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I wanted to get into NOAH last year after all the acclaim Go Shiozaki's 4th GHC Heavyweight Championship reign received. However I only managed to watch a handful of matches, my personal highlight being the Cage War between Nakajima and Kiyomiya.
It was hard-hitting and had a layer of realism that can only be achieved by sacrificing your body to the craft. It was also my introduction to Katsuhiko Nakajima and his devilish viciousness.
Go Shiozaki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - In-ring Statistics
This match was the definition of hard-hitting affair with a grand total of 170 Strikes. Go got in most of these but Nakajima hit harder with an advantage of 8 Strikedowns. These two fierce competitor's Grapples were pivotal as they tried to add an extra layer to all their Striking. Ultimately this led to Nakajima putting Shiozaki away and denying him a 5th and record GHC Heavyweight reign.
Flow of Offence - Minute-by-Minute
Go Shiozaki's massive offence spike of the 7th and 8th minutes immediately jumps out as the most noteworthy of the match. In fact, in the 7th minute Go achieved 34 Strikes with 1 resulting in Strikedown.
Shiozaki's offence was somewhat sporadic throughout with him achieving no offence in several minutes of the match. Whereas Nakajima was more consistent, especially between the 18th and 25th minutes. Shiozaki really struggled towards the end of this period.
Cumulative Flow of Offence - Minute-by-Minute
Via the Cumulative version of the Flow of Offence, you can see the affect of Go's 6th and 7th minutes of almost complete dominance. It takes Nakajima 16 minutes to make up this difference. Shiozaki manages to take the total offence delivered advantage again but Nakajima wrests that back as he takes the win.
Match Flow of Offence - Minute-by-Minute
The match's overall Flow of Offence, again emphasises Go's huge period of offence. You can also see the period between the 18th and 21st minute where the two went toe to toe with Nakajima eventually coming out on top. This was effectively the peak of the competitiveness in this match, Go managed to hit the Goan Lariat later but it was almost as a 'Hail Mary' during an onslaught from the eventual winner.
Thank you for reading and check out the summary Overview image below:
