Go Shiozaki

Go Shiozaki

Shiozaki (right) with Mitsuharu Misawa in May 2009
Born (1982-01-21) January 21, 1982[1]
Kumamoto, Kumamoto[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Go Shiozaki[1][2]
Billed height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Billed weight 110 kg (240 lb)[2]
Trained by Harley Race[3]
Kenta Kobashi[2][3]
Tamon Honda[2]
Yoshinari Ogawa[2]
Debut July 24, 2004[2][3]

Go Shiozaki (潮﨑 豪 Shiozaki Gō) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer. He made his debut for the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion in July 2004 and remained with the promotion until the end of 2012, becoming a two-time GHC Heavyweight Champion and a one-time GHC Tag Team Champion. In January 2013, Shiozaki joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he became a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and a two-time World Tag Team Champion, before resigning from the promotion in September 2015. He has also worked for American promotions Ring of Honor (ROH) and Full Impact Pro (FIP), winning the latter's World Heavyweight Championship.

Professional wrestling career

Pro Wrestling Noah (2003–2012)

Shiozaki entered the Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) dojo in 2003[4] and according to the commentators from the event Universal Uproar, was the only man to graduate in his class as well as being the youngest wrestler on the roster. Following his debut, Shiozaki became a protégé of the legendary Kenta Kobashi. Shiozaki and Kobashi formed a very successful tag team and the biggest match the two had as a team was a losing effort against Kensuke Sasaki and his own protégé, Katsuhiko Nakajima. The match reached critical acclaim, being given a near-perfect rating from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

In the beginning of 2006, Shiozaki fractured his jaw against KENTA.[4] Following his recovery, he began wrestling matches against the biggest names of the company and despite losing to them, he would put forth a valiant effort against them, similar to how Kobashi competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling. After Kobashi was forced out of action due to cancer, Shiozaki teamed briefly with Tamon Honda but was again defeated by Noah's top wrestlers until he finally broke his losing streak by pinning Ricky Marvin.

In late April 2007, Shiozaki represented Noah in the prestigious King of Europe Cup. He defeated Real Quality Wrestling representative Martin Stone in the first round before falling to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla representative Davey Richards in the quarterfinals.

Shiozaki returned to Noah in mid-2009 and gained a significant push as Mitsuharu Misawa's new tag team partner. They soon won the Global Tag League in May and thus became the top contenders to the GHC Tag Team Championship. During their title match on June 13 against champions Akitoshi Saito and Bison Smith, Misawa suffered a cervical spinal cord trauma[5] during the match after receiving a belly to back suplex from Saito. After Misawa remained motionless following the suplex, officials quickly tended to him before he was taken to a hospital, where he died later on.

On June 14, reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama was forced to vacate the title due to herniated discs in his back. As a result, Shiozaki was nominated by Akiyama to wrestle for the title against the number one contender Takeshi Rikio. After a hard-fought twenty-minute match, Shiozaki managed to defeat Rikio to become the new GHC Heavyweight Champion. He then went on to successfully defend his title for the first time on September 27 against Akitoshi Saito. However his second title defense was unsuccessful as on December 6, Shiozaki lost the World Heavyweight title to Takashi Sugiura on the last date of the 2009 Winter Navigation tour. On May 23, 2010 Shiozaki teamed up with Atsushi Aoki to defeat Takeshi Morishima and Taiji Ishimori to win the AAA World Tag Team Championship during Pro Wrestling Noah's NOAH Navigation With Breeze - Day 1 show in Niigata, Niigata, Japan. As a result of the victory, Shiozaki and Aoki were scheduled to defend the title during Asistencia Asesoría y Administración's Triplemania XVIII show.[6] At TripleMania, Shiozaki and Aoki were the first team eliminated when Joe Lider pinned Shiozaki. The match and the title were ultimately won by Los Maniacos (Silver Cain and Último Gladiador).[7] In August 2010 Shiozaki took part in New Japan Pro Wrestling's 2010 G1 Climax tournament, where he won four out of his seven round robin stage matches, only to narrowly miss the finals of the tournament after wrestling Shinsuke Nakamura to a 30-minute time limit draw on the final day of the tournament.[8] The draw with Nakamura led to a No Time Limit match at a Pro Wrestling Noah show on August 22, where Shiozaki was victorious.[9] Shiozaki and Nakamura had their third match on January 4, 2011, at New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, where Nakamura was victorious.[10][11] Shiozaki regained the GHC Heavyweight Title by defeating Takashi Sugiura on July 10, 2011. On January 4, 2012, Shiozaki returned to New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, where he and Naomichi Marufuji defeated CHAOS Top Team (Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano) in a tag team match.[12] On January 22, Shiozaki lost the GHC Heavyweight Championship to Takeshi Morishima.[13] On October 26, Shiozaki and Akitoshi Saito defeated Kenta and Maybach Taniguchi to win the GHC Tag Team Championship.[14] On December 3, 2012, it was reported that Shiozaki had threatened to not re-sign with Noah after his contract expires in January 2013, when the promotion decided to release Kenta Kobashi from his contract.[15] Six days later, Shiozaki and Saito lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura.[16] On December 19, Noah confirmed that Shiozaki would be leaving the promotion following December 24.[17] On December 24, Shiozaki defeated Taiji Ishimori in his final Noah match.[18][19]

Foreign excursions (2006–2009)

Shiozaki made his Ring of Honor (ROH) debut during ROH's August 2006 tour of England.[3] In July 2007, he wrestled Bryan Danielson in ROH's debut show in Tokyo, Japan. He unsuccessfully wrestled ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness in a title match on a Noah show in January 2008 before joining the ROH roster as a regular during February's event Eye of the Storm.[3]

On June 6, 2008, Shiozaki participated in a one night tournament to crown new ROH World Tag Team Champions. He and partner World Champion Nigel McGuiness were eliminated in the first round by Kevin Steen and El Generico when Steen forced McGuiness to submit to the sharpshooter. The following day, Shiozaki received a title shot against McGuiness but lost when McGuiness forced him to submit to the London Dungeon. On June 28, Shiozaki revealed himself to be the newest member of Sweet 'n' Sour Inc., Larry Sweeney's heel stable.

In the summer of 2008, Shiozaki began performing for ROH's sister promotion, Full Impact Pro (FIP), based in Florida. He defeated Erick Stevens for the World Heavyweight Championship at FIP's event Heatstroke on August 23.[20] He would hold the belt for four months, defending it on both FIP and ROH, before losing it to Tyler Black on December 20.

Soon after having a tryout match with World Wrestling Entertainment[21] on September 5, Shiozaki began wrestling in Harley Race's World League Wrestling, where he also underwent further training under Race.[3] On October 4, he won the WLW World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in a nine-man Battle Royal for the vacant title. He later lost title to four-time WLW World Heavyweight Champion Luminous Warrior on May 19, 2009.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2013–2015)

On January 26, 2013, Shiozaki, Atsushi Aoki, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, all of whom had quit Noah at the same time, announced that they had joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), forming the "Burning" stable.[22] On March 17, Shiozaki and Akiyama defeated Get Wild (Manabu Soya and Takao Omori) to win the World Tag Team Championship.[23] On May 11, Shiozaki made a one-night return to Noah to take part in Kenta Kobashi's retirement match, where he, Kenta, Maybach Taniguchi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru were defeated by Kobashi, Jun Akiyama, Keiji Mutoh and Kensuke Sasaki.[24] On July 5, following a mass exodus led by Keiji Mutoh, it was announced that Shiozaki, along with the rest of Burning, had signed an exclusive contract with All Japan.[25] Afterwards, Shiozaki set his sights on the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, defeating reigning champion Suwama in a non-title Two Out of Three Falls match on July 14, the launching day of the post-Mutoh All Japan.[26] Shiozaki received his shot at the title on August 25, but was defeated by Suwama.[27] In September, Shiozaki made it to the finals of the 2013 Ōdō Tournament, after wins over Burning stablemates Kotaro Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru as well as top World Tag Team Championship contender Joe Doering,[28][29][30] before losing to Akebono.[31] On October 22, Shiozaki and Akiyama lost the World Tag Team Championship to Evolution (Joe Doering and Suwama).[32] The following day, Shiozaki announced that he wanted to leave Burning in order to win the Triple Crown.[33][34] On November 18, Shiozaki announced that he was forming a new stable named "Xceed", revealing Kenso as the first member of the group.[35] However, in the stable's first match three days later, Kenso turned on Shiozaki and aligned himself with Bambi Killer and D'Lo Brown. Shiozaki was then saved by Atsushi Aoki, Kento Miyahara and Kotaro Suzuki, who became the newest members of Xceed.[36] In December, Shiozaki and Miyahara made it to the finals of the 2013 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, before losing to Evolution (Joe Doering and Suwama).[37] On February 23, 2014, Shiozaki received another shot at the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Akebono.[38] In April, Shiozaki participated in the 2014 Champion Carnival, where he was leading his block before suffering a broken thumb, which forced him to pull out of the tournament and forfeit his final round-robin match with Jun Akiyama.[39]

On September 28, Shiozaki defeated Suwama in the finals to win the 2014 Ōdō Tournament and earn another shot at the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.[40] Shiozaki received his title shot on October 29, but was defeated by Joe Doering.[41] Shiozaki received a rematch with Doering on January 3, 2015, and defeated him to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time.[42] He made his first successful title defense on February 7 against Zeus.[43] His second successful defense took place on March 27 against Xceed stablemate Kento Miyahara.[44] On May 6, Shiozaki and Miyahara defeated Yutaka Yoshie and Shiozaki's next Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship challenger Akebono to become the new World Tag Team Champions.[45] By simultaneously holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship and the World Tag Team Championship, Shiozaki became the seventh "Quintuple Crown Champion".[46] On May 21, Shiozaki lost the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship to Akebono in his third defense.[47] On September 28, it was announced that Shiozaki was leaving AJPW the following month and becoming a freelancer.[48] The announcement also led to Shiozaki and Miyahara vacating the World Tag Team Championship.[49] Shiozaki's final AJPW match took place on October 4, when he and Miyahara defeated Jun Akiyama and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a tag team match.[50]

Freelancer (2015–present)

On November 20, 2015, Shiozaki returned to Noah, announcing he wanted to again wrestle in his original home promotion. His interview segment was interrupted by Minoru Suzuki, who offered him a spot in his Suzuki-gun stable.[51] On November 26, Shiozaki defeated Mitsuhiro Kitamiya in his Noah return match.[52] When Takashi Sugiura turned on Noah and joined Suzuki-gun on December 23, Shiozaki announced that he wanted to join the promotion in its battle with Suzuki-gun. Naomichi Marufuji, however, turned his offer down.[53] On January 31, 2016, Shiozaki's tag team partner Yoshinobu Kanemaru turned on him and joined Suzuki-gun. At the end of the show, Marufuji, after losing the GHC Heavyweight Championship to Sugiura, finally accepted Shiozaki's help in the war between Noah and Suzuki-gun.[54]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Shiozaki as the WLW Heavyweight Champion in late 2008

References

  1. 1 2 "Go Shiozaki Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Cagematch profile".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Oliver, Greg. "The Americanization of Go Shiozaki". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  4. 1 2 The profile at Noah Navi(Japanese)
  5. ↑ "untitled". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 2009-06-22. Archived from the original on June 20, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
  6. ↑ "De última hora: En Japón los cinturones AAA cambian de manos, los nuevos campeones vienen a Triplemania 18". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). May 23, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Triplemania XVIII: Fiesta de Fiestas" (in Spanish). Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. June 7, 2010. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
  8. ↑ "(Results) New Japan, 8/15/10". Strong Style Spirit. 2010-08-15. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  9. ↑ "NJ in NOAH results; Kanemoto & Tiger win belts, Nakamura loses". Strong Style Spirit. 2010-08-22. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
  10. ↑ レッスルキングダムⅤ ｉｎ 東京ドーム. New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  11. ↑ Gerweck, Steve (2011-01-04). "1/4 TNA-NJPW Results: Tokyo, Japan". WrestleView. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  12. ↑ "NJPW 40th anniversary Tour. レッスルキングダムⅥ in 東京ドーム". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  13. ↑ "Great Voyage 2012 in Osaka". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2012-01-22.
  14. 1 2 新潟市体育館. Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  15. ↑ ノア激震！小橋解雇、秋山ら退団. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  16. ↑ "Great Voyage 2012 in Ryogoku vol.2". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  17. ↑ 秋山らノア退団正式決定. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2012-12-19. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
  18. ↑ "～Noahful Gift in Differ 2012 vol.2～". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2012-12-24.
  19. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (2012-12-24). "Mon. update: Raw tonight, wrestlers bid farewell to Noah, Leben talks his issues". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2012-12-25.
  20. 1 2 "FIP World Heavyweight Championship history".
  21. ↑ "WWE SmackDown! 2008 09 05". Online World Of Wrestling. 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  22. ↑ 秋山、潮崎らノア退団5選手が全日本プロレスに参戦. Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  23. 1 2 "2013 プロレスLove in 両国～Basic&Dynamic～". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  24. ↑ 2013年5月11日(土). Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-05-11.
  25. ↑ 秋山13年ぶり！電撃"王道"復帰「全日本の名前の下に頑張りたい」. Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. 2013-07-06. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
  26. ↑ 新生全日本が船出 潮崎が三冠王者・諏訪魔との３本勝負に勝利. Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. 2013-07-15. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
  27. ↑ "Summer Impact 2013～ The beginning of evolution ～". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-08-25.
  28. ↑ 「王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～」. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  29. ↑ 「王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～」. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  30. ↑ 「王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～」. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  31. ↑ 「王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～」. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  32. ↑ "Anniversary Tour". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  33. ↑ 秋山がバーニング解体し大森と新タッグ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2013-10-24. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
  34. ↑ 潮﨑が秋山との決別を正式表明. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2013-10-26. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  35. ↑ "潮﨑選手が新ユニット「Xceed」結成を宣言！！". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2013-11-18. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  36. ↑ "Xcced初陣でKensoがいきなり潮崎を裏切り、全日本に反旗！前哨戦で三冠王者と世界ジュニア王者が揃って挑戦者に完敗！". Battle News (in Japanese). 2013-11-22. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  37. ↑ 2013　世界最強タッグ決定リーグ戦. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  38. ↑ "エールクリエイトpresents 2014 沖縄Impact vol.1". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  39. ↑ "ゼウス戦で指を骨折した潮崎が欠場！秋山との公式戦は不戦敗に！The Bodyguardが諏訪魔戦に向けてコメント". Battle News (in Japanese). 2014-04-25. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
  40. 1 2 全日本で初勲章！潮﨑「王道Ｔ」初制覇 ３冠挑戦へ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2014-09-29. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
  41. ↑ 【10.29】全日本プロレス 旗揚げ記念シリーズ 山形大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  42. 1 2 "全日本1.3後楽園大会　ドーリングvs.潮崎の三冠戦、鼓太郎＆宮原vs.DKのアジアタッグ、Kensovs.土方のGaora TV王座戦". Battle News (in Japanese). 2015-01-04. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  43. ↑ 開幕戦・大阪大会/ 【2.7】 2015 エキサイトシリーズ　開幕戦・大阪大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2015-02-07. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
  44. ↑ 【3.27】 2015 ドリームパワーシリーズ　最終戦・後楽園大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  45. 1 2 【5.6】 2015 スーパーパワーシリーズ　開幕戦・後楽園大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2015-05-06. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
  46. ↑ 世界タッグ奪取！潮﨑悲願の「５冠王」. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
  47. ↑ 【5.21】 2015 スーパーパワーシリーズ　最終戦・後楽園大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  48. ↑ 全日本プロレスのエース・潮崎が退団！. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  49. ↑ 潮崎、全日本退団を電撃表明　世界タッグは返上. Daily Sports Online (in Japanese). Kobe Shimbun. 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  50. ↑ 全日退団　潮﨑狙うはＩＷＧＰ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  51. ↑ 「Winter Navig. 2015」11月20日(金)後楽園ホール大会 試合後コメント. Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). 2015-11-21. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
  52. ↑ "Winter Navig. 2015". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-11-26.
  53. ↑ "「Winter Navig. 2015」12月23日(祝・水)大田区総合体育館大会 試合後コメント". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  54. ↑ 鈴木軍の無法行為で杉浦がGHCヘビー強奪！ 金丸がまさかの鈴木軍入り！ 潮崎、マスクを脱いだ谷口が丸藤と合流！【1・31ノア横浜大会・試合結果（1）】. New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  55. ↑ "1/4 NJPW Tokyo Dome results: MVP & Benjamin, Tanahashi remains IWGP Hvt. champion, Mutoh, NJPW vs. NOAH matches".
  56. ↑ "2013 サマーアクションシリーズ". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-07-14.
  57. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Ring Crew Reviews: Puro Comp including AJPW, NJPW, DDT, NOAH and BattlArts".
  58. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Puroresu Central profile".
  59. ↑ "2011 NOAH results".
  60. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Vetter, Chris (2007-10-30). "DVD Review: ROH "Live in Tokyo" (7-16-07), with Nigel-Morishima, Danielson-Shiozaki". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  61. 1 2 "Themes".
  62. ↑ "AAA World Tag Team Championship history".
  63. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2015". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  64. ↑ "GHC Heavyweight Championship history".
  65. ↑ "2009 Global Tag League results".
  66. ↑ "Purolove profile".
  67. ↑ "WLW Heavyweight Championship history".

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