Post by UNION of SPORTS! on Mar 20, 2019 18:51:56 GMT -5
TOUKON ROAD: EUROPA RUSH!
Day 5
3/20/2019
Paris, France
A barely half-full arena for the second show in a row has the brass in MAX-J extremely worried going into 3/23. We could see MAX staffers standing out in the crowd actually calculating the numbers by hand, as originally the low attendance was assumed to be the fault of some kind of a data malfunction. We’ll touch on this issue after we get through the show.
ZENKI, GRIM, and Tokyo Zombie
vs.
Chris Ravenna, James Edwards, and Umetaro Sakamoto
The combined force of the Demon Brigade was just too much for the trio of Ravenna, Edwards, and Sakamoto. It does seem that Ravenna and Edwards, the most recent former and current Jr. Heavyweight champions certainly worked well together, but with ZENKI and Edwards tangled up on the outside and after Zombie knocked Ravenna to the apron after an enzuigiri, a distracted referee did not see GRIM use the poison mist on Sakamoto to pick up the 1-2-3.
David Troy and Naoki Ojima
vs.
Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto
The Parisian fans were excited to see the debut of Naoki “Go Go” Ojima. The most recent signee to MAX Dojo demonstrated considerable enthusiasium and delivered a blistering array of kicks against Gensai, forcing the Pale General to cover up. However, Gensai would respond back with an open-hand smack to the face and a saka otoshi to punish the youngster.
In the end, however, it would be Gensai and Minamoto’s combined assault on David Troy, trading strikes and eventually Minamoto using his famed vertical-suplex-to-kneeling-inverse-piledirver ~ the God’s Neighbor ~ to seal the victory.
After the match, doctors finally declared David Troy unfit for competition due to injury. Apparently, Troy had hid the extent of injuries sustained on the first show from doctors due to his desire to compete. He was rushed after the show to a Paris hospital after having difficulty breathing, apparently due to accumulated damage to his ribcage. He is in stable condition but will not compete on 3/23.
Mushigahara and KOSUKE
vs.
Frank Dylan James and Balloon Yamazaki
Mushigahara and FDJ felt each other out in tag competition for the final time before they meet on 3/23 with the MAX Heavyweight title on the line. The champ displayed some methodical behavior by grounding FDJ at one point and attacking his long legs. However, FDJ would display his trademark hillbilly brawling and eventually throw him off and stomp a mudhole in him until he rolled out of the ring.
Yamazaki attempted to end the match once in the ring with KOSUKE, going for his deadly frog splash, but KOSUKE rolled out of the way. Missing the high-risk flying attack knocked the wind out of Yamazaki and allowed for KOSUKE to get him in a front-face lock and pummel the crown of his skull with elbows until going unconscious and forcing the referee to stop the match.
With their last match ahead of them, it seems like FDJ has the upper hand. But the cunning yet massive Mushigahara didn’t defeat Demon Lord ZENKI for nothing. Has the supergiant MAX Heavyweight Champion got a plan up his sleeves?
MAX ROYAL ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP
Shinjiro Nakama (c)
vs.
AJ Knight
It was a cautious open as the two fighters felt out one another. Knight showed respect to Nakama’s mass and typically useful knees, avoiding the attempts to lock up or get in the clinch. It was the technical ability of the Millennial Knight that allowed him to score a takedown and bring Nakama to the canvas. AJ would try to leap over into a mount, but Nakama’s long legs trapped him in a half-guard. Knight would try for a kimura, but an elbow strike to the side of the head from Nakama forced him off!
The fans that showed up cheered, Nakama charged ahead, pinning AJ into a corner with some open-hand slaps but AJ quickly ducked. He wanted to go onto the apron, but remembering that going to the outside is illegal under the Royal Road Rules, he army-crawled directly under the bottom rope. As he got up to his feet, Nakama threw a high roundhouse kick to AJ’s head the erupted with a crack that was terribly audible in the half-full stadium as AJ crumbled to his knees. Nakama covered with a…
1…
2…
3-NO! AJ kicked out.
Despite AJ surviving the pin attempt, “Mountain” Shinjiro stayed ahead. He applied a front face lock and slammed some knees at AJ’s skull, but the Millennial Knight appeared to cover up decently. Nakama stood up and brought AJ with him, throwing him with a belly-to-belly suplex once, twice, and then a third time directly into a corner, causing him to hang upside down in a tree of woe.
The fans sensed AJ’s vulnerability as Nakama backed up… charged… running knee strike into the abdomen! AJ fell off the turnbuckle as he clutched his ribcage. With a boot, Nakama flipped AJ onto his back and placed a foot on his chest but only got a 2.5 count. Nakama got AJ up to his feet and applied the rear waist lock, setting him up for his patented high-angle German suplex hold. AJ would squirm and he’d struggled, but in the end…
…
… he’d separate Nakama’s fingers and hit a backflipping enzuigiri to the Mountain. He’d clamber up to his feet again and hit another enzuigiri! With a head of steam AJ would rebound against the ropes ~ but Nakama would intercept him with a knee to the ribs, causing him to flip forward and onto his back in pain. Nakama would wag his finger with disapproval, just before dropping several knees to the head and face.
AJ would attempt to crawl away, but Nakama grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him back, only for AJ to push him back with both feet. The Mountain would stumble, charge forward yet again ~ but AJ would kip up and nail a superkick! Shinjiro would go down and lay sprawled out on the mat. Sensing the moment, AJ would springboard himself to the top rope and leap for a guillotine leg drop…
… he’d hang in the air and…
…
… nailed the leg drop right across the throat! Nakama kicked his legs and squirmed in pain as Knight got up to his feet, though still clutching his ribs. With Nakama now on his stomach, AJ applied a single leg Boston Crab ~ the Wrinkle in Time ~ learned from his once-mentor and former MAX Heavyweight Champion Ben Chrenshaw. AJ got Nakama in a high-angle arch, the referee leaning close to Nakama’s face to ask him if he’d give up.
Nakama would struggle…
… he’d scream…
… he’d reach for the bottom rope…
… AJ would walk forward a bit…
… but Nakama would get his fingers on the rope anyway!
AJ would approach Nakama, but the Mountain came at him with a knee to the gut! AJ went to a knee as Nakama backed up and nailed a RUNNING KNEE STRIKE! AJ went down in a heap, but Nakama wasn’t done. He picked up AJ by the tights and got him in the rear waistlock… he threw him overhead with a perfect bridge and… HIGH-ANGLE GERMAN SUPLEX HOLD!
1…
2…
3!!!!!!
WAIT! AJ twists at the last moment!
Nakama was apoplectic and his manager Arnold Cunningham with a face red with anger beat his tennis racket against the guardrail until it broke as he spat and spit curses at the referee. Back in the ring, Nakama lifted a weary AJ up once again and got him in the hold… AJ was still loopy from the last German suplex when he was tossed overhead…
… but somehow backflipped onto his feet! He rebounded against the ropes ~ but Nakama was up and went for a lariat ~ reversed into a KNIGHTFALL DDT!!!!!!!!!! AJ hooked the leg for the cover and…
1…
2…
3!!!!!!
Hold on…
FOOT. ON. THE ROPE BY NAKAMA!
The two men laid there for several moments as the referee began his count. Somehow they both managed to stir up and laid elbow shots into one another’s faces! Elbow! Elbow! Elbow! Elbow! The elbow strikes were flying like mad…
… when the bell rang!
The referee had to separate both fighters, as this match had reached the 30-minute mark. Instead of a draw, however, the fight went to the three judges seated at ringside. As the judges tallied their scores, medics would attend to Nakama, who had a very swollen right eye, and Knight, who wiped blood from a nose that had seen better days.
The fans stood up to their feet as the judges cards’ were handed by a ringside attendant to PA Announcer Burton Fask. In order…
Judge A…
… KNIGHT.
Judge B…
... NAKAMA.
Judge C…
…
…
NAKAMA!
…
NAKAMA!
Xpress Fighting Systems’ Arnold Cunningham shrieked for joy and jumped up and down like a kid on Christmas morning as AJ stood with his hands on his hips with a mix of disappointment tempered by exhaustion on his face before leaving up the aisle. Arnold Cunningham would take the microphone, assuring those limp-wristed Parisians to watch themselves on the cobblestone streets of their dear city, because the Mountain would be hungry after his latest win and wouldn’t want to accidentally gobble one of them up! The ever stoic Shinjiro Nakama held the title proud and high in the air, despite his swollen eye, once again victorious.
The Stage is set…
Two topics dominated Sano’s post-show press conference.
First, he was asked about the declining attendance. Initially, he didn’t want to discuss it, but it was his stated opinion that injuries along the TOUKON ROAD had piled up, including David Troy tonight marking another wrestler slated to miss competition. He was happy to report that Jacob Hammerstein was cleared for 3/20 but that, sadly, Alexander Irvine would have to miss the tour finale. He told the reporters that he would reveal the card for 3/23 in a few hours, promising a notable slate of matches.
Second, the MAX Heavyweight title: Mushigahara versus FDJ. This topic he was much happier to discuss. He got a laugh from the reporters when he commented that these two could star in their own kaiju feature film. He said that back in Japan, it seemed that all folks were talking about was whether the former sumo could defeat the country’s new favorite gaijin. With the two fighters at the top of their game at the moment, he said he had great confidence going forward.
TOUKON ROAD: EUROPA RUSH! - Day 5
Date: 3/20/2019
Location: Suivant Génération Free Stadium, Paris, France
Attendance: 3,500 fans (55% capacity)
1. ZENKI, GRIM, and Tokyo Zombie defeat Chris Ravenna, James Edwards, and Umetaro Sakamoto (14:07) via pinfall after GRIM uses a poison mist attack on Sakamoto.
2. Go Gensai and Hiro Minamoto defeat David Troy and Naoki Ojima (12:59) via pinfall after Minamoto uses the God's Neighbor on Troy.
3. Mushigahara and KOSUKE defeat Frank Dylan James and Balloon Yamazaki (11:54) via referee stoppage (KOSUKE on Yamazaki, grounded knee strikes)
4. MAX Royal Road Championship: Shinjiro Nakama (c) defeats AJ Knight (30:00) via judges’ decision, 2-1 (split) (2nd defense).