Jake Lee Wants To Walk Through Katsuhiko Nakajima's History In GHC Heavyweight Title Match

GHC Heavyweight Champion Jake Lee is set to defend his title on April 16. His opponent, Katsuhiko Nakajima, has a long and storied history in Japanese professional wrestling, and Lee says that a match with the former champion has been on his mind for some time now.

"That's something I've spoken about since I came to NOAH," Lee told Pro Wrestling NOAH recently. "Seeing him, you can realize that he is great, strong, scary. He has an old-school wrestling strength with a new-school wrestling strength." 

Lee worked in a sly jab at Nakajima's age, saying Nakajima "embodies those strengths despite his age." Lee says that it's all the years of watching Nakajima in the ring that inspired Lee to face him. "I wanna fight him," Lee said of his first defense of the title.

"Regarding the championship match, no one wants to lose a championship match," Lee continued. "More than that, I wanna know how Nakajima has walked through his history. This match may be his turning point. Also maybe my turning point. I've watched him for a long time. This may be why I can say so."

Lee left All Japan Pro Wrestling at the end of last year and almost immediately debuted in Pro Wrestling NOAH, aligning himself with Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, Tadasuke, and YO-HEY in the group Good Looking Guys. Lee won the title from Kaito Kiyomiya on March 19 and is the 42nd champion in the 20+ year history of the GHC Heavyweight Championship.