Tag: yoshiki inamura

New GHC Heavyweight Champion crowned at NOAH Spring Mayhem Ryogoku 2026

Posted on by Ian Carey

Shane Haste is the new GHC Heavyweight Champion.

Haste defeated Yoshiki Inamura to win the title on Saturday at NOAH Spring Mayhem at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

The finish of the match saw Inamura miss a splash from the top, Haste hit two running knees, suplex, big lariat, and finally his Bomb Valley Death for the win.

After the match, Haste said he wants to defend the title against KENTA, who was translating Haste’s comments to the live crowd at the time. Both KENTA and Haste are members of the White Raven Sqwad faction.

Haste said:

“I want to put this GHC title on the line and defend it against KENTA! You want a match with me? I want to beat you holding this title like you did to me all those years ago.”

KENTA successfully defended the GHC Heavyweight title against Haste on September 7, 2013, at NOAH Shiny Navigation.

Haste later said backstage:

“The dream has become a reality. Right now, this is a dream I’ve had ever since I started watching PRO WRESTLING NOAH. It’s been maybe 15 years since I’ve held a singles title. I’ve only ever held one singles title before this and it was for EPW. THIS is the most important title to me in the world. This proves that I am the guy. I am THE MAN. Thank you everyone who supported me when I didn’t even support myself.”

“And now, it’s on to the next dream, and that is getting retribution on KENTA for when he beat me all those years ago. But now I’m the champion. Rematch: Haste vs KENTA II. Arigato gozaimasu.”

According to NOAH’s website, 4,539 people attended today’s show. The full results are available below.

NOAH Spring Mayhem Ryogoku 2026 results from Saturday, May 2, 2026:

  • Shane Haste defeated Yoshiki Inamura to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship
  • Dragon Bane defeated AMAKUSA to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship
  • OZAWA defeated Tetsuya Naito
  • Naomichi Marufuji & Kenoh defeated Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows
  • BUSHI defeated Jun Masaoka in a No Disqualification match
  • Alpha Wolf & Kai Fujimura defeated RYUSEI & Angel Reyes
  • Manabu Soya, Saxon Huxley & Yuki Iino defeated Kaito Kiyomiya, Haruto Ki & Alejandro and Masa Kitamiya, Takashi Sugiura & Tadasuke
  • Knull defeated Kid Lykos No. 1 & Kid Lykos No. 2 in a handicap match
  • KENTA, Tetsuya Endo & HAYATA defeated Mohammed Yone, Kazuyuki Fujita & Daiki Odashima
  • Eita defeated Katsumi Inabata
  • Atsushi Kotoge, Hi69 & Hajime Ohara defeated Hayata Koyanagi, Hiroto Tsuruya & Aoi Takahashi

Challenger with ‘WWE experience’ revealed for Yoshiki Inamura’s GHC title

Posted on by Ian Carey

A challenger with WWE experience has been revealed for Yoshiki Inamura.

For the past month, a storyline has been building in Pro Wrestling NOAH that Inamura would soon face a challenger with a background from WWE. Inamura, who went on excursion to NXT from November 2024 to mid-2025, has been confronted by KENTA and Yoshi Tatsu, with Tatsu claiming to be in contact with Triple H.

Inamura successfully defended his GHC Heavyweight Championship against Alpha Wolf at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Apex Conquest 2026 show in Nagoya, Japan on April 12. After the match, former NXT wrestler Shane Haste was revealed as the next challenger for Inamura on May 2.

“I am Shane Haste! I am KENTA-san’s friend. I have WWE experience, have PRO WRESTLING NOAH experience. I’ve come back to win that belt,” Haste said.

Inamura responded, “Shane-san, I of course know that you have WWE experience and are a legendary foreign talent in NOAH. I was your fan. So next, May 2 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. On that grand stage, I want to fight you with this belt on the line. I would love to fight you for this belt.”

NOAH posted footage of Haste challenging Inamura to social media below:

KENTA teases ‘someone with WWE experience’ to challenge Yoshiki Inamura in NOAH

Posted on by Ian Carey

Someone with a WWE background could be headed to Pro Wrestling NOAH soon.

Yoshiki Inamura, who did an excursion to NXT from November 2024 to August 2025, successfully defended his GHC Heavyweight Championship against Kenoh on Sunday in Yokohama at NOAH Apex Conquest 2026. Following the match, Inamura cut a promo saying he wants his next challenger to have “WWE experience.”

“Today, I’m making a big selfish request. I want to fight a man with WWE experience. Who is the next challenger?” Inamura said (translated).

This led to former NXT wrestler and the man Inamura defeated for the GHC Heavyweight belt, KENTA, coming to the ring. Rather than angle for a title shot himself, KENTA said he’s bringing in someone “with WWE experience” to join the White Raven Sqwad faction and challenge Inamura.

Former WWE wrestler Yoshi Tatsu then came out, but KENTA said Tatsu was not the person he was referring to.

Alpha Wolf, who does not have a WWE background, then attacked KENTA, and NOAH later announced that Wolf will challenge Inamura for the title at the April 12 show in Nagoya. It remains unclear who KENTA was referring to when he teased bringing in someone with WWE experience.

KENTA continued to tease the WWE name on social media following Sunday’s show.

“I wanna say my friend’s name soon,” he wrote (translated).

NOAH and WWE have had a cooperative relationship in recent years. In 2023, Shinsuke Nakamura returned to NOAH for a special match against The Great Muta at NOAH The New Year. WWE also sent Omos to NOAH that year for a brief run with the promotion. Ulka Sasaki, who is part of White Raven Squad with KENTA, has also announced that he will be going on excursion to NXT.

Yoshiki Inamura defends Pro Wrestling NOAH GHC title this weekend

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

Yoshiki Inamura is set to defend Pro Wrestling NOAH’s GHC Championship against Kenoh this Sunday. The title match will main event NOAH’s Apex Conquest 2026 event in Yokohama.

Inamura, best known to many US fans for his appearances in NXT last year, won the GHC title from KENTA last November. He has defended the title four times since then, most recently against Takashi Sugiura at Korakuen Hall in February. He has only competed in trios matches since then, often against KENTA’s White Raven Squad. 

Inamaura wrestled in 36 matches for NXT in 2024 and 2025, often in a tag team with Josh Briggs. He competed for the NXT Tag Team Championship (against Hank & Tank) and the NXT Championship (against Oba Femi).

Kenoh has won more than a dozen championships in NOAH dating back to 2014. He is a four-time GHC Champion, most recently winning the title from OZAWA last July before losing the belt to KENTA the very next day. 

Apex Conquest 2026 will air live from the Yokohama Budokan on Sunday, March 8, at 3 p.m. JST. The event will stream live on Wrestle Universe with English commentary. Top matches include:

  • GHC Heavyweight Championship Match: Yoshiki Inamura vs. Kenoh
  • GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: AMAKUSA vs. Mark Trew
  • GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Daga & Daiki Odashima vs. Dragon Bane & Alejandro

NXT wrestlers win championships at NOAH Star Navigation 2025

Posted on by Ian Carey

Three wrestlers that NXT fans are familiar with won gold today at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Star Navigation 2025 event in Korakuen Hall.

Yoshiki Inamura is the new GHC Heavyweight Champion after he defeated KENTA in the show’s main event, finishing the former champion off with his patented splash from the top rope. After the match, Inamura was confronted by Kaito Kiyomiya for his first title defense.

Also, Hank Walker and Tank Ledger are the new GHC Tag Team Champions, having defeated Team 2000X’s Masa Kitamiya and Takashi Sugiura for the belts. They were immediately confronted and challenged to a future title match by Naomichi Marufuji and Kenoh.

NOAH published Hank and Tank’s backstage comments from the show:

“I’ll keep this short and straight to the point. No matter where we are, no matter who the opponent is, we’ll hype it up to the max,” Max said.

“That’s right, that’s right. We’ll make a big noise, build up the momentum, and hype it up,” said Tank.

Philadelphia Street Fight to kick off WWE NXT this week

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A hardcore match is set to open this week’s NXT episode in the birthplace of extreme.

This Tuesday, NXT will emanate live from The Met in Philadelphia. It was announced today that Yoshiki Inamura and Josh Briggs’ Philly Street Fight will be kicking off the episode. The show airs on The CW in the United States and Netflix internationally.

Inamura and Briggs are former tag team partners whose friendship imploded with Briggs turning heel in July, claiming that Inamura was selfish in his pursuit of the NXT Championship and lives by a stupid code of honor. There was a promo segment on NXT last week setting up their street fight.

Here is everything that has been announced for NXT this week:

WWE NXT (Tuesday, August 19) —

  • Number one contender’s match for an NXT Championship shot at Heatwave: Trick Williams vs. Je’Von Evans
  • Ricky Saints vs. Jasper Troy
  • Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx vs. Ash By Elegance, Heather By Elegance & M By Elegance (with Masha Slamovich as special referee)
  • Ethan Page and Chelsea Green peace summit with Tyra Mae Steele and Tavion Heights
  • Jordynne Grace and Blake Monroe face-to-face
  • Joe Hendry appears
  • Philadelphia Street Fight: Yoshiki Inamura vs. Josh Briggs

Ivar defeats Yoshiki Inamura on WWE Speed

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A hard-hitting bout took place on WWE Speed this week with Ivar facing off against Yoshiki Inamura.

The two collided into each other immediately as the bell rang and then traded strikes. Ivar dropped Inamura with a German suplex, but Inamura popped right back up and delivered a suplex of his own. They continued going back and forth after the hot start until Ivar scored the victory with a powerslam from the second rope. Inamura was going for a superplex, but Ivar was able to counter and get the win with 39 seconds remaining on the three-minute clock.

Next up for Ivar is a match against Dominik Mysterio on Speed next Wednesday (March 12). The winner earns a title shot against WWE Speed Champion Dragon Lee.

Ivar vs. Inamura was taped at SmackDown last Friday — and this was Inamura’s first time competing in front of a WWE main roster crowd. He’s a Pro Wrestling NOAH wrestler but has been with NXT since November 2024. Inamura is part of a tag team with Josh Briggs in NXT.

The War Raiders (Ivar & Erik) are the current World Tag Team Champions on WWE Raw.

Pacific Rim: Wrestling on Netflix, Fumi’s new book on Rikidozan

Posted on by Jim Valley

The Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling Podcast is back!

Fumi Saito talks to me about the success of both Queen of Villains in Japan — the story of wrestling legend Dump Matsumoto — as well as the Mr. McMahon docuseries on Netflix.

Plus, CIMA & Shingo, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Wrestle Kingdom & Wrestle Dynasty take shape, NOAH’s Yoshiki Inamura heads to NXT, Fumi’s new book on Rikidozan, and much more.

We’ve been gone awhile, so we tried to make up a lot of ground.

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

Shawn Michaels welcomes NOAH talent Yoshiki Inamura to WWE NXT

Posted on by Ethan Renner

WWE’s vice president of talent development, creative Shawn Michaels has welcomed a Pro Wrestling NOAH talent to WWE NXT.

In a social media post Tuesday as WWE NXT aired on the CW, Michaels welcomed NOAH’s Yoshiki Inamura to the WWE Performance Center to train as part of WWE and NOAH’s business partnership.

Inamura is a well-traveled international talent who has spent time in Progress and WXW this year, gaining valuable experience.

Michaels posted:

“I’m excited to welcome @noah_ghc Wrestler @noah_yoshiki to #WWENXT. This hard-hitting young man is going to be a problem for anyone he steps in the ring with. I look forward to growing NXT’s partnership with @noahglobal in the future. #WWENXT”

WWE’s partnership with NOAH has included sending AJ Styles to Japan for a match against Naomichi Marufuji earlier this year, as well as Tavion Heights and Josh Briggs taking part in NOAH’s N-1 tournament. Shinsuke Nakamura also traveled to Japan in 2023 to face The Great Muta on a NOAH show.