(NOAH) "Katsuhiko shock" sadness...the N-1 counterattack and the road to clarification; interview with Go Shiozaki

4th September 2020
Puroresu DX

On August 30th at Kawasaki, the GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki, suddenly parted with his beloved partner, Katsuhiko Nakajima. Regarding the GHC Tag Championship match, including the pre match fight they lost again to Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba, and at the end AXIZ suddenly broke up, and Nakajima was welcomed by and shockingly entered Kongoh.
Shiozaki confessed there is a terrible situation of disappointment and regret that cannot be erased easily, but before Noah's biggest league match "N-1 VICTORY", he has set his sights on the path of the counterattack for clarification. 

INTERVIEW WITH GO SHIOZAKI

Q: Nakajima suddenly said goodbye
SHIOZAKI: To be honest, it's a situation that has not been sorted out yet. Right now, the only fact now is that "that happened". I don't think I will get the real reason until we fight, when we face each other in the ring, I will know what he meant. 
Q: On that day in Kawasaki AXIZ had a new costume. There no prior announcement. 
SHIOZAKI: Yeah...I thought it would be AXIZ wearing a belt after a long time!
Q: However, there was a scene where Nakajima wanted the tag, but you didn't quite respond. If you use that as a basis, it leads to the "You don't need me, right?" that Nakajima said after the match.
SHIOZAKI: It was...I had an intense fight with Sugiura, and I didn't want to leave, and I believed, "I can go!". I wonder if I should have tagged in there...
Q: Do you need Katsuhiko Nakajima? 
SHIOZAKI: I never said I didn't need him. Without AXIZ, I wouldn't be here now. 
Q: While "going back and forth" it seems that AXIZ was a major factor in gaining the trust of Noah fans again. 
SHIOZAKI: Yeah, I think I was able to blend into Noah again in the true sense because of AXIZ. I think it melted something that was awkward at the time of my return. AXIZ was really important and necessary for me. 
Q: But Katsuhiko Nakajima said "I don't need you anymore"
SHIOZAKI: I wonder if I am to blame...but I don't think that lead to entering Kongoh. I don't know if he was being impulsive, or if it was something he had been thinking about. To be honest, I my feelings are "dragging", but I don't think that I will understand anything until the next time we face each other. 
Q: You were rescued by Kaito Kiyomiya, and you will team on the 6th September event in Fujisan? 
SHIOZAKI: In that situation I guess he thought, "I have no choice but to do something". However, he is teaming with Inaba (Daiki) and Taniguchi (Shuhei), so why should I join? I don't think that I will be working with Kiyomiya immediately (in a unit setting)...I still can't feel that way. 
Q: You talked about Kenoh, who you drew in the championship match with, before the N-1 saying "Once again in the final", but has the situation changed? 
SHIOZAKI: It's changed. At first it was just Kenoh entering in the other block and I wanted to put an end to it, but Katsu...no, Katsuhiko Nakajima is in that other block. It may be necessary to add some clarification, but no longer as AXIZ. 
Q: The reason for you winning your own block has increased? 
SHIOZAKI: That's right. Kazushi Sakuraba is in the same block, and recently he took the win from me in the pre tag matches, and so I think it is important to be able to return the debt. He is in a separate block, I have just lost to Takashi Sugiura in the tag championship match, so there are many opponents I have to defeat in a league full of many things to do. 
Q: Kiyomiya, who was the GHC champion at the time, did not participate in the first league last year, and so this is the first time that the GHC champion will appear after the league name change*
SHIOZAKI: Yeah. First of all, as long as I am wearing the GHC, it is mandatory for me to break through the block and win the league championship. I think of all matches as title matches of course, and for me there are a lot of reasons and meanings. In the present condition where the road has fallen away suddenly, I will open up the way again. 

Picture credit: Puroresu DX

*League was originally known as "Global League" (the juniors have their own "Global Junior League", which has not changed its name).

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