Kongoh will produce their second show. Their first produce show took place at Shin-Kiba 1st ring on the 14th of December 2019. The show saw the debut of Haoh and HI69 become Nioh. Both became the newest members of Kongoh. The show will take place on the 24th of July and is coming from Korakuen Hall.
Bell time is 11:30 JST (22:30 EDT,19:30 PDT, 3:30 BST)
What will happen at this show? Let’s take a look at the card and find out.
Match 1:
Nioh
vs
Shiryu
Two juniors in action as Nioh takes on Shiryu. Shiryu who looks familiar, almost like he is just someone in a mask. Shiryu for those who don’t know is Kaz Hayashi in a mask. These two have faced in the past just under different personas. They have clashed in the Kaientai Dojo promotion (now Active Advance Pro Wrestling). With Shiryu going as Kaz Hayashi and Nioh being HI69.
It will be interesting to see if Shiryu can keep up against Nioh. During his title challenge against Kotaro Suzuki it seemed like he didn’t have the stamina to keep up. He will want to prove he can keep up with NOAH’s Juniors. His record in singles matches in NOAH stands at 1 win and 1 loss.
Nioh will be looking to build some momentum. Although not announced he and Haoh will surely be targeting a victory in the Global Junior Tag League. In terms of singles matches Nioh has a record of 2 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses. Although not a tag match a victory will provide some needed momentum for Nioh.
Match 2:
Yoshiki Inamura
vs
Masaaki Mochizuki
Just like at the last Kongoh produce show Inamura finds himself across from a person with vast more experience than him. Last time Inamura faced BJW stalwart Daisuke Sekimoto. This time he faces Dragon Gate stalwart Masaaki Mochizuki.
A much different match then against Sekimoto. Inamura will have the size and strength advantage against Mochizuki. Inamura has a record of 2 wins and 7 losses in singles matches in NOAH so far in 2020.
Mochizuki who is a member of the M alliance as well as a former GHC Tag Team Champion will have the speed and experience advantage. Though he hasn’t had a singles match in NOAH this year. his record for his home promotion Dragon Gate is 3 wins (4 if you include a dark match) 1 draw and 1 loss.
This match should be a good chance for Inamura to showcase how much he has grown since the last produce show. He is against a veteran as well so it should be a good chance for him to learn and to grow as a performer.
Ultimately I think Mochizuki will win this match. However, this will be another crucial match in Inamura’s development.
Match 3:
Manabu Soya
vs
Shuhei Taniguchi
A hoss fight plain and simple. So far these two have only clashed in tag matches. This will be their first singles match.
Soya who so far in NOAH has a fairly decent record in singles matches since his debut in April (4 wins, 2 loses). Soya won the National title #1 contender tournament beating Kinya Okada, Rene Dupree, Mohammed Yone and Masa Kitamiya on the way to winning the tournament. He will be looking to get back to winning ways after his unsuccessful title challenge against Katsuhiko Nakajima.
Taniguchi had a really good 2019 after breaking away from his Maybach stuff. Having a big singles match victory over Naomichi Marufuji. Having high profile matches against Kazuyuki Fujita and Takashi Sugiura. He also finished second in his block in the N1 Victory. In 2020 He got to the semi-finals of the National title #1 contender tournament. Taniguchi will be looking to build momentum for the N1 Victory later this year. Taniguchi’s record in singles matches this year is 4 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses.
This match may turn out to the best match on the card. Make sure you don’t miss it.
Match 4:
Masa Kitamiya
vs
Daiki Inaba
A very interesting match sees former WRESTLE1 champion Daiki Inaba take on NOAH stalwart Masa Kitamiya for the first time ever.
Kitamiya who has had an alright 2020 so far. His singles record is 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 loses. Those 3 wins coming in the National title #1 contender tournament. So he has got a decent record in singles matches this year. Kitamiya will be looking to build some momentum for the N1 Victory later this year.
This will be Inaba’s third match in NOAH so far. He has a 0-1 record in singles matches so far with that loss coming at Kaito Kiyomiya’s hands. His other match was a tag match with Kiyomiya and they managed to pick up the win. This will be Inaba’s first time in front of the NOAH fans. It will be interesting to see how they take to him. I think NOAH has big plans for him and Kiyomiya as a team. I think Inaba will also be a great addition to the upper card/main event scene as he will give us some fresh matches.
This match should be good. It really is a coin toss as to who could win. I personally would lean more towards Inaba.
Main Event:
Kenoh
vs
Haoh
The main event sees a junior take on a heavyweight. Kenoh takes on Haoh. These two seem to have a close relationship. This maybe due to both of them being in Michinoku Pro.
Haoh is in his first full year with NOAH. In terms of singles action and matches Haoh hasn’t done the best. He finished joint last in his block in the global junior league. Haoh has 2 wins and 6 losses in singles action this year. He did score the win for Kongoh in their match in DDT against Sanshiro Takagi’s team. Though he is mostly a tag team wrestler in NOAH teaming with Nioh. He will be looking for a good showing here against one of the best heavyweights not just in NOAH but also the world.
Kenoh on the other hand so far hasn’t done too much in 2020. He invaded DDT and demanded a match against Sanshiro Takagi. Kongoh did win thanks to Haoh. Kenoh has only had one singles match in 2020 which he won against NOSAWA Rongai. He recently challenged for Katsuhiko Nakajima’s National championship. He will be looking to build momentum for that match with a win here.
This match is interesting. You have Kenoh he is one of only a handful premier strikers in Noah. Versus arguably the fasted junior in NOAH. A clash of styles almost. I can’t see anything but a Kenoh win here but I think Haoh will put on a great showing.
Conclusion
This looks like it could be better than their first Kongoh produce show. All 5 matches have the potential to be great. Even though this is a produce show this still has to potential to change people’s standing in terms of title contention. This show should be a good one and will definitely be worth checking out.
Kongoh Produce Show Diamond 2 will air on Samurai TV on the 31st of July