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sana-yan · 1 year

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here are the quick facts about axiz for those who want the lowdown but don't watch noah (go subscribe to wrestle universe!!)

this is katsuhiko nakajima, the "mad wolf"

he's a short king wild boy from a tumultuous childhood, and a genius at striking offense with a background in martial arts and MMA since he was literally 14 or something

it doesn't matter how tall you are, he's swingin

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he's burned countless bridges before, one being his ex-tag team and now current tag team partner, mr. "i am noah" himself, go shiozaki

he's the tallest smol you'll ever meet with a real tragic past, loyal to a fault (and loves cute things like desserts and using cute emoticons, has 7 cats and a dog, and is unironically a kpop stan).

this is him in my favorite shirt of his that he likes to wear

anyway they were in a tag team called axiz and they used to be like this:

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A post shared by 中嶋勝彦 Katsuhiko Nakajima (@katsuhiko_nakajima)

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and like this:

anyway, the main thing is that they were homies.

they also had three specially produced photobooks with lore.

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A post shared by 中嶋勝彦 Katsuhiko Nakajima (@katsuhiko_nakajima)

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by the way, if you have twitter, give Hi5ame a follow; they are literally a godsend for the NOAH fandom.

as i mentioned, nakajima tends to burn bridges and the surrounding 50km radius. he turned on shiozaki when he believed that go had no "use" for him. in fact, nakajima turns on his partners when he feels they no longer rely on him.

he betrayed go to join kenoh's stable, kongo in august 2020. worth noting that the reason why he teamed with shiozaki in the first place was that he betrayed his ex-partner masa kitamiya earlier in 2018. anyway, no matter how kitamiya feels, nakajima is in kongo now.

at the time, it seemed like nakajima was the odd man out, the lone wolf of the group, but over 2 and half years, it appeared that the wolf had found his pack. there was even a haircut episode (iykyk)

in particular, he bonded with kenoh the most. nakajima and kenoh were rivals, but they had also become bros outside of just hating The Company and ragging on shiozaki

in a way, nakajima stumbled into what he needed the most. friends who understood him, who lived through the struggles of noah as he did. but the thing is, despite finally finding a faction that seemed to suit him and want him, nakajima couldn't be happy. not when he and kenoh's try at the tag belts failed. inadvertently rubbing salt in the wounds, kenoh's other tag belt endeavors with other members of kongo succeeded.

so, on may 4, 2023, during a 6-man tag between kongo (katsuhiko nakajima, kenoh, manabu soya) and noah's main unit team of kaito kiyomiya, yoshiki inamura, and go shiozaki, in what was go's comeback match after 8 months of being sidelined with injury, kongo utterly and thoroughly crushes the hope of the returning shiozaki.

further humiliating him in the ring, nakajima mocks shiozaki on the mic, wondering where the strong ace of noah's past went. before him is a weak and pathetic man.

and that's exactly why nakajima lifts up his hand to deliver the final blow...

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...and offer to team up. because shiozaki needs nakajima. shiozaki would be nothing but dependent on nakajima. nakajima will be irreplaceable.

leaning on none other than shiozaki's surgically-repaired shoulder, nakajima poses, hearkening back to classic axiz. and shiozaki, a head taller than nakajima, nearly crumples to half his height, clinging to nakajima in a grateful and emotional embrace, so happy to have katsuhiko back.

(source: pro wrestling noah global twitter)

the thing about axiz's catchphrase is that they are "homies now and forever." and bless him and his loyalty, shiozaki took it to heart. in the two and half years axiz had broken up, go had never changed his twitter bio. he's always been repping AXIZ (and also bts lmao). he'd always been hoping that nakajima would return to his side.

(source: x)

and in the backstage, nakajima makes it clear, saying, "kongo doesn't need me anymore. kenoh doesn't need me anymore. i don't need him anymore either."

kenoh, of course, ain't happy. deeply hurt by this betrayal (and losing nakajima to go shiozaki!!! of all people!!!), he calls nakajima a "traitor." things are gonna get real spicy, especially as the fallout of axiz's reformation begins to settle.

if you're interested in what comes next:

subscribe to wrestle universe! things are just getting started!

#pro wrestling noah #axiz #katsuhiko nakajima #go shiozaki #*meta #*history #( this either will be the most toxic reunion )#( or the sweetest wholesome conclusion in noah history )#( either way i am hooked )

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crisischild92 · 1 year

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Love me or hate me, just always keep your eyes on me 😍

#pro wrestling noah #go shiozaki #katsuhiko nakajima #axiz #my heart has been broken but i still love them!

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otter-commander · 1 year

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Them 💛🤍

#AXIZ #katsuhiko nakajima #Go Shiozaki #i miss axiz #pro wrestling noah

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eldesperadont · 1 year

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AXIZ REUNITED?? MY BLORBO-IN-LAW TAG TEAM REUNITED???

#i dont watch noah but i fucking love these two #one of their single matches is still one of my fav matches ever #percht.txt #axiz #go shiozaki #katsuhiko nakajima

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pwrestlingxpress · 1 year

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My Take on the official reunion of AXIZ and the rumored reunion of the Golden Lovers

Back in 2018 I wrote two-three opinion articles on the Reunion of the Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi). Before anyone reads the rest of this new opinion article I'm typing please click here to read the previous opinion article titled " Six Months Later...Golden Lovers Merge While The Shield Reunites".

Now...this new opinion article will talk about the rumored reunion of the Golden Lovers and the official reunion of AXIZ.

Some of you may now be thinking "AXIZ, who are they and what do they have to do with the Golden Lovers?" The answer to this question is not much but here I want to talk about their history and that's what my plan is.

In December 2018, the Golden Lovers abruptly went on hiatus after winning their final match against Hiroshi Tanahashi and Will Ospreay in Korakuen Hall. A few weeks before that in the same arena, Katsuhiko Nakajima was a finalist for the 2018 Global League Tournament (now N1 Victory) facing Kaito Kiyomiya in which Nakajima lost to the then-22 upstart athlete from Saitama. What happened afterwards was so in the dark that not many knew until they saw it though various photos. After the match between Kiyomiya and Nakajima, Go Shiozaki comes out seemingly to congratulate the winner (both were tag partners through most of 2018) but instead went to console the person that was pinned. Right after that, Shiozaki and Nakajima teamed up to win the GHC Tag Team Championships but lost the belts almost a week later in controversial fashion.

We now fast forward ourselves to February 2019 where by then the Golden Lovers have quietly split up with Kenny Omega gone to AEW and Kota Ibushi staying in NJPW where over in Pro Wrestling NOAH, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Go Shiozaki were given a second chance at regaining the GHC Tag Team Championships and on February 24th, that's what they did. Backstage after winning the titles for a second time, they decided to call themselves "AXIZ".

From that date on until August 2020; AXIZ was seen by many as one of the best tag teams in pro wrestling. According to Cagematch, both AXIZ and the Golden Lovers were ranked in the top 10 tag teams of all time (as of May 7, 2023 at 9:30 PM Eastern) with AXIZ ranked at No. 4; Golden Lovers at No. 9. With that ranking, one can say AXIZ surpassed the Golden Lovers but there's always a debate on which team is better no matter what the ranking is.

AXIZ's second reign as champions ended on June 13th but immediately were given a rematch in which they manage to win back the belts a third time and hold on to the belts until January 5, 2020. The day before that, Go Shiozaki became a 4-time GHC Heavyweight Champion by defeating Kaito Kiyomiya and in the process have one of the longest reigns in its title history. Despite Go now being a singles champion, both him and Nakajima were hoping for another tag title shot after losing them but COVID hit and much changed. On the same night Go Shiozaki was to have his first title defense in his fourth reign as GHC Heavyweight Champion, Katsuhiko Nakajima approached GHC National Champion Takashi Sugiura with the intentions to challenge and win the title. On May 9, 2020 in the main event; Nakajima would pin Sugiura to become the second GHC National Champion.

By the time pro wrestling was back doing live events in some capacity, AXIZ was on top not just in tag team but in singles as well with Go as the GHC Heavyweight Champion and Katsuhiko as the GHC National Champion. Everything seemed to be rolling for the two when wrestling live events resumed but the rolling would stop when the month of August 2020 hit.

August 4, 2020; Katushiko Nakajima would lose the GHC National Championship to Kenoh. 26 days later, after losing a chance to become 4-time GHC Tag Team Champions with Go Shizoaki, Nakajima breaks up AXIZ to join Kongoh. Though AXIZ was done in Nakajima's eyes, as I learned it was not the case for Go. Despite the betrayal, Go still believed himself to be a part of AXIZ and awaited the day Nakajima would return to reform the tag team.

While they waited, Nakajima and Shiozaki would wrestle 3 times in singles competition. First time was November 22, 2020 for the GHC Heavyweight Championship with Nakajima as the challenger (which he earned by winning N1 Victory 2020) and the champion being Shiozaki. Most times I compare this match to the one at "Wrestle Kingdom 15" between Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada because of the brutality and the fact the way they fought, it would most times scare me. Despite me saying that, in a match that went nearly 43 minutes, Go retains the title while sustaining an injury in the later minutes of the match itself. The second time they would meet would be on January 1, 2022 where by then it was Katsuhiko Nakajima who was the champion with the now-returning Go Shiozaki being the challenger. On that date, both wrestled what many considered to be a 2022 MOTY contender. Nakajima would emerge victorious from that match with a new finishing move that has not been seen since. The third time they met was on March 23, 2022 in which by then, there was no title, only pride. Go Shiozaki was starting a new streak while Katushiko Nakajima was looking for answers after losing the GHC Heavyweight Championship 35 days after defending it against Shiozaki. The third match went a lot faster than their previous two. Go would emerge victorious in a match that was nearly 20 minutes long. Their previous two matches went over 30 minutes.

Go would go on to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship for a record fifth time but would become the first of three straight V0 Champions when he lost the championship on his first defense to Satoshi Kojima at CyberFight Festival 2022. After losing the title, Go struggled to find himself and ended up eventually being out of action after N1 Victory 2022. Meanwhile, Katsuhiko Nakajima was trying his best to stay on track but in most tag matches, he ended up becoming the guy to eat the pin. At the N1 Victory 2022 block finals, both were in line to win their block but needed help. Neither of them made the finals in which Nakajima's backstage comments could be what I consider the first clue to a AXIZ reunion.

By the time 2023 hits, rumors started to spread on a Golden Lovers reunion that was even seen in various episodes of the YouTube web series "Being The Elite" in which in some scenes (haven't watched the series since 2019 so I'm going based only on photos) Kenny can be seen texting someone. Many believe that to be Kota Ibushi but as of right now, nothing is official yet.

Surprisingly, there were little to no rumors of AXIZ reuniting but seeds were being planted for the possibility. Those seeds in my opinion started on January 4, 2023 when Kongoh went to the Tokyo Dome to confront Los Ingobernables de Japon with the intention to "settle the score".

If you look at the video below, you'll notice that Nakajima does not have the same expression as the rest of Kongoh does which can tell you that it was starting. More than that, while the rest of Kongoh left in an orderly fashion, Nakajima left with the look that said "Sorry about that" as a way of apologizing for the abrupt appearance. He did the same thing at the official "Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Yokohama Arena" press conference which involved 5 of the 6 (at the time) LIJ members and 5 of the 8 (at the time) Kongoh members.

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Seeds were planted a lot more when (according to all I was able to read) during the Road to NOAH's Tokyo Dome event on February 21st, Kenoh decided to dig into a history that I think Nakajima didn't want to talk about, that of him and AJPW's Kento Miyahara. The match (which was a 6-man tag) went on with apparently no issues. Kongoh managed to come out victorious, but Nakajima's backstage comments would leave many including Kenoh puzzled.

The possibilities increased a lot more when Go Shiozaki made a surprise appearance in Sendai on April 16th to announce his in-ring return.

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Later on that same night, Katsuhiko Nakajima walked in as the challenger for the GHC Heavyweight Championship, this time held by newcomer Jake Lee. Something I didn't notice live but eventually did was the gear that Nakajima was wearing. He was wearing the same ring attire he wore on January 1, 2022. On the build back then, a stipulation was suggested that if Nakajima was to lose the title to Go Shiozaki, he would have to leave Kongoh and reform AXIZ. Since Nakajima won that night, the stipulation never came to fruition. But on that April 16th date, Nakajima walked into the title match against Jake Lee apparently with that stipulation in his mind. He ended up losing the title match in over 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, as rumors continue to spread of the Golden Lovers reuniting, Kenny Omega is reunited with a rival by the name Konosuke Takeshita in which he (as of this typing) has joined Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson to be part of "The Elite". Despite joining though, Kenny remained suspicious of Takeshita's intentions. Those intentions may be the key to the Golden Lovers reuniting again but only time will tell what the intentions may be or already are.

May 4, 2023; Ryogoku Kokukigan; Go Shiozaki returns in 6-man tag action by teaming with Kaito Kiyomiya and Yoshiki Inamura to face the Konogh members of Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kenoh, and Manabu Soya. In the match, Nakajima wore the same gear he wore back on January 1, 2022 and April 16, 2023. Meanwhile, Go Shiozaki comes out in the gear he wore when he won his fourth GHC Heavyweight Championship on January 4, 2020. The 6-man tag turned into somewhat of a blowout as though there were times of shine for Shiozaki and his team, it was not enough to defeat Kongoh. Nakajima would end up getting the winning pin by pinning Shiozaki. It was after the match though that the rumors became reality.

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AXIZ officially reunited and on May 14th will have their first match together since August 28, 2020.

My take on this is that....Katsuhiko Nakajima was betrayed by Kenoh. To me, Kenoh betrayed him by abruptly deciding to go to the Tokyo Dome not understanding everyone may have different plans. Then by the time he dug into a history he shouldn't have, that was the end. So on May 4, 2023 in Ryogoku, Nakajima came into Ryogoku with the intention to officially reunite AXIZ. How it happened is in the video above. I've been waiting years to see AXIZ live in action and now on May 14, 2023; me and many will be to get the chance to do just that.

Meanwhile, as we await the reunion of the Golden Lovers, down below is a picture of them reuniting back in January 2018, ten months before AXIZ was formed.

Should the Golden Lovers reunite this could increase the chance of a possible dream match: Golden Lovers vs. AXIZ at either a future NOAH event or at "The Forbidden Door" in late June. The reason I'm saying this is there's not just rumors of a Golden Lovers reunion, there's also rumors about Kota Ibushi joining Pro Wrestling NOAH. It would be something if all these rumors come true. Right now, only one has come to light. AXIZ is back as we await the date the Golden Lovers reunite once again.

#AXIZ #Golden Lovers #Kota Ibushi #Katsuhiko Nakajima #Kenny Omega #Go Shiozaki #NJPW #Pro Wrestling NOAH #AEW #Youtube

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fang-revives · 1 year

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Have you ever tried explaining wrestling divorce / faction betrayal in a graphic? SHOULD YOU?

#this is so funny #pro wrestling noah #AXIZ #kongo #kenoh

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fallynleaf · 11 months

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Hello! Love reading stuff you write.

What are your thoughts on axiz reunion? I'm assuming you're caught up.

Also wondering if you're into the idea of them doing a program against Golden Lovers. I believe there could be such delicious dynamics there.

aww, thank you!!

and yes, i have MANY thoughts on the Axiz reunion!!!!! a lot of my thoughts on the team don't seem to be super popular in the main eng fanbase for NOAH, so i've sort of been keeping them to myself... 😅

i did publish a very short fic, though, after their first match back together as a tag team. and i've been thinking about the bodyswap fic again 🥲

most of my wrestling thoughts so far this year are in my wrestling journal, which i guess has sort of replaced giffing for me because it's way less time-intensive, though i'd still like to publish some of this content as gifsets, especially the TJPW story stuff, which as far as i can tell is not getting written about (in English) anywhere else. the wrestling journal itself is unpublishable in its current state because i also use it to bookmark some of my favorite fan photos, and i wouldn't want to republish those. but i do love it when people read it and comment on some of the stuff in there! i'm constantly falling behind on it and getting caught up super last minute, but it has been a rewarding project overall.

as far as Axiz specifically goes, i also created a separate Axiz journal just for tracking stuff related to their 2023 run. so if that team is the main thing you're into and you don't care about 90% of the other wrestling stuff i'm on about, that has all of my current thoughts and observations on them! it also contains various supplemental material, like tweets and stuff from shupro, plus my very rough translations of the material. there's also a long ramble about the third Axiz photobook, Green, and about how it becomes a different book entirely depending on when you read it (pre-betrayal, post-betrayal, post-reunion).

the main reason why i made that document was because: 1) i've gotten spoiled by my own TJPW blog lol and i get frustrated by how hard it is to browse old post-match comments in other companies due to how poorly organized basically all wrestling companies are and how ephemeral this stuff is, and 2) i have some amount of actual Japanese proficiency now that i did not have when i first got into Axiz in 2020. so i've started to prefer experiencing the stories through the original Japanese, and i sometimes get frustrated by the official translations and want to keep track of the Japanese 😅.

i've also been having fun exploring the Japanese side of the fandom and sort of ignoring what's going on on the western side of things. i've been using it as an excuse to do some low-stakes Japanese reading practice without having the pressure to translate for hundreds of other people like i do with TJPW. so far, all of the Axiz comments have been super short (way shorter than i'm used to with TJPW), so it has been a doable side project for me. the translation quality is way lower than my TJPW translations, though, so just a warning about that. i didn't want to bother my translation tag team partner and ask them to check even more of my work, haha, so there might be mistakes in there, though it's certainly not the worst NOAH translations that you will find... 😅

as far as Axiz potentially doing a program against the Golden Lovers goes, anon, i want that so bad 😭. the only thing i want more would be them doing a program with the Magical Sugar Rabbits 🥲. Axiz vs Golden Lovers feels actually legit plausible, though, considering that Kota has expressed interest in working with NOAH, and considering the AEW/NOAH partnership.

also, i do have one bonus meme that is not in the Axiz journal lol. you might need to read the journal for context, though, depending on how closely you've been following this stuff (i'm tuned out of the fandom at large and don't know what has and hasn't been getting talked about).

here it is:

Kenta Kobashi: "Go, take back the time you missed when you were gone!!"

Katsu:

#anonymous #axiz #wrassling

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