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is a Japanese
professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
, currently signed to the
Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
where he is the former
GHC Heavyweight Champion The is the professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion CyberFight currently defended in the Pro Wrestling Noah brand division. It is one of CyberFight's two top men's world titles, alon ...
in a record breaking fifth reign. He made his debut for the promotion in July 2004 and remained with it until the end of 2012. In January 2013, Shiozaki joined
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
(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. Afterwards, he returned to Noah, where, in May 2016, he won the GHC Heavyweight Championship for the third time. He has also worked for
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
promotions
Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...
(ROH) and
Full Impact Pro Full Impact Pro (FIP) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is currently part of the World Wrestling Network (WWN) along with Shine Wrestling. Sal Hamaoui founded the company and serves as the President while Trevin Adams is the ...
(FIP), winning the latter's World Heavyweight Championship. In August 2016, Shiozaki was appointed the chairman of Noah's wrestlers' association.


Early life

Go was born as the third and youngest child in the family, with one older brother and sister. Due to the influence of his older brother who was a professional wrestling fan, he began to watch professional wrestling, especially All Japan Pro-Wrestling on TV from the second grade of elementary school, and became a fan of the Super Generation Army. In youth he would play baseball, which he started in the third grade of elementary school, he served as a catcher who was assigned the 4th and 5th batters  and won the eastern district of
Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...
, his hometown. Similarly, in elementary school, he played against Miho Koga ,a female professional golfer who was the fourth baseball player in Ace and later became a junior in the first grade of
Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Un ...
, in a youth baseball game . At Kumamoto City Nishihara Junior High School  , he joined the basketball club, served as a center forward in the position, and was appointed captain in the third year. Even after going on to high school, he continued to play basketball, becoming a regular player from the second year and achieving the best four in
Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...
 . After graduating from high school, he failed to take the police recruitment exam and lived a
freeter In Japan, a is a person who is unemployed or lacks full-time employment, excluding housewives and students. Freeters average 15 to 34 years of age. Freeters may also be described as '' underemployed''. These people do not start a career after ...
life while attending a civil servant prep school. One day, he heard on TV that
Mitsuharu Misawa was a Japanese amateur and professional wrestler and promoter. He is primarily known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and also for forming the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion in 2000. In the early 1990s, Misawa gained fame alongside ...
, the founder of
Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...
said, "Anyone can be a professional wrestler if he has the guts."  One day while reading the back of the "Weekly Wrestling" magazine, he saw an article about Kenta Koabayashi (later KENTA). The article would mention that Kobayashi had passed the AJPW rookie test, without having any background in martial arts, something Shiozaki was lacking as well. Go would later mention that this article would inspire him, and this was when he began thinking of becoming a professional wrestler.


Professional wrestling career


Pro Wrestling Noah (2003–2012)

Shiozaki entered the
Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...
dojo in 2003The profile at Noah Navi
/ref> 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 is a Japanese former professional wrestler. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1988, where he became one of the promotion's top stars, holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship three times, and winning the Champ ...
. Shiozaki and Kobashi formed a very successful
tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
and the biggest match the two had as a team was a losing effort against
Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and founder of the now-defunct wrestling promotion Diamond Ring. Sasaki is the first of four men ever to hold all three of '' puroresus major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heav ...
and his own protégé,
Katsuhiko Nakajima is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He started his career in Riki Choshu's Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (WJ) promotion before heading to Kensuke Sasaki's Kensuke Office/Diamond Ring dojo and promotion. He ...
. The match reached critical acclaim, being given a near-perfect rating from the ''
Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...
''. In the beginning of 2006, Shiozaki fractured his jaw against
Kenta Kenta (written: , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese film director *, Japanese kickboxer *, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese profession ...
. 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 (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
. After Kobashi was forced out of action due to
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
, Shiozaki teamed briefly with
Tamon Honda (born August 15, 1963) is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler and former Olympic amateur wrestler who is currently a freelancer. He most recently worked for Pro Wrestling Noah. He is a former tag team champion, winning the All Asia Ta ...
but was again defeated by Noah's top wrestlers until he finally broke his losing streak by pinning
Ricky Marvin Ricardo Fuentes Romero (born January 8, 1980) is a second-generation Mexico, Mexican Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, known by his ring name Ricky Marvin, and is most known for his work in the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. ...
. In late April 2007, Shiozaki represented Noah in the prestigious
King of Europe Cup :''This tournament should not be confused with the "King of Europe Tournament", held in 2006 by the Austrian wrestling promotion Rings of Europe.'' The King of Europe Cup (KOE cup) is a European professional wrestling tournament in the style of th ...
. He defeated Real Quality Wrestling representative Martin Stone in the first round before falling to
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Los Angeles, California. It is owned and operated by wrestlers themselves, having been created by Disco Machine, Excalibur, Scott Lost, Joey Ryan, Super Drago ...
representative
Davey Richards Wesley David Richards (born March 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW), under the ring name Davey Richards, and is the current MLW National Openweight Champion in his first reign. ...
in the quarterfinals. Shiozaki returned to Noah in mid-2009 and gained a significant
push Push may refer to: Music * Mike Dierickx (born 1973), a Belgian producer also known as Push Albums * ''Push'' (Bros album), 1988 * ''Push'' (Gruntruck album), 1992 * ''Push'' (Jacky Terrasson album), 2010 Songs * "Push" (Enrique Iglesias s ...
as
Mitsuharu Misawa was a Japanese amateur and professional wrestler and promoter. He is primarily known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and also for forming the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion in 2000. In the early 1990s, Misawa gained fame alongside ...
's new tag team partner. They soon won the
Global Tag League The Global Tag League is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created in 2008. The Global Tag League is held under a points system, with two points for a win, one for a time limit draw and no ...
in May and thus became the top contenders to the
GHC Tag Team Championship The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tourname ...
. During their title match on June 13 against champions
Akitoshi Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Early life Before pro wrestling, Akitoshi Saito was trained in karate by Masashi Aoyagi. Saito seconded Aoyagi i ...
and
Bison Smith Mark Smith (September 24, 1973 – November 22, 2011) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bison Smith. He's best known for his appearances with Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan; and World Wres ...
, Misawa suffered a cervical spinal cord trauma 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 is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the president, representative director, co-he ...
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 Takeshi Inoue (born December 20, 1972) known by his stage name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, who worked for Pro Wrestling Noah. He is also a former sumo wrestler. Sumo career He made his sumo debut in March 1988, after leaving ...
. 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 is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Early life Before pro wrestling, Akitoshi Saito was trained in karate by Masashi Aoyagi. Saito seconded Aoyagi i ...
. However his second title defense was unsuccessful as on December 6, Shiozaki lost the World Heavyweight title to
Takashi Sugiura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Sugiura, an accomplished amateur wrestler, joined Noah's dojo in 2000, making his professional debut on December 23, 2000, and thus becoming the first wrestler ...
on the last date of the 2009 Winter Navigation tour. On May 23, 2010 Shiozaki teamed up with
Atsushi Aoki was a Japanese professional wrestler who worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a wrestler, president of talent relations and head trainer at their dojo. Aoki began his career in Pro Wrestling Noah in 2005, where he went on to become a two ...
to defeat
Takeshi Morishima (born October 15, 1978) is a Japanese former professional wrestler. Morishima is best known for his work with Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former three-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has also performed for Ring of Honor (ROH) in the Uni ...
and
Taiji Ishimori is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he wrestles as part of the Bullet Club. He is the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion in his third reign, and is also a one-time NEVER Openweight 6 ...
to win the
AAA World Tag Team Championship The AAA World Tag Team Championship (''Campeonato en Parejas AAA'' in Spanish) is the main tag team title contested for in the Mexican lucha libre promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). In 1993 AAA created the first version of the AAA World T ...
during Pro Wrestling Noah's Navigation with Breeze show in
Niigata, Niigata is a city located in the northern part of Niigata Prefecture (). It is the capital and the most populous Cities of Japan, city of Niigata Prefecture, and one of the cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, located in the Chūbu regio ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. As a result of the victory, Shiozaki and Aoki were scheduled to defend the title during
AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...
's Triplemania XVIII show. 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). In August 2010 Shiozaki took part in
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...
'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 is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand. Nakamura is known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where ...
to a 30-minute time limit draw on the final day of the tournament. The draw with Nakamura led to a No Time Limit match at a Pro Wrestling Noah show on August 22, where Shiozaki was victorious. 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. 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 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) Professional wrestling promotion, promotion, which took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 4, 2012. It was the 21st January 4 Toky ...
, where he and
Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler who competes for Pro Wrestling Noah, with occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), R ...
defeated CHAOS Top Team (Shinsuke Nakamura and
Toru Yano , is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, trained by and currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the KOPW (New Japan Pro-Wrestling), KOPW 2020 and the provisional KOPW (New Japan Pro-Wrestling), KOPW 2 ...
) in a tag team match. On January 22, Shiozaki lost the GHC Heavyweight Championship to Takeshi Morishima. On October 26, Shiozaki and Akitoshi Saito defeated Kenta and
Maybach Taniguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler who has worked for Pro Wrestling Noah since his debut in December 2005. He is also known by the ring name , under which he portrays a villainous masked character. Professional wrestling career Amateur backgr ...
to win the GHC Tag Team Championship. 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. Six days later, Shiozaki and Saito lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to
Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler who competes for Pro Wrestling Noah, with occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), R ...
and
Takashi Sugiura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Sugiura, an accomplished amateur wrestler, joined Noah's dojo in 2000, making his professional debut on December 23, 2000, and thus becoming the first wrestler ...
. On December 19, Noah confirmed that Shiozaki would be leaving the promotion following December 24. On December 24, Shiozaki defeated Taiji Ishimori in his final Noah match.


Foreign excursions (2006–2009)

Shiozaki made his
Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...
(ROH) debut during ROH's August 2006 tour of England. In July 2007, he wrestled
Bryan Danielson Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he worked fro ...
in ROH's debut show in Tokyo, Japan. He unsuccessfully wrestled
ROH World Champion The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion. The current champion is Claudio Castagnoli, who is in his second ...
Nigel McGuinness Steven Haworth (born 23 January 1976), better known by his ring name Nigel McGuinness, is an English actor, professional wrestling commentator and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with WWE where he worked as a color ...
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. On June 6, 2008, Shiozaki participated in a one night tournament to crown new
ROH World Tag Team Champions The ROH World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion; it is contested for in their tag team division. The championship was created and debuted on September 21, 2002 ...
. He and partner World Champion Nigel McGuiness were eliminated in the first round by
Kevin Steen and El Generico Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were a Canadian professional wrestling tag team. Prior to signing with WWE, El Generico and Kevin Steen teamed in Ring of Honor (ROH) and across the independent circuit, nicknamed "Steenerico" by fans. History Ring o ...
when Steen forced McGuiness to submit to the
sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with "marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" i ...
. The following day, Shiozaki received a title shot against McGuiness but lost when McGuiness forced him to submit to the
London Dungeon The London Dungeon is a tourist attraction along London's South Bank, England, which recreates various gory and macabre historical events in a gallows humour style. It uses a mixture of live actors, special effects and rides. History The Lo ...
. On June 28, Shiozaki revealed himself to be the newest member of Sweet 'n' Sour Inc.,
Larry Sweeney Alexander K. Whybrow (February 18, 1981April 11, 2011) was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name Larry Sweeney. He performed primarily on the American independent circuit, but also competed in Canada, Mexico, ...
's
heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...
stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
. In the summer of 2008, Shiozaki began performing for ROH's sister promotion,
Full Impact Pro Full Impact Pro (FIP) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is currently part of the World Wrestling Network (WWN) along with Shine Wrestling. Sal Hamaoui founded the company and serves as the President while Trevin Adams is the ...
(FIP), based in
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. He defeated
Erick Stevens Eric Koenreich (born March 12, 1982) is an American professional wrestler. He is known by his ring name Erick Stevens and for his time in Ring of Honor. Career NWA Florida (2003–2004) Stevens debuted in May 2003 after completing his training ...
for the World Heavyweight Championship at FIP's event Heatstroke on August 23. He would hold the belt for four months, defending it on both FIP and ROH, before losing it to
Tyler Black Colby Daniel Lopez (born May 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Seth Rollins (often referred to as Seth "Freakin" Rollins). Prior to signing ...
on December 20. Soon after having a tryout match with
World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
on September 5, Shiozaki began wrestling in
Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federatio ...
's
World League Wrestling Harley Race's Wrestling Academy is a professional wrestling school located in Troy, Missouri. It was established in 1999 by former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Harley Race. Students of the school are incorporated into the professional wres ...
, where he also underwent further training under Race. 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 was a Japanese professional wrestler who worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a wrestler, president of talent relations and head trainer at their dojo. Aoki began his career in Pro Wrestling Noah in 2005, where he went on to become a two ...
,
Jun Akiyama is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the president, representative director, co-he ...
,
Kotaro Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . He is currently working as a freelancer, mainly for promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. Career Pro Wrestling Noah (2001-2013) Suzuki was the last person remaining of a grueling t ...
and
Yoshinobu Kanemaru is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he also works as a backstage producer. Kanemaru is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he holds the records for the most reigns with the GHC ...
, all of whom had quit Noah at the same time, announced that they had joined
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
(AJPW), forming the "
Burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combusti ...
" stable. On March 17, Shiozaki and Akiyama defeated Get Wild (
Manabu Soya is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling. He previously lived in Canada training at the Can-Am Wrestling School under Scott D'Amore, working regularly for the Maximum Pro Wrestling promotion. He is c ...
and
Takao Omori is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the All Japan Board of Directors. He ...
) to win the
World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championships in professional wrestling promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promotion is often preceded to the term "world tag team championship" as the ...
. On May 11, Shiozaki made a one-night return to Noah to take part in Kenta Kobashi's retirement match at
Final Burning in Budokan Final Burning in Budokan was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by Pro Wrestling Noah, which took place on May 11, 2013, at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. Headlined by the retirement match of Kenta Kobashi, all in all, the ...
, where he, Kenta, Maybach Taniguchi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru were defeated by Kobashi, Jun Akiyama,
Keiji Mutoh is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his work as in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Ne ...
and Kensuke Sasaki. 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. Afterwards, Shiozaki set his sights on the
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. History The championship was established after the unification of its then-flagship title the PWF World Heavyweight Championshi ...
, defeating reigning champion
Suwama is a Japanese professional wrestler better known simply as . He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former record eight-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and a seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also ...
in a non-title
Two Out of Three Falls match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
on July 14, the launching day of the post-Mutoh All Japan. Shiozaki received his shot at the title on August 25, but was defeated by Suwama. 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 Joseph Doering (born April 16, 1982) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he is a member of Violent By Design. He is currently inactive due to cancer surgery. He is a former two-time Impact World Tag T ...
, before losing to Akebono. On October 22, Shiozaki and Akiyama lost the World Tag Team Championship to
Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
(
Joe Doering Joseph Doering (born April 16, 1982) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he is a member of Violent By Design. He is currently inactive due to cancer surgery. He is a former two-time Impact World Tag T ...
and Suwama). The following day, Shiozaki announced that he wanted to leave Burning in order to win the Triple Crown. On November 18, Shiozaki announced that he was forming a new stable named " Xceed", revealing
Kenso is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and in the United States with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion in the lat ...
as the first member of the group. However, in the stable's first match three days later, Kenso turned on Shiozaki and aligned himself with Bambi Killer and
D'Lo Brown Accie Julius Connor (born October 22, 1970), better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown (also formatted as D-Lo Brown), is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling and WWE. Brown is also known for his ...
. Shiozaki was then saved by Atsushi Aoki,
Kento Miyahara is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is the current six time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He was trained by Kensuke Sasaki and started his career in his Kensuke Office promotion ...
and Kotaro Suzuki, who became the newest members of Xceed. 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). On February 23, 2014, Shiozaki received another shot at the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Akebono. In April, Shiozaki participated in the 2014
Champion Carnival The is a professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The tournament is also known by the nickname and is sometimes abbreviated to CC. Created by AJPW founder Giant Baba, the tournament has been held annually since ...
, 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. 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. Shiozaki received his title shot on October 29, but was defeated by Joe Doering. Shiozaki received a rematch with Doering on January 3, 2015, and defeated him to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time. He made his first successful title defense on February 7 against
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
. His second successful defense took place on March 27 against Xceed stablemate Kento Miyahara. On May 6, Shiozaki and Miyahara defeated
Yutaka Yoshie , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer in Japan, performing most notably for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former World Tag Team Champion. He has previously worked for promotions such as New Japan ...
and Shiozaki's next Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship challenger Akebono to become the new World Tag Team Champions. By simultaneously holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship and the World Tag Team Championship, Shiozaki became the seventh "Quintuple Crown Champion". On May 21, Shiozaki lost the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship to Akebono in his third defense. On September 28, it was announced that Shiozaki was leaving AJPW the following month and becoming a
freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
. The announcement also led to Shiozaki and Miyahara vacating the World Tag Team Championship. 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.


Return to Noah (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 (born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a freelancer. In NJPW, Suzuki has held the IWGP Intercontinental Championship as well as twice hol ...
, who offered him a spot in his Suzuki-gun stable. On November 26, Shiozaki defeated Mitsuhiro Kitamiya in his Noah return match. 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 (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler who competes for Pro Wrestling Noah, with occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), R ...
, however, turned his offer down. 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. On May 28, Shiozaki defeated Sugiura to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship for the third time. Shiozaki made his first successful title defense on June 12 against Suzuki-gun member Shelton X Benjamin. The following day, Shiozaki officially re-signed with Noah, ending his days as a freelancer. On July 30, Shiozaki lost the GHC Heavyweight Championship back to Sugiura. On December 3, Shiozaki and Maybach Taniguchi defeated Killer Elite Squad, K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) to win the GHC Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Kenoh and Masa Kitamiya on January 21, 2017. Shiozaki regained the title with new partner Atsushi Kotoge on August 26, losing it to Muhammad Yone and Quiet Storm on October 1. On April 29, 2018, Shiozaki and Kaito Kiyomiya won the GHC Tag Team Championship from The Aggression (Katsuhiko Nakajima and Masa Kitamiya), but lost the titles back to them in their first defense exactly one month later. On August 18, he unsuccessfully challenged Takashi Sugiura for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Go Shiozaki took part of the 2018 Global League, winning 4 matches and losing 3, making 8 points and failing to advance to the finals. However, after Naomichi Marufuji and
Akitoshi Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Early life Before pro wrestling, Akitoshi Saito was trained in karate by Masashi Aoyagi. Saito seconded Aoyagi i ...
vacated the
GHC Tag Team Championship The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tourname ...
, Shiozaki formed a team with
Katsuhiko Nakajima is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He started his career in Riki Choshu's Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (WJ) promotion before heading to Kensuke Sasaki's Kensuke Office/Diamond Ring dojo and promotion. He ...
, and together, they defeated Cody Hall and Maybach Taniguchi in the first round, and Kenoh and Masa Kitamiya at the finals, capturing the titles. They would lose the titles 9 days later against Maybach Taniguchi and a debuting Yuji Hino. They had their rematch on January 6, but they failed to regain the titles. Muhammed Yone and Quiet Storm would defeat the team of Taniguchi and Hino and become the new Tag Champions, after the match, Shiozaki and Nakajima challenged the new champions to a title match, and they accepted. The match took place on February 24, and Shiozaki and Nakajima won the match, winning the titles once again. After the match, Eddie Edwards and Masa Kitamiya came to the ring and challenged the new champions, this led to a title match on March 10, which the team of Shiozaki and Nakajima won, retaining their titles.


Championships and accomplishments

*
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
**
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. History The championship was established after the unification of its then-flagship title the PWF World Heavyweight Championshi ...
(Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship#Reigns, 1 time) **
World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championships in professional wrestling promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promotion is often preceded to the term "world tag team championship" as the ...
(World Tag Team Championship (AJPW)#Title history, 2 times) – with
Jun Akiyama is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the president, representative director, co-he ...
(1) and
Kento Miyahara is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is the current six time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He was trained by Kensuke Sasaki and started his career in his Kensuke Office promotion ...
(1) ** Ōdō Tournament (Ōdō Tournament#2014, 2014) *
Full Impact Pro Full Impact Pro (FIP) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is currently part of the World Wrestling Network (WWN) along with Shine Wrestling. Sal Hamaoui founded the company and serves as the President while Trevin Adams is the ...
** FIP World Heavyweight Championship (List of FIP World Heavyweight Champions, 1 time) * Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide **
AAA World Tag Team Championship The AAA World Tag Team Championship (''Campeonato en Parejas AAA'' in Spanish) is the main tag team title contested for in the Mexican lucha libre promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). In 1993 AAA created the first version of the AAA World T ...
(AAA World Tag Team Championship#AAA World Tag Team Title history, 1 time) – with
Atsushi Aoki was a Japanese professional wrestler who worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a wrestler, president of talent relations and head trainer at their dojo. Aoki began his career in Pro Wrestling Noah in 2005, where he went on to become a two ...
*''Nikkan Sports'' **Outstanding Performance Award (2009) * ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' ** Ranked No. 31 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated#PWI 500, PWI 500'' in 2015 *
Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...
** GHC Heavyweight Championship (GHC Heavyweight Championship#Title history, 5 times) **
GHC Tag Team Championship The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tourname ...
(GHC Tag Team Championship#Title history, 7 times) – with
Akitoshi Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Early life Before pro wrestling, Akitoshi Saito was trained in karate by Masashi Aoyagi. Saito seconded Aoyagi i ...
(1), Maybach Taniguchi (1), Atsushi Kotoge (1), Kaito Kiyomiya (1), and
Katsuhiko Nakajima is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He started his career in Riki Choshu's Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (WJ) promotion before heading to Kensuke Sasaki's Kensuke Office/Diamond Ring dojo and promotion. He ...
(3) **
Global Tag League The Global Tag League is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created in 2008. The Global Tag League is held under a points system, with two points for a win, one for a time limit draw and no ...
(Global Tag League#2009, 2009) – with
Mitsuharu Misawa was a Japanese amateur and professional wrestler and promoter. He is primarily known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and also for forming the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion in 2000. In the early 1990s, Misawa gained fame alongside ...
**
Global Tag League The Global Tag League is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created in 2008. The Global Tag League is held under a points system, with two points for a win, one for a time limit draw and no ...
(Global Tag League#2018, 2018) – with Kaito Kiyomiya ** One Night Six-Man Tag Team Tournament (2007) – with
Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler who competes for Pro Wrestling Noah, with occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), R ...
and Ippei Ota * ''Tokyo Sports'' ** Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards#Best Bout Award, Best Bout Award (2021) ** Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards#Outstanding Performance Award (殊勲賞, Shukun-shō), Outstanding Performance Award (2020) * Harley Race's Wrestling Academy, World League Wrestling ** WLW Heavyweight Championship (WLW Heavyweight Championship#Title history, 1 time)


References


External links


All Japan Pro Wrestling profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiozaki, Go Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people People from Kumamoto 1982 births FIP World Heavyweight Champions GHC Heavyweight Champions GHC Tag Team Champions AAA World Tag Team Champions World Tag Team Champions (AJPW) Triple Crown Heavyweight Champions