(NOAH CHRONOLOGY) GO SHIOZAKI ~ GHC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP


"I am Noah!"

Won: 4th January 2020, "4th January 2020, "A NEW SUNRISE DAY1", Korakuen Hall, Tokyo (at the time of winning the GHC Heavyweight, he was also holding the GHC Heavyweight tag with Katsuhiko Nakajima in AXIZ) 
Number of title reigns: 4
Number of defenses: 7
Lost: "Back to The Budokan", 12th February 2021, Nippon Budokan
Total number of days held: 406

Challengers
1. Kazuyuki Fujita
2. Akitoshi Saito
3. Naomichi Marufuji
4. Kenoh (GHC National Championship vs GHC Heavyweight Championship)
5. The winner of the N-1 VICTORY 2020: Katsuhiko Nakajima
6. Takashi Sugiura
7. Keiji Mutoh

vs Kazuyuki Fujita

Noah had been threatening a title challenge between Kazuyuki Fujita and Go Shiozaki for a while, when AXIZ were the tag team champions, especially after Hideki Suzuki and Fujita stole the tag belts in Osaka in November 2020. Matters came to a head after a vicious match on the 30th January at Korakuen Hall, when Fujita left red welts on Go Shiozaki's neck after strike attacks (which turned into purple bruises the next day), and Shiozaki nominated him as challenger after the match.

Shiozaki (and for that matter also his tag partner, Katsuhiko Nakajima) understood that Fujita was a different kind of opponent, raised and trained differently in a different era, and he would need to change his fighting style. To Shiozaki the absence of Fujita meant nothing, every match was a title match, and every opponent he visualized as him.

Shiozaki had a chance to stop his visualizations, and face the real thing at Korakuen Hall on the 16th February. The match saw Shiozaki tag with Kaito Kiyomiya (in almost identical ring gear) against Fujita and Takashi Sugiura. Shiozaki didn't have much interaction with Sugiura in the match, he was fully focused on Fujita. The match started with a vicious slap\chop war between them, but the big upset came at the end of the match when Fujita choked out Shiozaki, and the match was stopped by the referee.
Fujita then went to get some water, and emptied the bottle over Shiozaki. Grabbing him by the hair, he pulled him up, and taking a gulp of the water, blew it in his face before throwing both the bottle cap and the bottle at him.

The final pre-match between the two of them came on the 24th February in Nagoya. Thanks to Fujita, Shiozaki was suffering head trauma - he had a torn eardrum, his vision (never good) was also affected, and his jaw was out of line. The two squared off giving fans a taster of what the match in March between them was going to be like, and it was brutal and terrifying. Shiozaki, his neck bruising up, seemed genuinely dazed at times and collapsed on the mat, but he refused to give in to Fujita, going toe to toe with his slaps with chops. Both of them no sold each others moves.
This sadly was not the case with their tag partners, Shuhei Taniguchi and Hideki Suzuki. Taniguchi, who had damaged ribs, tapped out to Suzuki giving Fujita's team the win, and robbing Shiozaki of a victory over Fujita prior to the title match.
Shiozaki, furious, got into the ring. He took out both Fujita and Suzuki with lariats and then got on the microphone, holding up the belt above them he screamed in Japanese that he would protect this belt against Fujita, but added in English "I am Noah".

The title match was originally scheduled for the 8th March but due to the Coronavirus, Noah took the decision to cancel all shows until the 21st March. Kazuyuki Fujita did not participate in the final two dates before Noah held their first ever championship only shows at Korakuen Hall on the 29th. Sadly, and despite Noah's best efforts, they could not hold it at the Yokohama Bunka Gym before the old place is renovated for the Olympics.

When Korakuen Hall did come on the 29th March, it came in the wake of the Governor of Tokyo announcing that due to the Coronavirus, all public gatherings were to be suspended until further notice. Noah had already put the match off once, and were not prepared to do it again. So they decided to hold it as an empty arena. Kazuyuki Fujita commented that this was a great chance to hold a match that you couldn't hold in front of an audience, and he was right. This match, which was very un Noah, blew people away.

Kazuyuki Fujita entered the ring accompanied by the whole Sugiura Army (including Rene Dupre, but without KAZMA SAKAMOTO), while Go Shiozaki entered only with Katsuhiko Nakajima. Then the bell rang, and they stood and stared at each other.
Five minute warning.
Still staring at each other.
Shu Nishinaga tried to get them going
Ten minute warning.
Kazuyuki Fujita walked to the other side of the ring
They kept staring at each other.
The arena was so quiet it was deafening
Fifteen minutes.
Still staring
Half an hour
Kazuyuki Fujita finally cracked, and tackled Shiozaki to the ground, and the match got going.

The match started with Fujita mat wrestling Shiozaki, then it went outside the ring and through the arena (and as Fujita couldn't spit water, he took a swig of hand sanitizer and spat that). Fujita seemed to have plans to take Shiozaki high into the rafters, and despite pressing lift buttons (and one opening which he seemed not to realise), he took the fight to the balcony on foot, where he attempted to throw Shiozaki off the ledge. Fortunately, he was prevented from doing this and he returned to the ring. Shiozaki followed, his Kobashi face on. Inside the ring, the match reverted to more of a Noah style, and Shiozaki picked up the win via Gowan lariat after 57:47 minutes. He gave a short speech, thanking everyone for watching, and finishing with "I am Noah".


Vs Akitoshi Saito

At "NOAH NEW HOPE" on the 24th May, Go Shiozaki, who has been missing due to acute appendicitis, came to the ring to announce that he would be returning on June 14th. His speech was interrupted by Akitoshi Saito who came to the ring waving the "Anti Wrestles Alliance" flag. In the ring Saito, in a very Heisei era gesture, produced a letter of challenge and read it out (it also included the word "Homies") to announce his intention. Go Shiozaki accepted his challenge, shook his hand and said (as Marufuji said to Sugiura) that they would put on a match "that only we can do". Match will take place on June 14th.

Backstage, Saito called this match very important for himself and Shiozaki, while Shiozaki called it "Destiny". The last time Shiozaki and Saito fought over the GHC Heavyweight was in 2009 a few weeks after Mitsuharu Misawa had died; the match was very sad, very difficult and was not auspicious for either Shiozaki's title reign, Saito's challenge and especially the circumstances it happened under. Like Sugiura & Marufuji having a match to make up for the one that happened under the Sugiura Army, this is their chance to put that particularly painful past to rest, especially as the match is happening the day after Misawa passed away on 14th June 2009.

Akitoshi Saito came to the ring, paused and looked at the sky and nodded. He said afterwards that Mitsuharu Misawa was watching over him, and after the match he thanked him for it. 

Although there was no Misawa memorial today so to speak, signs of his memory were everywhere in this match; Saito wearing a green memorial wristguard, the photographers and press in Misawa t-shirts, and Shiozaki paying homage to Misawa by using the rolling elbow (which I am not sure he has used much before) and using the Emerald Flowsion, although it did not get him the pin. 

Although not a Noah born or the product of the All Japan dojo, Akitoshi Saito has been with Noah since October 2000, and with Go Shiozaki joining in 2003 and debuting in 2004, he has seen him grow up, and so he knew that to keep Shiozaki subdued he needed to work on blocking and taking the power out of his arms, and so he was able to counter a lot of Shiozaki's attacks, although this did not save him from the machine gun chops. 

Having grown up in Noah watching Saito from ringside and fighting with him over the years, Shiozaki knew that he would need to bring out everything he had to defeat him, and so he did. The match between them was like an old school classic, and it worked for the best in a way there being no audience, it was like they were two people fighting in a different time in a match that was equally at home in Noah's modern era as it would have been in their Golden one. 


Saito was spread out on the floor, as Shiozaki stared at him for a while and then went to speak on the microphone, which without saying a word he handed to Saito who reached for it. Saito dragged himself up and emotionally told Shiozaki that thanks to him and thanks to this match, he could now move on with his life. He shook Shiozaki's hand and thanked him again, and told him he was the best champion.
They embraced, and Saito left the ring. A difficult and painful past had been laid to rest for both of them. 

Shiozaki spoke afterwards, and he was proud to have done this with Saito today. He spoke of Noah's soul and how this ring would continue to move. He held up the belt to the sky and said, "I am Noah"


vs Naomichi Marufuji

The title challenge was made by Naomichi Marufuji on the 18th July when Noah returned to Korakuen Hall and a live audience after four months of empty arena shows. While everyone expected Keiji Mutoh who had been making very strong hints that he would be challenging for the belt, to be the one who would put his name forward, he and Shiozaki barely locked up during the match. The tag match in question was between The M Alliance (Naomichi Marufuji and Keiji Mutoh) and Go Shiozaki and Kaito Kiyomiya, which ended with Naomichi Marufuji hitting his new move, "True Tiger King", on Go Shiozaki to take the three count. As Shiozaki lay dazed on the mat, Marufuji spoke on the microphone,

"Hey! Shiozaki! I just want to say one thing; You're a strong and reliable champion, and you've regained the trust you once lost. BUT, you got caught! You say "I AM NOAH?", well listen carefully, "I AM REALLY NOAH!"
How about this? The next challenger is me!"

Go Shiozaki vs Naomichi Marufuji, whether it be a tag or a singles, has always been significant. Both come from the "Golden Era" of Noah, both knew Mitsuharu Misawa, and both are the heirs of Noah. Shiozaki is junior to Marufuji, and he has spent much of his career trying to surpass him. Shiozaki has only ever beaten Marufuji once in a singles match, and this was after almost fourteen years of trying, each match between them is always a case of Shiozaki trying to surpass Marufuji, and Marufuji being the wall he can never quite get around. 

Naomichi Marufuji will challenge Go Shiozaki for the GHC Heavyweight championship at "NOAH DEPARTURE DAY 2" at Korakuen Hall on the 5th August 2020.


"Noah's Symbol" and "Noah's Genius" had their one and only pre-match at ShinKiba 1st Ring on the 2nd August 2020. It was kind of ironic that the two from Noah's Golden Era should make their mark by having a pre-match here, as Misawa never ran ShinKiba during that period in Noah. He didn't really need to, Noah had Differ Ariake for any smaller shows or produce shows, and that was the era of the stadiums after all. Noah were last at ShinKiba as a roster (and not a produce show) in the dark days of 2016. Those terrible four years of rot and stagnation were now behind them today, as Naomichi Marufuji and Go Shiozaki gave us a taste of the title match we are going to see; chops, Marufuji attempting to go for the knee but Shiozaki wise to him, their always latent rivalry (at the end of the day, Shiozaki is Kobashi's pupil, and Marufuji is Misawa's which adds another dimension), and the underlying frustration on Marufuji's part that Shiozaki has now beaten him once in a singles match, with Shiozaki aware that despite the fact that he is a different wrestler now to what he was then, he has only ever beaten Marufuji once. 
The pre-match was not won by a direct win by Shiozaki over Marufuji or Marufuji over Shiozaki, but rather by Shiozaki taking Atsushi Kotoge's head off with a massive Gowan Lariat. Marufuji stalked away from the ring (at ringside YO-HEY & Daisuke Harada scattered, so much so the ref had to tell them that it was okay for them to get back in it), after Shiozaki held the belt up to him, thumbing his chest and saying, "ME!" Go Shiozaki made a small speech to the crowd thanking them for coming today ending with "I AM NOAH". Backstage he said that there was no denying that Marufuji was the centre of Noah, but no matter the opponent, no matter the technique (the chop, the knee), he would defeat them all.      


At the brutal final pre-match between them at Korakuen Hall on the 4th August, it wasn't the chop or the knee, that Shiozaki found that he had to worry about, it was the "Perfect Key Lock", Naomichi Marufuji's submission move, which shockingly made him tap out. Marufuji, with a huge evil grin, had worked out that while Shiozaki's strength was in his arms, so was his weakness, and laying the title belt across Shiozaki's lap, he got on the microphone and addressing Shiozaki he said "WE are the REAL Noah" (referring to himself and his tag partners, Takashi Sugiura and Yoshinari Ogawa) and bet Shiozaki's confidence against his pride to win the match tomorrow.

This was everything that is expected of a GHC Heavyweight title match, and Misaws would have been proud. It started slowly to build up the emotion, the story behind it (i.e. the growth of the junior and the senior who wants to make his mark in Noah's 20th year), it had psychology, endurance, and overall it was a pure fight, and truly represented the Noah aesthetics. There were even some old school elements too, which Marufuji pulling out an old move combo, and a nasty looking piledriver from the apron to the floor, - Shiozaki just crawled back in the ring at the count of 19, a few seconds more and it would have been 20.

Naturally, the last few days have been rough on Shiozaki, today his shoulder was taped which extended down his arms, athletic supports on both elbows, and a speckled chest from being chopped, which Marufuji took advantage of when hitting the Tiger King Knee at Shiozaki's taped arm, capitalizing on the side of Shiozaki's head to prepare for his newest nastiest move, and then eventually locking in the "Perfect Key Lock". The crowd were frantically clapping as Shiozaki was trying to get out of it and reach the ropes, sadistically, Marufuji rolled him away from them. Shiozaki dragged himself back, Marufuji clung on, while outside the ring Nakajima was pounding the mat, the clapping and stamping from the crowd were rising to a crescendo, and Shiozaki made it to the ropes. 

When the Shiranui didn't work, it was time for Tiger Driver. Unfortunately, Shiozaki is bigger and stronger, and lifting him, he put Marufuji on the turnbuckles. Marufuji turned this into Kai Shiranui.
Shiozaki kicked out. 
Marufuji then went for a volley of kicks,  and the crowd could not stop their exclamation when Shiozaki kicked out.
Then Korakuen started holding its breath, as Marufuji stalked Shiozaki and hit a trus kick. 
Shiozaki kicked out. 
The True Tiger King...Shiozaki kicked out, and then in true Kobashi style, he had just about all he could take, and started fighting back, winning with the moonsault press in thirty minutes and fifty six seconds. 

After the match, Naomichi Marufuji motioned for the belt, the ref bought it over and he took it and in a symbolic passing of the torch from one generation of Noah, from one heir of Noah to another, from one symbol of Noah to the next, he handed it to Go Shiozaki. They shook hands, and he left the ring. Later he wrote on Twitter that Shiozaki was strong, and thanked him for the match. 


VS Kenoh

The day after winning the GHC National Championship, Kenoh came stalking to the ring after Go Shiozaki defeated Naomichi Marufuji to retain the GHC Heavyweight, and congratulated him on his win. However, Kenoh had not come out to the ring just to exchange pleasantries from one champion to another, he had a different purpose in mind. Wanting to prove that there could only be one strong champion in Noah, he challenged Shiozaki to put the GHC Heavyweight on the line at Yokohama, he would put the GHC National up too, and whoever won would be not only Noah's strongest man, but also the first ever double champion, holding both the GHC National and the GHC Heavyweight for the first time. For these belts, it is going to be the first time that they have ever been defended like this. 
Although he later said that he didn't like belt vs belt matches, Go Shiozaki agreed to Kenoh's challenge, and set it for the 10th August in Yokohama. 


The time limit for the match was set at 60 minutes. Usually title matches go twenty-five or even forty, this went the whole hour. Noah have done one other title vs title match before, which was KENTA (GHC Junior) vs Naomichi Marufuji (All Japan Junior Heavyweight Championship), and even Shiozaki's rival and the subject of many of Kenoh's paranoid delusions, had to admit that this knocked it out of the park and into space. What KENTA thought is not known. 
What happened in the match is too numerous to recount here, but as Shiozaki said in the traditional championship defence interview the next morning, it did as they promised, it went beyond the GHC. He also said that he went into the match not really wanting the GHC National, but as time went on he found himself wanting it more and more. 
Shiozaki and Kenoh bought out everything they could and everything they had; Shiozaki seemed to take multiple PFS (even one when he was lying outside the ring and Kenoh was on the top turnbuckle), the machine gun chops were met by Kenoh's machine gun kicks, a brainbuster by Kenoh on Shiozaki off the ramp, and Shiozaki even resorted to pulling out moves that he did when he was a junior. Time ticked down and down, nothing seemed to work, everything one did to the other they kicked out of sometimes even just before the referees hand hit the mat. The match went the full sixty minutes, and to a time out draw. 
Both sat glaring at each other; Shiozaki was probably more the winner though, he had gone into the match saying he didn't want the GHC National, he just wanted to defend the GHC. True, Kenoh still had the GHC National, but he was going to have to wait to carry out his ambition of being a double champion. 

Kenoh was helped out by Kongoh, who had come to second him, as Shiozaki got on the microphone and thanked everyone for coming, ending his speech with the traditional "I am NOAH! WE ARE NOAH!". Backstage he (understandably) gave a somewhat rambling promo, mentioning that Kenta Kobashi had been watching on Zoom. No challengers have come forward as of yet, as the heavyweights are gearing up for the N-1 which is due to start in September. That said, Keiji Mutoh is once again hinting that although he is finding singles matches hard at his age, he may challenge for the belt. GHC Heavyweight, GHC Tag or GHC National, he hasn't said.  

N-1 VICTORY 2020
Unlike Kaito Kiyomiya who was the GHC Heavyweight Champion last year, Go Shiozaki competed in the league and made it to the semi final night, competing in the main event against Kaito Kiyomiya for a place in the finals. Whoever won would go on to face Shiozaki's former partner, Katsuhiko Nakajima, in Osaka on October 11th. Unfortunately Shiozaki failed to overcome Kiyomiya, and was himself defeated with the Tiger Suplex. This means that Shiozaki will face either Katsuhiko Nakajima or Kaito Kiyomiya to defend the GHC Heavyweight title. 


Vs The winner of the N-1 VICTORY 2020: Katsuhiko Nakajima

As per tradition, Go Shiozaki as champion, came out to face the winner of the league. 
There was this old AXIZ intensity between them, this same darkly erotic heat, as Nakajima spoke tauntingly very close to Shiozaki, twisting his body round to look at him.  

"What are you wearing the belt for to come here? The champion who goes in circles. It can't be helped, I am the strongest, and I will take your challenge!"

Shiozaki made no comment, but silently raised the belt (he also did it very sadly as Nakajima's greatest weapon is not his feet, but his words. Nakajima knows that Shiozaki is still emotionally vulnerable to him, and Shiozaki knows it too), and then left. 

Nakajima called after him;

"Instead of saying I am Noah, isn't there one answer in Osaka?"

Shiozaki didn't look back, and Nakajima left the ring soon afterwards, staring menacingly at Kenta Kobashi on the way out. Kobashi not scared by the boy he has known since he was a child, glared back unamused.

Title challenge has been set for the 22nd November at the Yokohama Budokan. 


Throughout the pre-matches that took place up until the 22nd November, Katsuhiko Nakajima worked relentlessly on breaking down Go Shiozaki's main weapons which are his arms, attacking them with kicks and bending them round iron posts and the steel barriers. Although in an interview with Tokyo Sports he denied anything was wrong, he did go for an MRI on his shoulder. 

The pre-match scores going into Yokohama are equal; Shiozaki scored a win over Nakajima on the 3rd, and Nakajima scored a victory over Shiozaki on the 8th via vertical spike. He took the belt and posed with one of his feet resting on Shiozaki's chest, labelling him a "rotten and tattered champion". 
On the final night in Hamamatsu on the 14th November, Shiozaki told Nakajima, "Nakajima! On the 22nd November at the Yokohama Budokan, even if you take my right arm off, I won't give you the belt!" Nakajima made no comment, and left laughing. Backstage, Shiozaki admitted (and this is a big thing) that Nakajima had "shredded" his right arm, but he would fight with his shoulder blade if necessary. 

Katsuhiko Nakajima sat like an ominous bird of prey sitting on the ringpost just waiting for Go Shiozaki with his hood up, his mask on and face hidden. The effect was eerie.

Kenoh, (while the rest of Kongoh came out to second Nakajima), was on commentary, talking in hushed tones. This was not his tone by the end of the match though. 

The match had a slow build, as its early stages consisted of Nakajima refusing to lock up and kicking Shiozaki. Then he started being irritating, refusing to get in the ring and wandering around the outside. Both inside and outside the ring, Nakajima enjoyed finding ways to torture Shiozaki's arms, even bending them over the steel barriers much to Kenoh's enjoyment, and making Jurina scream when he kicked the barrier. It was the ref who had to throw Shiozaki back in the ring as the count got to 19 (I don't think Shiozaki realised and was probably meant to get in before then). Nakajima had inflicted so much damage on Shiozaki's arms that it was difficult for him to do the Machine Gun Chops at first, but he is Kenta Kobashi's pupil, and nothing was going to stop him. Shiozaki's arms did let him down again during the match when he had to delay a pin after a moonsault because of them. 

Nakajima dominated a lot of the match, catching Shiozaki in midair with a kick after bouncing him off the ropes, and even with his big grin told Shiozaki to "hit me" and then no sold him. But as ever, Nakajima gets cocky and his opponents start fighting back, and that is when the smile snaps off, he seems to grow fangs and his eyes take on a white angry flame like glow. No matter what he did, Shiozaki would not go down and stay down; kick vs chop war, Nakajima countering Shiozaki's lariats with kicks to the arm, using submissions like stretching his arms out, and then putting his knees up as Shiozaki went for the moonsault a second time. Nakajima's evil smile came back then when he rolled over to look, and the match seemed won a few moments later when Nakajima hit a massive knock out kick to Shiozaki. Shiozaki dropped to the mat and didn't move, despite the referee bending over him, but as ever in this match, no matter what Nakajima threw at him, he struggled to his feet. 

WINNER: Go Shiozaki with a short range Gowan lariat (42 minutes, 35 seconds)


Vs Takashi Sugiura

Takashi Sugiura addressed Shiozaki, congratulating him on his successful defense against Nakajima, and challenging him for the title. Shiozaki told him that he had been waiting for Sugiura to challenge him for a long time. 
Sugiura departed with the warning, "I am Noah" You can say that after you have defeated me".

When Sugiura had gone, Shiozaki made a short speech to the crowd; he thanked everyone for coming to the event today, and saying that he would always stand in the centre of the ring to detonate Noah. He finished with "I am Noah! WE are Noah!" 

The title will be defended on the 6th December at "NOAH the BEST, THE FINAL CHRONICLE 2020" at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium (No. 2 Gymnasium).


Takashi Sugiura was victorious in the first of the pre-matches, which took place in Ibaraki on the 27th November when the referee stopped the match as Sugiura had Shiozaki in the front neck lock. Sugiura told Shiozaki that he wanted to see "more" from him, and he got "more" when the two clashed for the final time before the match on the 1st December at Korakuen Hall. After five gruelling title defences (the damage was really done by Nakajima), Shiozaki is not in the best shape physically due to his shoulders and arms being constantly attacked, and the machine gun chops which are his trademark making the issue worse, so Takashi Sugiura (and tag partner) Hideki Suzuki exploited this, with Suzuki working on Shiozaki's hands. THE LEAVE posted some worrying pictures of just what Shiozaki's state is before the match. Despite all of this, it was Shiozaki who won the match by pinning Takashi Sugiura following a short range Gowan lariat. Addressing him afterwards, Shiozaki said "Takashi Sugiura! Your 20 years! I will rob you of it and stand in the ring at the end of the 6th December! I AM NOAH, and I will not be destroyed!" 

Takashi Sugiura offered a handshake to Go Shiozaki, who took it to loud applause, and some whistles. Speaking of the applause the fans gave, they didn't stop at just clapping, they also stamped their feet so much that the whole building shook. It was apt that there was a Budokan atmosphere. 

This was not just another Go Shiozaki vs Takashi Sugira stiff-fest, this was an amplified "Golden Era" championship match, which many people said rolled all of Noah's twenty years into one, combining both its past and its future. For Shiozaki, more than any other opponent even more than the fearsome and physically intimidating Fujita, this was like fighting someone made of steel. 

If Shiozaki's opponents have all had one thing in common, then it is to work to take out his arms. If you do, it makes his hard for him to chop (Sugiura dusted them off at times, although his chest was bust open by them), lariat, and if you get him in a submission he can't get to the ropes because his arms cannot support him well. When this happened, the crowd got into a frenzy of clapping. 


There were a few times when the match went outside of the ring (Shiozaki getting in at the count of 18 after a neck screw to the floor when Sugiura ripped up the mats or when Shiozaki did an over the top rope dive), and it looked as if the match was going to end in a count out and we see a title change, but this is not Noah booking. Giant Baba would rarely if never have allowed a title match to change hands via a count out, and as Noah bought these ideals from All Japan, Misawa would never have allowed it either, and this continues to this day. 
With Sugiura reading Shiozaki enough to meet the Misawa rope dive with a spear, Shiozaki using Tamon Honda's top turnbuckle choke, Sugiura battering Shiozaki with punches while he was still semi conscious from the neck screw to the floor, Shiozaki with the rolling elbow, even the Limit Break from the top turnbuckle, and the Olympic Slam, what more could be done? Both kept kicking out. Shiozaki went for the moonsault, but Sugiura put his knees up and then locked in the dreaded choke. Reaching the ropes didn't work as he didn't have the power in his arms and Sugiura kept pulling him away, Shiozaki tried to reverse the move but Sugiura hung on. Shiozaki then turned it into the Go Flasher. In the end there was nothing left but increasingly stiff chops and punches, and the Gowan Lariat that ended it all.  


As everyone had expected and as he himself had been hinting at for a long time, Keiji Mutoh came down to the ring to challenge Go Shiozaki for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Mutoh told Shiozaki that he understood that he was an old man, but even old men had dreams, and his was to fight for the GHC Heavyweight at the Nippon Budokan. Shiozaki accepted saying he would take anyone's challenge, and quoted Antonio Inoki while he did it, saying "anytime and anywhere". The title match has been set for 12th February 2021, when Noah return there after almost nine years of exile. 

Go Shiozaki and Keiji Mutoh had their first pre match on the 4th January 2021 at Noah's first show of the year, the card was a mystery with the entrants being announced via theme music, and naturally the two faced off. 
Keiji Mutoh slightly played the old man, which started with his leaning on the shoulder of Referee Shu Nishinaga to get into the ring. I get the impression that with that, and how Mutoh was acting during the match, the pretense that he is just an old man is to lure Go Shiozaki in to a sense of false security and confidence. During the match, Mutoh differed from Shiozaki's other title challengers in that he wasn't interested in attacking his arms, he went for his legs (he also did the same to Kaito Kiyomiya), but it's not Kiyomiya who he is challenging. The match ended with Go Shiozaki pinning Keiji Mutoh via moonsault, he said afterwards somewhat sternly on Twitter that next time, he expected more. 
Mutoh said, "I have never lost to that, not even once. I've never been pinned by it. This is really regrettable. It's a really regrettable match. Well, in a way the fire has been lit in my heart."

The last pre-match between them took the form of a six man tag, which saw Go Shiozaki team with Daisuke Harada and Kaito Kiyomiya, against his challenger Keiji Mutoh, and their challengers Naomichi Marufuji and Seiki Yoshioka. Mutoh ignored Shiozaki's greatest weapons, his arms, and concentrated on making things easier for his own weapons, by attacking Go Shiozaki's legs so he could set him up for the figure-four leglock. Mutoh was helped in attacking Shiozaki's legs by his tag partners, with Naomichi Marufuji and Seiki Yoshioka joining in during the match in a tandem move. Mutoh locked the hold in three times; first time the lock was broken up by Kiyomiya and Harada, the second time Shiozaki managed to get to the ropes, the third time he couldn't move and his tag partners were trapped outside the ring. The unthinkable happened, with The GHC Heavyweight Champion, tapping. 
Mutoh left the ring soon after having his arm raised with his team, while Shiozaki was helped out by Atsushi Kotoge and Junta Miyawaki. Shiozaki refused their help (Atsushi Kotoge was alarmingly the voice of reason here), and although he did have to lean on the seconds initially, he managed to limp backstage, humiliated.


Go Shiozaki knew that this is was the biggest stage he was wrestling on during this title run, and with Kenta Kobashi (along with Akira Taue and Noah's step-grandfather, Genichiro Tenryu looking on), he had to rise to the occasion. 

Go Shiozaki started the match by mat wrestling Keiji Mutoh and aiming to take him down as best he could. Mutoh had a plan of his own, and worked on Shiozaki's ragged shoulders and then his knees and legs, his aim was to exhaust him, but in a different way. 

As per Budokan tradition, the main event fight usually goes to the ramp, Mutoh punched Shiozaki down it, and as per Budokan tradition, the two main eventers must pull off either an apron or a ramp spot. This didn't happen here, not because Shiozaki isn't capable (he'd willingly do it), but because Mutoh is not physically capable anymore, as we would see later when he was going to go for a moonsault, and then halfway through thought the better of it, which led to a botched spot when Shiozaki attempted a top rope move. Mutoh also seemed not really able to stand up to the machine gun chops, but I think that this may have been part of his plan to lure Shiozaki into thinking he was an old man who was past it and was in over his head. 


It wasn't going to be any form of submission that caused Shiozaki to lose the match, and Mutoh locked in the leglock four times, causing Shiozaki each time to drag himself (and Mutoh) to the ropes. Shiozaki showed how well he could sell, by dragging himself to his feet the second time and having a wobbly leg. When submission moves were no good, it was time to resort to finishers. The Go Flasher, the Gowan Lariat, the Moonsault were no good, and even Mutoh's own Shining Wizard failed to bring an end to the match, which in the end, Mutoh did what Kenoh had done when facing an impossible situation, and won by catching his opponent off guard with a sudden strike. 

WINNER: Keiji Mutoh with the Frankensteiner (29 minutes, 32 seconds)


Links
"I Am Noah!" Go Shiozaki finally revives, first match against Kazuyuki Fujita
Go Shiozaki to prove the GHC Heavyweight is the highest peak
Go Shiozaki match signing (vs Kazuyuki Fujita)
Shiozaki declares destruction of Beast Fujita's chest with 120 chop
Shiozaki to prove the GHC Heavyweight is the highest peak

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