B BLOCK:
Katsuhiko Nakajima
Pro Debut: 2003
Nakajima began his wrestling career at the young age of 14, being a protege from the get-go and being discovered by the legendary Riki Choshu himself. He would later learn under the wing of Kensuke Sasaki and wrestled with the Kensuke Office banner. Nakajima began actively competing in NOAH in 2008, mainly as a tag partner to Sasaki.
He became GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion for the first time in 2009 and won the belt two more times later on. In 2016 Nakajima officially became the “ace” of NOAH by becoming GHC Heavyweight Champion and had a run of 307 days defeating a plethora of challengers before losing the belt to the first ever gaijin to hold it in Eddie Edwards.
The problem with Nakajima though was that he may be a good wrestler but lack in the personality department. Recently however, the bland babyface got an overall makeover and you wouldn’t even know it’s the same person with how different he looks than before! It’s not just his look too but his entire personality changed, having a more brash and cocky attitude. Through this Nakajima became an even bigger star and only time will tell on when he regains the GHC Title.
He is the latest defense of Kaito in the belt though so I don’t think they will be doing a re-match of that, it will be way too soon but Nakajima will probably end up as one of the favorites in his block.
Shuhei Taniguchi
Pro Debut: 2005
Shuhei Taniguchi fka Maybach Taniguchi is another product of the NOAH Dojo, being on the same class with Atsushi Aoki and Akihito Ito. I think most fans know him better wrestling as a villanous masked wrestler “Maybach Taniguchi” but recently he has lost it and began wrestling as himself.
Taniguchi has challenged for the GHC Heavyweight title before but he is yet to capture it. Mainly a tag-team wrestler in his career, being a 5x holder of the GHC Heavyweight tag belts.
He works in a slower pace in comparison to his contemporaries. Kind of like a big man style, but less monstrous. Maybe a later age Giant Baba for comparison, which isn’t bad, but not great either. I think Taniguchi works well in the role he is in though. Could be a good spoiler in the block.
KENOH
Pro Debut: 2008
One of my absolute favorite wrestlers in the world right now is KENOH. The man just exudes superstar charisma, him along with Kaito Kiyomiya are certainly the future of NOAH if booked properly.
KENOH began his career in Michinoku Pro Wrestling and wrestled the bulk of his early years there. Trained by Jinsei Shinzaki (aka Hakushi in WWF) he has carved a path of being one of the best heels in NOAH today since he joined in 2014.
While I’m a fan of technical and highflying wrestling, I still prefer a good ol’ fashion strike fest and that is why I’m a big fan of guys like Kobashi, Ishii, and Shibata just to name a few. Obviously KENOH isn’t on that level yet but he will be eventually, still has a lot of years in him and he already got a taste of the gold too by becoming GHC Heavyweight Champion for the first time in 2017.
It symbolized a new era for NOAH as he is the first champion to never have a match with Mitsuharu Misawa. If Kaito is aiming to be the next Misawa, then KENOH would be his Kawada. The two are shaping up to be a great rivalry just like their predecessors.
If not for Nakajima or the next wrestler, then KENOH is surely the top favorite to win the B Block and possibly the entire tournament too.
Masaaki Mochizuki
Pro Debut: 1994
Admittedly I have not watch enough Dragon Gate. It is only recently where I really got into seeing a lot of matches of the promotion thanks to PAC’s return. For the sake of this article, I have dive in to the hole that was Masaaki Mochizuki’s matches and count me in on the hype train!
I’ve only seen matches from recent years and for someone his age, he has no business wrestling just as good if not probably better than his early years. Usually with veteran wrestlers they work a slower pace style, more inclined to use strikes and their signature moves. (i.e. the New Japan dads such as Nagata and Kojima, as well as Minoru Suzuki.) But Mochizuki is an entirely different beast and could still hang with the much younger wrestlers today, it’s like he never lost a step which is pretty amazing.
Like I said, Kaito has pretty much faced almost everyone in the field and successfully defended the GHC title from them, I personally wouldn’t mind if Mochizuki would go on to win the tournament and eventually challenge for the belt for a fresh matchup. The only thing that’s keeping me from going all in on that prediction is that he is not a NOAH wrestler and Dragon Gate is still his home promotion so I’m not sure if NOAH is willing to push an outsider that far nowadays but we’ll have to wait and see.
His matches against Nakajima and KENOH would be must watch material for sure though!
El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.
Pro Debut: 2009
Last but not the least we got the third generation wrestler of the Wagner lucha dynasty: El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. (the son of Dr. Wagner Jr.)
The Wagner dynasty is one of the most revered families in Lucha Libre. The original Dr. Wagner is an icon of the industry and his son Dr. Wagner Jr. is one of the greatest wrestlers in modern day wrestling. In fact Wagner Jr. just recently main evented TripleMania couple days ago, losing in a lucha de apuestas (hair vs. mask) match against Blue Demon Jr. and has said himself that he’ll be going on a retirement tour soon.
It is a tradition in lucha to continue wrestling in the mask of the fathers, so El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. is the third generation to don the mask of his grandfather. He is still fairly young at 27 years old and a solid wrestler who has tons of potential. It is pretty hard to live up to the careers of his predecessors although slowly but surely, he could get there eventually. I’ve only seen a few of his matches such as his MLW debut with his father where they took on LA Park and El Hijo de LA Park. Luchadors have a long history in Japan with greats such as Mil Mascaras and Dos Caras exposing Japanese audiences to the Lucha Libre style.
I was pretty surprised when I saw his name on the field, certainly the last wrestler I’d expect but I guess the MLW partnership helped him get here. Wrestling in Japan is a big help in honing his craft so hopefully he’ll be able to make the most of this opportunity despite probably going to be on the losing end a bunch of times.
So those are all the competitors for this year’s N-1 Victory. Now how’d you be able to watch NOAH? Well unless you live in Japan and watch live in person, there are ways for you to catch up and I’d like to possibly give exposure to these great people/websites as well.
The full schedule of the tour can be viewed on NOAH’s official website. It is on Japanese so you may want to turn on translations if you cannot understand the writing/language.
Follow Hisame on Twitter and her website, she basically is the unofficial English translator of NOAH and you can get updates 24/7 about the promotion.
To watch NOAH matches, especially recent events follow @PuroresuDream on Twitter where they archive all NOAH stuff as the company itself doesn’t have an official streaming service yet. They also post stuff from smaller Japanese promotions too if that interests you.
Lastly, KINGS AARK is a great channel on YouTube for all of your NOAH matches needs. He uploads matches maybe like 2-3 days after the event takes place, as well as classic old school matches from both NOAH and AJPW.
Pro Wrestling NOAH is one of the reasons why I’m such a huge fan of Puroresu and professional wrestling in general. I just want the company to succeed so hopefully whether you’re a new fan or a returning one, please support them as they are a company filled with great wrestlers who are capable of putting up solid to great matches! Thanks for reading.
