How I Met Your Puroresu is a series dedicated to providing background information on matches in hopes of broadening horizons. These matches will be no longer than that of a sitcom as to not overwhelm a first time viewer.
Company: Pro Wrestling NOAH
Show Title: N-1 Victory Night 5
Match: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Kazushi Sakuraba
Stakes: N-1 Victory C Block Final
Length: 13 Minutes
Production Date: September 26, 2021
Air Date: September 26, 2021
“Styles make fights” the adage goes. Typically used in the world of MMA, we can bring the expression here to explain the matchup between Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kazushi Sakuraba. Two men whose styles contrast one another which can be seen directly through their trainers.
Sakuraba began his pro-wrestling journey through the latter days of the UWFi. He was trained by the company’s owner, Nobuhiko Takada. Known for making the jump from NJPW to the original UWF, Takada followed in the footsteps of his mentor, Akira Maeda. Their goal was to bring legitimacy to pro-wrestling through worked-shoot combats. More than the others, Sakuraba took to the style like a fish to water, eventually leading him to a legitimate MMA career through Pride.
Nakajima came up through wrestling under his mentor, Kensuke Sasaki. The NJPW legend, soon to become NOAH legend and the first man to accomplish the feat of holding the IWGP Heavyweight, Triple Crown and GHC Heavyweight in a single lifetime. In the world of traditional pro-wrestling, no man was a greater mentor than Sasaki. Thanks to the status of his mentor, Nakajima was able to wrestle all throughout the country at the age of sixteen. Currently 33 years old, Nakajima has spent more than half his life in pro-wrestling.
When looking at the family tree of pro-wrestling, Sakuraba and Nakajima find themselves on completely different ends. This is the first ever singles match between the two but not their first meeting. Nakajima has made Pro Wrestling NOAH his homebase since 2008 and in that time has gone on to become a six-time GHC Tag Team Champion, one reign away from tying the record held by NOAH legends, Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura.
Returning to pro-wrestling in 2012 after taking more than a decade-long leave, unlike Nakajima, Sakuraba didn’t have any wrestling championships to his name. That was until 2020 when along with his partner Sugiura, Sakuraba won the GHC Tag Team Championship off none other than Nakajima and Go Shiozaki. This loss sent a ripple through NOAH, leading to Nakajima turning on his partner. Once reunited with former ally and Sasaki trainee, Masa Kitamiya, Nakajima was able to reclaim the title over Sakuraba.
Now we sit in 2021. The first singles match between Nakajima and Sakuraba. Winner advances to the semifinal of the N-1 Victory Tournament, won by Nakajima last year. Nakajima stands in the way of yet another accomplishment that Sakuraba can add under his name. Sakuraba can once again take something from Nakajima. Two men whose paths couldn’t be more different are about to square off one-on-one for the first time.
