(NOAH) Sugiura chokes Nakajima to take the GHC tag championship

Tokyo Sports, 14th June 2019

On the 13th June in Osaka at the "Mitsuharu Misawa Memorial Tournament", Takashi Sugiura (49) and KAZMA SAKAMOTO (36), defeated Go Shiozaki (37) and Katsuhiko Nakajima (31) and became the 50th tag champions.

It was a fierce fight in which Sugiura endured the kicks of Nakajima, and the chop of Shiozaki. On the 9th at Korakuen Hall, he had a fierce battle for over 33 minutes with the GHC Heavyweight Champion, Kaito Kiyomiya (22).
He returned the Vertical spike with a reverse hurricanrunna, with a count of 2-9. At the end, with a knee to the face, he turned to the front neck lock and stopped all movement. After choking out Nakajima, he gained the victory via referee stop.

After the match, Nakajima, who eas leaning on the shoulder of Shiozaki said in the interview area, "One more time, please". He discarded his usual arrogance, and asked for an early rematch.
Sugiura commented that such an attitude is not usual.
"You didn't quit. I will do it anytime, but this time, you will either give up, or I will take the three counts".
It is likely that a rematch will be realized in the next tour.

Sugiura, who showed stunning strength in the main event of the Mitsuharu Misawa memorial event, mentioned the late SDF Atsushi Aoki (41) who died on the 3rd, "the dead have no need for words. I will keep going with pro wrestling. There is only that."

Link to original article from Tokyo Sports (in Japanese)
Picture credit: Tokyo Sports