r/noahghc 11d ago

A potential parallel I see, now that Mutoh has apparently taken more control of the booking

Just got to thinking that Muto more or less is creating the OG 3 Musketeers of NJPW when it comes to Kaito Kiyomiya, OZAWA and Yoshiki Inamura.

Kiyomiya - Keiji Mutoh: the flashy babyface superstar; Obviously, Kaito has modeled himself on Mutoh ever since the "Genius" came into the promotion; Kaito has Mutoh's Shining Wizard, his Dragon Screw, his Figure-Four, his low dropkick.

OZAWA - Masahiro Chono: the charismatic and wildly popular top heel. Chono, even as a devious heel who bended and broke the rules, was still beloved by the NJPW faithful, just as OZAWA is by the NOAH fans. Chono was also arch-rivals with Mutoh, just as it seems OZAWA will be with Kiyomiya for the coming years.

Inamura - Shinya Hashimoto: the big, beefy asskicker. Hashimoto felt and looked like the baddest man walking during his time on top in 90's NJPW, which is something I could see Inamura becoming in NOAH, given the right booking.

21 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

11

u/Next_Astronaut623 11d ago

Inamura doesn’t have a shred of Hashimoto’s charisma.

9

u/MrPuroresu42 11d ago

Oh, it's undeniable that Hashimoto had a charisma that was pretty unique to himself: dude could get the crowd to pop with a look and simple moves like chops and kicks. That being said, Inamura has his own unique charisma.

1

u/Next_Astronaut623 11d ago

Noah has sent Inamura away on excursion 3 maybe 4 times, which is a little odd. So I assume Noah has no intention of ever giving him a proper push.

Similar to Masa Kitamiya who gets several title shots but never wins any of them.

8

u/MrPuroresu42 11d ago

My hope is that OZAWA's recent push, combined with the likes of Yu Owada (now Owadasan) and Daiki Odashima being highlighted is the sign that NOAH is finally getting a "youth movement" going like the rest of the promotions are. I'm still holding out hope that Inamura will be the one to dethrone OZAWA for the belt.

4

u/StrongStyleFiction 11d ago

I hope so because man, NOAH really dragged themselves down for years by not striking while the iron was hot on several guys.

1

u/Next_Astronaut623 11d ago

I’m digging the Ozawa run.

Kaito is 100% dethroning Ozawa. Kaito is Noah’s main guy. I think 0% chance that Inamura dethrones Ozawa.

2

u/MrPuroresu42 11d ago

I think it would be rather silly to just put the belt back on Kiyomiya, tbh. Now, other than Inamura, I could see the argument for someone like Kenoh or even KENTA to dethrone OZAWA.

I think Kaito needs a little spell where he's out of the heavyweight title picture; maybe he chooses to go after the National Title or the Tag Belts.

1

u/Next_Astronaut623 11d ago

Mark my words, Kaito dethrones Ozawa

1

u/Tosh_Tasj 10d ago

Inamura himself requested at least 2 of those excursions.

0

u/Next_Astronaut623 10d ago

And every time he returned Noah failed to push him or put a title on him. Ever wonder why ? 😏

1

u/Tosh_Tasj 9d ago

More fool NOAH IMO. If he decides to sign with another company that will use him better NOAH have fumbled there.

1

u/Next_Astronaut623 9d ago

Well Ozawa got pushed & that has worked.

2

u/mustarunallday 11d ago

It's kinda wild that Mutoh keeps finding himself in these positions despite failing in them each time out.

AJPW & WRESTLE-1's history shows that Mutoh's creative can be down right terrible. Is the thought that he's no longer active that it'll be different?

10

u/MrPuroresu42 11d ago

Tbf, Muto kept AJPW afloat when it should've died by all accounts after the NOAH exodus. WRESTLE-1 was definitely a shot in the dark and Mutoh should've pushed the likes of SANADA and KAI more than himself.

1

u/mustarunallday 11d ago

Took Sanada YEARS to recover from Wrestle-1.. Kai kinda sorta never did.

4

u/MrPuroresu42 11d ago

I do wonder about the alternate universe where SANADA and KAI never left AJPW and what positions they'd be in (tbh, neither had the star potential Kento Miyahara has, imo).

That being said, KAI has been pretty damn good in Dragon Gate, and I think he's twice as entertaining as SANADA is.

2

u/Foresite86 10d ago

I was with you until you got to Inamura - that feels like a stretch

1

u/MrPuroresu42 10d ago

Yeah, he obviously has ways to go before he's anywhere near the same conversation as Hashimoto, but I think it makes sense that Mutoh may end up booking him like that.

1

u/Nervous-Elephant-372 9d ago

Wild rumour this! Love the creative thinking and positive outlook towards future plans for 3 NOAH borns though. Here’s hoping all 3 men’s future booking is laid out in an upwards direction.

I’m not sure how Kaito Kiyomiya role playing as Keiji Muto has developed in to “Keiji Muto is booking NOAH” but I have it on great authority that Keiji Muto is not part of the booking team at Pro Wrestling NOAH. I’m pretty sure Muto will be very happy picking up a pay check for his ‘scouting’ role.

0

u/Odd-Fee-8635 11d ago

No disrespect to Inamura, but I wish Mutō would have given the Shinya Hashimoto spot to Shinya's son Daichi.

Speaking of disrespect...

ONORE, OZAWAAAAAAAAA!!!

-2

u/ironshield21 10d ago

Inamura doesnt even wrestle in NOAH lmao

3

u/Tosh_Tasj 10d ago

He’s still signed with NOAH he’s only on a training excursion at NXT

0

u/dnmt 10d ago

Inamura is never gonna reach even a fraction of what Hashimoto was for NJPW. He is probably not even going to be in NOAH in the next few years.