SD 15: Tension Tag Team Title Match - United Kingdom Elite Vs. the Ishii Siblings

Previous Match: King's Crew Vs. Johnny Higurashi, Ninjette and Clyde Gastin
Next Match: Main Event: Tension Title Match - Reira Kirishima Vs. Domino



United Kingdom Elite




Vs.

Mariko & Yamato Ishii

]

Match Type: Standard Tag
Winning conditions: When a legal wrestler is pinned, submitted or knocked out, the team will be declared the winner.
Special Conditions: The winning team will be declared the Tension Tag Title holders.

In the back Ryan Knight and John Carnaby were preparing themselves, for what was at this point the highest point in their wrestler careers. They had defeated the team of Daisuke and Sion, the pair having lost due to bickering amongst themselves. Then they clipped the wings of the Valkyries Mako and Stone, with Mako pretty much handing the win to them after a botched attempt at cheating.

Of course just because the titles were close to hand didn't mean that they could relax, in fact Ryan and John were looking forward to this match with great eagerness. They would give their all and win or lose they would establish the might of Britain in Tension.

"Are you prepared Mr Carnaby?" Ryan said as he checked his outfit in the mirror.

John gave a slight nod, sticking his hands in his trademark custom blue trenchcoat. "As best I can be boss. I'm not gonna lie though, I never thought I'd be doing any of this when I first started in Tension. Still a bit nervous."

Mr Knight gave a wry smile to the master of creation, folding his arms and saying "Heh, well worry not John. Remember your training my friend, and we shall fight in the name of the Union Jack."

John couldn't help but give a smirk, his boss could be a tad eccentric at times. But Mr Knight took John under his wing and trained him, in return the master of creation was his right hand man. If the artist was honest he'd have no idea he was going to be doing any of this when he first got to Japan to attend an art college. But this was his chance to do something grand, he wasn't going to let Ryan down if he could help it.

The pair made their way to the entrance ramp, usually they drove a limo into the arena. But this was an important event, and who knew how long and arduous the match could be. So with that in mind they were going out on foot, they waited as the lights went dark. And the foreboding remix of their usual song was playing, the song known as Imperial Code II as the lights went onto the ring. The lights formed the shape of the British flag, and as the song neared the 0:47 mark it moved up to the entrance ramp. Whereupon Ryan and John entered the arena.

The crowd gathered at the showdown PPV was huge, perhaps the largest crowd that had been in a tension arena to date. It was a tremendous occasion after all, considering there hadn't been tension tag champions in a very long time. Lucy, the friction representative of the United Kingdom Elite was sitting in a VIP lounge watching the match below. Ryan marched down the ramp with John in tow near him, and he raised a fist upwards whereupon red fireworks launched themselves into the air and exploded in the air.

John wasn't checking the crowd, the last thing he wanted was to lose his cool. Ryan meanwhile grinned ear to ear as the pair proceeded to enter the ring, the two British warriors waved to the crowds briefly before removing their upper body attire. John and Ryan hung the coats and in Ryan's case shirt of their outfits on the iron pole of their corner, and proceeded to do some light stretches to prepare themselves for this battle.....

If anyone had told Mariko and Yamato Ishii just a few months ago that they would soon be challenging for the Tension Tag Team championships together, they absolutely wouldn’t have believed it. Yet here they were, backstage at the Showdown PPV event, moments away from without any doubt whatsoever the biggest match of their short careers. It had been a more than interesting road for the Ishiis that was all set in motion the moment Yamato surprised Mariko by being her partner for their first ever tag team match together. That had been a losing effort against the Vegas Quartet, yet the Ishiis had worked together very well in their tag team debut.

Still, with their lack of inexperience and Yamato’s awful record in singles competition, they had entered the tag team tournament as by far the team with the worst odds. Their first opponents, Blaze and Frost, had defeated them right before the start of the tournament, yet Mariko and Yamato managed to avenge that loss when it mattered most. They were then pitted against Killer King and Kent Quick, two of the strongest men on the Tension roster. But just when things started looking bad, some unlikely help allowed the underdog duo to pull out the upset once again. And now they were set to square off against the United Kingdom Elite with a pair of prestigious, shiny gold belts on the line.

Yamato bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, taking several deep breaths. He was nervous, excited, anxious, and a plethora of other different things all at the same time. “This is it. Our first title match... Hard to believe, isn’t it, Mariko-chan?” he said, managing a smile as he glanced over to his sister.

Mariko was feeling every bit as anxious as her brother, but managed to keep it under a bit better control, and simply slowly paced back and forth while rubbing her hands together. But Yamato’s words brought a soft smile to her face as well. “It sure is, Yamato-kun. But remember, we’re not done yet. We’ve still got to win tonight to get those belts. You ready to go?”

Despite his nervousness, Yamato flashed a confident smile and gave a thumbs up. “Hell yeah! I told Patty those belts were as good as ours, now I’m ready to make it happen.” he said, drawing a chuckle from his sister. “Good.” That’s right, he did say something like that in his interview with Patty recently. And Mariko vaguely remembered mentioning Ryan Knight in that same interview as someone she’d like to have a match with. Funny how things work out.

But soon Mariko's music began to play over the speakers of the arena, cueing their entrance. “Looks like it's time. Lets do this.” she said before the two made their way through the curtain and out onto the stage together. Right away both of them were overwhelmed at how immensely enormous the crowd for this show was. It made ordinary Tension crowds look like minuscule in comparison. “Whoa...” Yamato said, though Mariko managed to keep her confident smirk and gave her brother a light smack on the shoulder to bring him back to reality.

Quickly recovering from his initial shock, Yamato smiled brightly and shouted and waved to the fans as the duo made their way down the aisle. Mariko, on the other hand, kept her gaze entirely on the ring ahead and the two men inside of it. She made sure to give her hips a nice, seductive shake with each confident step her beautiful legs took, but she otherwise gave no sort of attention to the audience.

Stepping into the ring at the same time, Yamato immediately climbed the nearest turnbuckle and shouted out to the crowd, “Alright! Lets make some noise!” And while the fans shouted out and cheered in response, Mariko simply stood by her corner and grinned while looking across the ring and Ryan and John. After a moment of taking in the crowd, Yamato stepped back down to join his sister. With both teams now in the ring, the time to crown the new Tension Tag Team Champions was drawing near...

John was blocking out the noise of the crowd as best he could, thinking of other things. Such as the lovely albino Lia Harrison. The artist had been so busy in his training that he had to put aside time with her to work hard, perhaps if he were to win this match he could give her anything her heart desired. Considering that Mr Knight would no doubt give John a big fat paycheck in response to their victory.

Speaking of which the paragon of Britain was thinking of what would occur after this also, Ryan would be going to Russia. With his lover Anampo Yatgra, Ryan had tracked her long lost Brother to the country. And the pair would travel there to find him, to put that issue to rest.

The British wrestlers sized up who they were fighting, Ryan had checked all the teams that had been picked in this tournament since it started. Although truth be told Mr Knight was thankful that it wasn't Killer King and Kent Quick they were fighting, but Britain's paragon would relish the chance to take them down a peg. Seeing both Mariko and Yamato brought to mind Ryan's days when he travelled the Asian indie circuit with his Sister Lucy, the pair duking it out in street clothes and earning their cut while taking the injuries.

John looked at his boss, and was about to suggest that he start the match first. Only for Ryan to have requested a microphone, it was given to him quickly by a staff member. Mr Knight then nodded to John and walked forward to the centre of the ring, he held the mic in between his fingers. Akin to a wine glass, with the crowd going silent as the paragon of Britain began to speak.

Ryan then checked the mic was ready before saying to the crowd "Good evening to you all, tonight there is a match after this. Where the Tension world title will be on the line, with a friend of mine known as Drake "Domino" Vyril gunning for the title. And I give you kudos good sir, go for it I say!" pausing after it to the applause of the audience.

The paragon of Britain then went on with "However on to a more pressing issue, namely the match that shall be commencing right now. The best of Britain against the upstart siblings. With the tension tag titles on the line. Now they've been vacant for God knows how long, but that has changed! Now....we stand at the apex, of history. Where tonight those golden belts shall be dusted off, and be given to those who triumph here tonight. But know this Ishii siblings, that win or lose all will know the names of those who competed here tonight. And it will be talked and discussed about for years to come! Now let us begin!"

With that Ryan flung the microphone out the ring and said to John that he would begin, the artist gave a nod and stood at the ring apron. With Mr Knight getting himself prepared for this match, ready to give 100% in this match as he waited to see who he'd be going up against out of the two opponents that formed the enemy team.

Mariko and Yamato were more than ready to get this show on the road, and the people were ready to finally have a team crowned as the Tension Tag Team champions. They’d spent as much time as they possibly could since the previous round preparing for this match, from watching footage of Ryan and John’s past matches, to working out and practicing in the gym. They were ready to go. And they could hardly wait for the bell to ring, which they expected to happen any second now.

But it didn’t. Instead, the Ishiis were somewhat surprised to see Ryan requesting a microphone. Both of them stood and watched, curious as to what was so important that Mr. Knight had to say, both for the Ishiis and for the thousands in attendance to hear, though Mariko found herself somewhat annoyed at the same time. Unless Ryan had something to say that directly effected the match, she had a feeling she wouldn’t care for whatever it was he was going to say anyway.

The paragon of Britain started with a greeting to the audience, and a shout out for the challenger for the world title in the main event of the evening, causing Mariko to roll her eyes while she listened. He then gave a little history lesson to set the background for the match, though he didn’t exactly give a plethora of new information.

But then, Ryan’s speech suddenly got more interesting. The “apex of history.” Those few words definitely conveyed the importance of this match. The tag team division of the Tension roster had gone without a champion for quite some time, and the winner of this bout would essentially be known as the team to lead the next generation of tag teams in Tension. That wasn’t big. It was huge. Monumental even. And both Mariko and Yamato even felt shivers run down their spines just at the knowledge that they were taking part of something so historic. And Ryan was right. Whatever the outcome, this was going to be a match people would remember for a long time. All eyes were on these four competitors, and the pressure was on.

Once Ryan finished his speech, the entire audience began to applaud, and almost immediately both Mariko and Yamato joined right in. Mariko then leaned over to her brother and whispered in his ear, and Yamato gave a quick nod and pat his sister on the shoulder before moving on out to the apron, making it known the sister would be starting this one for their team. “Good luck, Mariko-chan.” he said from the apron.

Mariko simply nodded, before making her way over to the ropes to look out toward the announce table. Initially it seemed as if she was going to ask for the microphone to respond to Ryan’s speech, and they were already grabbing for a microphone to give her. But Mr. Knight had already said all that needed to be said, and Mariko waved them off dismissively. The time for talking was over now. “Ring the bell!” she called out, and finally, the bell was rung to officially start the match.

Dueling chants broke for both teams immediately, as Mariko walked back over to the center of the ring. Her lips spread into a grin, and she carried herself confidently with each step as she eyed Ryan. She’d wanted a chance to step in the ring against this handsome man for a while now, and was excited about the chance to go to war with him with championship gold on the line. But first, there was one more order of business to take care of.

As she stood in the center of the ring, Mariko extended her right hand to offer Mr. Knight a handshake, as a sign of respect for her opponents in this pivotal bout.

Ryan was getting himself prepared, an iron expression on his regal features as he prepared himself. Mr Knight cast a look at John, who gave a nod to him. The artist knew how vital this match was, and whichever team won it would be starting up the new trend. Truth be told John was nervous already, but the British paragon's speech hammered the point home even more. As the master of creation stood on the apron he sighed and muttered "Stay calm, remember your training. Think of Lia, you can do this John."

The crowd chants were beginning, and John was surprised to see he had fans. Hell there was even a couple of girls cosplaying as both him and Ryan in the front row, the artist felt his face turn pale and chose to just focus on the ring at all times.

As grim and stoic as Ryan now was, he did let out a wry grin as Mariko told the people at ringside to ring the bell and get everything underway. Ryan had been in a crouched position, holding his hands together and moving them about like CM Punk used to do so. He heard about Mariko and Yamato, and wasn't taking any chances of losing due to a pulled muscle.

Mr Knight then got ready for battle, moving forward to begin engaging the Sister of the Ishii siblings. Only to pause as he saw Mariko issue a handshake, Ryan's face again went from stoic to bemused. A wry smile on his face, the paragon of Britain took the hand and shaked it firmly a couple of times. Not much strength in it, after all Ryan was certain to display that once the match got underway.

"Well then, let's begin." Ryan would mutter to Mariko, before becoming focused now that the match was underway. After letting go of the handshake the paragon of Britain moved his hands to offer a lockup to Mariko.

The crowd applauded the brief display of sportsmanship between the teams as Mariko and Ryan shook hands in the center of the ring. In a matchup as big as this, it was good to see both teams had a healthy respect for each other. This wasn’t one of those matches founded on bad blood and grudges with each side wanting nothing more than to hurt the other as much as possible. No, this was just two tag teams who wanted to outwrestle the other and aspired to take their place among the top of the ranks in Tension.

“Sure thing, handsome. Show me what you've got.” Mariko replied with a grin and a wink as they separated from the handshake, before backing up a few steps. And back in the Ishiis’ corner, Yamato stretched his arms out while taking several deep breaths as he tried to remain calm and collected. He was feeling much the same as John: nervous, yet excited at the same time. “Lets go, Mariko!” he called out to his sister, both to cheer her on and to use his own shout to try to get the adrenaline going.

When Ryan lifted his hands to offer a lockup, Mariko was cautiously hesitant to act on it. He was bigger than her, and it was clear just from looking at them who would win any kind of test of strength between the two. Against someone like him, Mariko would have to rely on speed and her technical prowess to find her advantages, and that might not be easy to accomplish with their arms locked together. But then again, this early in the bout, her options were limited. She’d just have to be patient for now and take what she was given.

Inching toward the paragon of Britain, Mariko slowly raised her hands up, keeping a leg in front of her just in case she needed a quick defense lower than her arms could reach, not that she expected him to try anything funny. But one can never be too careful.

Mariko would then throw her arms forward and lock them up with his. Aware Ryan would have very little trouble whatsoever driving her back if he wished, she would patiently wait for him to try. If he did, Mariko would attempt to pull back with her arms while shooting her knee up into his stomach to briefly stun him, and would then attempt to wrap her right arm around his head and neck to put him into a tight headlock, pressing the side of his face right against her chest.

Meanwhile, as the action in the ring finally got started, Yamato would carefully watch from his position on the apron. Alone, his performances in the ring had been mediocre at best. But in his tag team bouts, the young man had tended to fare much better. He and his sister had shown to have excellent chemistry together as a team, and the older Ishii sibling would be ready to help Mariko out at a moment’s notice if the need ever arose.

Ryan hadn't been planning on just overpowering Mariko in the lockup right away, even if he was solidly built and more than capable of doing that. No this was just Mr Knight sizing up his opponent, to test what she would do in this sort of situation.

The paragon of Britain kept focused on his opponent, he hadn't looked so grim and serious in his life. This was important, no Lucy to troll him, no outside interruptions. Just Mr Knight and his right hand man going up against an upcoming team to decide who would set the bar and standard for tension's tag team division, Ryan would give his all and so would John. Of course Ryan also knew the Ishii siblings would do that as well, and Mr Knight would have perceived anything less as an insult.

When Ryan decided to try and push the hold forward he was met with Mariko's knee, being driven right into his gut. Mr Knight let out a loud grunt as the wind got taken out of him, and he was then quickly cinched into a headlock by Mariko. Mr Knight's vision was somewhat obscured by Mariko's breasts, but knew that she had gotten the first moves in the match.

However Mr Knight wasn't going to just stand there and take it, the match had just started and Ryan was going to repay the favour. With that in mind Ryan made to grab Mariko's legs with his hands, and using his upper body strength the paragon of Britain would try to bring her up and then slam her down with an atomic drop. Bringing her backside down hard onto the knee of Mr Knight.

Mariko was initially surprised when the bigger Ryan Knight didn’t immediately put his strength advantage to use to try to plow her back. It was obvious he likely could’ve if he’d chosen to, but instead he chose to play with a bit more caution here in the opening moments. Though it was understandable why. A moment of recklessness could prove fatal, and with the vacant tag titles on the line, that sort of risk simply wasn’t worth taking at this point.

She could see Ryan’s intense focus just in his eyes alone, but she was ready for him when he finally tried to push forward. The woman’s knee elicited a grunt from her foe as it crashed into his midsection, and her arm coiled around his neck and pulled him into a tight headlock. “Try not to get too cozy there, tiger.” she said with a teasing tone as she held his face right up against the side of her breast. Mariko didn’t know how easily flustered or distracted someone like the paragon of Britain was, but this would be an interesting test.

Alas, the Japanese vixen wouldn’t have much time for her little experiment, as Ryan then grabbed onto Mariko’s legs and hoisted her right up into the air! She half expected she would be crashing onto her back with a suplex in just a moment, and tried to mentally brace herself for the impact. But instead, Mariko fell forward, with her tailbone landing painfully right over Ryan’s knee. “Agh!” she grunted as she staggered forward. As her steps came to a stop, Mariko moved a hand to rub over her backside, keeping it facing Ryan as she turned to glance over her shoulder at him. “You should at least buy a girl dinner or something before you try putting her over your knee.” she said playfully, before turning back around to face him again.

If he wasn’t already coming at her by then, she’d crouch down into a ready stance while inching toward him. But if he was, she’d have to act immediately. In either case, the moment Ryan was within striking range, Mariko would attempt to spin her body while throwing the sole of her right boot at the man’s stomach, hoping to catch him off guard and momentarily stun him with the kick.

Ryan knew the game that Mariko was trying, and it wasn't going to work. Granted he would say that she was beautiful, sexy even. But those mind games just weren't going to be effective on Mr Knight, for a couple of reasons.

Once the paragon of Britain slammed Mariko down with the atomic drop he stayed on one knee for a few seconds. He waited for her to turn around, whereupon Ryan tapped the side of his nose and said "Tsk tsk, I have a girlfriend. So don't you lecture me on how to treat a lady, besides if you me then you know I'm a right proper gentleman." his stoic face showing a small and wry smile.

Sure he was focused, but the paragon of Britain knew that exchanging dry quips was alright. As opposed to the tomfoolery that his Sister got up to, at least Fnaf 3 was easier than 2. But now back to business, Ryan had gotten himself back up and was advancing towards Mariko. Mr Knight was moving in to go for a grab attempt, only to wince out loud as Mariko drove her boot into his gut.

It knocked the wind out of the young man, but Ryan made to grab hold of Mariko's leg. To try and drag her towards his side of the ring while clinging onto her limb as best he could, that was important. If the match was kept in the territory of the United Kingdom Elite then the odds would tilt in there favour, Ryan just hoped he could deal with whatever Mariko tried to come up with next.