The 2023 winner of the N1 Victory will not compete this year.
Pro Wrestling NOAH announced via their X (formerly Twitter) account that former GHC Heavyweight champion and 2023 N1 Victory winner will be pulled from the upcoming tournament due to a fracture of the thorasic verterbrae. No information on when Shiozaki suffered this injury was revealed nor a timeline for a return to action.
Shiozaki was slated to compete in the annual round robin’s A Block alongside GHC Heavyweight champion Kaito Kiyomiya, Masa Kitamiya, Ryohei Oiwa, Josh Briggs, and more. In a reply on the aforementioned social media platform, NOAH’s global account made clear that a replacement will be chosen in Shiozaki’s place.
The current ZERO1 World Heavyweight champion expressed his disappointment with the situation before stating in a series of tweets that he is willing to compete in the tournament despite the major injury. It is currently unclear who will be Shiozaki’s replacement or if the reigning N1 Victory winner will be added back to the tournament’s lineup.
The N1 Victory is a two-block round robin tournament held by Pro Wrestling NOAH annually since 2019. Winners of the tournament typically earn a title at NOAH’s top belt, the GHC Heavyweight championship. In 2023, Shiozaki won the tournament for the first time by defeating Kenoh, but lost in his title challenge to incumbent champion Jake Lee.
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