9/19/2022 - Dangerous Road

The match begins with a handshake, but both men immediately shift into gear with the lock-up.  Shinobu slaps on a side headlock and Troy tries to quickly push him off into the ropes, but the Dragon's Curse proves too strong for that and applies the jake brakes and brings the action down to the mat in the centre of the ring.  Troy clasps his hands together and tries to force Shinobu off with strength and manages to get them back to a vertical base, then runs him into the ropes but once more, Shinobu brings Troy back down to the mat with the hold still intact.   While strength didn't work, strikes might - knees to the body create the separation that Troy so desires and they hit the ropes again.  Takashi Shinobu is sent out without Troy, rebounds off the opposite ropes but slams on the brakes as Troy attempts a discus attack with his hand.  Troy smirks, but the young Japanese star dashes forward - Troy attempts to trip him but Shinobu leaps over.  He hits the ropes again, Troy comes at him with the big boot but Shinobu changes levels and catches his leg on his shoulder.  He hoists him up... but Troy rolls down into a sunset flip! The momentum carries him through though and he pops up in search of a soccer kick, but Shinobu dodges it and the crowd applauds both men as they come to a stand still.

As they lock-up again, the jockeying for position gets a bit more intense.  Troy avoids being bulled into the ropes by getting Shinobu in a plume clinch, his hands expertly placed on the crown of Shinobu's head.  You can tell Takashi Shinobu respects Troy's striking game as he doesn't trying to buck his way out, he just calmly keeps his hands where he can control the momentum of Troy's attack.  Troy senses they are backing into the ropes and loosens his grip, Shinobu fires off with a quick knife edge chop! Troy eats it and turns, falling against the top rope.  Shinobu smashes a forearm across Troy's back, Troy falls to his knees and Thomas steps in to create some separation between the two men and reset the action to the middle of the ring.  So Shinobu backs off and Troy gets up and they circle around.  Shinobu fakes a takedown, but Troy had a knee ready to fire for that very occasion.  They lock-up again, Troy gets the side headlock and tries to start the Kazama Special but his hammerlock is interrupted by Shinobu transitioning out.  After stopping Shinobu's arm wringer attempt, Troy gets back on the clinch offense.  A couple knees, then separation - he peppers him with leg kicks.  Shinobu blocks one...

BODYSLAM!

The ferocity behind it wows the fans as Shinobu makes a quick cover, hooking the leg.

1...

...

2-NO!

Shinobu doesn't argue the count, he just gets back up and pulls Troy with him.  He Irish whips Troy into the corner and the former King of Lions hits hard, dropping to his knees.  The Golden Ace walks over and takes the doubled over Troy and bashes him with another forearm across the back, then another before yanking him into a front chancery.  He hoists him up...

VERTICAL SUPLEX!

Once more, Troy lands hard on his back.  Shinobu sits up, but shoots around while still grounded and grabs Troy's legs...

BOSTON CRAB!

Troy writhes in pain as Shinobu sits on the small of his back, stretching back.  Troy digs both fists into the mat and powers up, the fans roar with chants of "TROY! TROY! TROY!" and erupt with applause as he drapes an arm over the bottom rope after working his way over to them.  Shinobu gets up without issue and watches as Troy climbs to his knees, then over to the corner where he pulls himself up.  Troy nods his head after referee Ted Thomas asks if he's OK to continue, so Shinobu makes his way over immediately and they lock-up.  Once again, Troy is pressed against the ring - this time it's the turnbuckles.  Shinobu Irish whips Troy across the ring, Troy hits hard and curses as Shinobu charges forth. 

NO ONE HOME!

Troy quickly trips the Gifu, Japan native forcing to land on his stomach/face.  Troy grabs an arm...

LA MAGISTRAL!

1...

...

2...

NO!

Troy keeps on the attack, firing knees to the body and then slapping on a front chancery.  Shinobu gets some fan support of his own, uses it to rally up but a knee from Troy halts that.  He tries to swing into a neckbreaker, but Shinobu goes with it and they come back to square one with the roles reversed...

SHINOBU HITS THE NECKBREAKER!

Shinobu gets up and raises his arms as he walks away from the ropes, then dashes into them... comes out...

TROY DUCKS IT!

SOLE FOOD!

The inverted stomp facebreaker finds its mark, but Troy landed awkwardly on his back to make it happen.  Shinobu is recovering as Troy fights to roll over and back up to his feet.  Troy kicks into gear as Shinobu gets up in the corner...

RUNNING BIG BOO-NO!

LARIAT FROM SHINOBU!

A replay is shown.

Shinobu gets up, once again calling for the lariat but he has to waste a bit of time as Troy is slow to get up.  Once Troy is on his knees, facing away from Shinobu - the Golden Ace hits the ropes and goes fo--

SPINNING BACK KICK!

The move that scored him many wins strikes Takashi Shinobu down as Shelzi wonders aloud if the Japanese star should stop trying to lariat David Troy.  Thomas' count reaches seven and both men are still down.

8!

...

9!

...

Troy dashes on top of Shinobu for a cover, knowing full well he isn't going to make it to his feet in time.

1...

...

2...

...

3-NO! FOOT ON THE ROPE!

During Hewitt's lines, Troy fell back against the corner turnbuckles and watches as Shinobu starts up again. 

As Shinobu stands up, Troy pulls himself up and calls the youngster to the centre of the ring.  He offers a chance to hit him, Shinobu shakes his head and points to Troy, telling the veteran to hit him instead.  Troy has no problem obliging, nailing a brutal leg kick.  Shinobu responds with an angry elbow smash, but Troy takes the axe and smacks it against the tree again.  Shinobu loads his gun and the elbow comes for--BODY KICK! Shinobu grunts and drops to a knee, Troy hits the ropes and bounces off...

LARIAT-OH!

Shinobu finally scores with it, turning Troy so inside out that he likely thought he was still Troy Matthews.  He grabs Troy and tries to apply a cobra clutch, but is interrupted by the sound of the bell.  The fans boo as they realize the fifteen minute time limit has expired.  Shinobu asks what's going on, which Thomas answers as he's trying to separate the two men. 

"FIVE MORE MINUTES!"

If only sanctioned fights worked like that! Shinobu is visibly disappointed but gets to his feet as Thomas steps away and checks on Troy, the Golden Ace of Japanese Wrestling walks over to Troy and extends his hand - Troy looks as though he's trying to determine which of the eight hands he sees is the real one... but reaches up and grabs it.  Shinobu pulls him to his feet and does a gracious bow, saying something before letting go.  Thomas and the medical detail intercept Troy and check him out as Shinobu exits.

SAM HEWITT

Straight from Mandeville Nelson himself... the rumoured wildcard will not be needed.  Both David Troy and Takashi Shinobu will advance to the World's Cruiserweight Championship final next month.  So, we'll find out in a few short moments who else will be joining them in that match.

The bell sounds and the two Japanese stars circle around one another, but Red Tiger King is noticeably lacking his usual flair.  Brian Shelzi comments on it, saying that he's typically thrown a roundhouse kick at this point to throw his opponent off but may respect "or fear" Reo Ojima too much to try that.  We get a lot of posturing instead, the men sizing each u--

SLAP~!

Reo Ojima clobbers RTK with a right palm upside the head.  RTK stands up straight and has some fire in his eyes, but his arms are down.  Ojima slaps him again and gets right in his face, saying something in Japanese.  Finally, a third slap sends RTK wobbling away by sheer momentum.  Ojima pushes referee Thomas aside and goes after RTK, but gets struck by a rolling savate kick to the face!

OJIMA GOES DOWN!

Thomas springs between the two men, nearly tackling RTK to the ground as he orders him to stand back.  Thomas crouches down and checks on Ojima, gives a thumbs up to the doctor and backs up into the centre of the ring - telling RTK to remain in his corner! The crowd is red hot as RTK is crouched in the corner, almost looking... shocked.  Ojima lifts his head up off the mat, blood pooling underneath him as he tries to regain his bearings.  Thomas' ten count gets to four before Ojima even has his knees underneath him.  Thomas gets up to seven and Ojima's struggling to get up to a single knee... he falls backwards and rolls out to the floor.  Stumbling away, the fans boo but those boos turn to cheers...

THE TIGER FLIES!

TOPE SUICIDA!

RTK takes out Ojima on the outside and gets back to his feet, lifting his arm to the roar of the crowd.  He grabs Ojima and throws him back inside the ring.

Ojima drops to his knees as Tiger tries a double chickenwing, freeing himself up.  Ojima backs up and grabs Tiger's legs, showing off some great strength as his bloody face strains while he hoists up Tiger into an electric chair position.  Tiger though, shifts around...

HURACANRANA!

He hangs onto the pin!

1...

...

2...

...

3-NO!

The fans are solidly behind the Tiger with chants of "R-T-K! R-T-K!" as both men get up and we get our first lock-up of the match.  Ojima uses his size to bully RTK against the ropes, Thomas calls for a clean break and Ojima stares coldly at RTK before looking back at Thom--

SLAP~!

RTK returns fire! Ojima wobbles, falls down and quickly gets back up - the shot and the blood loss not making a good combination for the veteran fighter.  Red Tiger King doesn't pounce on him though, but still looks very confident as he stares down his elder from across the ring.  Ojima has retreated to the corner but only takes a moment before he slaps the turnbuckle... then returns to form in a matter of seconds.

A second lock-up, but this time Ojima fakes RTK out.  He acts like he's going to go back toward the ropes, but instead pulls RTK back into the centre of the ring and yanks an arm wringer! The force sends RTK to the mat and Ojima keeps it intact as he falls to his knees, but RTK brings up his legs and applies a headscissors! They remain in the hold for a little bit until Ojima wrangles around enough to pull himself out and apply a grounded side headlock, but RTK gets him right back in the headscissors! This hold doesn't last long as Ojima gets enough momentum to roll both of them a couple feet over to the ropes.  They get back up and reset, a third lock-up... but this one turns out like the first.  RTK is back against the ropes, Ojima puts the Tiger's arm over the top rope and pulls it from the inside... then kicks the top rope! The crowd boos as Ojima simply backs up while smirking at RTK.

The lock-up is pretty much repeated, Ojima gets RTK against the ropes and acts like he's going to redo the arm attack but releases and raises his hand for a slap.  RTK flinches, Ojima cackles and cranks on the arm... then delivers an elbow to the head! RTK staggers forward and Ojima grabs the arm and throws an elbow with all of his weight behind it, directly at the bicep/shoulder, forcing RTK to the mat in a hurry! Grounded with nowhere to go, RTK has to quickly assess his options.  Ojima places his knee on RTK's shoulder and pulls up on the arm, but transitions to a hammerlock as RTK tries to reach for the ropes.  With the hammerlock applied, he has better control of the youngster's movements.  However, an elbow catches Ojima in the face and the veteran gives up the hold without issue.  He stands up and invites RTK back to his feet. 

RTK marches up and dropkicks Ojima! Ojima falls back through the ropes, landing on the apron.  Tiger hits another rolling savate kick, knocking Ojima off the apron and into the guardrail on the floor.  RTK charges across the ring, bouncing off the ropes and picks up speed for a dive... but Ojima quickly gets out of the way.  Tiger flips over the top rope and lands safely on the apron, Ojima turns around...

RUNNING DROPKICK OFF THE APRON!

Ojima goes down hard, RTK gets up quick and once again grabs the veteran and tries to haul him back into the ring.  However, fatigue has set in a bit more than the early moments and he's only able to get him back onto the apron.  RTK jumps into the ring and pulls Ojima up over the ropes, setting him up for a suplex.  Ojima fights it, but RTK fires back with a couple elbows then tries again.  He brings Ojima up and ov--Ojima slips out! He grabs RTK from behind...

GERMAN SUPLEX!

Desperation! Both men are down and they get looked over by referee Ted Thomas, who then begins his ten count.  As the count reaches six, they both start stirring.  At eight, RTK rushes to his feet, bounces off the ropes...

EATS A SPEAR FROM OJIMA!

Ojima grabs RTK's mask and pulls himself on top of RTK's body.

1...

...

2...

...

3-NO!

Ojima exhaustively looks at Thomas and shakes his head.  He grabs RTK's mask and pulls him up to his knees, then slowly gets back to his own feet.  He tries to scoop RTK up onto his shoulder and does, but as soon as he starts to the run, RTK slips out the back door and shoves Ojima forward.  RTK charges as Ojima turns around...

POWERSLAM!

Ojima uses all of RTK's momentum against him and splats him into the mat.

1...

...

2...

...

3!

KICK OUT!

Too late! Referee Ted Thomas points to Ojima as Mason Marvelle makes it official, RTK rolls onto his stomach and holds his head in his hands.  Ojima gets up far slower and scoffs at the sight he sees.  He gets his arm raised by Thomas and then purposely steps on RTK's head as he makes his exit.  RTK sits up, obviously disappointed with the outcome, he rolls out and heads up the aisle.

The crowd is full of murmurs as the lights go down, anticipation fills the venue before the opening guitar notes of "Ecstasy of Gold" by Metallica hit.  As the song plays on, the Pollovision screen fires up and plays highlights of Pollo Dorado's career.  Dives and impact moves, celebrating victories with Sangre de Pollo and Ultimo Pollo IV.  As the song picks up, Pollo Dorado walks out from the back to a pop.  He is dressed in his mask, of course, but also a black suit with a gold tie to match his mask.  He pauses in the aisle and takes a long look around, hangs his head and continues down to the ring - gingerly. 

Dorado acknowledges the cheers as the fans begin a "DOR-A-DO!" chant. 

Dorado steps into the ring and shakes Marvelle's hand, taking the microphone.  The fans hush as the lone spotlight shines down on Dorado.

He sighs.

Heavy breath.

He unfastens the strap on the back of his mask to shock.

He lowers his head.

Lots of emphasis as his head snaps back up.

Confusion, excitement, curiosity! There's a lot going on in the crowd right now.

He hangs his head, raises his arm.

The lights go out.  The crowd is unsure, but when they come back up - Pollo Dorado's mask and wrestling boots remain inside the ring while the man himself is gone.  "DOR-A-DO" chants fill the venue as the camera focuses on the now lifeless mask.