Review: Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 Victory Tournament

Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 Victory tournament ended on October 4, with controversial opinions flooding out after the finale. With two blocks of eight competitors each, all wrestlers got some round-robin, point-based madness. I have watched many tournaments in Japanese professional wrestling this year, and continued with my first recurring exposure to NOAH.

Some matches were fun, others stirred confusion, but walking into NOAH as a wrestling fan led to fun shows every time.

As a first-time viewer of NOAH’s N-1, allow me to share my thoughts of the whole shebang. I’ll also recommend some awesome matches that have gone largely under the radar because of NOAH’s low global profile. Some performers were recognizable to me like Shane Haste and KENTA, but my my my, who is this Alpha Wolf hottie? Let’s deep-dive into the 2026 N-1 Victory, starting with this year’s unpopular winner.

Thoughts on the Winner: OZAWA

He definitely wasn’t my first choice. Throughout the tourney, I asked myself: who is the biggest star to wrestle for the title when it’s all said and done? The current GHC Heavyweight Champion, Tetsuya Naito, and GHC National Champion, Naomichi Marufuji, weren’t in the tourney this year. Therefore, there was room for more names clashing with an unpredictability factor due to a lack of title agenting. No need to protect champions when champions ain’t in it! Manabu Soya and Yuki Iino notwithstanding.

Yoshiki Inamura convinced me he’d get that GHC Heavyweight Title back after losing it to Shane Haste. The “Smack Daddy” and his undoubted passion for wrestling delivered great matches and connected with the crowd, making me a big fan instantly. Him powering through everyone would have been a huge, dominant way to establish his reckless destruction en route to ultimate glory. Instead, we got the leader of the mischievous Team2000X taking the cake.

It’s just an underwhelming winner all things considered. OZAWA is nowhere near the best in his own faction, and I would’ve been happier with someone like Alpha Wolf or Kenoh at the top. He had his moments, but carrying an epic match is not his strong suit. At least Kiyomiya winning would’ve brought his stocks back up from rock bottom, thanks to Kazuchika Okada.

Very Early Prediction: N-1 Victory 2027 Winner

If Yoshiki Inamura does not win next year, I have lost faith in this promotion. I understand Kiyomiya’s struggle to reach the top again, but I don’t like repeated winners for historical tournaments. All due respect to names like Kiyomiya, Kenoh, and KENTA. They are all awesome, but they don’t need a tourney win; their star status could just dictate a challenge via a promo or video package.

Having a name like OZAWA win this year makes the coming years feel more unpredictable. If you want a reliable hand who hasn’t won this yet, Inamura is the perfect guy for the job.

MVP of the N-1 Victory ‘26

Like Ryohei Oiwa in my G1 review, I could put Inamura in everything positive and click post. He and the GHC Tag Champions, Passion Ratel’s, got meat slappin’ heavy in this year’s N-1, which I enjoyed very much. However, the praise for Kaito Kiyomiya will not be dismissed as sarcasm in my household. Kiyomiya is a terrific wrestler and can bring a good to great match out of everyone from his block. Ending this tourney made me sad for his finals loss, and hungry to delve more into his work. I’d seen him in the G1 Climax a few years ago, and he’s just as great as I remember.

Many silently good workers didn’t have many headlines coming out of this tourney like Titus Alexander or a returning-from-excursion Kouga. But they were also great hands at high-flying and striking, respectively. Much to like from this year’s N-1!

Worst Matches of N-1 Victory ‘26

Not everything can be dipped in gold. Here I go, crapping on the sport we all know and love again. Some criticisms come from the heart unfairly, and some very, VERY fairly. Let’s take a look at the “Flop Three.”

• Chen v. Kazuyuki Fujita, A Block Night 2
• Takashi Sugiura v. Kazuyuki Fujita, A Block Night 4
• Masa Kitamiya v. KENTA, B Block Night 9

You either love or hate Kazuyuki Fujita; take a wild stab at which side I fall on. This slow-moving old man got presented as a threat because he was an MMA fighter DECADES ago. I imagine him as if Ken Shamrock were still wrestling today, stripped of any redeeming qualities that would make him a good wrestler because he just won’t stop. His matches with Chen and Takashi Sugiura were outright bad, leaving nothing interesting in the ring for the audience to get excited for.

Then Masa Kitamiya v. KENTA was a prime example of Team2000X at its worst. What could have been a power hoss versus a power striker turned into endless interference from Team2000X’s manager, Yoshitatsu. All the stumbling and bumbling led to KENTA’s first win in the tourney, thanks to a ref bump/low blow combo. Whatever, couldn’t stop rolling my eyes at this one. And this is coming from a big KENTA mark.

Sleeper Matches of N-1 Victory ‘26

This category is for matches that won’t make anyone’s must-see wrestling list, but everyone involved still did their absolute best. It is low-key great to witness some of these guys for the first time and explore their identities within this year’s N-1.

• Kouga v. Kenoh, B Block Night 3
• Tetsuya Endo v. KENTA, B Block Night 3
• Masa Kitamiya v. Manabu Soya, B Block Night 5
• Takashi Sugiura v. Shane Haste, A Block Night 10

Kouga/Kenoh was very reminiscent of a Taichi v. Kota Ibushi style of offense from both sides. Kicks upon kicks for days, back and forth forever. Both sides showed great aggression, and Kenoh became a favorite of mine in this one—no wonder he got chosen to main event the NOAH Wrestle Kingdomagainst Naito that one year.

Tetsuya Endo busted out a Red Arrow in his match with KENTA, before PAC even passed away. Two White Raven Squad stablemates wrestled like hate rivals, evolving their styles with desperation after they kept kicking out of each other’s stuff. That is KENTA’s MO after all, he’s just gonna smack you in the face until you pass out. Lovely stuff.

Kitamiya and Soya had the biggest, beefiest contest of the whole tourney. The amount of stiffness in those lariats, whew. Passion Ratel’s (Iino & Soya) are DDT styled maestros of mayhem, and Kitamiya was a great base to touch upon and get wild with. And hey, a Team 2000X match where Yoshitatsu wasn’t an issue!

Main Event Sugi demonstrated old man hardass violence with Shane Haste being a bit of a carryjob. Such a great story told in the Night 10 main with Sugiura outpacing Haste. The handsome Aussie needed to get his shit together in order to beat this 56-year-old man to a pulp, and boy did he ever lock in. Bomb Valley Death is also one of the gnarliest finishers in wrestling today. Common Shane Haste W.

Best Matches of N-1 Victory ‘26

Here are the shining points of this year’s tourney, where lots of MVPs aside from Kiyomiya got the spotlight. Too many great matches to whittle down, so let’s show the top seven.

• Titus Alexander v. Kenoh, A+B Block Night 1
• Alpha Wolf v. Kaito Kiyomiya, A+B Block Night 1
• Yoshiki Inamura v. Kaito Kiyomiya, A Block Night 4
• KENTA v. Kenoh, B Block Night 7
• Kouga v. Tetsuya Endo, B Block Night 11
• Alpha Wolf v. Shane Haste, A+B Block Night 12
• Chen v. Kaito Kiyomiya, A+B Block Night 12

Titus Alexander, you aight, white boy. The amount of sick-sounding kicks in his first match with Kenoh was plentiful. It established Kenoh as an aerial destroyer too in what was a super match all around. Both men looked powerful, with a pulse to the pacing.

Wolf and Kiyomiya right afterward put the “Kiyomiya is washed” allegations to shame. Alpha Wolf pulled out combo after combo, and it all looked cool. Then Kaito kept hitting those beautiful dropkicks, Shining Wizards, and a final Skywalk Elbow for the win. Wolf left an impression on me, probably the best Team2000X member going right now.

KENTA/Kenoh and Kouga/Endo were both masterclasses in selling the leg and using destroyed limbs in offense. Kouga came back from his excursion and immediately put everyone in jeopardy with his hard kicks and fire energy. Endo saw better days during his DDT run years ago, but he remains a good worker in my eyes.

Wolf and Haste had insane chemistry together, pulling out a match of the tourney at the very last moment. The pressure of winning because of the point system made each nearfall heavier than the last. The crowd ate it all up too, making Haste a hero who overcame Team2000X’s craziest killer. Chen and Kiyomiya followed that and lived up to expectations. Lots of people dunked on Chen for being bad with goofy offense, but I don’t see the criticisms as valid. He’s experimenting with his moveset after leaving NXT, and he made for a good hill for Kiyomiya to climb over ahead of the finals.

Inamura v. Kiyomiya was the best match of the tourney, filling up a time limit draw with excellent psychology. Inamura getting trapped in that Figure Four for ages while the crowd screamed for him to escape it was awesome. Along with that, the normal Kiyomiya precision mixed with Inamura’s iron will and iron lariats became such a great mix of power and technique. It probably went on a bit too long, but it was worth the journey to discover Inamura’s full potential as a perfect wrestler. The finish had Inamura holding Kiyomiya in a powerbomb while the final bell rang to signal the end. Wow.

OVERALL:

My first sit down visit and stay with Pro Wrestling NOAH was a neat treat to behold overall. Some great workers had to sadly play second fiddle to Yoshitatsu’s constant nonsense, but at least he’s not as egregious as the House of Torture. I think it is a damning thing when the winner of the whole tourney isn’t in any of my personal top matches.