TIGER'S FESTIVAL

Newcomer Kota “X” Shoju debuted against the “Hunter of Holds” and co-winner of the Enatsu Special Tournament, Umetaro Sakamoto. Shoju, well-known for his athleticism, started the action off early with strikes and defense, but it was the patience of Sakamoto to absorb several stiff kicks to the thighs and forearms that enabled him to eventually turn the match into a technical fiesta. He’d stretch Shoju on the ground with a Romero Special and a Bow-and-Arrow Lock that would wear down the young fighter. Nevertheless, Shoju would get the fight back upright just before the end of the first round. However, he would miss a roundhouse kick and Sakamoto would catch him with his patented abdominal stretch for the tapout victory to advance in the tournament!

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In a match that could have been at the top of the card, Mike Musket dominated the early going by scoring a judo-style hip throw and gaining side control, very nearly slapping on a keylock for a win in the opening minutes. Despite the auspicious beginning, Kusumoto would display both tremendous fire as well as a quick learning ability when he pinned Musket back into a full guard and began peppering him with legal open hand strikes! The round would end with that image in the eyes of the judges.

In the second round, Kusumoto would lead off with front kicks, trying to keep Musket at bay and taking a defensive strategy after feeling the won the opening round. Musket had trouble breaking through for a minute or two, but Musket relentlessly shot in on Kusumoto. With knees illegal, Kusumoto eventually was driven into the mat. Musket would try for a kimura and fail, but eventually he would get in position for a cross armbreaker, but Kusumoto kept his fingers gripped to keep him from pulling it down. Musket quickly transitioning to a triangle hold, but the round would end before he could go for the submission.

This fight would thus have to go to the judges. Based on his high offense and numerous takedown, Mike Musket would win via unanimous decision. He shook hands with the unvanquished Kusumoto, telling him that he was a sharp fighter and wishing him luck in his attempt to unseat Lynx for the Jr. Heavyweight title on 11/3. Kusumoto was in good spirits after the match, acknowledging that Musket is former MAX Heavyweight Champion and has a superior catch wrestling background, even then the fight went to the judges’ decision.

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One of the more unusual finishes on the evening, KOSUKE was well-positioned in the opening round given his amateur wrestling and MMA background. He managed to score a takedown on FDJ, but the mad mountaineer was a handful on the ground, peppering KOSUKE with the open hand palm strikes allowed under the sport form rules. Under siege from FDJ’s massive mits slowed down KOSUKE and at about the seven-minute mark became quite sluggish and then prone on the mat. From ringside, the doctors would call for the bell and the match would end in a technical knockout.

All were concerned for KOSUKE and he was evaluated for a concussion later in the evening. Surprisingly, he was determined not to be concussed but nevertheless dazed from some many strikes to the head. GM Masaaki Sano would later say that perhaps they should consider amending the Sport Form rules to better protect the fighters.

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Capping off the opening round was the “Pale General” Go Gensai versus the 2018 J1 SUMMIT winner and record-breaking World Tag Team Champion himself, Tokyo Zombie. After a cautious beginning Gensai would lock Zombie up in the clinch. He would feign a knee, earning a warning from the referee that such a move is disallowed under this format, but Zombie would seize control with a front chancery and toss him for suplex into the ground! But Gensai was not stunned and went for an anaconda sleeper! Zombie wrestled and wriggled and eventually… he managed to pull his head out of the trap and the fight went back to the feet where the two men threw kicks until the first round ended.

In the second round, Zombie used more of his “puroresu karate”, setting up Gensai with open-hand jabs to give his hands down so he could end it with a roundhouse kick to the head. Gensai narrowly evaded a few of these kicks, and on a third, he managed to snatch Zombie’s gi pants and drive him to the ground with an Achilles tendon hold. He’d then pounce on Zombie’s back and lock on a rear naked choke! With nowhere to go and the hold locked in, Zombie would be forced to tap! The regular fans were in a state of shock while the corporate types seemed a little more perplexed at the outcome. Go Gensai ascended to the middle rope to proclaim his victory and pointed to the Demon Brigade zealots, taunting them by menacingly sticking out his tongue.

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This match was ugly from the get-go, with there still being bad blood from the World Tag Team Championship and reports that GRIM had ordered the vandalization of the campsite of Vegas’ tag team partner and friend, Mike Musket. Vegas would go to town early, pushing GRIM into a corner and peppering him with knees to the gut and elbows to the head. But when GRIM looked up with a smirk and a purple substance dribbling from his lips, Vegas backed off, having seen that movie.

GRIM wiped his chin and the two locked up. It was GRIM who would lock on a headlock, and then spin around for a rear-waist lock, then drop down for a surprise schoolboy for 1-2-NO! When Vegas jumped up to a knee, GRIM was there with a Kinshasa! He went for another pin and got a 1-2-2.5, inching closer to victory. The King of the Dead would keep Vegas grounded in a headlock, but the Flashy Money Man would get up to his feet, break out of the hold, and lock GRIM’s arms for a tiger suplex! The fans would applaud as he’d get the 1-2-3-NO! GRIM would just barely twist out of the pin.

Vegas kept up the offense by tossing GRIM into the ropes and putting him down with a back body drop, running into the ropes himself, and hit a flying knee to send GRIM tumbling through the ropes and onto the apron. Vegas would attempt to get him back inside but – POISON MIST! – but Vegas ducked it – but GRIM kneed him in the face through the ropes! With the mist merely a vague cloud and Vegas stunned with his back to GRIM, the King of the Dead catapulted himself onto a springboard and jumped on Vegas’ back for a rear naked choke! The two would eventually land in the ropes with the hold still locked in. The referee would advise GRIM to break it, but he simply refused to do so – in fact, he started having an uncontrollable seizure and once again the doctors would intervene to call the match!

As the doctors surrounded GRIM, his Demon Brigade stablemates in Tokyo Zombie and Zenki would come down to the ring… and watch as GRIM opened up a sack and… pulled a live toad! Vegas had just departed the ring when GRIM sprayed mist upon the toad and threw it at Vegas! The corporate executives had their hands to their gaping mouths in shock at this bizarre turn of events, but it was Vegas whose fury exploded as he ran back into the ring and he decked the nearby Zombie with a GUH punch! GRIM would miss a spinning roundhouse kick and ~ decked with a GUH punch!

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Returning to normal pro-wrestling rules, we could see from the outset that even the Dojo’s top student, Sakamoto, was outclassed going up against the former MAX Heavyweight Champion. The two had a nice ground exchange and Musket’s lariat was intercepted by Sakamoto and turned into his vicious abdominal stretch at one point. But Musket would reverse the abdominal stretch with a hip toss and then kerplunk Sakamoto with a backdrop driver to pick up a speedy victory.


Gensai quickly attempted to make this a chain-wrestling match, but FDJ’s massive frame stifled that effort in the early going, as he would lift Gensai over his head and throw him out of the ring! The publishing executives, having never seen anything like that before, would take out their smartphones. From ringside, Dojo student Balloon Yamazaki – there primarily as a ring attendant – would wear a #BIGPEOPLECAN t-shirt over his portly torso as he applauded his new friend FDJ.

With the action back in the ring, FDJ would throw Gensai around until the Pale General landed a single-leg dropkick that put down the mountaineer. He would then slap on a front face lock and begin raining down knees! FDJ would attempt to wriggle free, and, eventually he would do so as he came up with his face in a bloody rage! He would slap his meaty hands around Gensai’s throat and put him down with a titanic chokeslam for the 1-2-2.9-really?-yep-2.9! The executives delivered tremendous applause for their new favorite wrestler.

He’d run Gensai against the ropes and then go for an Arn Anderson spinebuster ~ but in midair Gensai got his arm around FDJ’s throat and turned it into a guillotine chokehold with scissors around FDJ’s frame, planting FDJ’s head in the ground while absorbing the spinebuster! Gensai would keep it locked on and ultimately force FDJ to tapout! While Gensai would leave the ring without much fanfare, when FDJ would stand up and walk out under his own power, he received a tremendous 300+lb ovation from the crowd in attendance.

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Yamazaki would take the stage first, ripping through his #BIGPEOPLECAN shirt to reveal the same slogan on his yellow singlet, much to the fans’ delight. Once the other participants made it to the ring, it was Yamazaki who would square off with MAX Heavyweight Champion ZENKI. In the opening moments, the crowd would be stirred by Yamazaki’s aggressiveness, at one point pinning the champ back into a corner. But the craft Zenki would escape with a ninja roll, hit and enzuigiri, and then a basement dropkick to cut down the upstart dojo student, yanking viciously on the knee and locking on a kneebar before tagging in Falcon Hamada.

Yamazaki would make a spirited comeback, however, and after a judo-style shoulder throw he’d tag in “Mountain” Shinjiro. Nakama would stand over Hamada with malice in his eyes… before turning around and hitting an unsuspecting ZENKI with a knee strike, knocking him off the apron and flying into the guardrail! With ZENKI a crumpled heap on the outside, Nakama and Yamazaki made wore down Falcon Hamada, who would ultimately meet the same fate as ZENKI when he ate a knee strike from Nakama.

When pressed after the match about Nakama’s actions, Nakama’s representative Arnold Cunningham noted that the move had been preplanned. Aware that ZENKI had not yet recovered from their match, Nakama schemed the sneak attack, looking for an opportunity when ZENKI took his eyes off the match, with the knowledge that a successful attack would remove him from the match entirely. Cunningham said that this forethought was evidence of Nakama’s superior wrestling IQ, now both the strongest and smartest wrestler on the planet, and he demanded an immediate rematch for the MAX Heavyweight Championship.

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The two fighters put on an absolute grappling clinic as the fans watched with bated breath as the submission holds and near finishes flowed like a fine wine. In a full-guard, Gensai nearly caught Musket with a cross armbreaker but “Mighty Fine” wiggled out and crawled on top of Gensai in a full mount and attempted a cross armbreaker of his own! But Gensai would nonchalantly get a foot on the ropes to break it up. On their feet, Gensai would clinch up and throw a knee into Musket’s chest, dropping him with a hip throw, and nearly putting Musket away with an americana. But Musket would buck him off and manage to get up to his feet. The fans would applaud the two men after the submission attempts exchange as they reset.

Musket would push Gensai into a corner with chops and Irish Whip him into the other corner. He’d go for a lariat, but Gensai would drop toe hold his face into the middle turnbuckle and then hit a German suplex hold for a 1-2-NO! The Pale General would continue targeting Musket’s lariating arm, wrenching it several times over and keeping him in modified Fujiwara armbar holds, a great defensive position because it kept Musket’s back toward him.
Musket would eventually go for a sloppy leg sweep to try and break away from Gensai and manage to break the hold, running Gensai against the ropes, and go for the theatric Backbreaker Heard ‘Round the World ~ but Musket with his injured arm lost his grip and went to a knee. He’ stand up, but Gensai would be right there with a running face kick.

Musket would stumble into the ropes as Gensai came over, lifted up Musket’s bearded chin, and slapped him in the face and laughed! Musket’s eyes widened with rage and he also sent a slap against Gensai! The two men traded open hand strikes for several moments ~ then a chop battle ensued! Gensai’s bare chest darkened while Musket’s faded red shirt ripped from the strikes ~ and Gensai dialed up the elbows! Gensai hit repeated elbows until Musket ducked, kicked him in the gut, and nailed a brainbuster for a 1-2-2.9!

Getting Gensai back on his feet, Musket would go for his legendary backdrop driver, but Gensai would lock in the grounded headlock and throw Musket, keeping on the headlock and slamming the Mountain Man on his head! He’d go for the americana again and lock it in place! Musket would cry out in pain and just barely catch the bottom rope with his boot, forcing a break of the hold!

With Gensai in a dominant position, let’s take you to the footage:

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TIGER’S FESTIVAL
Date: 10/24/2018
Location: Bushidokan, Yokohama, Japan
Attendance: 4,950 (99% capacity)

1. Tiger’s Festival – Opening Round (Sport Form rules): Umetaro Sakamoto defeats Kota Shoju (R1 6:59) via submission (abdominal stretch).
2. Tiger’s Festival – Opening Round (Sport Form rules): Mike Musket defeats Daichi Kusumoto (R2 8:00) via judges’ decision (unanimous).
3. Tiger’s Festival – Opening Round (Sport Form rules): Frank Dylan James defeats KOSUKE (R1 5:14) via doctor stoppage.
4. Tiger’s Festival – Opening Round (Sport Form rules): Go Gensai defeats Tokyo Zombie (R2 3:38) via submission (rear naked choke).
5. Lynx defeats Hiro Minamoto (9:44) via pinfall with a hurricanrana.
6. Jun Vegas defeats GRIM (13:10) via doctor stoppage.
7. Tiger’s Festival – Semifinals: Mike Musket defeats Umetaro Sakamoto (8:31) via pinfall after a backdrop driver.
8. Tiger’s Festival – Semifinals: Go Gensai defeats Frank Dylan James (12:49) via submission with a guillotine chokehold.
9. Shinjiro Nakama and Balloon Yamazaki defeat ZENKI and Falcon Hamada (11:15) via pinfall after Nakama uses a knee strike on Hamada.
10. Tiger’s Festival – Final: Mike Musket defeats Go Gensai (20:02) via pinfall after a burning lariat.