Post by wPPV LIVE! on Oct 14, 2018 20:33:05 GMT -5
GAIJIN NO EPILOGUE ~ THE ¥20,000,000 PRIZE
10/14/2018
Sawara Municipal Gym, Fukuoka, Japan
We’re broadcasting a special edition of World Pay-Per-View (wPPV) due to the breaking news that has occurred throughout the day regarding the status of LION’S ROAD fighters in MAX-J. It’s worth giving everyone some updates as to what has been going on during this tour and what had led us up to this point.
Lion’s Road Pro-Wrestling sent several fighters over to compete in a MAX vs. LION’S ROAD series during MAX-J’s ATTACK OF THE CASTLE! Tour. However, the internal divisions between the fighters – centering around the conflict between the Alexander Irvine led W.A.L.L. faction and AJ Knight, and then in-fighting between the burgeoning rivalry between AJ and Matt Pulver – frequently erupted and cost the fighters several matches.
Last night on MJPW’s GAIJIN NO SPECIAL, intended to feature the foreign fighters, MAX-J General Manager Masaaki Sano declared he’d had enough of the in-fighting and banned the LION’S ROAD fighters from participation on 10/14! MJPW owner, Chikashi Enatsu, was reportedly furious with this decision, as we reported at the conclusion of last night’s event.
Earlier this afternoon, we received a report from Solomon Bentley via Twitter that an event had been booked at Sawara Municipal Gymnasium in downtown Fukuoka. While GM Sano banned participation from the MAX-J roster, Enatsu ordered the fighters of MAX Dojo – not technically members of the roster though allowed to compete on shows – to show up at the Gymnasium as they are technically not subject Sano’s authority. Then we received the news that Enatsu had flash-staged his own event: GAIJIN NO EPILOGUE ~ THE ¥20,000,000 PRIZE in an eight-team tag competition named the Enatsu Special Tournament meant to compete with his own company’s PRO-WRESTLING TOUKON Volume 1 with the winners receiving a tidy combined sum (approx. $178,000)!
It seems that the in-fighting between Enatsu and Sano has erupted into a full-blown civil war within MAX-J. Our goal here tonight is to fill you in on all the action of the Enatsu Special Tournament. Let’s get to it.
Billy Danielson and Shigeru Toyama advanced in the quarterfinals in a match that saw an injured, but valiant, Justin Seville team with Sheik Spectre. Seville fought with heart and at one point nearly had it won with a German suplex hold on Toyama. However, in the end, a vengeful Danielson still smarting from last night’s loss to David Troy, managed to pin Spectre after a dragon suplex hold.
Rafa Whatley and Umetaro Sakamoto went up against Alexander Irvine and Genji Ikeda. At one point, Irvine challenged the ex-football player to try and tackle him and Whatley obliged as they would tumble through the ropes and the action spilled to the outside. Sakamoto vs. Ikeda in the ring was not competitive as Sakamoto, MAX Dojo’s top student, would wear down Ikeda with submission wrestling holds before hitting a Northern Lights suplex for the 1-2-3.
Fresh off last night’s showdown, Matt Pulver and AJ Knight once again did battle. Pulver would team with Shachimon, a former sumo, while Knight teamed up with the amateur wrestler and MMA star KOSUKE. Pulver would hit his patented elbow smash ~ THE HAMMER OF THOR ~ on Knight, but it would be KOSUKE who made the save to break up the pin. Later in the match, it would be KOSUKE tagging in AJ, allowing the latter to catch Shachimon with his hands down in the face with a superkick. Knight would cover for the victory to advance in the tournament.
Fresh off of competing on the opening PRO-WRESTLING TOUKON Vol. 1 across town, Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto went straight from the taxicab into the arena to take on David Troy and Falcon Hamada. Gensai and Minamoto continued their winning ways. While Minamoto was laying soccer kicks into Hamada’s head, Troy ran in ~ but it was Go Gensai who snuck behind him and dropped him with a release Germans suplex to allow Minamoto to hit the God’s Neighbor and get the 1-2-3.
Danielson and Toyama would face a stiff test against Whatley and Sakamoto. Sakamoto would stretch out Toyama early on with his abdominal stretch, but it would Danielson who flew in and hit a flash RKO ~ Thinning the Herd ~ to break it up. Whatley would eventually get in and mix it up with Danielson, scoring a double-leg takedown and securing a full mount to rain down open-hand strikes, but Danielson would flip him over into a full guard and respond with punches of his own!
The referee would eventually stand-up the two fighters and Danielson would rebound with a V-Trigger and tag in Toyama! Toyama would springboard from the top rope and hit a hurricanrana to send Rafa spilling across the ring. Then Toyama would run over for his own V-Trigger! He’d ascend to the top rope for another hurricanrana ~ but the poweful Whatley caught it and hit a powerbomb! A second powerbomb! A third! And then he transitioned into a Death Valley Driver! Toyama was KO’d and Whatley covered for the 1-2-3 to advance his team to the finals.
AJ Knight and KOSUKE utilized some nice teamwork against the emerging duo of Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto. At one point, in a hellacious move, KOSUKE picked up Gensai with a military press and dropped him into a superkick from Knight! The hard shot took the wind out of Minamoto for the rest of the match, leaving Gensai more-or-less alone to face against Knight and KOSUKE.
Gensai would cover up as AJ attacked him with strikes in a corner and eventually toss him with a double-underhook belly-to-belly suplex. He’d tag in KOSUKE and run Gensai into a massive lariat for the 1-2-2.9! KOSUKE would set him up for his patented high-angle uranage, but Gensai spun around him, went for a standing rear naked choke – but it was a fake to get KOSUKE’s arms up and Gensai used an armbar takedown and kept the hold on going into the ground! KOSUKE would be forced to quickly tap-out before Knight could break it up, allowing the native team to advance to the finals.
After a twenty-minute intermission where most everyone in the audience spent glued to their smartphones watching the World Tag Team Championship across town via ENSOU! TV and the Battleground Network apps, the fighters hit the stage. We also know this match was also being monitored by many of the fans at PRO-WRESTLING TOUKON following the match on their phones via mobile wPPV subscriptions. Rumor has it that GM Sano also had the match running in the background, and, despite not wanting Gensai to compete on the show originally, was privately rooting for him to score a fall over Rafa Whatley, the Lion’s Road star on the opposing team.
The final match would have a boatload of pride on the line in addition to the 20,000,000 yen of course. Sakamoto and Minamoto, the two top-ranked students in MAX Dojo engaged in a rivalry of their own, would start us off. Sakamoto’s superior submission wrestling skills, and the fact that Minamoto competed earlier this evening at PRO-WRESTLING TOUKON Vol. 1, would see the “Hunter of Holds” get an edge in the early going abdominal stretches and nearly ending it early with a cobra twist for the 1-2-2.9! Eventually, Minamoto with his stiff kicks to the chest would knock down Sakamoto and give enough time for the two men to tag in their teammates.
Whatley’s strength versus Gensai’s technical ability captures their early encounter. Whatley would throw Gensai around, at one point tossing him into a corner and slamming a lariat into his chest, causing Gensai to stumble out. Whatley would bounce against the ropes for a spear ~ but get caught with a guillotine chokehold! Whatley would struggle like mad, and as Sakamoto attempted to break it up he would eat a running face kick from Minamoto! Whatley’s feet would kick and kick and ~ somehow he’d lift his head up out of the hold!
Gensai would tag in Minamoto, who would send Whatley flying with a half-nelson suplex and cover for the 1-2-3 ~ wait! Whatley would have a foot on the rope. Minamoto would get him up again and throw him for another, much to the delight of the fans! Minamoto would drag him in the center of the ring for the 1-2-2.9!
Minamoto would go for another, but Whatley would break it up with an elbow to the gut, lift up Minamoto in a military press and drop him faster-than-light into a spinebuster ~ THE BLACK FLAG! He’d cover for a pin and get a 1-2-3 ~ wait! Now it was Minamoto with his foot on the ropes! But the damage to Minamoto had been done. Whatley would tag in Sakamoto and run Minamoto into an abdominal stretch from Sakamoto! With Whatley tying up Gensai from entering, Sakamoto would transition into an octopus hold and secure the tapout submission and win the tournament!
Chikashi Enatsu would greet the victorious duo, referring to Rafa Whatley as the “Hero of Lion’s Road” and Sakamoto as the Dojo’s most promising student. He presented the two men with a giant check and individual trophies that stood waist-high. After posing for the photo op, he took the microphone and declared that he would not be bossed around by “puny underling” Masaaki Sano and would ensure that he would take the appropriate administrative action to ensure that he would remain in control of MAX-J!
Despite the nice speech, many of the fans were already sprinting out the door, as the tournament’s conclusion still left them time to try and make it back to PRO-WRESTLING TOUKON in time for the MAX Heavyweight Championship match between ZENKI versus Shinjiro Nakama! That match will be airing in full on ENSOU! TV’s UNION OF SPORTS and we suggest you check out. As for us, thanks for being with us!
GAIJIN NO EPILOGUE ~ THE ¥20,000,000 PRIZE!
Date: 10/14/2018
Location: Sawara Municipal Gym, Fukuoka, Japan
Lion’s Road Pro-Wrestling sent several fighters over to compete in a MAX vs. LION’S ROAD series during MAX-J’s ATTACK OF THE CASTLE! Tour. However, the internal divisions between the fighters – centering around the conflict between the Alexander Irvine led W.A.L.L. faction and AJ Knight, and then in-fighting between the burgeoning rivalry between AJ and Matt Pulver – frequently erupted and cost the fighters several matches.
Last night on MJPW’s GAIJIN NO SPECIAL, intended to feature the foreign fighters, MAX-J General Manager Masaaki Sano declared he’d had enough of the in-fighting and banned the LION’S ROAD fighters from participation on 10/14! MJPW owner, Chikashi Enatsu, was reportedly furious with this decision, as we reported at the conclusion of last night’s event.
Earlier this afternoon, we received a report from Solomon Bentley via Twitter that an event had been booked at Sawara Municipal Gymnasium in downtown Fukuoka. While GM Sano banned participation from the MAX-J roster, Enatsu ordered the fighters of MAX Dojo – not technically members of the roster though allowed to compete on shows – to show up at the Gymnasium as they are technically not subject Sano’s authority. Then we received the news that Enatsu had flash-staged his own event: GAIJIN NO EPILOGUE ~ THE ¥20,000,000 PRIZE in an eight-team tag competition named the Enatsu Special Tournament meant to compete with his own company’s PRO-WRESTLING TOUKON Volume 1 with the winners receiving a tidy combined sum (approx. $178,000)!
It seems that the in-fighting between Enatsu and Sano has erupted into a full-blown civil war within MAX-J. Our goal here tonight is to fill you in on all the action of the Enatsu Special Tournament. Let’s get to it.
The Quarterfinals
Billy Danielson and Shigeru Toyama advanced in the quarterfinals in a match that saw an injured, but valiant, Justin Seville team with Sheik Spectre. Seville fought with heart and at one point nearly had it won with a German suplex hold on Toyama. However, in the end, a vengeful Danielson still smarting from last night’s loss to David Troy, managed to pin Spectre after a dragon suplex hold.
Rafa Whatley and Umetaro Sakamoto went up against Alexander Irvine and Genji Ikeda. At one point, Irvine challenged the ex-football player to try and tackle him and Whatley obliged as they would tumble through the ropes and the action spilled to the outside. Sakamoto vs. Ikeda in the ring was not competitive as Sakamoto, MAX Dojo’s top student, would wear down Ikeda with submission wrestling holds before hitting a Northern Lights suplex for the 1-2-3.
Fresh off last night’s showdown, Matt Pulver and AJ Knight once again did battle. Pulver would team with Shachimon, a former sumo, while Knight teamed up with the amateur wrestler and MMA star KOSUKE. Pulver would hit his patented elbow smash ~ THE HAMMER OF THOR ~ on Knight, but it would be KOSUKE who made the save to break up the pin. Later in the match, it would be KOSUKE tagging in AJ, allowing the latter to catch Shachimon with his hands down in the face with a superkick. Knight would cover for the victory to advance in the tournament.
Fresh off of competing on the opening PRO-WRESTLING TOUKON Vol. 1 across town, Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto went straight from the taxicab into the arena to take on David Troy and Falcon Hamada. Gensai and Minamoto continued their winning ways. While Minamoto was laying soccer kicks into Hamada’s head, Troy ran in ~ but it was Go Gensai who snuck behind him and dropped him with a release Germans suplex to allow Minamoto to hit the God’s Neighbor and get the 1-2-3.
The Semifinals
Danielson and Toyama would face a stiff test against Whatley and Sakamoto. Sakamoto would stretch out Toyama early on with his abdominal stretch, but it would Danielson who flew in and hit a flash RKO ~ Thinning the Herd ~ to break it up. Whatley would eventually get in and mix it up with Danielson, scoring a double-leg takedown and securing a full mount to rain down open-hand strikes, but Danielson would flip him over into a full guard and respond with punches of his own!
The referee would eventually stand-up the two fighters and Danielson would rebound with a V-Trigger and tag in Toyama! Toyama would springboard from the top rope and hit a hurricanrana to send Rafa spilling across the ring. Then Toyama would run over for his own V-Trigger! He’d ascend to the top rope for another hurricanrana ~ but the poweful Whatley caught it and hit a powerbomb! A second powerbomb! A third! And then he transitioned into a Death Valley Driver! Toyama was KO’d and Whatley covered for the 1-2-3 to advance his team to the finals.
AJ Knight and KOSUKE utilized some nice teamwork against the emerging duo of Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto. At one point, in a hellacious move, KOSUKE picked up Gensai with a military press and dropped him into a superkick from Knight! The hard shot took the wind out of Minamoto for the rest of the match, leaving Gensai more-or-less alone to face against Knight and KOSUKE.
Gensai would cover up as AJ attacked him with strikes in a corner and eventually toss him with a double-underhook belly-to-belly suplex. He’d tag in KOSUKE and run Gensai into a massive lariat for the 1-2-2.9! KOSUKE would set him up for his patented high-angle uranage, but Gensai spun around him, went for a standing rear naked choke – but it was a fake to get KOSUKE’s arms up and Gensai used an armbar takedown and kept the hold on going into the ground! KOSUKE would be forced to quickly tap-out before Knight could break it up, allowing the native team to advance to the finals.
TOURNAMENT FINAL:
Rafa Whatley and Umetaro Sakamoto vs. Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto
Rafa Whatley and Umetaro Sakamoto vs. Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto
After a twenty-minute intermission where most everyone in the audience spent glued to their smartphones watching the World Tag Team Championship across town via ENSOU! TV and the Battleground Network apps, the fighters hit the stage. We also know this match was also being monitored by many of the fans at PRO-WRESTLING TOUKON following the match on their phones via mobile wPPV subscriptions. Rumor has it that GM Sano also had the match running in the background, and, despite not wanting Gensai to compete on the show originally, was privately rooting for him to score a fall over Rafa Whatley, the Lion’s Road star on the opposing team.
The final match would have a boatload of pride on the line in addition to the 20,000,000 yen of course. Sakamoto and Minamoto, the two top-ranked students in MAX Dojo engaged in a rivalry of their own, would start us off. Sakamoto’s superior submission wrestling skills, and the fact that Minamoto competed earlier this evening at PRO-WRESTLING TOUKON Vol. 1, would see the “Hunter of Holds” get an edge in the early going abdominal stretches and nearly ending it early with a cobra twist for the 1-2-2.9! Eventually, Minamoto with his stiff kicks to the chest would knock down Sakamoto and give enough time for the two men to tag in their teammates.
Whatley’s strength versus Gensai’s technical ability captures their early encounter. Whatley would throw Gensai around, at one point tossing him into a corner and slamming a lariat into his chest, causing Gensai to stumble out. Whatley would bounce against the ropes for a spear ~ but get caught with a guillotine chokehold! Whatley would struggle like mad, and as Sakamoto attempted to break it up he would eat a running face kick from Minamoto! Whatley’s feet would kick and kick and ~ somehow he’d lift his head up out of the hold!
Gensai would tag in Minamoto, who would send Whatley flying with a half-nelson suplex and cover for the 1-2-3 ~ wait! Whatley would have a foot on the rope. Minamoto would get him up again and throw him for another, much to the delight of the fans! Minamoto would drag him in the center of the ring for the 1-2-2.9!
Minamoto would go for another, but Whatley would break it up with an elbow to the gut, lift up Minamoto in a military press and drop him faster-than-light into a spinebuster ~ THE BLACK FLAG! He’d cover for a pin and get a 1-2-3 ~ wait! Now it was Minamoto with his foot on the ropes! But the damage to Minamoto had been done. Whatley would tag in Sakamoto and run Minamoto into an abdominal stretch from Sakamoto! With Whatley tying up Gensai from entering, Sakamoto would transition into an octopus hold and secure the tapout submission and win the tournament!
Chikashi Enatsu would greet the victorious duo, referring to Rafa Whatley as the “Hero of Lion’s Road” and Sakamoto as the Dojo’s most promising student. He presented the two men with a giant check and individual trophies that stood waist-high. After posing for the photo op, he took the microphone and declared that he would not be bossed around by “puny underling” Masaaki Sano and would ensure that he would take the appropriate administrative action to ensure that he would remain in control of MAX-J!
Despite the nice speech, many of the fans were already sprinting out the door, as the tournament’s conclusion still left them time to try and make it back to PRO-WRESTLING TOUKON in time for the MAX Heavyweight Championship match between ZENKI versus Shinjiro Nakama! That match will be airing in full on ENSOU! TV’s UNION OF SPORTS and we suggest you check out. As for us, thanks for being with us!
- RECAP -
GAIJIN NO EPILOGUE ~ THE ¥20,000,000 PRIZE!
Date: 10/14/2018
Location: Sawara Municipal Gym, Fukuoka, Japan
Attendance: 1,450 fans (96% capacity)
1. Enatsu Special Tournament – Quarterfinals: Billy Danielson and Shigeru Toyama defeat Justin Seville and Sheik Spectre (10:04) via pinfall after Danielson uses a Dragon suplex hold on Spectre.
2. Enatsu Special Tournament – Quarterfinals: Rafa Whatley and Umetaro Sakamoto defeat Alexander Irvine and Genji Ikeda (11:45) via pinfall when Sakamoto uses a Northern Lights suplex hold on Ikeda.
3. Enatsu Special Tournament – Quarterfinals: AJ Knight and KOSUKE defeat Matt Pulver and Shachimon (12:02) via pinfall after Knight uses a superkick on Shachimon.
4. Enatsu Special Tournament – Quarterfinals: Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto defeat David Troy and Falcon Hamada (13:18) via pinfall after Minamoto uses the God’s Neighbor on Hamada.
5. Enatsu Special Tournament – Semifinals: Rafa Whatley and Umetaro Sakamoto defeat Billy Danielson and Shigeru Toyama (14:06) via pinfall after Rafa uses a triple-powerbomb+DVD on Toyama.
6. Enatsu Special Tournament – Semifinals: Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto defeat AJ Knight and KOSUKE (16:34) via submission when Gensai uses a cross armbreaker on KOSUKE.
7. Enatsu Special Tournament – Final: Rafa Whatley and Umetaro Sakamoto defeat Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto (19:55) via pinfall after Sakamoto uses an octopus hold on Minamoto to win the 20,000,000 yen.
2. Enatsu Special Tournament – Quarterfinals: Rafa Whatley and Umetaro Sakamoto defeat Alexander Irvine and Genji Ikeda (11:45) via pinfall when Sakamoto uses a Northern Lights suplex hold on Ikeda.
3. Enatsu Special Tournament – Quarterfinals: AJ Knight and KOSUKE defeat Matt Pulver and Shachimon (12:02) via pinfall after Knight uses a superkick on Shachimon.
4. Enatsu Special Tournament – Quarterfinals: Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto defeat David Troy and Falcon Hamada (13:18) via pinfall after Minamoto uses the God’s Neighbor on Hamada.
5. Enatsu Special Tournament – Semifinals: Rafa Whatley and Umetaro Sakamoto defeat Billy Danielson and Shigeru Toyama (14:06) via pinfall after Rafa uses a triple-powerbomb+DVD on Toyama.
6. Enatsu Special Tournament – Semifinals: Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto defeat AJ Knight and KOSUKE (16:34) via submission when Gensai uses a cross armbreaker on KOSUKE.
7. Enatsu Special Tournament – Final: Rafa Whatley and Umetaro Sakamoto defeat Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto (19:55) via pinfall after Sakamoto uses an octopus hold on Minamoto to win the 20,000,000 yen.