* KJPW's Prologue FINAL STAGE series continued from Kobe tonight in neighboring Osaka. Show started officially with SPIRIT International's Sean King and Shino Hiriyama coming to the ring. Showing no respect for Ring Announcer Eizou Hayakawa, Hiriyama pulled the microphone from his hands, and publicly announced that today was Sean King's birthday!
Rather obnoxiously, Hiriyama shouted in English, "MR. KING! HAPPY! BIRTHDAY! TO! YOU!" As a present Hiriyama presented King with three treats in the form of rookies Shinji Uchikawa, Yutaka Awano, and Yukio Kisanuki in what began the first match of the night -- a two-on-three handicap match pitting the rookies against King and Hiriyama. The young boys had some hope spots, but were eventually soundly beaten. After the match, Katsumi Gakusha presented King with a slice of birthday cake. King naturally ate it with his hands like a savage, while shouting "UMAI!" (Japanese for Tasty!) Naturally, King wiped his hands all over the face of the man he beat with his King's Gavel (Diamond Cutter,) Yutaka Awano...
Rather obnoxiously, Hiriyama shouted in English, "MR. KING! HAPPY! BIRTHDAY! TO! YOU!" As a present Hiriyama presented King with three treats in the form of rookies Shinji Uchikawa, Yutaka Awano, and Yukio Kisanuki in what began the first match of the night -- a two-on-three handicap match pitting the rookies against King and Hiriyama. The young boys had some hope spots, but were eventually soundly beaten. After the match, Katsumi Gakusha presented King with a slice of birthday cake. King naturally ate it with his hands like a savage, while shouting "UMAI!" (Japanese for Tasty!) Naturally, King wiped his hands all over the face of the man he beat with his King's Gavel (Diamond Cutter,) Yutaka Awano...
* Naoki Fukuda and Riki Ichiro had something of a warm up for their first round tournament match on 04/06, having just seen their opponents win in the opening bout. The two would face the experienced "Nagoya Tower" Yujiro Higuchi, and rookie Tsutomu Nishioka... Before the match began however, EXODUS Pro-Wrestling's Steve Lenton appeared at ring side to scout the man he'll challenge for the WWA National Heavyweight Title on 04/05 in Nagoya, Riki Ichiro. While no hostility was shown from Lenton, his general presence seemed to more than annoy Ichiro...
Starting the match off with Nishioka, Fukuda tested the young boy early on, seeing first hand what Nishioka was capable of dishing out as he absorbed a volley of forearms. Not impressed, Naoki hammered Tsutomu with a thudding elbow to the face, sending the rookie staggering! After feeling satisfied, Naoki tagged out to Riki Ichiro, who had no intention of holding back on the poor rookie. The Osaka fans immediately sympathized with the pink-trunks wearing Nishioka as Ichiro blistered his chest with knife-edge chops! After a forceful throw to the mat, Ichiro proceeded to stomp Nishioka mercilessly into the mat -- garnering Ichiro a few boos from the audience! The assault continued, as Ichiro punished Nishioka with a body slam, followed with a measured stomp to the stomach. Growing increasingly frustrated with the rookie's lack of Burning Spirit, Ichiro pulled Nishioka up by the hair and tossed him into his own corner, before calling for a "real challenge" in Yujiro Higuchi! Higuchi was happy to oblige, leading to a sickening trade of chops. Ichiro pushed the pace, which seemed to initially be a good strategy against the 194cm Yujiro Higuchi. However, Ichiro's reckless strategy opened him up for a brutal big boot from Higuchi, who dealt some damage to the WWA National Champion with a series of simple, but effective moves. As Higuchi attacked Ichiro, a groundswell of support formed for Nishioka on the ring apron -- including from Steve Lenton himself, who cheered Tsutomu on from his ringside seat! Going with the crowd, Yujiro tagged Nishioka back in, who actually landed some offense on Ichiro, including a beautiful dropkick! The charismatic young boy even struck a guts pose after landing the dropkick... Unfortunately for him, while he was posing, Ichiro had popped back to his feet, only to TAKE NISHIOKA'S HEAD OFF WITH A BRUTAL LARIAT! With Naoki there to cut Higuchi off, Ichiro firmly planted his knee across the rookie's chest as the three count was rendered!
Nishioka's pose seemed to strike Ichiro as a sign of disrespect for his senpai, prompting him to continue stomping away at the rookie's body! Turning Nishioka over, Riki began slapping him across the face while screaming, "Where's your Burning Spirit!? Quit joking around!" before administering another slap! Seeing enough of what he perceived to be bullying, STEVE LENTON stormed the ring before shoving Ichiro off the rookie! Shouting in English, "C'MON, MAN! YOU WON! ISN'T THAT ENOUGH!?" Lenton chastised his 04/05 opponent. Taking the microphone, an even further incensed Ichiro shouted back in Japanese, "Hey! American! This doesn't concern you!" The two had another intense stand off before Ichiro stormed to the back. Lenton garnered immense support from the Osaka crowd for helping the rookie up. Nishioka eventually recovered, and apologized profusely for troubling Lenton. "The Big L" however smiled, and raised Tsutomu's arm up, prompting a giant ovation from the crowd!
* In the next bout, "Sumo Brothers Returns" Chikao Kessin and Masafuji Yoshida teamed with fellow seikigun member Kazuki Sendo to face the unique union of "Double Goodwin" and ARMADA's Yusaku Kitajima. Sendo and Kitajima opened the match, continuing their growing generation rivalry. Kitajima seemed to stay ahead using his precision and technique, only for Sendo to explode with a jumping elbow smash from out of no where! The Sumos were equally eager to lock horns with their HEC Tag Team Tournament first round opponents as their fight with the Goodwins soon spilled to the outside! With Sendo and Kitajima the legal men, the four heavy hitters brought havoc upon the ringside fans! Almost everything not nailed down was used as an instrument of offense. The fight got so out of control, that Kessin and Junior found their way brawling to the inner halls of BODYMAKER! While making for a chaotic ring side environment, the clearing gave plenty of room for the two legal wrestlers to work. Kitajima appeared to be breaking down Sendo's resistence with hard. However, Sendo came back with a beautiful backflip counter to Kitajima's German Suplex attempt. With a brilliant display of Lucha Llave style, Sendo trapped Kitajima with his 322 (Arm-trapped Gannosuke) Clutch to pick up the three count! The fans gave a big round of applause for Sendo, who is an Osaka native. The Sumos and Double Goodwin were never seen again for the rest of the night...
* KJPW joined forces with EXODUS Pro-Wrestling in the next match, as Kazuma Fujita himself teamed alongside EXODUS's Champion and Fiona Rourke and "The Big L" Steve Lenton, who had earned many fans for sticking up for Tsutomu Nishioka earlier in the night. Together, the three battled the makeshift trio of ARMADA's Harumi Sakai, EXODUS's Abby Park, and LEGION's Magnus Gunner. Repeating his performance from the night before in Kobe, Magnus had little intention of cooperating with his partners -- especially EXODUS's Abby Park. Tonight however, Magnus started the match after calling out Kazuma Fujita! The revered Living Legend faced LEGION's Loaded Pistol head on with a brutal exchange of knife-edge chops. With his punk look aside, Magnus exemplified the strength that comes with being a top level American wrestler, and showed no weakness against Fujita early on, and repaid Fujita's chops in kind with hard European forearms! With the loyal -- borderline fanatical Osaka crowd behind Fujita, he dished out more, harder chops to Magnus's increasingly red chest. Just as it seemed he would return the favor, Magnus brought all of Fujita's momentum to a halt by raking his eyes! After a quick flying mare, Magnus blasted Fujita in the face with a seated kenka kick, giving him a two count over the legend! Looking to catch his breath, Magnus motioned to Sakai to be ready for the tag... However, as he approached, it would be ABBY PARK who would tag herself in! This obviously angered Magnus, as tagging Park in effectively tags Fujita out and brings in the EXODUS Champ herself, Fiona Rourke! Amidst several "FIONA!" calls, Rourke wrestled Park to the mat, where the two traded some slick holds to demonstrate their technical prowess. The short-tempered Park however would soon cut the spirited EXODUS Ace off with a series of knees to the body, followed with a quick DDT! Abby showed more confidence since yesterday, and won over several fans with her reckless fight style. However, Fiona managed to find her opening after Abby telegraphed her Seoul Train jumping knee with a Dropsault Kick! Abby bailed to the outside, giving Fiona an idea... First however, she tagged out to an eager Steve Lenton, BEFORE DIVING ONTO ABBY WITH A TOPE CON GIRO! Bailing to the outside, Magnus forced Harumi Sakai into the ring to face "The Big L." Sakai did his best, putting his all behind a series of kicks to the body. Lenton however weathered the shot, and came back with a powerful body slam, and followed with a Spinebuster after catching Sakai off the ropes! Just as he Lenton seemed poised to finish the match, Sakai fought back once more with kicks, followed by short palms to the face. While initially absorbing the shots, the accumilative damage added up, allowing Sakai to toss the stunned Lenton to the mat with a Judo throw! As Lenton sat up, Sakai buried his shin deep into Lenton's back with a soccer kick! Sakai covered, ONLY FOR LENTON TO KICK OUT AT ONE! Sakai fired off more kicks to subdue Lenton -- only to be caught and driven into the mat with a Backdrop Suplex! With the fans on their feet, Lenton tagged out to Kazuma Fujita! Sakai was trying to tag out to Magnus Gunner at the same time -- ONLY FOR MAGNUS TO DROP OFF THE APRON! The Osaka fans erupted with a chorus of boos as Magnus began to walk away from his corner. Still brawling with Fiona around ringside, Abby Park quickly became aware of what Magnus had done, and immediately confronted him on it. Magnus sneered; not paying her any mind. As Abby was pushed to her limit, she forcefully grabbed Magnus by the arm, prompting him to shove her down! The action drew a NUCLEAR reaction from the Osaka fans, who rarely see male-on-female contact. However, the action paled in comparison to what followed as EXODUS Champ Fiona Rourke SMASHED A CHAIR ACROSS MAGNUS'S BACK!! In the ring, Fujita held nothing back against Sakai; partially due to not fully realizing the situation. After weathering a final gasp of offense from Sakai, Fujita gave the 1,900+ fans what they wanted by coming off the ropes and BLASTING SAKAI WITH THE FUJITA LARIAT! To the crowd's surprise -- and delight, Fujita pointed over to The Big L; who himself seemed shocked! Fujita slapped Lenton's hand to bring him into the ring, all while Sakai ever-slowly pulled himself up to a standing base... Seemingly knowing what Fujita wanted, Lenton himself came racing off the ropes, before CRASHING INTO SAKAI WITH HIS GAME CHANGER LARIAT! Lenton covered Sakai for the three-count as Fujita watched the outside -- where Magnus showed no interest in saving his "partner," all while recovering from Fiona's chairshot.
Within moments of the match ending, Magnus stormed back to the ringside area, before unceremoniously taking the microphone from Ring Announcer Eizou Hayakawa. In English, Magnus said he wasn't even sure why he was sent over here to Japan when he's not even legally allowed to touch Fiona Rourke; the women he'll challenge for EXODUS's Heavyweight Crown on 04/07 at their Invincible iPPV. Keeping it simple for the Japanese audience, Magnus said Fiona's days as Champion were numbered, as he held up a dented American-style steel chair to make the message even clearer... Before leaving, Magnus gave a slow gaze around, before cryptically screaming, "JAPAN! LEGION IS HERE! AND EVEN AFTER I'M GONE, LEGION WILL STILL BE HERE!" To ram his point home, Magnus pulled out a black flag containing the bloody red LEGION emblem, before laying it across the hall's floor... After Magnus had left, the flag was quickly torn to pieces by Abby Park...
The microphone work continued after the match, with the EXODUS Champion herself addressing the fans once more with the same Japanese greeting she gave the Kobe fans the night before. She personally thanked "Fujita-san" for tonight's match, and admitted that it was a dream come true to be tagging alongside somebody she looked up to as a wrestler. Holding her EXODUS Championship Belt above her head, she expressed her desire to come back to Japan and defend her belt in Osaka, be it man, or woman! After making a joke about the timezone differences, Fiona hoped the Japanese fans would purchase EXODUS's iPPV (available internationally!) to watch her teach Magnus something about Burning Spirit. She extended a more personal invitation to KAZUMA FUJITA however, asking him if he would come to San Diego and attend the event as EXODUS's honored guest! Fujita was touched by the offer, and said he could find no way to refuse it!
* The semi final match officially kicked off the HEC Tag Team Title Tournament, as MONSTER HEAD DUO's Mamoru Sekishima and Tetsuji Kawamura faced ARMADA's Kenji Tanamura and Yuichi Miwa. MHD rushed the stoic fighters from the gong, and begun overwhelming them with clubbing blows and chops! A wild brawl on the outside ensued, where the larger Sekishima and Kawamura thrived by using their added weight to muscle the leaner Tanamura and Miwa around. Once the fight returned to the ring however, Tanamura and Miwa began slowly exploiting various holes in MHD's gameplan, eventually allowing Tanamura to catch Kawamura with a kneel kick! ARMADA's Strongest Combination showed good teamwork after isolating Mamoru Sekishima. The Greco Superman however would live up to his name after hurling Tanamura across the ring with a gutwrench throw! Making use of frequent tags, Kawamura and Sekishima dealt Tanamura severe blows, including a crushing sandwich lariat, followed by a stereo enzuigiri! The ever resilient Gladiator King would soon comeback however after breaking free of Mamoru's grip. There, he unloaded with a rapid combination of leg kicks, knees to the body, and slaps to the face! With Mamoru stunned, Tanamura began hooking his arm and head for the KOBE☆LOVE -- only for Kawamura to stop him at the pass! Together, MHD then sent Tanamura into the ropes -- WHO DUCKED THEIR DOUBLE LARIAT! Catching the two off guard, Tanamura knocked Kawamura down with a powerful body kick, FOLLOWED BY THE ABISEGIRI TO SEKISHIMA! With the big man stunned, Tanamura gripped his body and mustered all of his strength to lift Mamoru for a Backdrop... ONLY FOR MAMORU TO LAND ON TOP! The counter nearly won MHD the match, as Tanamura kicked out of the fall at 2.5! Still groggy, Mamoru dragged Tanamura to the corner before tagging out to Tetsuji, who unloaded onto Tanamura with three consecutive headbutts! As Tanamura hunched over in the corner, Tetsuji further punished him with short, but hard hip attacks. MHD has been in control for so long, that the fans naturally began rallying behind the popular Tanamura. The calls and chants seemed to get into Kawamura's head, who grew increasingly frustrated with Tanamura's undying spirit. Finally, after trying to knock Tanamura down with a running hip attack, Tanamura countered appropriately -- catching Tetsuji and folding him in half with a Backdrop! Rather than go for the pin, Tanamura made tag to the fresh Yuichi Miwa, who unloaded with slaps and knees, culminating with a brutal savate kick to the body, and a Fisherman Buster! Moments later, Miwa would land another fluid combination, ending with a releasing German Suplex! To the shock of the crowd -- and ignorance of Miwa, Tetsuji rolled onto his feet, and BLASTED MIWA IN THE FACE WITH A HIP ATTACK! Wasting no time, Kawamura scooped the stunned Miwa up, before driving him into the mat with the Tetsuotoshi (Iron Drop - Swinging Sit-out Uranage)! Sensing the victory, Tetsuji hooked the leg for the cover -- only for Tanamura to make the save! After Sekishima dispersed Tanamura from the ring, Kawamura had the opportunity to end the match once and for all. Choosing to climb to the top, Tetsuji patiently waited for Miwa to get to his feed... By this point, it was clear Kawamura was aiming for his Raiden Crush standing senton... As Kawamura jumped however, MIWA STUCK, BLASTING HIM IN THE FACE WITH A PERFECTLY-TIMED KICK! With the fans coming unglued, Tetsuji staggered his way to his feet, ONLY TO WALK INTO THE BERSERKER KNEE FROM MIWA! The tables had turned so fast, that Sekishima had no idea what was happening -- allowing Miwa to pick up the uninterrupted pin fall!!
The fans applauded both teams efforts after the match, all while Miwa and Tanamura celebrated their advancement to the next round. Mamoru Sekishima appeared heart broken, but was there to tend to his fallen partner... Before leaving, Miwa cut a fiery promo, vowing he and Tanamura would bring gold to ARMADA.
* The main event featured the next first round match in the HEC Tag Team Title tournament, as HEC Heavyweight Champion TAKU attempted to move one step closer towards being a Double Crown Champion with his best friend and "Baka Machineguns" partner Go Taniguchi against the man TAKU will defend his singles title against on 04/06 in Korakuen Hall, Seiji Ebisawa and his long time friend and partner Katsumi Gakusha; together representing SPIRIT International. Despite teasing the opening confrontation, the two elites chose to let their respective partners start the bout off, as the clumsy, but lovably Go Taniguchi met the posh, and arrogant Katsumi Gakusha. The two exchanged mat work early on, with them largely working over the others arm. Gakusha looked slick in his transitions, only to be clumsily shown up by the 193cm Go Taniguchi. This eventually frustrated Gakusha, prompting him to take several short cuts. After grounding Go, Gakusha brought in "Mr. Transcendence" Seiji Ebisawa, who punished Go by driving the heel of his boot into his throat, all while feigning ignorance of the referee's warnings up until the count of four. While throwing the occasional verbal jab at TAKU, Ebisawa continued to stretch and hurt Go on the mat. Naturally, the Osaka fans cheered wildly in support of the man they've laughed with (and at) for over a decade, prompting Go to attempt a comeback -- only to be immediately suppressed by Ebisawa's brutal knuckle punches! Bringing Gakusha back in, "Mr. DYNAMIC" pushed the pace by forcing Go into the ropes, where he caught Go with a pin-point accurate dropkick to the face! While staying within the rules, SPIRIT International used every trick in the tag team book to keep Go isolated, going as far as to cheapshot TAKU, which caused him to storm the ring and force the referee's interjection -- all while Ebisawa and Gakusha continued to double-team Go in the ring! Just as all hope seemed lost for Go, he brilliantly countered Gakusha's Blessful Uppercut with a well-timed Northern chop! With the fans erupting in cheers, Go wildly unloaded with chop and chop, before whipping Gakusha into the ropes and landing about as good a Dropkick as Go Taniguchi is going to land! With the HEC Heavyweight Champion chomping at the bit, Go made the dramatic tag to TAKU as the crowd came unglued! Foolishly choosing to meet TAKU head on, Gakusha quickly found himself cut down by a powerful lariat! As he scrambled to his feet, he was only meet with a second -- harder lariat! Upon reaching his feet a second time, TAKU BLASTED him a brain-scrambling Enzuilariat, followed with an ENZUIGIRI! With Gakusha essentially a vegetable, The HEC Champ came off the ropes like a speeding arrow, before PIERCING GAKUSHA IN TWO WITH A VIOLENT SPEAR! After throwing his both of his thumbs high into the air, TAKU dead-lifted Gakusha's body up. After holding him up for what seemed like minutes, TAKU sent Gakusha's body CRASHING INTO THE MAT WITH THE JACKHAMMER! TAKU retained the pin fall -- ONLY FOR EBISAWA TO BREAK IT UP AT 2.5! Gakusha seemed down and out. However, he soon showed he had more life left as he jumped to his feet as TAKU went for his match-ending Choujin Bomber (Sliding Lariat) -- ONLY TO COUNTER WITH THE BLESSFUL UPPERCUT! The shot stunned TAKU enough for Gakusha to follow with the BLESSFUL CRUSHER! After taking a moment to recover, Gakusha made the tag out to Ebisawa, just as TAKU tagged out to Go! Ebisawa and Taniguchi traded heavy blows back and forth, with Go gaining some steam! However, just before he could pull something big off, EBISAWA CUT HIM OFF WITH A BRUTAL SHORT-RANGE LARIAT! After dragging Go up, he quickly grounded him once more with the EXPLODER! With the end in sight for SPIRIT International, Gakusha came in to cut TAKU off, before following to further insure victory. With Go conceivably weakened, Ebisawa tried to finish him with his Wrist-Clutch Exploder -- ONLY FOR GO TO FIGHT BACK WITH ELBOWS! After breaking free, Go swiftly hurled Ebisawa overhead with his Aqua-Line Northern Lights Suplex hold, only for Ebisawa to kick out after two! Feeling momentum on his side, Go attempted to hoist Ebisawa up for the Tama Tama Drop! However, before he could properly execute the move, Ebisawa made his escape, before striking with his own Enzuigiri! Bending Go over, Ebisawa unleashed a rapid flurry of short step kicks to Go's forehead, before stuffing his head between his legs. With TAKU in full view; restrained by Gakusha, Ebisawa hoisted the 111kg Go Taniguchi up, before FOLDING HIM IN HALF WITH A POWERBOMB! Keeping his weight on top of Go's, Ebisawa earned the victory for his team; guaranteeing their advancement to the next round!
After the match, Gakusha rubbed the result in TAKU and Taniguchi's face, saying they were 2-0 over KJPW in main events recently. He said that it was a foregone conclusion he and Ebisawa would win the HEC Tag Team Titles, just like Ebisawa will beat TAKU for his HEC Heavyweight Title on 04/06 in Korakuen. Addressing the Champion directly, Ebisawa said that TAKU was a strong wrestler, but he had a mental complex for losing the big one. TAKU naturally disagreed, and said he'd utterly crush Ebisawa and win the big one, just as he did when he won the EMPEROR'S CUP to become Champion in the first place. Ebisawa bluntly responded, "Your good luck has run out. You have no chance of beating me." He further vowed to defeat TAKU WITHOUT the assistance of SPIRIT International and show the true worth of KJPW's "Meat head Ace." After SPIRIT International took their leave, TAKU admitted to letting KJPW down with their recent losses... However, he promised a fierce counterattack in the days to follow!
After the match, Gakusha rubbed the result in TAKU and Taniguchi's face, saying they were 2-0 over KJPW in main events recently. He said that it was a foregone conclusion he and Ebisawa would win the HEC Tag Team Titles, just like Ebisawa will beat TAKU for his HEC Heavyweight Title on 04/06 in Korakuen. Addressing the Champion directly, Ebisawa said that TAKU was a strong wrestler, but he had a mental complex for losing the big one. TAKU naturally disagreed, and said he'd utterly crush Ebisawa and win the big one, just as he did when he won the EMPEROR'S CUP to become Champion in the first place. Ebisawa bluntly responded, "Your good luck has run out. You have no chance of beating me." He further vowed to defeat TAKU WITHOUT the assistance of SPIRIT International and show the true worth of KJPW's "Meat head Ace." After SPIRIT International took their leave, TAKU admitted to letting KJPW down with their recent losses... However, he promised a fierce counterattack in the days to follow!
KJPW Prologue FINAL STAGE ~ IGNITION!! Series,
March 30, 2013
Osaka - BODYMAKER Colosseum Second Hall
1,950 Fans (Super No Vacancy Full House)
1. Handicap Match: Shino Hiriyama [SI] & Sean King [SI] beat Shinji Uchikawa, Yutaka Awano & Yukio Kisanuki (7:10) when King used the King's Gavel on Awano.
2. Naoki Fukuda & Riki Ichiro beat Yujiro Higuchi & Tsutomu Nishioka (7:24) when Ichiro used the Riki Lariat on Nishioka.
3. Chikao Kessin, Masafuji Yoshida & Kazuki Sendo beat Yusaku Kitajima, James Goodwin Jr. & "BIG" Jon Goodwin (10:11) when Sendo used the 322 Clutch on Kitajima.
4. Special Six-Person Tag Match: Kazuma Fujita, Fiona Rourke [EXODUS] & "The Big L" Steve Lenton [EXODUS] beat Harumi Sakai, Magnus Gunner [LEGION] & Abby Park [EXODUS] (15:59) when Lenton used the Game Changer on Sakai.
5. HEC Tag Team Title Tournament - Round 1: Kenji Tanamura & Yuichi Miwa beat Mamoru Sekishima & Tetsuji Kawamura (13:38) when Miwa used the Berserker Knee on Kawamura.
6. HEC Tag Team Title Tournament - Round 1: Seiji Ebisawa [SI] & Katsumi Gakusha [SI] beat TAKU & Go Taniguchi (18:24) when Ebisawa used a Powerbomb on Taniguchi.
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