KENTA teases ‘someone with WWE experience’ to challenge Yoshiki Inamura in NOAH
Someone with a WWE background could be headed to Pro Wrestling NOAH soon.
Yoshiki Inamura, who did an excursion to NXT from November 2024 to August 2025, successfully defended his GHC Heavyweight Championship against Kenoh on Sunday in Yokohama at NOAH Apex Conquest 2026. Following the match, Inamura cut a promo saying he wants his next challenger to have “WWE experience.”
“Today, I’m making a big selfish request. I want to fight a man with WWE experience. Who is the next challenger?” Inamura said (translated).
This led to former NXT wrestler and the man Inamura defeated for the GHC Heavyweight belt, KENTA, coming to the ring. Rather than angle for a title shot himself, KENTA said he’s bringing in someone “with WWE experience” to join the White Raven Sqwad faction and challenge Inamura.
Former WWE wrestler Yoshi Tatsu then came out, but KENTA said Tatsu was not the person he was referring to.
Alpha Wolf, who does not have a WWE background, then attacked KENTA, and NOAH later announced that Wolf will challenge Inamura for the title at the April 12 show in Nagoya. It remains unclear who KENTA was referring to when he teased bringing in someone with WWE experience.
KENTA continued to tease the WWE name on social media following Sunday’s show.
“I wanna say my friend’s name soon,” he wrote (translated).
NOAH and WWE have had a cooperative relationship in recent years. In 2023, Shinsuke Nakamura returned to NOAH for a special match against The Great Muta at NOAH The New Year. WWE also sent Omos to NOAH that year for a brief run with the promotion. Ulka Sasaki, who is part of White Raven Squad with KENTA, has also announced that he will be going on excursion to NXT.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.