Post by UNION of SPORTS! on Feb 16, 2019 0:40:53 GMT -5
TOUKON ROAD: BLITZ PACIFICA
Day 2
2/16/2019
KOWLOON CITY, HONG KONG
A Lower than Expected Turnout?!?!
The TOUKON ROAD arrived in Hong Kong to a half-full arena, a fact that would seemingly tarnish the night. Rumor has it that some members of the community boycotted the show over the fact that the Jr. heavyweight title, originally booked for this evening, was moved to 2/21. Throughout the night, fans commented about how empty things seemed.
Go Gensai
vs.
KOSUKE
A more competitive match than his last one, Gensai nevertheless emerged with a victory after catching KOSUKE with his patented heel hook. There was begrudging respect from the Pale General, who nodded to the fallen warrior before returning backstage with a sneer on his face.
Masayoshi Arimoto and Balloon Yamazaki
vs.
ZENKI and Toru Ishii
FDJ’s protégé Yamazaki aligned with “Mr. Meiji” Masayoshi Arimoto took on the Heavyweight Champ and the wily veteran Toru Ishii in a tag team match which proved interesting. At one point, Yamazaki hit ZENKI with a thunderous corner splashand had him pinned for the 1… 2… before Ishii grabbed his leg and slid him out of the ring. Later, ZENKI hit a shining wizard to end the match and put a victory to his name.
Mushigahara, David Troy, and Chris Ravenna
vs.
Jacob Hammerstein, Thunder Mask, and Eron “Lynx” Hunter
This was a high-octane affair and for the first time we saw a weakness in Mushigahara’s armor, as he had trouble keeping up with the pace set by the fighters. Late in the match, a missile drop kick from Thunder Mask and then a spinning heel kick from the top rope sent the #1 contender spilling over the top rope to the outside. But it would be his good friend, David Troy, who would bail him out when a few minutes later he caught Thunder Mask with a flying knee and bring home the victory.
MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals
Tokyo Zombie
vs.
Shinjiro Nakama
Here we saw a rematch of the 2018 J1 SUMMIT semifinals from last August which saw Zombie was the winner. Would he win again? Well, the action was tough sledding for the Buddhist monk in the opening, as Nakama would come out of the gates with an aggressive style featuring overhand chops and knees to the midsection as he kept Zombie in the corner.
Eventually Zombie, would break free, however, and would use his puroresu karate to get the upper hand, eventually hitting a spinning roundhouse kick and an axe kick – but only getting a 1-2-2.9 count! This did not stop Zombie from keeping up the attack, somehow tossing Nakama with a Judo-style hip throw and keeping him in a grounded headlock for many moments before going for an Anaconda Vise! Nakama would fight out of it, however, and get to the ropes.
The two men would trade offensive exchanges with Zombie hitting flurries of Mongolian chops while Nakama would mix in big boots and then hit a knee strike for a 1-2-2.999! He'd go for another but Zombie would block it and clamp on the Vise of Virtue! He'd get Nakama to a knee and then transitioned, going for the front Russian leg sweep~Falling Tokyo Sun, but Nakama would get to the rear and nail his trademark high-angle German suplex hold to get the three-count and advance to the semifinals.
MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament - Quarterfinals
AJ Knight
vs.
Alexander Irvine
It was a match that caused the entire arena to stand up on their feet as what can only be described as a terrible and bloody battle waged on. Reports earlier in the week stressed the bad blood between these two men, a war waged in North America and across the interwebs, but these two kicked it up a notch. The chain-wrestling early on would see each man not pass up an opportunity to cheapshot the other. Irvine would grab AJ’s hair as he controlled him, doubling him over in an arm-wrench. After escaping, AJ began throwing closed fists to the top of Irvine’s head while in a headlock! These actions would earn a warning to both men from the referee.
AJ would hit a superkick to put Irvine and on his backside and then ascend to the top rope for a diving leg drop that got a 2.9 count. AJ would then hit a German suplex hold, the refs hand would hit the mat three times, but as AJ jumped up in celebration, the ref ordered the match to continue! Apparently, AJ’s shoulders had also been down on the mat, and since the match couldn’t end in a draw, it had to continue!
Irvine recovered during the explanation and launched into a brutal series of hitting elbow strikes, a captured buster, and then a half-nelson suplex to get a two-count. He would keep the fight on the ground with mounted elbow strikes, but somehow AJ would get to the ropes. The offense would come to an end when AJ reversed a Fisherman suplex with a small package but only picked up a 1-2-2.9 count!
The two would trade running elbow strikes that had the fans oooooh and ahhhh, eventually ended when Irvine missed an elbow and went for the Knightfall DDT! But Irvine would spin out, hit a discus elbow that spun Knight around and then he’d dig a fist into his side with a liver shot! AJ would drop to a knee, but then spring up and hit an enzuigiri to stun the Unnatural! AJ would go for the Knightfall DDT one more time, but he’d spin out of it and ~ he’d get him a schoolboy pin for the 1-2-3!
AJ sat up in disbelief as Irvine slid out of the ring. Watching the BATTLETRON above the entrance ramp, on the instant replay we could see Irvine grabbing a handful of tights as AJ Knight jumped up and down in the ring and pleaded with the referee to restart the match. Through a translator in the ring, the referee explained to him that in Japan that all equipment and gear is considered a part of the person and therefore not illegal.
AJ shook his head in disbelief while Irvine stood at the top of the ramp, tapping the side of his head with two fingers to indicate that, at least on this day, he remained one step ahead of him in their ongoing feud which appears far from over...
MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals
James Edwards
vs.
Umetaro Sakamoto
Unlike the veritable bloodbath that was the prior match, Edwards vs. Sakamoto was a technical wrestling bonanza that seemed more like an MMA fight than a wrestling match. Edwards tried to keep the fighters on their feet while Sakamoto would make numerous takedown attempts. When in each man’s wheel house, the other fighter would be on the defensive. Sakamoto covering up, trying to save himself from a knockout blow, versus Edwards turtling up trying to keep his limbs from falling into the clutches of submission hold.
Eventually Edwards would hit a Northern Lights suplex and rush for the Violent Gospel ~ swing and a miss! He’d come back for the rebound, but Sakamoto was already on his feet and caught him with an abdominal stretch, holding it for a moment, and then transition to a cobra twist to get the 1-2-2.99! As Sakamoto got up to his feet, however, Edwards rushed in with the Violent Gospel and scored the 1-2-3!
MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals
Hiro Minamoto
vs.
GRIM
Could another Dojo student advance in the tournament? Minamoto started off strong, the “Prophet of King’s Road” dazzling the crowd with stiff face kicks and chops to the chest. But the dark wizard cannot ever be counted out and would break through the combination with his own heavy roundhouse kick that nearly KO’d Minamoto.
Shortly after, it seemed like Minamoto went “into the black” and began laying into GRIM with repeated chops and face kicks, showing absolutely no remorse as he blew up in front of the crowd. He would finish off three jumping high kicks with a half-nelson suplex to the get the 1-2-2.999 count!
GRIM would battle back, responding with a brawling series and then a saito suplex to plant Minamoto before catching him with the GRIM Clutch! Minamoto would struggle mightily, but somehow he would get to the ropes, dragging the King of the Dead across the mat with him.
GRIM would lay into Minamoto with stomps and then set up him up for a Tombstone Piledriver which… Minamoto would reverse and then hit one of his own! With the momentum going his way, Minamoto nailed four – count ‘em four! – half-nelson suplexes but only achieved a 2.999 count! But the Prophet of King’s Road wouldn’t stop there, applying a Dragon sleeper in the middle of the ring! GRIM would struggle mightily… and then tapout! The bell would sound with the fans in the arena absolutely stunned! The Dojo students would pour into the ring to congratulate their fellow dojo-mate on advancement while the Demon Brigade zealots looked on in horror and with mouth agape.
Making the best of things!
After the show, GM Sano was asked about the low attendance numbers. He stated that while it was disappointing, he noticed that many members of the MAX roster stayed around afterward to take pictures and sign autographs with the fans who came, saying that this action warmed his heart and would be a nice memory to take with him from Hong Kong.
Next, the TOUKON ROAD will travel to the Philippines where we'll see defenses of the World Tag Team Championship as well as the MAX Jr. Heavyweight Championship. The semifinals of the MAX Royal Road title tournament will also take place with Shinjiro Nakama and Alexander Irvine competing in a rematch from their 9/21 during the ATTACK OF THE CASTLE! Tour in which Nakama was victorious. Meanwhile, "Burning Heart" James Edwards will try to put a stop to Hiro Minamoto's run in the tournament.
Finally, for the 2/21 and 2/23 dates, we'll have a legend of Filipino pro-wrestling taking the stage. We will see HERCULES CENDANA come to the fore and show his support for the TOUKON ROAD. We'll be sure to give you all the updates at our next news update. Til then, stay strong and fight forever!
- RECAP -
Date: 2/16/2018
Location: Kowloon Super Gymnasium, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Attendance: 3,000 fans (50% capacity)
1. Sport form rules: Go Gensai defeats KOSUKE (R2 3:09) via submission (heel hook)
2. ZENKI and Toru Ishii defeat Masayoshi Arimoto and Balloon Yamazaki (10:56) via pinfall when ZENKI uses a shining wizard on Yamazaki.
3. Mushigahara, David Troy, and Chris Ravenna defeat Jacob Hammerstein, Thunder Mask, and Eron “Lynx” Hunter (13:58) via pinfall when Troy uses a flying knee strike on Thunder Mask.
4. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals: Shinjiro Nakama defeats Tokyo Zombie (15:14) via pinfall with a high-angle German suplex hold.
5. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals: Alexander Irvine defeats AJ Knight (24:04) via pinfall with a schoolboy pin.
6. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals: James Edwards defeats Umetaro Sakamoto (13:20) via pinfall after the Violent Gospel.
7. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals: Hiro Minamoto defeats GRIM (19:14) via submission with a Dragon sleeper.
- PREVIEW -
TOUKON ROAD: BLITZ PACIFICA – Day 3
Date: 2/21/2018Location: Mango Dome, Manila, Philippines
1. AJ Knight and Hercules Cendana vs. GRIM and Falcon Hamada
2. Mushigahara, David Troy, and Umetaro Sakamoto vs. ZENKI, Tokyo Zombie, and KOSUKE
3. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Semifinals: Shinjiro Nakama vs. Alexander Irvine
4. MAX Royal Road Championship Tournament – Semifinals: James Edwards vs. Hiro Minamoto
5. World Tag Team Championship: Go Gensai and Frank Dylan James (c) vs. Jacob Hammerstein and Thunder Mask
6. MAX Junior Heavyweight Championship: Eron “Lynx” Hunter (c) vs. Chris Ravenna