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

If Makie was anyone else, Dai would have gone for a pin the second Makie dropped. However given what the four of them have been through up to this point, she knew she had to do a little bit more to Get Makie to the point where she could finish her off for good. Keeping focus, Dai lifted up Makie and got behind her before lifting her up high before bringing her down hard with an atomic drop.

The facial expression of Lina improved the second the tag was made, and any signs of what was done to Sion earlier wasn't an issue to her when Daisuke made contact with the lariat. Her team was back in it. While trying for a pin would have been nice to see, Lina had no troubles with Daisuke wanting to wear Makie down further and looked on as Daisuke went for the atomic drop.

Makie's chest was heaving after taking the full force of Dai's lariat-- charging into the ring as she had, the Canadian had been able to pack a lot of force into the blow. Makie was breathing hard, one eye forced open as she stared up at the arena lights...just before Dai reached down, grabbing her by the arm and hoisting her up.

Woozily, Makie was pulled back to her feet, wobbling a little as she was pulled up to a standing position. The next thing she knew, Dai was positioning herself behind her. "What--" she managed to gasp, before Dai's arms wrapped around her waist. Her eyes widened as she was lifted straight off her feet, and braced herself for the suplex to come.

Except it wasn't a suplex. Instead, Dai brought her swinging downwards again...right down across her outstretched knee. Pain exploded up though her tailbone and crotch, and she let out a brief shriek of pain before toppling over onto her side, clutching her back, eyes watering slightly from the intensity of the pain....

This is what Lina wanted to see. The previous to moves by her team were more high targeting in nature, taking a moment to affect the opposition's tailbone would also be key before putting the finishing touches. With how Makie reacted, Lina felt that Dai was on the right track. Makie wasn't done just yet, but Dai felt that Makie was getting pretty close to that point and wanted to continue with the pace she was setting in order to finish the job.

Lifting Makie up again, Daisuke positioned them both in one of the neutral corners before going for a bulldog.

Although Makie was struggling to get back on her feet, the intense pain in her back meant that she could barely kneel upright, let alone stand. She fought to hold back tears as she tried to will herself to move. Damn it, I'm just a sitting duck to whatever she has planned next! I can't be the one to lose this for me and Kyo! I can't lose this for us!

At that point, however, Makie felt herself being pulled upright by Dai. Swaying slightly, Makie found herself suddenly being snagged in a tight side headlock by Dai, her head pressed up just against the side of the Canadian girl's silver-clad breast. Makie let out a loud gasp as her head was squeezed, but she knew that this was just a first step to whatever move Dai had planned next.

And then, as Dai suddenly burst into a charge, Makie realized it was now do or die.

As the two broke into a run across the ring, Dai suddenly leapt forward, no dout aiming to bulldog Makie hard into the mat. Just as Dai leapt forward, however, Makie did the same...shooting her legs forward and trying to position her knees so that Dai's chin or forehead would collide hard with them as the two of them crashed into the mat!

Daisuke had her eyes set on where she wanted to go. While there getting to the point where she was going to take Makie down was fine, Makie recovering not only in time, but the timing of hit caught her by complete surprise. She didn't have time nor room to do anything about the knees striking her in the forehead. The impact sounded and felt louder than their landing, which anyone who was focused on what was happening, even those sitting the farthest from the ring could hear and feel it clear as day, and unfortunately for Daisuke, she had the best seat.

"Wha?! NO WAY!" Lina exclaimed at Makie taking Daisuke down in a way she has not seen before.

The crowd exploded into uproar as they tried to parse what had just happened. Makie had been in trouble, having taken an enziguri and an atomic drop in quick, rapid succession, before Dai had grabbed her by the head and was about to nail her in a bulldog-- a move that, if it didn't finish her, would probably set her up for Dai's trademark crossface submission. Just as Dai had been executing this manouver, however, Makie had managed to kick her legs back while airborne, hammering them into Dai's face just before the two of them crashed into the ring!

The two wrestlers were both down now, Makie lying on her back, her chest rising and falling as she lay stunned from the impact, and Dai lay beside her, facedown and similarly stunned. The referee hovered over them, and for a minute, it looked like the countdown was going to start to count the both of them out.

Then, with a groan, Makie turned over on her side and tried to prop herself up. Still looking rather dazed, she nonetheless gingerly turned to Dai and shoved her over onto her back, before lying across the other woman's chest, collapsing against her as the referee began the countdown. "ONE...."

"NO!" Lina shouted as Makie turned Daisuke over. The manager's disapproval and shock of the turn of events alerted Sion, who was in the process of pulling himself up to finally exit the ring after being down in the corner. He turned his head towards the centre of the ring and saw the referee starting a pin count on Daisuke.

Letting go of the upper rope, Sion fully turned towards the centre of the ring and dove in a desperate attempt to break up the pin.

Sion flew as quickly as he could and struck Makie in the back with a forearm, however he was not in time as the referee's hand came down for a third time half a second before he could make the save. "Damn it..." was all Sion could say as as as he held the bell before covering his face and lowering himself next to Daisuke.

Makie had no idea that Sion was, at this moment, racing into the ring to break up her weak pinfall. She also had no idea that at that moment, Kyo was running into the ring as well, hoping to intercept Sion, or that the referee was trying to get into position between them even as they continued the countdown. Her back was still throbbing with pain, and she still felt dizzy from that kick to her head. it was the best she could to to just lie against Dai, her cheek against the other girl's chest as she heard the countdown at the edge of her hearing.

And then, finally, the count reached three, and the bell rang.

At first, Makie was only dimly aware the she and Kyo had just won: she was still too dizzy to care too much. With a groan, she rolled off of Dai onto her back, blinking up at the arena lights. It was then, however, that she became aware of the audience erupting into enthusiastic cheers. Kyo was instantly pulling her up into a sitting position, and was hugging her enthusiastically.

"You did it, sis," he whispered. "We did it. Mom and Dad would be so happy if they could see us now."

Slowly, realization dawned on Makie, and a weak smile formed on her lips as she suddenly realized why the audience was cheering so enthusiastically, as the sheer importance of what had just happened finally hit home.

She and Kyo were now the Tension tag team champions. After years of battling their way up and down the ranks, they had finally won the title belt.

Lina was as vocal as Sion was, but more of a groan-ish sigh before also lowering her against against the apron.

By the time Daisuke came too, Makie and Kyo already had the gold in hand. She looked confused, not knowing what happened. Sion was sitting next to her, at a loss for words when asked what happened. She found out from the referee though, who was close just in case if she didn't come to when she did, and when she did, her face went blank. She looked towards Lina, who just lifted her head up. She looked at Sion who told her "I'm afraid so." When the realization hit her part of her wanted to ball out right there, while another part wanted to find somewhere to crawl into and die. Even though the ending move could have also taken out anyone else, it made her doubt that she was a champion to begin with. If it wasn't for Sion being where he was and when, they might not have won it to begin with. Sure she had her moments, but this made the negatives feel aplified.

She looked like she might start shaking, but Sion held on to her and whispered to her "Don't blame yourself. I know it might not feel like it, but it wasn't your fault, really." Daisuke looks at him, wanting to believe what he said. She was finding difficult to do so, but his words and tough were enough to get her through the the next little while. Sion looked over at Kyo and Makie, towards Lina, then back at Daisuke and telling her quietly but with a serious tone "You know what we must do." Daisuke nods in agreement before the two of them stood up.

They kept out of the new champions' way until they saw their backs. Sion approached Kyo and snatched the belt from him, while Daisuke did the same to Makie. Lina was just as shocked as everyone else when she saw them do what they did. Even the referee was taken back by this. Sion holds his free arm out to the referee while saying "Trust me", while keeping his eyes on Kyo and Makie. Sion wasn't known as someone who would do something rash or jerkish, so the ref gave him the benefit of the doubt here and didn't stop him. There was many things he could say right now, but he felt it would be best to let his actions do the talking. 'What's going through his mind?' Lina thought as she looked on.

Sion and Daisuke too a hard look at the belts that was once theirs before moving closer to Kyo and Makie. Without hesitation they move behind the other team and proceeded to strap the belts around the winning team's waists, Sion to Kyo, and Daisuke to Makie. Lina wasn't sure what was going to happen, but a smile came across her face when she saw what she did. Once the belts were around the waists of Kyo and Makie, Sion and Daisuke returned to in front of them and held their hands out.

For a brief moment, the two siblings were caught up in the moment of their victory. They had done it. After years of competing in the AFW, they had finally done one of the things they had set out to do from the outset: they had won a championship. The moment almost felt surreal: Kyo almost couldn't believe that hey had finally won. Makie couldn't believe that she had been the one to score the championship-winning pinfall.

Slowly, Kyo helped his sister to her feet, at which point the refree came in front of them, holding a pair of title championship belts in front of them. Makie was almost in tears as she accepted one of the belts, and Kyo did the same. Smiling enthusiastically, the two siblings lifted their belts high up for the audience to see, and their fans gave vent to a thunderous applause. It was a joyous moment that they would carry for the rest of their lives, and absolutely nothing would ruin it.

And then the two of them turned around, and found Dai and Sion standing right behind them.

"What the--" Makie gasped, before Daisuke suddenly grabbed her belt, and Sion did the same with Kyo's. Makie was about to surge forward and grab the belt back when, to her surprise, Dai reached down and slowly began to fasten it around her waist, with Sion doing the same for Kyo. The entire arena went quiet for a moment, as, in an unexpected display of sportsmanship, White Gale put the belts on the new champions.

The moment of silence only lasted for a few seconds, however, before the audience erupted into an even greater roar of applause. Fighting back tears of joy, Makie accepted Sion's proferred hand. "Thank you," she said, shaking Dai's hand and even leaning in to hug her a little. "You were an amazing opponent. I'm glad you and I fought."

"Yeah, thanks," Kyo agreed, shaking Sion's hand. "I'm honoured to have fought such excellent wrestlers as you two. I hope this isn't the last time we run into each other, in the ring or out of it."