Post by MAX Office on Nov 1, 2018 22:29:06 GMT -5
In 2001, Esuki Media owned the struggling literary magazine, ASTONISHING TIGER!. In a desperate attempt to generate sales, the staff pitched the idea of a pro-wrestling event to the corporate executives at Esuki, who would afford a trial run scheduled for October. The Esuki executives decided to launch a one night tournament known as the TIGER'S FESTIVAL with the winner receiving a trophy and the ceremonial Tiger's Festival championship belt. The tournament was an immediate success and ran annually until 2007 when ASTONISHING TIGER! closed its doors in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, canceling the planned 2008 show.
The year 2018 represented the 25th anniversary of the founding of the ASTONISHING TIGER!, as well as the 10th anniversary of its cancellation. With Esuki hoping to reboot the literary magazine in an ezine format and seeing the widespread boom of pro-wrestling in Japan, they decided to hold the one-off tournament once again for promotional purposes.
Eight fighters, six from the regular roster and two MAX Dojo students, entered the tournament. The quarterfinals would be contested under the shoot-oriented "sport form" rules while the semis and final were fought under traditional pro-wrestling rules. At the end of the grueling night, “Mighty Fine” Mike Musket would triumph over the “The Pale General” Go Gensai to win the tournament and become the 8th Tiger Festival Champion.
Previous winners:
2001: Hisashi Sekimoto
2002: Takeo Yoshida
2003: Takeda Fujiyama
2004: Ochuko Suzuki
2005: Eiji Sato
2006: Takeo Yoshida
2007: Sheik Spectre
2002: Takeo Yoshida
2003: Takeda Fujiyama
2004: Ochuko Suzuki
2005: Eiji Sato
2006: Takeo Yoshida
2007: Sheik Spectre
2018
Quarterfinals (sport form rules)
1. Umetaro Sakamoto defeats Kota Shoju (R1 6:59) via submission (abdominal stretch).
2. Mike Musket defeats Daichi Kusumoto (R2 8:00) via judges’ decision (unanimous).
3. Frank Dylan James defeats KOSUKE (R1 5:14) via doctor stoppage.
4. Go Gensai defeats Tokyo Zombie (R2 3:38) via submission (rear naked choke).
1. Umetaro Sakamoto defeats Kota Shoju (R1 6:59) via submission (abdominal stretch).
2. Mike Musket defeats Daichi Kusumoto (R2 8:00) via judges’ decision (unanimous).
3. Frank Dylan James defeats KOSUKE (R1 5:14) via doctor stoppage.
4. Go Gensai defeats Tokyo Zombie (R2 3:38) via submission (rear naked choke).
Semifinals
5. Mike Musket defeats Umetaro Sakamoto (8:31) via pinfall after a backdrop driver.
6. Go Gensai defeats Frank Dylan James (12:49) via submission with a guillotine chokehold.
Final
7. Mike Musket defeats Go Gensai (20:02) via pinfall after a burning lariat.