BANKIE'S HOT TAKE #94 - GLG Make Open Challenge for GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
As I alluded to last week in the Hot Take, after writing my piece on Bryan Danielson winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship in 2008, I decided to start watching Pro Wrestling NOAH on Wrestle Universe.
I picked a solid time to start, as the MONDAY MAGIC series started Season 2. It is a two-hour program, showcasing their talent each and every week.
No one made more of an impact this week than the current GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions of Anthony Greene and Jack Morris - The GLG.
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Greene and Morris came together in 2023 as inaugural members of “the Good Looking Guys” on January 19 at NOAH, alongside former two-time All Japan Triple Crown Champion Jake Lee, who signed with the promotion on New Year’s Day.
On September 24, Greene and Morris won the GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championships from Saxon Huxley and Timothy Thatcher. Along with Lee as a former GHC Heavyweight Champion and Tadasuke & YO-HEY as two-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, the GLG has dominated NOAH during their time.
Pro Wrestling NOAH has housed a career resurgence for Greene. At one time, one of the hottest acts in independent wrestling, “Retro AG” signed with WWE in 2020 and began growing through NXT, until his untimely release in June 2021. After a deep retrospective into what he wanted out of wrestling, Greene made his way to NOAH and rejuvenated his career. His confidence is sky high.
The Scottish-born Morris has plied his trade throughout the United Kingdom independent scene, particularly in the cult-favorite ICW. A former ICW Tag Team Champion with Dickie Divers, Morris’ agility and technique made him a breakout star in his first year in NOAH in 2022. Morris currently also holds the GHC National Championship, in which he defeated current GHC Heavyweight Champion El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr for it on October 28, 2023.
Morris and Greene have a great chemistry with one another, gelling more and more in each match they participate in. They have had five successful defenses during their reign, and have grown to truly be the best tag team in NOAH.
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After HAYATA & Shuhei Taniguchi defeated Daiki Inaba & Junta Miyawaki, the GLG came out to the ring with their championships in hand.
Greene and Morris announced that they had defeated Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa to successfully defend their titles at Sunny Voyage on the 7th to the live crowd, who applauded at their success.
The duo then stated that they wanted to have an Open Challenge on the April 15, 2024 edition of Monday Magic. However, it wasn’t offered to anyone in Pro Wrestling NOAH, as, to the duo, there was no one deserving of a championship match in the locker room. However, the Open Challenge stood for any freelancer or team in another promotion that felt they were worthy of a championship match.
The normally composed Japanese fans gasped at the challenge offered out by Greene and Morris.
After Greene instilled in the NOAH crowd that they were the “best tag team in the WORRRRRRRRRLD”, the duo raised their championships in the air.
Surprisingly, HAYATA, still recovering from his victory the match before, came out to the ring and, behind the GLG’s back, low blowed Morris, in a precursor to their GHC National Championship match on Thursday at Star Navigation 2024.
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Who will challenge the GLG on this coming edition of Monday Magic? What freelancer or team from another promotion accepts the offer for a shot at the GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Titles? Also, will Morris’ health and mind be at full strength, especially with a hard-hitting National Championship defense against HAYATA?
Both events will be streaming live on Wrestle Universe. You know I’ll be watching.
