Smarkverse

[Bobby Barrows]

@The Fourth Wall I sent my schedule including our joint show. Since you’re only using 4 PPVs and I’m already using my February slot for a joint with Japan, I figured you use your may PPV for that.

Also, to Blaine and Grim, we’re planning on running All In as an all brands in event. So say yay or nah, if you’re interested. AEW should def be there.

Yay, my boys will be there bruddah.

 

[CakeWalker]

Night Two (3rd January 2022)

00:00-00:04

The second night of action at the Tokyo Dome would begin with the viewers joining the English speaking commentary team at ringside.

Kevin Kelly: Welcome back folks to the Tokyo Dome for another great night of wrestling action, where we will see a total of five championship belts up for grabs in what is the second night of this year's WrestleKingdom festivities. I am once again joined at the commentary table by esteemed colleagues Mauro Ranallo and Nigel McGuinness. Out of the seven matches featuring on tonight’s card, which one are you both most looking forward to?

Mauro Ranallo: I think if we all pick a match that isn’t the main-event, we will be in no danger of giving the same answer.

Nigel McGuinness: I’m surprised you’ve actually had such a smart idea Mauro.

Kevin Kelly: So if we circumvent tonight's match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship between Kazuchika and Lesnar, which of the other six matches are you most looking forward to?

Mauro Ranallo: For me it has got to be the match for the Never Openweight Championship between reigning champion Tomohiro Ishii and Brody King. For me and for many others this is somewhat of a dream match, between two absolute powerhouses and I have every expectation that it is a match that isn’t going to disappoint anyone.

Nigel McGuinness: Ishii is a dangerous man and when the Stone Pitbull catches an opponent’s scent that can often be the end of everything. Brody is a tough guy and he has a history of dealing in absolute violence, so with these two guys it really doesn’t matter who wins because you are guaranteed to get a great match.

Kevin Kelly: And what about your match of choice Nigel? Which of them are you most looking forward to?

Nigel McGuinness: Sometimes the best matches don’t need a title belt to distract both combatants and they don’t need motivations of future glory. Sometimes nothing but hate is enough to stir up the hive and that is exactly what the Grudge Match between Serena Deeb and Mayu Iwatani brings to the table. Both women have no love for each other and I can’t wait to see them pound the crap out of each other later on tonight. And what about you Big Kev? What is your pick for a match worth tuning in for?

Kevin Kelly: I think it has got to be tonight’s opening contest, because any match that features ‘The Ace’ is always one for the books and I am curious to see if MJF can walk the walk and compete on Tanahashi’s level. If he is able to accomplish that, then we could be witnessing the match of the night.

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00:07-00:27
1st Match: MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Every now and again fans are treated to opening contests that absolutely bang from the get go, and that would be the exact case in the first match between Friedman and Tanahashi ever. The Ace would have the fans behind from the get go, but for every taunt and jeer that went in MJF’s direction it only seemed to boost his confidence rather than throw him off with it becoming blatantly clear that he loved to be hated. Tanahashi was all about giving the fans a show and would entertain them with various suplexes and pinning cradles in the attempts of claiming early match victories. MJF releasing this did would do his best to slow down the match as much as he could whether it was exiting the ring to breaking the ropes so that the referee would be left with no choice, but to force separation between the two men which after a while wasn’t only frustrated the crowd but also Tanahashi who would became more erratic and aggressive in his approach to the match. It seemed though that MJF strategy had backfired when Tanahashi would take down Friedman with the Sling Blade before leaping up onto the turnbuckle and jumping off with the intent of hitting MJF with the High Fly Flow - only for Maxwell to raise his knees at the last possible moment. With Hiroshi clearly winded, Maxwell would drag him only to pulverize him with the South Hampton Plunge to end the great contest and earn himself a future shot at the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.

Winner: MJF

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00:30-00:42
2nd Match: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Hiromu Takahashi (c)

Coming into the contest Takahashi the champion was the fresher man, with Vikingo being forced to earn his shot at the title in a four way contest during night one - although from the way he came to ring you wouldn’t have known it. The match itself would be extremely fast paced, with the conditioning of both men being second to none and it was unlikely there was going to be a contest with a faster pace for the rest of the evening. On various occasions it became clear that Takahashi was looking to finish the match off with the Time Bomb, but Vikingo simply wasn’t going to let that happen and had clearly scouted the champion as he offered up various countermoves and transitions so that he avoided be hit with Hiromu’s most deadly move, although Takahashi would put down some serious hurt when he would nail Vikingo with the Canadian Destroyer on the ring apron with the Mexican only managing to slide back into the ring at the count of eighteen. Hiromu would look very pleased with himself as he would stalk Vikingo before finally getting him where he wanted him and laying him out in the middle of the ring with the Time Bomb - however when he went to cover Vikingo for the pin, in a last ditch attempt El Hijo would use all his leg strength to cradle himself over and instead force Hiromu’s shoulder down onto the mat just long enough for the three count to be made and the championship to have changed hands. Takakashi was clearly vexed, whilst El Hijo del Vikingo was smiling like a man who couldn’t quite believe his good fortune.

Winner: El Hijo del Vikingo

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00:44-00:48

Kevin Kelly: One championship has changed hands and we are only two matches deep into tonight’s proceedings, but up next we have the match between Deeb and Iwatani that Nigel was particularly looking forward to. Fancy reminding the fans at home why exactly both these two women have so much resentment for each other Nige?

Nigel McGuinness: Well these women are have wrestled each other twice in recent weeks, and each time Serena has been more focused on injuring her opponent rather than actually trying to win the match and Deeb has been quite vocal in that she wants nothing more than to injure Iwatani in order to send a message to the rest of the Joshis that had previously been part of Stardom before the merge of both brands. Simply put Serena is a crazy bitch and wants to make an example of her opponent, but to me that just sounds like the catalyst for a great contest.

Mauro Ranallo: Hopefully in tonight’s match, Serena will actually try to finish the match within the lines of legality otherwise Manami Toyota has promised there will be consequences.

Kevin Kelly: And it seems both of you are presuming that Serena is just guaranteed to win the contest.

Mauro Ranallo: That isn’t what I was saying.

Nigel McGuinness: But exactly what I was saying, this match is Deeb’s to lose. All the pressure is on Serena’s shoulder as nearly everyone is expecting her to win this one.

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00:50-01:03
3rd Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Serena Deeb

The match would be short and sweet, with a level of pure violence from both women. Deeb with the clear intent of wanting to injure Iwatani anyway she could, whilst Mayu seemed to have come to the realization that she needed to be just as brutal if she had any chance of leaving the Tokyo Dome on her own two feet. In of these particular moves of desperation, both women were battling on the ring apron with Serena looking to spike Mayu with a DDT only for Iwatani to use all her strength to turn her situation around and instead pick up Deeb and launched off the apron and onto the floor with a horrific Tombstone Piledriver. For a less hardened veteran, this move might have been enough to knock them out cold but Serena would show just how tough she was as she would manage to beat the count despite having blood pouring from her forehead and making a tremendous mess in the ring.

Seeing her own blood seemed to enrage Serena though as she would become even more aggressive in her approach to Mayu and would push her up into the corner pad and slap her in the chest a total of ten times before wiping her own blood onto Iwatani head before pulling her out of the corner only to send her driving backward again with a perfectly timed Spear that would cause both men to tumble to the floor from the sheer impact. Deeb would show her true resilience though, as she would pull herself up onto the turnbuckle only to come crashing back down onto it with full force with a double knee drop to her left calf before locking in the Serenity Lock that would force Iwatani to tap within a number of seconds.

Winner: Serena Deeb

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01:06-01:15
4th Match: Riho (c) vs. Candice LeRae

The fans would be treated to a second Joshi match in a row, with the Stardom second tier belt on the line against Candice (who hadn’t wrestled in Japan since 2017 - and the first time Candice had been associated with Stardom in any form). It was clear though that LeRae had amassed quite a following in Japan which most likely was due to the time she had spent working for both TJPW and Ice Ribbon and would get over even more with the fans when she would drag Riho up onto the turnbuckle only to launch them both off as she would connect with the Killswitch! Riho would show her experience by rolling underneath the ropes though, to survive at least for a few more moments with Candice looking visibly annoyed. The match would even up with the fans being treated to a much more even contest for the rest of the match, with a quick exchange of pins and submissions attempts but with neither of the two breaking the deadlock. Riho would end up nailing Rae with the Tiger Feint Kick that look as if it might be enough to seal the win, only to clamber up onto the ropes and springboard off them only to be caught by Candice and laid out on the mat with a Sitout Powerbomb and then would hold Riho in place for the, one, two, three. And in one turn of events, Candice had countered Riho finisher and instead turned it to her advantage and had won the contest and by doing so had made herself the the new Wonder of Stardom Champion.

Winner: Candice LeRae

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01:28-01:29

We returned to the commentary table after a ten minute intermission in which the ring had been cleaned and sanitised as following Japanese covid protocols.

Kevin Kelly: Welcome back folks, with the ring now cleaned up once again we are now ready to carry on with the second half of the show. We have three matches remaining on tonight’s card with all of them involving championship belts with the NEVER, IWGP Tag Team and IWGP Heavyweight all up for grabs. Before we carry on tonight though, we have a major announcement from one of the men that makes a lot of important decisions in New Japan regarding this year’s WrestleKingdom. I promise you folks this is something you don’t want to miss out on.

The cameras would then cut to the backstage interview area.

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01:29-01:34

Gedo would make the announcement in Japanese with English subtitles offered for viewers to understand just exactly what NJPW Head Producer was saying.

Gedo: The decision to have Stardom and NJPW work under just one banner has already proven to be a massive success the Joshi very much now fully integrated into the roster, and I personally want to congratulate Manami Toyota for all the hard work she has already done that has helped to make WrestleKingdom 16 such a massive success. However, for all our fans not just in Japan but around the world I have a massive announcement to make regarding our next episode of NJPW on January 10th. Rather than being a normal episode of NJPW World, we will instead be having a third night of WrestleKingdom - with another night of five star wrestling action. As it stands we have three matches set for next week, with more to be confirmed over the next week.

A match banner featuring Masha Slamovich and Willow Nightingale appears on the screen, as Gedo continues to speak.

Masha Slamovich vs. Willow Nightingale
Alltime Singles Record: 1-0 to Nightingale

Gedo: Two of our newest recruits in our Joshi Division Masha Slamovich and Willow Nightingale will face each other in singles action. I have been informed that they have only faced each other once before with Willow having one that contest - although I am confident that this contest being fought under a WrestleKingdom banner will make it so much more memorable. But I am sure this next match will prove to be even more exciting.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Lee Moriarty
Alltime Singles Record: 2-0 to Yuta

Gedo: Now this next match involves two men that are no strangers to each other, with the pair having met numerous times in the American indie scene including a number of multi-man and scramble matches - but in one-on-one contests Wheeler Yuta has two match victories already to his name, so I have every expectation that both men will put in one hell of a contest. The main-event for WrestleKingdom Night Three though - now that is going to be a match worth tuning in to.

A new banner appears showing JONAH and Samoa Joe on it.

JONAH vs. Samoa Joe

Gedo would have a massive smile on his face as he would say three simple words, before the scene would end.

Gedo: First time ever!

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01:34-1:38

Mauro Ranallo: A third night of WrestleKingdom, what a massive announcement and with JONAH taking on Joe as a main-event it is guaranteed to be yet another reason why fans around the world would be making a mistake if they didn’t join us on NJPW World for a special episode to watch the third night of WrestleKingdom 16. But, tonight is far from over and our next contest was the one I was most looking forward to. Brody King versus Tomohiro Ishii with the NEVER Championship is a match that has all the makings of match of the night.

Kevin Kelly: And who do we see winning this match? Do you want to go first Nigel?

Nigel McGuinness: I have to back Tomohiro going into this contest. He is a record six time champion, and the only one who has gotten too close to winning it that many times is Hirooki Goto who has no chance of breaking that record anytime soon considering he is now working for those poxy losers out of Jacksonville. It would be foolish betting against the Stone Pitbull in this contest.

Kevin Kelly: And what is your take Mauro?

Mauro Ranallo: I am actually going to be using Nigel’s logic against him.

Nigel McGuinness: Well of course you would do that you bloody dickhead.

Kevin Kelly: Come on now Gentlemen let us not start fighting between ourselves. You were saying Mauro?

Mauro Ranallo: Ishii might be a six time champion, but that also means that he has lost the title five times. On the other side of thinking Brody has never even challenged for the belt, but he hasn’t lost it either. He is a proven tag team wrestler, but to date has never won a major singles title. Tonight, I believe, is going to be that night.

Kevin Kelly: Well I think in this instance, I am going to agree with Nigel. Tomohiro is a dangerous man, but he is no stranger to fighting on the big stage. Either way though, I think everyone is looking forward to this contest - even those that want us to fall to our competition.

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01:41-2:07
5th Match: Brody King vs. Tomohiro Ishii (c)

Brody and Ishii would battle each other in an epic contest, with both men beating, slapping, kicking and chopping the crap out of each other for the opening moments of the contest with it being clear that both men was doing their best to assert their dominance and prove that they were in fact the top dog in this contest. There would be a highlight reel of memorable moments that would take place during the contest:

- For a period of over three minute Brody and Tomohiro would have a chest slapping contest, using open palms with the intent of destroying the other man’s chest. The sound of their slaps would echo around the Tokyo Dome, and it wouldn’t take long before men’s chests were red and starting to show early signs of blistering - but rather grimacing from the clear pain they were putting each other under, both men actually appeared to be smiling and the exchange would finally come to an end when Brody would drop to one knee only for Ishii to nail King in the back of the head with a Sliding Lariat.

- Brody and Tomohiro would charge at each other, but the match official would end up getting caught in the crossfire and almost be crushed as he was wedged between the two large men. Brody would take advantage of the situation though, as he would take hold of Ishii and fling him at the ring ropes before tossing him up in the air only to nail him with a Pop-up Cutter. With the referee still down, Brody would exit the ring and rip the headset straight off Japanese commentator Milano’s head and would remove the cord before wrapping it around Ishii's throat and proceeding to choke him out with it before tossing the evidence before he was caught out by the referee who was starting to stir.

- It would become clear that Tomohiro was far from pleased by the manner in which he had been disrespected by Brody, and he would take out his frustration by driving his head square into King’s skull with multiple headbutts and he would connect with ten solid shots before wrenching Brody up into the air and nailing him with the Ishii Driller, with King managing to raise his shoulders up at the last possible moment to stay in contention.

The failed Ishii Driller would seem to only drive Tomohiro into a more focused state as he would force Brody up onto his feet and with nothing but cruel intentions as he would proceed to nail him with harsh knife edge chops to the already blistered area of King’s chest. This time round though Tomohiro was showing no respect at all to his opponent before slamming his forearm into Brody jaw before raising him up in the air with the intention of hitting his patented brainbuster only for King’s leg to drop like a pendulum and with the momentum of the move Brody would land back on his feet and instead take hold of Ishii and in that split second of a moment he would take advantage of the situation and obliterate Ishii with the Gutwrench Piledriver to claim the victory and bring an end to arguably the best match so far during both nights of this year’s show to an end.

Winner: Brody King

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02:10-2:31
6th Match: The Young Bucks (c) vs. DIY (Ciampa & Gargano)

The Young Bucks and DIY were handed a tough task of having to follow such a great match, but it would become apparent from the get go that Matt and Nick had come into the match with the objective of frustrating their opponents as much as possible. One multiple occasions, as soon as either Ciampa or Gargano put up a little bit of of momentum one of the siblings would exit the ring and both the Bucks would have effective timeouts session at ringside, with neither members of DIY looking to take chase considering they had been part of an exhausting match the night previous. The shenanigans in the contest though would only continue, when the ‘Unsettling Differences’ would start to play around the Tokyo Dome and none other than Kevin Owens would emerge from the back with a light show actually proceeding to dim the arena which would create a window of opportunity for another intruder to slide into the ring behind Gargano with Roderick Strong suckering Johnny in the side of the head with the Slick Kick, whilst Ciampa had exited the ring apron to confront Owens. With Gargano defenceless and the referee unaware of Strong’s involvement - the Young Bucks would capitalise on the situation and work in union to nail Johnny with the BTE Trigger before Matt would drop down for the cover to claim the victory and retain the IWGP Tag Team Championships.

Winners: The Young Bucks

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02:34-2:35

Nigel McGuinness: It is now the time that everyone has been waiting for - the biggest match of the past two days and a match that if it goes right could be a match of the year candidate. We see reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada take on the ‘Beast Incarnate’ Brock Lesnar in what is certainly set to be a match for the ages - and certainly has a big match feel to it.

Mauro Ranallo: It certainly does Nigel. WrestleKingdom is where careers are not only made, but in some cases define your entire legacy in between the ropes. Whoever leaves the victor, will go down in wrestling folklore as the man who stood at the top of the mountain when WrestleKingdom 16 came to a close - in this case the finale of the first two night’s of what we know now is a three day event.

Kevin Kelly: The Tokyo Dome is waiting in anticipation - welcome everyone to tonight’s main event!

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02:43-3:26
Main Event: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman

The match would be nothing short of an epic, with the tone of the contest really being set when Brock would attempt to hit Okada with an early suplex only for Kazuchika to escape the attack with ease and make it clear that these sort of tricks were not going to work on the likes of him. This would lead to the first ten minutes of the match being contested at a slow pace with lot of pauses and chain wrestling with neither man really coming out on top in a way to show the crowd that move men were technically very gifted and that without any mistakes being made both men were at a very equal level in terms of athletic ability. Eventually though, a certain degree of level headedness would dissipate as Brock would seem determined to make Okada the newest resident of Suplex City only to be countered with a Million Dollar Dropkick to the back of the head that would have such force behind it that Brock would tumble out of the ring as he would fall through the ropes.

From this point on, both men would be much more aggressive with each other with pin-fall attempts being made left, right and centre even if there was never any real expectation that any of them would lead to the end of the contest. Nonetheless, it was clear that both men now meant business and they had no intention of being walked over by the other. During one of these powerplay sequences, Lesnar would finally get Kazuchika where he wanted him as he would take his man to Suplex City by nailing the Heavyweight Champion five time in a row with hellacious and impact release German suplexes. After the fifth attempt, Brock would lay down on top of Okada for the cover only for the champion to kick out before even the one count with Lesnar looking in complete shock as Okada would smile whilst giving Brock two middle fingers. This would lead to the pair standing up and descending into a battle of stiff shots to each other’s faces, with both men so absorbed in the violence towards each other that it was doubtful they heard JoJo announce that thirty minutes had passed in the contest.

The match would continue to be a noisy affair, with both men slugging with each other and wearing each other down in what had turned into a battle of attrition with both men really starting to show signs of fatigue. Lesnar had found himself on the turnbuckle as he was dragging Okada up with evil intentions, only for the Rainmaker to leap up into the air and attempt a DDT only to be blocked at the last possible moment and shoved away falling back first onto the canvas. Brock would have a sadistic smile on his face before shocking everyone has he would launch off the turnbuckle and turn in to air pulling his version of a shooting star press - the Brock Buster Press landing perfectly on top of Okada, almost claiming a victory there and then if it hadn’t been for Kazuchika kicking out at the last possible moment. Brock clearly felt a surge of adrenaline rush through as he would let out an almighty roar, before dragging Okada up to his feet and decimating him in the middle of the ring with F-5. Rather than go for the cover though, Heyman would be heard screaming “do it again” as Brock would give Paul a thumbs up before wrenching Okada back up to his feet, only to be left confused as Kazuchika would hold Brock’s wrist and transition his body before nailing him with truly brutal RAINMAKER! Lesnar would tumble to the floor, as Red Shoes would slide down to the mat - ONE - TWO - THREE!!!!

Kazuchika would look totally drained, as he would be presented with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as he would be barely able to stand on his own two feet as his music would begin to play throughout the Tokyo Dome as waves of claps and chants of ‘OKADA’ ‘OKADA’ ‘OKADA’ would rumble around the arena, as the camera would focus briefly on Lesnar unable to even sit up before the show would reach it conclusion.

Winner: Kazuchika Okada ​

 

[Marty McFourth]

Brody/Ishii is my shit with all the chopping and chest slapping. Three minutes.

 

[TOP GUY TIME]

@The Fourth Wall I sent my schedule including our joint show. Since you’re only using 4 PPVs and I’m already using my February slot for a joint with Japan, I figured you use your may PPV for that.

Also, to Blaine and Grim, we’re planning on running All In as an all brands in event. So say yay or nah, if you’re interested. AEW should def be there.

I'm in, all in

 

[Canadian Dragon]

I'm in, all in

golden lovers reunion?

 

[TOP GUY TIME]

golden lovers reunion?

potentially, I'm down for any ideas

 

[Kross Rhodes]

potentially, I'm down for any ideas

We could possibly also do all Star extravaganz in March if you want just you and me since I’m doing a solo one with other people as well just let me know.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

I'm sure that Keith Lee would happily show up to All In.

 

[Kross Rhodes]

I just realize how apropos my show name is now. With Omega and The Bucks split up I have the sole elite faction on my show as well as the highest collection of former members of the elite.

The Elite will reign supreme once again in ROH

 

[Marty McFourth]

Smark I think I'm going to do vacant tag belts so you don't need to worry about the Good Bros thing. Although I'm down for us doing a match at the February show with them still.

I'll be putting Moose to use until Destination X. I got a good plan right now for that.

 

[Kross Rhodes]

Smark I think I'm going to do vacant tag belts so you don't need to worry about the Good Bros thing. Although I'm down for us doing a match at the February show with them still.

I'll be putting Moose to use until Destination X. I got a good plan right now for that.

I kinda need them with the belts at the January pay-per-view on my end.

 

[TOP GUY TIME]

We could possibly also do all Star extravaganz in March if you want just you and me since I’m doing a solo one with other people as well just let me know.

I'm up for it

 

[Kross Rhodes]

I'm up for it

excellent I just put it on the schedule.

 

[Kross Rhodes]

Smark I think I'm going to do vacant tag belts so you don't need to worry about the Good Bros thing. Although I'm down for us doing a match at the February show with them still.

I'll be putting Moose to use until Destination X. I got a good plan right now for that.

My pay view is a week before yours so if you wanna just keep them off your TV you can and then just strip them on your first impact after my pay-per-view you can do that instead of having them drop them at your pay-per-view.

 

[Kross Rhodes]

I’m simply redoing the no surrender spot at my pay-per-view so you could easily use Jay White’s interference and the fact that neither team competing for the belts were even impact wrestlers to strip them after my pay-per-view.