Endo Loses Survival 3 Way Match In NOAH, Also Gets Betrayed By Sugiura

Are they called TEAM 2000X because their main events are booked liked WCW from the year 2000? Oh, I’m on… ahem…

When we last paid attention to Tetsuya Endo in NOAH he had left TEAM 2000X, joined forces with Takashi Sugiura and the two of them both got a GHC Heavyweight Title shot where they would face the champion OZAWA in a 3 Way Elimination Match. In the two weeks leading up to the title bout Endo & Sugiura would face TEAM 2000X in several kinds of tag matches. They were on the winning side for the first half of them but TEAM 2000X won the rest in the second half. OZAWA even added insult to injury by spraying a silver X over Endo’s chest after Endo was the last to be beaten in an 8-Man Elimination Tag Match. By the last prelim match the alliance between Endo and Sugiura was becoming shaky with neither of them being on the exact same page. OZAWA even started to brag that Endo would return to TEAM 2000X when he loses at the Survival 3 Way Match.

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7. GHC Heavyweight Title – Survival 3 Way Match: OZAWA (c) defeated Tetsuya Endo and Takashi Sugiura (24:38).
7a. Tetsuya Endo eliminated Takashi Sugiura with a School Boy (15:20).
7b. OZAWA eliminated Tetsuya Endo with the Real Rebel (24:38).
*V6 for OZAWA.

So when it was finally time for the title match to happen OZAWA kept his distance hoping Endo and Sugiura would fight each other and complaining that he was in a 2 Vs 1 disadvantage. The match did eventually become all against each other and that was when OZAWA pushed Sugiura into the ref and called upon the rest of TEAM 2000X to do his evil bidding. Sugiura grabbed a chair to even the odds but then turned around and hit Endo with it! He was then handed over a TEAM 2000X shirt and he put it on to show everyone he was the unit’s new member!

Endo was now the one on his own fighting against two enemies. Somehow he was able to hold his ground, knock OZAWA out of the ring and used a School Boy to eliminate Sugiura from the match. Endo now had OZAWA all by himself and grabbed him by the tongue to set up the Exploder Suplex. OZAWA tried to withstand it but Endo then struck him across the face with a big slap and hit another Exploder for a nearfall. Jun Akiyama’s finisher wasn’t working for him so he pulled something out of Yukio Sakaguchi’s book and did the God’s Right Knee in the corner! OZAWA was down and out but Sugiura pulled the ref out of the ring during the pin count. TEAM 2000X stomped on Endo but he escaped back into the ring and jumped back out with the Sasuke Special to wipe them all out. Seeing his chance Endo went for the Burning Star Press onto OZAWA but he blocked it with his knees. He tried going for a second one but OZAWA followed him up the corner and gave him the one-man Spanish Fly from the top rope. OZAWA next did his own Burning Star Press but Endo kicked out of it. OZAWA kept the pressure up and eventually had Endo beaten when he hit the Real Rebel for the finish.

After the match OZAWA referred to Sugiura as “The Godfather” and he thanked him for joining TEAM 2000X. He revealed they had this planned ever since the Sumo Hall show a month ago. Sugiura even teamed with Akiyama who he hates just to throw everyone off the scent. OZAWA then told Endo the unit never needed a lame person like him who gets knocked to the ground with only one slap. He doesn’t want Endo to act like DDT and NOAH are on the same level ever again! Endo could only curse about TEAM 2000X backstage and said they are disrespecting pro wrestling. He doesn’t understand how NOAH and the GHC committee could think this is all okay.

Endo Leaves TEAM 2000X, Now Aiming To Reach The Top Of NOAH

It’s been a over a month since we last paid attention to Tetsuya Endo’s story in NOAH so what’s going on with him now? Well we rejoin Endo right after he decided to leave TEAM 2000X! When we last left him he was in a dramatic situation that led to Takashi Sugiura bringing in Jun Akiyama to try and set him straight. Endo refused to learn his lesson about being who he really is so a tag match was set up to settle their problems.

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7. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Takashi Sugiura defeated Tetsuya Endo & Owadasan when Akiyama pinned Endo with the Starness Dust α (16:49).

This match was Akiyama’s first appearance on a normal NOAH show in over four years. He has wrestled on their Limit Break spin-off events and also the two “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL” shows but not the regular NOAH brand in that time. Owadasan had faced Akiyama before on those Limit Break shows back when he was known as Yu Owada. During the match Endo & Owadasan cheated by targeting Sugiura’s groin but once Akiyama got into the match like a house on fire, Endo wanted to fight him clean. He even refused to hit Akiyama with the weapon Yoshitatsu handed over to him. The two exchanged Exploder Suplexes on each other until Akiyama hit Endo with a Knee Lift to the face. That got a two count so Akiyama pulled out the Starness Dust α to put him away. He patted Endo on the chest after the match and told him something before leaving. Whatever it is he said, it made Endo start to question everything he’s been doing in NOAH lately.

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3. Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura & Masa Kitamiya defeated Tetsuya Endo, Daga & Owadasan when Sugiura pinned Owadasan with the Olympic Qualifier Slam (10:29).

Endo continued wrestling tag matches for TEAM 2000X trying to forget what happened. He had unfinished business with Sugiura and started complaining that NOAH were booking himself, an outsider, on more shows than they were booking Sugiura who belongs to the promotion. Endo again went for Low Blows on Sugiura while Owadasan did taunts saying Sugiura should be trying to rehabilitate him instead of Endo. Yoshitatsu interfered again to attack Naomichi Marufuji & Masa Kitamiya but once again when he offered a weapon to Endo it was refused. Then Endo went one step further by giving Tatsu the Exploder Suplex! He then stood aside to let Sugiura beat Owadasan to end the match.

Sugiura smiled afterwards and told Endo they should work together and aim for the top of NOAH by chasing after the GHC Heavyweight Title. Endo admitted he doesn’t like the way TEAM 2000X is being run so he is leaving the unit! The two shook hands to cement their new alliance. But there was more to come from this turn of events.

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1. GHC Heavyweight Title – Survival 3 Way Match: OZAWA (c) Vs Tetsuya Endo Vs Takashi Sugiura

After OZAWA retained his GHC Title in the main event Endo got into the ring now wearing a NOAH shirt. He didn’t come to NOAH to get worthless victories with TEAM 2000X, he came here to fight OZAWA and take the GHC Title from him! OZAWA asked what is wrong with Endo because they were like twins. Now it turns out Endo is a traitor instead! OZAWA blamed Sugiura for this and demanded he get into the ring too. Why? Because OZAWA wants to fight both of them at once! He decided his next GHC Title defence will be a Survival 3 Way Match against Endo and Sugiura where the last man standing will be the champion. Endo accepted the challenge and told OZAWA they were never twins. He then put his hand on Sugiura’s shoulder and said they’re all triplets! OZAWA didn’t understand and asked if Endo took a hard slap to the head?

Backstage Endo said he’s been in NOAH for five months now and it’s best for him to act quickly. He did have a goal to get revenge on NOAH but as he felt more of a disconnect with TEAM 2000X, he felt more excitement from fighting the NOAH wrestlers. So now he has an opportunity to turn the tide and prove to fans that DDT is not inferior to NOAH. He could strategically use his alliance with Sugiura to eliminate OZAWA first but he feels that is more like a Handicap Match and it goes against his mindset.

So What Has Tetsuya Endo Been Up To?

It’s been a while since we looked over at NOAH to see what Tetsuya Endo was doing. Last time I wrote about him he was losing the GHC National Title to back to Manabu Soya. Since then OZAWA won the belt to become a double champion thanks to a lot of TEAM 2000X shenanigans that Endo was included in. More shenanigans followed when he decided to immediately vacate the title because he already has the GHC Heavyweight Title. NOAH put together a mini tournament to crown the next champion and Endo took part in it.

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3. GHC National Title Tournament – Round 1: Tetsuya Endo defeated Takashi Sugiura with a School Boy (5:59).

Endo made a mockery of Takashi Sugiura in the 1st Round by cheating with some help from Yoshi Tatsu at ringside. He found a moment to knock the ref aside and give Sugiura a Low Blow. Then he pinned him with a School Boy and added some insult to injury by doing MIKAMI’s pose along with the count. Endo said Sugiura is one of the few wrestlers in NOAH he respects. Beating him means he has beaten half of NOAH and next he will crush the other half. Sugiura complained and asked if Endo really came over from DDT to wrestle this way in NOAH?

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8. GHC National Title Tournament – Final: Galeno defeated Tetsuya Endo with the Galeno Special (23:46).
*Galeno becomes the 17th GHC National Champion!

Endo was now one step away from reclaiming the National Title for himself. Now he had to go through the really big wall that is Galeno. The latest luchador from the famed Wagner family to ply his trade on the NOAH canvas. TEAM 2000X interfered at the start of the match and Endo relied on using a Low Blow again. But Galeno fought back against the odds and ultimately got the win with the Galeno Special to become the new champion! Endo tried to get a last word in by saying just because Galeno won the title doesn’t mean he is on the same level as his brother El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. However Endo admitted he was beaten and acknowledges that Galeno has gone from a third rate wrestler to a first and a half rate wrestler.

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8. No DQ Tag Match: KENTA & Kenoh defeated OZAWA & Tetsuya Endo when KENTA pinned OZAWA with the Go 2 Sleep (25:33).

With Endo now outside of any title picture currently going on, he moved back to TEAM 2000X stuff. He teamed up with OZAWA to take on KENTA & Kenoh in a wild No DQ Match to build up OZAWA’s GHC Title defence against KENTA coming up next month. There were fights in the aisle, attacks with bamboo canes plus weapons like ladders and tables being used. At one point there were a pile of chairs in the ring where every wrestler crashed into when they missed a top rope move. Yoshi Tatsu interfered only for Ulka Sasaki to come out and stop him. KENTA knocked OZAWA off a Giga Ladder through some tables below and pinned him with the Go 2 Sleep afterward.

Backstage Endo was cutting a promo to reporters when Takashi Sugiura approached him. He wanted to know how much longer Endo was going to behave like this and asked if this is what he wants to do in NOAH? Endo won’t answer him so he brought along someone that Endo will listen to. Jun Akiyama! He asked Endo the same questions and Sugiura and told him to remember who he really is. Sugiura suggested he and Akiyama should team up against Endo to help guide him back on the right path. Endo eventually agreed to the challenge because anyone who stands in front of him is his enemy!