Dave Blake vs Yamato Ishii

Visual Appearence:

With Radioactive in the Dark blaring on the loudspeakers, Dave Blake raced out onto the ramp, posing for the crowd before slamming both fists into the floor, timed perfectly to the explosion of fireworks behind him. The young man from Boston, pumped as ever off his win over the former world champion Reira, was ready to lay claim the contender spot for a Tension Championship. But before that could happen, he needed to stack up some serious wins against some serious competition. Sprinting to the ring, Dave slid in with little effort, leaping onto the corner post and raising a fist, earning a loud pop from the crowd. They didn't come here to see a jobber getting crushed, they came for a fighter to raise some serious hell, and Dave was happy to oblige.

Spoiler:

Moments after Dave's music faded out, No Reason by Sum 41 began to play over the speakers in the arena, announcing the entrance of Yamato Ishii! With all his usual ring gear on, the young man burst through the curtain with a bright and confident smile on his face.

"It feels good to be back!" he shouted out as he started walking down the aisle. Tonight was Yamato's first match since the Tension in Ueno event, where he and his sister picked up a huge victory against the Takeuchis. For quite a while Yamato had had quite a grudge against them, particularly Ami. Beating them had been one hell of a personal win as much as anything else. Not quite the case this time. Tonight his opponent was David Blake, a man Yamato had never even met before. And there was something oddly refreshing about going into this match knowing there was nothing personal between them. This was just going to be two wrestlers throwing everything they have at each other to try to walk out with a victory. Nice and simple.

Yamato climbed up the steps and entered the ring, then smiled as he strode out to the middle of the ring and extended a hand for a handshake.

"Good luck, and may the best man win."

Indeed the lack of any personal beef between the two men was refreshing for Dave, as he imagined it was for Yamato as well. Walking forward, he accepted the handshake with a warm smile, clapping Yamato on the back with an infectious grin.

"Good luck to you too man. No going easy on me you hear? Don't let my good looks distract you from the match!" he teased, laughing in a good natured fashion, as he backed toward the ropes. The ref for her part looked relieved that the match wasn't going to start off with any shenanigans, and called for the bell. Dave cracked his neck, taking a brisk pace around the ring, looking for any opening his opponent would provide. He was gonna let Yamato make the first move here. It would give him an idea of what he was up against.

“Heh. Don’t think that will be an issue. Well, not for me anyway,” Yamato shot back with a grin. Thus far Dave still seemed to be a stand up guy. Time would tell whether or not that would remain consistent throughout the match. Either way, he was going to give it everything he had!

The bell rang, and Yamato began to circle the ring as well, practically mirroring Dave’s steps as he went, while occasionally inching closer to him. His hands raised, and after a few moments he lunged out and tried to initiate a lockup with Dave. Yamato may not have known much about him, but he felt confident he could win a test of strength. And if Dave locked horns with him, Yamato would immediately start trying to drive his foe backward toward the ropes.

When Yamato went for the lockup, Dave really had no other option but to accept, with his taller opponent quickly powering through and pinning Dave back first against the ropes. The young man tried to dig in his feet and hold his ground, but it was clear in a test of strength that he was outmatched. Time for him to think his way around this.

Thinking quickly, he tried to duck down, turning his body while keeping a grip on the arm of his opponent, twisting it hard in a standing armbar, resorting to a more submission style of offense instead of a pure striker. He wrenched hard on the arm for a few moments, trying to draw the action back into the center of the ring.

Yamato managed to drive Dave back up against the ropes with relative ease, confirming his strength advantage. Nothing revolutionary here, but it was a nice confidence booster if nothing else. However, Dave wasn’t just going to sit there and let Yamato push him around so easily.

In the blink of an eye Dave now had a hold of Yamato’s arm and was twisting it painfully. “Agh!” he grunted, hissing at the pain and discomfort with each time the limb was yanked and jerked. He took a few steps out to the middle of the ring where Dave led him, then tried to fight back.

Spinning to the side while pulling on his trapped arm, Yamato attempted to sling Dave right back toward the ropes where they’d just been a second ago. If it worked, then on the rebound Yamato would be right there waiting to try to blast Dave off his feet with an impactful shoulder block!

Going to work on the arm was probably the best idea for him. Given the advantage Yamato had over him, concentrating on an arm or a leg was the best course of action. By focusing on individual limbs, he would in theory cut his opponent's mobility by a considerable margin.

"GHH! That's it! You're not getting aw-aayyyy!!" Dave yelled, when Yamato whipped Dave into the ropes, rebounding and shooting back into the shoulder block from the Ishii! The blow floored him, but aside from the sore feeling in his chest, he was still in good shape to fight. Rolling to the side, Dave aimed a kick right to the kneecap of his opponent, before kipping up to his feet.

Boom!

Yamato’s shoulder crashed into Dave’s chest, and down he went! Yamato couldn’t help but smile after dropping his foe. And to celebrate he brought his right arm up and briefly flexed it for the crowd…before a sharp pain in the side of his knee suddenly got his attention.

“Agh…” he grunted, immediately taking a couple quick steps back while Dave hopped back up. But the second his foe was on his feet again, Yamato lunged back in and attempted to sling an arm around Dave’s neck to put him in a side headlock.

The kick to the kneecap bought him enough time to roll to his feet. Still not fast enough, as Yamato wrapped up his skull in a side headlock, thinking fast, the young contender wrapped his arms around the young man's waist. Grunting with the sheer exertion, Dave lifted Yamato up high, falling back to the mat in a belly to back suplex.

Not one to leave it done, Dave rolled o his feet, heading to the corner and prepping for the big kick right to his opponent's chest the moment he turned to face him.

Yamato slung his strong arm nice and tight around Dave’s head, but it didn’t do him much good for long. Soon he was lifted up and brought right back down with a big suplex! “Agh!” he yelled out at the impact, slowly rolling onto his hands and knees to push himself up.

He’d hoped to avoid staying down on the mat for too long, but evidently that would’ve been the wiser move. As soon as he was back on his feet, a pair of boots crashed right into his toned chest! “Guh!” he grunted, dropping right back down to the mat again.