Shane Haste vs. KENTA GHC Heavyweight Title Bout Set for Legacy Rise 2026 on May 13

As previously reported, former WWE Superstar Shane Haste defeated Yoshiki Inamura at today’s Pro Wrestling NOAH Spring Mayhem event to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Now, Shane Haste will have his work cut out for him, as he’s going to be defending the belt for the first time against his White Raven Squad teammate, KENTA, later this month.

After winning the title, Haste declared in his post-match speech that he wanted to defend the title against KENTA and beat him while holding it, much like KENTA did 13 years ago. KENTA shook hands with Haste, accepting the challenge.

NOAH has now made the title matchup official. KENTA and Shane Haste will face off for the title on May 13 at Legacy Rise 2026. The event will be held at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. It will stream live on Wrestle Universe.

The 45-year-old KENTA is a two-time former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He won the belt after returning to NOAH, regaining it at New Departure 2025: Night 2 in July of last year. He later lost it to Inamura at Star Navigation 2025: Night 3 in November.

Shane Haste Looks To Cement His Title Reign by Defeating KENTA

KENTA has experienced an overall historic career, having competed in ROH, NJPW, Pro Wrestling NOAH, NXT, and WWE. During his NJPW run, he became IWGP US Champion, a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, NEVER Openweight Champion, and a two-time Strong Openweight Champion.

Besides his GHC Heavyweight Title reigns, in NOAH, Kenta has been a GHC Tag Team Champion with Maybach Taniguchi. He’s also been a three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and a three-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, holding the belts with Naomichi Marufuji, Taiji Ishimori, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

At 40 years old, Shane Haste’s title win is the first major singles title win of his career. He’s also a former IWGP Tag Team Champion and Strong Openweight Champion in NJPW, holding the belts with Mikey Nicholls. Haste now seeks to cement his title reign with a victory over his stablemate and one of the all-time greats of Pro Wrestling NOAH.