Spot Check: Kenoh vs. Go Shiozaki 1/13/24

A moonsault attempt, a suplex, and a whole lot of history

Kenoh and Go Shiozaki are, at all times, diametrically opposed. If one represents the past, the other must represent the present. If one represents change, then the other must represent stability. There is a specific yin and yang to their relationship that not only creates phenomenal matches, but also weaves this necessary web that forms the DNA of the current NOAH. As such, the entirety of their January 13th match is worth examining. From the match itself, to the role that Team NOAH plays as seconds, to Kenoh’s post-match microphone segment, Kenoh vs. Go Shiozaki is an incredible study in character work and athleticism in wrestling. 

However, for this series of blog posts, I wanted to take a look at one specific spot in a match and examine how it encapsulates the story that the wrestlers are telling. And to me, there is no better spot to look at than the lead into the ending sequence, with Shiozaki’s moonsault attempt and Kenoh’s avalanche dragon suplex. 

This spot, in execution, is extremely simple: Shiozaki climbs to the top turnbuckle and prepares his body for a moonsault. Kenoh, sensing danger, climbs behind him and stops Shiozaki with a series of headbutts, before countering into a dragon suplex.

Now, this spot works on three separate levels:

The first is as a direct callback to November 19th, 2017, the finals for the 2017 Global League tournament. Kenoh, less than a year into his career as a heavyweight in NOAH, walked into this match determined to “rebuild” NOAH and take it back to the Nippon Budokan. Shiozaki entered this match as a returnee to the promotion, looking for redemption after coming back to NOAH from All Japan in 2015. During the pre-match interview segment, Shiozaki spoke of his determination to “prove that [he is] worthy of being captain to the Ark”. This became not only the basis of their rivalry, but a key piece of their stories through their entire career. 

Their determination to create their own era of NOAH clashed against each other all the way to the climax in the Global League final, a stunning and brutal match highlighted by the avalanche german suplex, nearly identical to the one 5 and a half years later. This moment gave Kenoh the momentum he needed to win the match and go on to face Eddie Edwards to win the GHC heavyweight title for the first time, and created another mountain for Shiozaki to one day climb on his path back to the top of NOAH. 

Fast forward to January 2024, and their feelings remain largely unchanged. Kenoh is seeking to “reform” NOAH, as he so loudly declared at a press conference on December 27th 2023. Shiozaki is seeking to prove his place as “I AM NOAH” and harken back to the era of NOAH in which he debuted, as he stated when he formed Team NOAH at Ariake Arena. This match is an echo of who both men were when they faced each other in Korakuen hall in 2017. As such, this suplex in Korakuen Hall is the same: a reminder that these two men will always struggle for dominance, seeking to control the Ark and remake it in their own image. 

On a second level, this match works as a more modern reference. After years of struggling to get a singles victory over him, Go Shiozaki finally conquered Kenoh during their N-1 Victory 2023 finals on September 3rd with a combination of a rolling elbow, an Emerald Flowsion and a moonsault. This combination was a reference to both Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi, two men who Shiozaki carries a deep connection towards, and was of great interest to reporters after the match. When asked about this finish backstage, Shiozaki described the combination as “the only thing [he] had left”, something that he pulled out in desperation in order to put Kenoh away. 

Shiozaki was forced to dig deep again during this match, demonstrated first when he attempted Misawa’s rolling elbow, only for it to get slapped down by Kenoh. This showed Kenoh’s capacity to learn from past mistakes, and Shiozaki’s reliance on what he had done in the past to succeed. The suplex spot is very much the same. The moonsault was Shiozaki’s trump card, and something that had worked for him in recent memory. However, Kenoh’s capacity for adaptation would always win out, and he managed to prevent his own defeat. 

Thirdly, and more broadly, this spot works because it speaks on the themes that these two have always represented. Shiozaki’s moonsault is inherited directly from Kenta Kobashi. It is a relic of NOAH’s past and a vital piece of who Go Shiozaki is and has always been. By attempting it, Shiozaki is always calling upon a very important piece of himself. And every time Kenoh stops it, he makes his own statement about NOAH’s history and Shiozaki’s part in it. This is the core of the match and their rivalry as a whole: NOAH’s past versus NOAH’s present, both warring to create NOAH’s future. 

I can’t help but go back to January 1st, 2023, when Kaito Kiyomiya defeated Kenoh for the GHC heavyweight championship at the Nippon Budokan. I have written at length about this match, and took special interest in one spot where Kaito attempted a tiger suplex from the top turnbuckle, only for Kenoh to convert into a heartstopping falcon arrow. When I had first written about this spot, I described it as a moment in which Kenoh converted a Misawa staple and Kaito’s first finisher into something entirely new, something that was unique to them and only in that exact moment. 

While not the same, I get a similar feeling when watching this match. There is something to be said for Kenoh taking Shiozaki’s moonsault, an integral piece of his roots in NOAH, and tying it back to their rivalry that has existed since 2017. There is a palpable feeling of Kenoh connecting that moment to something still ongoing and alive, grounding this match firmly in NOAH’s present, and then immediately going on to win the match. 

The story continues, as fantastic stories always do. Kenoh took Shiozaki’s “I AM NOAH” and gave it back three minutes later. Shiozaki rejected it 4 days later on January 17th, donning black velvet trunks and doing away with his previous gear, laden with his old catchphrase. Backstage, he stated that he did not need Kenoh’s “return gift”, and would find a way to earn back “I AM NOAH” himself. Shiozaki and Team NOAH started a series of produce shows called “LIMIT BREAK”, aiming to harken back to NOAH’s old spirit separately from the product Kenoh is aiming to build through his reform. 

Meanwhile, Kenoh also marches forward, looking to continue building NOAH’s main event scene with El Hijo De Dr. Wagner Jr., a man he lauds as NOAH’s “top foreigner”. His dreams of a “spectacular view” for NOAH have truly just begun, and he assures the audience of this every time he asks for us to follow him. 

Thus their rivalry continues as it always has, and it works in the same way that this suplex is so effective in this match: the past and present working both together and against each other, all to create a beautiful future for Pro-Wrestling NOAH.