Post by Jeff L. on Oct 3, 2024 16:35:51 GMT -5
Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center.
Hiroshima, in the Chuguku Region.
Japan.
-----------
Kenji Wakabayashi, the main man of puroresu play-by-play commentary, welcomes the fans watching on the small screens around the world, as well as the five thousand strong in the Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center venue, for what sure promises to be a spectacular night of professional wrestling!
“And I can promise you, good people, it will be a night of pure pro-wrestling, as the main culprit for the descent into chaos and madness has been apprehended for tonight’s show… please welcome the color commentator, and my”, Wakabayashi distorted his mouth mockingly, “CoLlEaGuE, for tonight’s show, the vile Riki Choshu”.
Choshu seemed very annoyed at this introduction, and lazily responded: “You and that old leather book cover Baba got what you wanted for tonight, Wakabayashi. I’m sitting here and commentating, and I promise not to physically influence any of the matches tonight. Instead of being so unprofessionally emotional, how about you cue in the audience at home on the current state of the Pacific League table?”.
“For once, we agree (and I can’t believe I’m saying this)… here’s the current points in the Pacific League, ladies and gentlemen.”
Wrestler: Points:
Genichiro Tenryu 9
Mitsuharu Misawa 9
Riki Choshu 6
Giant Baba 5
Jumbo Tsuruta 4
Akira Taue 3
Satoru Sayama 3
Toshiaki Kawada 3
Gran Hamada 1
Kenta Kobashi 0
As the table graphics slowly faded from the screen, the competitors in tonight’s opener entered the ring.
#1: Toshiaki Kawada vs Satoru Sayama
Junior heavyweight veteran, Satoru Sayama, started with a flurry of offense; headlocks, spinning wristlocks and toe holds quickly threw Kawada off his game. But he soon slowed things down with kicks, and stiff suplexes all around the ring ensued.
As Toshiaki was preparing for a brainbuster, Sayama attempted a rollup, and Toshiaki barely produced a kickout. A hurricanarana sent Kawada to the mat, and the veteran Sayama scaled the buckles, diving down on his opponent. He however got caught in the moosh with a Gamengiri as he dived off the ropes, a pin and a three count, win by Toshiaki Kawada.
Toshiaki then stared at the commentary table for a few seconds. “Almost as if he’s looking for a certain someone”, the commentator Kenji Wakabayashi noticed, “but he’s not out here at the table tonight.”
“He is not”, Choshu retorted, “he sure isn’t…”, he ended gloomingly.
#2: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jumbo Tsuruta
Misawa offered a handshake before the match, but Tsuruta merely smiled, before signalling a ‘come at me’ hand gesture. Collar and elbow tie-up ensued, as the men slowly moved into the ropes. Tsuruta tapped Misawa’s chest quite harshly, even though he gave a clean breakup; still smiling throughout, nonetheless. At this point, Misawa got even more serious, as he locked in a headlock from the tie-up. Tsuruta sent Misawa bouncing off the ropes, and a hefty shoulderblock by Jumbo put the green grappler down.
Tsuruta started grinding Misawa while on the mat: headlocks, armlocks, nerve holds, all the excruciating big man submission holds. But the young man persevered, and managed to squirm out of the hold, and hit a pair of spin kicks. Mitsuharu went to the top rope, with Tsuruta still staggering, and landed a missile dropkick on his opponent, and it was enough… for a two-count.
Misawa noticed Jumbo’s getting up, and he tried to keep him down with a side headlock, looking to bring the bigger veteran to his knees; but disaster struck as Tsuruta shifted his weight, popped his hips, and lifted his opponent in a belly to back suplex, driving the junior’s neck into the mat. Two count only, though. Tsuruta then continued with a German suplex, for another two count. The heavyweight then prepared his arm, and sent out a loud OH! to the audience, half of which answered accordingly, as the other half cheered the younger man on.
The heavyweight ran the ropes, looking for the Lariat, but Misawa ducked! And as Tsuruta turned around, Misawa clobbered him with a concussion inducing roaring elbow. Tsuruta fell down like an old oak tree, and the crowd sent out a loud gasp of utter shock. Misawa however, staggered himself, and fell on his knee, clutching his neck. He pushed through the pain to cover Tsuruta, with half of the fans cheering him on, hooking his opponent’s right leg.
But Jumbo kicked out! At the last possible fraction of a second, the veteran survives! A desperate Misawa, full of pain, staggered to get the big man up, and locked in the double underhook. As he was preparing to lift Tsuruta up for a Tiger Driver, Jumbo ran Misawa into the corner: the young man’s neck whiplashed on the top turnbuckle, and he fell on his knee once more. Basically setting himself up, Jumbo pulled him in for a powerbomb, and the ring shook off of the tremendous impact. Tsuruta had won, and Misawa’s undefeated League streak thus came to an end.
Mitsuharu pulled himself up by the same turnbuckle he got knocked into, and when he lifted his head, he noticed a tired Jumbo standing next to him. It seemed like he was… smiling? That same smile he had at the beginning of the match donned his face now as well. Misawa got the hint, and extended his hand towards the vet. The veteran caught the hand, and the two shared a handshake. Even more than that, Tsuruta lifted Misawa’s arm up, pointing at the emerald warrior. Misawa mouthed his thanks to Jumbo, bowed his head, and soon left the ring to let the big man have his moment.
#3: Genichiro Tenryu vs Giant Baba
The third bout of the night pitted two veterans, two huge names colliding. It started as a simple, peaceful, exhibition affair. Tenryu was unusually stoic and calm this evening; almost as if he wasn’t facing the single greatest individual in history of All Japan, if not puroresu itself. Almost as if he felt certain, assured; as if he had an insurance policy.
As the match progressed, Giant Baba did not share in this stoic peace. He soon started locking in headlocks, waistlocks, and tried to knock Genichiro off his feet. In this, the colossus was successful, but not as much as in getting the pin. This frustrated the behemoth, who soon resorted to his world famous chops. Tenryu ducked a few of these, and went for a quick roll-up.
“Seems like Tenryu doesn’t want to hurt Giant Baba tonight, possibly out of respect”, Wakabayashi commented. “Or perhaps he feels safe for a certain reason…”, Choshu responded mysteriously: “I doubt he respects that old fossil anymore than I do”.
“How dare you, Choshu?!”, Wakabayashi angered, “that man is a legend! He’s responsible for our whole system.”
“Oh and what a system it is”, Choshu interrupted the commentator, “built on pushing old geezers, and keeping young talent down; and only the handpicked and the privileged are the ones getting all the glory. Only Baba’s little golden boys, huh?”
“Is that why you donned the Black Hood then, Choshu?!", Wakabayashi responded. "Is that why you--“
“Oh please, embarrass yourself further”, Riki finished, “I always knew you’re stupid, but now I know you’re blind as well, to accuse me contrary to obvious evidence: am I not merely sitting on commentary tonight?”
Meanwhile, the match in the ring escalated; Baba was now throwing haymakers, and desperately tried to knock Tenryu down. Genichiro himself lost some of his stoicism as well: he took down Baba with a vicious Gamengiri, the move that would have brought him the victory over almost anyone. But not over Baba! The Giant kicked out, and started mounting a comeback. A pair of clotheslines and a big boot put Tenryu down, as he prepared to charge out of the corner for a running neckbreaker drop; another Gamengiri caught the titan, as he spilled out of the ring to the outside.
As the count was nearing 20, Tenryu was seen calculating: is he going to take the count out win, or is he gonna roll Baba back in the ring to continue the bout. He rolled to the outside and tried picking Baba up, but alas – the big man was knocked out, and his limp body was too heavy to roll back in. Faced with this decision, Genichiro rolled back in the ring… and took the countout win.
“According to plan”, Choshu said, as a visibly dissapointed Tenryu left the ringside area, with a distraught look on his face.
#4: Gran Hamada vs Kenta Kobashi
Kenta Kobashi, the man known as The Burning one, was absolutely fuming from last week’s loss. He paced inside the ring, as his opponent already waited for him. But before he grabbed him, he grabbed a mic:
“What happened last week was nothing but a damn setup! You’re a goddamn rigger, Choshu!”, he pointed his finger at the announce desk. “This company was built on sport, on fair competition, on fighting spirit! And you brought filth and treachery to it. Tonight, I will bring honor back to All Japan, and save it from you. And don’t think I don’t know you’re in this one with him.”, as he turned to Hamada. “I ain’t blind nor dumb; you’re helping this bastard fix the table, ain’t you? That’s why you took a double countout against Baba last time! Tonight, I bring you down, Hamada, and I bring your goddamn boss down with you! To this I vow; if I don’t beat you tonight… I’m retiring from the League.” As he dropped the mic, the audience let out a collective gasp.
As soon as the bell rang, Kobashi was all over Hamada. He overpowered the older opponent in every way, and each slam he followed with a flurry of kicks and stomps. The referee Joe Higuchi had to warn Kenta on many occasions not to get himself disqualified. That ugly the match was, and that unrelenting was The Burning One.
Kenta then ran the ropes and jumped up to deliver the flying shoulder to Hamada; but the savvy veteran ducked, and Kenta hit the referee Joe Higuchi instead. Hamada jumped on the shoulders of Kenta, hoping to deliver a hurricanarana.
But Kobashi persevered, and lifted Hamada up, before slamming him to the mat with a vicious powerbomb. He went in for the cover, as the crowd counted: one! Two! THREE!... Four, five… the chant slowly died out. Kenta shook the ref, but ol’ Joe was still out. He turned around, and saw Hamada swinging a steel pipe!
Young Kenta luckily caught the hand of Hamada, twisting it mercilessly. A look of fear, and soon of pain, came over the veteran’s face, as he dropped the steel pipe on the mat. The eyes of Kobashi burned with flaming rage. He took a step backward, and almost knocked Hamada’s head off his shoulders into the fifth row with a sickeningly brutal Burning Lariat.
“Not tonight!”, the Burning One cried, “not tonight, and not anymore!”. He saw Joe Higuchi stirring, and went for the cover. But instead of hearing the ref’s hand hitting the mat for a count, he heard a metallic clank, and soon felt a searing pain in the back of his head.
When Kobashi came to his senses, he saw the ref lifting the hand of Gran Hamada, and a hooded person at ringside holding a steel pipe… not again… but this time, Kobashi did not get up. He did not scream with vigour, he did not threaten with searing rage to punish the bad men. Nor did he try to fight the Man in the Hood. On this night, Kenta walked out quietly. For he made a vow, and now he had to see it through – he had to retire from the Pacific League, not scoring a single point.
#5: Riki Choshu vs Akira Taue
“May God himself punish you for this, Choshu”, Wakabayashi cursed.
“I was sitting right here the whole time, you dimwit. Believe what you will, though; by the end of the night, you’ll know.”, Choshu snapped back, as he left the commentary to enter the ring, preparing for his match.
The crowd jeered Choshu as he entered the squared circle, but soon popped and jumped out of their seats, as the guitar riff of the oncoming Eclipse, the theme of the Dynamic One, Akira Taue, blasted off the PA system. “Perhaps there is one”, Wakabayashi stated proudly, “perhaps there is one more left, a single hero, driven by honor and fighting spirit, to put an end to this darkness.”
Young Akira Taue absolutely dominated this match, showing his amazing power, slamming Choshu down repeatedly with suplexes and power moves. The Dynamic One then crouched in the corner, with the fans cheering him on. He ran at Riki as he was getting up, and hit that Neckbreaker Drop that Baba himself could not land in his own match. A cover, and surely, a one, two, and a… a kick out. The damn bastard was still alive.
Akira crouched in the opposite corner, preparing for a Big Boot. But his focus wavered; his eyes wandered off to the crowd, up and over it, and to the backstage door. Darkness surrounded this area to the backstage, broken only by a rectangle of the back hall light… but itself was marred by another darkness, another shadow. Akira noticed the, no… a Man in the Hood peeking through the curtain once more. He looked away from this figure, determined not to fall as Kenta Kobashi fell. He shifted his focus back on Choshu. And as he did, another figure made him look away once more.
He saw another hooded figure, standing at ringside. Two of them?! But how is that possible?! Before he could compose himself, he got clobbered with a Choshu lariat, staggering to his knees. Choshu smiled, before running the ropes again, and hitting another lariat, this one of northern variety, to the back of the neck of Taue. With this, he secured another win.
The crowd let out a massive rafale of boos at Choshu. But the booing was the least of his problems, as Giant Baba himself came down the aisle! He swatted away the man in the hood at ringside, and he entered the ring, tearing the blazer off his shoulders. Eyes full of unrelenting rage, he grabbed Choshu by his neck. The fans cheered Baba on, hoping to see this damn bastard dealt with once and for all.
But it was all a damn setup. The same metallic sound was heard once more, as the booker, owner, and giant, fell down to his feet. Akira tried to get up to defend the colossus, but he as well was soon dealt with. Down the aisle walked the other hooded man, the one who stood by the door, swinging keys to the only two doors leading from the gorilla position to the ringside. The trio stood over the fallen fighters.
One man unmasked; revealing the face of one Gran Hamada. The other kept his hood on, as Choshu grabbed the two legs of Giant Baba, stepped through them with his own right leg, and turned the boss on his stomach, sitting on his back in what must’ve felt like an agony to the great Baba.
“What is this move?! He’s breaking Baba’s back!!!”, Wakabayashi cried. But that was not the end of the torture of Baba. The man in the hood started kicking away at Baba’s mouth; kicks after kicks landed upon his face, and Choshu wrenched the submission hold all throughout. This torture, this public execution did not stop until Baba was laying motionless. Thick red blood, which he poured for decades for All Japan, now flooded the ringmat. The third man finally removed his hood, once he felt satisfied.
The hood lifted to reveal Toshiaki Kawada. With Baba’s blood on his boot, and the black hood in his hand, he smiled at the camera, revealing a sickening, psychotic, toothless smile. The trio stood in the pool of blood and pile of bodies, as the feed faded to black.
Pacific League, Night 4 results:
Toshiaki Kawada defeated Satoru Sayama (09:46)
Jumbo Tsuruta defeated Mitsuharu Misawa (18:23)
Genichiro Tenryu defeated Giant Baba (11:39)
Gran Hamada defeated Kenta Kobashi (12:12)
Riki Choshu defeated Akira Taue (14:01)
Pacific League points (following Night 4):
Wrestler: Points:
Genichiro Tenryu 12
Mitsuharu Misawa 9
Riki Choshu 9
Jumbo Tsuruta 7
Toshiaki Kawada 6
Giant Baba 5
Gran Hamada 4
Akira Taue 3
Satoru Sayama 3
Kenta Kobashi 0 - retired from the Pacific League
Hiroshima, in the Chuguku Region.
Japan.
-----------
Kenji Wakabayashi, the main man of puroresu play-by-play commentary, welcomes the fans watching on the small screens around the world, as well as the five thousand strong in the Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center venue, for what sure promises to be a spectacular night of professional wrestling!
“And I can promise you, good people, it will be a night of pure pro-wrestling, as the main culprit for the descent into chaos and madness has been apprehended for tonight’s show… please welcome the color commentator, and my”, Wakabayashi distorted his mouth mockingly, “CoLlEaGuE, for tonight’s show, the vile Riki Choshu”.
Choshu seemed very annoyed at this introduction, and lazily responded: “You and that old leather book cover Baba got what you wanted for tonight, Wakabayashi. I’m sitting here and commentating, and I promise not to physically influence any of the matches tonight. Instead of being so unprofessionally emotional, how about you cue in the audience at home on the current state of the Pacific League table?”.
“For once, we agree (and I can’t believe I’m saying this)… here’s the current points in the Pacific League, ladies and gentlemen.”
Wrestler: Points:
Genichiro Tenryu 9
Mitsuharu Misawa 9
Riki Choshu 6
Giant Baba 5
Jumbo Tsuruta 4
Akira Taue 3
Satoru Sayama 3
Toshiaki Kawada 3
Gran Hamada 1
Kenta Kobashi 0
As the table graphics slowly faded from the screen, the competitors in tonight’s opener entered the ring.
#1: Toshiaki Kawada vs Satoru Sayama
Junior heavyweight veteran, Satoru Sayama, started with a flurry of offense; headlocks, spinning wristlocks and toe holds quickly threw Kawada off his game. But he soon slowed things down with kicks, and stiff suplexes all around the ring ensued.
As Toshiaki was preparing for a brainbuster, Sayama attempted a rollup, and Toshiaki barely produced a kickout. A hurricanarana sent Kawada to the mat, and the veteran Sayama scaled the buckles, diving down on his opponent. He however got caught in the moosh with a Gamengiri as he dived off the ropes, a pin and a three count, win by Toshiaki Kawada.
Toshiaki then stared at the commentary table for a few seconds. “Almost as if he’s looking for a certain someone”, the commentator Kenji Wakabayashi noticed, “but he’s not out here at the table tonight.”
“He is not”, Choshu retorted, “he sure isn’t…”, he ended gloomingly.
#2: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jumbo Tsuruta
Misawa offered a handshake before the match, but Tsuruta merely smiled, before signalling a ‘come at me’ hand gesture. Collar and elbow tie-up ensued, as the men slowly moved into the ropes. Tsuruta tapped Misawa’s chest quite harshly, even though he gave a clean breakup; still smiling throughout, nonetheless. At this point, Misawa got even more serious, as he locked in a headlock from the tie-up. Tsuruta sent Misawa bouncing off the ropes, and a hefty shoulderblock by Jumbo put the green grappler down.
Tsuruta started grinding Misawa while on the mat: headlocks, armlocks, nerve holds, all the excruciating big man submission holds. But the young man persevered, and managed to squirm out of the hold, and hit a pair of spin kicks. Mitsuharu went to the top rope, with Tsuruta still staggering, and landed a missile dropkick on his opponent, and it was enough… for a two-count.
Misawa noticed Jumbo’s getting up, and he tried to keep him down with a side headlock, looking to bring the bigger veteran to his knees; but disaster struck as Tsuruta shifted his weight, popped his hips, and lifted his opponent in a belly to back suplex, driving the junior’s neck into the mat. Two count only, though. Tsuruta then continued with a German suplex, for another two count. The heavyweight then prepared his arm, and sent out a loud OH! to the audience, half of which answered accordingly, as the other half cheered the younger man on.
The heavyweight ran the ropes, looking for the Lariat, but Misawa ducked! And as Tsuruta turned around, Misawa clobbered him with a concussion inducing roaring elbow. Tsuruta fell down like an old oak tree, and the crowd sent out a loud gasp of utter shock. Misawa however, staggered himself, and fell on his knee, clutching his neck. He pushed through the pain to cover Tsuruta, with half of the fans cheering him on, hooking his opponent’s right leg.
But Jumbo kicked out! At the last possible fraction of a second, the veteran survives! A desperate Misawa, full of pain, staggered to get the big man up, and locked in the double underhook. As he was preparing to lift Tsuruta up for a Tiger Driver, Jumbo ran Misawa into the corner: the young man’s neck whiplashed on the top turnbuckle, and he fell on his knee once more. Basically setting himself up, Jumbo pulled him in for a powerbomb, and the ring shook off of the tremendous impact. Tsuruta had won, and Misawa’s undefeated League streak thus came to an end.
Mitsuharu pulled himself up by the same turnbuckle he got knocked into, and when he lifted his head, he noticed a tired Jumbo standing next to him. It seemed like he was… smiling? That same smile he had at the beginning of the match donned his face now as well. Misawa got the hint, and extended his hand towards the vet. The veteran caught the hand, and the two shared a handshake. Even more than that, Tsuruta lifted Misawa’s arm up, pointing at the emerald warrior. Misawa mouthed his thanks to Jumbo, bowed his head, and soon left the ring to let the big man have his moment.
#3: Genichiro Tenryu vs Giant Baba
The third bout of the night pitted two veterans, two huge names colliding. It started as a simple, peaceful, exhibition affair. Tenryu was unusually stoic and calm this evening; almost as if he wasn’t facing the single greatest individual in history of All Japan, if not puroresu itself. Almost as if he felt certain, assured; as if he had an insurance policy.
As the match progressed, Giant Baba did not share in this stoic peace. He soon started locking in headlocks, waistlocks, and tried to knock Genichiro off his feet. In this, the colossus was successful, but not as much as in getting the pin. This frustrated the behemoth, who soon resorted to his world famous chops. Tenryu ducked a few of these, and went for a quick roll-up.
“Seems like Tenryu doesn’t want to hurt Giant Baba tonight, possibly out of respect”, Wakabayashi commented. “Or perhaps he feels safe for a certain reason…”, Choshu responded mysteriously: “I doubt he respects that old fossil anymore than I do”.
“How dare you, Choshu?!”, Wakabayashi angered, “that man is a legend! He’s responsible for our whole system.”
“Oh and what a system it is”, Choshu interrupted the commentator, “built on pushing old geezers, and keeping young talent down; and only the handpicked and the privileged are the ones getting all the glory. Only Baba’s little golden boys, huh?”
“Is that why you donned the Black Hood then, Choshu?!", Wakabayashi responded. "Is that why you--“
“Oh please, embarrass yourself further”, Riki finished, “I always knew you’re stupid, but now I know you’re blind as well, to accuse me contrary to obvious evidence: am I not merely sitting on commentary tonight?”
Meanwhile, the match in the ring escalated; Baba was now throwing haymakers, and desperately tried to knock Tenryu down. Genichiro himself lost some of his stoicism as well: he took down Baba with a vicious Gamengiri, the move that would have brought him the victory over almost anyone. But not over Baba! The Giant kicked out, and started mounting a comeback. A pair of clotheslines and a big boot put Tenryu down, as he prepared to charge out of the corner for a running neckbreaker drop; another Gamengiri caught the titan, as he spilled out of the ring to the outside.
As the count was nearing 20, Tenryu was seen calculating: is he going to take the count out win, or is he gonna roll Baba back in the ring to continue the bout. He rolled to the outside and tried picking Baba up, but alas – the big man was knocked out, and his limp body was too heavy to roll back in. Faced with this decision, Genichiro rolled back in the ring… and took the countout win.
“According to plan”, Choshu said, as a visibly dissapointed Tenryu left the ringside area, with a distraught look on his face.
#4: Gran Hamada vs Kenta Kobashi
Kenta Kobashi, the man known as The Burning one, was absolutely fuming from last week’s loss. He paced inside the ring, as his opponent already waited for him. But before he grabbed him, he grabbed a mic:
“What happened last week was nothing but a damn setup! You’re a goddamn rigger, Choshu!”, he pointed his finger at the announce desk. “This company was built on sport, on fair competition, on fighting spirit! And you brought filth and treachery to it. Tonight, I will bring honor back to All Japan, and save it from you. And don’t think I don’t know you’re in this one with him.”, as he turned to Hamada. “I ain’t blind nor dumb; you’re helping this bastard fix the table, ain’t you? That’s why you took a double countout against Baba last time! Tonight, I bring you down, Hamada, and I bring your goddamn boss down with you! To this I vow; if I don’t beat you tonight… I’m retiring from the League.” As he dropped the mic, the audience let out a collective gasp.
As soon as the bell rang, Kobashi was all over Hamada. He overpowered the older opponent in every way, and each slam he followed with a flurry of kicks and stomps. The referee Joe Higuchi had to warn Kenta on many occasions not to get himself disqualified. That ugly the match was, and that unrelenting was The Burning One.
Kenta then ran the ropes and jumped up to deliver the flying shoulder to Hamada; but the savvy veteran ducked, and Kenta hit the referee Joe Higuchi instead. Hamada jumped on the shoulders of Kenta, hoping to deliver a hurricanarana.
But Kobashi persevered, and lifted Hamada up, before slamming him to the mat with a vicious powerbomb. He went in for the cover, as the crowd counted: one! Two! THREE!... Four, five… the chant slowly died out. Kenta shook the ref, but ol’ Joe was still out. He turned around, and saw Hamada swinging a steel pipe!
Young Kenta luckily caught the hand of Hamada, twisting it mercilessly. A look of fear, and soon of pain, came over the veteran’s face, as he dropped the steel pipe on the mat. The eyes of Kobashi burned with flaming rage. He took a step backward, and almost knocked Hamada’s head off his shoulders into the fifth row with a sickeningly brutal Burning Lariat.
“Not tonight!”, the Burning One cried, “not tonight, and not anymore!”. He saw Joe Higuchi stirring, and went for the cover. But instead of hearing the ref’s hand hitting the mat for a count, he heard a metallic clank, and soon felt a searing pain in the back of his head.
When Kobashi came to his senses, he saw the ref lifting the hand of Gran Hamada, and a hooded person at ringside holding a steel pipe… not again… but this time, Kobashi did not get up. He did not scream with vigour, he did not threaten with searing rage to punish the bad men. Nor did he try to fight the Man in the Hood. On this night, Kenta walked out quietly. For he made a vow, and now he had to see it through – he had to retire from the Pacific League, not scoring a single point.
#5: Riki Choshu vs Akira Taue
“May God himself punish you for this, Choshu”, Wakabayashi cursed.
“I was sitting right here the whole time, you dimwit. Believe what you will, though; by the end of the night, you’ll know.”, Choshu snapped back, as he left the commentary to enter the ring, preparing for his match.
The crowd jeered Choshu as he entered the squared circle, but soon popped and jumped out of their seats, as the guitar riff of the oncoming Eclipse, the theme of the Dynamic One, Akira Taue, blasted off the PA system. “Perhaps there is one”, Wakabayashi stated proudly, “perhaps there is one more left, a single hero, driven by honor and fighting spirit, to put an end to this darkness.”
Young Akira Taue absolutely dominated this match, showing his amazing power, slamming Choshu down repeatedly with suplexes and power moves. The Dynamic One then crouched in the corner, with the fans cheering him on. He ran at Riki as he was getting up, and hit that Neckbreaker Drop that Baba himself could not land in his own match. A cover, and surely, a one, two, and a… a kick out. The damn bastard was still alive.
Akira crouched in the opposite corner, preparing for a Big Boot. But his focus wavered; his eyes wandered off to the crowd, up and over it, and to the backstage door. Darkness surrounded this area to the backstage, broken only by a rectangle of the back hall light… but itself was marred by another darkness, another shadow. Akira noticed the, no… a Man in the Hood peeking through the curtain once more. He looked away from this figure, determined not to fall as Kenta Kobashi fell. He shifted his focus back on Choshu. And as he did, another figure made him look away once more.
He saw another hooded figure, standing at ringside. Two of them?! But how is that possible?! Before he could compose himself, he got clobbered with a Choshu lariat, staggering to his knees. Choshu smiled, before running the ropes again, and hitting another lariat, this one of northern variety, to the back of the neck of Taue. With this, he secured another win.
The crowd let out a massive rafale of boos at Choshu. But the booing was the least of his problems, as Giant Baba himself came down the aisle! He swatted away the man in the hood at ringside, and he entered the ring, tearing the blazer off his shoulders. Eyes full of unrelenting rage, he grabbed Choshu by his neck. The fans cheered Baba on, hoping to see this damn bastard dealt with once and for all.
But it was all a damn setup. The same metallic sound was heard once more, as the booker, owner, and giant, fell down to his feet. Akira tried to get up to defend the colossus, but he as well was soon dealt with. Down the aisle walked the other hooded man, the one who stood by the door, swinging keys to the only two doors leading from the gorilla position to the ringside. The trio stood over the fallen fighters.
One man unmasked; revealing the face of one Gran Hamada. The other kept his hood on, as Choshu grabbed the two legs of Giant Baba, stepped through them with his own right leg, and turned the boss on his stomach, sitting on his back in what must’ve felt like an agony to the great Baba.
“What is this move?! He’s breaking Baba’s back!!!”, Wakabayashi cried. But that was not the end of the torture of Baba. The man in the hood started kicking away at Baba’s mouth; kicks after kicks landed upon his face, and Choshu wrenched the submission hold all throughout. This torture, this public execution did not stop until Baba was laying motionless. Thick red blood, which he poured for decades for All Japan, now flooded the ringmat. The third man finally removed his hood, once he felt satisfied.
The hood lifted to reveal Toshiaki Kawada. With Baba’s blood on his boot, and the black hood in his hand, he smiled at the camera, revealing a sickening, psychotic, toothless smile. The trio stood in the pool of blood and pile of bodies, as the feed faded to black.
Pacific League, Night 4 results:
Toshiaki Kawada defeated Satoru Sayama (09:46)
Jumbo Tsuruta defeated Mitsuharu Misawa (18:23)
Genichiro Tenryu defeated Giant Baba (11:39)
Gran Hamada defeated Kenta Kobashi (12:12)
Riki Choshu defeated Akira Taue (14:01)
Pacific League points (following Night 4):
Wrestler: Points:
Genichiro Tenryu 12
Mitsuharu Misawa 9
Riki Choshu 9
Jumbo Tsuruta 7
Toshiaki Kawada 6
Giant Baba 5
Gran Hamada 4
Akira Taue 3
Satoru Sayama 3
Kenta Kobashi 0 - retired from the Pacific League
