Great Voyage 2009 in Tokyo ~Mitsuharu Misawa, Always In Our Hearts~: WrestleFile Historical Verdict

Tamon Honda and Jun Izumida wrestled Kentaro Shiga and Kishin Kawabata to a ten-minute time-limit draw before the principal Great Voyage 2009 program. All four had considerable history in NOAH's supporting roster, making the dark match a practical opportunity to give the live Budokan crowd recognizable competitors before the major attractions began. Neither team scored a decisive victory before the allotted time expired, and the contest didn't involve a title belt.

A draw in this preliminary setting doesn't carry the same competitive weight as the full-limit High Speed title matches used elsewhere in Japanese wrestling. Here the purpose was primarily to open the event and present veteran wrestlers in a familiar team format. The absence of a fall should remain intact in the record rather than being assigned to whichever wrestler enjoyed greater later name recognition. Fans interested in the full September 2009 memorial atmosphere may appreciate the warmup, though there is little need to treat it as essential championship viewing.

Genba Hirayanagi defeated Akihiko Ito in 8:33 in the first junior heavyweight league participation qualifying match on NOAH's Great Voyage 2009 card. The result earned Hirayanagi advancement toward league participation rather than giving him an existing championship. The match was relatively short, but the qualifier framing ensured it had a purpose beyond providing another singles win to the early part of the program. Ito had an opportunity to pursue the same place but lost the direct encounter.

The qualification stakes should be preserved separately from the later GHC heavyweight title main event. There was no junior belt changing hands, and Hirayanagi's win was not a tournament championship in its own right. The match supplied one step in NOAH's effort to organize junior competition during a difficult period for the company. Its eight-minute duration makes it optional for viewers seeking the Budokan show's celebrated veteran attractions, but an archive following the league's actual entry path should retain the decision and the two competitors' names.

Atsushi Aoki defeated NOSAWA Rongai by cross armbreaker in a junior heavyweight league participation qualifier at NOAH's September 2009 Great Voyage. The contest lasted less than seven minutes but showcased a contrast between Aoki's disciplined submission work and NOSAWA's more unpredictable style. Aoki's victory advanced his claim to a league place, an important developmental step for a junior who would become closely associated with technical wrestling during his career.

The submission finish gave the result an identifiable competitive character rather than relying on a count-out or referee stoppage. It was not a GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship match and therefore didn't create a new titleholder. NOSAWA's defeat belongs to this qualifying encounter, not to a broader storyline in which he had supposedly lost the junior belt. The bout can be sampled selectively on a card featuring far more famous performers, but its value increases for readers tracing the junior division's tournament preparation and Aoki's early rise.

Taiji Ishimori and Ricky Marvin defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in a brisk junior tag at Great Voyage 2009. Ishimori secured the fall against Kikuchi, giving the younger pair a useful win without forcing Kanemaru to suffer a direct pin. All four were recognizable in NOAH's junior landscape, though their styles differed: Ishimori and Marvin brought pace and aerial offense, while Kanemaru and Kikuchi supplied veteran experience and harder contact.

The match ran for less than nine minutes, making it a compact showcase between the two league-entry qualifiers and the larger heavyweight portion of the show. No GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship changed hands, and it wasn't a direct qualifying bout for the singles league. The exact winning side should stay intact rather than assigning Ishimori a singles victory over Kikuchi. For historical viewing, the tag provides a useful survey of the junior division's talent at the time, even if the memorial card's larger significance lies elsewhere.

Bison Smith defeated Shuhei Taniguchi in 7:32 on NOAH's September 2009 Great Voyage card at Nippon Budokan. Smith's size and established status presented a direct heavyweight test for Taniguchi, who was still developing his place among the company's more prominent singles wrestlers. The result went to the experienced American competitor rather than providing an unexpected win for the younger home-roster prospect. The short duration suited an early heavyweight encounter before a succession of prominent six-man and special matches.

There was no GHC Heavyweight Championship defense involved here; that belt was contested later by Go Shiozaki and Akitoshi Saito. The match is most useful as a snapshot of NOAH's roster hierarchy in late 2009. Smith was a credible upper-card obstacle while Taniguchi's later progression remained ahead of him. The encounter didn't settle a tournament bracket or introduce a new champion, but it established the heavyweight tone before the card narrowed toward the memorial main attractions.

Jun Akiyama, Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Sugiura defeated Takeshi Rikio, Mohammed Yone and KENTA in 18:33 during Great Voyage 2009. Sugiura submitted Rikio, supplying the decisive finish in a six-man assembled from some of NOAH's most influential heavyweights and a leading junior star. Akiyama brought championship history, Suzuki added his cross-promotional intensity, and KENTA's presence gave the opposing side a different striking profile from its heavyweight partners. The result belonged to the entire Akiyama–Suzuki–Sugiura trio.

This was not a GHC title defense or an individual victory for Sugiura over each member of the opposing team. The submission on former champion Rikio was nevertheless useful momentum for Sugiura's future heavyweight positioning. The eighteen-minute runtime allowed the pairing to register as a serious supporting attraction and prepared viewers for the card's final sequence of established stars. It offers a compact example of NOAH using six-man matches to bring several distinct generations and fighting styles together on a major show.

Kensuke Sasaki, Takeshi Morishima and Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated Genichiro Tenryu, Yoshinari Ogawa and Kotaro Suzuki in a special six-man at Great Voyage 2009. Morishima scored the fall on Suzuki, letting the winning side celebrate without needing to pin veteran attraction Tenryu. Sasaki and Tenryu represented different eras of Japanese heavyweight wrestling, while Nakajima and Suzuki brought younger, faster styles into the match. The breadth of the field gave the contest appeal beyond any one rivalry.

The result wasn't a tournament advance or title switch, and the GHC Heavyweight Championship still awaited its separate main event. Morishima had previously held NOAH's top title, giving the pin a recognizable heavyweight presence without suggesting a championship changed hands. The value for a historical viewer is the chance to see Sasaki, Tenryu and two generations of NOAH regulars interact in one compact attraction. All six men need to stay on their original sides in the match record, with Suzuki credited for taking the deciding fall.

Kenta Kobashi and Yoshihiro Takayama defeated Keiji Muto and Akira Taue in a special tag match at NOAH's Great Voyage 2009 memorial presentation. Kobashi pinned Taue with a lariat, providing the official result, but the event's larger appeal was the unusual sight of four highly accomplished Japanese heavyweights sharing a ring. Kobashi and Muto meeting across the two teams was particularly attractive because their careers had followed different promotional paths. Takayama and Taue supplied further historical weight through their own major title accomplishments.

The pairing had no championship belt at stake and was not intended as a substitute for the GHC Heavyweight main event. Its emotional significance came from the tribute atmosphere following Mitsuharu Misawa's death earlier that year, which gave familiar veteran combinations a distinctive meaning. A viewer interested primarily in NOAH's championship lineage will find the subsequent Shiozaki defense more consequential, but this is the most important special attraction on the card. The clear pinfall on Taue preserves the result amid the commemorative setting.

Go Shiozaki defeated Akitoshi Saito in 24:42 to retain the GHC Heavyweight Championship at NOAH's September 2009 Great Voyage. Shiozaki won with the Go Flasher, completing his first successful title defense as the company worked to establish a new generation of headliners after Mitsuharu Misawa's death. Both men had been involved in Misawa's final match in June, making this pairing inseparable from the emotional context of the memorial show. Shiozaki entered with the added responsibility of representing NOAH's immediate future as champion.

The outcome was an official title retention, not a new reign for Saito. The near twenty-five-minute runtime gave the main event a full heavyweight structure at the end of a night featuring large veteran attractions. While the memorial context could easily overwhelm discussion of wrestling results, Shiozaki's first defense remains a genuine championship milestone. Saito's challenge had importance because of his established reputation and personal connection to the story, yet the official result kept the GHC belt with Shiozaki.