It is that time of the year again.
Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 Victory is back and looks quite different than in years past. While I wouldn’t call what NOAH is doing a youth movement, they have nevertheless reduced the average age of the participants by about ten years. Half of the participants in this block make their N-1 debut and two more are only on their second time. It is clear that NOAH is in a transitional period, but we do not yet know who amongst the men in this block will be around for the long haul and who is only here for a short while. In a way, that makes the booking of this block and the whole tournament intriguing, but as I will get into there are only three people who have a realistic shot at getting out on top of A Block.
Jake Lee
Jake Lee, aka the unofficial mascot of the Emerald FlowShow podcast. He has had quite an eventful year so far. After saying goodbye to him in All Japan last year, he surprised everyone by popping up NOAH’s New Year show and making the promotion his new home. He immediately got a big push and beat Kaito for the GHC Heavyweight title just three months after his debut—a title he has held ever since. NOAH also gave him his own faction in Good Looking Guys.
All of this would point to them having a lot of faith in Jake and seeing him as a long-term cornerstone of the promotion. But as I mentioned in the intro, NOAH is in transition and Jake is exactly the type of guy you put on top for that. Similarly to SANDA over in New Japan he is not a product of the promotion’s dojo, for even more similarity they are both All Japan dojo products, who are believable as champions but also clearly are below the level of actual aces. Regardless of the outcome of this tournament, he is unlikely to hold the belt for much longer. After that his future is very much uncertain. While I could see him stick around in NOAH for years to come as an upper midcard gatekeeper and occasional top title challenger, I also wouldn’t be surprised if he moves on at the beginning of next year or the following.
Past Singles Tournament Record:
Royal Road 2022
- Lost Final to Kento Miyahara
Champion Carnival 2022
- 4-1
- 1st Block A
- Lost Final to Yuma Aoyagi
Royal Road 2021
- Lost Semi-Final to Shotaro Ashino
Champion Carnival 2021
- 6-3
- Winner
Champion Carnival 2020
- 3-1
- 2nd Place Block A
Ikki Tousen Strong Climb 2020
- 3-1
- 1st Place Block D
- Lost Semi-Final to Quiet Storm by Count Out
Royal Road 2019
- Winner defeating Kento Miyahara in the final
Champion Carnival 2019
- 5-3
- 1st Place Block B
- Lost Final to Kento Miyahara
Royal Road 2018
- Lost Second Round to Kento Miyahara
Champion Carnival 2017
- 1-5
- 7th Place Block A
Royal Road 2016
- Lost First Round to Ryouji Sai
2023 N-1 Victory Schedule
- vs. Timothy Thatcher
- vs. Yuki Yoshioka
- vs. Adam Brooks
- vs. Masa Kitamiya
- vs. Jack Morris
- vs. Yoshiki Inamura
- vs. Kenoh
Prediction: Jake is one of three people with a realistic chance of winning the block. He is the current reigning GHC Heavyweight champion and as such will get a lot of respect in the booking. He will face Kenoh on the final night in a match that is very likely going to decide the block. Even if he wins that match it is extremely unlikely that he wins the N-1 Victory this year. The GHC Heavyweight Champion has never won the N-1 or Global League and it is unlikely NOAH will break that seal for Jake. If they do though that means they see Jake as a key piece for the future.
Timothy Thatcher
Good Ol’ Timotheus Thatcher is a personal favorite of mine. Always has been since I first laid my eyes on him when he started to break out in Evolve in 2014. In fact one of my oldest pieces of wrestling merch is Tim Thatcher Ringkampf scarf I bought back in 2016 soon after that legendary faction formed. A scarf I still proudly wear every winter even when I still worked in an office. I would also like to use this opportunity to reiterate that Thatcher was the first one to use Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No.9 as his theme and not WALTER.
Given all of the aforementioned you can obviously imagine my significant delight when Thatcher made his debut in NOAH in June last year and immediately started teaming with his brother from another mother Hideki Suzuki. They quickly won the tag titles but then were hit with a few snags. Thatcher had visa issues that prevented him from being in the 2022 version of the N-1 and he lost the tag titles on his first defense against Takashi Sugiura and Satoshi Kojima. He has rebouned since then though winning the belts for a second time with Saxon Huxley. In that team he gets to show off a lot more of his character work, which is an underrated side of his arsenal but he also has to be the one doing the heavy lifting in terms of in ring work.
Past Singles Tournament Record:
Scenic City Invitational 2023
- Lost Second Round to Adam Priest
Opera Cup 2019
- Lost Semi-Final to Brian Pillman Jr.
Ambition 11
- Lost Final to WALTER
King of the Indies 2019
- Lost First Round to JR Kratos
16 Carat Gold 2019
- Lost First Round to Lucky Kid
Battle of Los Angeles 2018
- Lost First Round to WALTER
King of the Indies 2018
- Lost First Round to Brody King
Ambition 9
- Winner defeating Mike Bailey in the Final
16 Carat Gold 2018
- Lost Semi-Final to Absolute Andy
Ambition 8
- Lost Final to Matt Riddle
16 Carat Gold 2017
- Lost Quarter Final to Ilja Dragunov
Ambition 7
- Lost Semi-Final to Sasa Keel
16 Carat Gold 2016
- Lost Quarter-Final to Sami Callihan
Road to Glory Tournament 2016
- Lost First Round to Noam Dar
Ted Petty Invitational 2015
- Lost First Round to Chris Hero
Battle of Los Angeles 2015
- Lost First Round to Chris Hero
King of the Indies 2015
- Lost Semi-Final to Adam Thornstowe
Ambition 6
- Lost First Round to Jon Ryan
16 Carat Gold 2015
- Lost First Round to Axel Dieter Jr.
Style Battle 2014
- 2-1
- Winner
Best of the Best XIII
- Lost First Round to Drake Younger
Race For The Ring
- Lost Second Round to Pepper Parks
Ambition 4
- Lost First Round to Heddi Karaoui
Ambition 3
- Lost Final to Axel Tischer
Super Summer Series
- 2-1
- 4th Place Block B
Academy Cup
- Lost Final to Seito Hayashi
West Coast Cruiser Cup
- Lost First Round to Marce
CCW Heavyweight Title Tournament
- Lost First Round to Adam Thornstowe
2023 N-1 Victory Schedule
- vs. Jake Lee
- vs. Yoshiki Inamura
- vs. Yuki Yoshioka
- vs. Jack Morris
- vs. Kenoh
- vs. Adam Brooks
- vs. Masa Kitamiya
Prediction: Even at 40 years old Thatcher is still one of if not the best technical wrestler in the world. There are a ton of interesting fresh match ups for him in this tournament as the only man with whom he’s had a singles match is Jack Morris at the beginning of this year. I am especially interested in his matches with Kenoh and Yuki Yoshioka as they are the kind of guys he could have a lot of chemistry with. With that said his chances of advancing to the final are slim to none and the only chance he has is if NOAH wants to replicate what they did last year by having the final be Kaito Kiyomiya vs Hideki Suzuki.
Yuki Yoshioka
At 28 years old Yuki Yoshioka is the youngest participant in this block but at the same time he is one of the few participants in this block that has experience as a top champion in a major promotion. He started off 2023 as DG’s Open the Dream Gate Champion, though he would lose that belt to Shun Skywalker less than two weeks into the year.
Yoshioka has been explicitly positioned as one of the future building blocks of DG and is coming off of main eventing one of their biggest shows since before the pandemic. Yet I have been struggling to really get into him as a top guy. While he was champion I feel out of DG very hard and have been struggling to catch up ever since. I couldn’t really put my finger on it until I had a conversation with Open the Voice Gate’s own Mike Spears, who compared him to post Mad Blankey and Verserk YAMATO, which is when it clicked for me. During YAMATO’s over a year long reign back in 2016-2017 was the last time I fell off DG really hard and it wasn’t until PAC’s reign that I managed to get back in fully.
I can recognize that both Yoshioka and YAMATO are great wrestlers but there is just something about their generic baby-face blandness when they are on top that just makes me tune out.
Past Singles Tournament Record:
King of Gate 2022
- Winner defeating Kota Minoura in the final
King of Gate 2019
- 1-4
- 4th Place Block B
Rookie Ranking Tournament
- 3rd Place defeating U-T in decision match
2023 N-1 Victory Schedule
- vs. Masa Kitamiya
- vs. Jake Lee
- vs. Timothy Thatcher
- vs. Kenoh
- vs. Adam Brooks
- vs. Jack Morris
- vs. Yoshiki Inamura
Prediction: At 1.73 m he is one of the taller guys in DG but even in NOAH a promotion that is very generous when it comes to the height of their heavyweights he is on the small side. Due to DG’s and NOAH’s close relationship I doubt that he will get jobbed out but I would also be surprised if he is still in the mix to win the block by the time the final night rolls around.
Adam Brooks
Adam Brooks career, in many ways, has been extremely snake bitten. He has a tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, which definitely doesn’t bode well for NOAH. After making a name for himself on a nascent Australian scene, he became a PWG regular and signed with ROH just as both of those promotions started to slow down and then moved to a severely depleted UK that was then even further crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic and Speaking Out.
He has been trying to rebuild his career ever since but has struggled to find home base outside of Australia. This is one of his biggest chances to do just that. I haven’t really kept up with his in-ring output since the aforementioned COVID-19 pandemic, but before that, he has always been solid if somewhat unspectacular in the ring. He has always excelled at character work though and his best shot for a permanent spot is if he is able to show that off during this tournament.
Past Singles Tournament Record:
C4 Absolute Grand Prix
- Winner defeating Chris Basso in the Final
AWA Openweight Title Tournament
- Lost Semi-Final to Xander Sullivan
Limitless Tournament
- Lost Semi-Final to Chris Bey
Battle of Los Angeles 2018
- Lost First Round to Rey Horus
Ringmaster Tournament
- Lost Semi-Final to El Phantasmo
PROGRESS World Cup 2018
- Lost Final to Chuck Mambo
Road to Glory Tournament 2018
- Lost First Round to Dean Allmark
BCW Heavyweight Title Tournament
- Lost First Round to Elliot Sexton
MCW Invitational Tournament
- Lost final to Mary Scurll
P-1 Tournament 2016
- Lost First Round to Lucas Gold
Strength Cup 2014
- Lost Semi-Final to Chris Basso
2023 N-1 Victory Schedule
- vs. Kenoh
- vs. Masa Kitamiya
- vs. Jake Lee
- vs. Yuki Yoshioka
- vs. Yoshiki Inamura
- vs. Timothy Thatcher
- vs. Jack Morris
Prediction: Placing Brooks in this tournament is very difficult since we have no idea if NOAH has any plans for him beyond this tournament. He could easily be in the mix on the final night just as he could be the first one that is mathematically eliminated from this block (maybe even both).
Masa Kitamiya
Masa Kitamiya has been NOAH’s quiet mid-card workhorse for many years now. He has held the GHC tag titles seven times, which is the same amount of times as Go Shiozaki and is only outdone by Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura without ever being a serious contender for the GHC Heavyweight Title. That is really the most succinct summary you can give you Masa’s career.
But there really is no shame in being the mid-card workhorse and in fact, many wrestlers would kill to have the kind of career that Masa Kityamiya has had so far. He is the guy the promotion knows they can rely on whenever they need to put on a great match against a top guy without giving away a drawing match. Someone like him is worth his weight in gold exactly for that reason and he will have a job with NOAH for as long as he wants as a result. It also helps that he comes from the same school as Kento Miyahara and Katsuhiko Nakajima, which gives him some powerful friends and makes him a key piece of the ongoing NOAH vs. All Japan feud.
Past Singles Tournament Record:
N-1 Victory 2022
- 3-4
- 6th Place Block B
N-1 Victory 2021
- 1-2
- 3rd Place Block D
N-1 Victory 2020
- 2-3
- 4th Place Block A
N-1 Victory 2019
- 2-2
- 2nd Place Block A
Global League 2018
- 3-4
- 5th Place Block A
Global League 2017
- 5-1
- 2nd Place Block A
Global League 2016
- 5-2
- 1st Place Block B
- Lost Final to Minoru Suzuki
Global League 2015
- 1-6
- 7th Place Block B
2023 N-1 Victory Schedule
- vs. Yuki Yoshioka
- vs. Adam Brooks
- vs. Jack Morris
- vs. Yoshiki Inamura
- vs. Jake Lee
- vs. Kenoh
- vs. Timothy Thatcher
Prediction: Outside of 2016 and 2017, Masa has not had a strong showing in singles tournaments and I doubt this year will be any different. But he also doesn’t need to be kept strong in these kinds of tournaments to keep his credibility. Rather he just needs one or two key wins to keep his aura and keep him going in the same spot for another year. Thats exactly what I expect to happen here as he will likely beat Thatcher on the final block night to set up another tag title match down the line with another partner of his choice.
Jack Morris
This time last year everyone’s reaction to Jack Morris being announced for the N-1 Victory was “Who the Fuck is Jack Morris”. This year everyone’s reaction was “Yeah of course Jack Morris is in the N-1”. I often talk about the NOAH random grab bag of foreigners and Jack Morris is the diamond in the rough you pull out of that bag every so often. NOAH just absolutely nailed their scouting for this guy as he just made an immediate impact and has been a key part of the promotion ever since.
He really is starting to become the complete package as his in-ring work, look and charisma are all starting to peak and he either already is or soon will become the top foreigner in NOAH. So far there has only been one foreigner that has held the GHC Heavyweight Title belt in Eddie Edwards back in 2017. Jack Morris is very likely going to be second person to achieve that and the only other person that has a chance to beat him to that is Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. Him managing to get to that level in less than a year is nothing short of sublime, which he is every single time.
Past Singles Tournament Record:
N-1 Victory 2022
- 3-4
- 5th Place Block B
Road to Glory 2022
- Lost Final to Priscilla
Lionheart League
- 1-2
- 3rd Place Block C
Battle of West Lothian 2019
- Winner defeating Theo Doros in the Final
Battle of West Lothian 2018
- Lost Semi-Final to David Devlin
2023 N-1 Victory Schedule
- vs. Yoshiki Inamura
- vs. Masa Kitamiya
- vs. Timothy Thatcher
- vs. Kenoh
- vs. Jake Lee
- vs. Yuki Yoshioka
- vs. Adam Brooks
Prediction: Jack is one of the three people with a chance to win the block but out of those three he has the smallest chance. The most intriguing matches for him are his match with Kenoh, who is a key pillar of the promotion and with his stable mate Jake Lee. If he can deliver in those that will go a long way in justifying the trust NOAH has put in him. Even if he doesn’t win this year, he is the guy that has the best chance of becoming the first foreigner to win the N-1.
Yoshiki Inamura
Yoshiki Inamura is a guy that seems to find himself in an awkward position continuously. The day of the N-1 final will be one day after Inamura’s official five-year anniversary as a wrestler. For most Japanese wrestlers that would mean they are now in their mid-20s but Inamura is already 30. In fact, he is only one year younger than Hitoshi Kumano, who he faced in his debut and who was another one in the long list of failed NOAH dojo products. So while this is only his second N-1 this already feels like a make-or-break moment for Inamura.
He has all the tools to succeed as he’s got good size, good in-ring skills and a decent amount of charisma. He has also been a source of frustration for many NOAH fans over recent years. He has yet to get a singles victory over a non-young boy in NOAH. While this would be somewhat absurd but potentially understandable for a guy of his experience level who is in his early to mid 20s it is actual booking malpractice for a guy that is already 30.
One of his best chances to get something going were his great interactions with KENTA during a six-man tag on NOAH’s New Year show in 2022. Unfortunately, KENTA got horrifically injured in a terribly WWE-style hardcore match at Wrestle Kingdom that year that New Japan decided to book for some reason and he hasn’t been seen in NOAH since then. Inamura really has just been aimlessly floating around the roster since then, with him really only standing out whenever he gets the chance to wrestle outside of NOAH.
Past Singles Tournament Record:
Fire Festival 2022
- 4-0-1
- 1st Place Block B
- Lost Final to Daisuke Sekimoto
Fire Festival 2021
- 3-2
- 3rd Place Block A
N-1 Victory 2020
- 0-5
- 6th Place Block B
Ikki Tousen Strong Climb 2020
- 2-2
- 3rd Place Block A
2023 N-1 Victory Schedule
- vs. Jack Morris
- vs. Timothy Thatcher
- vs. Kenoh
- vs. Masa Kitamiya
- vs. Adam Brooks
- vs. Jake Lee
- vs. Yuki Yoshioka
Prediction: This tournament is somewhat of a make-or-break moment for Inamura, as mentioned earlier. But that doesn’t mean he needs to go to the final to do that. Nevertheless, he needs a strong showing here with either a winning record or close to it for him to have any chance of being a possible building block for NOAH’s future main even scene. In that regard the key match up for him this year is his match with on and off tag team partner Masa Kitamiya as the result here will go a long way toward showing what NOAH sees in Inamura.
Kenoh
When we look back at the career of Kenoh, hopefully, many years from now, we will recognize this period as his peak. Right now, he is in that sweet spot where character work and athletic ability all align in that sweet spot to create the perfect wrestler. He has been an integral part of the best feud of the year: All Japan vs. NOAH. His promo standing on the side of a river covered in a trash bag shouting about Suwama is an all time great promo and if you haven’t watched it yet, go out of your way to watch it now.
He really proves the age-old concept that it doesn’t really matter what you say as it is much more important in how you say it. Even if you don’t understand a single word of Japanese you will understand the feelings that Kenoh is trying to bring across. You match that with his absolutely stellar in ring output and you get one of the best wrestlers on this planet nay this universe. He is definitely severely underrated so far this year as he doesn’t have a bevy of great singles matches so far. But if you look at this tag run with Manabu Soya and his involvement in some of the best six man tag matches this year you realize that he is absolutely superb. This tournament is his chance to really bolster his case for Wrestler of the Year. He is that good.
Past Singles Tournament Record:
N-1 Victory 2022
- 4-2-1
- 3rd Place Block A
N-1 Victory 2021
- 2-1
- 1st Place Block B
- Lost Final to Katsuhiko Nakajima
N-1 Victory 2020
- 3-2
- 3rd Place Block B
N-1 Victory 2019
- 3-1
- 1st Place Block B
- Winner defeating Takashi Sugiura in the final
Global League 2018
- 4-3
- Shared 1st Place Block A
- Lost Decision match to Katsuhiko Nakajima
Global League 2017
- 5-1-1
- 1st Place Block B
- Winner defeating Go Shiozaki in the final
Fire Festival 2017
- 5-3-1
- 4th Place
Super J Cup 2016
- Lost Second Round to KUSHIDA
Global Junior Heavyweight League 2015
- 4-2
- 2nd Place Block A
Okinawa Pro First Champion Tournament
- Lost Second Round to Mil Mongoose
2023 N-1 Victory Schedule
- vs. Adam Brooks
- vs. Yoshiki Inamura
- vs. Yuki Yoshioka
- vs. Jack Morris
- vs. Timothy Thatcher
- vs. Masa Kitamiya
- vs. Jake Lee
Prediction: Kenoh is by far the massive favorite to win this block. Not only that but he is also one of the favorites to win the N-1 Victory 2023. The entire prelude of this tournament is build around him vs Go Shiozaki. While I would still put Go as the overall favorite to win the tournament and to beat Jake for the title, Kenoh also makes a ton of sense for a variety of reasons. Now that he is firmly established as a proper face, following the dissolution of Kongo, this is the perfect time to give Kenoh a long title reign as he is one of NOAH’s biggest draws and the only thing that stopped him so far was that a long title reign would not fit with his Kongo persona. Him winning the belt would also allow NOAH to run of their best match ups in Kaito vs Kenoh at the New Year’s show again, where those two are guaranteed to produce some pro-wrestling magic. As someone that will attend that show in person I can not deny that there is some selfishness involved wishing to see that match up live.
Regardless of any of that Kenoh is the most sure fire candidate in this block to deliver in every single one of his matches and you need to keep your eye on him. Thats not a suggestion thats an order.
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