NOAH The New Year notes: Jake Lee, Hiroshi Hase, new champions crowned

Some surprise appearances went down at NOAH’s The New Year 2023 event at Budokan Hall Sunday morning, along with new GHC Jr. Tag Team Champions.

Jake Lee appeared as a surprise, appearing after Jack Morris defeated Timothy Thatcher in a singles match. Lee, a former Triple Crown Champion, left All Japan Pro Wrestling last month. Lee and Morris ended up shaking hands.

Prior to that match, former NJPW and AJPW star Hirose Hase was revealed as the mystery tag team partner for Kendo Kashin, Kazuyuki Fujita, and NOSAWA Rongai. Hase scored the pinfall for his team, defeating Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya, Masakatsu Funkai, and Hajime Ohara. Back in March of last year, Hase was elected governor of the Ishikawa prefecture.

The GHC Junior Tag Team titles changed hands, as KZY and Yo-Hey lost the titles to Yoshinari Ogawa and Eita. KZY and YO-Hey only held the titles for slightly over a week, originally defeating Atsushi Kotoge and Seiki Yoshioka on December 23.

Other title matches on the show had AMASUKA defeat Junta Miyawaki to retain the GHC Junior Heavyweight title, Satoshi Kojima & Takashi Suigura defeat KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji to retain the GHC Tag Team titles, and Kaito Kiyomiya defeat Kenoh to retain the GHC Heavyweight title in the co-main event.