【English】What is N-1 Victory?second part
N-1 Victory is Pro Wrestling NOAH’s annual round-robin singles tournament designed to determine who the strongest fighter truly is.
16 wrestlers have been divided into an A and B block, with eight players to each block.
The tournament begins on August 11 at Yokohama Budokan, and final regulation block matches wrap on August 28 at Cultz Kawasaki. First-place finishers in the A & B blocks will square off in a final bout at Edion Arena in Osaka on September 3 to determine this year’s N-1 Victory winner.
N-1 VICTORY RULES
- Based on the GHC Championship rules, the winner will be decided in a 30-minute, one-off singles match
- 2 points for a win; 0 points for a loss; 1 point for a tie
- To advance to the finals, wrestlers must win their block by points; A & B block winners will then face off in Osaka on September 3.
- In the case of a tied score, a winner will be determined with a singles match between tied wrestlers.
Satoshi Kojima [B block]
The recently dethroned GHC Heavyweight champion debuted in 1991 for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he’d win the IWGP tag team championship with "TenKoji, his popular team with Hiroyoshi Tenzan.
In 2002, he left New Japan Pro-Wrestling and transferred to All Japan Pro-Wrestling. In 2005, he won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, and even won the IWGP Triple Crown double title match against Hiroyoshi Tenzan in NJPW, making Kojima the first quadruple-crown Grand Slam champion in history.
In 2010, he left AJPW and rejoined NJPW again after a one-year freelance period.
Kojima would remain with NJPW until this year. In April, he appeared as Naomichi Marufuji's partner "X" at Ryogoku Kokugikan. He challenged for Go Shiozaki’s GHC Heavyweight title and won it in June at CyberFight Festival 2022 at the Saitama Super Arena, but lost it the next month to KENOH at NOAH’s recent event at Nippon Budokan.
In recent years, the 51-year-old Kojima has looked better than ever. He has the power to win the GHC Heavyweight championship, but does he have the stamina to survive the N-1 Victory 2022 tournament?
Match to watch:
Satoshi Kojima vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima [B block]
August 27, 2022
Nagoya, AIchi
Hideki Suzuki [A block]
Suzuki was working at a post office while he trained for wrestling with "Human Windmill" Billy Robinson and Shigeo Miyato (former UWFi) at UWF Snake Pit Japan. He first stepped onto a professional mat at IGF, a promotion presided over by Antonio Inoki.
From 2014, he left IGF and began working as a freelancer around Japan. As a trainee from an authentic grappling school that teaches strong joint locks and suplexes, his 30-minute full-time match with Katsuhiko Nakajima at Korakuen Hall on February 16 was highly praised by fans. He was temporarily dismissed from the Sugiura Army group at the May 9 NOAH TV match, but was rehired in August. On October 24, he published his book "How to Survive a Twisted Person” in Japanese.
Suzuki traveled to the US recently, working for WWE’s Performance Center as a coach. He appeared on WWE NXT television as part of the Diamond Mine group before returning to Japan.
Suzuki won the vacant GHC tag team championship with partner Timothy Thatcher at Nippon Budokan. Though he’s had success as a tag team player, how will Suzuki handle a month of N-1 Victory tournament matches?
Match to watch:
Hideki Suzuki vs. Go Shiozaki [A block]
August 28, 2022
Cultz Kawasaki
Masato Tanaka [A block]
Hardcore legend Masato Tanaka trained under Atsushi Onita, later debuting with Onita’s FMW. In 1999, Tanaka beat Mike Awesome in ECW to become the only Japanese wrestler to have won a world heavyweight championship in the US.
Tanaka has been participating in Zero-One since 2001. He received the Best Tag Team Award at the Pro Wrestling Grand Prix with Shinjiro Otani. In 2006, he won the Zero-One Fire Festival, proving that he is the top of Zero-One MAX both in name and reality. He also won the Fire Festival '07, which he joined after a long absence due to shoulder surgery. He won the Fire Festival '08, and achieving his third consecutive victory.
In 2014, he teamed up with NOAH's Takashi Sugiura and held two tag titles with NOAH & ZERO1 as Blackstone Ojisan. They’d also go on to win the second Professional Wrestling Grand Prix Best Tag Team Award.
Tanaka has been active and successful throughout his long career. He has a limitless capacity to go, and has proven he still has the power to win a round-robin tournament like DDT’s King of DDT. Will Tanaka shake up the A block this year?
Match to watch:
Masato Tanaka vs. KENOH [A Block]
August 14, 2022
Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall
Masakatsu Funaki [B block]
Funaki would have been one of NJPW’s Three Musketeers if he hadn’t become the King of Pancrase. He entered New Japan young, making his debut at the age of 15 years and 11 months. He’d later train with “God of Pro Wrestling” Karl Gotch.
After traveling to Europe for more training, he transferred to UWF and continued his martial arts path with Pancrase, one of the earliest MMA promotions.
Funaki retired from MMA on May 26, 2000 when he lost to Rickson Gracie at PRIDE. He made a full comeback in 2007, though and on August 30, 2009, he made his return to All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Funaki made waves with NOAH when he recently won the GHC National Championship. He is spry for 53, but does Funaki have what it takes to win the B block and the N-1 Victory tournament this year?
Match to watch:
Masakatsu Funaki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima [B block]
August 13, 2022
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
Masaaki Mochizuki [A block]
Mochizuki trained at the Kitao Dojo, which was presided over by former Yokozuna sumo champion, the late Koji Kitao. Mochizuki made his debut wearing karate against Port Tangiro, who later became known as Taz.
In the WAR ring during the ‘90s, he prefered to use striking as his weapon of choice, though also participated for various groups as a junior heavyweight fighter.
Mochizuki would later lead the heel unit called M2K in Toryumon, the company established by Ultimo Dragon, who helped Mochizuki during his time at WAR. Even after the system changed from Toryumon to Dragon Gate, Mochizuki was active at the forefront as a veteran powerhouse.
After getting involved with Naomichi Marufuji, he entered NOAH in earnest, and won the GHC tag team titles for the first time at Korakuen Hall on January 5, 2020.
Mochizuki’s striking causes problems for many fighters in NOAH. How will he fare against grappling experts like Kazuyuki Fujita and Hideki Suzuki? And will his martial arts skill be enough to take down fellow striking master and current GHC Heavyweight champion KENOH?
Match to watch:
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. KENOH [A block]
August 13, 2022
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
Hijo de Dr Wagner Jr [A block]
He’s the biological child of Dr. Wagner Jr, the second-generation homicidal doctor, and his mother is Rossy Moreno, a female Luchador, and both parents were athletes who were active wrestlers in Japan.
He debuted in December 2009 after being coached by his father, and has regularly tagged with his father since the beginning of his career. He also has experience working in Japan alongside his father. Fans praised his lively fight style that adds speed to the power he’s inherited from his father, which is one reason NOAH selected him to compete in the 2021 N-1 Victory tournament.
Mexico’s sole representative in this year’s tournament, Hijo de Dr Wagner Jr hopes to impress in this year’s N-1 Victory. His lucha libre expertise will cause problems for many of NOAH’s more orthodox wrestlers, which could possibly lead to surprise upsets throughout the tournament.
Anthony Greene [A block]
Since his debut, he has worked for companies like CZW and ROH before debuting for WWE NXT 2020. After that, he changed his ring name to August Gray and was active on television where he briefly teamed with Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio,” but in 2021, he left the company, and switched his primary battlefield to AEW.
Greene debuted with NOAH this year and has gained important experience in the tag team division. Due to his look, fans tend to view Greene as a “character-first” style of wrestler, but he has a reputation for making use of his lean body type and tall stature.
This year’s N-1 Victory is the toughest challenge in Greene’s career to date. How will the American neophyte handle the grind of NOAH’s grueling round-robin tournament?
Jack Morris [A block]
Morris is a Scottish wrestler who happens to be a former professional soccer player, as well. He has worked for Discovery Wrestling and Insane Championship Wrestling in Scotland for and Power Of Wrestling in Germany. He has a reputation for his excellent physique which he developed as a soccer player, and his amazing jumping techniques contrast with his size. Morris will make his NOAH debut this month during the N-1 Victory tournament.
Jack Morris is this year’s N-1 wildcard. What is it we can expect from the super-athlete from Scotland in his Pro Wrestling NOAH debut this summer?
N-1 VICTORY 2022 is LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE!
