Michael Kelly defeated Robert Martyr
This match between two very similar opponents was always going to be compelling and the men involved truly delivered on their hype. The more experienced MK1 seemed to goat a different side out of Martyr who himself was intent on proving himself capable of contending with athletes of the highest caliber.
The match began with a lock-up exchange in which both men traded a variety of holds neither one truly being able to outclass the other until Martyr managed to take the high ground, breaking the exchange with a knee to the left elbow of MK1. Not taking kindly to this MK1 would immediately attempt a roll-up on Martyr which failed to even get a one-count and would be answered by a similar attempt by Martyr, a final roll-up attempt by MK1 would award him a two count. Both men would then move on to trading strikes ending when MK1 whipped Martyr off the rope and caught him with a stiff flying lariat. MK1 would continue this vicious offense placing Martyr in the corner and laying into him with a salvo of brutal strikes. Exploiting his experience advantage over Martyr and controlling the action and pacing of the opening stages of this match.
The middle portion of this match would see Martyr begin his comeback, changing the pace of the match slightly to negate MK1's experience advantage. Martyr would showcase his more unhinged side throughout this match know that he could not outwrestled the more experience MK1 and acknowledging that he'll need to employ less conventional tactics to overcome MK1. However, even when faced with these less orthodox tactics MK1's experience allowed to adapt responding by doubling down on his ability to dictate the pace of the match and cutting off Martyr's offense at every opportunity.
The finish of this match saw MK1 reverse a powerbomb attempt by Martyr with a back body drop bounce him off the turnbuckle and plant him with two consecutive tiger drivers for the win.
This match was rated ***½ (3.50) Stars by the reviewers here at TIC, the action represented a great blend of their technical styles infused with Japanese strong style and the unorthodox tactics employed by Martyr. The match did contain a few noticeable mistakes most of which occurred due to mistimed maneuvers and it possessed a more jagged flow that at points were in opposition to the standard stages of a wrestling match. Nonetheless, the story of the match was easy to follow and was most importantly further developed by the action.
OX (TJ Stark and Jay Turner) defeated The Family (Jerod Bowden and Everett Constenelli)
As tensions in one team boiled over the friendship in another team and their fighting spirit gave them the advantage. OX had all to gain in this match and they fought tooth and nail to procure themselves a victory.
From the beginning, Turner tried to get under the skin of Bowden but no avail as he would just ignore the theatrics and move right into a headlock. Bowden would transition this into a grounded headlock which Turner would reverse into a standing headlock of his own before being pushed into the ropes forcing him to break the hold. Bowden would attempt to catch a rebounding Turner with an arm drag only to be caught with a hip toss by the Englishman. Turner would then land a kick to the midsection of Bowden followed by a snapmare and another kick to his chest before hooking the leg for a pin attempt. Sending Bowden into the corner then landing another string of kicks then a brutal face wash combo for a two-count.
The middle of the match would see the Family take control for the majority of the affair, both men being far more experienced and possessing considerable enough size advantages to leverage over their opponents. They would systematically destroy the knee of Turner taking turns to disable his main source of offense, seemingly putting their differences aside and working together to win the championships. The entrance of Stark into the ring would see the pace quicken, however, the Family through their technical prowess would always manage to slow it back down. OX nonetheless worked as a true unit, showcasing their impressive athleticism to contend with the onslaught of their opponents.
The finish of the match would see Bowden leave Constenelli by himself to fend off both of their opponents as the tensions in The Family boiled over. Although he would put up quite a fight the spirit of OX was unmatched and the support of his partner led Turner to take back control, place Constenelli in the corner, hit the Kingsman's Boot followed by a top rope stunner by Stark for the victory.
This match was rated ***½ (3.50 Stars) by the reviewers here at TIC, the action was compelling and the story was clear, however, it was hampered by a few visible mistakes. It was a strong start to the Tag-Team division of True-1 Pro and we are excited to see what heights it achieves from here, congratulations to the champions and we look forward to your next defense.
ŌKAMI defeated Adam Rayne
This match was just both men trying to inflict as much damage on their opponent as humanly possible. It exposed us to a new side of ŌKAMI and re-enforced the sadistic nature of Rayne.
They forsake traditional wrestling customs skipping the lock-up and beginning with a series of strikes from ŌKAMI. Following up his chops with a deep arm drag then attempting a superkick only to be caught by Rayne and tossed out of the ring. As the actioned continued on the outside Rayne would make use of the environment to further brutalize ŌKAMI but he wouldn't take this lying down and ŌKAMI would begin to fight back eventually leaning Raye up against the barricade and rocking him with a running superkick. ŌKAMI would then re-enter the ring and attempt a dive to the outside into a prone Rayne, however, this would prove a horrid mistake as Rayne would catch him with a forearm and take control of the match.
The middle of the match would see this violent encounter turn ugly as both men would make use of weapons and more sinister tactics. Rayne being his usual violent self and intern drawing that same violence out of ŌKAMI, in a way winning the psychological victory by managing make ŌKAMI more like him. Both men played their characters extremely well and use the environment to further their progression, Rayne especially using the exposed turnbuckle as a sadistic device for character progression.
The finish of the match would see the interference and subsequent assault on Tiger Roshi distract Rayne allowing ŌKAMI to land a superkick. Then he would attempt an Ax Kick only to have it reversed by Rayne who would hit Swinging Reverse STO. A resilient ŌKAMI would kick out recover and reverse a lariat into a Vendetta Lock, the would continue to exchange moves leading up to ŌKAMI hitting an Ax Kick before finishing Rayne with a shining wizard.
This match was rated ****¾ (4.75 Stars) by the reviewers here at TIC, not just because the action was smooth and well constructed but because the story going into the match was one of the most interesting in recent memory. The effort put into building Rayne as a returning violent monster and placing ŌKAMI as a valiant face in his way was near perfect. Their devotion to putting out connecting content and kept interest in the story alive worked wonders to adding depth. Even in defeat the point by Rayne was made and he was able to corrupt ŌKAMI if only for those few moments.
KENSHIN defeated Jay Williams
In this match, the mind games and technical prowess of Williams met the sheer warrior heart of KENSHIN. Both men fought hard to win the championship and as a result, made it feel extremely important.
Before the match began Williams left the ring to play his usual mind games with KENSHIN. As he re-entered the ring they would engage in a lock-up exchange in which KENSHIN would gain an initial advantage with a headlock before being forced to break due to being pushed into the rope. Williams would stand waiting to receive the rebounding KENSHIN only to be completely run over by a shoulder tackle.
Williams throughout this match would attempt to not only play mind games with KENSHIN but he would also try to leverage his technical advantage only to have it nullified by KENSHIN's power and size. Both men expended everything they had in their movesets to gain any advantages, Williams using his tactical superiority to counter KENSHIN's explosive offense. KENSHIN would press all of his physical advantages to overwhelm Williams, meeting all of his awareness and tactics with power and his mind games with his considerable size advantage.
The finish of this match saw KENSHIN attempt a running bicycle kick which Williams would dodge and try to counter with a German suplex, which KENSHIN would then reverse into a blue thunder bomb for a near fall. As Williams would climb back to his feet with the help of the ropes for support KENSHIN would level him with a bicycle kick for the win.
This match was rated ****¾ (4.75 Stars) by the reviewers here at TIC, much like many other matches throughout this two day CPV the action was clean and compelling, both men truly were able to keep our attention throughout this entire match a good hour into a wonderful but exhausting card. We congratulate KENSHIN on his championship win and we look forward to seeing what he does in the future as we know he will not disappoint.
Overall Show Rating:
The CPV overall gets ****1/2(4.50 Stars) from us here at TIC, every result was sensibly booked and it had enough surprises to keep it from becoming predictable. The stories that were built going into the event all came to reasonable conclusions and every match was good to fantastic especially on Night 2 where there were arguably two of the best matches this community have seen. The presentation was consistent with True-1's aesthetic and the Japanese culture of wrestling, a more legitimate sports-based interpretation of wrestling. As always True-1 has once again delivered with one of the best CPVs of the year and we can't wait to see how they continue this momentum.
Written By: Philip Nelson and Ashley Goldman
Twitter: @TodayInCAW, @PhilipNelsonTIC, and @RealAshleyGold
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