Regeneration X

Daisuke Harada VS Kaito Kiyomiya - NOAH 1/7/2017

CJD: I love how many Tuesday epics we've had lately. But let's go back to Kiyomiya's early years and let's pay tribute to an unsung great who's career unfortunately ended far too soon. I hope above all else Harada is able to retire with a decent quality of life, but I will miss him as the anchor of a very inconsistent and constantly changing NOAH juniors division. He single handedly elevated everyone around him for years and years and while I know you appreciate the work he did JJZ, I wish more did. Maybe now he'll get those flowers! This match doesn't reinvent the wheel but it does feature Kaito paying those dues while showing flashes of the main eventer he is today. Enjoy my emerald amigo!

JJZ: This is brand spanking new to me baby cakes. I probably chose to skip it back then because NOAH young boy matches were always underwhelming. Well fuck was I wrong. This was truly a great match for what they were trying to do. It also helps that it hits me in all the feels right now with Harada having to sadly retire so young. It did everything you want a match like this to do. You could see all the potential in Kiyomiya while still seeing Harada shine bright like a diamond. I think Harada is vastly under appreciated in professional wrestling. He was as consistent as any junior over the past decade. No matter what was going on with NOAH you knew Harada would always give you your money's worth. I'm literally excited as hell to find a Harada match to play forward to you. One more thing on Kiyomiya, I know we both got to watch his recent match against Okada together, and I got young boy Okada vibes from him watching this one!

CJD: Totally agree on the young lion Okada vibes.

KONGOH Are Forever

Kaito Kiyomiya (c) VS Kenoh - NOAH GHC Heavyweight Championship 1/1/2023

JJZ: I feel like playing this match forward just seems like a no brainer. We've watched the growth of these two wrestlers and I think this match really showed how far they both have come. This is their most recent GCH title match from NOAH's New Year's Day show. When I saw it was only twenty one minutes I couldn't believe it. I don't think I've watched a Global Honor Crown heavyweight title match in years! Kenoh and Kiyomiya didn't hold anything back and really made every minute of this match count. They followed some GHC title staples but were economic with their time. I saw a couple new moves from both guys that popped me. Also saw a big old slice of pepperoni that I choose to ignore. Hope you enjoy baby cakes.

CJD: I am love love loving this NOAH voyage we are on currently. Something I appreciated about this match is it gave me deja vu to Kenoh's great rivalry with the man we just featured, Sugiura, and the way that generational shift helped bring NOAH back from a dark period after Misawa's death (even if it had some bright spots).  Kaito and Kenoh have a very different dynamic than that feud between former tag partners. But like all the great NOAH rivalries there's something unique about these two, this veteran/emerging Ace feud has a chemistry that gets me particularly excited for their matches. I'd love a Kenoh/Kiyomiya DVD comp if anyone is willing to take the commission!! I could immediately tell this match had an extra edge to it so I read up on the backstory. They had a big chip on their shoulders on this platform taking the semi main event spot behind Muta/Marufuji. Kenoh in particular ran his mouth as Kenoh does. And these guys wrestled a statement match that both fits the great legacy of GHC Heavyweight Title matches but also lays a new path for the next generation. After Go delivered so many epics in his historic pandemic reign (great callback nearfall here speaking of which!) I was over the moon with how straight to the point this was just like you were. I'll forgive a sloppy slice of pepperoni pizza when the rest of the pie is this well done any day of the week. And speaking of toppings. Kaito, that hair is WILD!

So You Can Shine Divine, Golden Boy

Naomichi Marufuji VS Kaito Kiyomiya - NOAH 1/21/2017

CJD: So here's what I like about Kiyomiya. He makes you feel like he's legitimately trying to win his matches at all times. He finds creative ways to dig in deep on simple pinfall attempts that really hammer this point home. He's focused on selling realistically and showing believable fire in the face of nearly overwhelming adversity. And he's paid his dues in matches like this one, which reminds me so much of the right of passage matches that great AJPW talents had to go through against Tsuruta, Hansen, and Fuchi in the early 90s. Kaito performs admirably. Everything I've seen from him makes NOAH's decision to strap a rocket on him seem totally justified.

JJZ: You trying to butter me up with Kaito wearing a Sugiura shirt in the pre-match interview! Can you believe the career Marufuji has had considering our borderline dislike of him in MaruKen? I love me some young lion VS vet action. It's really interesting that you picked this match since Marufuji just wrestled Kaito for the GHC Heavyweight title only 24 hours before I watched this match. Also I'm almost positive I showed you a Harada VS Ohara match from this same show during a night when we watched wrestling together for many hours. Anyway. Loving this from the start. 'Fuji just being dickhead stiff with Kiyomiya, trying to use his speed and energy to gain offense whenever he can. Crowd is really getting behind the greenhorn here while Marufuji brings out his inner Misawa. Fantastic pick baby.

Crowning The 50th Mason-Dixon Tri-state Outercontinental WWKD Champion

Katsuhiko Nakajima VS Kaito Kiyomiya - NOAH Global League Finals 11/25/2018

JJZ: Nakajima is in my current top 5 wrestlers in the world so I'm jumping at the chance to play him forward and crown this historic MDTSOWWKD Champion. What we've got here is the grizzled 30 years old 16 year vet VS the hot new kid on the block Kaito Kiyomiya, in the finals of the Global League. Side note that Nakajima had to win a 3 way earlier in the night against Kenou and Kohei Sato to make it to the finals. Kaito has to earn every bit of offense he gets while the best kicker in the game tees the fuck off. Classic strong style match, and in my opinion one of the best matches from NOAH in 2018.

CJD: How the tables have turned, I remember when Nakajima was the pasty, overly serious, stocky youngster with the colorful green trunks. Now he's turned into a soulless grinning anime villain with straggly hair all but obscuring his eyes as he aims to literally kick Kiyomiya's head off. This match was everything I hoped it would be, and to crown our 50th Champ a nice bookend to ZSJ/Robbie Eagles that started us on this path. Different stakes and stage that these two are on, but still in the same spirit. I have a lot of positive things to say about Kiyomiya but I'll save most of them for the match I'll play forward to you next week. For now I'll just say he played his role in this one really, really well. I'd love to see a rematch.