Post by UNION of SPORTS! on Mar 23, 2019 9:09:52 GMT -5
SEMPTER INVICTUS ~ Pro-Wrestling TOUKON Vol. 4 ~ TOUKON ROAD: EUROPA RUSH!
Day 6
3/23/2019
London, United Kingdom
Down at Engineer’s Row we had a rather packed and excited arena, in contrast to the two most recent events. There was a buzz in the arena that picked up as the night moved on as SEMPTER INVICTUS ~ Pro-Wrestling TOUKON Vol. 4 built up. So, let’s take you straight to the action!
Sport Form Rules
Earth Warrior
vs.
Naoki Ojima
The first round saw a more even contest with Earth Warrior scoring a takedown on Ojima and keeping the former kickboxer grounded until the first bell. The second round saw Warrior go for a quick single-leg early to try and get back to wear he started, but Ojima showed himself to be a quick learner and blocked it. Ojima was able to keep the fight upright and faked a low kick, causing Warrior’s arms to drop, and twisting his body to swing the leg up high and catch Warrior in the jaw! Warrior went to the mat quick and Ojima was atop him in a flash when the referee called for the bell!
Ojima pumped a fist, notching his first victory in MAX-J, while Warrior protested that he had not been unconscious, even for a second. But the referee knew better and dismissed his protests, giving Ojima a nice moment upon which to end the tour.
Sport Form Rules
Chris Ravenna
vs.
Shigeru Toyama
The former Jr. champion dominated this match from the opening salvo and never looked back. He stymied Toyama’s numerous efforts to get into the clinch and use his Judo background. Instead, Ravenna was content to plaster Toyama’s thighs with low roundhouse kicks, slowing him down before scoring a takedown himself! But Ravenna would jump up to his feet and kick at the downed fighter, somewhere along the way scoring successive soccer kicks to the prone Toyama that convinced the referee to end the match.
Ravenna in an interview stated that the tour had been a difficult one, but that he will find the fire to reclaim the Jr. Heavyweight Championship from the current champion James Edwards.
Sport Form Rules
AJ Knight
vs.
Umetaro Sakamoto
“The judges giveth and the judges taketh away,” was said by former Jr. Heavyweight Champion and winner of the PYRAMID Grappling League, Matt Pulver. AJ learned that lesson the hard way on 3/20 when the judges went against him during his attempt to capture the MAX Royal Road Championship. On 3/23, as Sakamoto kept him tied up with holds during the first round, and at one point leveraging a triangle hold that nearly ended everything, it seemed like AJ would meet a similar fate once more.
But the second round saw Knight storm back, making headway with palm strikes and knife-edge chops that had Sakamoto covered up for most of the match, with the bell of the second round tolling with AJ perched triumphantly in a full mount atop Sakamoto. This was enough to persuade the referees into a unanimous decision in his favor. As with all victories by judges’ decision, it will not affect his falls standing in the TOUKON Cup, but by affecting his win-loss record, will impact tiebreakers should they arise.
James Edwards and KOSUKE
vs.
GRIM and Tokyo Zombie
This match seemed to revolve around James Edwards vs. Tokyo Zombie, as we continue to hear murmurs of a possible championship confrontation between these two. Two days after Edwards’ victory over Ravenna to win the belt on 3/15, Zombie pinned him in tag competition. Tonight, Edwards was out to return the favor while the stoic Zombie seemed determined to show that the earlier result was no fluke.
At one point, Edwards hit a backfist to Zombie which spun him around, giving him time to dump the Buddhist monk on the back of his head with a Tiger suplex hold that only earned him a 2.8 count. Edwards would attempt to measure up for the Violent Gospel, but GRIM’s intervention distracted Edwards long enough for Zombie to measure him with a saito suplex and lock on the Vise of Virtue, the head claw reddening and no doubt bruising the skin on Edwards’ cranium as Zombie’s fingers plunged like the ocean crushing a submarine at deep depths. But it was KOSUKE who made the save.
GRIM saw to it later on to pepper KOSUKE with throat strikes and kicks, softening him up for Tokyo Zombie who would be later tagged in and apply the Black Mount Fuji Stretch, one of his rarely used finishing holds, to quickly earn the submission victory and giving Demon Brigade’s former World Tag Team Champions another victory on the tour.
After the match, GRIM confessed to Zombie on the microphone that he felt like he had let him down at the tail end of their historic tag team title reign. He said that he had searched through “many souls” and is on a path now that will bring the greatest strength to the Demon Brigade and their partnership. Zombie nodded and said that he would walk the one true path, assuring GRIM that no doubt the future was bright ahead. The thousand or so Demon Brigade zealots in the audience cheered them on profusely.
With these two stablemates reaffirming their partnership, it also seems that we have set the stage once more to see these two fighters plunge back into the tag team title picture against the rather volatile team of Alexander Irvine and AJ Knight.
Shinjiro Nakama and Toru Ishii
vs.
Jacob Hammerstein and Falcon Hamada
Hammerstein had told reporters in the days leading up to the match that he couldn’t wait to get his hands on “Mountain” Shinjiro. The savvy fans knew this and many of them ringside had brought in fake, lifesize cardboard cutouts of Shinjiro and when Hammer walked to the ring held them up so he had to walk through an aisle of fake Nakama’s point at him with derision!
Well, in the ring the real Nakama didn’t fare quite as well, as this demonstration only served to fire up the American Monster! Some closed-fist jabs to the face earned by Hammer earned a warning from the referee but when Hammer ducked a heavy roundhouse kick from a woozy Nakama and hit a neckbreaker, the tides turned back to Hammer’s favor! He locked the big man in the front chancery, setting him up for the Hammerstein, but Nakama would block it. However, Hammer settled into a standing guillotine choke that had the fans riveted!
Nakama struggled…
… he struggled…
…
But Ishii flew in with a running elbow smash to the back of Hammer’s skull to break up the hold and earn beratement from the referee.
It would be a few minutes later when the match would be decided, when “Falcon’s curse” seemed to assert itself once more, as Toru Ishii ground the Japanese-American MMA fighter with a kimura and the match would end in favor of “Mountain” Shinjiro and Ishii.
After the match, fans spoke to Hammerstein and Hamada. Hammerstein, the winner of MJPW’s first ever cage match and currently one-half of the All-Mediterranean Tag Team Champions, said that he would keep setting his sights higher and higher and that, despite a subpar win-loss record, when the chips are on the line, he always find a way to pull out the victory.
Hamada, on the other hand, was asked about the curse that seems to have developed around him. He seemed disappointed…
… and this was when GRIM emerged.
Hammerstein at this point was irate and stood between the two, with the American telling the King of the Dead to stay away as GRIM beckoned Hamada closer. GRIM erupted with laughter as he told Hammerstein, “the more you keep him from me, the stronger my hold on him becomes!” Well, Hammerstein response was to punch GRIM’s lights out!
These two brawled for a few moments before security intercepted them. Hammer raged like an inferno while GRIM, bloody lip and all, grinned devilishly as security carried him away. No doubt we haven’t seen the last of these two going at it.
TOUR #3 ANNOUNCED!
While just a couple days ago GM Masaaki Sano broke the news about the next TOUKON ROAD SIDE STORY, MOLECULE Vol. 1 and 2, tonight he emerged from the back to thank the citizens of Europe for coming to EUROPA RUSH! and told the people of the Middle East to get ready, as CHAMPION’S GULF would take place for a two-night event in Dubai, UAE from 4/13-4/14. While smaller in scale, these two nights will be jam-packed with action as the TOUKON ROAD continues on. Below is the promotional poster displayed on-screen for the event.
DEMON vs. GHOST
ZENKI
vs.
Go Gensai
ZENKI arrived with his usual fanfare. The aisles were stacked with zealots, many of them Japanese ex-patriates or even those who had decided to follow the tour around the world by traveling aboard the MAX-J cruiseliner, The TOUKON SAKURA MARU. The fans threw the cherry blossoms in his wake as he made his way to the ring. When Gensai stalked down to the ring, he stepped on the cherry blossoms, even picking up several and munching on them! As he entered the ring, he spat the remnants in the center and looked up at ZENKI.
If there any fans not pumped for this match beforehand, by this point all eyes locked on these two.
These two would lock up in a classic fashion that hearkened back to the days of wrestling’s past, a collar-and-elbow tie-up that saw them battle for dominance. Early it was ZENKI, pushing Gensai into a turnbuckle, causing the ref to ask to break it up. And he did… and then laid a bruising chop into the chest that elicited a “woooo!!” from the crowd ~ as well as Gensai! Gensai beckoned another chop from ZENKI and the Demon Lord certainly obliged, as Gensai “wooood’” with the fans once again in a state of seeming ecstasy!
Gensai beckoned a rather perplexed ZENKI once again, but it was the former MAX Heavyweight Champion who kicked the Pale General in the gut, hit a snap suplex, and as Gensai got up to his feet flew in with a Shining Wizard attempt ~ and it connected! ZENKI scored a quick two-count and Gensai now seemed legitimately stunned.
ZENKI wore down the Pale General with grounded headlocks, but the longer the match stayed on the ground, the more time it gave Gensai to recover and turn the grappling to his advantage. Gensai would catch ZENKI in a headscissors as he posed on the ground, leaning his elbow on the canvas and yawned as ZENKI’s legs kicked profusely. Gensai would then transition into a side mount and latch on a kimura! ZENKI would struggle but somehow get a foot on the ropes to break off the submission.
With the two fighters on their feet, the two traded palm strikes as the match went into a kind of “de facto” boxing mode with about half the strikes missing as each fighter ducked. Gensai would kick Zenki in the gut and go for his Gensai-style piledriver ~ but Zenki managed to catch him with a backbody drop but held him up and not allowing him to fall, hitting an back-to-belly Tombstone Piledriver ~ an Axe Guillotine Driver! Gensai remained sprawled out as ZENKI climbed atop for the…
1…
2…
3-NO!! Gensai kicked out!
ZENKI measured Gensai for a brainbuster and… Gensai twisted out of it, locked on the rear naked choke, and ~ spiked ZENKI on his head for the vicious saka otoshi! But Gensai knew this couldn’t end the match, so he dragged ZENKI to the center of the ring and applied a heel hook! ZENKI moaned in pain on his back as his arms flailed without any ropes in sight.
ZENKI struggled…
… he cried out in pain…
…
… he flipped onto his back!
… he began to crawl…
… Gensai wrenched the hold even tighter…
…
… ZENKI crawled…
… and…
…
…
… got his fingers on the bottom rope!
Gensai stomped ZENKI as the latter man tried to get up to his feet. Gensai attempted a kick to the midsection and ZENKI caught it, spun Gensai around, ~ sleeper hold! And…
…
SAKA OTOSHI FROM ZENKI! Gensai’s head spelunking on the canvas and seemed to wipe him out, but ZENKI felt that it wasn’t enough. He raised a fist into the air as he limped to the corner, climbing up slowly due to the injury to his heel and seating himself on the top turnbuckle. It was at this moment when Gensai burst to his feet and leapt on the corner as well. He elbowed ZENKI in the head a few times until he was able to set him up for a piledriver FROM THE TOP ROPE… he would try to lift but ZENKI’s hand held the top rope…
… Gensai pulled again…
… but ZENKI’s fingers remained tight…
… Gensai pulled again, groaning with effort…
… and ZENKI’s fingers slipped! He’s lifted in the air for…
… AVALANCHE-STYLE GENSAI-STYLE PILEDRIVER!!!! ZENKI’s head is implanted onto the canvas and Gensai hooks the leg for the cover!
1…
2…
3!!!!!!!!
The bell sounds!
Medics rushed into the ring after this violent and destructive match, giving both fighters attention. Strangely enough, both seemed to refuse it and push the medical staff away as they both wanted to continue the fight! However, both men had lost so much stamina after the match that collectively the dojo students at ringside were able to calm them down.
The ramifications of this match are unclear at this point, with both fighters having a strong tour despite the outcome of the match. There was little time for the commentary team to debate the matter as soon the MAX Heavyweight title bout was set to begin…
★★★★MAX Heavyweight Championship★★★★
Mushigahara (c)
vs.
Frank Dylan James
Per the tradition, all of the fighters occupied seats in front section of the crowd. The pre-match hype showed the significant followings that have built up. GRIM and Zombie were of course seated with the all-black tees of the Demon Brigade zealots. Royal Road Champion Shinjiro Nakama sat among the MOUNTAIN Bros, wearing a #shinjiroswole t-shirt and even wearing a pair of dark shades they had given him. Go Gensai, still fresh with sweat, found a pocket of GHOST ARMY fans with whom he congregated to watch his teammate FDJ attempt to win it all. The injured David Troy, released from the hospital to applause from the crowd, sat with fans of Mushigahara to witness his friend and ally go up against his chief rival.
The two titans emerged from backstage with pyrotechnic flare. Both were terribly serious, as the feud between them spans many moons and now many continents. The fans were split, so it seemed, with the Japanese ex-pats, many of whom were Demon Brigade zealots, preferring Mushigahara to FDJ, while the home European crowd as probably 70/30 split in favor of FDJ.
The fan alignments of course would have no bearing on the match. When these two locked up in a test of strength, the fans witnessed bulk vs. bulk in that ring as these two imposing figures challenged one another. It was Mushigahara who pushed back FDJ for a moment, but the wily West Virginia mastodon would kick Mushigahara in the gut and hit a European uppercut that brought the rest of the crowd to his side!
He hit a couple more European uppercuts and ran Mushigahara into the ropes and downed him with a big boot! FDJ would bring him back up to his feet, but Mushi would push him back with sumo strikes into the corner and back up… he’d charge forward with a thundering lariat… Ooooh it connects! FDJ would stumble like a drunk out of the corner as Mushi snuck up behind him with a rear waistlock and dumped him on his neck and shoulder with a release German suplex! The fans at this point were slack-jawed, many noting “I’ve never seen anyone so big fly so high”.
Indeed, as FDJ rolled to the outside and Mushigahara followed, the collective perspective was that we were witnessing something unusual. Mushi tagged FDJ’s face with the ringpost and then threw him into the thick metal guardrail, causing Chris Ravenna and Jacob Hammerstein to push the fans back just in case things got ugly.
And ugly they got.
Mushi ran forward and clotheslined FDJ over the guardrail and spilling the action into the vacant seats. These two were oblivious to the referee whose slow count had already reached up to…
10…
11…
Mushi grabbed FDJ by the hair and slapped him in the face! ~ Which earned a vigorous elbow strike from the hillbilly! These two brawled like mad as the dojo students had jumped the guardrail and put themselves between the fans and these two behemoths.
12…
13…
14…
15…
At this point, the two men seemed aware of the count and both made a dash and scramble to get back in the ring. You’ve never seen two giants run so slow as they pushed one another to off-balance the other as they attempted to avoid the count-out…
16…
17…
18…
19…
And somehow both of them got underneath the bottom rope to avoid ending the match. It was FDJ who got to his feet first and began stomping Mushi like trying to kill a mutant cockroach in a nuclear wasteland. But like all cockroaches, Mushigahara could not be crushed and got up to his feet. It was the God-Beast who smacked FDJ, spinning him round, and put him in a torture rack! Fans wowed the strength of Mushi as the cameras flashed as he wrenched FDJ’s body before dropping him with a neckbreaker ~ THE ATLAS CUTTER! He went for the pinfall!!
1…
2…
3!!!!!!!!
NO! FDJ somehow kicked out!
The ring was still shaking from the impact as Mushigahara huffed and puffed, his sumo-sized belly expanding and contracting with each cycle of breath. As the God-Beast roared to his feet, he tore the singlets from shoulders and beat his chest, earned an “OSU! OSU! OSU!” chant from the crowd.
He lifted FDJ up to his feet and ran him into the corner and chased after him with another lariat ~ it connected! FDJ remained slouched in the corner this time and Mushi grabbed him by the hair and set him up for the Spiral Bomb! But FDJ resisted and… somehow with God’s grace… lifted him up with a back body drop, sending the big man landing on his neck and shoulders! The fans were wowed as they watched the champ get dumped and FDJ slumped to a knee as he winced in pain while holding his back.
FDJ nevertheless managed to drag Mushi rom the corner and went for a pin…
1…
2…
“GET UP, MUSHI!” from David Troy yelling in the audience.
3!!!!!!
NO! Mushi’s shoulder gets up at the last second!
FDJ slowly clambered up and dragged Mushi to his feet by the back of his singlet. He latched a hand around his throat for a chokeslam, putting his other hand on Mushi’s back to leverage the weight and… he lifted him up and dropped him DOWN! The ring shook violently as FDJ went for another pin!! Here we go!
1…
2…
3!!!!!!!!!!
NO! NO! NO! Mushi twisted up someway somehow!
FDJ rolled onto his side and clutched his lower back, with obvious and shooting pain running through him. His teammate Gensai called out to him from the crowd to get up and keep going, but FDJ planted his face on the canvas and screamed in pain.
Mushigahara was up to his feet first, though FDJ was not far behind. Mushigahara planted him with a sumo strike that FDJ returned with a headbutt! Sumo strike! Headbutt! Then Mushi used a headbutt! FDJ with a headbutt! FDJ with a bloody nose kept going, smearing all over the face of Mushi who also wouldn’t let up!
Mushi!
FDJ!
Mushi!
FDJ!
FDJ!
FDJ! FDJ! FDJ!
With the God-Beast stunned, FDJ kicked him in the gut and set him up for a powerbomb as the fans and wrestler stood up to their feet…
… he groaned… no dice.
… he tried the lift again… no dice.
“NO ONE IS SAFE, FRANK-SAN!” Gensai's words audible in the silent anticipation of the crowd, holding their breaths...
… FDJ lifted with a roar and…
… GOT HIM UP!!!!! …
… AND DROPPED MUSHI DOWN!!!!!! The ring shook so hard that the referee toppled over into the ropes and even the turnbuckles swayed. FDJ crawled atop Mushigahara for the pin!
1…
2…
3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE. BELL. SOUNDS!!!!!
The fans were stunned as the medics, dojo students, and Go Gensai stormed the ring. It was a collective effort lifting these two up, but in the end both were able to stand. As GM Sano presented Frank Dylan James the MAX Heavyweight Championship, he held it in his hands for several moments just staring at the gold before raising it triumphantly into the air as the camera flashes glittered off of belt plates.
Mushigahara would walk away under his own power, cursing at himself and seeming to swear that he would have his revenge. But on this night, the fans looked upon Frank Dylan James, the new heavyweight champion, as GM Sano strapped the title belt around his proud waist. Gensai took the microphone and told the fans that the GHOST ARMY is forever, with each many having defeated a now former MAX Heavyweight Champion on this evening. Together they breathed sneered sinister into microphone, “NO ONE IS SAFE!” as they mounted the turnbuckles on a night where the GHOST ARMY reigned supreme over all.
- RECAP -
SEMPER INVICTUS ~ Pro-Wrestling TOUKON Vol. 4 ~ TOUKON ROAD: EUROPA RUSH! - Day 6
Date: 3/23/2019
Location: Engineers’ Row, London, United Kingdom
Attendance: 6,500 fans (87% capacity)
1. Sport Form Rules: Naoki Ojima defeats Earth Warrior (R2 6:13) via referee stoppage (high kick)
2. Sport Form Rules: Chris Ravenna defeats Shigeru Toyama (R1 4:52) via referee stoppage (soccer kicks)
3. Sport Form Rules: AJ Knight defeats Umetaro Sakamoto (R2 8:00) via judges decision, 3-0 (unanimous).
4. GRIM and Tokyo Zombie defeat James Edwards and KOSUKE (13:30) via submission after Zombie uses the Black Mount Fuji Stretch on KOSUKE.
5. Shinjiro Nakama and Toru Ishii defeat Jacob Hammerstein and Falcon Hamada (12:23) via submission when Ishii uses a kimura on Hamada.
6. DEMON vs. GHOST~!!: Go Gensai defeats ZENKI (14:55) via pinfall after an avalanche-style Gensai-style piledriver.
7. MAX Heavyweight Championship: Frank Dylan James defeats Mushigahara (c) (12:55) via pinfall with a powerbomb to become the 5th champion.