Showdown '19: White Gale (C) vs Akamatsu Siblings: Tension Tag Team Title Match

This was it. Somehow, they had made it to this point.

Kyo still couldn't believe it, even as he slid into his outfit and inspected himself in the mirror. He had lost track of just how long he had been fighting in AFW at this point, always striving for a championship shot, and always falling short of the mark. It was a source of immense pride (and some jealousy) for him that Makie had gotten farther than him, actually getting a brief Tension title shot. And now...now, after more than a few successful tag team matches, he and Makie now had a tag team title shot against WhiteGale.

Part of him was excited: not only was this a title shot, but it was one against opponents of WhiteGale's impressive calibre. Part of him was nervous. And part of him was equally angry and ashamed over his last bout against Daisuke Kamiya. The way he had lost control when he had been accused of cheating, and started brawling with her when the ref was out cold...that wasn't like him. It shamed him deeply that he had lost control like that. If he was going to defeat WhiteGale today, he vowed, he would do it fair and square.

Finally, he stepped out of the change room. Makie was already waiting for him, and she gave her brother a concerned look. No doubt she knew how ashamed he still felt over the last match.

"You ready?" she asked. Kyo simply nodded. Smiling, Makie reassuringly squeezed her brother's shoulder. "Hey, don't be so morose. We're doing to win this. Although after we win and get that title belt, I vote we change our team name to something less bland than "the Akamatsu Siblings.'"

Kyo gave her a sour frown. "We had this conversation before, and you heard my recommendation."

"Yes, and for the last time, 'the Legacy' sounds stupid and tacky," Makie countered with irritation.

"I still think it sounds cool," Kyo pouted playfully. "Besides, we're carrying on our family legacy of--"

Makie gave him a dismissive motion with her hands. "Blah blah blah, legacy, I get it," she grumbled. "I still think we should define ourselves by own own merits, not Mom and Dad's." She raised her finger dramatically. "I think...we should be the Tension Tornadoes!"

There was a short, uncomfortable silence.

"How does that sound better than The Legacy?" Kyo quipped.

Makie's face reddened. "Well...it just does, okay?" she sputtered.

As if on cue, however, their theme music suddenly began to play, interrupting the argument. Taking deep breaths, the two of them entered the arena. They were greeted by the flashing lights of the stadium and the endless cheers of their fans. Kyo was still awed that he and Makie had as many fans as they did: they would do their best not to let them down tonight.

Wordlessly, the two of them made their way down the ramp and slid under the ropes. Standing astride the corner post, Kyo basked for a moment in the adulation of his fans, before watching the opposite ramp, waiting for WhiteGale to show up...

Somehow…they too made it.

Daisuke’s encounter with the team known as PDSM was a physical one, more so than what she and the others would have hoped.  She and Lita had better days, that’s for sure.  Thankfully there was enough time in between matches for Daisuke to rest up and prepare for Makie and Kyo.  Did she feel 100% today?  Not really, but much better than she was after the last time she was in the ring.  Did she feel confident today things would be different?  Yep.  With it being Makie and Kyo, getting in the right frame of mind for how to go about facing them wasn’t difficult.  By no means would this be a walk in the park though.  She knew what Kyo could do, and as she rested up from her last match she saw some of what Makie’s done, plus having felt some of her in the ring before tonight, she had the feeling that today would be a better day.

As for Sion, the decision to have Daisuke team with Lita against PDSM turned out to be the better option, if you want to call it that, it at least gave insurance that at least one half of the champions would be perfect going into this one.  Despite Daisuke’s last outing being pretty rough, she looked and felt fine as far as the manager was concerned.  Not much needed to be said on her part before match time, other than suggesting Daisuke get some extra stretching in to get any lingering stiffness out.  She wanted to say something, but wasn’t quite sure what.  Both the match with PDSM and Daisuke’s singles match with Kyo had their share of ups and downs, good and bad they could take from them.

“You know guys, the way I see it, this moment right here is something you both can be proud of.”  Lina told them.  “Some may thing you were crazy for making this match be for the championship, Sion, but you still have an eye for talent.  The way you handled things then, and with what went down with that other team, I’m a bit jealous.  As for you Dai, what you went through in both matches, and are still standing.  Whether it’s Kyo, PDSM, the U.K.E, or whoever, you’ve been through a lot, and not only do you survive, you keep coming back for more.  I know at times you feel like you could do better, but look at this, take a good look.”  Lina hands Daisuke one of the championship belts.  “See what that word says?” she asks as she points to the part that says ‘champion’.  “No matter what the opposition says, no matter what that small part of you sometimes makes you feel, you are a champion.”  She then grabs a pen and finds the event card that’s on the wall.  She pulls it down and shows it to Daisuke.  “See this?  People like you and Sion deserve to be in the main event part of this.  But you know what?  If it wasn’t for us, viewer ship would plummet after the second match.  Nothing against with who’s opening, following us or closing it, but with what Kyo, Makie, and you two are capable of it helps to have talent like that to keep the fans interested.”

“I guess you could all us the ‘wrestling match’ on the card.”  Sion commented with a grin.  Lina understood what Sion was saying, using lingo that’s used on the booking end of things when one has a card with various styles on it.  “That’s one way to put it.”  Both Daisuke and Sion mentioned they weren’t bothered by it, having come to terms that some things here are beyond their and Lina’s control.  “I guess what I’m trying to say Dai is even if some bad things have happened, that doesn’t take away from what you’ve become.  Win, lose, or draw, you’re still a champion, to me, to Sion, and to everyone whose followed you.  You know what though?  Don’t worry about the lose or draw parts, ‘cause it’s not going to happen.”

Daisuke understood the point Lina was attempting to get across.  While her mood was fine before Lina spoke, it did help reassure things.  Soon after, it came time for them to head out.  Just like the opposition did before them, Sion and Daisuke took to the ring, with Lina leading them out.  Makie and Kyo and their supports, the champions had theirs, and there were some who backed both equally.

Soon after the time came to hand the belts over to the referee, but not before giving those in attendance to see the duo holding them high.  Sion looked like he was going to start off for his team, but he looked back towards Daisuke.  She had the frame of mind of wanting to do the same, however there was no issue with having Sion do that.  Lina stepped down to the outside of the ring as Sion and Daisuke talked things over for a short moment in their team’s corner as they waited to see who the opposition would send out first.

If Kyo and Makie had gotten their fair share of applause when they entered the arena, then it was nothing compared to the virtual eruption of cheers that greeted their opponents as they entered the ring. In studying for this upcoming match, both Kyo and Makie had come to the same conclusion about WhiteGale: their Canadian opponents had plenty of old school style skills, ring awareness, endurance and reflexes that combined to make them effective champions, but what they had more than anything else seemed to be a winning personality that just made the fans root for them. It wasn't something easily explained, but sometimes the morale boost of having the crowd on your side could make all the difference. If Kyo and Makie were going to win this day, they would quite simply have to out-fight WhiteGale from the outset-- not an easy task by any means.

But then again, they had won against the Northmans and the Irish Amazons, and had tussled in the ring against the likes of the Rodriguezes, Clyde Gastin and Rebecca Tomoko. No matter what WhiteGale brought to the ring tonight, Kyo and Makie had probably faced worse.

The two of them watched as Sion and Daisuke entered the ring from the opposite corner. For a moment, the crowd went quiet as the two teams seemed to stare one another down. The tension was thick enough that it could be cut through with a knife: given the past brawl between Kyo and Daisuke, it was fair to say that there was no love lost between either team.

Then, wordlessly, Makie slid under the ropes and strode into the ring. The crowd burst into cheers again as the spunkier, shorter member of Team Akamatsu hopped into the ring and pointed directly at WhiteGale. "Is either of you going to step in here or what?" she taunted.

Daisuke was about to step out when Makiespoke up. She and Sion looked at each other, at Kyo, back at themselves. "I think she meant the opposite" Sion commented to Daisuke, noting they were both technically inside the ring still. She thought nothing of it and stepped through the ropes to the outside.

As soon as the bell sounded Lina called out "Alright guys here we go let's go yeah." with a little bit of clapping to get things going. Sion moved closer to the middle of the ring to lock up with Makie. Despite having the height and related stats in his favour, he knew Makie wasn't like some other women he's gone against before. She was one of those that could take him down and make him look bad if he under estimated her. It helped that both opponents came across as ones he and Daisuke could see themselves in at one point in their careers. Getting in there he would battle for position before attempting to take her down with an arm drag and hold her in place.

"Be careful," Kyo warned as Makie entered the ring. From the tapes he'd seen, Sion Kamiya was not one to be trifled with: he easily had far more ring experience than either he or his sister, and was a highly versatile and skilled fighter. Makie was great on the offence but very light on defense, so one wrong move was something that Sion would be quick to take advantage of.

Usually, Makie would have dismissed her brother's caution, but instead she just nodded to him before turning back to glare at Sion. She began to circle him, watching him carefully. No sooner had she done so when the bell rang, and the match began in earnest.

In an instant, the two of them launched themselves at one another for a grapple. The lighter Makie quickly tried to dart under Sion to to attack him from behind, but Sion was quicker, suddenly taking her down to the mat in an arm drag! Makie was wide eyed at being taken down so early in the match: normally she was faster than her male opponents, not the other way around. Annoyed, she pushed her boots off the mat, trying to flip up to her feet again, before spinning around like Kyo had taught her a while ago, using Sion's grip on her arm to instead snap her legs around his own arm, trying to drop to her butt and snag him in an armbar! It wasn't often she was taken down like this, and she felt a flush of pride that she had remembered this counter.

So far so good, but Lina knew her team had a long way to go. Seeing how Sion started off as well as how Makie responded, she had a feeling they could be in for a long night. No reason for her to get excited when Sion did his thing, nor be worried when Makie took control. She continued to watch quietly for the time being.

Makie did have a good hold on the arm, but he still had his second one free. Wrapping it around one of Makie's legs, Sion would push himself and and the leg upwards to not only try and lower the pressure being felt on his end, but position Makie into what would look like the ending stage of a roll-up pin, hoping it would get Makie to break the hold, or if he was lucky, end up pinning her.

Makie grinned as she managed to get Sion trapped in the armbar. Bigger and larger as he was, in this position, Sion would not be able to use those qualities against Makie, and she could just wrench on his arm and punish it. At least, this was what she had thought at the time. Before she could really lock the hold in and start to punish Sion, however, her opponent pushed himself forwards, brushing up against her thighs and forcing her further onto her back. All of a sudden, Makie's shoulders were on the mat, and she was in a pinning situation.

Makie had not been unprepared for this, though. Holding her breath, she kicked her legs out, while shifting her weight backwards, trying to initiate a roll. If all went according to plan, then her sudden roll would flip Sion over onto his back, while she ended up in a kneeling position by his shoulder, still wrenching on his arm while it was locked between her hands. If she failed in this endeavour, however, then she would have no choice but to break the hold and roll away...

Lina watched as the referee got in quick position to make the count, which only resulted in a one, one and a half tops. With what she knew from Makie and Kyo, she doubted that would have been all, though who wouldn't have taken it if it happened? Still, she was more focused on what would happen after Makie broke the pin. When Makie kicked he legs out, Sion had enough upward leverage to pull his arm out and backroll away from Makie.

When Sion came to a stop he was facing in Makie's direction, shaking the arm a bit to regain some of the lost feeling as he stood backup. 'Not bad' he thought as he readied himself to get back at it. Makie was resourceful, but so was he. Approaching her he would reach in, wanting to send Makie towards the ropes, or that's what it appeared to be as instead of letting to and letting her go towards the ropes he'd yank her back towards him before droping to take her down with a variation of a drop toe hold. If he managed to take Makie down with that he would quickly grab hold of the leg as if he was going for a spinning toe hold but instead would look to drive his knee into her leg, in an attempt to slow her down a little.

Before Makie could lock the armbar in further, Sion rolled away, putting some distance between the two of them. Rolling back in a crouch, Makie eyed her opponent warily, and grinned a little when he complimented her. "Right back at ya," she replied with a wink. He may have been her opponent tonight, but he wasn't a bad sort at all.

Then, all of a sudden, Sion was moving to lock up with her again. Before she could try to spin around behind him, however, the resourceful Sion was spinning her toward the ropes...only to suddenly yank her back again! With a yelp, Makie was taken down to her front in a drop toe hold, before her leg was suddenly grabbed. Knowing that whatever came next would not be good, A second later, Sion's knee slammed against her thigh. A cry of pain escaped Makie's lips as she was sent rolling away from Sion, clutching her injured thigh...