KONGOH (金剛 Kongō, translated to "Diamonds") is a professional wrestling stable in Pro Wrestling NOAH (NOAH). The group was formed by Atsushi Kotoge, Kenoh, Masa Kitamiya and Yoshiki Inamura on May 4, 2019, which they subsequently named KONGOH, with Kenoh being appointed the leader of the stable. The formation of the group came as a protest against NOAH's owner LIDET Entertainment. KONGOH also adopted their red color for the stable. Kotoge would leave stable on July 27 to return to NOAH's junior heavyweight division.
History
On March 10 at Great Voyage in Yokohama, Kaito Kiyomiya asked Kenoh to be his partner for the upcoming Global Tag League, which he accepted, declaring a united front to create a new scene for Noah, dubbing their team "KAIOH". In April, Kiyomiya and Kenoh took part of the 2019 Global Tag League, failing to win the tournament, after losing to Akitoshi Saito and Masao Inoue in their last round-robin match on April 30. Afterwards, Kenoh who was jealous of Kiyomiya disbanded their team, stating that Kiyomiya had been told by LIDET Entertainment for how to act, not by Noah, and he couldn't think by himself, while also claiming that Kiyomiya was made a star by the company, not by his own merit. On May 2, Kenoh and Masao Inoue defeated The Tough (Masa Kitamiya and Yoshiki Inamura). After the match, Kenoh stared at both Kitamiya and Yoshiki Inamura saying that they "had hungry eyes". On May 4, Kenoh and Kitamiya lost to Kiyomiya and Maybach Taniguchi to end their short feud. Following the match, Atsushi Kotoge and Inamura joined Kenoh and Kitamiya and formed "KONGOH" (translated to "Diamonds") as a protest against NOAH's owner LIDET Entertainment. The stable made his debut match on May 11 losing to Kiyomiya, Minoru Tanaka and Hi69. On July 27, Kotoge announced he was leaving the stable, in order to make his return to Noah's junior heavyweight division.
From August 18 until September 10, Kenoh and Kitamiya took part in the 2019 N-1 Victory, wrestling in separate blocks. Kitamiya finished third in his block, while Kenoh won his block with a record of three wins and one loss, advancing to the finals of the tournament. During the tournament, Kenoh began feuding with Takashi Sugiura and his Sugiura-gun stable, with Kenoh later accusing Sugiura to be a "company dog", which also escalated to a Twitter feud, leading Sugiura to make a t-shirt of a dog to mock him. On September 16, Kenoh defeated Takashi Sugiura in the finals to win the 2019 N-1 Victory. On October 3, it was announced that KONGOH would promote their second event on November 24 at Shinkiba 1stRing. Noah's owner LIDET Entertainment warned that if the event doesn't sold out, KONGOH would be forced to disband and Kenoh would have to leave the promotion. On November 2 at Noah the Best 2019, Kenoh was defeated by GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya in the main event of the Noah the Best 2019. In December, leading to KONGOH's produced event, Kenoh teased that the stable would joined by two new members. On December 14, KONGOH produced its own event at Shinkiba 1stRing, which was a sold out. During the event, KONGOH was joined by Hi69 and Yuki Sato, who had previously been teased by Kenoh. The two would rename themselves to Nio and Hao, respectively as part of their addition to the stable.
Members
| * | Founding member |
|---|---|
| I | Leader |
| Member | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Masa Kitamiya | * | May 4, 2019–present |
| Kenoh | *I | May 4, 2019–present |
| Yoshiki Inamura | * | May 4, 2019–present |
| Hao | December 14, 2019–present | |
| Nio | December 14, 2019–present | |
Former
| Member | Time |
|---|---|
| Atsushi Kotoge | May 4, 2019–July 27, 2019 |
Sub-groups
| Affiliate | Members | Tenure | Type | Promotion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Tough | Masa Kitamiya Yoshiki Inamura |
2019–present | Tag team | Noah |
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Noah
- N-1 Victory (2019) – Kenoh