He Can Go

Go Shiozaki (c) VS Takashi Sugiura - NOAH GHC Heavyweight Championship Lumberjack Match 7/30/2016

JJZ: I fucking love this match Chris. I watched this one 6 years ago and enjoyed the piss out of it then too. This is the title defense after your Shelton match. Now this is a lumberjack match and the big story is because Go still doesn't have the trust of the lockerroom his LJs are some young boys and midcarders. It was expected it'd have interference but I think they did a wonderful job not letting it affect the integrity of the finish. Better crowd than most NOAH shows at this time. Fantastic spots, stiff dickheads, and I think everything was paced perfectly. Enjoy baby cakes.

CJD: There's so much I want to say about this match that I kept putting it off. Stiff dickheads. Man that perfectly sums up this feud. These two have a problem self editing but when they capture lightning in a bottle it's beautiful. And this was one of those times! I loved this stipulation even if it wasn't the style of lumberjack match I prefer (I like when it's every man for himself on the outside). It kept the psychology focused and I agree completely that it built to a very satisfying finish. When we started PIF this is what I  dreamt of. You dropping NOAH knowledge on me. Digging into matches we might not ever get to share with each other because time is fleeting. The great stuff that happens in the not great eras that takes perseverance to dig up. Putting in the work as fans! I love this match and I love you.

Ain't No Stoppin Him, NOW

Go Shiozaki (c) VS Shelton Benjamin - NOAH GHC Heavyweight Championship 6/12/2016

CJD: I can't say I ever dreamed of Shelton in a half hour GHC Title match. Definitely not playing to his strengths. And I know there's a very good chance you've already seen this match. But I was in the mood for Shelton in NOAH and of the matches I had available to me this one definitely raised my eyebrows. There's good and bad to this match. Let's get the bad news out of the way first. Terrible crowd as was typical in this period. Video gets choppy or out of sync a few times. And there's just a little bit of a rough feel to how they build to and deliver a lot of big spots. I wouldn't say these guys have great chemistry. But, Benjamin looks surprisingly comfortable in this setting, and is a very game challenger for an all-time great Champion. Go is a kind of divisive figure, I think the people that are hard on him can't get past the sometimes iffy execution and the blatant Kobashi emulation. For me his selling, his supreme effort, and his general charisma outweigh those criticisms. This match has all that on display. And I guess that's the good news. Is that for any negatives you'd expect, this match has all the positives you want to. Hard hitting, hard work, big bumps, nice twists and turns. This is the NOAH Ace defending against the invading heel through and through. It won't go down as one of the greats but for an interesting footnote in both guys' careers I thought they did a damn fine job.

JJZ: Chris my beautiful friend. You are so far in my wheelhouse with this match I'm going to have to ask you to please take your shoes off and have a seat. I have seen this match before and remember liking it a lot. Shelton really had some good matches in NOAH. One with Nakajima that I even played for our mutual wrestling friends. I did play the match that Go won the title for this defense against Sugiura for you before and this was his first defense of that championship run. One thing I really liked about this era of Go was that he wasn't quite the Ace at this time. He was in a proving his loyalty to NOAH phase being that he just returned from AJPW. When Sugiura turned on Marufuji a few months back Maru turned down Go's help and refused to shake his hand. I loved NOAH in 2016 and matches like this are a big reason. This played way better than I remembered. Shelton hit a lot of big "oh shit!" spots. The knee in the corner, that German and that table spot.  Go worked from under excellently. Really nice crowd popping spots with explosive energy. Now the crowd wasn't the best but it was better than a lot of NOAH crowds during this time. I enjoyed the fuck out of this one baby cakes. And I already know what I'm playing next!

Who Is NOAH??

Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) VS Go Shiozaki - NOAH GHC Heavyweight Championship 1/1/2022

JJZ: I still fucking hate that Nakajima changed his music. I truly loved his last song. Also didn't know this was Go's big return from surgery. I know this is a little off topic but I got a question for you. With NOAH and NJPW working together again who would you want to wrestle Okada? Personally I'd kill for Nakajima to work him. They have the whole angle with Kensuke built in already. Back to the match. So from watching recent NOAH and recent NJPW I feel like NOAH has had a better crowd through the pandemic. I understand they are both under the same restrictions but the NOAH crowd has had far better energy imo. More than any fans I know me and you have this special attraction to NOAH. I remember the first NOAH match I've ever seen was when you showed me Misawa vs Kobashi when Kobashi won the GHC title. I've been in love ever since. That green apron held a special meaning. Sharing NOAH matches with you means more than any promotion to me. So let's talk about Nak's kicks. I mean does anyone even come close at this point? I think not. The sound better than when my karate teacher is laying into the heavy bag. Fucking damage is being done. Loved the ramp spots. Some 2000s NOAH call backs. This match was a master class in a striking based match. Just two men going shot for shot to see who is tougher. The spots are hit well and timely to accent the aggression in the match. It did not overstay its welcome and had me on a couple falsies. Great selling by both guys. And personally I like this one more than their other recent jawn.

CJD: So first of all, thank you for working behind the scenes with me to get to this match. I was dying to see it. Their 2020 jawn was one of my favorites of the year and on first watch I agree that this might have been even better. I also agree that NOAH crowds are really committed to their product despite the pandemic restrictions. It's the only current Japanese wrestling I get excited to watch. As for the match. There's just something about the way these two match up that works so well. I'm honestly kind of sick of "shot for shot" wrestling as you called it, at least when it's lacking in selling, emotion, and drama. This match wasn't lacking in any of these areas. The story of AXIZ torn apart still adds so much but even without that layer just Go's return after his historic title reign, coming back for his title, drives the story of this match so much. Shiozaki wrestles like he has a new lease on life. Nakajima wrestles like he trained to prepare for whatever Go would throw at him. Like you said the build is pitch perfect and the selling makes everything feel so high stakes by the end. I loved the actual finish and the symbolism of it. I also loved your comments about our bond watching mid 2000s NOAH together! That's something I appreciate that NOAH retains to this day, that feeling handed down from Baba's booking that hooked us, that wins against the top guys matter so much. When you saw Baba, Jumbo, and then eventually Misawa, Kobashi take a L, even in a tag setting, you knew you were seeing something special. That's how I feel about how they've built Go at this point, and that's why I wanted to see this match spoiler-free. I didn't expect him to win the title back, but I definitely wasn't ruling it out, because I know his losses at this point matter. This match delivered on the expectations of that standard of booking that we've fallen in love with over the decades. As well as those holy shit moments that came along with those early emerald green ring classics.

Oh and to answer your question, I'd book Okada VS Kaito!

Ace In The Hole

Hiroshi Tanahashi VS Go Shiozaki - NOAH 7/10/2010

CJD: To pull back the curtain a bit, I told you I was thinking about playing this one forward to you, and you told me you've played it for me before IRL. But you said bring it on because you remember loving the match. I always want to zag when it's time to zig though, so I went and watched a few Tanahashi matches VS Goto. And those matches basically were trying to accomplish what this match did, but didn't do anywhere near as good of a job of it. So I went back to my original plan and holy shit- how did I forget that moonsault?!? The fact Tanahashi is able to finish the match after that is incredibly tough (or incredibly stupid with 2022 eyes) and he really goes the extra mile to make Go look like a star here. When you played this match for our gang the room was very much split, half not sold on Tanahashi, half not sold on Go. I'm hardcore, I'll take them both! I don't think Shiozaki had put it all together as he tried to become a top guy at this point but he had great fire and both wrestlers lived in the moment to take this crowd on a ride. Even with some rough edges it was fun to refresh my memory with this one.

JJZ: I'm really glad you went with this one. At the time I didn't appreciate Tanahashi like I do now. So this is like watching with a different set of eyes. I also really like that both our Tanahashi matches aren't from NJPW. I did watch the match these  two had in NJPW and I think this one is a lot better. The moonsault really knocked Tana into a fog. He probably shouldn't have finished the match but major respect for him doing so. I loved the build to the chops and the crowd's pop proved they did a nice job of executing. Also love when Go hits a great Go Flasher!

Jungle Sugi

Takashi Sugiura/Go Shiozaki VS Shinsuke Nakamura/Milano Collection AT - NOAH 3/1/2009

CJD: With how high profile of a match this is and how unusual big interpromotional matches between NJPW and NOAH are I have to think you've seen this one before. You may have even played it for me. Either way, if I've seen it before, I remembered nothing about it, and god damn did it deliver on absolutely everything I could want out of a match like this. This is also the era of Sugiura where you got me to turn the corner on him so it's a fitting choice for me. This has great character work and big moments, good surly violent Japanese heavyweight wrestling, and a heaping spoonful of honest to god heat. My kinda match.

JJZ: So happy you picked this. I can't believe I never saw it before. Seeing NOAH in '09 packing them in is great. I look at Sugiura and Go and can't believe they weren't able to keep attendance up. I know a lot more goes into NOAH's struggles than that but I always thought they had the talent to overcome. Nakamura in shorts feels like a totally different wrestler. Slaps and chokes and punches and stiffness mixed in with solid tag team wrestling. I forgot how stiff Go's chops were. MCAT plays his role well, the split drop down with Go eating shit made me lol. Solid falsies and a great finish made this match.