however and Ishii backs Masa into the corner and knocks him down. Now it’s Masa’s turn to no-sell chops as he beats his chest and roars and gets a Samoan Drop and lands the Senton. And guess what, more chops. Ishii gets a brainbuster and Masa no sells. Masa gets a brainbuster and Ishii doesn’t no sell it. Both trade German suplexes and then Masa gets to work on the knees with a chopblock, knee buster, and then a Prison Lock for 5 seconds before it’s broken cause Masa wants to go after the arm (???) and that ends when Ishii gets a Backdrop Driver. Reset and Masa gets a bulldog and some stomps and Ishii no sells that and drops Masa. Superplex from Ishii and yep, Masa no sells it until Ishii drops him with a lariat. But then yep, Masa pops up and lariats Ishii! And then we get some unworked headbutts to really ramp up everything I hate in a wrestling match. Piledriver by Masa and the Prison Lock. Ishii gets the ropebreak and they slug it out and Masa wins that with a closed-fist strike. Ishii finally gets a dragon suplex to get some space though and struggles to his feet. Lariat from Ishii but guess what, Masa pops right up! Ishii spear and that drops Kitamiya. An Ishii lariat and Masa kicks out at one and pops up and then spears Ishii. Sigh. Another spear and we get 2. We get more lariats being traded and more suplexes and more kicks and Ishii gets a brainbuster and the 3. Whatever.

*
1 star for Ishii’s selling, no stars for anything else. I get two guys just slugging it out and wearing each other down until one guy drops. But Masa hit the no-selling button way too often and it just destroyed whatever flow or chemistry they were going for. Really disappointing match.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. GLG (Jake Lee & Tadasuke)

Background: So we know who Naito and the other guy are. Jake Lee is the Good Looking Emperor, and he had a healthy reign as GHC Heavyweight Champion in a Roman Reigns role, this domineering, psychologically manipulative soulless warlord. Weirdly outside of Jake, GLG gets mostly babyface reactions. Jake Lee is tall, has an evil looking goatee/mustache combo and comes out to the ring in his Jack the Ripper entrance gear, top hat, monocle, and overcoat and his opera gloves he slowly removes. Jake has dark tights with a pretty cool interlaced string pattern on the side. Tadasuke is the other half of the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag-Team Champions, he’s a blonde, sweaty headband wearing guy who is super into the GLG stable and hypes up the crowd. He’s wearing a gray and black singlet/tights combo with GLG written across the chest. He’s a junior but he does less high-flying and more tricky stuff and has a really nice lariat. Jake Lee has worked with Bullet Club to cost Naito some matches in the LIJ/BC feud but beyond that I don’t really know the beef.

The Match: Naito and Jake start and circle but Naito bails out before any contact and tags in the other guy. Jake works the crowd a bit and then tags in Tadasuke. Jake and Tadasuke jumpstart though and start with some double-teams. Jake gets the Paradise Lock and Tadasuke dropkicks the butt and fires up the crowd but Naito trips Tadasuke and LIJ works over GLG outside. Tadasuke gets suplexed and in comes Naito to work over Tadasuke with a cravate. Naito tags over and Tadasuke gets some boots in the corner. And then some more boots. And then a knee drop. And then some more boots. Tadasuke gets a brainbuster and that lets Jake and Naito come in. They brawl but Jake’s Giant Killing knee strike lets him take over and Lee gets the Boston Crab. Ropebreak and Jake sets up the running boot but Naito counters with some rope-hanging neckbreakers and then a weird headscissors submission. Jake’s long legs help him get a break however. Naito gets uh…short-arm…forearms I think and a tornado DDT to keep the abuse going. Naito tags out and Jake eats a corner clothesline and some more strikes. Jake gets a hotshot though to get the hot tag, and Tadasuke lands high energy strikes and the feint punch DDT. A Tadasuke lariat sets up the double-hammerlock piledriver but it gets countered and LIJ double-team Taddy. Jake breaks up the Made In Japan however but Naito gets the Destino on Lee to get him out of the match. Tadasuke takes the Last Falconry though and LIJ wins.

**

What do you get when you have a tag-match with two guys that are lazy in tag-team matches leading their stables? Well you get this match.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Kenoh

Background: Suzuki, the murder grampa, is a grumpy old MMA freelance guy who chokes people out and makes scary faces. Kenoh is a grumpy middle-aged NOAH kenpo practitioner who stomps on people and makes ridiculous bug-eyed faces. Kenoh is currently a babyface as the foul-mouthed screaming lunatic who wears t-shirts proclaiming his love to his opponents. He got under Suzuki’s skin by harassing him at Minoru’s clothing store and generally is an irascible ham. In the words of the kids, he is very extra. Kenoh recently joined All Rebellion with his long-term rival Kaito (though the way Kenoh talks about Kaito it might be more than rivalry). Kenoh has switched to the silver and white of his new stable and is rocking one of Suzuki’s Kaze Ni Nare t-shirts. Suzuki is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion and his Suzuki-Gun stable ran NOAH for a while before he was finally ousted.

The Match: Suzuki Kenoh’s shirt to start and Kenoh throws it in Suzuki’s face…who folds it up and throws it. Both guys dance around and box a bit to start. Some standing grappling with them doing switches on go-behinds and fighting over the wrist but Suzuki takes over with small-joint manipulation. Nice heeling. Kenoh gets the mount and some ground and pound. Suzuki slips out though and we get a standing showdown and they slug it out while mouthing off to each other. Both of them boot each other down and Suzuki gets a chair but Kenoh kicks it out of his hands. Suzuki takes the opportunity to get a hanging armbar and a running kick on the apron as Suzuki is bleeding and licking his own blood. Some damage on the outside by Minoru with some whips into the barricade, some choking, and some chairshots. Suzuki destroys Kenoh’s arm with a conchairto and then some biting. Back in and Suzuki lays on the arm a bit more. Kenoh stands up and makes the one-armed comeback with some kicks but Suzuki takes over and gets an Omoplata Crossface. As it is Kenoh’s own submission finish he manages to ride it out and break it but Suzuki gets a PK to keep control. Kenoh talks more trash back and slugs it out with Suzuki and loses. Kenoh eventually stands up and starts with the kicks but Suzuki cuts him off with a sleeper. Minoru can’t get the piledriver though and Kenoh’s PK sets up a Pele kick and then another PK. Kenoh’s Professional Foot Stomp only gets 2.9. Kenoh goes for the Kenoh Special but Suzuki rolls through into a sleeper. Kenoh responds with a high kick and two PFS’s for the win.

***½

This is probably the best match Suzuki can do these days, he can’t bump, he can’t really move, he can growl, forearm, no-sell and do a bit of grappling. Kenoh’s selling was top-tier and he pinballed as needed for Suzuki’s offense to make him look like a god. Good match even if I don’t need Suzuki still looking this dominant in 2024.

Well that was a pretty underwhelming NOAH show but I hope you had fun reading it at least.