Go Shiozaki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima – Noah The Chronicle Vol.4 [GHC Heavyweight Championship]

3 comments

1. Just pure Hate and a friendship utterly broken in Yokohama Budokan.

   Gave this match a rewatch today, and still love it as much as when i first checked it out, maybe even moreso now, as Go Shiozaki, in his peak GHC title reign in the Covid era, defends his belt and honor against former tag partner turned sadist kicker supreme, Katsuhiko Nakajima.

   Context is big for this match, as Go and Nakajima’s careers have been parallel for as long they have both been in the biz; both debuting in 2004, both disciples of Puro legends (Kenta Kobashi for Go; Kensuke Sasaki for Nakajima); both men beohn fantastic wrestlers, both not really coming into their own until their partnership around 2018 and now in their title match; both men have tasted success and been GHC champ before, but neither truly were cemented as the top guy of the company and in an effort to boost their standings, they formed a tag team and became dominant tag champs in the process.

   Go would eventually declare his intention to truly become the the ace of the company (I AM NOAH), and challenged them champ Kaito Kiyomia in 2019, defeating him and going on to have on of the greatest modern day title reigns, imo; Nakajima would be in Go’s corner through his first couple defenses, backing up his tag partner and friend, but that would all change one fateful night, with Nakajima turning on and beating Go within an inch of his life, declaring his intention to take the GHC title for himself; the scene would be set for Budokan Hall, the building with the most meaning for NOAH’s history.

   The story within the match is simple, Go has been heavily taped up during his title reign, nursing a shoulder injury which several challenges have taken advantage of previously, and Nakajima’s assault is particularly brutal, using his expert kicks to aggravate the shoulder and render Go’s big chops not as impactful as usual; Go in turn targets Nakajima’s neck with a wicked throw on the ring apron, attempting to weaken Nakajima for his two big moves (Gowran Lariat and Go Flasher).

2. Honestly as far as modern NOAH matches, this is right up there. Did highlights for this one way back but I enjoyed the match itself as far as the selling from Shiozakis ribs looking back. I know it’s not NJPW related lol but I definitely recommend this match to anyone who’s interested in NOAH. To me it felt like watching a modern day Kawada/Misawa match. Thats how good it was.

3. This is a NJPW sub, take your third rate shit to r/CyberFight.