New NOAH GHC Heavyweight Champion Crowned
The GHC Heavyweight Championship was recently vacated
May 2, 2022
Go Shiozaki is the new GHC Heavyweight Champion, with the Pro Wrestling NOAH mainstay defeating Kaito Kiyomiya at NOAH Majestic 2022.
Shiozaki was originally slated to face GHC Heavyweight Champion Kazuyuki Fujita at the show, until Fujita vacated the title after testing positive for COVID-19. With this win over Kiyomiya, Shiozaki becomes a record breaking five-time GHC Heavyweight Champion, overtaking Takashi Sugiura and NOAH Ace Naomichi Marufuji with four reigns apiece.
After winning the title at Majestic, Satoshi Kojima came out to challenge Shiozaki for the title, with a match between the two now confirmed for the CyberFight Festival on June 12 in the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Should Kojima come out on top then he will take his place as only the fourth man in Japanese wrestling history to have held the Triple Crown, IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and GHC Heavyweight Championship, following in the footsteps of Kensuke Sasaki, Yoshihiro Takayama, and Keiji Mutoh.
Regardless, Shiozaki now sits second on the all-time GHC Heavyweight Champions list, with a combined reign of over 840 days as champion, second only to Takashi Sugiura at 1,064 days.
