Pro Wrestling NOAH took the UK by storm and Matt Waters was live in attendance for what was an incredible night of action both in and out of the ring.
Last month our own Justin Houston posted one of the best pieces of writing this little website has ever seen discussing his experiences in Atlanta over Wrestlemania weekend. So popular was it in fact that Jerome wrote one of his own after hitting King of Trios, and now after witnessing the most exhilarating wrestling show of my life it seems I’ll be doing the same. Not quite however as A) my experience was a one-day, one-show affair, and B) I’m not sure many of you will want to hear about the oh so glamorous UK lifestyle. What? You do? OK then!
My buddy Mark and I have been attending wrestling shows in the UK ever since our first year at university together and to date have been to a live episode of Raw, a Smackdown house show, three rounds of TNA, and last year branched out a little by taking in some Dragon Gate. The same company that put the DGUK tour together contacted me a few months ago to let me know the stars of Pro Wrestling NOAH would be heading our way and because I was a valued customer I’d get early access to tickets. Naturally I jumped at this chance and landed myself a pair of front row seats on the opposite side of the entrance ramp, arguably the best in the house.
Fast forward to May 13th and Mark and I eventually found ourselves in picturesque Hoddlesden, Broxbourne after battling with a sat-nav (GPS for Americans?) that was determined we weren’t driving on a real road despite our ample evidence to the contrary. The town in which some of the titans of Japanese wrestling such as KENTA, Takeshi Morishima and Takashi Sugiura would be locking it up was… interesting. I’m not sure if American readers will have a frame of reference, but it’s essentially a tiny English town populated almost exclusively by the elderly and young families, almost completely devoid of big shopping chains, but filled with local businesses. The kind of place everybody knows each other and you get funny looks if you’re not from there. Hours were killed waiting for the show to start in a nice little pub surrounded by groups of other wrestling fans loudly discussing the likes of Evolve 7 and Mike Bennett. Of course my brain generated responses to their every loud opinion, but British politeness prevented our groups from mingling.
We wandered down to the Broxbourne Civic Hall at around 6.30pm, half an hour before the doors were set to open and used the other waiting fans for the always fun people-watching game. I think my favourite was a guy wearing a WWE Fatal Four Way 2010 t-shirt. You sir, are a weird dude. The Civic Hall itself looked tiny from the outside, so small in fact I couldn’t help wondering what on earth the NOAH talents would make of it, especially after working the giant Coventry Sky Dome years earlier. It was nice enough inside with a bar in the middle and merchandise tables as far as the eye could see. Streamers of various colours proved quite a hit as one would expect. I picked up a red Kings of Wrestling shirt and changed into it before the show started, something that will become important later.
We got into the hall where the ring was and claimed our seats after a few minutes and I was immediately thrilled with my decision to pay top dollar (top pound just sounds wrong) as we were completely central on the side opposite the ramp, allowing us to see absolutely everything. One of the times we went to a TNA show we were front row but weirdly our eye level was just below the ring, so at times it seemed like the wrestlers were disappearing into the abyss when they dropped to the mat, but luckily there was none of that here as you can see.
Pre-Show Bonus Match
Danny Garnell vs Robbie Dynamite
I always feel bad for guys wrestling on pre-shows as the crowd are still walking into the venue while they’re wrestling and a lot of people don’t even know who they are, myself included. Still, these two UK talents worked reasonably well together and used a few spots that they didn’t really have to, including big Robbie Dynamite missing a pescada/vaulting body press and crashing down on the hardwood floor with a sickening thud. The thing that struck me most about this match was the sheer volume every time someone hit the mat. I was actually kind of worried they’d break the ring before we got to the main show. It held perfectly, but that fear never went away. Danny Garnell ended up winning the match with a diving tornado DDT off the second rope. The crowd warmed to them both after they worked well, and at the time I thought it was a pretty decent match, but it was clear who we’d paid to see as the night went on.
The entire roster then surrounded the ring and bowed their heads for a minute’s silence. I’ll confess I’m not a Noah expert so I don’t know if this is a regular thing or because of recent events, but it was a nice moment. Our ring announcer for the evening then ran an auction for the Red Cross, who had a heavy presence all night collecting for the Japan relief effort. The top prize was getting to second the Kings of Wrestling for their match and I honestly would have bid higher than the guy who won but you had to have the cash on you there and then so I lost out. After that came tickets to the sold-out meet and greet for the next night’s show, a poster, and finally a DVD, each signed by the whole roster. This was a nice way to raise money for a good cause and reward the audience for their generosity.
“Junior Heavyweight Epic Singles Battle”
Ricky Marvin vs Kotaro Suzuki
Going into this match I had heard Ricky Marvin’s name a lot but had never seen him wrestle, while I knew Kotaro Suzuki was the GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and had seen a couple of his matches. After having seen them both perform I have nothing but the utmost praise for them. After fifteen seconds of lucha style counters and takedowns they had immediately put the pre-show guys in their place, and speed was the trend that carried throughout the match. Ricky Marvin won the hearts of the crowd by giving Suzuki the double salute and saying “f*** you!”, earning him a kick in the leg, only for him to do it again and say “f** you twice!” which had everyone in stitches. When Suzuki was knocked into the barrier right and it collapsed into us we were relieved that Davey Richards no longer works for the company. Marvin flew a lot, Suzuki was utterly precise in everything he did, and they just electrified for ten minutes. The highlight was Suzuki hitting a tombstone, standing back up whilst holding on to the move and then hitting another one. He eventually got the win with a Tiger Driver but it didn’t really matter who won or how, their job of getting the crowd into the show was accomplished in spades.
Taiji Ishimori vs Satoshi Kajiwara
I embarrassed myself quite soundly by standing up to slap Ishimori’s hand and then tripping a little bit when I went to sit back down and was thankful not many other wrestlers offered high fives after that. Kajiwara isn’t really a guy I’m familiar with and I believe he’s a newcomer to the company from Kensuke Office, while Ishimori is one of the more exciting guys on the roster. It was a slightly slower match with Kajiwara taking control on the outside and keeping the pace at a crawl, with Ishimori occasionally busting out a superkick or a springboard move, as well as the loudest chops I’ve ever heard. It was fun but not very memorable with Ishimori winning with a move that resembled Shingo’s Made In Japan.
The Kings of Wrestling vs. Atsushi Aoki & Takeshi Morishima
This was originally supposed to be the Kings vs Go & Taniguchi, but when Naomichi Marufuji got injured they shuffled the card and he was replaced by former ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima, who I can confirm is very large. I was told that he lost his spot on the card because he kept getting bigger and bigger but to be honest he doesn’t look any fatter than he was when he held the ROH title. He also got a monstrous reaction from the fans due to his many visits to the UK, as well as a strong contingent of Ring of Honor fans in attendance. The Kings were of course insanely popular too, and even Aoki got over due to his look and attitude, somewhat of a wild man with his hair flying around all over the place. The guy that won the right to second the Kings didn’t get to come out with them during their entrance and did nothing but kneel in the corner and encourage them, but being that close to the action and getting to meet them backstage before hand was nice I’m sure. The match was naturally strike heavy, with Claudio calling out Morishima from the opening bell. Lots of lariats, kicks and elbows as you’d expect. Hero is just as much of a beast in person, hitting the KTFO and Cyclone Kill to huge reactions. Claudio hit the giant swing on Morishima to the shock and awe of everyone, causing a UFO chant to break out. He gave us an Alpamare Waterslide instead… I say that like it’s not still inhumanly impressive. The Kings isolated Aoki, Morishima refused to go down despite Claudio’s best efforts, but ultimately the Kings’ strategy worked and they drilled Aoki with the KRS-ONE for the victory.
A brief intermission followed and we saw Aoki and Morishima recording an interview out the back of the building, while Satoshi Kujiwara casually wandered around the venue. I ran into Marty Scurll in the lobby and thanked him for the interview we did over the phone a few months ago which was a nice surprise. The Kings of Wrestling arrived at their merchandise table still in their gear and were very personable, selling their shirts, signing pictures and posing for photos for anyone that asked. At one point they were unable to give a fan correct change so Mark and I swapped 2 five pound notes for a ten, earning us a handshake from Claudio. This encouraged me to rethink my decision to not get a photo with them.
Hero complimented my shirt making me very glad I changed into it instead of just carrying it, and they both signed it and took a picture with me for free. I was holding cash the whole time but Hero didn’t want anything which I found unspeakably cool. If you’ve ever heard reports about Hero not being friendly then you’ve heard wrong, he was all-smiles the whole time, shaking hands, thanking people, doing different poses for photos, and cracking jokes. Nicest ‘celebrity’ I’ve ever been around.
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Both men were sporting new gear since the last time I saw them, and I’ve heard most people don’t like Nakajima’s new digs but I think they’re cool… ahem. This was a big giant kick-fest as you’d expect, with a number of shared ooooo’s from the crowd. Zack went all-out from the word go, faking a suicide dive only to hit one moments later, in addition to the crazy and inventive methods he has of locking in the Cross Armbreaker, something the fans of Chikara, CZW and Evolve have grown accustomed to lately. There was naturally a very vocal pro-Zack portion of the crowd and Nakajima actually worked them a little. He obliterated Zack’s chest with a giant missile dropkick and several punt-like kicks as well as many, many superkicks. Zack gave as good as he got though with lightning fast kicks but ultimately fell to a Brainbuster and running kick to the chest.
KENTA & Bobby Fish vs Go Shiozaki & Shuhei Taniguchi
KENTA remained stoic in the face of his hero’s welcome, keeping to his new heel persona well. His stone-face was actually a little frightening as we’re all very aware of what he’s capable of in the ring. He and Go stiffed the hell out of each other, going at it like they owed each other money, but KENTA’s involvement in the match was disappointingly short, though he did break out many of his trademarks, including a huge double stomp, a springboard dropkick, and the multiple yakuzas in the corner. Oh, and the Go 2 Sleep, which was a million times better than the CM Punk version. I know everybody knows that already, but I just wanted to reconfirm it having seen it in person. Bobby Fish worked most of the match for his team and was lucky enough to receive an onslaught of chops and lariats. A kid wearing a John Cena shirt in the front row began to shout out various fish-related exclamations, including “Swim, Fish!” and “get some water so you can win!” KENTA broke up a lot of pins, but in the end he couldn’t save Fish from the Go Flasher and the loss. Go was good but he got a tad repetitive down the stretch with multiple spinning slaps and lariats. Taniguchi was decent but didn’t do an awful lot, and Fish was solid but clearly the ummm… fish out of water in the match. This was billed as a possible European Match of the Year Contender ahead of time, but that was when it was going to be KENTA & Fish vs Marufuji & Aoki. It was good, but it wasn’t even the match of the night, let alone of the year.
GHC Heavyweight Championship Match
Takashi Sugiura vs. Dave Mastiff
Sugiura’s gimmick has been to defend his title against wrestlers from other companies, so it only made sense he’d take on a British talent on British soil. But when you look at the massive Dave Mastiff you can’t help but wonder how on earth he earned himself a world title match in the main event of a NOAH card. While it’s true he’s a very heavy-set individual and is completely unheard of to anyone who isn’t on the up and up when it comes to British wrestling (including yours truly), he 100% deserved to be there by match-end. After a slightly dull first few minutes things began to pick up as the two hit each other very hard. But things got real when Mastiff climbed the top rope and executed a moonsault. He has to be at least 300lbs and he hit a moonsault. Well actually, Sugiura moved, but still, the crowd went nuts. Throughout the match the champion was peppering Mastiff with strikes to little effect whilst trying and failing to hit various suplexes, unable to lift the behemoth. Eventually he did manage a vertical suplex that sounded like it might finally break the ring, but Mastiff wasn’t to be out-done and rocked the world with a springboard moonsault. The entire room came unglued and everybody completely bought on the false-finish with Mastiff receiving the biggest reaction of the night, and it wasn’t a brief one either, with everybody on their feet chanting his name. He went up top once more for another moonsault but ended up eating a huge german superplex. Sugiura managed to hit several german suplexes after that, and finished the match with an impressive Olympic Slam that drove Mastiff right down on his shoulder.
The crowd gave it up for the GHC Champ despite Mastiff’s immense popularity and he raised the challenger’s hand in a classy move. He then briefly put a tour t-shirt back on before removing it and ascending the turnbuckles to throw it at a group of people he had pointed out somewhere behind me. He tossed the shirt and it went high but not very far and I casually snatched it out of the air, causing me and Mark to laugh like children for several minutes. Sugiura then walked around the ring and gave everybody high fives and let us touch the title belt, which was sort of surreal.
We hurried out of the venue shortly after and began the trip home. I had arrived with one shirt and was leaving with three, one signed, another worn by wrestlers, which brings me to a dilemma. What on earth do I do with GHC World Heavyweight Champion Takashi Sugiura’s worn t-shirt? General consensus is that it’d be cool to wear it and state as often as possible that the only two people to ever wear it are me and the world champion, but should I not wear it and have it framed or something instead? Answer in the comment section below!
This wasn’t just the best wrestling show I’ve been to, it was overall one of the best days of my life thanks to the autographs, the photo, meeting the Kings, and swiping Sugiura’s shirt, as well as the general fun that’s to be had with a good friend in a strange town for the day. How fun was it? Check this out and see:
Need I say any more?
Frame the shirt