KONGOH (金剛 Kongō, translated to "Diamonds") is a villainous professional wrestling stable in the Pro Wrestling NOAH (NOAH) promotion. 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 its red color for the stable. Within two months, Kotoge left stable in July to return to NOAH's junior heavyweight division and Kenoh established himself as one of NOAH's top wrestlers, winning the 2019 N-1 Victory and he also challenged for the GHC Heavyweight Championship.
In December 2019, KONGOH produced their own event at the Shinkiba 1stRing as part of a storyline, where if the event didn't sell out, the stable would be forced to disband. In their own event, stable added two new members; Haoh and Nioh, representing their participation in NOAH's junior heavyweight division. Shortly after, a short feud with Sugiura-gun, the stable was joined by Manabu Soya.
History
Formation and feud with Kaito Kioymiya (2019)
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 in 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 sell 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.
Feud with Sugiura-gun and addition of several members (2019–Present)
Later that month, Kitamitya began feuding with Sugiura-gun's leader Takashi Sugiura, after Kitamiya challenged Sugiura to a match for the GHC National Championship. On December 3, KONGOH faced Sugiura-gun members Kazuyuki Fujita, Hideki Suzuki, and Takashi Sugiura in a losing effort. Afterwards, Sugiura mocked them, calling them "weak". Leading to KONGOH's produced event, Kenoh teased that the stable would be joined by two new members. On December 14, KONGOH produced its own event at Shinkiba 1stRing, which was sold out. During the event, KONGOH was joined by Hi69 and Yuki Sato, who had previously been teased by Kenoh. The duo would rename themselves to Nioh and Haoh, respectively as part of their addition to the stable. On December 27, during Sugiura-gun's produced event, KONGOH established themselves heels attacking and bloodying Takashi Sugiura, as well as the rest of the members of Sugiura-gun. Afterwards, Kenoh challenged Sugiura-gun to a match, leading KONGOH to lose the match against Sugiura-gun in their produced event. On January 4, 2020, at New Sunrise, Kenoh and Inamura faced the Sugiura-gun duo of Hideki Suzuki and Kinya Okada in a winning effort. Afterwards, Suzuki attacked Kenoh. Later that night, Kitamiya unsuccessfully challenged Takashi Sugiura for the GHC National Championship. The following day at Reboot, Haoh and Nioh faced Sugiura-gun duo of Okada and Hajime Ohara in a winning effort. Afterwards, Haoh and Nioh were attacked by two masked wrestlers, who revealed themselves to be Nosawa Rongai and Sugiura-gun newest member Dick Togo. On March 29, Kenoh teased in a pre-tapped vignette that a new member would join the stable on April 19. Later that month, both Haoh and Nioh took part in the 2020 Global Junior League wrestling in separate round-robin blocks. Both Haoh and Nioh failed to advance from their respective blocks, with Haoh finishing last in his block of four and Nioh finishing in third in his block of four. In April, Kenoh, and Kitamiya took part in the 2020 Global Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and one loss, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament, due to losing to Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. and Rene Dupree in their head-to-head match. On April 19, Manabu Soya was revealed as the newest member, which had previously been teased by Kenoh.
Members
| * | Founding member |
|---|---|
| I | Leader |
| Member | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Haoh | December 14, 2019–present | |
| Kenoh | *I | May 4, 2019–present |
| Manabu Soya | April 19, 2020–present | |
| Masa Kitamiya | * | May 4, 2019–present |
| Nioh | December 14, 2019–present | |
| Yoshiki Inamura | * | May 4, 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 |
Timeline
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Noah
- N-1 Victory (2019) – Kenoh