Post by UNION of SPORTS! on Feb 10, 2019 0:43:57 GMT -5
TOUKON ROAD: BLITZ PACIFICA
Day 1
2/9/2019
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Well, folks, the TOUKON ROAD has finally begun! After a month and a half of buildup and excitement, we got things started in front of a crowd of 5,500 fans in Seoul, Republic of Korea at the Gamdogja Dome. Among the fans there were plenty of Demon Brigade zealots wearing their all-black and you could hear a lot of Japanese spoken, indicating that the zealots got their passports ready for this one. It was an international crowd, with a more than expected number of Americans, probably due to the substantial U.S. military presence in the country. This meant we saw quite a few t-shirts for veterans of the North American scene like Alexander Irvine, AJ Knight, Jacob Hammerstein and David Troy.
General Manager Masaaki “Genki” Sano took to the ring first and kept his comments brief. He thanked the audience for attendance and promised a great show. And after that, we were off to the races!
ZENKI and Earth Warrior
vs.
Mushigahara and Shigeru Toyama
The opening tag match featured a lot of opening fanfare with the MAX Heavyweight Champion “Demon Lord” ZENKI on one side and his challenger on 2/23, “God-Beast” Mushigahara on the other. The two jawed at one another extensively, though they only met briefly in the match to circle around one another as ZENKI evaded Mushigahara’s attempts to grapple and tagged in his partner. Unfortunately, that would be the undoing of the team as the massive Mushigahara would hit a uranage on Warrior to claim victory in the opening match.
Jacob Hammerstein, Eron “Lynx” Hunter, and Thunder Mask
vs.
Bam Markham, Chris Ravenna, and Genji Ikeda
A wild fiesta featuring lots of tags, in this one we saw extensive action between champion and challenger, as Eron Hunter and Chris Ravenna, respectively, went at it. Hunter would use his acrobatics to hit a springboard second-rope moonsault against Ravenna and nearly get a pin. The challenger would attempt to engage him in striking, but Hunter would evade him most of the match as he attempted flash pins.
In the end, neither of these two men would score the victory. That honor would go to Jacob Hammerstein, catching Bam Markham with a full nelson powerbomb and Python sleeper to earn the tapout submission! Thunder Mask would shake hands with Hammerstein after the win, the two men challenging the “Ghost Army” of Go Gensai and Frank Dylan James on 2/21.
SPORT FORM RULES:
Go Gensai
vs.
Travis Gray
It didn’t take the Pale General long to dismantle Gray. A mere one and a half minutes into the first round, Gensai had wrestled Gray down into the mat and secured a cross armbreaker for the submission victory.
SUMO RULES:
Frank Dylan James
vs.
Shachimon
FDJ looked a bit uncomfortable in the mawashi as he took on the former sumo on his own terms. Unfortunately for the latter, we could see why he didn’t last long in the sport as FDJ would use his height and mass to push the MAX dojo student around and win via forceout, throwing Shachimon outside of the circle. The student was apparently in tears after his loss, prompting MAX Dojo Lead trainer Mike Musket to take him into the back for a conversation which we did not see.
Summary of MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament Opening Round
We know that one MAX Dojo student will make it to the quarterfinals, as the “Hunter of Holds” Umetaro Sakamoto used pristine technique to fend off Kenzo Onishi, ducking a running clothesline to catch him in an abdominal stretch to eventually secure the submission win.
The wily veteran Toru Ishii went head-to-head with the Demon Brigade’s Tokyo Zombie in what was a respectful match enjoyed by the fans. After lots of chain wrestling, Zombie got the upper hand after hitting a spinning roundhouse kick and hitting the Falling Tokyo Sun.
In a match that pit the talented kickboxer David Troy against the King’s Road devotee of Hiro Minamoto, this match saw strikes early. It would seem that Troy gassed himself out a bit, allowing Minamoto to hit several half-nelson suplexes in a row, but only get a two count. Troy battled back and went for the Flashbang but missed. Minamoto would hit successive jumping high kicks and then hit the ferocious God’s Neighbor for the 1-2-3! The fans would go crazy as Hiro Minamoto scored the upset win.
AJ Knight would go up against the Shining Road legend, “Mr. Meiji” Masayoshi Arimoto. In a match where it was AJ’s speed versus Arimoto’s braun, the latter controlled things early but Knight got ahead of him, hitting a Tornado DDT followed quickly by his patented Knightfall DDT to advance.
We got word before KOSUKE’s scheduled match with Sen Oka that we were informed by the latter’s camp that he was injured during training and would have to vacate his spot. KOSUKE believed that he would advance via forfeit when Shinjiro Nakama emerged from the back! Wearing a pair of sunglasses, he stalked down to the ring and, after taking a mic, stated that he was now fully healthy and would enter the tournament on behalf of Oka. “Mountain” Shinjiro showed no signs of rust, hitting a running knee strike to pick up the 1-2-3.
The pop for Alexander Irvine was impressive. The former Marine shook hands with what were most likely members of the military as he strode down to the ring to take on the legendary judoka Yoshihiro Sawamura. It was a good wrestling match, but Irvine would use numerous elbow shots to wear down Sawamura before hitting an Evenflow DDT to advance in the tournament.
James Edwards made his return to the MAX-J ring against FDJ’s protégé Balloon Yamazaki. The latter and larger man put up a spirited fight, but a right roundhouse kick from Edwards sent him reeling, the fans groaning at the cracking sound the kick made against his skull and the ref intervened, calling the fight a TKO decision victory for the Burning Heart.
As Falcon Hamada, a former Navy Seal emerged, he also received a major pop. Going up against GRIM would not prove easy. The two men had a tough bout, with Hamada’s MMA style keeping GRIM on the mat for much of the contest. The Demon Brigade zealots also made their presence known, taunting the referee, who at one moment pointed to a member and threatened to have him ejected. But in this moment, GRIM used the poison mist and then covered Hamada, the referee turning back around and counting the 1-2-3 before realizing he had been fooled!
GRIM slid out of the ring and bestowed the fan who distracted the ref with a jewel-encrusted skull! The fan bowed profusely and then seemed to faint from the sheer joy of receiving this gift as GRIM headed into the back.
Those who advanced beyond the preliminary round of the Royal Road Championship Tournament gathered in the ring to await the seedings for the remainder of the tournament, which would occur via lottery. We would learn that the matches would be…
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Tokyo Zombie vs. Shinjiro Nakama
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AJ Knight vs. Alexander Irvine
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James Edwards vs. Umetaro Sakamoto
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Hiro Minamoto vs. GRIM
Our next show will be on 2/16, a week from today in Hong Kong! Join us as we continue down the TOUKON ROAD!
- RECAP -
TOUKON ROAD: BLITZ PACIFICA – Day 1
Date: 2/9/2018
Location: Gamdogja Dome, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Attendance: 5,500 fans (80% capacity)
1. Mushigahara and Shigeru Toyama defeat ZENKI and Earth Warrior (8:23) via pinfall after Mushigahara uses a uranage on Earth Warrior.
2. Jacob Hammerstein, Eron “Lynx” Hunter, and Thunder Mask defeat Bam Markham, Chris Ravenna, and Genji Ikeda (11:09) via submission when Hammerstein uses the Python Sleeper on Markham.
3. Sport form rules: Go Gensai defeats Travis Gray (R1 1:47) via submission with a cross armbreaker.
4. Sumo rules: Frank Dylan James defeats Shachimon (0:29) via forceout.
5. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament Opening Round: Umetaro Sakmoto defeats Kenzo Onishi (10:12) via submission with an abdominal stretch.
6. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament Opening Round: Tokyo Zombie defeats Toru Ishii (9:46) via pinfall after the Falling Tokyo Sun.
7. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament Opening Round: Hiro Minamoto defeats David Troy (12:28) via pinfall after the God’s Neighbor.
8. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament Opening Round: AJ Knight defeats Masayoshi Arimoto (13:05) via pinfall with the Knightfall DDT.
9. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament Opening Round: Shinjiro Nakama defeats KOSUKE (9:11) via pinfall after a running knee strike.
10. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament Opening Round: Alexander Irvine defeats Yoshihiro Sawamura (10:10) via pinfall after an Evenflow DDT.
11. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament Opening Round: James Edwards defeats Balloon Yamazaki (7:45) via TKO (kick).
12. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament Opening Round: GRIM defeats Falcon Hamada (14:28) via pinfall after a poison mist attack.
- PREVIEW -
TOUKON ROAD: BLITZ PACIFICA – Day 2
Date: 2/16/2018
Location: Kowloon Super Gymnasium, Kowloon, Hong Kong
1. Sport form rules: Go Gensai vs. KOSUKE
2. ZENKI and Toru Ishii vs. Frank Dylan James and Balloon Yamazaki
3. Mushigahara, David Troy, and Chris Ravenna vs. Jacob Hammerstein, Thunder Mask, and Eron “Lynx” Hunter
4. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals: Tokyo Zombie vs. Shinjiro Nakama
5. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals: AJ Knight vs. Alexander Irvine
6. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals: James Edwards vs. Umetaro Sakamoto
7. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals: Hiro Minamoto vs. GRIM