Wrestling

Nakamuro came in immediately, closing the distance with a stiff forearm that Ray Jr barely got his arm up to block. The impact staggered him back a step. Nakamuro followed with a low kick to the outside of the thigh, the same kind he’d used weeks earlier to soften the leg up.

Ray Jr answered with a boot to the gut, doubling the Japanese wrestler over, then hooked an arm around him for a snap suplex. Nakamuro rolled through it before his back even touched canvas, popping back up onto his feet.

[Braxton: Nakamuro is not the same man Ray Jr faced weeks ago. He looks sharper tonight.]

[Tanaka: He’s had the time to think about how that first match ended. I’d be sharper too.]

They locked up again, a proper collar-and-elbow this time, and Nakamuro used his weight advantage to bully Ray Jr into the ropes. The referee stepped in, counting for the break. Nakamuro let go a second late, cracking an open palm across Ray Jr’s chest on the way out.

The sound cracked through the arena like a rifle shot. A red mark bloomed instantly across Ray Jr’s chest.

The crowd let out a collective "Oooooh!"

Ray Jr didn’t flinch as he’d taken worse from harder men. He fired back with a chop of his own, catching Nakamuro clean across the pec, and the Japanese veteran actually grinned, nodding once like he approved that chop.

[Tanaka: Look at that. Mutual respect, of a sort.]

[Braxton: Strong style respect. Which means neither man is going to be holding back.]

Nakamuro came at Ray with speed, launching into a running knee. Ray Jr sidestepped at the last second, and Nakamuro’s knee sailed through air, his own momentum carrying him hard into the turnbuckle. He staggered backward, shaking out his leg.

Ray Jr didn’t waste the opening. He hit the far ropes, rebounded, and caught Nakamuro across the jaw with a running European uppercut. Nakamuro’s head snapped sideways, and he dropped to one knee.

The crowd rose, sensing momentum shifting.

Ray Jr grabbed him by the hair, hauling him up, and hitting him with a spinning heel kick, catching him flush across the temple.

Nakamuro crumpled.

[Braxton: Ray Jr is finding his rhythm here!]

[Tanaka: He should be careful. Nakamuro plays possum better than anyone on this roster.]

Ray Jr climbed to the second rope, looking for something blindly aerial, but the instant his back was turned, Nakamuro rolled to the ropes, gripping the bottom one, and used it to launch himself up and into Ray Jr’s exposed ribs with a shoulder tackle from below.

Ray Jr toppled off the turnbuckle, crashing hard to the mat outside the ropes.

[Tanaka: Told you.]

Nakamuro rolled out after him, grabbing Ray Jr by the back of the mask and driving his skull into the steel ring post. The clang echoed through the building. Ray Jr’s legs buckled, and he slid down against the barricade.

Nakamuro circled slowly, cracking his neck, letting the boos wash over him without reacting.

He hauled Ray Jr up by the arm and whipped him into the steel steps. Ray Jr’s shoulder took the brunt of it, the steps rattling loudly against the floor. He rolled onto his back, gasping, one hand pressed against his shoulder.

[Braxton: This is turning ugly fast.]

Nakamuro rolled Ray Jr back into the ring under the bottom rope, then climbed in himself, taking his time. He dropped an elbow across Ray Jr’s chest, then another, each one drawing a pained grunt.

He locked in a grounded chinlock, wrenching Ray Jr’s neck back at an angle. Ray Jr’s boots kicked weakly against the canvas as he searched for the ropes, his fingers scraping at empty mat.

Ray Jr shook his head through gritted teeth.

He planted his palm flat against the canvas and pushed, dragging both their bodies an inch at a time toward the ropes. Nakamuro leaned his weight back, trying to anchor the hold in the center of the ring, but Ray Jr’s fingers finally brushed the bottom rope.

The referee began his count. "One! Two! Three!"

Nakamuro released at Four!, shoving Ray Jr’s head down with contempt before rising to his feet.

Ray Jr lay on his stomach, one arm draped over the bottom rope. He pulled himself up slowly using the ropes, his legs unsteady beneath him.

Nakamuro charged, looking for a clothesline to send him back down, but Ray Jr ducked at the last second, spinning behind him. He caught Nakamuro from behind and hoisted him for a German suplex, folding the bigger man backward onto his neck.

Nakamuro’s shoulders hit the mat.

1

2—

Nakamuro kicked out, rolling toward the ropes to buy himself room.

[Tanaka: Neither man has a clean advantage tonight. This is shaping up to be a spectacle, Braxton.]

[Braxton: Ray Jr answering back! This crowd is loving every second!]

Both men got to their feet at roughly the same time, breathing hard. Nakamuro threw a wild forearm. Ray Jr ducked under it and answered with a dropkick to the back of the knee, buckling Nakamuro’s leg.

The Japanese veteran went down hard, grabbing at his knee, his face twisting under the strain.

Ray Jr didn’t let up.

He grabbed the leg and dropped an elbow across the joint, then twisted into a half boston crab, sitting back with his full weight. Nakamuro clawed at the mat, dragging himself inch by inch toward the ropes despite the pressure screaming through his knee.

His fingers found the bottom rope. The referee called for the break.

Ray Jr released the hold immediately, backing off with his hands raised, showing the crowd he’d played it clean.

[Tanaka: Smart. He knows the fans respect that.]

[Braxton: Smart, but it cost him a few seconds to inflict more pain.]

Nakamuro pulled himself up using the ropes, testing his weight on the leg. He turned just in time to catch Ray Jr charging in, and sidestepped, sending Ray Jr chest-first into the turnbuckle.

Nakamuro followed with a running knee to the Ray Jr’s back, driving him harder into the padded corner. Ray Jr staggered out, and Nakamuro scooped him up for a fallaway slam that sent him crashing across the ring.

The impact knocked the air from Ray Jr’s lungs. He rolled onto his side, one hand pressed against his ribs.

Nakamuro stalked toward him and hauled Ray Jr up. He whipped him into the ropes, looking for a big boot on the rebound, but Ray Jr slid under it at the last second, popping up behind him.

Nakamuro spun around, and Ray Jr caught him with a jumping knee strike to the chest. Nakamuro doubled over, gasping.

Ray Jr backed toward the ropes, gauging the distance. His legs were unsteady, but there was nothing left in Nakamuro’s stance either. Both men were already on their last set of cylinders, held up by pride more than anything else.

Ray Jr climbed to the second rope of the nearest corner, then to the top, ignoring the ache screaming through his shoulder from the earlier post and steel steps shot. He looked down at Nakamuro, who was still near the center of the ring, one hand braced against his own knee.

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