Post by MAX Office on Mar 3, 2019 11:59:44 GMT -5
From the desk of...
Solomon Bentley
- TOUR PREVIEW -
In just a little under a week, the TOUKON ROAD’s second tour will begin in earnest in Europe. With six dates on the schedule, there are a lot of key matches on the docket:
MAX Heavyweight Championship
MAX Heavyweight Champion “God-Beast” Mushigahara will attempt his V1 defense of the title against none other than the current one-half of the World Tag Team Champions, the GHOST ARMY’s Frank Dylan James. The rivalry between these two giants precedes their upcoming match, as they’ve feuded against one another in the North American-based promotion House of Strong Style, most recently on 1/4 in a brutal street fight rules match whose bloodshed generated significant media attention where Mushigahara came up victorious.
On 3/23, these two will meet again in London with everything on the line. Will FDJ prematurely end the Era of the God-Beast or will Mushigahara demonstrate why many consider him the most fearsome wrestler on the planet?
MAX Jr. Heavyweight Championship
With Chris Ravenna’s emotional victory winning the Jr. Heavyweight Championship in his hometown of Manilla, he will have to reset and prepare early for his next opponent, “Burning Heart” James Edwards. Edwards has always crept around the top of the promotion, currently the #2 ranked fighter, but has never fought for a title in MAX-J. Well, that will all change on 3/15 in Athens, Greece when these two battle it out with the belt on the line.
Tag Team title matches
GHOST ARMY's duo of Go Gensai and FDJ will face an unusual duo of David Troy and Alexander Irvine. Troy has historically been a singles competitor in MAX while Irvine himself is a former two-time World Tag Team Champion. Furthermore, Demon Brigade’s master-disciple team of GRIM and Shachimon currently hold the All-Mediterranean tag team titles and will defend them in Greece versus the duo of AJ Knight and AGAMEMNON, the latter a local and celebrated masked heavyweight.
The Royal Road begins…
Speaking of Knight, with the company reportedly impressed with his performances on the BLITZ PACIFICA tour, he will get an opportunity to fight for the newly inaugurated Royal Road Championship on 3/20. Who will his opponent be? Well, current champion Shinjiro Nakama will have to survive last tour's stand-out MAX Dojo student, who is currently ranked #6 in the TOUKON standings, Hiro Minamoto, who has reportedly upped his training sessions to unbelievable heights and is focused on becoming a more defensively minded fighter to complement his King’s Road offensive suite of suplexes and strikes.
The First Steel Cage Match in MAX history!
Finally, in what hopefully culminates in the end of the feud between Alexander Irvine and Jacob Hammerstein, for the first time in MAX history we’ll see the company put on a steel cage match on 3/17! Although their feud predates the TOUKON ROAD, having these two on the tour has resulted in a brawl or scuffle seemingly every time they encounter one another.
On finding out the stipulation, Irvine reportedly smiled, as he’s no stranger to fighting in the cage both in pro-wrestling and mixed martial arts. As for Hammerstein, we here he’s reportedly kicked out his now former partner Thunder Mask, perhaps due to frustration at the Japanese legend not living up to expectations or maybe to train for his upcoming encounter. Either way, this is set to be a major showdown!
New competitors!
During the GOLDEN FLEECE, we saw limited action of Sam Bass, but he will have many opportunities to make a name for himself on this new tour. Furthermore, MAX is working on visa issues with the recently signed Ryan Henderson to allow him to compete on the world tour, with the intent of adding him to EUROPA RUSH! as a competitor.
Is the Demon Brigade poised for a comeback...?
The Demon Brigade has finally a bit from their peak during the summer where ZENKI reigned as Heavyweight champion, GRIM and Tokyo Zombie were the World Tag Team champs, and Zombie had also won the J1 SUMMIT, MAX-J's annual heavyweight singles tournament. But GRIM and SHACHIMON's recent victory in the Argonaut Tag League has the group's devoted "zealots" wonder what is next for the group. While Zombie's name has been bandied about as a possible competitor for a singles title on the next tour, we have heard very little out of ZENKI. The Demon Lord and leader of the Brigade seems to be running silent. What does he have planned...?
Mystery reigns at the moment, but I'm sure that he's up to something. I'll be watching the news wire closely for updates.
-UPDATE FROM MAX DOJO -
“I know that KOSUKE is kicking himself in the ass like a half-brained mule. That boy’s been workin hard like an axe that needs something to chop. I suspect that Hiro wants to be the first Dojo student to capture some gold, so he’s definitely prospectin. I guess I’m a little worried about Shachimon. No disrespect to the Demon Brigade, but he’s been hangin round them fellers a bit too much, drinkin that funky juice I reckon and gettin a swelled head. Moonshine’ll make ya blind, they say. I’d like him to train more with us.”
Will the MAX Dojo have another successful tour competing with the regular roster or will the students revert back to the mean? There’s only one way to find out!