Go Shiozaki(c) vs Takashi Sugiura 06/12/2020

This was a singles match for GHC Heavyweight Championship and Shiozaki's 6th defense of the title in his fourth reign with it.

This match is a celebration. A celebration of NOAH's history, of Takashi Sugiura's amazing career and of Go Shiozaki finally taking the place that he was always destined for as the one true ace of Pro Wrestling NOAH. The last two times that Go and Sugi had met with Go as GHC champ, Sugi ended his reigns. His title runs came during really tough times for NOAH as business wasn't good and they were going through a dark phase. It was almost like Sugi was doing the poor guy a favour by relieving him. Go leaving NOAH, then coming back and having his redemption run and finally winning the GHC Heavyweight to have his ace run. This time it wasn't about Sugi relieving Go, it was about Go conquering his own final boss, NOAH’s final boss after having a successful WOTY run meanwhile also bringing many old fans back and newer fans as well to finally be able to achieve acceptance as the role of the “I AM NOAH”. For Sugi it was about holding on to the moniker of the standard bearer of the ark and showing that he was not going down without a fight. It is about being the GHC Heavyweight Champion. Go even acknowledges the fact that he had been waiting for Sugi to challenge him and here we are with Go's mentor Kobashi on commentary. NOAH never fails to nail the symbolism.

The match itself is fantastic. This is one of the bouts where for me personally, the clap crowds enhanced the atmosphere because the sound of those strikes…. SHEEEEESH. The arm work on Go by Sugi is brutal as he is justifying his moniker of the killing machine and of course Go sells it really well. One of the best qualities of a babyface ace for me is the ability to take a beating and gain empathy from the viewer. Go is perhaps one of the best at doing that. His screams, the agony that he's being subjected to being visible on his face with those fantastic expressions. He's just wonderful. The comebacks have a lot of weight on them because his offense just looks so good. Wrestlers out there these days just do strike exchanges for the sake of it and a lot of the times it doesn't even look good. Not here. The disgusting thuds on sugi’s elbows(he really lays them in) and Go with some of the loudest chops that i have ever heard. They do the strikes to get out of a tough spot in the match so all of that feels earned. The only criticism I can give to this match is if it had a little tighter runtime, it would've been absolutely perfect but any bloat that I may have a problem with is made up for by the constant theme of the match and that is to never give up, to always get back up no matter what. The finishing stretch of the match just nails that narrative to perfection. The amount of tension in there is palpable. The nearfalls are crazy. Chops, elbows, SHOOT PUNCHES, lariats and Go just survives. The crowd losing their minds and forgetting that they weren't allowed to make verbal noises was incredible. A gem of a bout. And Go Shiozaki, after years of Struggle and failures and an immense amount of hardwork finally ascends to the position in NOAH that his seniors had chosen him for. What a story!!!

Upon a rewatch I realised that this match embodies the spirit of Pro Wrestling NOAH. To get back up in tough times, never really going down no matter how hard things got to keep pushing, fighting back. That's what NOAH is all about. That's what Shiozaki and Sugi’s careers are all about. A highly emotional match taking everything into context. More than just another title defense for Go, this was THE title defense for Go and possibly my favourite one.