Challenger with ‘WWE experience’ revealed for Yoshiki Inamura’s GHC title
A challenger with WWE experience has been revealed for Yoshiki Inamura.
For the past month, a storyline has been building in Pro Wrestling NOAH that Inamura would soon face a challenger with a background from WWE. Inamura, who went on excursion to NXT from November 2024 to mid-2025, has been confronted by KENTA and Yoshi Tatsu, with Tatsu claiming to be in contact with Triple H.
Inamura successfully defended his GHC Heavyweight Championship against Alpha Wolf at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Apex Conquest 2026 show in Nagoya, Japan on April 12. After the match, former NXT wrestler Shane Haste was revealed as the next challenger for Inamura on May 2.
“I am Shane Haste! I am KENTA-san’s friend. I have WWE experience, have PRO WRESTLING NOAH experience. I’ve come back to win that belt,” Haste said.
Inamura responded, “Shane-san, I of course know that you have WWE experience and are a legendary foreign talent in NOAH. I was your fan. So next, May 2 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. On that grand stage, I want to fight you with this belt on the line. I would love to fight you for this belt.”
NOAH posted footage of Haste challenging Inamura to social media below:
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has appeared in award-winning publications such as NOW Magazine and The Huffington Post. He joined the F4WOnline team in 2019 and was named managing editor in the summer of 2026. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Ian has covered professional wrestling for more than 15 years.