10/22 Tokyo Differ Ariake 1,800 sellout
Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Kenta Kobashi & Takeshi Rikio when Takayama pinned Rikio in his German suplex hold at 14:24.
Jun Akiyama pinned Tsuyoshi Kikuchi at 5:24.
Mitsuharu Misawa made Kentaro Shiga submit to an urajujigatame at 9:20.
Tamon Honda & Naomichi Marufuji captured FMW's WEW Tag Senshuken from Masao Inoue & Yoshinobu Kanemaru when Honda pinned Kanemaru at 20:59.

10/15 Hakata Starlane 2,400 sellout
Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama & Satoru Asako beat Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Naomichi Marufuji when Asako pinned Marufuji in super driver Asako at 20:00.
Akira Taue & Masao Inoue defeated Vader & Richard Slinger when Inoue pinned Slinger at 11:02.
Kenta Kobashi & Takeshi Rikio beat Kentaro Shiga & Takeshi Morishima when Kobashi made Morishima submit to a cobra twist at 21:48.
Takao Omori pinned Scorpio at 12:48. Kobashi switched to black pants and declared "black unity" (whatever that means).

NOAH will have a major show on 12/23 at 10,000 plus seat Tokyo Ariake Coliseum. Misawa vs. Vader or Kobashi vs. Akiyama are possible for the main event. One of these might be a decision match for whatever they'll call their top belt.

10/13 Hiroshima Shi Higashiku Sports Center 2,100 sellout
Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue when Takayama pinned Taue in a German suplex hold at 17:01. I'm not sure if this results shows more that Takayama's star is rising or Taue's is falling, but both are the case.
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa got a cheap DQ win over Vader & Scorpio in just 5:04.
Takao Omori pinned Takeshi Rikio at 4:22.

10/11 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan 4,200 sellout
Kenta Kobashi defeated his new rival Takao Omori when the ref stopped the match at 10:11 after Kobashi KO'd Omori with 3 lariats. Kobashi was nasty here since Omori betrayed him 3 days ago. He rammed Omori's head into the iron pole, which busted open a large cutOmori open.
Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa when Akiyama pinned Ogawa in a zenpo kubigatame at 18:06.
Saito & Masashi Aoyagi defeated Masao Inoue & Naomichi Marufuji when Saito pinned Marufuji at 12:14.
Vader pinned Tsuyoshi Kikuchi at 3:11.

10/8 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan 5,200 sellout
Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Kenta Kobashi & Takao Omori when Omori turned on Kobashi leading to Takayama pinning Kobashi in a German suplex hold at 23:29. With Omori rejoining his old partners Akiyama & Takayama, the balance would certainly seem to have shifted in their favor, but Akira Taue attacked Omori in the dressing room because he was enraged at the actions of No Fear, so it's probable that he'll be Kobashi's new #2. Taue had been feuding with Misawa, but now that Vader is healthy, Misawa will probably go back to feuding with Vader, which would have left Taue more on the outs than he's already been. A furious Kobashi went to Misawa and requested a match against Omori on 10/11.Misawa agreed to change the card since the betrayal screwed up his original lineup.
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Naomichi Marufuji beat Vader & Scorpio & Richard Slinger when Scorpio used his Scorpio (450) splash on Marufuji at 14:17.
Akira Taue pinned Takeshi Rikio at 9:27.
Daisuke Ikeda pinned Kentaro Shiga at 12:16.

10/7 Tokyo Differ Ariake 1,800 sellout
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Daisuke Ikeda beat Akira Taue & Jun Izumida & Masao Inoue when Ikeda pinned Inoue in his Death Valley bomb at 22:06. Misawa broke up his Untouchables unit since that goes back to the All Japan days. He said that he'll have a new group called Wave.
Kenta Kobashi & Takeshi Rikio defeated Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru when Kobashi surprisingly pinned Akiyama at 7:26 following his lariat.
Scorpio & Richard Slinger made their NOAH debuts, beating Kenta Kobayashi & Naomichi Marufuji when Slinger German suplexed Kobayashi at 18:25.
Vader made his NOAH debut to a standing ovation, squashing Takeshi Morishima in 2:43.

Mitsuharu Misawa made it clear that no one from NOAH would be appearing on the 1/28/01 AJ Tokyo Dome show. Genichiru Tenryu still succeeded in making them look bad by declining, but Misawa pointed out that Baba wouldn't want Tenryu or anyone from NOAH in his ring because he'd never forgiven Tenryu for deserting him in '90 while he was alive and certainly would not have forgiven Misawa and co. for deserting him if he was alive to see it.

In addition to Vader, the upcoming NOAH tour has two other gaijins, Scorpio & Richard Slinger. Although Scorpio had worked with All Japan since the promotions split, his moving to NOAH isn't a big shock because he's a longtime friend of Vader. Motoko Baba claims that Vader agreed to a multiyear deal with All Japan in late 1998, and is still under contract to All Japan. Baba claims Scorpio had a verbal agreement to work on the upcoming AJ tour, which is why they put him on all the tour posters. She has threatened legal action against NOAH for stealing them. Misawa claims this isn't a headhunting move because the newest version of Vader's contract that Misawa worked out with him in 1999 was voided when AJ failed to pay his medical expenses for his elbow surgery or pay him anything toward his minimum yearly salary while he was recovering. I don't know if the contract stated when Vader had to be payed for the injury time, so it's possible Motoko wasn't stiffing him and was just planning on giving him a big wad of yen when he returned to Japan to work for them or something. According to Misawa, Scorpio is not under contract for any more All Japan dates, and thus is free to wrestle wherever he sees fit. Basically Vader & Scorpio decided they were moving on to greener pastures, and whether they legally have the right or not, they'll most likely get away with it. I think AJ contracts for gaijins probably haven't been that specific because Giant Baba was more an honor system kind of guy. It seems that it was agreed or at least assumed by Giant Baba that Vader, like Stan Hansen who has been on verbal agreement for ages, would be with the promotion for the rest of his wrestling years. There was a specific written agreement in the contract Baba negotiated that said Vader had to work for All Japan through the end of 2002. However, Misawa wrote Vader a different and more detailed contract after Baba passed away, which stated Vader would be payed x amount if he couldn't wrestle due to injury (so he had a minimum guaranteed salary) and Vader's medical expenses would be covered by the promotion. Now that All Japan is in a major program with New Japan, Vader may have been better off staying because, even though there is bad blood between him and New Japan over his departure to join UWF-I, New Japan would give him a prominent role in the feud because they'd know there is a ton of money to be made there. NJ has done just about everything they can with Tenryu, and Vader is certainly above Fuchi & Steve Williams, so he'd be in line for a lot of major show main events or semifinals if it's going to be a long term program. The thing is Misawa gave Vader a contract that he didn't have to give him because none of the other foreigners had security if they were legitimately injured, so that's the kind of thing that makes talent loyal to Misawa even though they might make more money or get a better push somewhere else.

9/25 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 2 1,800 sellout
Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama & Kentaro Shiga beat Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Takeshi Rikio when Takayama used kitchen sink on Rikio at 25:57.
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinaro Ogawa defeated Akira Taue & Takeshi Morishima when Ogawa pinned Morishima in his backdrop hold at 25:57.
Takao Omori pinned Daisuke Ikeda at 14:14 following his axe bomber.
Washed up martial artist turned pro wrestler Masashi Aoyagi will wrestle in NOAH on 10/11.

9/24 Kyoto KBS Hall 1,400 sellout
Kenta Kobashi & Takao Omori & Takeshi Rikio beat Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Daisuke Ikeda when Kobashi pinned Ikeda at 23:59 following his lariat. Although Kobashi was the one that suggested Omori team with him, he wound up refusing to tag Omori because Omori had a selfish attitude. Kobashi is going to cooperate with Omori again, but he's giving Omori an ultimatum that he has to make his attitude clear by then if they are going to continue to work together.
Akira Taue & Masao Inoue defeated Jun Akiyama & Kentaro Shiga when Inoue made Shiga submit to his Argentine backbreaker at 11:29.

Kenta Kobashi suggested to Takao Omori that they cooperate together against the unpleasant tag team of Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama. Omori has been teaming with Takayama for a long time, but he had knee surgery on 8/9 so Takayama started teaming with Akiyama. The angle is that Omori now feels Takayama is selfish and is asking him to do things he doesn't want to.

EXCEEDING OUR DREAMS 2000 FIGHTING TV SAMURAI! PPV 9/16 Tokyo Differ Ariake 1,800 sellout
Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi when Takayama pinned Kikuchi in a German suplex hold at 13:30. Suddenly, Takao Omori is disenchanted with Akiyama and is refusing to fight with him.
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Takao Omori & Satoru Asako when Misawa pinned Asako at 13:47.
Akira Taue pinned Daisuke Ikeda at 9:28.

9/15 Tokyo Differ Ariake 1,800 sellout
Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Takeshi Rikio defeated Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru when Kikuchi pinned Kanemaru in his hinotama bomb at 24:15. Since Akiyama had been getting all the wins over Kobashi, this win seems meaningful as far as cememting Kikuchi as the key player on Kobashi's side. Kobashi & Kikuchi were a very successful team on the Asia tag level in the early 90's, but Kobashi moved up the ranks and became Misawa's main partner, while Kikuchi burned out due to injuries.
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Akira Taue & Masao Inoue when Ogawa pinned Inoue in his backdrop hold at 17:36.
Jun Izumida upset Takao Omori, who was returning from injury, scoring a pin at 8:04.
Daisuke Ikeda pinned Satoru Asako at 16:24.

Takao Omori is proposing that No Fear work together with Jun Akiyama. Takayama & Akiyama are already teaming up on 9/15, but that wasn't really by choice. They share a common enemy in Kobashi though. If Omori reunites with his long time on and off partner Akiyama, the No Fear name will probably be scrapped since Akiyama is above Omori.

Yoshihiro Takayama announcement on a talk show that Kenta Kobashi would be off the 9/16 NOAH show due to injury. Kobashi already has an injury (or several), but Takayama is one of his opponents on 9/15, so I guess him and Akiyama are going to injure Kobashi further so he can take a little time off. Takayama claims he is NOAH's extraordinary publicity department manager, and said that no refunds would be offered for the 9/16 show.

Kenta Kobashi supposedly might not work the 9/16 show. He said something to the extent of he's not working the next day if the content of his 9/15 semifinal against Akiyama's team isn't good. I think he means if his performance isn't good, he'll rest his injury.

There's an angle where Jun Akiyama is complaining that Mitsuharu Misawa is in the main event of the 9/15 Tokyo Differ Ariake card instead of him. Akiyama says he's the proimotions ace, so he should be in the main event, and that Misawa is abusing his power as match maker. The matches in question are Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akira Taue & Masao Inoue and Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Takeshi Rikio. Both matches are weak main events, but Misawa's match sounds more like a main event since it could mean something toward the tag rankings while Akiyama's is just a boring 6 man where he opposes a comedy wrestler and a rookie.

NOAH opened an office in Honolulu, Hawaii. They are supposed to be looking to recruit a few Hawaiians so they can occassionally have shows in Hawaii. I have a feeling this move is mainly to make them look like international group, while serving as a place for their wrestlers to stay while they are on vacation. In addition to Hawaii, Misawa is considering holding shows in Korea and mainland America next year. He's coming to the US in the beginning of September to look into the later more. Of course, if they actually run a show in America it won't draw because, while they have fans here, they are spread out all over the country and aren't likely to all fly in to see Misawa save it for the big show that will never happen here. All of this mainly sounds like Misawa using Inoki tactics to get press and make himself and the league seem bigger than they actually are, but time will tell.

Mitsuharu Misawa is looking to expand the NOAH roster from 23 natives to 30. He is particularly interested in bringing in some members of the 2000 Olympic team whose sports are related (amateur wrestling, judo, etc.) since they'd be great athletes with name value.
One of the members of their roster that we hoped would finally get a push, Masahito Kakihara, has quit the promotion and is looking to get into shooting. Kakihara and Kiyoshi Tamura were the two brightest young stars in UWF-I, but Tamura didn't participate in the burying by New Japan and eventually joined RINGS and was quickly pushed as one of their top stars. On the other hand, Kakihara was squashed by Choshu and then toiled in All Japan were he was deemed too small. Tamura has become a great shooter, but the difference between him and Kakihara was that Tamura was the mat guy while Kakihara was the striker. It may be hard for Kakihara to learn to hit for real after over a decade of working, not because he can't hit harder, but because he's not used to guys timing him and then dropping him on his back the second he goes to kick. The other thing is that there are very few undersized strikers that are particularly successful. A guy like Vanderlei Silva is great against a guy of his size, but didn't seem to want to fight Gary Goodridge, who is much bigger and stronger but within his weight class is a guy that everyone beats. Against Goodridge, Silva's best weapon, his knee lifts, may have been ineffective because Gary is much taller, and if they exchange Gary should do more damage because he's got so much weight and strength on Vanderlei. I'm not saying that Kakihara couldn't succeed, but he definitely should stay within his weight class and take it slowly in the beginning, which may not be as easy as it sounds since wrestlers with some name value that are willing to shoot are in demand these days.

8/19 Tokyo DIFFER Ariake 1,800 sellout
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Akira Taue & Jun Izumida when Ogawa pinned Izumida at 17:31
Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Kenta Kobashi & Takeshi Rikio when Kanemaru used a kubigatame on Rikio at 18:25. Shiga, Morishima, & Makoto Hashi attacked Kobashi and joined Akiyama's group.
Yoshihiro Takayama choked Kentaro Shiga out at 7:38.
Satoru Asako pinned Takeshi Morishima in a zenpo kaiten ebigatame (victory roll) at 10:57.

8/15 Akita Minasemura Tokoton Yama Camp
The first show outside of Tokyo was a huge success, drawing a sellout 6,100. This is a really good sign because in the last few years, All Japan was a cold ticket everywhere but Tokyo.
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Yoshihiro Takayama & Satoru Asako when Ogawa pinned Asako in his backdrop hold at 17:14.
Akira Taue & Jun Izumida defeated Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru when Izumida pinned Kanemaru at 14:50.
Takeshi Morishima won an 11 man battle royal when he pinned Naomichi Marufuji at 9:18.
Kenta Kobashi & Takeshi Rikio teamed for the first time, beating the team of Masao Inoue & Daisuke Ikeda when Rikio scored the upset pin on Inoue at 17:17.

Mitsuharu Misawa made an publicity appearance at an auto race in the Tsukoba circuit, holding the practice driving a green Honda Civic that has the NOAH logo on it. Apparently the owner and racer of the SEV racing team is a friend of Misawa's, so they agreed to turn it into a NOAH car and Misawa using it a little bit made that seem a little more authentic.

Takao Omori will miss the next two shows. He reinjured his arm taking a bomb on the 6th. He had surgery to remove detached cartilage in his right elbow joint. He left the hospital fine on the 10th, but the next shows are the 15th in Akita and 19th in DIFFER Ariake, so they actually figure out that it would be better if he actually let himself heal.

NOAH's first tour will start on 10/7 at Tokyo DIFFER Ariake. They made it official that Vader will be making his NOAH debut on this tour.

8/6 Tokyo DIFFER Ariake 1,800 sellout
Mitsuharu Misawa made another risky booking decision, having Jun Akiyama beat Kenta Kobashi. Akiyama used four exploders in a row then forced the ref to stop the match at 24:25 because Kobashi "passed out" in Akiyama's zenpo kubigatame (yesterday they called it the front neck lock, today he wins with the same move but they use the Japanese name). The reason it's risky is that he blew his wad with Akiyama in two days by having him take out each of the other three big names in the promotion. If it works, Akiyama is now seen as the top guy in the promotion (or at least close) and becomes a legitimate draw. If it doesn't work, Akiyama is screwed because he won his most recent match against Misawa & Kobashi and he beat Taue all the way back in '97 so that can't make him. In other words, there's nothing else available at the moment for him to do. He could become the first champion when they figure out how they want to handle that or he could get his first win over Vader at some point after he starts with the promotion (supposedly October). He could still prove that he can beat Misawa again or that he can beat a healthy Kobashi since today he focused on the two knees (kneecap dropkick, hizajujigatame, scorpion, etc.) Kobashi should still be letting heal, but these wouldn't pack the punch that the previous wins did because we've already seen it. With all this in mind, I think Akiyama over Kobashi was a good move because the promotion is just starting. This is the time when everyone is trying to figure out what exactly NOAH is going to be like, so it's the chance to get people to forget about the old incarnations of these guys and buy into the new one. May as well try to establish Akiyama, the only one of their big stars that still has his health, as a huge star now whether than have him toil longer and then suddenly expect a few wins will make people buy into him. Anyway, Akiyama is now "NOAH Strongest," at least in name.
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Kentaro Shiga & Daisuke Ikeda when Misawa pinned Shiga at 20:41 following his running elbow. Misawa said he enjoyed the Akiyama vs. Kobashi match and would like to fight Akiyama again so he could avenge his losses.
Akira Taue & Jun Izumida upset No Fear when Izumida surprisingly made Omori submit to an udegatame at 15:08. A bad result because Izumida is so far beyond hopeless and Omori, who is good only in comparison, is still struggling for respect and credibility as the weakest member of the upper tier.
Masao Inoue & Takeshi Morishima defeated Naomichi Marufuji & Takeshi Rikio when Inoue made Marufuji submit to his Argentine backbreaker at 19:30.

DEPARTURE 8/5 Tokyo DIFFER Ariake 1,800 sellout (plus 1,300 fit into the parking lot to watch it on the big screen)
Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama defeated Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue 2 falls to none. Akiyama tackled Misawa at the bell, took his back and applied the hadakajime. Taue came in to make the save, but Kobashi cut him off with his lariat and Taue fell to the floor. Akiyama suplexed Misawa and DDT'd him, but didn't release his neck. Instead, he shocked everyone by putting Misawa out with a front neck lock. The referee stopped it just 2 minutes into the match. As a way of putting the submission over, Misawa claims to not remember anything after the DDT. With Misawa out of the picture, they were able to kick Taue's ass. To continue the big push to make Akiyama, the youngest of their big 4 at 30-years-old, into a superstar, he also pinned Taue at 17:45. With the older stars Misawa & Taue falling to the newest in two straight falls, it didn't make for the most dramatic match. However, the message of Akiyama, who was the only one of the big stars to really have his look really as he now has reddish hair and white trunks and knee pads, no longer being a guy that almost always loses to the guys ahead of him was clear. If only they had done this to follow up his February win over Misawa instead of the goofiness of having him eliminated in the first round of the Carnival. Anyway, as per the stips of this tag match, Akiyama fights Kobashi in singles tomorrow to basically decide who the top star in the promotion is (I say basically because it's not for a title or anything).
NOAH is not going to be All Japan with a new name. Although it's early to tell, they seem to be a mix of the old and new styles, although definitey more toward the new. They are bringing back some of the traditional 70's style with the ring work and submission finishes. However, they are trying to make their guys stand out more with the new looks for the younger wrestlers, spending big on production/visual effects to make the league look like a major league and the wrestlers seem like stars, and it's much more angle and gimmick oriented than All Japan.
Misawa's partners, Yoshinari Ogawa & Masahito Kakihara & Daisuke Ikeda beat Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama & Satoru Asako when Kakihara made Asako submit to an udehishigigyakujujigatame at 23:46. Although beating Asako doesn't mean anything, supposedly Kakihara, who Misawa originally wanted as his #2 when Akiyama graduated but Baba thought he was too small and hadn't paid his dues, will be pushed now. No Fear's outfits with the white pants and boots look like Akiyama's as far as I can tell. They all bleached their hair and look even worse than before.
Kentaro Shiga & Naomichi Marufuji defeated WEW tag champs Masao Inoue & Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a non-title match when Shiga made Kanemaru submit to the udehishigigyakujujigatame at 19:30. Yeah, those WEW tag titles are really prestigious.
In the first ever NOAH match, Takeshi Morishima pinned Makoto Hashi at 14:05. Both men have red hair now.

NOAH will be working with Yoshimoto, the large entertainment conglomorate that keeps Jd' alive, so they can try to appeal to people who aren't already puroresu fans. One of the guys Misawa met with is a representative for Jd', and Misawa said they could benefit from cooperating with each other, so it's possible that there will be a woman's match on a NOAH show or a men's match on a Jd' show. Right now, Yoshimoto is just helping NOAH with "propaganda activities."

Hiroshi Hase met with Mitsuharu Misawa in regards to the sequence of events that lead to the breakaway from All Japan. As a good politician should, Hase is listening to both groups side fo the story and then deciding which one he should back (join).

All the tickets (about 6,000 total) for the first series of NOAH shows, 8/5, 8/6, & 8/19 at Tokyo DIFFER Ariake sold within 45 minutes. The debut show tickets were all gone in 20 minutes. NOAH is looking like the hottest thing since the 2nd U.W.F. right now (of course, this won't last like it did with U.W.F.), and scalpers will be having a field day with these tickets (the Nikkan Sports article is talking about the possibility of the going rate being over 100,000 yen).

Mitsuhara Misawa is anticipating tickets for the 8/5 NOAH debut show will sell out immediately, so to appease the fans that are going to get left out, he announced that the show would also be shown on a 100+ inch screen in the parking lot of Tokyo DIFFER Ariake. It's nice that people will get to see the show for free, but wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to just book a larger arena so they could pay NOAH instead of NOAH paying for the TV screen, lighting the parking lot, etc.?

The main event of the debut show called DEPARTURE on 8/5 at Tokyo DIFFER Ariake is likely to be Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama. This is a bad idea because the show will sellout without having such a big singles match. More importantly, it's stupid to rush Kobashi back early, especially when they are only doing two shows and then they are off for a while.

Mitsuharu Misawa decided on Kabushikigaisha (corporation) Pro-Wrestling NOAH as the full name of his new company. He's going to register the name this week. He opened a new office by Tokyo DIFFER Ariake today. Misawa is loaning Yoshinobu Kanemura & Naomichi Marufuji to AAA for their Japan tour starting on 7/5.

Kenta Kobashi committed to appearing on the 8/5 debut show, but hasn't decided that he'll definitely wrestle. Give him a few more days for that.

Mitsuharu Misawa announced that NOAH would have their first two shows on 8/5 and 8/6 at Tokyo DIFFER Ariake. One of the main reasons Misawa left All Japan was that he wasn't allowed to modernize puroresu, so debuting here makes sense in that regard because this is the most modern wrestling building. Aside from currently having their office in this building, they are also using some space on the third floor for training. The promotions first series will be in October, but in addition to some more DIFFER Ariake shows, they will probably run a few scattered shows in other locations between 8/7 and then.

Kenta Kobashi was released from the hospital. He was supposed to stay to the 27th, but this is Kobashi we are talking about. Today was the first day since the operation that he walked without any aid.

Misawa is changing the wrestlers theme music as well. Some of the wrestlers will probably be doing a different style as well.

Kobashi had his operations on the 22nd. They had to numb his whole body with anesthesia. He isn't supposed to move his lower half for a while, but he can begin working out the upper half of his body in a few days. Misawa is trying to keep the guys happy and letting them fulfill their dreams, so Kobashi may get a chance to wrestle in America at some point after he recovers, while Kanemaru & Marufuji may get to wrestle in Mexico.

Now that he has some time off, Kenta Kobashi had his knees inspected. The doctors found that both knees were seriously in need of surgery, and that his working on them in this condition was making them worse and probably taking time off his career. The cartillage in both knees is separated, which they think may have been caused from wrestlers working over the bad knees. The damage in the left knee is thought to mainly be due to never getting the right knee fixed, because in order to go on in this state, he had to favor the right knee all the time. He'll be having surgery on both in the next few days. It's supposed to take at least 2 months for him to heal completely, and then he's supposed to go through rehab. Of course, NOAH is having their first show on 8/5, and no one would really be surprised if Kobashi wrestled on it.

NTV announced a show called Colosseo will be on in All Japan's place starting at midnight on 6/28. The show will feature wrestling and martial arts news and features. It's expected that this show will be used to promote NOAH until they start up, at which time it will become the NOAH's version of the All Japan 30.

Misawa ordered a new wrestling costume for all the NOAH wrestlers today.

Mitsuharu Misawa had a press conference at Tokyo DIFFER Ariake to announced his new promotion, NOAH, would take off in the first 10 days of August. Although the idea of keeping the All Japan name didn't go Misawa's way because Motoko Baba is going to continue to promote wrestling, this group will keep the traditional All Japan style alive so Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta's history won't be forgotten. NOAH will be replacing All Japan on NTV, which greatly increases their chances of succeeding and All Japan's of failing. Daisuke Ikeda & former wrestler who is now a referee, Mighty Inoue, joined NOAH, upping the total to 26 former All Japan wrestlers.

Mitsuharu Misawa would like to start his new promotion at Tokyo DIFFER Ariake in the first 10 days of August. At least 23 wrestlers that were on All Japan's roster will be in this new league.