(NOAH) "Unprecedented tension. This is a fight to protect Noah"...Go Shiozaki defeats Kazuyuki Fujita in empty arena in 30 minute visual battle

Hochi News
29th March 2020

Pro Wrestling Noah held the Korakuen Hall event as an empty area on 29th March, to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus infection. In the main event, GHC Heavyweight champion, Go Shiozaki, won his first defense against Kazuyuki Fujita in a 57 minute and 54 second match.

The main event that concluded the empty arena match was an unusual development, in which, for 30 minutes from the start, a stare down was held with no contact at all. The only sounds that resonated in the quiet hall was the sound of the announcers in broadcasting, and the voice of the seconds. Neither Shiozaki or Fujita shortened the distance between them.
The unusual 30 minutes was only possible as it was not affected by the voices of fans. The ring heated up when Fujita made a tackle.

At the end of forty minutes, Fujita pulled Shiozaki out of the ring and into the southern audience seats, and a brawl took place on the balcony to the west side of the elevator hall. This was an out of ring battle that could only be enjoyed because there is no audience, and the hall overflowed with a tension that is unique to an empty arena.
Fifty minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and with the time out draw just three minutes away, Shiozaki, who had survived Fujita's onslaught, took the 3 counts with three brilliant rapid Gowan lariats.

The match time was 57 minutes, and 47 seconds, and it was a legendary first defense. The event was broadcast live on "FIGHTING TV Samurai" and on the video channel, DDT UNIVERSE. In the ring, Shiozaki screamed at the viewer, "I am NOAH!"

Backstage, Shiozaki reflected saying, "this is tension and intimidation that I have never tasted before". Looking back on the 30 minute battle he commented, "This is an unprecedented sense of tension. I have been robbed of my physical strength."
There are also other elements in the first defense, a primary cause being, "Even in the situation that there is only one customer watching, you can't lose. You have to win. This is a fight to protect Noah. This is Noah."

Link to original article from Yahoo Japan\Hochi News
Picture credit: Yahoo Japan\Hochi News