Nakamuro’s muscular arm had slammed into Ray Jr’s throat and had completely knocked him off his feet and unto the canvas. In mid-air, Ray Jr did a back flip, his boots facing the bright lights of the arena before his back landed with a squelching thud.
[Commentator 1: That’s a bad, bad Lariot from Nakamuro!]
[Commentator 2: It sure was]
The impact was brutal. It did more than just knocking Ray Jr. down, it almost short-circuited his nervous system for a split second.
The breath was sucked out of his lungs.
Ray Jr turned on his side and instinctively grabbed his throat. He coughed, trying to grasp at nearby air.
Nakamuro didn’t go for the pin. That would be too kind. The Japanese wrestler was in the middle of the ring, his body resonating with a lethal kind of charm and dangerous charisma.
Nakamuro was an old guard of the JW roster, a master of strong style. His wrestling pants were crimson red leather with black interlocking tassels down the sides and he had no padding whatsoever on his knees.
He wasn’t looking for safety, his goal was bone-to-bone contact on any of his attacks.
Nakamuro scoffed at the JW newbie. His arms were relaxed, his head rolling back on his shoulders, and he had a mouthguard-filled smirk. He lifted his hand and made a gesture with his fingers for Ray Jr to get up.
The crowd reacted right away.
[Commentator 2: The fans love him don’t they]
[Commentator 1: Ofcourse they do. Don’t you?]
The harmonious clapping started, and it reverberated through the arena. It was an expression of great respect, it was also a call for violence. He wanted to test the new contracted star’s tolerance for punishment.
Ray Jr got onto his hands and knees. He could not see clearly due to the sweat on the eye holes of his mask. His ribs were still a bit sore and tightly taped with athletic tape, and so were his thighs under his blue and silver tights. With the middle rope helping him, he pulled himself onto his feet.
Ray Jr was barely able to find his footing when Nakamuro descended upon him.
The strong stylist unleashed a barrage of shots. Ray Jr’s head was cracked back by a stiff forearm to his jaw. A low leg kick put a bruise on the back of his thigh. The combination was completed with a kick to the stomach, hitting him right in the gut.
Ray Jr tumbled over, panting for breath, but it refused to come. Nakamuro caught him by the back of his mask and pulled him to the nearest corner. The veteran hit Ray Jr’s ribcage with his unpadded knee over and over.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
The hits made a loud sound over the ringside mics. The referee, wearing the typical black and white stripes, intervened at once, and began a resounding five count to stop the illegal corner attack.
"One! Two! Three! Four!"
On the last quarter of a second, Nakamuro retreated with his hands up to mock innocence. He then backed up towards the centre of the ring, soaking up the audience’s confused reactions of awes and boos.
[Commentator 2: Nakamuro, the most decorated superstar in all of JW folks]
Ray Jr was sitting in the corner, on the bottom turnbuckle. He was breathing heavily. He was being torn down. This was not a cruiserweight looking to trade some fast-paced holds. His opponent was a big-time hitter, and he wanted nothing short of a dominant win.
Nakamuro ran across the ring with a running knee aimed directly at Ray Jr’s masked face.
In desperation, Ray Jr exploded out of the corner, diving low and out of the way. Nakamuro’s knee slammed into the turnbuckle pad, causing a shudder to travel through the ring post.
Feeling sudden pain, Nakamuro quickly got up and jumped backward on one foot.
This was the beginning of the end for him. Ray Jr scrambled to his feet, sprinted to the other opposite corner to generate as much speed as possible and then rebounded as fast as he could. He threw himself at Nakamuro, sending his head straight into the canvas with a perfect slingblade.
The crowd erupted.
Ray Jr quickly hooked Nakamuro’s leg.
1
2—
Nakamuro kicked out, his shoulder thrusting upward with enough force to throw Ray Jr off him.
[Commentor 1: Slingblade executed to perfection...not enough to put away Nakamuro]
The two men got to their feet. Nakamuro attempted a wild right hook. Ray Jr skated under the arm, grabbed Nakamuro from behind by the waist then shifted to lock his hands. With a tremendous amount of core strength, Ray Jr was able to pick the heavier man up for a full Nelson German suplex.
Nakamuro folded right on the neck. Ray Jr held the bridge, despite his own shivering back muscles yelling.
1
2—
The referee’s hand didn’t land on the canvas for the third as Nakamuro kicked out again, just narrowly managing to get his shoulder up and off the mat.
Ray Jr loosened the grip and stood up. Frustration was starting to seep in. He was firing artillery after artillery but Nakamuro was taking in everything and still finding strength to kick out.
Nakamuro backed away, under the bottom rope to the outside floor, giving himself a few seconds to catch his breath. He was leaning on the steel barricade, his back pressed against it with his hands on the back of his neck.
Ray Jr looked at the ropes, then he looked at Nakamuro on the outside. The fans could see the calculation in the rookie’s posture. A collective cheer of anticipation rippled through the arena.
Ray Jr hit the far ropes, rebounded off, and sprinted across the ring, picking up terrifying speed. He did not slow down as he came to the opposing ring ropes. He jumped over the top rope, his body stretched like a bullet, his suicide dive was perfect.
He hit Nakamuro at high speed. The impact caused the veteran to go flying backwards, crashing into the first row of empty folding chairs, and spreading the steel barricade.
The crowd stood in awe and moved away from them, giving them some distance. Ray Jr landed with a loud thump on the thin protective mat on the ground, and his already bruised shoulder absorbed most of the shock. He winced under his mask and clutched his arm, but he didn’t stay down.
The referee was already up to the 5 count.
[Commentator 1: These men have to get into the ring quickly to avoid disqualification]
Ray Jr grabbed Nakamuro by the hair and carried him over the barricade and rolled him back under the bottom rope into the ring, where he was motionless. Ray Jr followed him, fueled by adrenaline.
He quickly climbed the turnbuckles. His legs were as heavy as lead. He was standing high above the ring at the top. He glanced at Nakamuro, who was still lying flat on his back.
Ray Jr went for a crossbody.
But Nakamuro was doing a great job at playing dead possum.
As Ray Jr was about landing, Nakamuro pushed both of his unpadded knees straight up.
Ray Jr’s ribs slammed into Nakamuro’s knees making serious impact.
[Commentator 2: Ooo! That must have hurt]
The counter was followed immediately by Ray Jr’s agonized scream. He rolled off and wrapped himself in a ball on the canvas, hugging his stomach. He couldn’t breathe. His torso was burning.
Nakamuro slowly got to his feet, a dark, predatory look in his eyes. There was no more time for fun. It was time to end the match.
He stalked Ray Jr waiting for the rookie to push himself up. Ray Jr slowly rose to his hands and knees, Nakamuro grabbed his left arm.
In one quick motion, Nakamuro dropped to the canvas, wrapping his legs tightly around Ray Jr’s shoulder and extending the arm out straight.
An armbar.
[Commentator 1: We’ve seen people submit to this countless times. Will Ray Jr be one of them]
The maneuver was executed smoothly. The pressure on the elbow joint instantly hit a critical point and Ray Jr cried out with pain. Nakamuro pulled more to try to over-extend the arm.
Ray Jr thrashed wildly, his boots slamming the canvas in an attempt to get himself free. He was pinned in the middle of the ring. The ropes were a mile and a half away.
"Do you submit?" the referee yelled, getting down to look closely at both wrestlers.
Ray Jr shook his head hard, his teeth grinding through the pain. He would never give up. Not when the rest of his time at JW hinged on his ability to prove himself.
With all the strength he had left, he used his body weight to move forward, rolling over Nakamuro and piling the veteran on top of his own shoulders on the. He didn’t attempt to remove his arm, that was currently impossible.
The referee began to count the pin.
1
2—
Nakamuro quickly cut the armbar off to prevent being pinned for the 3 count, rolling back to save himself.
Both men were exhausted by the sequence. They were lying on the canvas, gasping and panting at the same time, gazing into the bright lights.
Slowly, they pushed themselves up once again. They clashed in the middle of the ring, neither man willing to retreat.
Nakamuro struck first. A powerful closed fist punch to the jaw.
It was taken by Ray Jr, who stumbled slightly, before countering with his own forearm.
Smack.
Nakamuro took another shot at him. Harder this time.
Smack.
Ray Jr fired back.
[Commentator 2: Massive exchange of blows right there]
[Commentator 1: You’ve got that right]
They faced each other and hit each other mercilessly and with full force. Everyone in the audience shouted with each and every strike. It was obvious it took a lot of determination to keep their legs up.
Nakamuro went into a frenzy of strikes without letting Ray Jr retaliate, then he unleashed a crushing head butt.
A loud crack echoed throughout the building. Ray Jr was thrown back on his heels, his balance was upset. His arms were just dangling at his sides and he was leaning against the ropes. He was groggy.
Nakamuro backed away, retreating to the opposite corner. He crouched down, his gaze fixed on Ray Jr’s chin. It was time for the Strong Style Knee Strike. A running knee attack which aims to knock the opposition out with a brutal strike to the jaw.
Nakamuro roared out a war cry and then charged at Ray Jr.
He took three big steps and rose into the air, his knee pointing right for Ray Jr’s face.
Ray Jr went down to the floor at the very end of the last possible second.
Nakamuro passed over him, his knee harmlessly sailing through space. He landed awkwardly on the canvas, tumbling into the ropes.
Ray Jr pushed himself up. Nakamuro was on his hands and knees, slowly attempting to turn around, his neck laid bare.
Ray Jr knew he wouldn’t be able to go for the Five Star Frog Splash. He was no longer as strong as he at the beginning of the match to climb the top rope, let alone to fly. He had to go with the instant kill. He needed to channel the brutality he had honed in Mexico.
He ran back into the far corner. His eyes fixed on the bottom of Nakamuro’s neck. He took a deep breath, and ran towards the Japanese, ignoring the pain in his ribs.
He pressed his right arm close to his chest, revealing the hard bone of his right elbow.
[Commentator 2: We haven’t seen this move yet, have we]
He was well on target for the Ray Gun.
A hand came from under the bottom rope just as his boots were about to leave the canvas for the crushing blow.
Ray Jr’s right ankle was gripped.
His momentum was rudely halted. The unnatural and sudden stop caught him off guard, twisting his knee as soon as it happened, before he could process the interference, the hand yanked him back sharply.
Sliding awkwardly under the bottom rope, Ray Jr fell hard to the outside of the ring and landed face-first on the outside.