WhiteTail Wrestling

Night 2 of the Pro Wrestling NOAH N-1 Victory takes place at Korakuen Hall on the night of the 9th August 2024.

Non tournament action to start as Junta Miyawaki, Ninja Mack and Alejandro clash in a three way match. Nice fast paced junior action with the crowd getting into the match and therefore the show early. Exactly the sort of match this needed to be. Exciting finish with Ninja Mack high flying to defeat both his opponents. ***

Josh Briggs vs Atsushi Kotoge kicks off the tournament action. Kotoge is the underdog here with Briggs clearly taking his opponent lightly. Briggs uses his significant size advantage to completely dominate the match. The crowd egging on Kotoge in the hope he makes a comeback. Kotoge does make a comeback but that is stopped in its tracks with a chokebomb and Briggs follows up with his finish for the win. Well executed big man vs little man match. **1/2

Alpha Wolf takes on Yoshiki Inamura in the next match. Bit slow early but the action begins to pick up. Inamura who is more of a power wrestler is in a strong position but Wolf has some strength and some speed. Wolf can fly as well with a massive dive to the outside. Wolf is in control back in the ring but both men miss moves. Wolf with a brainbuster and moonsault for a near fall. This is getting really exciting now. Inamura gets a near fall with a frog splash. Inamura wins after a really fun match. ***

Luis Mante against Masa Kitamiya is next. Slow to start with Mante selling his leg for the opening minutes. The action picks up with some good work by both men. Kitamiya gets the better of the action but gets caught and defeated after a flash pin. Some good stuff but felt a little long by the end and the banana skin finish wasn’t the best. **1/2

An eight man tag match breaks up the tournament action as AMAKUSA & HAYATA & Shuji Kondo & Eita take on Daga & Yoshinari Ogawa & Super Crazy & Yu Owada. The storytelling makes no sense and the brawl at the start didn’t bode well but most of the match was solid with good action. **1/2

El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jr takes on Ulka Sasaki as the N-1 action returns. Slow start but got better although it lacked any real great action. Wagner the better wrestler wins after some good moves and the Wagner driver but this should have been better. **1/2

Dragon Bane vs Jack Morris is next. Good fast paced start nice contrast to some of the previous matches on this card. The action continues with only a small lull before we get some really exciting action with numerous near falls from big moves by both men. Certainly match of the night so far. Morris wins with the tiger driver in an excellent match. ***1/2

Titus Alexander vs Kenoh in the semi main. This took too long to get going but the final minutes were good with Kenoh picking up the win. ***

The main event Ryohei Oiwa vs Kaito Kiyomiya as the ace of NOAH takes on a future star of NJPW. Good mix of technical and physical action to start. Oiwa dominating the technical battle with the Steamboat style takeovers. Compelling battle despite the action not being spectacular thus far. Good old school wrestling. Kiyomiya effectively targets the leg of Oiwa and locks in the submission as the crowd heats up cheering on Oiwa. Oiwa finally reaches the ropes. The excellent action continues it is not super fast paced but the drama is brilliant and everything is being done well. Less than three minutes left is the match heading for a draw? And it is a draw with neither man getting the fall at the end despite being desperate to do so. What a great main event. ****1/2

Overall this was a good show from NOAH with nothing bad on the show but also only one truly great match that being the main event which was must watch and it could be argued was a borderline match of the year contender. Oiwa despite being on excursion in NOAH could well be the best of the new crop of Young Lions he was awesome here his similarities to a young Ricky Steamboat are uncanny and his in ring skills are advanced to a level far above most experienced wrestlers. Of course he was against another great talent in Kiyomiya here which always helps make a wrestler look good but if they can get his return right then NJPW have the opportunity to create a superstar in the very near future. Outside of that Dragon Bane vs Jack Morris I would recommend due its fun fast paced action. Matches that are worth a watch include the opener, Alpha Wolf vs Inamura and Alexander vs Kenoh.